Authority & Responsibility

Anindityo Guruh Ngulandoro

Arifin Putra
Assyifa Mulandar
Definition of Authority

According to Louis A. Allen in his book, Management and

Organization. Authority is the amount of authority and rights
delegated to an office. According to Harold Koontz and Cyril
O'Donnel in his book, The Principles of Management. Authority is
a right to govern/act.
Sources of Authority

• Formal Authority Theory

Authority that someone has sourced from the
goods he has, as governed by the law, law and
customary law of the certain institutions.
Example: a shareholder has an authority over
shares that he has.
• Acceptance Authority Theory
Authority comes from the acceptance, obedience,
and acknowledgment of subordinates to orders,
and policies on the power they hold.
Example: The people elect the president, so the
president has the authority to rule them. The
President has authority over the people as long as
they obey his commands. If the people aren’t obey
his commands then authority will be lost.
• Authority of the Situation
Authority originates from emergency situations or
extraordinary events. Leaders who voluntary lead
any crisis situations are often called true leaders
and selfless leaders, when the situation returns to
be normal or stabilized then his authority will
automatically lost.
Example: Imagine a ship is dying and nearly sink,
then a passenger ordered that the lifeboat be
lowered and his order obeyed and carried out by
other passengers. That person has authority only
because of the situation, as well as taking over the
authority of the captain of the ship.
• Position Authority
Authority originates from the position he holds in
the organization concerned.
Example: A lecturer has the authority to graduate
a scholar candidate, because he has authority
(position).
• Technical Authority
Authority originates from the computer which
uses to process data. The operator has the
authority to inform and explain the results of the
data process, becoming a decision that is accepted
by others.
• Yuridis Authority
Authority comes from the law or the applicable
law.
Example: The police regulate traffic because there
is a law that regulates it.
Types of the Organizational
Authorities
• Line Authority
Ex :The major function of the authority includes
directing the human beings to serve for the united
objective, for fulfilling the purpose of the
organization.

• Staff Authority
Ex : These people are the ones who are having the
expertise in the specific field.
• Functional Authority
Ex :
▫ The intervening within the line authority for the
functional purpose is referred to as the functional
authority.

▫ Here the authority is given to the inspectors, who

work on the line but not necessarily on the same
line.
Definition of Responsibility
Responsibility is the task entrusted by managers
to subordinates. It means moral commitment to
do the work assigned. A person who performs
some work has the responsibility to do it. It is the
obligation to carry out the assigned task. It is the
duty or task that a person is assigned to
accomplish. “Responsibility is the obligation of an
individual to carry out assigned activities to the
best of his or her ability”.
Responsibility can take two forms

• Operating responsibility is the obligation of

a person to perform the assigned tasks.

• Ultimate responsibility is the final

responsibility of the manager who gets the work
done through employees and operating
responsibility is the responsibility or obligation
of the person who actually does the work.
Keep authority and responsibility in
B.A.L.A.N.C.E.
• Balance the welfare of all stakeholders. Treat
employees, suppliers and society as you do
customers.
• Assure everyone acts with confidence in their
work environment. Give them the training they
need to meet increasing responsibility.
Recognize that everyone makes mistakes, and
attribute shortfalls accurately to actions and to
outside circumstances.
• Let everyone know the decisions they can make,
with what level of authority, and to whom results
are to be reported.

• Act quickly to correct situations where people

either bear consequences without equivalent
power or have power without being responsible
to anyone. When individuals feel they bear
consequence without power, they tend to hide
negative results. Power without consequences
can lead to unethical decisions for personal gain.
• Never let anyone, especially yourself, hide
behind lack of transparency or too much data.

• Celebrate successes and come clean with

mistakes. Celebrate the success of others first
and admit your mistakes first.

• Expect the best from everyone and give them the

tools they need to deliver, so that they will
expect the best from themselves. Humans tend
to meet the expectations of those they respect.