Responsibility is the obligation to achieve desired results through performance of work. It is an obligation which one assumes when he accepts any task or combination of tasks or jobs. The specifics of his Job should be detailed in a written job description. He accepts the obligation to perform to the best of his ability.

Authority is the power to act officially. If a man is to be held responsible for the results he achieves, he must have the right to make decisions within the limits of his assigned responsibility. Without this right he can not be expected to perform properly nor fully.

There must be a release of authority to cover any release of responsibility from one level of an organization to another. Authority means the power to issue valid instructions which others must follow* Assignments of authority and responsibility should be (coequal.) A person can not be held accountable otherwise. Accountability for results cannot be expected to flow upward unless commensurate authority and responsibility have first flowed downward.

When the authority released is less than the scope of the assigned responsibility, the performance will shrink until it is within the limits of the delegated authority. No other result can be expected. And if the authority is not sufficient to enable a man to carry out his assigned responsibility, he can only be expected to be held accountable within the limits of the authority. The result of failure to delegate authority is that all responsibility (and therefore work) stays at the upper level.

If the reverse were true — that is, if the authority delegated had been in greater measure than the responsibilities assigned — the tendency would be for the responsibilities to broaden to correspond with the authority. The right of decision-making will always tend to determine the extent of responsibility, and therefore performance.

The Requirement To Report Performance
To A Higher Authority

Accountability is the requirement to report performance achieved to a higher authority. The person vho accepts a job assigned must be made aware that more is involved than the mere performance. He is also to be held accountable for the results he achieves. Accountability then flows upward in an organization while responsibility is assigned downward.

If the employee were not accountable and failed to report performance, the manager would have no way of knowing whether or not the organization was achieving the desired objectives.

PRINCIPLE OF RELATIONSHIPS — Delegation of authority must be
commensurate with the assigned responsibility. Acceptance of
responsibility and authority carried with it accountability
for performance.