Accountability

Accountability lets everybody know whose head’s gonna roll if there’s a mistake on a specific aspect of a corporation—even if the mistake is made by someone else. By assigning accountability, those responsible treat their assignments more thoroughly than they would otherwise. If, for example, a company’s vice president receives a bonus based on performance, he or she may be tempted to change a figure (or 17) on the accounting software to make the company look more profitable.

The person or department accountable for making sure the books are in order is not, however, headed by the crooked vice president. Accountability lies with the accounting department. Because the chief accountant knows his head’s gonna roll if record tampering is discovered, he reviews the software scrupulously, discovers the error, gets the vice president canned, and receives back-slaps and whispered adulation every time he walks down the corridor. If he doesn’t detect the error, he’s the one who gets canned. Key phrase: Who owns it?