Delegation and Decentralisation

Delegation is the downward transfer of authority from a superior to a subordinate, so that the subordinate can perform an assigned task on the superior's behalf. It has three elements, always present together:

• Authority — the right to take decisions, granted by the superior to the subordinate to enable them to carry out the assigned task.
• Responsibility — the subordinate's obligation to properly complete the task assigned; responsibility flows upward (a subordinate is answerable to their superior), while authority flows downward.
• Accountability — the obligation of the subordinate to answer for the outcome of the assigned task; unlike authority, accountability cannot be delegated further — the person who accepted the task remains ultimately answerable, even if they in turn delegate parts of it to someone else.

Delegation is important because it reduces the workload of managers (freeing their time for more important work), develops the capability of subordinates (they learn by doing and taking decisions), and helps in facilitating growth of the organisation (by preparing more people to take on managerial responsibility as the organisation expands).

Decentralisation is the systematic delegation of authority throughout every level of the organisation, spreading decision-making power away from a single point at the top. It differs from ordinary delegation mainly in scope: delegation is a routine, one-to-one process between a superior and an immediate subordinate, whereas decentralisation is an organisation-wide policy decision about how much authority should generally rest with lower levels rather than being concentrated at the top. …