The following article was written with the healthcare professional in mind - but it has wider relevance to organisations, management and the public. Anyone who is responsible is thereby accountable.
Accountability is a state of responsiveness.
It is the acceptance of such a readiness and the expectation on the part of appropriate others that one has accepted it. It is then a readiness to have one's actions judged by others and, where appropriate, accept responsibility for errors, misjudgments and negligence and recognition for competence, conscientiousness, excellence and wisdom. It is a preparedness to change in the light of improved understanding gained from others. Accountability is not to be confused with culpability. Accountability is something all professionals must accept, indeed welcome, as an essential dimension of professionalism.