Written by Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to perform tasks that have been delegated to him or her.
It is the moral commitment of a subordinate to carry out the duties assigned to him by his superior to the best of his ability.
According to Koontz and O’Donnell, “Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to carry out the duties assigned to him.”
It is a personal obligation on the subordinate to perform his or her job efficiently and effectively
Responsibility usually arises when authority and task is delegated by the superior to the subordinate.
In such case, the subordinates have a responsibility to see to the fact that delegated task is completed as expected by his superior and within the time range given by the superior.
Features Of Responsibility
1. Responsibility arises from superior-subordinate relationship: Responsibility is fundamentally tied to the relationship between superiors and subordinates within an organizational structure.
In essence, if there is no hierarchical relationship where one person has authority over another, responsibility does not emerge.
It is this hierarchical setup that establishes a clear chain of responsibility.
2. It is upward sloping: The level of responsibility decreases as we move up the organizational hierarchy.
A subordinate is responsible to his or her immediate superior for the tasks assigned to him or her.
The superior, in turn, is responsible to his or her higher authority, and so on. Thus, responsibility flows upward in the organization.
3. Duration: Responsibility is not perpetual; it is tied to the duration of a specific task.
When a task is completed, the responsibility associated with it ceases to exist.
4. Responsibility can be shared: Unlike authority, responsibility cannot be delegated. But it can be shared.
For example, when a manager delegates task, he retains ultimate responsibility for the task, while he gives operating responsibility for the performance of the task to his subordinate.
5. Responsibility is the result of authority: According to Fayol, “responsibility is the result of authority”.
This implies that responsibility should be proportional to the authority given to a subordinate.
A subordinate should have enough authority to perform the tasks assigned to him or her.
Likewise, a subordinate should not have more authority than the responsibility he or she has.
This is because when a manager has more authority than responsibility, he is more prone to abuse it.
On the other hand, if a manager has more responsibility than authority, he may feel frustrated due to the inability to make necessary decisions.
There should, therefore, be a balance between authority and responsibility to avoid misuse or frustration.
Forms of Responsibility
1. Operating responsibility: This is the obligation of a subordinate to perform the tasks that have been delegated to him or her by the superior.
Operating responsibility resides in the individual who is directly involved in the execution of the task.
It ensures that the task is done properly and timely by the person who is responsible for it
2. Ultimate responsibility: This is the final responsibility of a superior to see that the tasks delegated to his or her subordinates are performed.
In other words, ultimate responsibility is the responsibility of the subordinates to see that those with operating responsibility perform the task as expected.
Managers (delegators) usually have the ultimate responsibility of guiding and directing the execution of tasks delegated to subordinates (delegates) with operating responsibility.
Indeed, ultimate responsibility ensures that the subordinates are guided and supervised by the superior, who is also responsible for the results.
