Title: Finding a balance between business and ethics: an empirical study of ERP-based DSS attributes

Authors: Ahmad M. Kabil; Andrew P. Ciganek

Addresses: SensorData Technologies, Inc., Hayes Road Shelby Township, MI 48315, USA ' College of Business and Economics, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 800 West Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190-1790, USA

Abstract: Numerous scandals due to unethical decisions occur despite the growing use of decision support systems (DSS). Several scholars recommend incorporating ethical attributes along with business requirements in DSS design. However, little guidance exists to indicate which ethical attributes to include and the importance ethical attributes should be given in comparison to business requirements. This study addresses this deficiency by identifying ethical requirements to integrate in DSS design drawn from the business ethics literature. This study conducted a large-scale empirical survey with information technology decision-makers to examine the relative importance of DSS fit with ethical and business requirements as well as the appropriate balance of those requirements on perceived DSS performance. The results show that decision makers perceive better DSS performance when the ethical and business requirements align with its organisation's beliefs than from ethical or business requirements alone.

Keywords: ethical decision making; social responsibility; moral intensity; code of ethics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIEM.2023.134461

International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management, 2023 Vol.9 No.4, pp.303 - 321

Received: 16 Feb 2023
Accepted: 18 Mar 2023
Published online: 23 Oct 2023 *

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