The first post in what turned out to be a series of three on the topic of the purpose of business:
- What, exactly, is the purpose of business? An answer post-Drucker
- Debating the purpose of business
- Talking garbage and the purpose of business
Peter Drucker asserted that the purpose of business is to create and keep a customer. He was right at the time in offering previously inward-looking firms a more appropriate beacon. His dictum is, however, wrong for our time.
The assertion is insufficient in sustainability terms; ie, being concerned with the health and resilience of living systems such as organizations, society and the environment. A customer-centric outlook is too simplistic, simply failing to recognise complexity, and therefore at threat from business that has progressed beyond Drucker's heuristic. Read more