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Accountability, responsibility and organization

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  • Lindkvist, Lars
  • Llewellyn, Sue

Abstract

Societies achieve their purposes through organizations. But organizations may develop into instrumental entities bereft of ethical debate. Roberts (Account. Org. Soc. 16(4) (1991) 355) claims that their hierarchical accountability systems powerfully reinforce instrumentality and individualize accountability. Based on the Habermasian 'work' and 'interaction' dichotomy, he discusses ways of counteracting such consequences. We criticize this attempt in certain respects and propose a responsibility/accountability (R/A) framework--allowing for an extended exposition of individual senses of R/A, and of organizational forms that could contribute to promoting such senses. We believe that a framing of this kind should benefit analysis and facilitate a shift in focus away from top-down control and non-reflective accountability and towards individual agency and responsibility within the context of decentralized forms of organization.

Suggested Citation

  • Lindkvist, Lars & Llewellyn, Sue, 2003. "Accountability, responsibility and organization," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 251-273, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:scaman:v:19:y:2003:i:2:p:251-273
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bracci, Enrico, 2009. "Autonomy, responsibility and accountability in the Italian school system," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 293-312.
    2. Qian, Wei & Parker, Lee & Zhu, Jingyu, 2024. "Corporate environmental reporting in the China context: The interplay of stakeholder salience, socialist ideology and state power," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    3. Sue Llewellyn, 2005. "Performance, Productivity and Innovation in Health Care Organisations: Comparing England and Scotland," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 15(37), pages 15-24, November.
    4. Yasmin, Sofia & Ghafran, Chaudhry & Haniffa, Roszaini, 2018. "Exploring de-facto accountability regimes in Muslim NGOs," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 235-247.
    5. Chynoweth, Sarah K. & Zwi, Anthony B. & Whelan, Anna K., 2018. "Socializing accountability in humanitarian settings: A proposed framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 149-162.
    6. O’Leary, Susan, 2017. "Grassroots accountability promises in rights-based approaches to development: The role of transformative monitoring and evaluation in NGOs," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 21-41.
    7. Paul M. Collier, 2008. "Stakeholder accountability," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(7), pages 933-954, September.
    8. Shinyi Lin, 2016. "Social Contingency and Advising Accountability," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(1), pages 21582440166, February.

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