Tom Peters, business guru and author (In Search of Excellence)

Machiavelli as business guru at the cusp of the you-know-what?

But business gurus believe the way out of corporate chaos is clear - group-based, intuitive and built around relationships - the future of business is female.

Peter Drucker, the late business guru, went so far as to declare Mr. Schumpeter the most influential economist of the last century.

Now, business gurus are looking to other fields for inspiration.

One observer quoted sums up the situation this way: "It's proof that the great business gurus know how to run everyone's business but their own."

Enron sold lots of things, but above all it sold itself: it crafted a self-portrait that business gurus loved.

Other companies hired business gurus as consultants; Enron, in effect, put the gurus in charge.

From 1997 to 2000, the years when Enron stock rose from $20 to $90, business gurus disdained old-fashioned companies whose valuation had something to do with hard assets.

Mothers of Invention - Mother inventors compete to win help from a business guru who will help them to make their invention a success.