The New Society

Name: The New Society
ISBN: 9787111601012

Peter Ferdinand DruckerChina Machine Press2019

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Chapters: 18
Series: The Peter F. Drucker Collection
ISBN: 9787111601012

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Summary

The New Society is the final volume of Peter Drucker's "Industrial Society Trilogy" (The Future of Industrial Man, Concept of the Corporation, and The New Society), originally titled The New Society: The Anatomy of Industrial Order and written from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. In this book, Drucker no longer confines himself to management techniques inside the enterprise but places the enterprise back within the structure of industrial society as a whole: what institutions make up industrial society, how they coordinate with one another, how individuals gain identity, status, and responsibility within it, and how freedom and order can coexist. The book analyzes four main threads: economic conflict (wage struggles, workers' resistance to increasing output and profitability), the relationship between management and unions (whether management can become a legitimate governing institution and whether unions can exist long-term), the plant community (individuals' demands for status and responsibility, the communication gap, the "vending machine theory," and "depression shock syndrome"), and the question of the management function (the threefold nature of management work, why managers fail to fulfill their responsibilities, and where future managers come from). On this basis, Drucker proposes four principles of industrial order: the abolition of poverty, federalist management organization, autonomy of the plant community, and unions as citizens. One frequently cited judgment in the book is that the most serious consequence of unemployment is not economic but social and psychological; what can truly solve the problems of employment and income security is the enterprise as a microeconomic entity, not the state. The book integrates perspectives from management, sociology, political science, history, and psychology, and is regarded as an important text for understanding "why the enterprise is a social institution." It also had considerable influence on postwar Japanese corporate management and social governance.

Editor's review

很多人读德鲁克，是从《卓有成效的管理者》《管理的实践》入门的，那里谈的是“如何把事情做对”。而《新社会》回答的是更靠前的一问：企业凭什么在社会中站得住？为什么工厂里的工资冲突、工人对产量的抵触、员工对公司的疏离感，不能只用奖金和制度来解决？这本书的难得之处，在于它把管理问题放回社会结构里。德鲁克既不是站在资本一边，也不是站在劳工一边，而是追问：在一个以大型组织为主体的工业社会里，个人如何获得身份与职责，管理层如何取得治理的合法性，工会如何从对抗者变为公民性机构。他给出的四条原理——消灭贫困、联邦制管理组织、工厂社区自治、工会公民化——今天读来仍有现实感：平台经济、零工就业、组织内卷与“躺平”背后的心理失序，其实都是同一个老问题的当代版本。作为“工业社会三部曲”的收束之作，本书视野宏大、论证绵密，读起来比德鲁克那些畅销小册子要吃力，但也更能理解他后来所有管理主张的价值前提。对想把“管理”从工具层面提升到制度层面的人来说，这是一本绕不过去的书。

Who it's for

A good fit for

读过《卓有成效的管理者》《管理的实践》，想追溯德鲁克思想源头的读者
企业高管、组织与人力资源从业者，关心员工归属感与组织治理
社会学、政治学、管理学专业的学生与研究者
对工业社会结构、劳资关系与工会问题感兴趣的历史读者

Not a good fit for

只想快速掌握管理工具与技巧、追求即用型方法的读者
没有耐心读长篇理论论证的入门读者
期待读到当代案例与最新数据的读者

Reading tips

建议先读“引言：工业时代的革命”和“结论：一个自由的工业社会”，把握全书的问题意识与主张
把书中的四大剖析与四条原理对照阅读，边读边记录自己对每一条的判断
若时间有限，可优先读第三部分（管理层与工会）和第四部分（工厂社区），这两部分与今天的组织问题最贴近
可与《工业人的未来》《公司的概念》按三部曲顺序对读，理解德鲁克社会思想的完整脉络

About the publisher

China Machine Press China · Founded in 1950

In addition to science and technology and professional publishing, the books in our catalog from China Machine Press also reflect a sustained focus on psychology, computing, management, finance and economics, and social sciences. In psychology, the catalog includes works by C. G. Jung and introductions to analytical psychology, as well as applied topics such as stress and health, and addiction and healing. In computing, it features Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (JavaScript Edition). Management and finance titles include Administrative Behavior (4th Edition), The Price of Inequality (Collector's Edition), and This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Commemorative Edition). In the philosophy and history of science, there is The Worldview: The Third Edition. Relevant authors include C. G. Jung, William McGuire, Sonu Shamdasani, and Gabor Maté. Public information is limited; the above summarizes the publisher's profile based solely on the books in our catalog.

Publishing Note
Foreword 1
Foreword 2
Translator's Preface
Preface to the 1993 Edition
Preface to the 1962 Edition
Introduction: The Industrial Age Revolution
Part One The Industrial Enterprise (1 The New Social Order / 2 The Enterprise in Modern Society / 3 An Anatomy of the Enterprise / 4 The "Avoid Losses" Rule / 5 The Rule of Higher Output / 6 Profitability and Performance)
Part Two An Anatomy of Industrial Order I: Economic Conflict (7 The Real Problem Is the Wage Conflict / 8 Workers' Resistance to Higher Output / 9 Workers' Hostility to Profit)
Part Three An Anatomy of Industrial Order II: Management and Unions (10 Can Management Become a Legitimate Governing Institution / 11 Can Unions Endure / 12 Union Demands and the Common Good / 13 The Union Leader's Dilemma / 14 Divided Loyalties of Enterprise Employees)
Part Four An Anatomy of Industrial Order III: The Plant Community (15 The Individual's Demand for Status and Responsibility / 16 The Need for a "Managerial Attitude" / 17 People at Work / 18 Is There Really a Lack of Opportunity / 19 The Communication Gap / 20 The "Vending Machine Theory" and "Depression Shock Syndrome")
Part Five An Anatomy of Industrial Order IV: The Question of the Management Function (21 The Threefold Nature of Management Work / 22 Why Managers Fail to Fulfill Their Responsibilities / 23 Where Future Managers Come From / 24 Is Large Scale an Obstacle to Good Management)
Part Six Principle One of Industrial Order: The Abolition of Poverty (25 Labor as a Capital Resource / 26 Predictable Income and Employment / 27 Workers' Stake in Profit / 28 The Threat of Unemployment)
Part Seven Principle Two of Industrial Order: Federalist Management Organization (29 "Organization Theory Is the Study of People" / 30 Decentralization and Federalism / 31 Is a Competitive Market Necessary for Management)
Part Eight Principle Three of Industrial Order: Autonomy of the Plant Community (32 Community Governance and Enterprise Management / 33 Management Must Truly Manage / 34 Workers and Their Community Self-Governing Institutions / 35 Plant Community Self-Governing Institutions and Unions)
Part Nine Principle Four of Industrial Order: Unions as Citizens (36 A Rational Wage Policy / 37 How Far Can Unions Control the Public / 38 When Do Strikes Become Intolerable)
Conclusion: A Free Industrial Society
Postscript to the 1962 Edition

FAQ

《新社会》和德鲁克的《管理的实践》有什么区别？

《管理的实践》谈的是企业内部如何管理、管理者该做什么；《新社会》则把企业当作一种社会制度来考察，讨论工业社会的结构、劳资关系、工厂社区与管理层的合法性。前者偏技术，后者偏制度与思想根基。

这本书是“工业社会三部曲”的第几本？

它是三部曲的终章，前两部分别是《工业人的未来》和《公司的概念》。三部曲合起来，才构成德鲁克对工业社会本质、结构与运行机理的完整分析。

目前最常见的中文版是哪个？

流传较广的是机械工业出版社的版本：2009年“珍藏版”（石晓军等译），以及2019年收入“彼得·德鲁克全集”的新版（石晓军、覃筱译），ISBN 9787111601012。另有上海人民出版社2002年沈国华译本《新社会——对工业秩序的剖析》。

书里讲的“工厂社区自治”是什么意思？

德鲁克认为，工厂不只是生产场所，也是员工获得身份、地位和归属的社会单元。他主张在工厂内部建立有一定自治性的社区机构，让员工参与治理，从而缓解疏离感，而不是把所有协调责任都交给国家或工会对抗。

这本书适合当管理学入门书吗？

不太适合。它更接近社会理论与制度分析，论证密度高、时代背景强。建议先读德鲁克较通俗的管理著作，再回头读这本，会更容易进入。

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About the author

Peter Ferdinand Drucker Author · Austrian-American · 1909–2005

Peter Drucker (1909–2005) was born in Vienna, Austria, and moved to the United States in 1937. A management consultant, educator, and writer, he is widely regarded as the father of modern management. Through his writing and consulting, he helped establish management as a teachable practice and introduced influential ideas such as management by objectives and the knowledge worker. His major works include The Practice of Management, The Effective Executive, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Adventures of a Bystander, and The Age of Discontinuity. His books combine depth of thought with practical concern and span management, social science, and finance. In 2002 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.