In a modern society, which became a society of organizations, management played a crucial role for Drucker. The development of democracy was reflected for him within the structure of the organizations. The social responsibility of management will be to become the main counterweight to authoritarian movements and totalitarianism. Decision-makers have the task of giving orientation to people in organizations. Drucker called this a social ecological task. The ecology of man is the social world. His balance is maintained by social relations. They determine his ecology. People have a need to give their lives a meaning and to be valued for their actions and actions of fellow human beings. Management with the focus on a social ecology has to make a revision of its development and education. Executives of today and tomorrow need a comprehensive education in liberal arts in which virtues such as judgment, responsible self-limitation or role-model function are developed and the dangers of de-differentiation, abuse of power and loss of trust are discussed. Drucker’s legacy is unfinished. Dedifferentiation, nationalism or authoritarianism can destroy democracies and its economies. Drucker’s legacy should not be frayed.
Management as a social function