As an aspiring Industrial Engineer one field that is of particular interest to me as an individual is Operations Research (OR). Operations Research is the application of scientific principles to business management, which provides a quantitative basis for complex decision-making. I’ll introduce why I chose this particular field and how a conversation on ethics is warranted through explanation of the extent of OR methodologies and the impact of the decisions made by these researchers. Think of OR as a highly technical consulting niche, which deals with discovering optimal solutions using specific tools. Consultants in this field run into a variety of ethical issues. Constantly moving from project to project, each problem they encounter is
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A major disadvantage of the vulnerability of human emotions is the tendency of those with outside interests to utilize the circumstances and get their way. Obviously, some would see this as an opportunity for a money making venture with significantly less than a standard amount of red tape involved. From previously established assumptions and inferences we can see that while this view is pessimistic, it is quite reasonable. I acknowledge that this is all speculation, as I don’t have the time, means or space to investigate the specifics of such claims. Having stated that, it can still easily be concluded that OR researchers are put under significant pressure to make decisions that favor the feelings of the general public. The ethical question for OR then becomes, are you working to satisfy the stakeholders desires or their collective best interest? To what degree are you doing one or the …show more content…
Unfortunately, in the world we live in, business interests have confidentiality issues not as prevalent in the public domain. The examples given throughout this paper show the extent to which simulation models developed by OR teams are applied across an array of disciplines. While these problems are practical in nature, the ethical requirements of each are tedious and carry great weight. OR has to deal with new ethical considerations constantly and because of this has trouble discovering a consistent, solid approach to ethical
A major disadvantage of the vulnerability of human emotions is the tendency of those with outside interests to utilize the circumstances and get their way. Obviously, some would see this as an opportunity for a money making venture with significantly less than a standard amount of red tape involved. From previously established assumptions and inferences we can see that while this view is pessimistic, it is quite reasonable. I acknowledge that this is all speculation, as I don’t have the time, means or space to investigate the specifics of such claims. Having stated that, it can still easily be concluded that OR researchers are put under significant pressure to make decisions that favor the feelings of the general public. The ethical question for OR then becomes, are you working to satisfy the stakeholders desires or their collective best interest? To what degree are you doing one or the …show more content…
Unfortunately, in the world we live in, business interests have confidentiality issues not as prevalent in the public domain. The examples given throughout this paper show the extent to which simulation models developed by OR teams are applied across an array of disciplines. While these problems are practical in nature, the ethical requirements of each are tedious and carry great weight. OR has to deal with new ethical considerations constantly and because of this has trouble discovering a consistent, solid approach to ethical