This chapter of the book "The Functions of the Executive," by Chester I. Barnard (1938), focuses on the opportunistic element. The opportunistic element refers to the objective field within which action must take place. This is the element implied by the fact that no action can take place except in the present, under conditions and with the means presently available. The opportunistic element in decision is indispensable to the theory of organization. Decision in its opportunistic aspect begins with an existing purpose and an objective environment of things physical, biological, social, emotional, and moral. It may be said that the opportunistic aspect of decision in general relates to the means and conditions of attaining ends. This is the sector of organization action in which logical and analytical processes and empirical observations, experience, and experiment can be effective.