This article defines leader accountability as (a) the leader's willing acceptance of the responsibilities inherent in the leadership position to serve the well-being of the organization; (b) the implicit or explicit expectation that the he/she will be publicly linked to his/her actions, words, or reactions; and (c) the expectation that the leader may be called on to explain his or her beliefs, decisions, commitments, or actions to constituents. This paper presents and defines accountability in a manner that provides greater clarity than prior literature attempts and sets the stage for future research.
References
1.
Bass, B.( 1990) Bass and Stogdill's Handbook of LeadershipSan Francisco: Free Press
2.
Bavly, D.A. (1999). Corporate accountability and governance: What role for the regulator, director, and auditor? Westport, CT: Quorum.
3.
Block, P. (1993) Stewardship: Choosing service over self-interest . San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler .
4.
Chaffee, P. (1997). Accountable leadership: A resource guide for sustaining legal, financial, and ethical integrity in today's congregations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
5.
Conners. R., Smith, T., & Hickman, C. (1994). The Oz principle: Getting results through individual and organizational accountability. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall.
6.
Fairholm, G.W. (2001). Mastering inner leadership. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
7.
Giorgiov, A.D. (2002). The effect of accountability on pastoral stress and burnout among select Hungarian Baptist pastors. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (UMI No. 3046675).
8.
Giuliani, R.W. (2003). Leadership. New York: Miramax Books.
9.
Hart, A.D. (1988). Being moral isn't always enough. Leadership, 9, 24-29.
10.
Horton, T.R. & Reid, P.C. (1991). Beyond the trust gap: Forging a new partnership between managers and their employees. Homewood, IL: Business One Irwin.
11.
Hosmer, L.T. (1995). Trust: The connecting link between organizational theory and philosophical ethics. Academy of Management Review , 20, 379-403.
12.
Jewett, R. (1999). Confession and forgiveness in the public sphere: A Biblical evaluation. In G. Fackre, (Ed.), Judgment day at the White House: A critical declaration exploring moral issues and the political use and abuse of religion. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
13.
Jinkins, M. (1988). The character of leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
14.
Jones, K.A. (1997). CEO trustworthiness: A universal or context-specific organizational advantage? Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Tennessee (UMI No. 9823094).
15.
Korthuis-Smith, W.A. (2002). Organizational trust: The influence of contextual variables. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Seattle University (UMI No. 3048122).
16.
Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (1993). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
17.
Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2002). The leadership challenge. Third edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .
18.
Kraines, G.A. (2001). Accountability leadership: How to strengthen productivity through sound managerial leadership. Franklin Lakes, NJ : Career Press.
19.
Lerner, J.S. & Tetlock, P.E. (1999). Accounting for the effects of accountability. Psychological Bulletin,125, 255-275.
20.
Manwaring, P.A. (1997). Building trust in educational leadership, and a new instrument to measure subordinates' trust: A study conducted in the church educational system. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertaion, Brigham Young University (UMI No. 9717112).
21.
Markman, K.D. and Tetlock, P.E. (2000). "I couldn't have known": Accountability, foreseeability and counterfactual denials of responsibility. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 313-325.
22.
McClellan, A. (1999). Establishing and maintaining credibility in the ministry. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Fuller Seminary ( UMI No. 9969650).
23.
Mondale, W.F. (1975). The accountability of power: Toward a responsible presidency. New York: David McKay Company.
24.
Morley, P.M. (1989). The Man in the Mirror. Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, 1989.
25.
Petrick, J.A. & Quinn, J.F. (2001). The challenge of leadership accountability for integrity capacity as a strategic asset. Journal of Business Ethics, 34, 331-344.
26.
Rehr, H., (Ed.). (1979). Professional Accountability for Social Work Practice: A search for concepts and guidelines. New York: Prodist.
27.
Rogers, R.W. (1995). The psychological contract of trust - part II . Executive Development, 8 (2), 7-15.
28.
Ryan, K.D. & Oestreich, D. (1998). Driving fear out of the workplace: Creating the high-trust, high-performance organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .
29.
Sedikides, C.Herbst, K.C., Hardin, D.P. & Dardis, G.J. (2002). Accountability as a deterrent to self-enhancement: The search for mechanisms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 592-605.
30.
Semin, G.R. & Mansted, A.S.R. (1983). The accountability of conduct: A social psychological analysis. London: Academic Press.
31.
Siegel-Jacobs, K., & Yates, J.F. (1996). Effects of procedural and outcome accountability on judgment quality. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1, 1-17.
32.
Stenning, P. C. (Ed.). (1995). Accountability for criminal justice. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
33.
Tetlock, P.E. (1983). Accountability and the complexity of throught . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 74-83.
34.
Tetlock, P.E. (1985). Accountability: The neglected social context of judgment and choice. In Cummings, L. L. and Staw, B. M. (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior: An annual series of analytical essays and critical reviews. Vol. 7. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
35.
Tetlock, P.E. (1992). The impact of accountability on judgment and choice: toward a social contingency model. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology . Volume 25. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
36.
Tetlock, P.E. (1999). Accountability theory: Mixing properties of human agents with properties of social systems. In L. L. Thompson, J. M. Levine, and D. M. Messick (Eds.), Shared cognition in organizations: The management of knowledge. Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
37.
Tetlock, P.E. and Kim, J.I. (1987). Accountability and judgment processes in a personality prediction task. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 52, 700-709.
38.
Tetlock, P.E., Skitka, L., Boettger, R. (1989). Social and cognitive strategies for coping with accountability: Conformity, complexity, and bolstering. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 632-640.
39.
Whitener, E.M., Brodt, S.E., Lorsgaard, M.A. and Werner, J.M. (1998). Managers as initiators of trust: An exchange relationship framework for understanding managerial trustworthy behavior. Academy of Management Review, 3, 513-520.
40.
Wilson, I. (2000). The new rules of corporate conduct: Rewriting the social charter. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
