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Accountability Myopia: Losing Sight of Organizational Learning
Resource type
Author/contributor
- Ebrahim, Alnoor (Author)
Title
Accountability Myopia: Losing Sight of Organizational Learning
Abstract
This article challenges a normative assumption about accountability in organizations: that more accountability is necessarily better. More specifically, it examines two forms of “myopia” that characterize conceptions of accountability among service-oriented nonprofit organizations: (a) accountability as a set of unconnected binary relationships rather than as a system of relations and (b) accountability as short-term and rule-following behavior rather than as a means to longer-term social change. The article explores the effects of these myopias on a central mechanism of accountability in organizations—evaluation—and proposes a broader view of accountability that includes organizational learning. Future directions for research and practice are elaborated.
Publication
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
Volume
34
Issue
1
Pages
56-87
Date
March 1, 2005
Journal Abbr
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
Language
en
ISSN
0899-7640
Short Title
Accountability Myopia
Library Catalogue
SAGE Journals
Citation
Ebrahim, A. (2005). Accountability Myopia: Losing Sight of Organizational Learning. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34(1), 56–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764004269430
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