In a report I handed in earlier this week, my professor corrected my sentence to 

> 日本において、金融政策の目的に関する考え方が時間<b>を</b>伴い、変わってきた。

from 「<b>に</b>伴い」. Is there a practical difference between the two? [ALC][1] [shows][2] a bunch of examples with essentially identical usage. 

Here's the definition from 大辞林： 

> 1. 一緒に行く。引き連れて行く、またつき従って行く。「秘書を伴って行く」「父に伴って博物館に行く」   
>
> 2. ある事柄に応じて生ずる。「危険を伴う手術」「人口増加に伴う住宅問題」

It seems like に and を are being used interchangeably. Is there a rule of thumb for when to use which?


  [1]: http://eow.alc.co.jp/%E3%81%AB%E4%BC%B4%E3%81%86/UTF-8/
  [2]: http://eow.alc.co.jp/%E3%82%92%E4%BC%B4%E3%81%86/UTF-8/?ref=sa