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Working Paper Series

School of Business Administration, Oakland University


 

Papers for 2006

2006-1.
Towards a Design Science of Ethical Decision Support

Kieran Mathieson

Poor ethical decisions can destroy firms, jobs, and even lives. Ethical decision making involves complex emotional, cognitive, social, and philosophical challenges. It is truly a "wicked problem." The first step towards a design science of ethical decision support is to develop a theoretical base on which first-generation systems can be built. This paper brings together work in cognitive, social and moral psychology, information systems, and philosophy relevant to ethical decision making. Attributes of a system that would support ethical decision making are described.

2006-2.
Labeling the Summum Bonum for Business Students

Kieran Mathieson

The most basic question in ethics is that of the summum bonum, the final end, the ultimate purpose of action. If instructors want to introduce the summum bonum to business students, how do they do it? Discussions of standard philosophical terms like "the purpose of life" might be resisted by students, if they think the terms are inappropriate for business courses. This study examined whether the term "personal success" would be acceptable. A survey of undergraduate business students found that on average they thought about the summum bonum more than expected. The data also showed that students found standard philosophical terms inappropriate for a business class. "Personal success" was judged appropriate, though not as much as pure business terms like "strategy" or "leadership." Analysis also suggested that thinking about ethics and the summum bonum was not driven entirely by interest in religion or spirituality. Implications of the results for business ethics education are discussed.

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