18 Authority and Responsibility
Niti Goyal
1. Introduction:
Management is system of hierarchical relationship and organising as one of the functions of management provides a structure to this system. Organizing is the backbone of management. The word ‘organization’ is also used widely to connote a group of people and the structure of relationships.
According to Louis Allen “Organizing refers to the process of identifying and grouping work to be performed, defining and delegating responsibility and authority and establishing relationship for the purpose of enabling people to work most effectively together in accomplishing objectives.”
The aforesaid definition of organizing emphasizes upon the fact that: Defining responsibility. Delegating authority, establishing relationship between authority and responsibility are of soul of organizing. Organisation constitutes a formal structure with clear responsibility & definite authority. It determines the flow of authority and responsibility.
2. Authority:
Authority is the key to managerial functions. It is the right or the power assigned to an executive to achieve certain organizational objectives. Authority is right to direct others to get things done. Authority is a commanding force binding different individuals. It indicates the power of making decisions, giving orders and instructions to subordinates. e.g. a person may be entrusted authority regarding spending money, to assign work, making day to day plans, to issue materials, hiring employees or order merchandise etc. Without authority, a manager cannot get the work done through others.
According to Henry Fayol “Authority is the right to give order and the power to exact obedience”.
Koontz and O’Donnell defines authority as “the power to command, to act or not to act in a manner deemed by the possessor of the authority to further enterprise or departmental performance”.
Authority enables a manager to discharge his responsibilities. If a manager does not have adequate authority, he cannot perform these functions effectively. Authority empowers an individual to take decisions and to command and to exercise control over his subordinates for execution of policies and programmes. Authority is a legal power which is possessed by a person from his superior officers and with the help of which he succeeds in getting the things done by his sub-ordinates. Authority makes possible the compliance of the orders which would merely be words in the absence if authority. Authority flows downwards. Authority is delegated from above but must be accepted from below i.e. by the subordinates.
2.1 Authority Characteristics
The following are the characteristics of authority:
1. Legitimacy:
Legitimate power is called authority. To be effective, authority should always be legitimate otherwise, it will not be obeyed. Authority is vested to an individual by the virtue of his the position in the organisation.
2. Dominance:
An individual or a group which possesses authority exercises dominance over other. Authority determines superior subordinate relationship. Authority decreases as one moves down in the hierarchy.
3. Accountability:
The individual who possess authority is liable to superior for fulfilling his obligations by using such authority Accountability is the most significant characteristic of authority. Accountability ensures performance according to standards.
4. Authority flows Downward :
Authority is a downward flowing concept. The lower we go down in the hierarchy, the lesser is the authority. Higher authority is enjoyed by higher organisational positions. Authority establishes superiority.
5. Delegation of Authority :
Authority flows from the higher level to the lower levels. Authority can be delegated to the lower levels in the organization for sharing the work load of the superior. But one thing must be noted that even though authority can be delegated but the responsibility of performance of obligation always lies with the delegator.
6. Parity of Authority and responsibility:
Authority should never be assigned without responsibility. Authority and responsibility should go together. Authority must be equal to Responsibility. This is also one of the fourteen principles of management advocated by Fayol. Responsibility and authority are closely linked. A manager can fulfil his responsibility only if he has adequate authority to perform that task. An employee must be clear about what is expected of him.
If authority is greater than responsibility ,then this could result in autocratic behaviour and misuse his authority. Similarly, if responsibility is greater than authority, then this could result in frustration as discharge of responsibilities is not possible without adequate authority. e.g. if a manager has been assigned the responsibility to purchases raw material but has not been given any authority to make the financial commitments regarding the payment of such purchases, this would frustrate the manager as he could not accomplish the desired goal effectively but would be held answerable for the act which was beyond his authority.
Figure 1: Depicting balance between Authority and Responsibility.
Imbalance of authority and responsibility will hamper the achievement of the organizational goals. It may also strain the relations between management and employees.
2.2 Difference between ‘Authority’ and ‘Power’
Generally the word power and authority are used interchangeably. But there is a clear-cut difference between the two. Power is a much broader concept than authority. Koontz. et al defines Power as “the ability of individuals or groups to induce or influence the beliefs or actions of other persons or groups”. The points of difference between power and authority are as follows:
1. Right to Command : Authority is the right to command where as power is the ability to command.
2. Right to Exercise : Authority arises out of a the organisational position whereas, power is exercised by the person .
3. Positional and Legitimate : Authority is the legitimate power. Authority is associated with the position of a person in the organisation. But power is not institutional, rather it is personal. It may be acquired through any means. May it be political, monetary power or because of personal attributes.
4. Authority Increases : Authority is associated with organisational position so it increases as one goes up in the organizational hierarchy, but it need not be the case with the power.
5. Authority a Downward Concept : Authority is a downward flowing concept, whereas power flows in all directions.
3. Responsibility
Responsibility is the duty to perform an assigned task. Fayol held that authority flows from responsibility. Managers who have been assigned responsibility should also be given adequate authority for the discharge of their obligations.
In the words of Theo Haimann, “Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to perform the duty as required by his superior”.
McFarland defines responsibility as “the duties and activities assigned to a position or an executive”.
3.1 Features of Responsibility:
1. Responsibility is to assign duty to human beings only.
2. Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to properly perform the assigned duty.
3. It arises from superior subordinate relationship
4. Responsibility flows upward. A subordinate is always responsible to his superior.
5. Responsibility cannot be delegated.
6. The person accepting responsibility is accountable for the performance of assigned duties.
7. It is hard to fulfill responsibility without authority.
4. Difference between Authority and Responsibility
| Basis | Authority | Responsibility |
| Meaning | It is the right of a superior to give orders and instructions to subordinates. | It is the obligation of a subordinate to perform an assigned task. |
| Flow | It flows from top to bottom | It flows from bottom to top |
| Basis | It generally arises from organizational position. | It arises from superior subordinate relationship. |
| Delegation | It can be delegated by a superior to his subordinate. | It cannot be delegated. It is absolute. |
5. Delegation of Authority
There is a wise saying, “Nothing is impossible if you can delegate.” People who know what, how and when to delegate can achieve great results. Delegation refers to the transfer of duties/responsibilities by a superior to his subordinates along with the requisite authority to accomplish the job assigned.
One of the important features of delegation is that although the superior can delegate his authority to the subordinate for the accomplishment of desired objectives but the ultimate responsibility of the task rests with the superior. The superior cannot escape from his responsibility for non satisfactory performance. The superior is accountable for the performance of his subordinate to his own superiors.
E.F.L. Brech has said – “Delegation is a process of sharing a few or all of the four elements of the management process, i.e. command, planning, co-ordination and control”. He also said that the delegation is not a question of issuing instructions but is a bringing down of the executive’s responsibility and transmission of part or all of it to other persons.
A manager alone cannot perform all the work. Delegation enlarges the capacity of a manager through sharing of workload. Without delegation organization structure becomes useless. Management of organization becomes impossible without delegation.
Delegation begins with sharing of responsibilities with the subordinates along with assigning the requisite authority so that his subordinates can perform the work effectively. The manager charges the subordinate with accountability for the work assigned and this whole process is known as delegation.
Good delegation is about balancing responsibility, authority and accountability.
5.1 Merits of Delegation
(i) Reduces work load: A manager by delegating the authority can reduce his work load. Since he cannot handle all work by himself, he can delegate the work which can be handled by his subordinates and can concentrate on more important works. Delegation helps in concentrating on more important works.
(ii) It trains subordinates for future responsibilities: Delegation also helps in developing the personnel within the organization. It trains them for the future responsibilities as they gain experience of work related to higher position.
(iii) Effective management: Through delegation, a manager can concentrate on important works and can delegate the routine work to the subordinates. Thus, it reduces the work load and avoids the wastage of time on less important work and concentrate on more important matters.
(iv) It develops increased sense of responsibility: Delegation of authority motivates the subordinates. They feel motivated to know that his abilities are recognized and they are trusted upon by their superiors. This improves his performance. Delegation works as a motivator for employees with higher level needs.
(v) Avoids delay: Delegation helps in taking timely decisions. The superiors can concentrate on more important matters and the less important matters can be handled by the superiors. Thus, the word load of superior gets divided and hence timely decisions could be taken.
(vi) Basis of Management Hierarchy: Delegation establishes superior-subordinate relationship which is the base for hierarchy of managers. Superiors delegate only when they have trust in subordinates. So delegation improves the relations between superiors and subordinates.
5.2 Difficulties In Delegation
Obstacles /barriers for delegation can be i) On the part of superiors as well as ii) on the part of subordinates.
5.2.1 Some of the reasons managers have difficulty delegating authority include:
1. Lack of trust on superior: A superior may hesitate to delegate under the fear that employees will not be able to perform as efficient as he himself could.
2. Fear of better performance by the sub-ordinate: Sometimes, executives hesitate to delegate on account of the fear of losing his authority. The subordinate might be efficient and superior does not delegate fearing that he will perform better than the superior . No executive would like to delegate when he feels that his subordinate may surpass him.
3. Fear of losing control over subordinate: Executive know that once authority is delegated they will loose the grip over their subordinates and hence hesitate to delegate.
4. Lack of time : Sometimes, the superior is too busy with his day to day work that he donot get any time to delegate.
5. Don’t know how to delegate: Delegation also becomes difficult when the superior doesnot know how to delegate the authority.
5.2.2. The obstacles in delegation on part of subordinates include:
1. Fear of criticism
2. Absence of self confidence
3. Difficulty in decision making
4. Lack of information
5. Interference by superiors.
6. Poor superior- subordinate relationship.
7. Absence of positive incentives.
5.3 Principles of Delegation
The following principles may be considered as essential for effective delegation of authority:
1. Proper Planning : Delegation of authority should be with proper planning. The objectives to be achieved should be very clear along with the plans and functions to achieve those objectives. Only then there can be proper delegation as it would be clear as to what is required to be performed by each and every person and what authority is required to be given.
2. Reward for delivering excellent results:Effective and successful delegation of authority must be rewarded. This will provide a proper environmental climate for fuller delegation and effective assumption of authority.
3. Select appropriate subordinate of delegation : The subordinate selected should be capable of handling the authority assigned to him. His skills and qualification should be appropriate according to the task. This is the purpose of the managerial function of staffing, most carefully considered.
4. Maintain parity of authority and responsibility: There should be parity of Authority and responsibility. A person cannot be held responsible for performance of certain task for which he had inadequate authority.
5. Establish accountability: Along with authority and responsibility, accountability of the subordinate should also be established. He should be answerable for the achievement of desired results. For Example, A sales manager, charged with the responsibility of increasing sales of company’s product should be given authority to hire competent salesmen, pay wages and incentives, allow concessions, within specified limits. The subordinate should be made answerable for the proper performance of the assigned and for the exercise of the delegated authority. The extent of accountability depends upon the extent of delegated authority and responsibility. He is accountable only to his immediate superior. However, with delegation, superior cannot escape from his responsibility and accountability to his own superior for performance by his subordinate. Thus responsibility and accountability cannot be delegated.
6. Ensure Unity of Command : Unity of Command ensures that there is only superior to whom the subordinate is accountable. This is necessary to avoid confusion and friction.
7. Maintain adequate communication: There should be free and continuous flow of information between the superior and the subordinate so that time to time relevant information may be furnished to him for decision making.
8. No interference with subordinates’ authority: The subordinate to whom authority is delegated must feel free to use his authority. He should take it as an opportunity for growth and development rather than as the fear of being punished. However superior could review progress mentor and advise but should not interfere with day to- day functioning of the subordinates.
5.4. Delegation Process
First of all we wil discus the process of delegation. Fig 2 shows the various steps in the process of delegation
Figure 2: Delegation Process
As a first step, the manager is assigned with the responsibility to do a work. He should be made clear as to what is expected of him . After that, he is granted with the authority which empowers him to fulfil is obligation. After responsibility and authority are assigneed, the last step is creating accountability. He is made answerable for a particular activity or action. this way delegation is made.
5.5 Elements of Delegation
There are three elements of delegation:
i. Responsibility
ii. Authority
iii. Accountability
1. Responsibility: Responsibility means the obligation of the individual for the work assigned to him.. The process of delegation begins when manager passes on some of his duties to his subordinates. After a superior share some of his duties with the subordinate, the subordinate becomes responsible to him for the work assigned, but the superior also remains responsible for the performance of that work to his own boss. So here we can see that two types of responsibilities have been created:
Operational responsibility: It is the responsibility of the delegatee ( subordinate) to the delegator( superior)
Ultimate responsibility: It is the responsibility of the superior to his own boss for the achievement of the goals. In this case, if the subordinate to whom responsibility has been delegated could not perform his obligation, then the superior cannot escape from his responsibility on excuse that it was not his but his subordinates’ fault. Thus, responsibility is absolute and flows upwards.
2. Authority: Authority means power to take decision. To carry on the responsibilities that have been assigned to him, every employee needs to have adequate authority. So, when responsibilities are assigned to an individual, appropriate authority is also delegated to him so that smooth performance of the responsibilities could be assured.
3. Accountability: To be accountable means to be liable for a particular activity or action. This liability gets created because the organisation also provides authority to carry out the responsibilities. Authority may be in form of decision making for use of organisational resources etc. Accountability is created to ensure that the employees or subordinatesachieve the desired results. Performance is measured and compared with the standards under Accountability.
Like responsibility, Accountability is also absolute. It cannot be passed or delegated. A superior cannot escape from his accountability to his own superior even after delegation.
5.5.1 Features of Accountability:
1. Accountability is the answerability for the expected result.
2. It cannot be delegated or passed.
3. Like responsibility, accountability also flows upward.
4. Accountability is not same as blame.
5. Authority, Responsibility and Accountability are Inter-related. Fig 3 below depicts the relation between the three.
Figure 3: Authority, Responsibility and Accountability Relationship
5.5.2. Prerequisites of an effective accountability system
For effective accountability system:
1. Responsibility should be clearly specified. An employee must know what is expected from him.
2. Adequate authority should be provided to meet the assigned responsibilities
3. Individual performance should be measured.
4. Individual should be made answerable for his performance.
5. Accountability standards should be consistently applied at all levels.
6. SUMMARY
Authority and Responsibility and Accountability should go together for effective organisation. Authority flows downwards whereas responsibility and accountability flow upwards. Without accountability, individual cannot be held answerable for his performance. Authority Responsibility and Accountability are the three elements of delegation. Delegation enables the superior to share his authority with the subordinates. However, he himself remains accountable to his superior for the performance of the duties assigned. He cannot escape from his responsibility merely by delegating some of the powers vested in him to his subordinate. Thus, accountability is absolute.
References
- Henry Fayol, General and Industrial Managements, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996.
- E.F.L., Brech, The Principles and Practice of Management, Sir Pitman & Sons, London.
- Chhabra, T.N. and Suri, R.K., Management Process and Perspectives, Ist edition 2000, Kitab Mahal.
- Prasad Manmohan, Management Concepts and Practices, Ist edition 1998; HimalayaPublishing House
- http://www.tac-focus.com/article/authority-responsibility-and-accountability-%E2%80%93 rightmix#.VjjVndIrKt8
- http://www.pm-primer.com/authority-responsibilityaccountability#sthash.ZNYvUCm2.dpuf
- http://www.tightship.io/stop-confusing-accountability-vs-responsibility-vs-authority/
- http://ohsas18001expert.com/2007/07/27/what-is-accountability/