RESPONSIBILITY
◦Responsibility is the obligation to carry out certain duties. It has
an inseparable relationship with authority.
◦Without authority it is not possible to take up responsibility.
◦An administrator, while giving authority to his subordinates
should also make them responsible for exercising authority
judiciously and purposefully.
◦Responsibility denotes the accountability of the authority
holders for achieving results in the administrative
process.
◦The concept of responsibility is a guardian against - misuse
of authority.
◦ Responsibility is of two kinds,
Operating responsibility and
Ultimate responsibility.
◦ An administrator can delegate operating responsibility to his subordinates but not the
ultimate responsibility.
◦ The ultimate responsibility can never be delegated.
◦ The three concepts in Administration are –
a) authority,
b) responsibility and
c) accountability.
Authority is the right to command,
Responsibility is the duty to carry out the command, and
Accountability is the term used to denote the proper discharge of the duties in letter
and spirit.
A person's responsibility is complete only when the duties are done according to the
letter and spirit of the command.
Traditional administrative theory,
two forms of authority relationships
Line and Staff
1) Line authority denotes direct and ultimate responsibility for achieving results.
Staff authority is a supporting function in helping line authority in its endeavour.
2) Line authority can be equated to a superiors' authority, while staff authority can be equated to
that of the staff. Staff authority is advisory in nature.
One way of differentiating line and staff is by defining its role in the ultimate responsibility in
achieving the results,
Types of Responsibility
Responsibility in the administrative process is of three types
◦Political,
◦Institutional and
◦Professional.
◦1} Political Responsibility
◦ In a parliamentary system of government the most important control on administration is
political responsibility.
◦ There is ministerial responsibility for the actions of a ministry and the departments under it
for their actions and functions.
◦ The ultimate responsibility for the success or failure rests on the minister concerned.
◦ This acts as a control device on the functioning of administrative agencies and offices under a
department in a ministry.
◦ The minister as a political functionary provides guidance in policy matters and the
implementation is given to the administrative agencies of different types including the public
enterprises.
◦ The political head is ultimately responsible to the chief executive and to the legislature for the
working of the administrative machinery under his corporal.
◦only when there is cooperation from the administrative
machinery comprising a large number of officials at different
levels.
◦If the officials are not cooperative, the minister concerned has to
face the criticism for non-performance from the chief executive and the
legislature.
◦to cooperate with his policies and programs, which are actually the
policies and Programmes of the government of the day.
◦2} Institutional Responsibility:
◦ An administrative agency or institution has to be responsible and responsive to public
welfare.
◦ In its own interest, it has to be responsible and work for public interest.
◦ Some organizations and institutions in course of time become self-centered and
work for themselves, ignoring the fact that they exist to serve the people.
◦ Administrative agencies and departments fight tooth and nail to protect their own
interests and identity.
◦ This throws a challenge to the political masters and to society in general to initiate action
through organizational changes to bring out order in the work of public organizations.
◦3} Professional Responsibility:
◦ When compared to the past, today a number of specialists such as doctors,
engineers., scientists, accountants, lawyers and a host of other specialist and
professionals are entering into administrative services and public enterprises.
◦ As professionals, they have ethics and codes of conduct which they have to maintain in
discharging their duties.
◦ Moreover, professional institutions also enforce discipline and responsibility on their
members.
◦ In extreme cases, professional institutions terminate the membership of a person when
he is found guilty of malpractices.
◦There are also instances of professionals in the public service
quitting their jobs when it comes to the question of professional
standards and integrity.
◦This ethical responsibility is not just confined to technical
personnel only. Now-a-days, administrative personnel and civil
servants have developed a professional status and they go by
standards and ethics.
