Peter Drucker Challenge

Thank you very much for your interest and for having taken part in the "Peter Drucker Challenge" 2010! We were overwhelmed not only by the sheer number but also by the variety and breadth of topics, and by the quality of the submitted essays. We received 214 essays from all over the world - from Argentina to Romania, India to Canada, Austria to Australia, Guam to Great Britain, and also from many African countries. And there was even one essay sent to us from Afghanistan. The "Peter Drucker Challenge" jury members* faced a real challenge in selecting the best essays out of a high number of high-quality essays. But they ultimately made their choices and reached a collective conclusion.

And here are the winners of the "Peter Drucker Challenge" essay contest 2010:

01. Florian Ramseger (Germany) "The Silver Lining of the Cloud"
02. Hermann Arnold (Switzerland) "Peter F. Drucker 2.0"
03. Eleanor Murphy (UK) "Privatising Public Problem-Solving"
04. Chhavi Bhandari (India) "Striking a Balance - Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship"
05. Misti Burmeister (USA) "Empower Teachers, Transform the World"
06. Gonzalo Huertas (Argentina) "Informational Pluralism"
07. Martina Linnenluecke (Australia) "Organizations, Climate Change and Weather Extremes"
08. Christopher Maclay (Bangladesh) "The Challenge of Managing Social Innovation in the Aid Industry"
09. Ian Choo (Denmark) "Solving the Central Problem(s) of Economics"
10. Sarah Green (USA) "Leveraging our Country's Problems to Become Great Social Innovators of Our Time"
11. Prasath P (India) "A Three-Pronged Strategy for Achieving Effortless Organizational Transformation"
12. Joanna Stanberry (USA) "Wielding the Meeting"
13. Nuno Oliveira (UK) "A Strategic Lever in the Next Organisational Architecture"
14. Stylianos Georgoulas (UK) "Balancing Innovation and Time Tested Practices in the Large Bureaucratic Firm"
15. Ingo Bildstein (Liechtenstein) "Tackling the 21st Century's Most Important Management Challenge by Seizing Innovative Psychological Considerations to Boost Knowledge Work Results"

The authors of the top 9 essays will be flown to Vienna to attend the "Global Peter Drucker Forum 2010" on November 18th and 19th. The authors of the next-ranked 35 essays are eligible to free access to the "Drucker Forum".
A word to those whose essays didn't make it into the top 40: With over 200 essays submitted you faced a highly competitive environment and our jury often had to make very difficult decisions. Please bear also in mind that this essay contest revolved around Peter Drucker and his ideas. When in doubt the jury members tended to choose the essays that had a bit more Drucker resp. Druckerian ideas or spirit in them. We do hope, though, that you nevertheless found writing your essay a rewarding experience. We want to let you know how much we appreciate you having taken the time and having taken part in this year's "Peter Drucker Challenge".

We are very glad you did!
Thank you very much!

*The jury consisted of:

Danica Purg,
President of the IEDC-Bled School of Management, Slovenia,
and the founding President of the Central and East European Management Development Association

Elizabeth Haas Edersheim,
business and non-profit organization consultant, and author of
"The Definitive Drucker"

John Peters,
CEO of Emerald, and editor of "Management Decision" journal.

"It was with the tension between continuity and change that my own work began" - Peter F. Drucker

Until very old age Peter Drucker (1909-2005) held classes at the management school named after him in Claremont, California. Students came from far away and in high numbers to hear him speak - the legendary management thinker and business consultant, "the man who invented management", as The New York Times once famously called Drucker.

Peter Drucker's classes were a forum where an active exchange between him and his students took place. He taught them the art of management and lessons from history, but at the same time he also wanted to learn from them. After all, these young men and women represented the future. They brought with them new experiences and new perspectives that would impact and shape the economy and society to come.

It is in the spirit of this Druckerian duality of teaching and learning from the young generation that the Peter Drucker Society of Europe is launching in May 2010 the first "Global Peter Drucker Challenge", an international essay contest for students, young managers and young entrepreneurs.

The essay contest has the overarching theme

"Continuity and Change - Balancing Innovation and Time-Tested Practices"

The young Peter Drucker grew up in a time of unprecedented upheavals in politics, the economy and technology that fundamentally changed society. Like the young generation today he was confronted with a massive and worldwide economic crisis - indeed, the very first article Drucker wrote as a rookie editor for the Frankfurter General-Anzeiger newspaper in 1929 happened to be about infamous "Wall Street Crash", which sounded the bell for a massive and worldwide economic crisis.

Today's situation is not identical, but we too are faced with a worldwide economic crisis and a society in transition. It's a transition on many levels - technological, economic, societal - that needs to be properly managed. To do that the contributions of the young generation will be key. They will have to find the right balance between continuity and change, will have to find innovative and contemporary ways without ignoring or even destroying old and time-tested practices and tools that worked and still work.

Peter Drucker's thinking about management is based on the fundamental idea that management is a key function in modern societies, way beyond just business management. Drucker calls management the most important social innovation of the 20th century. In a society that is constituted of organizations and institutions - from public sector bodies, education and research institutions, health care providers and businesses - there is a common thread: to determine the right direction for the organization, to develop objectives and plans, to implement, to adjust to changing conditions and to understand whether the objectives have been reached or not.

We want to hear from young people, want to hear from YOU - about to enter the workforce or already with some first-hand experiences in companies, organizations, or as young entrepreneurs: Where do they see the biggest and most realistic opportunities for innovation and change - and where would they be most needed? How can we be successful in managing those changes?

The essay may focus on specific institutional fields such as public sector, education, corporations, small business etc. or may take a transversal perspective. Concrete recommendations for directions to take and concrete measures should be part of the conclusion.

Although the essay contest is not be understood as a test on Peter Drucker, a familiarity with Drucker's works and ideas is certainly welcome and even more so the ability to apply or re-interpret Drucker's way of thinking in the light of contemporary developments.

Guidelines

Participants must not to be older than 35 years. The length of the essays should be between 1.500 words and 3.000 words (which roughly translates into 5-10 pages). Essays can be submitted in both English and German - the two languages Peter Drucker wrote his articles and books in. The new deadline for submitting the essays is September 15th, 2010.

What is the prize?

- The authors of the top 3 essays will be flown to Vienna and invited to participate at the "Global Peter Drucker Forum 2010" in Vienna on November 19. Winners will also be invited to participate in the Senior Executive Symposium on November 17.

- Up to 40 authors of high quality essays with free access to the "Global Peter Drucker Forum 2010" on November 18 and 19.

How will the ranking be determined?

Through a jury consisting of business executives, academics, students and representatives of the Peter Drucker Society. The winning essays will be announced by the end of September.

How to apply for participation

Essays can be submitted either directly by e-mail to druckerchallenge[at]gmail[dot]com or by using the upload form on this site - just click on the three circles underneath!