POWER, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND INAPPROPRIATE ACTIONS

The issues of power, power abuse, and accountability are central conce rns of organisations and governments around the world. Stories of frau d, mismanagement, and unethical behaviour are prevalent in the public and professional literatures. The purpose of this paper is to describe some theoretical issues and a series of empirical studies that we hav e conducted in the United States related to these topics. The thrust o f our argument, at least for the US, is that power increases discretio n and with discretion there is the potential for abuse. Systems of acc ountability can reduce the abuse but may present other problems of red uced creativity and commitment. We discuss the relevance of this issue in the international arena.