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.