Research Article

Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model

Number: 89 April 30, 2026
TR EN

Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model

Abstract

The speed with which artificial intelligence has proliferated in organizational decision-making has intensified the accountability crisis. In finance, healthcare, and human resources, AI systems increasingly influence high-risk decision outcomes, with stakeholders demanding transparency concerning how decisions are made and accountability for failures. Yet prevailing understandings of explainability are limited by siloed responsibility structures, weak audit trails, and an under-specified “explainability burden”—the labor associated with the production, maintaining, verifying, and assuring of explanations for decisions made by AI. This conceptual article builds a framework for distributing that burden among key stakeholders (AI developers, data providers, process owners, auditors) using blockchain as an immutable governance infrastructure. Building on research in algorithmic accountability, institutional theory and distributed governance, the article proposes a framework for quantifying explanation expectations as a function of risk exposure and capacity and implementing these allocations through smart contracts as smart contracts on blockchain platforms. The model regards explainability as a measurable burden that must be strategically allocated to ensure transparency and legitimacy. I derive five testable propositions linking blockchain-based auditability to accountability outcomes, stakeholder trust, regulatory compliance and organizational learning, and provide insights for organizations dealing with the EU AI Act, GDPR Article 22 and upcoming AI governance regimes.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

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Ethical Statement

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Thanks

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References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Technology Management, Business Administration, Organisation and Management Theory, Organizational Culture

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

April 30, 2026

Submission Date

February 1, 2026

Acceptance Date

April 29, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Number: 89

APA
Yıldırım, A. (2026). Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 89, 343-366. https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.1879148
AMA
1.Yıldırım A. Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 2026;(89):343-366. doi:10.51290/dpusbe.1879148
Chicago
Yıldırım, Arif. 2026. “Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, nos. 89: 343-66. https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.1879148.
EndNote
Yıldırım A (April 1, 2026) Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 89 343–366.
IEEE
[1]A. Yıldırım, “Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model”, Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, no. 89, pp. 343–366, Apr. 2026, doi: 10.51290/dpusbe.1879148.
ISNAD
Yıldırım, Arif. “Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 89 (April 1, 2026): 343-366. https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.1879148.
JAMA
1.Yıldırım A. Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 2026;:343–366.
MLA
Yıldırım, Arif. “Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, no. 89, Apr. 2026, pp. 343-66, doi:10.51290/dpusbe.1879148.
Vancouver
1.Arif Yıldırım. Explainability Burden and Accountability of Organizational AI Decisions: A Blockchain Based Governance Model. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 2026 Apr. 1;(89):343-66. doi:10.51290/dpusbe.1879148