Revisiting Drucker's theory Has consumerism led to the overuse of marketing?

摘要

Purpose - This paper sets out to review the business history of consumerism and to ask whetherrnover-consumption is leading to an unacceptable level of inappropriate social behavior that isrndetrimental to both society and business.rnDesign/methodology/approach - The paper reviews Peter Drucker's writings on managementrnand explores the meaning of consumerism and how it could have led to the over-use of marketing. Thernpaper discusses how the word "consumerism" has evolved and brings attention to the role of therninternet in consumerism. It explains why poor knowledge management strategies are presenting a newrnset of challenges for business. Finally, it discusses the reasons why the balance of power betweenrnbusinesses and consumers needs to revert to a status of equilibrium.rnFindings - The paper contends that the growth of consumerism has led to the over-use of marketingrnand it explains why, in twenty-first century marketing, social responsibility should be extended to arnwider group of stakeholders that includes government, businesses and consumers.rnPractical implications - The "consumer is king" concept has implications for managementrnbecause of the emphasis businesses have placed on their customers. The paper asks managers tornreview their 'knowledge management systems and processes. Electronic document managementrnsystems (EDMS) and business process management systems (BPMS) will protect corporations fromrnsome of the cybercrime examples discussed here.rnOriginality/value - The research reviews Drucker's work on knowledge management and asks whyrnmanagement continues to fail to implement appropriate knowledge-based systems for protecting theirrnbusiness.