Accountability Theory Meets Accountability Practice

Author:

Dr Harald Bergsteiner, Australian Catholic University, Australia

Synopsis:

Recent failures in the corporate sector are to a large extent a failure of accountability. Unfortunately, accountability tends to be characterised by atomistic research; confusing language; models of limited scope; poor conceptualisation of key constructs; context insensitivity; and, a lack of methodological integration. This book not only integrates but substantially adds to the extant accountability literature, providing a holistic view of accountability, showcasing a newly-generated Holistic Accountability Model (HAM).

This book clarifies the purposes of accountability; identifies what triggers accountability exchanges; generates a set of well-defined responsibility and accountability constructs; and, via a grounded graphic model, links these constructs to the accountability process and to the influences that impact on this process. Several working models are proposed to help practitioners achieve a better understanding of the extent and nature of their accountability obligations, develop and implement more effective accountability policies and practices, and make better accountability decisions.

Summary

This book makes ground-breaking contributions to the subject of accountability and is the only work that comprehensively integrates both theory and practice.

• Part 1 proposes an integrated meta-theory of accountability, providing a compelling theoretical framework that assists practitioners in understanding how accountability works (or doesn't).

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Access your free guide to Bergsteiner's Integrative Responsibilty and Accountability Model(IRAM)

Additional Information:

"This book is the first comprehensive integration of accountability research in controlled experimental settings and in best-practice conceptions of accountability in the business-school and consulting worlds. Dr Bergsteiner has moved us a long way toward an evidence-based approach to accountability. A first rate piece of work."

Professor Philip Tetlock, Professor of Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA

　"Dr Bergsteiner provides a genuinely comprehensive approach to accountability that both scholars and practitioners will find useful. The theoretical analysis of accountability is unique in scope and depth, and a superior resource for those interested in this field of knowledge. The integrating framework gives a basis for establishing best-practice in organisations. At a time when we have witnessed a distinct lack of accountability and ethics in business and political organisations, this work is both timely and refreshing in providing a way forward."

Professor Peter Steane, Associate Dean International, Faculty of Business, Australian Catholic University, Australia

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