4 PART VIDEO PROGRAM

The Globalization Challenges (30')

Drucker presents examples to illustrate how companies should get prepared for an era of unprecedented competition.

Globalization in finance, retail, services, manufacturing... Any leader in a local market is in global competition with anybody. From the meat packaging industry to the furniture industry, from the insurance business to financial services, every company must be prepared to face new competitors coming in overnight. The impact of globalization in medium-sized and family companies. Some lessons from the Asian Tigers.

The New Consumer (30')

In this unit Drucker summarizes the values and needs of a global and much better informed consumer.

The new consumers are characterized by an extreme segmentation of values. The 5 social-economic classifications are no longer true. Markets are segmenting as customer values segment. Examples lie in the retail business and in manufacturing industries. A growing price-conscious culture. Brands still matter, but no longer sell by themselves. A new generation of quality-conscious, price-conscious, performance-conscious customers. ISO 9000 and quality: its importance to the consumer and to the distributor.

The New Knowledge Worker (30')

Drucker discusses how the rise of the knowledge worker challenges practically all existing management practices.

In developed countries, 40% of the total workforce are knowledge workers. The concept of the knowledge workers and how to manage them. Skills (manual work) change very slowly, but knowledge requires continuous learning. Knowledge workers are narrow specialists, so they need access to an organization and teamwork to make their knowledge productive. Mobility, the key characteristic of the knowledge worker. The knowledge worker: Employee or associate? Cost or capital asset?

Exploring the Knowledge Society (25')

Drucker describes the traits of a new society where knowledge is the chief resource and where knowledge workers make up the biggest part of the workforce.

A far more complex society where national boundaries are meaningless and education is becoming infinitely more important than ever. The competitiveness of nations, industries and individual companies and its relationship with infrastructures and governmental tasks. Competing for people and attracting talent. Reinventing Government: what should governments do? The priority tasks for the 21st Century.