AACSB and Drucker Forum Partner to Unite Leading Academics and Management Practitioners
AACSB International and the Global Peter Drucker Forum announced their partnership for the Drucker Forum 2026, bringing together two organizations committed to advancing management as both discipline and a profession.
The partnership is fully aligned with the Drucker Forum’s strategy of creating stronger connections between the world’s leading business academics and the practitioners responsible for leading organizations through profound economic, technological, and societal change. The organizations share a common drive to advance the power of business education to shape responsible leaders, drive meaningful innovation, and address society’s most pressing challenges. AACSB seeks to elevate standards, connect research to real-world impact, and ensure that the next generation of leaders is equipped to create sustainable, positive change. Ultimately, the collaboration is about transforming ambition into action and building a better future through stronger business education.
AACSB shares Peter Drucker’s belief that management knowledge achieves its greatest value when it is informed by practice, tested against reality, and applied in service of people, organizations, and society.
Through the partnership, AACSB and the Drucker Forum will help foster deeper exchange among business-school leaders, researchers, executives, entrepreneurs, and other management practitioners. The collaboration will contribute to the Forum’s mission of developing more effective, responsible, and human-centered approaches to management.
Dr. Richard Straub, Founder and President, Global Peter Drucker Forum, noted that “Partnering with AACSB is a natural extension of our strategy and of Peter Drucker’s enduring vision for management. The complex challenges facing leaders today cannot be addressed by theory or practice alone.”
AACSB represents a global network of business schools, educators, and organizations, including over 2,000 members in 113 countries and territories, focused on strengthening the quality, relevance, and positive impact of business education. Its participation will broaden the Forum’s engagement with the academic community and create new opportunities to connect emerging research with the realities facing leaders and institutions.
"The Drucker Forum provides an important platform for connecting management education and research with the ever-changing needs of organizations and society. As AACSB celebrates our 110th year we remain committed to bridging the gap between business and business education—ensuring that academic insight translates into real‑world impact, and that evolving industry needs continuously shape what and how future leaders learn.”
The partnership will be highlighted through a deep-dive dialogue session at the Drucker Forum 2026 in Vienna, bringing together leading business school deans and industry executives to explore the next generation of business education.
The Drucker Forum 2026 will convene in person at the Vienna Hofburg Palace in Austria on November 4–5, 2026, under the theme “Next Gen Innovation: When Everything Depends on Ingenuity.” Additional information about speakers, sessions, and registration can be found at https://www.druckerforum.org/