Chester Barnard

Ellen O’Connor

Chapter 24 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Historical Organisation Studies, 2026, pp 84-85 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Chester Barnard developed an organisation science based on a method of relating to experience that he described as interested, intimate and habitual. This relation generated valid knowledge. Barnard interpreted an existential crisis that became his research focus: The advent of large-scale, complex formal organisation threatened the sense of individual agency and responsibility. Barnard's theory (1938) was integral to modern organisation science as developed by Herbert Simon (Augier 2008: 298) and disseminated globally in the New Look reforms (Khurana 2007). This science used Barnard's findings, but it rejected his method as unsophisticated.

Keywords: Chester Barnard; Organisation science; Organisation theory; Leadership theory; Experiential methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332922
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