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. In his youth, Barnard worked on a farm, then studied economics at Harvard University, earning money selling pianos and operating a dance band. Harvard denied him a BA because of a technicality, but a number of universities later granted him honorary doctorates. Barnard joined the American...