Perhaps the most fundamental method of channeling the activities of individuals within an organization, responsibility is the obligation to perform assigned activities. It is the self-assumed commitment to handle a job to the best of one’s ability. The source of responsibility lies within the individual. A person who accepts a job agrees to carry out a series of duties or activities or to see that someone else carries them out.² The act of accepting the job means that the person is obligated to a superior to see that job activities are successfully completed. Even though a manager may delegate a task to another employee, the manager still remains responsible for the completion of the task. In other words, responsibility is, in a sense, shared by both the manager and the employee.

Nonetheless, responsibility is often difficult to identify.

Some believe that the actions of investment firm Goldman Sachs helped fuel the nation’s recent financial meltdown. By saying the practice is common in the investment industry, Goldman Sachs executives defended their practice of selling an investment to a client, while simultaneously “betting” that the investment would falter, and making a profit when the investment declined in value. Only after a six-hour grilling by a Senate investigation panel did an executive acknowledge that his company may have had some responsibility for the economic crisis. In this example, although the firm’s executive officers did bear some responsibility for the company’s actions, the Goldman Sachs employees who processed these transactions for investors also bore some responsibility.³

An individual’s job activities within an organization are usually summarized in a formal statement called a job description—a list of specific activities that must be performed by whoever holds the position. Unclear job descriptions can confuse employees and may cause them to lose interest in their jobs. On the other hand, a clear job description can help employees to become successful by focusing their efforts on the issues that are important for their position. When properly designed, job descriptions communicate job content to employees, establish performance levels that employees must maintain, and act as guides that employees should follow to help the organization reach its objectives.⁴

Job activities are delegated by management to enhance the accomplishment of management system objectives. Management analyzes its objectives and assigns specific duties that will lead to reaching those objectives. A sound organizing strategy delineates specific job activities for every individual in the organization. Note, however, that as objectives and other conditions within the management system change, so will individual job activities.

The three areas related to responsibility include dividing job activities, clarifying the job activities of managers, and being responsible. Each of these topics is discussed in the sections that follow.