Description
Management Science A Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the techniques of operations research and scientific approaches to problems of management, marketing, manufacturing, and related fields.
Study on Ethics of Management Science
It’s hard to characterize Management Science succinctly. As said, Management Science (MS) can be defined as the method of solving real time business problems by applying methods of science. I agree with the traditional view of Management Science that it is ethically neutral. A Management Scientist or a MS practitioner is supposed to give impartial advice and practical solution to his clients or decision makers of the organisation without being concerned about the ethical dimensions of the decision it informs. Science has social origin and social consequences; Management Science is the search of facts and solutions of a problem arising in business and organization so it has to be free of personal interest or regardless of cast creed and politics. Thus, Management science is neutral. Most of the Management scientists work involves conflicts with human interest and most of the decision making has its consequences. In such a situation, as a Management Scientist one should give his opinion which is neutral and does not conflicts with his own interest or with other. Let us take an example of a Chemical Industry, approaching a Management Scientist with the problems it has with recycling or dumping chemical waste. The organisation shares all its data, statistics and revenue detail with the Management Scientists, which clearly tell that dumping the chemical waste too close to the seashore will cause less processing fee whereas dumping the waste deep into the sea will cost more than the prior. Now as in any cooperate or industrial problem there can be more that one given solution, as in this given case throwing the waste near the sea shore will save a lot of recycling and transportation charges but clearly it will affect the marine eco system and the human habitat situated close to the location. In such a scenario a Management scientist should carefully examine all aspects of the situation and using his/her analytical and
modelling skills, come out with a solution which is best suitable morally and is in the best interest of his/her clients. A Management Scientist should be very clear to his clients or the decision makers of the organisation that he is working in. The Best possible way to do that would be to keep the client involved during the entire process of problem solving. He should keep him abreast of the latest finding and development in the process of decision making. Also by letting him know the different aspects of his work and consequences of the data modelling he has created to solve the particular given problem. Now by doing that he would do his work sincerely without having any personal interest in the outcome or the final decision that the company makes. One should keep in mind that the ultimate decision is of the client or the decision makers of the organisation and that the Management Scientist is approached by them so that they could get a quick and in most cases a less expensive solution to their problem, which could result in higher revenue. So it’s also the duty of the decision makers to decide and opt for what is ethically neutral or morally right. Not just Management Science, but Science itself is neutral. It deals with facts rather than values. Science can only deal with skills without dealing with objectives. Morality in Management does not confines itself to Management Scientist or Operational Research, it certainly has a wider reach and is concerned with the Business ethics or Corporate ethics as a whole, which involves moral or ethical problems that arise in a Industry or business. So it’s a corporate social responsibility to keep the morality in Management alive. The example of the Chemical industry is only a small example of the scenario of problem that arises in a Company. Of course there are more complex and difficult problems and scenarios which are not easy to approach and in some cases hard to tackle by a single MS practitioner. In such situation, it’s generally comes down to a group of Management Scientists and
Business Analyst working together in a group to solve a business problem. Group work is a major part of MS practise and involves different minds and individuals working together to achieve a certain goal. In such a situation it’s a collective effort or duty of every individual who is practising Management Science/Operational Research to know there moral and ethical grounds.
No one can teach ethics to an individual. Being moral depends upon ones family and early social environment. Mr. James Fieser (Journal of Business Ethics, 1996, (Vol. 15)) in his
article of Business Ethics explains, When business people speak about “business ethics” they
usually mean one of three things: (1) avoid breaking the criminal law in one’s work-related activity; (2) avoid action that may result in civil law suits against the company; and (3) avoid actions that are bad for the company image. Businesses are especially concerned with these three things since they involve loss of money and company reputation. In theory, a business could address these three concerns by assigning corporate attorneys and public relations experts to escort employees on their daily activities. Anytime an employee might stray from the straight and narrow path of acceptable conduct, the experts would guide him back. Obviously this solution would be a financial disaster if carried out in practice since it would cost a business more in attorney and public relations fees than they would save from proper employee conduct. Perhaps reluctantly, businesses turn to philosophers to instruct employees on becoming “moral.” For over 2,000 years philosophers have systematically addressed the issue of right and wrong conduct. Presumably, then, philosophers can teach employees a basic understanding of morality will keep them out of trouble. (Ref. Journal of Business Ethics, 1996 by James Fieser).
Apart from individual aspects, Ethics in Business depends on profit orientation. Robert F. Hartley's book, Business Ethics; explains Deriving Business ethics from the profit motive. Some business people argue that there is a symbiotic relation between ethics and business in which ethics naturally emerges from a profit-oriented business. There are both weak and strong versions of this approach. The weak version is often expressed in the dictum that good ethics results in good
business, which simply means that moral businesses practices are profitable. For example, it is profitable to make safe products since this will reduce product liability lawsuits. Similarly, it may be in the best financial interests of businesses to respect employee privacy, since this will improve morale and thus improve work efficiency. (Ref. Business Ethics, 1993 by Robert F. Hartley).
Any Business with moral values will have a profit in long run. Conflicts arise when there is more and more companies competing together for success and profit making. Having said that Business and Business Ethics can have different takes by different people and it’s arguable. The role of a Management Scientist/Business Analyst towards morality and ethics in Management can be very important as the decision a Company or Industry is directly or indirectly dependent on the MS practitioner. As explained above, the responsibility of a management Scientist is his approach towards his work or business as a whole should be ethical. When working in groups MS practitioners should make sure that the decision that they make should not be influenced by their interest or individuality. And finally every decision or problem solving model should be made and analysed keeping in mind the foreign business policies, law and the environments effect that it might have.
It’s hard to find a solution to completely ethical Management Science, and may one could never find any. Ethics is a complex subjects and its roots are in history which is filled with divers culture and theories which has other rival theories. However, by applying above theories of effect of business to environment, effect on foreign and corporate policies and keeping in mind employee satisfaction we can get closer or achieve an acceptable moral behaviour in management science. One should not risk getting more profit keeping the employees satisfaction at stake. We should also remember that the bottom line decision to finalize the MS model or solution to the problem lies within the hands for the decision makers of the company or the clients. So it’s rather a collective responsibility of the Managements Scientist/ MS practitioner and the people in Business Management to stick to their moral grounds and achieve a degree of morality and ethics in Management which is in interest of mankind.
References: ? ?
Journal of Business Ethics, 1996 by James Fieser.
Business Ethics, 1993 by Robert F. Hartley
doc_751920300.docx
Management Science A Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the techniques of operations research and scientific approaches to problems of management, marketing, manufacturing, and related fields.
Study on Ethics of Management Science
It’s hard to characterize Management Science succinctly. As said, Management Science (MS) can be defined as the method of solving real time business problems by applying methods of science. I agree with the traditional view of Management Science that it is ethically neutral. A Management Scientist or a MS practitioner is supposed to give impartial advice and practical solution to his clients or decision makers of the organisation without being concerned about the ethical dimensions of the decision it informs. Science has social origin and social consequences; Management Science is the search of facts and solutions of a problem arising in business and organization so it has to be free of personal interest or regardless of cast creed and politics. Thus, Management science is neutral. Most of the Management scientists work involves conflicts with human interest and most of the decision making has its consequences. In such a situation, as a Management Scientist one should give his opinion which is neutral and does not conflicts with his own interest or with other. Let us take an example of a Chemical Industry, approaching a Management Scientist with the problems it has with recycling or dumping chemical waste. The organisation shares all its data, statistics and revenue detail with the Management Scientists, which clearly tell that dumping the chemical waste too close to the seashore will cause less processing fee whereas dumping the waste deep into the sea will cost more than the prior. Now as in any cooperate or industrial problem there can be more that one given solution, as in this given case throwing the waste near the sea shore will save a lot of recycling and transportation charges but clearly it will affect the marine eco system and the human habitat situated close to the location. In such a scenario a Management scientist should carefully examine all aspects of the situation and using his/her analytical and
modelling skills, come out with a solution which is best suitable morally and is in the best interest of his/her clients. A Management Scientist should be very clear to his clients or the decision makers of the organisation that he is working in. The Best possible way to do that would be to keep the client involved during the entire process of problem solving. He should keep him abreast of the latest finding and development in the process of decision making. Also by letting him know the different aspects of his work and consequences of the data modelling he has created to solve the particular given problem. Now by doing that he would do his work sincerely without having any personal interest in the outcome or the final decision that the company makes. One should keep in mind that the ultimate decision is of the client or the decision makers of the organisation and that the Management Scientist is approached by them so that they could get a quick and in most cases a less expensive solution to their problem, which could result in higher revenue. So it’s also the duty of the decision makers to decide and opt for what is ethically neutral or morally right. Not just Management Science, but Science itself is neutral. It deals with facts rather than values. Science can only deal with skills without dealing with objectives. Morality in Management does not confines itself to Management Scientist or Operational Research, it certainly has a wider reach and is concerned with the Business ethics or Corporate ethics as a whole, which involves moral or ethical problems that arise in a Industry or business. So it’s a corporate social responsibility to keep the morality in Management alive. The example of the Chemical industry is only a small example of the scenario of problem that arises in a Company. Of course there are more complex and difficult problems and scenarios which are not easy to approach and in some cases hard to tackle by a single MS practitioner. In such situation, it’s generally comes down to a group of Management Scientists and
Business Analyst working together in a group to solve a business problem. Group work is a major part of MS practise and involves different minds and individuals working together to achieve a certain goal. In such a situation it’s a collective effort or duty of every individual who is practising Management Science/Operational Research to know there moral and ethical grounds.
No one can teach ethics to an individual. Being moral depends upon ones family and early social environment. Mr. James Fieser (Journal of Business Ethics, 1996, (Vol. 15)) in his
article of Business Ethics explains, When business people speak about “business ethics” they
usually mean one of three things: (1) avoid breaking the criminal law in one’s work-related activity; (2) avoid action that may result in civil law suits against the company; and (3) avoid actions that are bad for the company image. Businesses are especially concerned with these three things since they involve loss of money and company reputation. In theory, a business could address these three concerns by assigning corporate attorneys and public relations experts to escort employees on their daily activities. Anytime an employee might stray from the straight and narrow path of acceptable conduct, the experts would guide him back. Obviously this solution would be a financial disaster if carried out in practice since it would cost a business more in attorney and public relations fees than they would save from proper employee conduct. Perhaps reluctantly, businesses turn to philosophers to instruct employees on becoming “moral.” For over 2,000 years philosophers have systematically addressed the issue of right and wrong conduct. Presumably, then, philosophers can teach employees a basic understanding of morality will keep them out of trouble. (Ref. Journal of Business Ethics, 1996 by James Fieser).
Apart from individual aspects, Ethics in Business depends on profit orientation. Robert F. Hartley's book, Business Ethics; explains Deriving Business ethics from the profit motive. Some business people argue that there is a symbiotic relation between ethics and business in which ethics naturally emerges from a profit-oriented business. There are both weak and strong versions of this approach. The weak version is often expressed in the dictum that good ethics results in good
business, which simply means that moral businesses practices are profitable. For example, it is profitable to make safe products since this will reduce product liability lawsuits. Similarly, it may be in the best financial interests of businesses to respect employee privacy, since this will improve morale and thus improve work efficiency. (Ref. Business Ethics, 1993 by Robert F. Hartley).
Any Business with moral values will have a profit in long run. Conflicts arise when there is more and more companies competing together for success and profit making. Having said that Business and Business Ethics can have different takes by different people and it’s arguable. The role of a Management Scientist/Business Analyst towards morality and ethics in Management can be very important as the decision a Company or Industry is directly or indirectly dependent on the MS practitioner. As explained above, the responsibility of a management Scientist is his approach towards his work or business as a whole should be ethical. When working in groups MS practitioners should make sure that the decision that they make should not be influenced by their interest or individuality. And finally every decision or problem solving model should be made and analysed keeping in mind the foreign business policies, law and the environments effect that it might have.
It’s hard to find a solution to completely ethical Management Science, and may one could never find any. Ethics is a complex subjects and its roots are in history which is filled with divers culture and theories which has other rival theories. However, by applying above theories of effect of business to environment, effect on foreign and corporate policies and keeping in mind employee satisfaction we can get closer or achieve an acceptable moral behaviour in management science. One should not risk getting more profit keeping the employees satisfaction at stake. We should also remember that the bottom line decision to finalize the MS model or solution to the problem lies within the hands for the decision makers of the company or the clients. So it’s rather a collective responsibility of the Managements Scientist/ MS practitioner and the people in Business Management to stick to their moral grounds and achieve a degree of morality and ethics in Management which is in interest of mankind.
References: ? ?
Journal of Business Ethics, 1996 by James Fieser.
Business Ethics, 1993 by Robert F. Hartley
doc_751920300.docx