Dimensions of Accountability in Inter-organizational Business Processes

Abstract

Inter-organizational business processes are the basis of a globalized, highly dynamic, and digitalized world, enabling faster and cost-effective transactions. At the same time, they raise business vulnerabilities. A particular vulnerability is linked to the substantiation of trust between actors in dynamic business relationships, as trust affects interdependencies and complexity. An approach to address this vulnerability is the introduction of accountability mechanisms. Extant research suggests that accountability enables revealing causality and a transparent allocation of responsibilities for each process step. Thereby, corresponding actors can judge upon misbehavior and verify trust claims. Unfortunately, a thorough understanding of accountability and its dimensions accountability in the context of IBP is still missing. To address this gap, we develop a framework with dimensions of accountability. We demonstrate the resulting framework in an industrial supply chain case and derive implications for theory and practice.