European Journal of Operational Research, 153, (2004), pp. 477-484
Abstract
Since ethical concerns are calling for more attention within Operational
Research, we present three approaches to combine Operational Research
models with ethics. Our intention is to clarify the trade-offs faced by
the OR community, in particular the tension between the scientific
legitimacy of OR models (ethics outside OR models) and the integration
of ethics within models (ethics within OR models). Presenting and
discussing an approach that combines OR models with the process of OR
(ethics beyond OR models), we suggest rigorous ways to express the relation
between ethics and OR models. As our work is exploratory, we are trying to
avoid a dogmatic attitude and call for further research. We argue that
there are interesting avenues for research at the theoretical,
methodological and applied levels and that the OR community can contribute
to an innovative, constructive and responsible social dialogue about its
ethics.
Other authors
Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament d'Economia i Empresa