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Day 10 Social responsibility, authority, responsibility in management
Part A. Authority and Responsibility
1.
Authority
In a business organization, which is authoritarian in nature, the word
authority refers to the power of an individuals to direct others by giving
orders. For practical purposes, the term authority can be defined as the
legal and rightful power to command or to extract action from others. It
is the power or the right to act, to command
or to extract action by
others.
Authority is one of the important considerations in the process of
management. Without authority, the executive cannot secure compliance
of his orders from his subordinates. It is the power of the superior to
make decisions which guides the actions of his subordinates. Securing
compliance or obedience is the main objective behind the whole concept
of authority.
Koontz and O’Donnel discussed the source of authority with the three
headings:
(i) The formal authority theory - the legal aspects
of private property as
the source of authority
(ii) The acceptance theory - the authority flows to a manager through
acceptance by his subordinates of his power to make and implement
decision
(iii) The competence theory - the technical competence and personal
competence are the basis of authority
There is some difference between authority and power. Authority includes
power but power may or may not be supported by authority. Also, all
authority is formal. But unrestricted or unlimited authority always tend to
be
tools of corruption, so there are usually some restrictions that can be
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both explicit and implied. They are laws of a country, rules and
regulations in a company, the social beliefs and traditions, etc.
2. Responsibility
In business management, responsibility is the
obligation of a subordinate
to perform a duty, which has been assigned to him by his superior. This
shows that the obligation is the essence of responsibility. In view of
organizational set up, the superior-subordinate relationship gives rise to
this responsibility as the superior is vested with the authority to get the
specified work done by his subordinates.
While the authority flows from a superior to a subordinate when
assignment of duty is made, the responsibility flows from a subordinate
to his superior when former undertakes the
obligation of accomplishing
the duties assigned to him. Thus, responsibility is an obligation to carry
out certain tasks.
In an organization responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to
perform his duty as required by his superior. Responsibility is closely
related to authority. It is exacted upwards whereas authority flows
downwards. A manager is responsible ultimately for the performance of
his duties even though he has delegated it to his subordinates. Therefore
responsibility cannot be delegated.
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