Code Quote by Chester Barnard
“The responsibility of the executive is (1) to create and maintain a sense of purpose and moral code for the organization; (2) to establish systems of formal and informal communication; and (3) to ensure the willingness of people to cooperate.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Functions of the Executive, 1938
An executive must define purpose, enable communication, and foster cooperation, forming the moral and operational backbone of an organization.
In simple terms: Leaders create purpose, communication, and cooperation.
Key Takeaway
Build clear purpose, open channels, and nurture teamwork.
Themes
leadership
purpose
communication
cooperation
organizational ethics
Mood
analytical
pragmatic
serious
Type
business
educational
When to use this quote
- company strategy
- team meetings
- conflict resolution
- employee onboarding
Key Concepts
management theory
systems thinking
social contract
Questions to Reflect On
- How can leaders maintain purpose amid competing interests?
- What structures protect honest communication?
A Different Perspective
The model assumes rational actors and may underplay power dynamics.
![“This post-Christian confusion—MacIntyre calls it “emotivism”—now shapes American public life. In such an environment, the purpose of moral discourse, he writes, “[becomes] the attempt of one will to align the attitudes, feelings, preferences and choices of another with its own.” Other people…” quote by Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fae/charles-j-chaput-16023_life_this-post-christian-confusion-macintyre_89097.jpg)
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![“[T]he tax code has been piling up, year after year, a symbol of everything gone wrong in America, of arrogant rulers and lost freedom, just waiting for us to pick the whole thing up and heave it away. It has to happen. Free people can put up with such laws only for so long.” quote by Dick Armey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aed/dick-armey-16265_america_t-he-tax-code-has-been-piling-up-year-af_12886.jpg)