Entrepreneurial Expert Peter Drucker

ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERT
PETER F. DRUCKER:
THE DRUCKER LEGACY ON INNOVATION AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By

Richard J. Goossen

Entrepreneurship is neither science nor an art. It is a practice.

Peter F. Drucker
Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
p. 248

Entrepreneurial Expert Peter F. Drucker Legacy on Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Introduction to Peter F. Drucker

Biographical Highlights

His seminal work, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1985), is one of the most important
books written on the topic.
His unmatchable coverage and analysis, citing events from personal experience dating
back to the 1930s, has significant span and scope.
Of his thirty-nine books, fifteen deal with management, including the landmark books
The Practice of Management and The Effective Executive; sixteen cover society,
economics, and politics; two are novels; and one is a collection of autobiographical
essays. His last book, Managing in the Next Society, was published in fall 2002.
Drucker also served as a regular columnist for The Wall Street Journal from 1975 to
1995, and has contributed essays and articles to numerous publications, including the
Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Economist. Throughout his
sixty-five year career, he consulted with dozens of organizations, ranging from the
world's largest corporations to entrepreneurial start-ups and various governments.
KEY DATA:
Name Peter F. Drucker (1909 2005)
Title Professor Emeritus
Affiliation Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA (1971
2005)
Education Doctorate in Public and International Law from
Frankfurt University in Frankfurt, Germany;
Received over a dozen honorary doctorates from
universities in five countries
Experience Advised and consulted on basic policies and long-range
trends to businesses, public and private institutions, and
government agencies in the US and internationally
Notable
Publications
Thirty-nine books, including The End of Economic
Man (1939), Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1985),
Managing For Results (1964),Management: Tasks,
Responsibilities and Practices (1973), and numerous
articles in academic publications and the popular press.
Website(s) www.peter-drucker.com; www.drucker.cgu.edu;
www.druckerarchives.net
A powerful mind

For a man of international renown, Dr. Peter Drucker was surprisingly gracious when I
contacted him via fax in April 2005. He communicated his support for my book project and
invited me to interview him in his home cityClaremont, Californiaduring the month of June.
The day before my departure, however, Dr. Druckers wife, Doris, phoned to let me know that
Dr. Drucker had fallen ill. Though Dr. Drucker indicated that he hoped to answer my questions
in writing, his inability to follow through on the interview was understandable. Sadly, he passed
away only a few months later, on November 11, 2005.
Jim Collins mentions in his Foreword to The Daily Drucker that Dr. Drucker warmly
welcomed him into his home.
1
In a similar manner, I was astounded to receive a typed letter,
signed by Dr. Drucker, in response to my request for an interview. This was doubly appreciated,
as I had read of business journalists attempting to contact him and receiving only a standard-
form letter in reply, declining their entreaties.
2
Dr. Druckers efforts to make contact with me
indicated his interest in this project, and reiterated his commitment to helping others in the study
of entrepreneurial excellenceright up to the time of his death. Indeed, his legacy leaves a
strong presence in the field of entrepreneurship, and must be taken into account.
Although circumstances prevented him from contributing to this chapter, I have
summarized some of his central thoughts, however briefly, and received valuable feedback from
Prof. Joseph Maciariello, Druckers colleague and recent collaborator on The Daily Drucker and
The Effective Executive in Action.
3
Karl H. Vesper, an long-time personal acquaintance of
Druckers (featured in Chapter 12), and a man of whom Drucker spoke highly in his book
Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
4
also provided me with some delightful anecdotes. I offer this
chapter in the spirit of a festschrift, in honor of Dr. Druckers contribution to the field.
Entrepreneurship experts frequently cite Druckers Innovation and Entrepreneurship as a
leading work in the field. It offers a fresh and unique perspective, and rings true even twenty
years after its original publication date. Thus, I would argue that Drucker is not only the father
of modern management, as many say, but also the father of systematic innovation and
entrepreneurship.
With profound respect, Vesper reflects: The power of [Druckers] mind was almost
unimaginable to me, and I have met some very smart people, such as the father of the H-Bomb
and the inventor of the transistor.
5
Druckers intellect was matched by a strong sense of wit.
Vesper asked Drucker in Spring 2005 for words of advice that Vesper could pass along to young
faculty interested in entrepreneurship at the 2005 Academy of Management meeting in
Honolulu. Drucker responded wryly, If I ever had anything to say on this subject, I have
already said it IF.
6

Vesper also recalls Druckers speech at the Academy of Management meetings in San
Diego in 2000. Drucker was ninety at the time. He was up on stage using a PowerPoint
presentation and addressing a large auditorium filled with management professors. When he
finished his presentation, he took questions from the audience, submitted on small index cards.
Vesper recounts, Then there was a final question: Professor Drucker, US business
schools this year will graduate 65,000 MBAs. Would you please comment? Drucker leaned
forward, squinted out at the enormous auditorium filled with management professors, and asked,
Is it possible to buy stock in this organization? The audience enthusiastically clapped as he
leaned back. When the room was quiet, he leaned forward again and said, Well at least they are
not going to be lawyers! This time the audience stood up and cheered.
7

Odd as it may seem, Drucker was underratedat least, with respect to his contributions
to entrepreneurship. His enormous influence in the field of management gave him wisdom about
the nature of innovation and entrepreneurship. Perhaps that is why his book Innovation and
Entrepreneurship is one of the few truly seminal works in the field. It analyzes the nature of the
entrepreneurial process, and provides a philosophical understanding; comparatively, most other
books are survey types, providing an overview of the mechanics of the process.
I read Innovation and Entrepreneurship shortly after it was published in 1985. Then I
reread it in preparation for writing this chapter. The prescient nature of many of his comments is
striking. To this day, I cannot think of another book that presents such valuable descriptions of
the role of innovation in the process of entrepreneurship.
2.1 The practice of innovation

Druckers definition of entrepreneurship has a specific focus: innovation. Thus, he
distinguishes between entrepreneurial businesses, which involve innovation, and other small
businesses, which do not. For example, a person who develops and markets a new product is an
entrepreneur, whereas the typical corner grocer is not. Likewise, a restaurant franchisee may not
be an entrepreneur, while an independent restaurant owner may be.
In other words, entrepreneurs focus on innovation, and innovation is rooted in creating
change and endowing existing resources with new wealth. Entrepreneurs view change as the
source of opportunity in the marketplacethey embrace change, rather than avoid it. In
addition, such thinking is the norm for entrepreneurs; for others, it is an aberration. Drucker
writes that an entrepreneur continually searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an
opportunity.
8
This means doing something different, which is the realm of innovation, rather
than simply excelling at something that is already being done. The latter may be profitable, but
falls into the realm of increased productivity through operational improvements.
Furthermore, according to Drucker, entrepreneurs learn to practice systematic innovation
through identifying and pursuing opportunities; this is the process of entrepreneurship. Change
creates an opportunity for the entrepreneur to generate personal wealth and, indirectly, provide
value to the overall economy. Drucker remarks, Innovation is the specific instrument of
entrepreneurship. It is the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.

Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the act that endows
resources with a new capacity to create wealth. There are seven key sources of
innovative opportunity: four within the business, and three due to changes outside the
business.
Innovation, indeed, creates a resource.
9
The created resourceas this is not a zero-sum
gameprovides value in the marketplace by deploying unproductive resources for more
productive purposes.
Drucker affirms that, since entrepreneurship is not a mere personality trait, individuals
can learn the innovation process. Obviously, increasing ones ability to innovate does not
guarantee financial success, but it will provide more opportunities for consideration. Drucker
posits, Systematic innovation therefore consists in the purposeful and organized search for
changes, and in the systematic analysis of the opportunities such changes might offer for
economic and social innovation.
10
Rather than presenting a broad definition that defies
meaningful analysis, Druckers explanation demystifies the process of entrepreneurship. As
well, his specific focus provides a clear starting point for developing ones own entrepreneurship
practice.
Drucker identifies seven sources of innovative opportunity. Four sources lie within a
business, and the other three are due to changes outside the enterprise or industry. The first
source is the unexpected occurrence: the unexpected success, the unexpected failure, or the
unexpected outside event. Drucker recounts the well-known tale of Ray Krocnot the founder
of McDonalds Restaurants, but the person who built the company into the colossus that it is
today, with its globally-recognizable Golden Arches and its famous cast of cartoon characters.
Ray Kroc was selling milkshake machines to small-scale restaurants when he noticed that one of
his customers, the McDonald Brothers Restaurant, bought an unusually large number of the
appliances. This unexpected event led him to discover that the restaurant had an overwhelming
amount of customers due to its streamlined menu, low prices, and fast service. In response, he
eventually bought out the brothers and built his burger empire.
According to Drucker, a second source of innovative opportunity may be an
incongruity between reality as it actually is and reality as it is assumed to be, or should be.
11

In the mid-1980s, when Drucker wrote Innovation and Entrepreneurship, O.M. Scott & Co. was
the leader among US producers of lawn-care products (grass seed, fertilizer and pesticides). It
then became a subsidiary of a larger corporation called ITT.
12
Basically, the company became a
leader in the industry because of a simple mechanical gadget called a spreader, a small,
lightweight wheelbarrow with holes that allowed the proper quantities of Scotts products to pass
through in an even flow. Prior to the Scott Spreader, no supplier of lawn-care products gave the
customer a tool to control the process.
13
Yet without such a tool, there was a total incongruity in
the logic of the process; there was no way to control the amount of fertilizer dispensed.
14

A third source of innovation within the enterprise is innovation based on a process need,
a restatement of the clich that necessity is the mother of invention. As an example, Drucker
cites the development of photography. In the 1870s, photographic processes required heavy and
fragile glass plates, which had to be lugged around and treated with great care. The plates
themselves required an equally heavy camera, and a long preparation time before one could take
a picture.
15
In the 1880s, George Eastman, the founder of Kodak, replaced the heavy glass plates
with cellulose film of negligible weight, and designed a lightweight camera around the film.
Within 10 years, Kodak was the world leader in photography.
16
Interestingly, at the turn of this
century, the postlude of continuing technological developments in photographynamely, the
invention and popularity of digital photographyhas created serious challenges for film
companies such as Kodak. No less than in the late 1800s, the companies that recognized change,
and thus capitalized on opportunity, now claim leadership in the field today.
Druckers fourth, and final, source of innovative opportunity within the enterprise is
changes in industry structure or market structure that catch most people unaware.
17
Drucker
mentions differentiation within the car industry, where brand names for vehicles strategically
carve out niches in the market. A vehicle has long ceased to be merely a means of
transportation; now it is a status symbol, and a reflection of ones personality. The phrase You
are what you drive, despite its facileness, is the mantra for many consumers. For example, a
Rolls Royce automobile, the worlds most expensive car, is fit for royaltyand others who can
afford to spend royally. A BMW sports car is attractive to the up-and-coming executives, and
the Mercedes-Benz sedan is respectable and reliable luxury on wheels.
As the market changes, due to fluctuating preferences and buying power, new niches
arise. One can look back to the mass arrival of Japanese cars in America in the 1980s, when
consumers turned their back on poorly-built, fuel-inefficient American cars, and emptied their
wallets for reliable, well-built Japanese models. This shift in the market caught most of Detroit
unaware, as did the more recent shift to hybrid vehicles (which happened first in the United
States when Toyota introduced the Prius).
In addition to these four sources of innovative opportunity within a business, Drucker
makes note of three changes outside the enterprise that create sources of innovative opportunity.
The first is shifting demographic trendsincluding changes in population size, composition,
employment, educational status, and income. Popular age-defining terms are Baby Boomers,
Baby Busters, and Generation X, designations that connote various opportunities as these
groups move through their life cycles. Drucker explains that the success of Club Med in the
travel and resort business stems from their capitalization on demographic changes, specifically
the growing number of wealthy and well-educated young people with working-class family
backgrounds.
18
Club Med tapped into this opportunity, recognizing that the individuals in their
demographic focus are ready-made customers for a new and exotic version of the old teenage
hangout.
19
Club Med continues to exploit demographic trends, having recently diversified
locations for singles, couples, and families.
Another source of innovation opportunity is a change in perception, mood, and meaning.
Drucker recounts how people previously ate based on income and class; thus, ordinary people
ate and the rich dined.
20
Todays trend has been towards feeding, however, which is
simply a matter of getting edible food in the fastest and simplest manner possible. Customer
satisfaction depends on speed of delivery rather than quality of product. How many people will
patiently wait in a McDonalds line-up for more than a minute? Very few, indeed. Successful
food service companies have been those who understood and exploited this attitude.
The third source of innovation opportunity outside the enterprise is the superstar of
entrepreneurship: new knowledge, both scientific and non-scientific.
21
Drucker describes the
features of this source: first, it has the longest lead time of all innovations. Specifically,
scientific discoveries, such as those in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, require regulatory
approvals that involve a tedious completion process. Secondly, new knowledge is usually based
on several pieces of prior knowledge converging, not all of which are technological or scientific.
As well, not all of the knowledge necessary for innovation is available. Therefore, one must
conduct a careful analysis of all the factors required to perfect the product. Following that
process, a company must develop this new knowledge for commercialization, and that company
must identify its strategic position in relation to its competitors. Finally, in order to successfully
execute the commercialization, the company must aim for dominancebecause the innovation
based on new knowledge will probably have plenty of competition. The innovator must get it
right the first time.
To summarize, Drucker highlights seven sources of innovative opportunity: four within
the enterprise, and the remaining three outside the enterprise. His discussion of these
opportunities reflects a systematic and purposeful approach to identifying, understanding, and
applying the heart of entrepreneurship, which is innovation.
2.2 The principles of innovation

The sub-heading of Innovation and Entrepreneurship is Practice and Principles. We
have reviewed the practices, and now we will examine the principlesnamely, we will
determine how to follow through with being an innovative enterprise. Drucker reviews the
dos, the donts, and three conditions.
Drucker identifies five dos. First, he tells people to analyze the seven sources of
innovative opportunities discussed in the prior section.
22
Second, he points out that innovation
involves both concepts and perceptions.
23
In other words, look at numbers and talk to people.
Get consumer feedback; test out an idea in practice. Third, he believes successful innovations
are simple and focused.
24
A wedge into a marketplace cannot be too complex.
Fourth, one must start small. Drucker remarks that innovation may be as elementary as
putting the same number of matches into a matchboxwhich, for the Swedish innovators who
did so, opened the door to filling matchboxes automatically. Thus, this simple idea gave its
Swedish inventors dominance in the match-making industry for almost fifty years.
25
Lastly, a
successful innovator aims for leadership, in order to establish a niche in the marketplace. Put
together, these five dos provide one dimension of the principles of innovation.
The other dimension of the principles of innovation is the donts. Drucker lists three.
First, dont try to be clever. In other words, the innovation should not test the extent of a
persons unbridled ingenuity, but should rather tailor something to the needs of the market.

Five dos and three donts act as principles for the successful pursuit of
innovation.

Druckers succinct comment: Innovations have to be handled by ordinary human beings;
moreover, Drucker asserts that, if the innovations become popular, they will be handled by
morons and near-morons.
26
(One need only think of many technological gadgets, from cell-
phones to handy-cam video recorders: ironically, most consumers fail to use up to ninety
percent of these devices functions.)
Next, dont diffuse efforts by trying to do too many things at once. One successful
innovation is a good start; dont burden yourself at the outset. Lastly, dont innovate for the
future. Innovate for the here-and-now, what people need at this moment. Drucker offers
Edisons story as a great historical example. While other entrepreneurs were working on the
light bulb of the future, Edison set his attention on making a light bulb of the present. He
understood where and how the technology was available, and he practically exploited resources
to meet the demands of the time.
27

In addition to the five dos and the three donts, Drucker highlights some conditions
for the principles of innovation. To begin with, he acknowledges that innovation is laborious,
and that retrospective explanations of an individuals successful innovation will often minimize
the degree of effort involved. Indeed, there is still no known substitute for hard work. Also,
innovators need to build on their strengthsotherwise a successful breakthrough will be
difficult. There is very little innovation among dilettantes. And finally, since innovation creates
a change in the way people think, act, and accomplish tasks, challenges will surface along the
way. Others may prefer to be spectators rather than participants, but entrepreneurs must embrace
change easily.

2.3 Entrepreneurial management

Drucker believes there has been a shift from a managerial to an entrepreneurial
economy in the US, evidenced by job creation among small businesses and by the increasing
popularity of self-employment. (From the time of Druckers writing to the present date, the
number of jobs created by small businesses in the US has continued to expand.) What these
small enterprises have in common is transferable entrepreneurial skills.
Drucker refers to entrepreneurial management as a new technology.
28
Moreover, he
believes this technology of management fosters a significant social shift in attitudes, values, and
above all, behaviorand thus creates the entrepreneurial economy environment in North
America.
29
In essence, Drucker seeks to provide a systematic approach to entrepreneurship,
rooted in practice. As a result, the starting point for successfully launching a new venture is the
development of the principles, practice, and discipline of entrepreneurial skills.
Drucker proposes a set of principles that apply in a variety of circumstances. He also
writes that a specific guide to the practice of entrepreneurship should be developed for different
types of organizations: namely the existing business, the public-service organization, and the
new venture. Drucker again stresses the potential for a systematic, thoughtful approach in the
context of this discussiondespite the fact that entrepreneurship is typically viewed as
spontaneous, fluid and even chaotic. He states, Where the conventional wisdom goes wrong is
in its assumption that entrepreneurship and innovation are natural, creative, or spontaneous.
30

Entrepreneurial management is not natural, creative or spontaneous, but instead is
based on a systematic, thoughtful approach of supportive policies and practices.

Of course, Drucker begs to differ with this conventional wisdom: in his view,
entrepreneurship is not merely natural or creative. Rather, he believes it is work.
31
He
likely offers this perspective as an antidote to the perception that people who concoct bright,
innovative ideas are gifted with unusual creative geniusa popular idea that is simply not the
case.
Effective entrepreneurial management requires strategic development in four major areas.
First, an organization must strive to create an entrepreneurial climate. The organization must
become receptive to innovation, willing to perceive change as an opportunity and not a threat.
Such openness does not happen by itself; rather, the entrepreneurial manager must implement
policies and practices to foster this climate. Present examples are 3M of Minnesota and Proctor
& Gamble of Ohio, two companies famous for their innovative policies and for procedures that
spawned an unprecedented stream of new products.
Second, an entrepreneur must systematically measure, or at least appraise, a companys
performance. Unless he or she uses some form of evaluation based on measurable criteria,
success is indeterminate, and strategic planning is undermined. Third, he or she must carry out
specific practices pertaining to organizational structure, staffing and managing, and
compensation and rewards. The entrepreneurial climate must flourish in tangible ways
throughout the organization. Lastly, entrepreneurial management involves certain donts, as
we will discuss later.
An entrepreneurial culture will be promoted through policies rooted in the pursuit of
opportunity. As an entrepreneur, one must make innovation attractive to managers, whether
through financial or other incentives. Without the committed effort of managers, an
entrepreneurs drive for innovation will not get past the planning session.
To get management on board, Drucker believes businesses must instill an attitude that
they are greedy for new things.
32
In other words, change must be a desirable norm; a company
must embrace the pursuit of new things as its operating mantra. As well, the company must
suggest criteria for innovative endeavors: how much innovation? In what areas? Within what
time frame?
Businesses could also incorporate a policy of systematic abandonment: if something isnt
working, encourage your company to allocate resources elsewhere. Keep in mind that unless
you clarify the goals of innovation, the company will likely not achieve them. Merely hoping for
a spontaneous bout of creative change is futile and fanciful. Instead, the company needs to have
a clear plan, with objectives and timelines, to facilitate effective planning.
Entrepreneurial practices complement the above policies. Managerial vision must be
focused on opportunity; the managers must spend sufficient time strategizing about company
prospects. Furthermore, the same entrepreneurial spirit must exist throughout the ranks of the
company. One may achieve this by organizing company planning sessions, during which
members throughout the organization communicate innovative ideas. Another policy is for top
management in an organization to meet with junior management in different departments and
solicit ideas for improvement. Still another is to provide incentives by offering large rewards to
successful innovators.
Drucker also lists some donts with respect to entrepreneurial practices. Namely, dont
mix managerial units with entrepreneurial ones.
33
This would be a culture clash between those
who are gathering resources to pursue new and untested ideas and those who are charged with
managing existing resources. As well, dont try to be innovative by taking an existing business
out of its own field.
34
Uprooting a business dilutes expertise and business know-how, and makes
the business likely to falter. Finally, dont try to make your business entrepreneurial by buying a
small entrepreneurial venture.
35
Mergers and acquisitions often dont work well, due mostly to
the resulting conflicts between company subcultures. Moreover, the larger, organizational
culture would simply subsume the acquired entrepreneurial venture. In addition, the leaders of
the entrepreneurial venture would be prone to leave the stifling environment of a large, stagnant
company.

2.4 Entrepreneurial strategies

In Innovation and Entrepreneurship Drucker highlights four entrepreneurial strategies.
For the first strategy, he cites a Confederate cavalry general during the American Civil War who
explained that he was able to consistently win his battles by taking initiative with concentrated
force and energybeing fustest with the mostest. Drucker then mentions a similar strategy for
entrepreneurs, who must seek leadership, if not dominance, of a new market.
36
This high risk
and high return strategy usually fails, because a firm allocates so many resources to the
undertaking.
Drucker explains that the weakness of this strategy is its demand on time, energy, and
resources. Other strategies are often better to employ, because in a majority of cases, the
opportunity is not great enough to justify the cost, the effort, and the investment of resources
required for the Fustest with the Mostest strategy.
37

As a successful example of the strategy, however, Drucker describes the origins of the
Mayo Clinic. Two Mayo brothers, surgeons in Rochester, MN, decided to establish a medical
center based on totally new concepts of medical practice, especially on building teams of
outstanding specialists who would work together under the guidance of a co-coordinating team
leader. Because they were innovators in the field of medicine, focused on building a leading
clinic, they were able to assemble outstanding practitioners in every branch of medicine. They

There are four key entrepreneurial strategies. Three intend to introduce an
innovationfustest with the mostest, hit them where they aint, and ecological
nichesand the fourth is innovation itself.
were also able to attract patients who could pay significant fees.
38
In their case, fustest with the
mostest was a worthwhile approach.
Drucker calls the second entrepreneurial strategy hit them where they aint, a phrase
also derived from the advice of a Confederate general. This expression embodies two different
lines of attack: creative imitation and entrepreneurial Judo. Drucker describes creative imitation
as a process of refining someone elses new innovation. While one company may have invented
a product or technology, that company may not be using the invention to its full potential.
39
For
example, Drucker cites the early battle between Apple and IBM in the field of personal
computers. The idea for a personal computer belonged to Apple; IBM believed that a small,
freestanding computer was a mistakeuneconomical and expensive. When Apple succeeded,
however, IBM began designing a similar (and slightly improved) machine. The result was the
PCa model that took leadership from Apple and became the fastest-selling brand within two
years.
40
This strategy carries less risk than Fustest with the Mostest, because someone else has
already identified the market and established the demand. But, with less risk comes potentially
fewer benefits, as the current leader may be difficult to dislodge.
The other tactic involved in hit them where they aint is entrepreneurial Judo. Judo,
as with most Asian martial arts, focuses on turning an opponents energy and momentum against
him or her. Drucker uses the reference to Judo in particular because it is Japanese in origin, and
the Japanese, from the 1940s on, have achieved success by attacking the strengths of their
American competitors. Japanese companies, such as Sony, have been able to dominate the
electronics market in the US with products such as transistor radios, television sets, and digital
watches. Also, Japanese auto manufacturers Toyota and Honda challenged the monopoly of the
Big Three auto manufacturers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) in 2005 and following: for the first
time in history, the Big Three claimed less than fifty percent of the domestic market share for
new vehicles sold in the US. Toyota, for example, exercised entrepreneurial Judo by excelling at
an area the Big Three had not yet consideredthe production of hybrid cars. Entrepreneurial
Judo, as Toyotas example demonstrates, is a relatively low-risk strategy with a high success
rate.
Overconfident companies have five bad habits that allow competitor firms to use
entrepreneurial Judo. One bad habit is the not invented here arrogance,
41
most common
among companies within a country. Large high-tech firms are sometimes skeptical of
innovations arising from small companies, believing that, with their vastly superior resources, a
minor competitors invention cannot pose a serious threat. The large company may assume, If it
were that good, we would have thought of it.
A second bad habit is the tendency to cream a market and stick with a high-profit
segment. Other areas of the market are probably still profitable, but the company turns a blind
eye to them. For example, a large brewery may focus on developing a nation-wide market for its
beer as a ubiquitous part of every sporting event. This may be a profitable business, but in the
meantime, micro-breweries have sprung up, offering a local, customized beer for a niche market.
International breweries have now recognized the niche by setting up their own micro-breweries
to tap this market.
Third, a company may mistakenly focus on qualitybased on the effort and expense of
creating the productrather than considering the consumers perception of a products value,
which often emphasizes special features.
42
Another bad habit for a company is the premium
price delusion, an open door for competitors to offer better prices for the same product. And
yet another bad habit is when companies attempt to maximize rather than optimize: as the market
grows, they try to satisfy every segment instead of focusing on their most profitable niches.
43
In
short, these weaknesses are a perfect invitation for entrepreneurial Judo; what companies see as
their strengths actually become their weaknesses, simply because they are playing into the hand
of their opponents.
The third entrepreneurial strategy is a search for ecological niches, aiming at obtaining
a practical monopoly in a small area.
44
According to Drucker, there are three distinct niche
tactics: the toll gate strategy, the specialty skill strategy, and the specialty market strategy. With
respect to the toll gate strategy, Drucker provides the example of the Alcon Company, which
developed an enzyme to eliminate an illogical feature of the standard surgical operation for
senile cataracts.
45
Once the company had developed and patented this enzyme, they had a toll
gate on the process. All surgeons, of course, would now need to use a teaspoonful of the enzyme
for each cataract operation. As well, the enzymes cost was insignificant in relation to the cost of
the total operation. Furthermore, because the total worldwide market for the product was a
projected fifty million dollars, it was not large enough to attraction attention from competitors.
Alcon successfully found an untapped place in the market. While the technology has changed
since Druckers discussion of Alcon, the example shows the potential of securing a practical
monopoly.
A second ecological niche is the specialty skill strategy. A common example is the
automobile industry, where brand names such as Ford, Mercedes, BMW, etc, are well known,
but parts suppliers are not. Drucker refers to the company A.O. Smith, of Milwaukee, which for
decades has been making every single frame used in an American passenger car. Another firm,
Bendix, used to make every single set of automotive brakes for the American car industry.
The third ecological niche is the specialty market strategy. While the specialty skill
strategy is built around a specific product or service, the latter is focused around the specialized
knowledge of a market. For example, Drucker lists two medium-sized European companies that
supply the great majority of automated baking ovens for cookies and crackers. The strength of
these two companies is their knowledge of a very specialized market: they know every single
baker, and every single baker knows them.
While the first three entrepreneurial strategies introduce an innovation, the fourth strategy
is innovation itself. Innovation can transform a long-established product or service into
something new. There are four dimensions to this approach. The primary dimension, customer
utility, is reflected in the origins of the postal service. People generally credit Rowland Hill of
England with having invented the postal service in 1836. He didnt; after all, the Romans had a
postal service centuries earlier. However, Hill did create mail by devising the system whereby
postal carriers could transport letters and packages for a fixed, prepaid fee (indicated by a
stamp). His innovation allowed an impractical and disorganized service to vastly expand and
improve its modes of operation.
Second, there is innovation with respect to pricing. King Gillette did not invent the razor,
but because of his shrewd pricing strategy, he dominated the market by the late 1800s. Gillette
practically gave away the razor, selling it at one-fifth of its manufacturing cost; but, his design
could only be used with its patented blades, which he sold at five times their manufacturing cost.
A third strategy is adaptation to the customers social and economic reality. General
Electric established world leadership in the sale of large steam turbines: when GE discovered
that its clients, electrical companies, did not have the skill to install and maintain the turbines,
GE set up a massive consulting organization. The company also generated profits by selling
high-priced replacement blades to customers. By carefully analyzing the customers needs, GE
was able to amplify the scope of its services.
The last innovative strategy is to deliver value to the customer. Herman Miller, for
example, moved from manufacturing furniture to designing whole offices, and then he went on
to establish a Facilities Management Institute, which advises companies on layout and design
ideas that increase worker productivity. Herman Millers pursuit of innovation was determined
by his customers needs.


Druckers key points

2.1 Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the act that endows resources
with a new capacity to create wealth. There are seven key sources of innovative opportunity:
four within the business, and three due to changes outside the business.

2.2 Five dos and three donts act as principles for the successful pursuit of innovation.

2.3 Entrepreneurial management is not natural, creative or spontaneous, but instead is based
on a systematic, thoughtful approach of supportive policies and practices.

2.4 There are four key entrepreneurial strategies. Three intend to introduce an innovation
fustest with the mostest, hit them where they aint, and ecological nichesand the
fourth is innovation itself.

Endnotes

1
Maciariello.
2
Crainer, 50.
3
Numerous telephone conversations and email communications with Joseph Maciariello from
May to September, 2005, and a review of this chapter in June 2007. At the same time, I take full
responsibility for the shortcomings and limitations of this brief summary of Prof. Druckers
insights on innovation and entrepreneurship.
4
Karl H. Vesper, Interview #1.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Drucker, Innovation and entrepreneurship, 277-8.
9
Ibid., 280.
10
Ibid., 285.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid., 317.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid., 318.
15
Ibid., 321.
16
Ibid., 322.
17
Ibid., 285.
18
Ibid., 345.
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid., 350.
21
Ibid., 357.
22
Ibid., 384.
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid., 386.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid., 387. See Stross, Randall E. The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison
Invented the Modern World (2007) for a recent and comprehensive biography of Edison.
28
Ibid., 261.
29
Ibid., 264.
30
Ibid., 400.
31
Ibid.
32
Ibid., 402.
33
Ibid., 424.
34
Ibid., 425.
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid., 460.
37
Ibid., 469.
38
Ibid., 462.
39
Ibid., 471.

40
Ibid.
41
Ibid., 477.
42
Ibid., 478.
43
Ibid., 479.
44
Ibid., 483.
45
Ibid.

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