33. Atul joins as a Regional Sales Head in the export division of a FMCG (fast moving
consumer goods) company. In a departmental meeting, he asks one of this subordinates,
Manik, to take charge of the company’s new office in Dubai. He allocates the work to him
and grants the necessary authority. However, within a month by seeking regular feedback
on the extent of work accomplished from Manik, Atul realises that Manik is not doing the
work as per his expectations. So he takes away the authority delegated to him and re
delegates the work to Prakrit. Due to the time wasted in this switch over, the work at the
Dubai office suffers tremendously and the company is not able to meet its desired goals.
In context of the above case:
1. Why is Manik supposed to give regular feedback about work to Atul?
2. Can the authority granted to a subordinate be taken back and re-delegated to
another person?
3. Can Manik be held responsible for not meeting the work related expectations of
Atul? Give a suitable reason in support of your answer.
4. Differentiate between authority, responsibility and accountability on the basis of
origin and flow. (6)
Answers
Answer:
33. Atul joins as a Regional Sales Head in the export division of a FMCG (fast moving
consumer goods) company. In a departmental meeting, he asks one of this subordinates,
Manik, to take charge of the company’s new office in Dubai. He allocates the work to him
and grants the necessary authority. However, within a month by seeking regular feedback
on the extent of work accomplished from Manik, Atul realises that Manik is not doing the
work as per his expectations. So he takes away the authority delegated to him and re
delegates the work to Prakrit. Due to the time wasted in this switch over, the work at the
Dubai office suffers tremendously and the company is not able to meet its desired goals.
In context of the above case:
1. Why is Manik supposed to give regular feedback about work to Atul?
2. Can the authority granted to a subordinate be taken back and re-delegated to
another person?
3. Can Manik be held responsible for not meeting the work related expectations of
Atul? Give a suitable reason in support of your answer.
4. Differentiate between authority, responsibility and accountability on the basis of
origin and flow. (6)
Answer:
1) Manik is supposed to give regular feedback about work to Atul as he was given authority to do the work and so it in turn makes him responsible for the work and makes him answerable for the outcome.
Concept: Answerability
Definition: It is referred to as justification of one's actions and responsibility for explaining the actions taken by them.
2) Yes, The authority transferred to a subordinate can be revoked and reassigned to another individual.
Companies often reassign their employees to other projects or tasks which gives the other person or employee more power/authority which was earlier given to someone else.
3) Yes, Manik can be held accountable for failing to achieve Atul's work-related expectations, since it is a subordinate's responsibility to do the assigned assignment to the best of his ability and expertise.
4) The difference between authority, responsibility, and accountability on the basis of origin and flow is:-
Authority
Origin: It arises from a formal position
Flow: It flows in a downward way i.e. from superior to subordinate
Responsibility
Origin: It arises from the authority which was delegated
Flow: It flows in an upward way i.e. from subordinate to superior
Accountability
Origin: It arises from the responsibility
Flow: It flows in an upward way i.e. from subordinate to superior
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