Delegation
Delegation can be described as an administrative process under which things are made to be done by others and for this purpose; responsibility is also given to them. For example, the board of directors takes all the significant decisions in an organization. The execution of these decisions is given to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization. The chief executive assigns particular tasks to the managers of different departments and in turn these managers delegate the authority to complete the task to their subordinates. In this way, all the superiors in an organization delegate authority to their subordinates in the organization so that a particular task may be completed. This process goes on to the level where the employees perform the actual task. The person who has been given the responsibility to get a particular task completed is also provided the required authority so that the person may get the task completed.

A limit is present to the extent to which the subordinates can be supervised by a person. When the number of subordinates increases beyond this point, then the person has to delegate his authority to other persons who have to perform the task of supervision for such a person. Therefore the job of a manager is not evaluated from the work that is actually performed by such a manager on his own but on the basis of the work that the manager has got done from his subordinates. Therefore, the manager assigns duties and authority to the subordinates and makes sure that the desired organizational goals are achieved by the subordinates.

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Responsibility
Responsibility can be described as the obligation to do something. It is the duty that a person is required to perform in organizational tasks, assignments or functions. At this point, it needs to be noted that authority and responsibility go side by side. Therefore when authority is delegated to a person, some responsibility is also fixed for getting the assigned task completed. At the same time, it is also worth mentioning that while authority can be delegated, responsibility cannot be delegated. There are certain features of responsibility.

o Responsibility arises in case of a superior-subordinate relationship;
o Responsibility always flows upwards, from juniors to seniors;
o Responsibility arises due to the duty assigned;
o Responsibility cannot be delegated;
o Responsibility is the obligation to complete the job according to instructions.

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Authority can be described as the level of discretion that has been provided to the people to make their own judgment regarding significant matters. Generally, it has been seen that in case of small organizations, the decision-making power is held by a few persons only. However, with the increase in the size of the organization, the need arises to delegate authority to more and more person so that the increasing work of the organization can be completed effectively. It is not possible for a single person in the organization to do all the work that is necessary to achieve the purpose of the group. Therefore it is also not possible that all the authority to make the relevant decisions should be exercised by only a single person, particularly when the size of the organization is very large. In this context, authority can be described as the right of a person to give orders and also to make sure that these orders are followed. The elements of authority can be described as follows:

i. A right is present in case of authority. This right is provided to the person by a superior. As a result of this right, a person can regulate the behavior of the subordinates.

ii. The right present in authority to give orders to subordinates is a legitimate right.

iii. The right of making a decision is also a part of authority. This allows a person to decide what needs to be done and also the fact that when a task has to be done and who is going to do it.

iv. Authority is conferred with a view to influence the behavior of the subordinate and to make sure that the right things are done at the right moment.

v. In all the cases, the exercise of authority is subjective. The personality of the person who has the authority and the person on whom it is exercised, have an impact on authority.

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