Socially responsible modeling: a stakeholder approach to the implementation of ethical modeling in operations research

Abstract

A common dilemma for modelers in operations research (OR) involves how to construct ethically sensitive models. Concern for ethical modeling has recently become more widespread in the OR literature. Arguably, however, this concern has not manifested into concrete frameworks for analyzing models. This paper presents an approach from the organizational ethics field for evaluating models. After first reviewing the state of ethics in OR--its relevance and current applications--a stakeholder framework for evaluating the social performance of the model is presented. Stakeholder theory is effective for assessing the impacts of models in use. The normative core underlying this theory addresses the ethical concerns in decision support systems and provides a prescriptive solution to ethical issues in modeling.