Maintaining Accountability in an Organization

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Date: High performing organizations whether of public or private nature must be interested in the development of and deployment of an effective performance measurement and management system as it is only with such a system that the organization can sustain the high-performance (Artley, 2001). To achieve this, it requires the establishment of top-level agency goals and annual program goals, define how these goals will be achieved, and demonstrate how the agency's performance towards achievement of the will be done (Artley, 2001).
Accountability is an ambiguous term and concept. Authors, researchers, and professionals provide divergent opinions regarding accounting where in some cases it is viewed as pertaining to individuals, groups, and organizations. In some other cases, accountability is perceived as pertaining to the private sector and others to the stakeholder. However, accountability is not a reserve of only certain groups or certain categories of all individuals but it pertains to the whole institution (Garland, 2013).
Accountability is often used yet the concept is not well understood. When one hears the word it is perceived to be an important activity, however, that is as far as it goes and consequently since the concept is not well understood, people do not know how to achieve accountability. Accountability is a person, group, or organization's obligation towards execution of authority and fulfillment of certain responsibilities (Project Management Institute, 2013). These obligations include answering that is explaining or justifying execution of a certain authority or fulfillment of a responsibility, reporting the results of execution and fulfillment, and assuming liability of results obtained (Project Management Institute, 2013).
Accountability is often used with the word responsibility and most times confused to be the same. However, according to Frost (1998), while responsibility is the obligation to perform, accountability is the liability one assumes for ensuring the obligation to perform (responsibility is attained. According to the Citizens' Circle for Accountability (1996), responsibility is the obligation to act and accountability is the obligation to answer for responsibilities (Project Management Institute, 2013).
The word authority is also commonly used when discussing accountability. Differentiating the two words is critical in understanding, establishing, and maintaining accountability in project management. Authority is the right an individual has to act without prior approval higher management and without being challenged by the managing peers that is authority is assigned. Responsibility, on the other hand, is the delegated obligation to perform. However, delegating responsibility does not take away the liability of that responsibility from the delegator and being delegated does not imply that one has been bestowed with authority. This distinction is essential if accountability is to be maintained (Das, 2013).
There are five central aspects in accountability. First, accountability is a relationship ( a contract of two parties, second, accountability is result-oriented (focuses on outcomes), third, it requires reporting which is its backbone, fourth, it has consequences (liability with consequences), and finally, it improves performance. (Artley, 2001) In addition to the five key aspects, accountability should be ensured on five levels that are personal accountability (relationship with the self) individual accountability (relationship in the work setting), team accountability (relationship within a work group or team), organizational accountability (relationships within an organization). Finally, the stakeholder accountability (relationship between stakeholders and the organization) CITATION You06 \l 1033 (Young, 2006).
Establishment of performance accountability requires an accounta...