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Chester Barnard

Chester Irving Barnard (November 7, 1886 – June 7, 1961) was an American business executive, public administrator, and the author of pioneering work in management theory and organizational studies. His landmark 1938 book, The Functions of the Executive, sets out a theory of organization and of the functions of executives in organizations. The book has been widely assigned in university courses in management theory and organizational sociology.[1] Barnard viewed organizations as systems of cooperation of human activity, and noted that they are typically short-lived. According to Barnard, organizations are generally not long-lived because they do not meet the two criteria necessary for survival: effectiveness and efficiency.

This article is about the business executive and scholar. For the American football player and coach, see Chester S. Barnard.

Chester Irving Barnard

(1886-11-07)November 7, 1886

June 7, 1961(1961-06-07) (aged 74)

Biography[edit]

In his youth, Barnard worked on a farm, then working as a piano tuner, paid his way through high school at the Mount Hermon School.[2] After graduation he studied economics at Harvard University on a scholarship, earning money selling pianos and operating a dance band. He did not obtain his Harvard BA because he did his four-year work in three years and could not complete a science course, but a number of universities later granted him honorary doctorates.[3]


Barnard joined the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (now AT&T) in 1909. In 1927, he became president of the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company. During the Great Depression, he directed the New Jersey state relief system.[1]


He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1939 and the American Philosophical Society in 1943.[4][5] He was president of the United Service Organizations (USO), 1942-45. Upon retiring from business, he served as president of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1948–52, and as chairman of the National Science Foundation, 1952-54.[1] End 1950s he was among the first members of the Society for General Systems Research.

Establishing and maintaining a system of communication;

Securing essential services from other members;

Formulating organizational purposes and objectives.

To manage people and make sure they do their jobs

Organizational studies

Outline of organizational theory

1938.

The Functions of the Executive

1939. Dilemmas of Leadership in the Democratic Process.

1946. A Report on the International Control of Atomic Energy.

1948. Organization and Management

1956. Organization and Management: Selected Papers

1956. On the Teaching of Law in the Liberal Arts Curriculum. With Harold Joseph Berman. Harvard Law

1958. Elementary Conditions of Business Morals.

1973. Conversations With Chester I. Barnard. Edited by William B. Wolf.

1986. Philosophy for Managers; Selected Papers of Chester I. Barnard. Edited by William B. Wolf and Haruki Iino.

Anicich, Adam. (2009) (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2009., Doctoral Research Papers, University of Maryland University College, DMGT 800, (2): 1-15.

""Management Theorist: Chester Barnard's Theories of Management""

Gehani, R. Ray (2002) "Chester Barnard's “executive” and the knowledge-based firm", Management Decision 40(10): 980 - 991.

Mahoney, Joseph T. (2002) "," Int. J. Organ. Theory Behav. 5 (1&2): 159-72.

The relevance of Chester I. Barnard's teaching to contemporary management education: communicating the aesthetics of management

Mathews, Gary S. (1981) "An Examination of Cooperative Organizational Behavior and the Functions of Executives in Formal Organizations: The Theory of Chester Irving Barnard and Its Implications for Educational Administration. A Research Paper."

Marshall, Gordon (1998) "Chester I. Barnard" in A Dictionary of Sociology.

Scott, William G. (1992) Chester I. Barnard and the guardians of the management state.

Wolf, William B. (1974). The basic Barnard: an introduction to Chester i. Barnard and his theories of organization and management.

Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Chester Barnard.

at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

Chester I. Barnard papers