Authority: Authority is nothing but the rights or the powers with the executives which the organization provides them with the aim of accomplishment of certain common organizational goals.
Hence, it includes the powers to assign duties to the subordinates and make them accept and follow it. Without authority, a manager ceases to be a manager because he will be able to make his juniors or subordinates work towards the accomplishment of the goals.
Definition of Authority: As per Henri Fayol, “Authority is the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.”
Responsibility: Responsibility is nothing but the duty that comes along with the job. In other words, it is the obligation of the person to complete the task given to him/her.
It becomes his responsibility. Moreover, it shows that the authority is properly used and work is done accordingly. Under this, a person is eligible to delegate the work to the subordinate but not the ultimate accountability.
That means, even if he transfers his work, he will remain responsible for the obligation of the accomplishment of the work.
Definition of Responsibility: As per Davis, “Responsibility is an obligation of an individual to perform assigned duties to the best of his ability under the direction of his leader.”
Accountability: It is nothing but the liability created for the transfer of authority. Accountability creates the obligation of the subordinate and makes him answerable for the work done by him/her.
Hence, it is the answerability for the performance of the assigned duties. Once a person accepts authority, he deems to accept Responsibility and Accountability at that time only.
Definition of Accountability: As per McFarland, “accountability is the obligation of an individual to report formally to his superior about the work he has done to discharge the responsibility.”
