Peter Drucker Dies

Peter Drucker died Friday at the age of 95. Drucker was a leading authority on how to recognize market opportunities and systematically take advantage of them. One of the key insights I learned from reading one of his books, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is that disruptive technology is just one among many sources of innovation. Drucker maintains that entrepreneurial companies can reduce risk by pursuing opportunities purposefully and systematically.

For company executives, the significance of Drucker's insight is that creative ideas are only a very small part of a successful venture. You need to conduct market research to identify opportunities, and there is a scientific approach to this market research.

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