Page 20 - The Twelve Concepts for World Service

P-8__TwelveConcept.qxp_Layout 1 7/29/16 10:42 AM Page 20

Concept X

Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority —
the scope of such authority to be always well defined whether by tradition, by
resolution, by specific job description or by appropriate charters and bylaws.

ur service structure cannot function effectively and harmoniously unless, at every level,
O each operational responsibility is matched by a corresponding authority to discharge it.
This requires that authority must be delegated at every level — and that the responsibility and
authority of every entity are well defined and clearly understood.
As we have seen (Concept I) “final responsibility and ultimate authority” reside
with the A.A. groups, and they delegate this authority to the Conference
(Concept II). The Conference, in turn, delegates to the General Service Board the
authority to manage A.A.’s affairs (Concept VI) in its behalf. The board is in
authority over its subsidiary operating conditions — A.A. World Services, Inc. and
The A.A. Grapevine, Inc. — but it delegates to the directors of those corporations
the authority necessary to run these service entities. The directors are in
authority over the executives of the corporations, but delegate to these officers
the authority needed to carry out their administrative responsibilities. And
finally, the executives delegate to the G.S.O. and Grapevine staff members and
other employees the authority necessary to carry out their important
service jobs.