ADVERTISEMENTS: Difference between Authority and Responsibility! He is also responsible for getting this standard across his subordinates to ensure that it has been met. Authority comes with special skills, greater knowledge, and vast experience, or perhaps due to age and the type of education a person has achieved during his lifetime; responsibility is the ability or duty to decide or act upon one’s own or somebody else’s decisions without supervision. We are excited about the opportunity. Although they look and sound different, they are often interchanged haphazardly. Even an entity that sits on the top pyramid has a corresponding responsibility towards its subjects. A responsible person will weigh the outcome of his/her action and take the most logical and economic action. Authority is a legitimate power to influence and command a thought into action. There are The purpose of having someone to authorize is to make a decision and delegate someone to execute it. Authority is more of a power vested in an entity usually in a higher position, and the level of authority decreases as it transcends down to a lower position. Both authority and responsible are the two sides of a coin. Not possible. ‘Authority’ means ‘Legal or rightful power, a right to command or to act’. The main difference between responsibility and accountability is that responsibility can be shared while accountability cannot. Of the 3 responsibility is hardest and real thing to achieve. Authority is the set of rights issued to an individual. asked Apr 23, 2018 in Class XII Business Studies by aditya23 (-2,145 points) organising . A person having authority is not liable to ask the employee but should command them to do their respective work properly.He should behave friendly and politely with the subordinates but should not be friends with them.He should approach the subordinate and discuss his behavior towards him. Henri Fayol, who designed the administrative theory of 14 principles of management, defined authority as ‘the right to give orders and exact obedience‘. When lopsided, frustration rises. Authority, responsibility and accountability are all necessary components of a smoothly-functioning business office. Authority and Responsibility are two words that are often confused due to the appearing similarity in their meanings. Responsibility is nothing but the duty that comes along with the job. Authority, Responsibility and Accountability So what is the difference between authority, responsibility and accountability? Measure your own performance in terms of what you were ordered to do and what ADVERTISEMENTS: 2. Why is it necessary to delegate authority ? Hence, a balance between the two is crucial. responsibility . 1 answer. There are plenty of examples which conflict with each other and that I believe are completely incorrectand in a lot of cases the definitions totally conflict with themselves: 1. Authority arises because of a formal position in the organisation. He is also responsible for getting this standard across his subordinates to ensure that it has been met. It is the duty of the subordinate to complete the delegated task adequately. Responsibility also denotes the obligation of the subordinate to perform the duty to the best of his ability. Authority is a legitimate power to influence and command a thought into action. It is the obligation of a subordinate to perform an assigned task. An authority can give orders, and in responsibility, one has to follow the orders. There are three types of authority, which are:-1) Charismatic Authority2) Traditional Authority3) Legal-rational Authority. From a general point of view, an Authority always comes with responsibilities; however, only a person given with legal authority can compel someone to perform a specific task. On the other hand, answerability for the consequence of the delegated task. Fig. The span of control means how the relations are designed between superiors and subordinates.The two types of span of control are:-The narrow span of control: It means there is one superior or manager who manages few subordinates. The same goes for more significant responsibilities and too little authority as it won’t work correctly, rendering it ineffective. Authority is delegated from a superior to a subordinate. Main Differences Between Authority and Responsibility Authority’s primary role is to give orders while responsibility is to be held accountable. Measure your own performance in terms of what you were ordered to do and what you actually accomplished. Imagine being given new leadership responsibility. Authority flows downward, i.e. At the same time, responsibility is assuming tasks delegated to be completed. This right of executing orders eventually results in perceptual power of the position. One main difference between authority and responsibility is that authority talks about the power one has while responsibility speaks about the obligations we must fulfill. Responsibility is the consequence that entails the power to govern. He must make him understand that he would not like to see the same behavior in the future. Also, to act or not to act depends on how he perceives the objectives of the organization. An authority always comes with a corresponding responsibility making sure that it matches each other. Key difference: In business functions, 'authority' and 'accountability' are roles which work hand-in-hand. Thus, they get away with shirking responsibility too. There are three types of authority, which are:-1) Charismatic Authority2) Traditional Authority3) Legal-rational Authority. In an organisation, the responsibility of a subordinate is mostly of a continuing nature. Authority and responsibility of a manager should be co-equal i.e. a sociologist and philosopher, Max Weber, there are three types of It runs top to the bottom, fact, or fictitious, from leader to its subordinates or from divination to its followers. Gradually this clubbed with the success puts her Other Comparisons: What's the difference? The person in authority might sometimes make blunders and not take responsibility for it. We need to make ourselves accountable to someone or some authority. 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