ACCOUNTABILITY, PERFORMANCE REPORTING, COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT - AN INTEGRATED PERSPECTIVE by G UY L ECLERC W. D AVID M OYNAGH J EAN-PIERRE B OISCLAIR H UGH R. HANSON Accountability, performance reporting, comprehensive audit - an integrated perspective Copyright © 1996 CCAF-FCVI Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro- duced, stored in a data base or retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, CCAF-FCVI Inc. Published by CCAF-FCVI Inc. 55 Murray St., Suite 210 Ottawa, CANADA K1N 5M3 (613) 241-6713 Fax (613) 241-6900 ISBN 0-919557-47-3 Printed and bound in Canada. Design and layout by Paul Edwards Design. Print coordination by Poirier Litho. This book is available in French under the title: Reddition de comptes, rapports sur la performance et vérification intégrée - une vue d’ensemble. Translation by Traduction Nicole Plamondon. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data: Main entry under title: Accountability, performance reporting, comprehensive audit - an integrated perspective Issued also in French under title: Reddition de comptes, rapports sur la performance et vérification intégrée - une vue d’ensemble Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-919557-47-3 1. Auditing. 2. Organizational Effectiveness. I. CCAF-FCVI Inc. HF5667.A26 1996 657’.45 C96-900071-S A CCOUNTABILITY, PERFORMANCE R EPORTING, COMPREHENSIVE A UDIT - AN I NTEGRATED P ERSPECTIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I. ACCOUNTABILITY.................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................3 SECTION 1. ACCOUNTABILITY’S CONTEXT—GOVERNANCE ............................................7 CHAPTER 1. GOVERNANCE—DEFINITIONS AND ISSUES ...............................................................8 GOVERNANCE VERSUS MANAGEMENT ........................................................................9 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES......................................................................................10 SOME RELATED CONCEPTS........................................................................................10 DEMOCRACY .............................................................................................................12 THE NATURE OF A CONSTITUTION...........................................................................13 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE............................................14 CHAPTER 2. GOVERNANCE IN CANADA.......................................................................................15 THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN CANADA................................................................15 THE ROLE OF ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES................................................................21 INFLUENCES ON POLICY IN A DEMOCRACY...............................................................22 SOME IMPLICATIONS OF FEDERALISM .......................................................................25 GOVERNMENT IN OTHER COUNTRIES ......................................................................26 PRIVATE SECTOR GOVERNANCE ................................................................................27 GOOD GOVERNANCE — A COMMON GOAL..............................................................31 CHAPTER 3. THE LANGUAGE OF GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY.....................................33 VOCABULARY AND TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................33 RULES AND DISCRETION ...........................................................................................33 DISCRETIONARY POWERS ..........................................................................................35 BUREAUCRATIZATION................................................................................................35 INDEPENDENCE.........................................................................................................36 NEUTRALITY..............................................................................................................38 AUTONOMY...............................................................................................................39 SUBSIDIARITY ............................................................................................................40 STEWARDSHIP............................................................................................................40 VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY ......................................................................................41 MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION .....................................................................41 SECTION 2. ACCOUNTABILITY—ISSUES & PRACTICE.....................................................43 CHAPTER 4. THE MEANING OF ACCOUNTABILITY ......................................................................44 ACCOUNTABILITY DEFINED.......................................................................................44 ACCOUNTABILITY—MANY CONTEXTS, MANY FORMULATIONS .................................44 THE ROOT OF ACCOUNTABILITY...............................................................................47 DEMONSTRATING ACCOUNTABILITY.........................................................................50 EXTERNAL INDUCEMENT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY ......................................................50 THE ENVIRONMENT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY..............................................................54 AUTONOMY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ..........................................................................56 DIMENSIONS OF ACCOUNTABILITY ...........................................................................57 IN SUMMARY .............................................................................................................59 A CCOUNTABILITY, PERFORMANCE R EPORTING, COMPREHENSIVE A UDIT - AN I NTEGRATED P ERSPECTIVE CHAPTER 5. ACCOUNTABILITY OBLIGATIONS..............................................................................61 THE TRADITIONAL VIEW...........................................................................................62 THE DEBATE..............................................................................................................62 ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC SERVANTS....................................................................66 CHAPTER 6. ACCOUNTABILITY IN CERTAIN OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ........................................71 ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR...............................................................71 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRIVATE- AND PUBLIC-SECTOR ACCOUNTABILITY ................71 GOVERNMENT IN AND OUT OF BUSINESS.................................................................71 ACCOUNTABILITY IN A MONOPOLY...........................................................................73 THE PRIVATE NONPROFIT SECTOR ............................................................................73 CHAPTER 7. CONTROL AND CONTROLS......................................................................................75 CONTROL..................................................................................................................75 CONTROL AND THE CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE..................................75 TWO MODELS OF MANAGEMENT ..............................................................................76 IMPROPERLY CONTROLLED DELEGATION—STREET-LEVEL BUREAUCRATS.................77 DELEGATION AND THE DIFFICULTY OF “LETTING GO” ............................................79 CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................80 KNOW THE BUSINESS ................................................................................................80 ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE CHECKLIST.............................................................81 APPENDIX. ..................................................................................................................................84 A CASE OF CHANGE IN MANAGERIAL CULTURE ......................................................84 INCREASED MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.................................84 PUBLIC SERVICE 2000 ...............................................................................................88 SHARED MANAGEMENT AGENDA (SMA)..................................................................89 WAS CONTROL LOST?................................................................................................91 THE TRANSITION CONTINUES ..................................................................................92 THE MANAGERIAL REVOLUTION: CULTURAL AND PROCEDURAL ..............................92 PART II—PERFORMANCE REPORTING ............................................................95 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................97 SECTION 1. THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR PERFORMANCE REPORTING......................103 CHAPTER 8. EXISTING REPORTING PRACTICES .........................................................................104 PUBLIC-SECTOR REPORTING MECHANISMS .............................................................104 PRIVATE-SECTOR PERFORMANCE REPORTING .........................................................109