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Defining Accountability in A Network Society

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  • Painter-Morland, Mollie

Abstract

This paper challenges some of the basic epistemological assumptions that underpin our current conceptions of accountability. Recent legislative developments like Sarbanes-Oxley attempt to enhance accountability in the business environment through the employment of checks and balances and the threat of individual liability. This kind of legalistic strategy still seems to assume the existence of an individual agent who employs moral principles to come to decisions in a deliberate, impartial manner. This paper will emphasize that moral decision-making often does not take place in this manner, but is rather a tacit process of sensing what the appropriate behavior would be. Accountability, both with respect to individuals and organizations, is less a matter of “accounting for†a set of concrete assets, than a question of being accountable to a set of internal and external stakeholders, or in terms of the tacit sense of moral propriety that develops among business associates and colleagues over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Painter-Morland, Mollie, 2007. "Defining Accountability in A Network Society," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(3), pages 515-534, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:17:y:2007:i:03:p:515-534_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Bullock Graham, 2015. "Signaling the credibility of private actors as public agents: transparency, independence, and expertise in environmental evaluations of products and companies," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 177-219, August.
    2. Lisa Baudot & Joseph A. Johnson & Anna Roberts & Robin W. Roberts, 2020. "Is Corporate Tax Aggressiveness a Reputation Threat? Corporate Accountability, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Corporate Tax Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 197-215, May.
    3. Kevin Gibson, 2011. "Toward an Intermediate Position on Corporate Moral Personhood," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 71-81, March.
    4. Paulina Roszkowska & Domènec Melé, 2021. "Organizational Factors in the Individual Ethical Behaviour. The Notion of the “Organizational Moral Structure”," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 187-209, July.
    5. Virginia R. Stewart & Deirdre G. Snyder & Chia-Yu Kou, 2023. "We Hold Ourselves Accountable: A Relational View of Team Accountability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 691-712, March.

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