Accountability: Delegation of authority, undoubtedly empowers an employee to act for his superior but the superior would still be accountable for the outcome: Accountability implies being answerable for the final outcome. Once authority has been delegated and responsibility accepted, one cannot deny accountability. It cannot be delegated and flows upwards i.e., a subordinate will be accountable to a superior for satisfactory performance of work. 

Responsibility: Responsibility is the obligation of a subor-dinate to properly perform the assigned duty

Authority: Authority refers to the right of an individual to command his subordinates and to take action within the scope of his position.

An organisation is centralised when decision-making authority is retained by higher management levels whereas it is decentralised when such authority is delegated.