News Center



Home News Center News

How to Reread Drucker in the Age of AI

Apr 24-2026   



On 11 April 2026, the National School of Development at Peking University and China Machine Press jointly hosted the 53rd session of the Chengze Business Forum.

Themed ‘Rereading Drucker in a New Environment: Rediscovering the Soul of Strategy’, the event featured a welcome address by Shi Jing, Vice President of China Machine Press, together with presentations and discussions led by Professor Bernard Jaworski, the Peter F. Drucker Chair in Management and the Liberal Arts at the Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University; Zhu Li, Associate Research Fellow at the National School of Development, Peking University, and tutor on the School’s AI Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme; Yu Xuehang, Chairman and General Manager of Chongqing Mazhuaizhua Catering Management Co., Ltd.; Wang Lijian, Chairman of Beijing Zhongyan Dadi Technology Co., Ltd.; and Gao Chuhai, Chairman of Traffic Control Technology Co., Ltd. Wang Xianqing, Director of the Communications Centre at the National School of Development, Peking University, moderated the session.

In his address, Shi Jing noted that China Machine Press, founded over seventy years ago, has grown into a comprehensive publishing house with particular distinction in the introduction of business and management textbooks and in trade publishing for a general readership. As the publisher of the complete Chinese-language edition of Drucker’s works, the Press has long been a disseminator of his management thought and will publish Professor Jaworski’s new book, The Soul of Strategy, in November this year.

Professor Bernard Jaworski delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘Finding the Soul of Strategy: Towards a Customer-centric Future’. He observed that most Chinese companies’ efforts to build customer-centric organisations lack cohesion, and that common pitfalls include an overemphasis on products, a fixation on financial metrics and competitors, and a reluctance to depart from the status quo. In his view, an actionable definition of customer centricity is one in which every employee understands the target customer clearly, the organisation builds its strengths around core market segments, and it gains differentiated, implementable customer insights through external validation. Companies should then use those insights to refine their products and positioning, segment and actively shape markets in distinctive ways, and have the courage to divest existing activities that offer little future value. The ideal scenario, Professor Jaworski suggested, is one that reconciles customer satisfaction with sustained profitability, strikes a balance between resource constraints and customer needs, and captures customers’ real demands through multi-channel verification, internal workshops, the exploration of latent needs, and small-scale experimentation.

Zhu Li shared her thoughts on ‘Organisation and Strategy in the Age of AI’. She argued that the defining tension of the AI era lies in the fact that while individuals using AI can boost their efficiency by 40 per cent, nearly 60 per cent of corporate AI investment fails to translate into business value. This, she said, reflects the conflict between exponential technological disruption and linear organisational evolution, and that layering AI on top of a traditional hierarchical structure is the costliest strategy of all. Zhu Li set out three possible remedies: first, proactively shed low-efficiency businesses and legacy processes, and rebuild the business model around AI; second, use AI to decompose strategy so that employees focus on customer needs rather than hierarchical directives; and third, hand routine tasks over to AI, allowing humans to concentrate on exceptions and value judgements that AI cannot replace. She concluded by expressing her belief that China, with its vast data resources, full-industry-chain application scenarios and Eastern management wisdom, is well placed to become a definer of a new management paradigm for the age of AI.

The case-study segment featured three entrepreneurs from the catering, technology and transport sectors who shared their practical experiences of applying Drucker’s management principles.

Yu Xuehang described how, over the course of a decade, he has adhered to Drucker’s core ideas of ‘creating a customer, putting people first and managing by objectives’. Through continuous learning and standardised management tools, his catering business has achieved sustained high growth while meeting its talent-development goals.

Wang Lijian explained how he has followed Drucker’s principles of prudent management, systematic abandonment and investment in the future to steer Zhongyan Dadi away from shrinking traditional geotechnical engineering work towards high-value niche sectors such as nuclear power and water conservancy, while exploring deeper organisational empowerment.

Gao Chuhai recounted how Drucker’s management thinking has guided Traffic Control Technology’s overseas expansion, helping the firm shift from simply selling products to building a brand and providing long-term, relationship-based service—thereby earning both business premiums and lasting partnerships.


How to Reread Drucker in the Age of AI

Apr 24-2026   



On 11 April 2026, the National School of Development at Peking University and China Machine Press jointly hosted the 53rd session of the Chengze Business Forum.

Themed ‘Rereading Drucker in a New Environment: Rediscovering the Soul of Strategy’, the event featured a welcome address by Shi Jing, Vice President of China Machine Press, together with presentations and discussions led by Professor Bernard Jaworski, the Peter F. Drucker Chair in Management and the Liberal Arts at the Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University; Zhu Li, Associate Research Fellow at the National School of Development, Peking University, and tutor on the School’s AI Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme; Yu Xuehang, Chairman and General Manager of Chongqing Mazhuaizhua Catering Management Co., Ltd.; Wang Lijian, Chairman of Beijing Zhongyan Dadi Technology Co., Ltd.; and Gao Chuhai, Chairman of Traffic Control Technology Co., Ltd. Wang Xianqing, Director of the Communications Centre at the National School of Development, Peking University, moderated the session.

In his address, Shi Jing noted that China Machine Press, founded over seventy years ago, has grown into a comprehensive publishing house with particular distinction in the introduction of business and management textbooks and in trade publishing for a general readership. As the publisher of the complete Chinese-language edition of Drucker’s works, the Press has long been a disseminator of his management thought and will publish Professor Jaworski’s new book, The Soul of Strategy, in November this year.

Professor Bernard Jaworski delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘Finding the Soul of Strategy: Towards a Customer-centric Future’. He observed that most Chinese companies’ efforts to build customer-centric organisations lack cohesion, and that common pitfalls include an overemphasis on products, a fixation on financial metrics and competitors, and a reluctance to depart from the status quo. In his view, an actionable definition of customer centricity is one in which every employee understands the target customer clearly, the organisation builds its strengths around core market segments, and it gains differentiated, implementable customer insights through external validation. Companies should then use those insights to refine their products and positioning, segment and actively shape markets in distinctive ways, and have the courage to divest existing activities that offer little future value. The ideal scenario, Professor Jaworski suggested, is one that reconciles customer satisfaction with sustained profitability, strikes a balance between resource constraints and customer needs, and captures customers’ real demands through multi-channel verification, internal workshops, the exploration of latent needs, and small-scale experimentation.

Zhu Li shared her thoughts on ‘Organisation and Strategy in the Age of AI’. She argued that the defining tension of the AI era lies in the fact that while individuals using AI can boost their efficiency by 40 per cent, nearly 60 per cent of corporate AI investment fails to translate into business value. This, she said, reflects the conflict between exponential technological disruption and linear organisational evolution, and that layering AI on top of a traditional hierarchical structure is the costliest strategy of all. Zhu Li set out three possible remedies: first, proactively shed low-efficiency businesses and legacy processes, and rebuild the business model around AI; second, use AI to decompose strategy so that employees focus on customer needs rather than hierarchical directives; and third, hand routine tasks over to AI, allowing humans to concentrate on exceptions and value judgements that AI cannot replace. She concluded by expressing her belief that China, with its vast data resources, full-industry-chain application scenarios and Eastern management wisdom, is well placed to become a definer of a new management paradigm for the age of AI.

The case-study segment featured three entrepreneurs from the catering, technology and transport sectors who shared their practical experiences of applying Drucker’s management principles.

Yu Xuehang described how, over the course of a decade, he has adhered to Drucker’s core ideas of ‘creating a customer, putting people first and managing by objectives’. Through continuous learning and standardised management tools, his catering business has achieved sustained high growth while meeting its talent-development goals.

Wang Lijian explained how he has followed Drucker’s principles of prudent management, systematic abandonment and investment in the future to steer Zhongyan Dadi away from shrinking traditional geotechnical engineering work towards high-value niche sectors such as nuclear power and water conservancy, while exploring deeper organisational empowerment.

Gao Chuhai recounted how Drucker’s management thinking has guided Traffic Control Technology’s overseas expansion, helping the firm shift from simply selling products to building a brand and providing long-term, relationship-based service—thereby earning both business premiums and lasting partnerships.