In which directions do authority and accountability move through an organization?

1. Most managers delegate some degree of authority and responsibility to others below them in the chain of command. 2. Authority and responsibility therefore move downward as managers assign activities to subordinates and share decision-making with them. 3. Accountability means responsibility for outcomes. 4. Accountability moves upward, because managers at each successively higher level are held accountable for the actions of their subordinates. 5. Options pairing both flows in one direction miss that delegation and answerability run opposite ways. 6. Reversing the pair would mean a manager could delegate blame while keeping the decision, which is the opposite of the arrangement described. _Source: OpenStax Introduction to Business (CC BY 4.0), Ch 7 "Designing Organizational Structures", section 7.4 Managerial Hierarchy_