In this preface to the book "The Functions of the Executive," author Chester I. Barnard (1938) relates the circumstances that led to the writing of this book. The book is a revision of the manuscript Barnard prepared for eight lectures at Lowell Institute in Boston, Massachusetts in November and December 1937. Barnard discusses how he had gradually constructed some hypotheses through several years concerning the executive processes, which are specialized functions in what we know as "organizations." Barnard felt that nothing of which he knew treated of organization in a way that seemed to correspond either to his experience or to the understanding implicit in the conduct of those recognized to be adept in executive practice or in the leadership of organizations. Furthermore, it seemed to Barnard that the social scientists exploring executive functions just reached the edge of organizations as he experienced it, and retreated. Rarely did they seem to sense the processes of coördination and decision that underlie a large part at least of the phenomena they described. This book is divided into four parts, but in a sense, says Barnard, it consists of two short treatises. One is an exposition of a theory of coördination and organization and constitutes the first half of the book. The second is a study of the functions and of the methods of operation of executives in formal organizations.