Joseph Maciariello


As a graduate student at New York University back in 1967, a young Joseph Maciariello knew Peter Drucker’s reputation, but couldn’t get into any of his jam-packed classes. So from afar, Maciariello studied the man who many called a genius for spotting trends, predicting future growth, and making management a liberal art.

More than a decade later, an opportunity arose to work alongside the management scholar at Claremont Graduate School. After some soul searching, Maciariello eventually earned the appointment, and now has devoted much of his attention to expanding upon Drucker’s large body of work, even years after his death.

“It was an incredible opportunity, but I considered it a bit risky as well,” Maciariello mused. “It was a major career decision. But as it turned out, my work really benefited by a close connection with his.”

It was Drucker’s unique philosophical insights that revolutionized management and called for a deeper look at the human element to the modern workforce in America, as well as in Japan and Europe. Maciariello had a more technical (accounting, cost control, control systems) focus. With help from others, Drucker shaped the Claremont Graduate School’s Executive Management program, which began in 1974.

Much has changed in Claremont since then. Beginning in 1999, Maciariello began working with the nonagenarian Drucker on endeavors that were either completely new or updates of his previous work. Drucker asked Maciariello to work on Corpedia training modules, which have now been downloaded more than 300,000 times. There are also similar versions in Japanese and Chinese which are also becoming popular among business and management students.

Maciariello worked closely with Drucker and publisher HarperCollins and the release of the popular Daily Drucker (2004), and The Effective Executive in Action, which was released a few weeks before Drucker’s death in 2005. He also has worked with alumna Karen Linkletter on an article that will appear in the centennial edition of the Journal of Management History.

 “Between 1999 and his passing was a very intense time, I had a lot of energy for his work and it was the most productive time of my life,” Maciariello recalled. “I miss him a lot and continue to be inspired by his tapes. It was a great sense of satisfaction I had as a colleague of his, and to have him befriend me. I wouldn’t classify myself as a close personal friend. I knew him professionally and in a very friendly way.”

Since Drucker’s death, Maciariello has continued applying his work to today’s world of management. Earlier this year saw the rerelease of Drucker’s groundbreaking book Management (with revisions from Maciariello) and the supplemental Management Cases, which have 50 of Drucker’s best case studies to work through.

Many consider Maciariello to be the world’s expert on Drucker. He has listened to most of his huge collection of tapes, and read all of his 39 books and nearly all his articles.

“There are some estimates that Peter had written 10,000 pages,” Maciariello says. “I don’t think I’ve read all 10,000, but it’s close.”

“Joe is, without question, the world's foremost Drucker scholar,” noted Rick Wartzman, director of the Drucker Institute. “But what makes him so isn't merely his command of Peter's vast body of work. It's the way he is constantly trying to push Drucker forward, applying his ideas and ideals to the most important issues of today and tomorrow. Joe isn't simply preserving Peter's legacy; he's actively building on it.”

Maciariello said Drucker’s philosophies should be even more important today, considering the plethora of corporate scandals and a focus on short-term earnings over respect for the human being in the workplace. Therefore, he carries on the tradition of looking at the world through a Drucker lens, and takes steps to fill in the gaps of what he says was still “yet to be defined” at his passing.

 “I have to pretty much think through what he would do in a given situation,” Maciariello said. “I don’t take any chances though. I’m not trying to do what he wouldn’t have done. I’m trying to be true to his word and for what he stands for.”

“I am deeply grateful to Joe for perpetuating Peter's teaching,” said Doris Drucker, Peter Drucker’s widow. “He has immersed himself so deeply into Peter' s way of thinking that he is able to project how Peter would  have reacted to new developments in management theory and practice that have evolved after his death.”

Maciariello said a motivating factor behind his work was a statement by Paul O’Neill, former CGU student and United States Secretary of the Treasury, when he was at the Drucker Symposium in May 2006. “He said, ‘I think the Drucker legacy will live on because correct ideas have a life of their own,’” Maciariello said.

“I feel that there’s a lot in the Drucker legacy that will continue. It’s a terrific tradition to try to keep and build upon. To apply and paraphrase Isaac Newton, as we stand on the shoulders of Peter Drucker, we can see further.”