Both authority and responsibility are intrinsic to the structure of an organization. Whether delegated or not, authority and responsibility are essential for the functioning of any company. The division of work between manager and subordinate should match. While a manager can delegate some authority but not all, a subordinate is responsible for doing his or her work. If both authority and responsibility are mismatched, the organization will be ineffective.
In business, authority is the power to give orders and get them done, while responsibility is the obligation to do the assigned work or meet performance standards. The two concepts are very closely linked. If a manager is trying to assign a job to a subordinate, it is vital that the subordinate have the right authority to do the job properly. Without the right level of authority, a person will not be able to perform his or her duties as effectively and efficiently as a manager.
When a person is given authority, he or she is accountable for the outcome of the job. If a subordinate does not do a good job, it will reflect poorly on the superior. In addition, if the superior is unfavorable towards a subordinate, he will suffer under the consequences. Similarly, if a subordinate doesn't follow the rules, he or she will be punished.
Authority and responsibility are important elements of a well-run organisation. In business, accountability and responsibility are essential to establishing the proper relationship between superiors and subordinates. They establish who has the power to make decisions and who has the right to give orders. While authority is a legal right to command and order, responsibility is the obligation to execute those actions. The definition of responsibility is broader than that, and the distinction between them is often unclear.
Responsibility and authority are two of the key aspects of an organisation. While they differ, both are essential to its successful functioning. When an employee is given authority, they are obligated to perform their duties. In turn, a manager is held responsible for the results. As a result, accountability and responsibility go hand in hand. They are mutually exclusive and cannot be separated. Moreover, they complement each other.
The relationship between responsibility and authority can be defined in a variety of ways. In an organization, an authority is a superior with the right to direct a subordinate. A subordinate under a superior is always responsible to him. In the same way, a subordinate is accountable to a superior. By contrast, a responsibility is an obligation to carry out an action. However, the difference between responsibility and accountability is in its ability to be transferred.