Unaccounted for no more: Explicating managers' role in accountability enactment

Abstract

Accountability research has focused primarily on how subordinates perceive or react to workplace accountabilities and largely ignored how managers choose to enact it. This omission has occurred despite repeated claims that managers hold subordinates accountable to different degrees and in different ways. We conducted a systematic review of accountability research for insights into managers' role in, and differential application of, workplace accountability. Through this review, we inductively developed a model of managerial accountability enactment, which highlights how managers choose to enact accountability in reaction to relevant subordinate events. Research suggests that variations in managers' enactment of accountability depend upon a myriad of individual, organizational, and situational characteristics. We discuss implications and suggest new directions for future accountability research that consider managers' role in the accountability process.

Answerable for what? The role of accountability focus in line manager HR implementation

“…The limited body of empirical work on accountability in HR processes has considered accountability through the mechanisms by which individuals are held accountable, including performance appraisal, disciplinary procedures, and employment contracts (Brees & Ellen III, 2022;Ferris et al, 1995Ferris et al, , 1997Frink & Klimoski, 2004). For example, Castilla (2015) found that measures to increase accountability in performance-related reward decisions reduced the gender pay gap, indicating that accountability encouraged consistency in pay decisions.…”

“…Feelings of accountability are informed by a wide range of factors including characteristics of the environment, of the actor themselves, and of observers or recipients of the accountability‐driven action (Frink et al, 2008). Individuals therefore form their feelings of accountability based on formal and informal cues about the context of the situation and norms of behavior from their environment (Brees & Ellen III, 2022; Frink & Klimoski, 1998). While many factors drive feelings of accountability, we take inspiration from Schlenker et al's (1994) triangle model of responsibility to explain the focus of line managers' felt accountability.…”

“…We also contribute to research on managerial accountability more broadly by developing the concept of accountability focus. A repeated criticism of past accountability research in the managerial sciences is that it adopts an overly simplistic definition, which fails to recognize how multifaceted accountability can be (Brees et al, 2020; Brees & Ellen III, 2022; Castilla, 2015; Hall et al, 2017). Elaborating the distinction between process and outcome accountability in the field is important not only to establish the generalizability of prior research but also to capture the complexity of accountability within an organizational environment (Erdogan et al, 2004).…”

A journey from languishing to flourishing

“…They develop an integrative conceptual framework to explain the effects of contemporary career attitudes and conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis to examine the outcomes associated with these career attitudes. Next,Brees and Ellen (2022) conducted a systematic review of the accountability literature to examine managers' role in, and differential application of, workplace accountability. Based on this, they developed a model of managerial accountability enactment, highlighting how managers decide to enact accountability.…”