We are used to thinking of responsibility as conscious and voluntary. At the other end of the spectrum is a recent statement by the former CEO of a company called Netmarket that he cannot be held responsible for accounting fraud which occurred on his watch, because he did not know about it. The first approach holds a leader responsible for giving the order, or being aware of an intended action and failing to stop it. The second blames him for failing to ask the right questions or to set the right standards for the organization. Under certain circumstances, the law calls a party to account for a bad outcome regardless of intention or negligence.
Absolute liability is a concept indispensable to a full-fledged theory of leadership.
Power in an organization is seated in a chief executive and delegated downwards. That power consists of authority and responsibility . Both may be delegated together, but whatever is delegated is still retained. If I argue I am not retaining any responsibility, than I am claiming to have abdicated power, not delegated it. In order for an organization to function, people must be made accountable for the performance of certain duties.