One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for managing business responsibilities. During operation, the system receives a user request for a business responsibility and forwards the request to a managing entity, thereby allowing the managing entity to approve or deny the request. If the managing entity approves the user's request, the system identifies one or more resources corresponding to the requested business responsibility, and provisions the credentials required to access the identified resources, thereby allowing the user to access the business responsibility without managing the required credentials. The system further notifies the user that the requested business responsibility is accessible. If the managing entity denies the user's request, the system notifies the user that the request is denied.