Abstract
This chapter aims to trace how Barnard established and developed his theory of decision-making by examining his published papers, unpublished manuscripts, and correspondence. Barnard attracted the interest of researchers with the paper “Mind in Everyday Affairs,” which deals with both logical and non-logical mental processes and emphasizes the latter in business. Barnard then established his theory of decision-making in The Functions of the Executive; therefore, he is considered to be a pioneer in develo** the theory of decision-making. However, Barnard regretted having definitively divided decision-making into two different kinds, namely opportunistic and moral, and having emphasized too much the logical aspect of opportunistic decision-making. Therefore, Barnard attempted to explore a decision-making method to integrate logical and non-logical mental processes and opportunistic and moral decision-making. As a result, he developed his own theory of organizational knowledge because making judgments is based on different forms of knowledge, such as skill or behavioral knowledge, personal knowledge, and formal knowledge. Barnard basically believed that action and knowledge are inseparable, and that decision-making is the process used to integrate action and thinking.
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Isomura, K. (2023). Practical Knowledge and Thinking. In: Chester I. Barnard: Innovator of Organization Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7039-1_13
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