Ethics, Technology Development, and Innovations

Business Ethics Quarterly 4 (3):235-252 (1994)
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Abstract

The aim of this essay is to present a model of ethical technology management which assumes that elites who make the system design and development decisions should minimize the risks to stakeholders rather than maximize gains for their organizations. Given the unsettled state in ethical theory a familiar substantive Social, Economic, Environmental and Rights value set or ‘SEER’ ethic is presented. To enable foresight of the negative SEER effects of innovations a technology life cycle is introduced. A cognate issue life cycle is presented to facilitate the ethical resolution of SEER issues associated with such effects. The resultant problem of increased front end load delays and costs, due to ongoing system redesign and stakeholder discussions is found to preferable to high ‘rear end load’ crisis costs, e.g., ofthe Ford Pinto, Exxon Valdez, Dalkon lUD Shield, and the Union Carbide Bhopal plant. Furthermore the model promises improved returns on the capital investments involved, indications for further research in ethics, economics and organizational theory are noted.

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References found in this work

Knowledge and Human Interests.Richard W. Miller - 1975 - Philosophical Review 84 (2):261.
The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit.Sherry Turkle - 1984 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 63:520.
Whose Justice? Which Rationality?Charles Larmore - 1989 - Journal of Philosophy 86 (8):437-442.
Business Ethics in Canada.Deborah Poff & Wilfrid Waluchow - 1988 - Journal of Business Ethics 7 (9):714-722.

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