Purpose

This paper aims to better understand how accountability for sustainability takes shape within organisations and specifically, what makes employees act in a Swedish local authority. This aim moves beyond the prevalent external face of accountability in social and environmental accounting research by observing how employees understand and act upon their multiple accountability demands.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a single case study approach within a Swedish local authority, drawing from qualitative data including semi-structured interviews, site visits and governing documents.

Findings

Sustainable action is not only the product of hierarchically enforced structural accountabilities and procedures but often must be reconciled with the personal perspectives of the public sector employees involved as part of an accountability dynamic. Additionally, the findings reveal that hierarchical accountability, rather than serving to individualise and isolate employees, acts as a prompt for the more practical and personal reconciliations of accountability with the ethics and experiences of the individual involved.

Practical implications

Greater consideration to employee socialisation processes in public sector organisations should be given to reinforce organisational governance systems and controls, and thus help ensure sustainable behaviour in practice.

Social implications

Employee socialisation processes are important for the development of sustainable practices both within and beyond organisational boundaries.

Originality/value

This study considers the interrelatedness of hierarchical and socialising accountability measures and contributes towards the understanding of the relationship between these two accountability forms, contrary to previous understandings that emphasise their contrasting nature and incompatibility.

中文翻译：

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在结构和个人方面形成：瑞典公共部门组织内的可持续发展责任

目的

本文旨在更好地了解可持续发展责任如何在组织内部形成，特别是是什么让员工在瑞典地方政府中行事。通过观察员工如何理解并根据其多重责任要求采取行动，这一目标超越了社会和环境会计研究中普遍存在的责任的外部面貌。

设计/方法论/途径

本文采用瑞典地方当局的单一案例研究方法，借鉴了包括半结构化访谈、实地考察和管理文件在内的定性数据。

发现

可持续行动不仅是分层执行的结构性问责和程序的产物，而且通常必须与参与问责动态的公共部门雇员的个人观点相协调。此外，研究结果表明，等级问责制不是为了个性化和孤立员工，而是促使问责制与相关个人的道德和经验进行更实际和个人的协调。

实际影响

应更多地考虑公共部门组织中的员工社会化过程，以加强组织治理体系和控制，从而有助于确保实践中的可持续行为。

社会影响

员工社会化过程对于组织内外可持续实践的发展非常重要。

原创性/价值

本研究考虑了等级制和社会化问责措施的相互关联性，并有助于理解这两种问责形式之间的关系，这与之前强调它们的对比性质和不相容性的理解相反。