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PART D: LEADING AND MANAGING INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS 
 
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1.4 Responsibility and accountability 
Responsibility
is the liability of a person to discharge duties. Responsibility is the obligation to do 
something; in an organisation, it is the duty of an official to carry out assigned tasks. 
With responsibility, we must associate 
accountability
. Managers are accountable 
to
their superiors 
for
their actions and are obliged to report to their superiors how well they have exercised the authority 
delegated to them. 
1.5 Delegation 
Delegation of authority
occurs in an organisation where a superior gives a subordinate the discretion to 
make decisions within a certain sphere of influence. This can only occur if the superior initially 
possesses the authority to delegate; a subordinate cannot be given organisational authority to make 
decisions unless it would otherwise be the superior's right to make those decisions. Delegation of 
authority is the process by which a superior gives a subordinate the authority to carry out an aspect of 
the superior's job. Without delegation, a formal organisation could not exist. 
When a superior delegates authority to a subordinate, the subordinate is accountable to the superior. 
However, the superior 
remains fully accountable
to 
their
superiors; responsibility and accountability 
cannot be abdicated by delegation. 
As well as being essential for running an organisation, delegation brings a number of other benefits. 
(a) 
Training
. Subordinates gain experience of problems and responsibility, which helps to prepare 
them for promotion and contributes to the avoidance of crises of management succession. 
(b) 
Motivation
. Herzberg
 
found that responsibility was an important factor in job satisfaction and 
motivation. 
(c) 
Assessment
. Subordinates' performance in relation to delegated responsibility can be used as a 
measure of their need for further training and experience and their readiness for promotion. 
(d) 
Decisions
. Delegation brings decisions closer to the situations that require them, potentially 
improving them by having them made by those with most knowledge of the problems and factors 
involved. 
1.6 Authority and power 
If an organisation is to function as a co-operative system of individuals, some people must have 
authority or power over others. Authority and power flow