Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy

Romzek, Barbara S.; Dubnick, Melvin J.

doi:10.2307/975901

Cited by 740 publications

(466 citation statements)

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“…political accountability that called for attention to cost and schedule (Romzek and Dubnick, 1987). As the Apollo program neared its end, consensus for the US space program was undermined by the US involvement in Viet Nam.…”

Section: How Deviance Became Normal: the Challenger Casementioning

confidence: 99%

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Rational Choice, Situated Action, and the Social Control of Organizations

1998

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The legal and administrative apparatus responsible for the social control of organizations relies extensively on the deterrent effects of punishment. This strategy presumes a rational choice model of organizational misconduct that de-contextualizes decision making, emphasizing consequences while ignoring how preferences are formed. I raise three challenges to the rational choice/deterrence model of social control: 1) research and theory on decision making, 2) a sociological paradigm that situates individual action in a structure/culture/agency nexus that influences interpretation, meaning, and action at the local level, and 3) an analysis of the Challenger launch decision at NASA as situated action, showing how structure, culture, and history shaped preferences and choice. These challenges suggest a need to reorient regulatory activity toward the social context of decision making. I conclude with a research agenda to explore the relationship between situated action, preference formation, rational choice, and decisions to violate in organizational misconduct.Management decisions in the business world that value competitive and economic success more highly than the well-being of workers, consumers, or the general public so often have come to public attention that today's most widely accepted model of corporate criminality portrays managers of profit-seeking organizations as "amoral calculators" whose illegal actions are motivated by rational calculation of costs and opportunities (Kagan and Scholz, 1984). Driven by pressures from the competitive environment, managers will violate the law to attain desired organizational goals unless the anticipated legal penalties (the expected costs weighed against the probability of delaying or avoiding them) exceed additional benefits the firm could gain by violation.The amoral calculator model locates the cause of business misconduct in the calculations of individual decision makers. It reflects the logic of sociological rational choice theory (Hechter, 1987;Friedman and Hechter, 1988; J.S. Coleman, 1990; Hechter and Kanazawa 1997), but with one important distinction. When decision makers' calculations of costs and benefits are tainted by self-interest, economics, or politics so that intentional

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Section: How Deviance Became Normal: the Challenger Casementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A second alteration in NASA culture that occurred was that bureaucratic accountability ascended in importance (Romzek and Dubnick, 1987). Bureaucratic accountability had always been esteemed: rules were essential for coordinating work and for safety.…”

Section: How Deviance Became Normal: the Challenger Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Rational Choice, Situated Action, and the Social Control of Organizations

1998

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“…In Romzek and Dubnick's (1987) important typology, a distinction is made between four sources of accountability, each undergirding a different set of values: political, hierarchical, legal, and professional. These four sets of values are of immediate relevance for internal auditors in government.…”

Section: Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with Complexity: Internal Audit and Complex Governance

Schillemans

Twist

2016

Public Performance & Management Review

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Complexity, a key issue in accountability research, is almost coterminous with modern governance. Increased complexity is a key external contingency driving analyses of public administration. Scholars often conclude that "traditional" forms of centralized accountability and control are no longer feasible in the face of complexity, but at the same time, internal audit in government, as a form of centralized accountability and control, is expanding its scope. This apparent paradox is addressed by means of mixed research methods focusing on how internal auditors in government understand and cope with complexity. The article demonstrates that auditors do so by hybridizing values and through professional and relational anchoring of practices. The results suggest that public administration scholars should not write off centralized control in complex systems of governance. The article also suggests that new accountability issues arise, relating to professional autonomy and influence inside government.

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“…W szerokim ujęciu może natomiast oznaczać sposoby, którymi instytucje publiczne i ich pracownicy zarządzają różnymi oczekiwaniami generowanymi wewnątrz i na zewnątrz tych instytucji (Romzek i Dubnick, 1987). Tak rozumiana odpowiedzialność oznacza konieczność ustalenia, w jaki sposób władza jest w stanie sprostać powierzonym jej zadaniom.…”

Section: Różne Wymiary Odpowiedzialnościunclassified

Kryterium odpowiedzialności jako element jakości finansów publicznych

Franek

2013

MBA. CE

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AbstraktCel: Celem artykułu jest zdefiniowanie czynników sprzyjających stosowaniu kategorii odpowiedzialności nie tylko w wymiarze formalnym (dyscyplina finansów publicznych), ale także zarządczym (skuteczność finansów publicznych). Metodologia i wnioski: W artykule wskazano, że jednym z warunków zapewnienia skuteczności finansów publicznych w przeciwdziałaniu zjawiskom kryzysowym oraz naprawie ich skutków jest stosowanie reguł odpowiedzialności odnoszących się do procesu zarządzania finansami publicznymi. Konstrukcję artykułu zbudowano, opierając się na powiązaniu koncepcji jakości finansów publicznych z rozwiązaniami instytucjonalnymi wykorzystywanymi na potrzeby zarządzania finansami publicznymi. Oryginalność: W artykule przeciwstawiono tradycyjne podejście do odpowiedzialności -utożsamiane z odpowiedzialnością za naruszenie dyscypliny finansów publicznych (wymiar formalny) -podejściu nowoczesnemu, w którym odpowiedzialność jest swoistego rodzaju programem władzy publicznej, zbudowanym na zobowią-zaniu do osiągnięcia celu i konieczności rozliczenia się z rezultatów (wymiar sprawnościowy). Sformułowano także postulaty, dzięki którym kategorię odpowiedzialności można traktować jako element systemu zarządzania finansami publicznymi, zarówno na poziomie krajowym, jak i ponadnarodowym. Słowa kluczowe: finanse publiczne, odpowiedzialność, nowe zarządzanie publiczne The Criterion of Accountability as Part of the Quality of Public FinancesPrimary submission: 16.08.12 | Final acceptance: 04.02.13 Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this article is to define the factors that contribute to the use of the category of accountability not only in the formal meaning (public finance discipline), but also for the needs of public management (effectiveness of public finances). Methodology and findings:The article indicates that one of the conditions to ensure the effectiveness of public finances in the fight against the crisis is the use of accountability rules relating to the process of public finance management. The article is based on the concept of quality of public finances and institutional arrangements used for the management of public finances Originality: This article presents two dimensions of accountability: first is the traditional approach to accountability equated with responsibility for public finance discipline; second is the modern approach in which accountability is a kind of public authority program built on the commitment to achieve the purpose and the need to account for the results. The article indicates that the category of accountability can be regarded as part of the public financial management system, both at the national and supranational level.

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Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy

Cited by 740 publications

References 3 publications

Rational Choice, Situated Action, and the Social Control of Organizations

Rational Choice, Situated Action, and the Social Control of Organizations

Coping with Complexity: Internal Audit and Complex Governance

Kryterium odpowiedzialności jako element jakości finansów publicznych

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