Research Catalog

Title

The quest for responsibility : accountability and citizenship in complex organisations / Mark Bovens.

Author

Bovens, M. A. P.

Publication

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

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Holdings

Details

Description

xii, 252 p. : ill.; 24 cm.

Summary

Explores issues of responsibility in complex organizations. Examines the idea of passive responsibility in terms of corporate, hierarchical, collective and individual accountability. Discusses active responsibility by considering the concept of an individual's citizenship within an organization, focusing on forms of civil disobedience (resignation, refusal to work, whistleblowing, leakage of information) and on activities related to the individual's loyalty to the organization. Illustrates these theories with examples from the public and private sectors with particular reference to the Netherlands, the UK and the USA.

Series Statement

Theories of institutional design

Uniform Title

• Verantwoordelijkheid en organisatie. English
• Theories of institutional design

Alternative Title

Verantwoordelijkheid en organisatie.

Subject

• Organizational sociology
• Responsibility
• Organizational behavior
• Industries > Social aspects

Genre/Form

• bibliography.
• graph.
• bibliographie.
• graphique.
• bibliografía.
• gráfico.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-246) and indexes.

Language (note)

• Revised translation of: Verantwoordelijkheid en organisatie.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

pt. I. The quest for responsibility. 1. Complex organisations and the quest for responsibility. 2. Complex organisations as corporate actors. 3. Two concepts of responsibility -- pt. II. Passive responsibility. 4. Accountability: the problem of many hands. 5. Corporate accountability: the organisation as a person. 6. Hierarchial accountability: one for all. 7. Collective accountability: all for one. 8. Individual accountability: each for himself -- pt. III. Active responsibility. 9. Virtue: citizenship in complex organisations. 10. Exit: resignation and refusal. 11. Voice: whistleblowing and leaking. 12. Loyalty: responsibility as a by-product.

ISBN

• 0521481635 (hardback)
• 0521628989 (pbk.)

LCCN

^^^97010236^//r98

OCLC

• 36543481
• SCSB-10201451

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library