This article deals with the potential use of decision support systems so as to help companies to make ethical business decisions. The article deals with the importance of making ethical decisions, the steps in making an ethical decision, and models for the creation of an ethical decision support system. The article takes a look at instances in recent history where corporations have made sub optimal ethical decisions and have later been called to task for the decision. It also looks at the process whereby a decision-maker comes to the conclusion that a decision has ethical implications and the making of that decision. Further exploration is made as to decision models that could be incorporated into an ethical decision support system.

The importance of making ethical decisions is studied in some depth in this article. Several instances are mentioned in which companies have made less than ethical decisions that have made news paper headlines. These include insider-trading convictions, Intel’s refusal to recall defective CPU’s, and the boycott of clothing manufacturers who utilize child labour. It shown that public tolerance of these types of practices is very low. It is further mentioned that while these decisions may be profiable over the short term, but over the long tern those companies who make such substandard decisions often suffer public, as well as, legal repercussions.

The accepted method currently used in making a business decision is called the utilitarian approach. This method considers a decision to be valid so long as the decision invoked the intended outcome when it is implemented. It is shown that for a decision maker to make an ethical decision, he or she must go through a series of phases. These pahase start with the realization that a decision has ethical implications, encompass the deliberation of possible ethical outcomes of that decision, and end with the rendering of an ethically acceptable decision.

The article discusses potential design characteristics of an ethical decision support system. Such a system could be as simple as a paper questionnaire that a decision-maker fills out and is thereby led to determine whether an issue has ethical ramifications, however, the more likely design is computer based. Issues surrounding the design of the ethical decision support system center around the level of guidance provided by the system, as well as, the restrictiveness of the system. Guidance refers to the degree to which the system guides the user in making a decision, while restrictiveness is a measure of the restraints imposed upon the user by the available functionality and the limits with respect to how the functionality is accessed. A main feature of such a system would be the measurement of moral intensity. Six characteristics of moral intensity are defined in the article: magnitude of consequences, social consequences, probability of effect, temporal immediacy, proximity, and concentration of effect. The ethical decision support system would use these criteria as guidelines in aiding the user in the making of a decision.

It is further pointed out that the effect on a decision by an ethical decision support system would be dependent upon the cognitive moral development of the decision-maker. It states that decision-makers with a lower level of cognitive moral development are much more likely to have their decisions affected by an ethical decision support system than one with a high level.

The article concludes by making it clear that business organizations are attempting to become much more ethical than they have been in the past. This is affecting the way they interact within their environments and their interactions with the workplace. Ethical conduct is good for business due to reduced risk of legal exposure, as well as, because consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive to to the negative effects of business decisions. The ethical decision support system can aid decision-makers by supporting an evaluation of the ethical issues surrounding a problem. It can assist managers by ensuring that employees are making decisions that best represent their companies. Existing decision support systems can be enhanced through the addition of an ethical model tailored to each specific decision context.

Although the technical development of the ethical decision support system would be straight forward, the development of the ethical model will be less so. Complex business decisions will contain issues having both economic and ethical implications that would need to be addressed by a design panel. The creation of an ethical decision support system is one way in which a business can ensure that its employees make morally responsible decisions. In addition, when a decision support system is utilized in the making of a decision, it is more likely that the employee will move forward on the problem in a consistent manner than if the system had not been used. The ethical decision support system has a tremendous potential for the modification of employee behavior that may offer management practical applications of ethical principles in practice.

This is an important article from a management point of view. Our world is becoming increasingly smaller and information is continually getting easier to trace. Because of this, public access to information relating to many business decisions is raising at a phenomenal rate. As a result the decisions made by business organizations often find themselves the object of public or governmental scrutiny. The fact that any decision made could suddenly come under close inspection means that businesses have far more pressure on them to make ethical decisions than they did in the past. There are many examples of less than ethical business decisions in the press. Even though the organization responsible for the decision may have considered that the correct course of action had been initiated. When this type of decision makes the news, the business involved suffers even though the intent behind the decision may be totally innocent.

Many of the decisions made by businesses involve the use of some type of decision support system. Presently, these systems do not take ethical considerations into account when rendering a decision or recommendation. Rather, the utilitarian model is used which means that a goal oriented behavior is exhibited. The systems make decisions based on economic considerations and on what is materially good for the firm. These decisions may not be beneficial in the long run as they may lead to situations that lead to unfavorable publicity or legal exposure. What is more, in many areas, particularly those dealing with environmental issues, practices that were somewhat questionable not long ago are now totally illegal.

Often decision-makers may lack the ethical or legal training to ensure that the decisions they render are fundamentally aligned with those of society. For example, while it may be advantageous to buy parts from the lowest bidder so as to bring a project in under budget, if the parts are substandard it is not ethical.

A famous case where this happened is in the Challenger accident. The company Morton Thiokol was aware that the O rings that connected the segments of the solid fuel rocket booster were potentially dangerous in cold weather before the accident. When this was discovered, the company was investigated by numerous governmental agencies. It was also forced to endure what amounted to blame for what the American people considered a national embarrassment. Numerous decisions where made that lead up to the failure of the O ring that caused the 51-L accident. It is very possible that had an ethical component been incorporated into the decision support systems used at Morton Thiokol the accident would have been averted and the lives of the astronauts involved spared.

This article is also important because it shows that an ethical decision support system can help employees who lack an adequate level of cognitive moral development to make decisions at a higher level than they would without the aid of the system. The result is that management can have a higher level of confidence in employees so equipped. This saves both time and money in supervisory tasks. As well as helping to ensure that the company will be safe from various forms of legal exposure and negative publicity.

It also holds that by reviewing various decisions and practices for ethical implications, consumer loyalty can be preserved. An example of this is a case where it is found that products used by a company are produced by child labour. While child labour may not be illegal in some overseas countries, the western world is appalled at such practices and consumers will boycott products that are produced by a company that is involved in such practices. The use of an ethical decision support system could help an otherwise respectable firm from doing business with a supplier that produces products using child labour. The same principle holds true for products that are tested on animals. Western society is generally repulsed from the purchase of products where it can be demonstrated that any company in the supply chain engages in animal testing.

Ethical decision support systems can ask questions that identify whether a supplier has ever faced criminal charges. It can also ask what country a supplier a company is based in and determine weather there is a risk that the company is engaged in a practice that would be considered unethical in western society. The company can then seek assurances or guarantees that ethical standards will be adhered to in the manufacture and testing of products.

It can be clearly seen from this article that the use of ethical decision support systems can and will be of immense benefit to companies for a number of reasons. Our society is becoming increasingly sensitive and unforgiving of companies who transgress certain legal and moral standards, it is a matter of certainty that companies who use ethical decision support systems to analyze their procedure and practices will have a competitive and legal advantage over companies that do not perform similar analysis.

A number of lessons dealing with decision making and how various conclusions can be derived can be learned from this article. In addition, very important lessons can be learned with respect the social implications of various business decisions and how an ethical decision support systems can help to ensure that socially acceptable decisions are made within the context of making sound business decisions.

This further demonstrates that sound decision making practices will become increasingly dependent upon advances in this type of technology. It will not be enough for systems developers to create systems that render decisions based solely upon bottom line criteria. In the very near future decision support systems will be multifunction hybrids that combine an expert system and an ethical component as an aggregate to form the overall decision support system. These systems will be capable of examining problems not only on the economic level, but also on the legal, and on the philosophical level.

Systems analysts who are planning a career in this field can learn and important lesson from this. It will not be enough to simply understand business rules and their incorporation into business systems, it will also be necessary to deal with complicated social issues. As a result anyone preparing to work in this field will be well advised to consider the study not only of business and computing, but should also consider the study of at least a superficial course in criminal law, as well as, philosophy or social science.

Another very important lesson to be learned from this article is the depth of the effect that computing systems will play in the way business functions will be conducted in society in the near future. Decisions that once were made by humans will be analyzed for correctness and right thinking by intelligent systems running on neural networks. This leads to the concept that in the not to distant future machines will be created that actually poses the digital equivalent of a conscience. The effect this type of system will have on the firm and its role within society as a whole is stupefying.