19_01_03_IEH

Campus Last November 22nd, a meeting organized by the high school business and HumanismMadrid Vivo Foundation and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, under the topic "La evaluation humanística de la acción directiva". The speaker of the session was Jenny Darroch, Dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, and author of several books on innovation and marketing(Why Marketing to Women Doesn't Work (2014), Marketing Through Turbulent Times (2010) and Innovation and Knowledge Management (2002)). The workshop, introduced by the President of high school, Ricardo Martí-Fluxá, and by the President of the Madrid Vivo Foundation, Javier Cremades, was attended by almost a hundred guests.

Professor Darroch, an expert in Drucker's thought, spoke about the importance of sustainable organizations in all sectors of society, which must be governed by ethical and responsible managers who pay attention to what they contribute to society and for society. This is a central idea in the thinking of Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, who, as a good humanist, placed the human condition at the center of all his work. Drucker believed that managers should get things done through people; care about people; understand human nature; consider efficiency and profitability and, in turn, ask broader philosophical questions about morality, spirituality, emotional well-being and dignity. He saw the need to emphasize personal, subjective and individual experiences; to give people a status, role and sense of community, and a clear meaning and goals; to enable people to participate in decision making; to have faith in human potential and in the human capacity to self-manage and behave appropriately; to understand values and to legitimize managerial authority through adherence to shared values.

Darroch noted that one of the challenges facing managers today is to overcome the idea that maximizing shareholder wealth is the only measure of organizational success. If this change is not achieved, professional managers become accountable only to themselves, with no greater moral, social or ethical obligation to society or to the organizations that employ them. He also explained with examples such as his own School of Management how this need to overcome a limited vision of management, adopting a more humanistic approach , is filtering through to Business Schools and is reflected in their plans for programs of study.

Finally, Jenny Darroch stated that, if one agrees agreement that a humanistic approach is essential to management, the manager must focus on creating and maintaining healthy organizations in which people can find meaning and purpose.

The lecture was introduced and moderated by Guido Stein, Professor of Personnel Management Service at IESE and renowned expert on the figure and work of Peter Drucker.