The Functions of the Executive

My first big assignment was for my Management class.  I had to pick a management philosophy, write a ten page paper about it and do an oral presentation/PowerPoint.  My top choice, Fish! A remarkable way to boost morale and improve results! was taken right away by another classmate, so I ended up choosing Chester Barnard's book The Functions of the Executive, which is one of the classical management philosophies.  I studied his theory for weeks before I was finally able to break it down and understand it! The book was written in 1938 and the style is very text-book.  However, for that time in history, the ideas Barnard represented were groundbreaking.  Here is a snippet of my presentation:

The three main functions of the executive are:

1. Communication with employees

2. Creating an objective or purpose for the organization

3. Cooperation of employees

Creating a proposal like this for an organization is called “strategic planning.”   Strategic planning is the way an organization defines its direction and pursues this direction by using its resources.  Barnard’s theory is based on using employees as resources in order to achieve this goal.

Barnard’s theory suggests that through good communication, managers and workers can better understand one another.  The focus here is building strong relationships between management and workers.  Communication goes hand in hand with the next function, which is creating an objective or purpose for the organization.

Managers need to make it clear to employees what they are working towards in the company.  Employees should be made aware of the goals of the organization so they know exactly is expected of them.  This way, management and workers can move towards achieving the goals together.  In order to ensure the organization meets its goal, management is dependent upon workers to cooperate.

To gain cooperation, Barnard suggests using incentives to motivate employees. Some examples are acceptable working conditions, fair wages and benefits like the potential to move up in the company.  Barnard is basically saying that if you give respect, you gain respect.  He believed employees that respect their managers are more likely to have what he called a higher “zone of indifference.” 

The zone of indifference is the area in which orders are acceptable without questioning them.  Barnard believed that the happier the workers, the larger the zone of indifference.  If workers are treated poorly and are unhappy in the workplace, they are more likely to question authority, giving them a smaller zone of indifference. 

The key points of Barnard’s theory are that he recommends creating a strategic plan based on communication and cooperation in the workplace.  In order to achieve these goals he believes it’s important to have motivators for workers in order to get the job done.

Although this book was published in 1938, these ideas are still timeless. Barnard's functions can be applied in any workplace and would be met with great results.  Communication is always a good thing, and as my Professor pointed out, something that is almost always lacking in the workplace!

I was glad this assignment was over, but my hard work paid off! For the paper and the presentation I received a grade of 30/30!