The Influence of Accountability on Managers'felt Responsibility: a Cross Cultural Study

The influence of accountability on managers'felt responsibility was studied. The hypotheses tested were that accountability to various audiences such as the Principal, work peers and the general public influence the managers' felt responsibility. Felt responsibility was defined as the cognitive and affective responsibility felt by a manager for a decision that implies a dilemma. A cross cultural hypothesis was also tested. The interdependnet self construal of managers was proposed as a moderating variable for the relationship beetween accountability to different audiences and felt responsibility. An in basket exercise with MBA's students in the USA and Colombia was used for testing the hypothesis. A new scale using both cognitive and affective dimensions for felt responsibility was proposed. Results were mixed. Further research must be conducted in a promising field in organizational behavior.