Jim Collins:

Business and social entrepreneur Bob Buford once observed that Drucker contributed as much to the triumph of free society as any other individual. I agree. For free society to function we must have high-performing, self-governed institutions in every sector, not just in business, but equally in the social sectors. Without that, as Drucker himself pointed out, the only workable alternative is totalitarian tyranny. Strong institutions, in turn, depend directly on excellent management…

From his introduction to the revised edition of Peter Drucker’s classic Management.

And well managed institutions, in turn, depend upon a right understanding of management. Hence, Collins ends the above paragraph like this: “… and no individual had a greater impact on the practice of management and no single book captures its essence better than his seminal text, Management.”

Other helpful books on management include:

• The Practice of Management, Drucker
• First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
• Managing the Nonprofit Organization, Drucker
• Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen Covey

Jim Collins:

In other words, management matters immensely for the health of society. Free society is not ultimately sustainable without effective organizations and, therefore, effective management.