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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Leadership, management and supervision

A production manager delegates the scheduling of weekly shifts to a team supervisor. The supervisor makes a scheduling error that causes late orders. Who remains ultimately accountable to the production manager's own superior for the outcome?

The production manager remains ultimately accountable. Delegation passes on authority and responsibility for carrying out the task, but accountability to superiors stays with the person who delegated. The supervisor answers to the manager, yet the manager cannot escape answerability for the outcome.

  1. AThe team supervisor only, because the supervisor made the error
  2. BThe production manager, because accountability cannot be delegated awayCorrect
  3. CNobody, because the task was delegated
  4. DThe shift workers, because they carried out the schedule

Explanation

A manager may delegate authority and responsibility for a task, but ultimate accountability stays with the delegator. The production manager must answer to their superior for the result. The supervisor is answerable to the manager for how the task was done, but this does not remove the manager's accountability.

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