Authority and responsibility

     

Authority is the basis of organization in as much as organization is described as a system of authority relationships. Authority is the power to command others to act in a manner deemed by the possessor of the authority to further enterprise or departmental purpose. It is the power to make decisions which guide the actions of others. The person who makes the decisions is the superior and the person who accepts them and is guided by them is called one subordinate.

Authority is the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.

-          HENRI FAYOL

	Authority	Power
1	It is the institutionalized right of a superior to command and compel his subordinates to perform a certain act.	It is the ability of a person to influence another person to perform an act.
2	It rests in the chair	It rests in the person
3	It is delegated	It is earned by own efforts
4	It is well defined	It is undefined
5	It is what exists in the eye It is a dejure concept	It exists in fact. It is defacto concept
6	Basis for formal organization	Basis for informal organ

Organizational authority has three important underlying principles:

• Authority is based on the organizational position, and anyone in the same position has the same authority.
  
• Authority is accepted by subordinates. Subordinates comply because they believe that managers have a legitimate right to issue orders.
  
• Authority flows down the vertical hierarchy. Positions at the top of the hierarchy are vested with more formal authority than are positions at the bottom.
  

In addition, authority comes in three types:

• Line authority gives a manager the right to direct the work of his or her employees and make many decisions without consulting others. Line managers are always in charge of essential activities such as sales, and they are authorized to issue orders to subordinates down the chain of command.
  
• Staff authority supports line authority by advising, servicing, and assisting, but this type of authority is typically limited. For example, the assistant to the department head has staff authority because he or she acts as an extension of that authority. These assistants can give advice and suggestions, but they don't have to be obeyed. The department head may also give the assistant the authority to act, such as the right to sign off on expense reports or memos. In such cases, the directives are given under the line authority of the boss.
  
• Functional authority is authority delegated to an individual or department over specific activities undertaken by personnel in other departments. Staff managers may have functional authority, meaning that they can issue orders down the chain of command within the very narrow limits of their authority. For example, supervisors in a manufacturing plant may find that their immediate bosses have line authority over them, but that someone in corporate headquarters may also have line authority over some of their activities or decisions.

Responsibility is an obligation of the individual to perform assigned duties to the best of his ability under the direction of his executive leader.

-          KEITH DAVIS

Responsibility refers to duty, activity or sometimes even authority. It really means that the obligation of a subordinate to perform the duty assigned to him. The essence of responsibility is, then obligation. In the normal functioning of an enterprise much of the responsibility in the nature of continuing obligation which means that the subordinate has an obligation to discharge his functions as required by the superior continually. Responsibility involves Compliance, obedience and Dependability. A failure to observe these elements may call forth a penalty, punishment or disciplinary action against the erring subordinate.

The term accountability can also be used as a substitute for responsibility. Accountability refers to the liability of a subordinate for a proper discharge of his functions. It includes responsibility and arises from it. But accountability cannot be delegated. Thus to be accountable is to be answerable for the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the authority or responsibility assigned.