accountability

Responsibility ascribed to an individual for a particular task or function. In a non-hierarchical organization, individuals are more accountable for their greater responsibilities. In a hierarchical top-down organization, all accountability should in theory rest with the chief executive officer (CEO), although this is rarely the case. Clear lines of accountability are important to provide the motivating factors identified by US clinical psychologist Fred Herzberg in his two-factor theory.

Accountability also refers to the duty imposed by UK company law on limited-company directors to account to the shareholders.