Chapter 2: Accountability in Human Resources Management

Accountability is an inherent characteristic of organizations, yet it only seems to be of interest when it is abused or when lapses in accountability occur. Interestingly, significant aspects of accountability manifest themselves in key human resources management systems, but there have been few attempts to systematically model and discuss the implications of accountability for the reactions of employees operating within these domains. The present chapter presents a theoretical model of accountability in human resources systems, and then reports empirical results demonstrating support for antecedents and consequences of accountability. Implications of these conceptual and empirical findings, directions for future research, and suggestions for practice are proposed.