ABSTRACT
This chapter determines what accountability means in the context of corporate governance. It emphasizes the position and power of boards to ascertain the elements of accountability. The chapter examines the way that the concept of accountability has been explained in various aspects of life and clarifies what accountability involves in society generally, which entails an examination of the literature in several fields, including political science, public administration, accounting and ethics. Goetz and Jenkins have identified three kinds of accountability such as horizontal, vertical, and diagonal. A person such as a corporate officer may have role accountability for certain tasks or areas of work and will also have individual responsibility for the manner in which they discharge their office. Professional, managerial, political and legal accountability all give different answers to the questions of to whom and for what. The presence of the quality of accountability may depend not just practically, but also theoretically, on the existence of an accountability process.
