Drucker’s concern that the institutions of society function for the common good has led him to be critical of business practice from time to time and to take on the preaching role of a prophet. For example, some of the ratios between the compensation of top executives and those of the frontline worker are well above 500 to 1… To Drucker this is shameful and sends the wrong message to employees and to the public about the ethics of executive conduct. It represents a lack of concern for the welfare of employees and society. There are public corporations that have been very successful over long periods of time who also have maintained, by policy or practice, a much lower ratio between those at the top and those at the bottom.

The next society will be a knowledge society. Knowledge will be its key resource, and knowledge workers will be the dominant group in its workforce. Its three main characteristics will be:

• Borderlessness, because knowledge travels even more effortlessly than money.

• Upward mobility, available to everyone through easily acquired formal education.
• The potential for failure as well as success. Anyone can acquire the “means of production”, ie, the knowledge required for the job, but not everyone can win.