Chester Irving Barnard (1886 – 1961) was an American executive and an early organizational theorist. He was author of Functions of the Executive, an influential 20th century management book, which presents a theory of organization and the functions of executives in organizations. This book became an essential resource in the teaching of organizational sociology and business theory.[2]
Biography
Chester Barnard was born in 1886 in Malden, Massachusetts. He worked on a farm, and studied economics at Harvard University, while he earned his money turning piano's and operating a dance band. On a technicality he was not eligible for a bachelor's degree on Harvard, but eventually, through his experience he received honoray doctorates from many universities.[1]
Barnard started as an employee of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (now AT&T) in 1909, and by 1927 he became president of the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company. During the Great Depression, he directed the New Jersey state relief system.[2] He later worked with the United Service Organizations (USO), of which he was president from 1942 to 1945. When he retired from business, he served as president of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1948 to 1952, and chairman of the National Science Foundation from 1952 to 1954. He died in 1961 in New York City.[2]
Work
Barnard looked at organizations as systems of cooperation of human activity, and was worried about the fact that they are typically rather short-lived. Firms that last more than a century are rather few, and the only organization that can claim a substantial age is the Catholic Church.
According to Barnard, this happens because organizations do not meet the two criteria necessary for survival: effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness, is defined the usual way: as being able to accomplish the explicit goals. In contrast, his notion of organizational efficiency is substantially different from the conventional use of the word. He defines efficiency of an organization as the degree to which that organization is able to satisfy the motives of the individuals. If an organization satisfies the motives of its participants, and attains its explicit goals, cooperation among them will last.
Functions of the Executive
The book 'Functions of the Executive' from 1938, as indicated by the title, wants to discuss the functions of the executive, but not from a merely intuitive point of view, but deriving them from a conception of cooperative systems based on previous concepts.
Barnard ends by summarizing the functions of the executive (the title of the book) as being:
- The establishment and maintenance of the system of communication
- The securing of the essential services from individuals
- The formulation of the organizational purpose and objectives
Theory of authority and theory of incentives
Two of his theories are particularly interesting: the theory of authority and the theory of incentives. Both are seen in the context of a communication system that should be based in seven essential rules:
- The Channels of communication should be definite
- Everyone should know of the channels of communication
- Everyone should have access to the formal channels of communication
- Lines of communication should be as short and as direct as possible
- Competence of persons serving as communication centers should be adequate
- The line of communication should not be interrupted when organization is functioning
- Every communication should be authenticated
Thus, what makes a communication authoritative rests on the subordinate rather than in the boss. Thus, he takes a perspective that was very unusual at that time, close to that of Mary Parker Follett, and is not that usual even today. One might say that managers should treat workers respectfully and competently to obtain authority.
In the theory of incentives, he sees two ways of convincing subordinates to cooperate: tangible incentives and persuasion. He gives great importance to persuasion, much more than to economic incentives. He described four general and four specific incentive. The specific inducements were:- 1. Material inducements such as money 2. Personal non-material opportunities for distinction 3. Desirable physical conditions of work 4. Ideal Benefactions, such as pride of workmanship etc.
Publications
Barnard has written several books, articles and papers. A selection:
- 1938. The Function 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.
References
Further reading
- R. Ray Gehani (2002). "Chester Barnard’s “executive” and the knowledge-based firm". in: Management Decision. Vol 40, Issue 10, Page: 980 - 991.
- Joseph T. Mahoney (2002). "The relevants of Chester I. Barnards teaching to contemporary management education: communicating the aesthetics of management", in: Int. J. of org. Theory & behav., 5 (1&2), pag. 159-172.
- Gary S. Mathews (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".
- Gordon Marshall (1998), "Chester I. Barnard", in: A Dictionary of Sociology.
- William G. Scott (1992). Chester I. Barnard and the guardians of the management state.
- William B. Wolf (1974). The basci Barnald: an introduction to Chester i. Barnard and his theories of organization and management.
External links
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