Search results

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities are often due to human users acting according to their own ethical priorities. With the goal of providing tailored training to cybersecurity professionals, the authors conducted a study to uncover profiles of human factors that influence which ethical principles are valued highest following exposure to ethical dilemmas presented in a cybersecurity game.

The authors’ game first sensitises players (cybersecurity trainees) to five cybersecurity ethical principles (beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, autonomy and explicability) and then allows the player to explore their application in multiple cybersecurity scenarios. After playing the game, players rank the five ethical principles in terms of importance. A total of 250 first-year cybersecurity students played the game. To develop profiles, the authors collected players' demographics, knowledge about ethics, personality, moral stance and values.

The authors built models to predict the importance of each of the five ethical principles. The analyses show that, generally, the main driver influencing the priority given to specific ethical principles is cultural background, followed by the personality traits of extraversion and conscientiousness. The importance of the ingroup was also a prominent factor.

Cybersecurity professionals need to understand the impact of users' ethical choices. To provide ethics training, the profiles uncovered will be used to build artificially intelligent (AI) non-player characters (NPCs) to expose the player to multiple viewpoints. The NPCs will adapt their training according to the predicted players’ viewpoint.

This narrative review presents a multi-stakeholder ethical framework for AI-augmented HRM, based on extant research in the domains of ethical HRM and ethical AI. More specifically, the authors identify critical ethical issues pertaining to AI-augmented HRM functions and suggest ethical principles to address these issues by identifying the relevant stakeholders based on the responsibility ethics approach.

This paper follows a narrative review approach by first identifying various ethical/codes/issues/dilemmas discussed in HRM and AI. The authors next discuss ethical issues concerning AI-augmented HRM, drawing from recent literature. Finally, the authors propose ethical principles for AI-augmented HRM and stakeholders responsible for managing those issues.

The paper summarises key findings of extant research in the ethical HRM and AI domain and provides a multi-stakeholder ethical framework for AI-augmented HRM functions.

This research's value lies in conceptualising a multi-stakeholder ethical framework for AI-augmented HRM functions comprising 11 ethical principles. The research also identifies the class of stakeholders responsible for identified ethical principles. The research also presents future research directions based on the proposed model.

This paper aims to propose a paradigm of case-supported principle-based behavior (CPB) to help ensure ethical behavior of autonomous machines. The requirements, methods, implementation and evaluation components of the CPB paradigm are detailed.

The authors argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems can be guided by explicit ethical principles abstracted from a consensus of ethicists. Particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action are used to help discover principles needed for ethical guidance of the behavior of autonomous systems.

Such a consensus, along with its corresponding principle, is likely to emerge in many areas in which autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake, as we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another.

Principles are comprehensive and comprehensible declarative abstractions that succinctly represent this consensus in a centralized, extensible and auditable way. Systems guided by such principles are likely to behave in a more acceptably ethical manner, permitting a richer set of behaviors in a wider range of domains than systems not so guided, and will exhibit the ability to defend this behavior with pointed logical explanations.

A new threshold has been reached where machines are being asked to make decisions that can have an ethically relevant impact on human beings. It can be argued that such machine ethics ought to be the driving force in determining the manner and extent to which autonomous systems should be permitted to interact with them.

Developing and employing principles for this use is a complex process, and new tools and methodologies will be needed by engineers to help contend with this complexity. The authors offer the CPB paradigm as an abstraction to help mitigate this complexity.

This conceptual paper aims to delineate a comprehensive blueprint for the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles within the framework of Takaful operations, guided by the principles of Maqasid al-Shariah. The primary purpose is to establish a robust foundation for the sustainable transformation of Takaful, aligning it with ethical finance and Islamic values.

Using a theoretical research approach, this study delves into the multifaceted dimensions of ESG principles and the principles of Maqasid al-Shariah within the context of Takaful operations. The 17 SDGs/ESG principles and Maqasid al-Shariah are integrated to give a thorough framework for comprehending the disclosure index from western and Islamic ethical viewpoints. The research critically analyses current literature, scholarly works and authoritative sources, drawing inspiration from established approaches. Qualitative content analysis examines and compiles pertinent ideas, and the expert validates the disclosure index. It identifies key convergence, compatibility and divergence points between ESG principles and Maqasid al-Shariah to construct a comprehensive framework for Maqasid-driven ESG integration in Takaful.

The paper presents a well-defined blueprint for Maqasid-driven ESG integration in Takaful, revealing substantial areas of alignment between the two frameworks. This alignment is particularly pronounced in protecting life, religion, intellect, lineage and wealth. The blueprint underscores the potential of harmonising ESG principles with the principles of Maqasid al-Shariah, providing Takaful operators with a roadmap for enhancing their ethical credibility, societal impact and environmental stewardship.

The blueprint outlined in this study opens new avenues for research at the intersection of Islamic ethics, responsible finance and sustainable development and signals the necessity of developing a standardised disclosure index. This index will serve as a vital tool for Takaful operators to transparently communicate their commitment to ethical and sustainable practices, facilitating a deeper understanding of Maqasid-driven ESG integration and bolstering transparency for all stakeholders. Further research into this disclosure index’s practical implementation, empirical validation and strategic implications is encouraged to advance responsible finance within the Takaful industry.

The proposed blueprint provides Takaful operators with a practical guide to align their operations with both ethical finance and Islamic principles. Embracing the principles of responsible governance, societal welfare and environmental sustainability, Takaful operators can enhance their product offerings, attract socially conscious stakeholders and contribute positively to both financial and ethical objectives.

Integrating Maqasid-driven ESG principles in Takaful signifies a commitment to broader social well-being. Through initiatives aimed at safeguarding life, religion, intellect, lineage and wealth, Takaful operators can play a pivotal role in fostering social cohesion, empowering communities and actively contributing to sustainable development goals.

This conceptual paper contributes to the field by presenting a unique blueprint for integrating ESG principles within Takaful operations, guided by Maqasid al-Shariah. The novelty of this approach lies in its holistic perspective on ethical finance, aligning Islamic values with contemporary global ethical imperatives. The blueprint offered here represents an original framework for responsible Takaful practices that resonate with evolving ethical standards and the enduring principles of Islamic finance.

Purpose – The paper presents a content analysis of the 2009 Exposure Draft of Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants in China. It aims to investigate how equivalently the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) adopts the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Code with certain adjustments due to specific national circumstances. The investigation is intended to highlight the principles-based conceptual framework approach to settlement of ethical standards and regulation for professional conduct.

Design/Methodology/Approach – Regarding the codes of ethics for professional accountants as a genre of discourse text, this paper applies a content analysis method to the investigation of how the newly revised Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants in China adopts the IFAC Code of the same type. Both semantic content and presentation format are considered in the content analysis.

Findings – This study puts forward the argument that even though CICPA claims to have equivalently adopted the principles-based conceptual framework of the IFAC ethical codification, the rigid legalistic presentation format might, however, deviate from the newly revised codification of CICPA from ethical principles to regulatory rules. Our findings prove a practical and nation-specific form of combining direct import and legal enhancement at a time when the Chinese accounting profession is on its way to converging with the IFAC Code of Ethics.

Research limitations/Implications – One limitation of the current study is the lack of information about the motivation of CICPA in adopting the principles-based conceptual framework approach to ethical codification, besides the pragmatic needs of global economic and business environments. Also, the current study focuses its comparison on IFAC and CICPA, without limited consideration of differences in cultural traits.

Practical implications – Content analysis results and conclusions of the study might render pragmatic the implications for future adoptions of the IFAC Code by various national or regional professional bodies.

Originality/Value – This paper proposes a content analysis, in terms of semantic units and legislative formats in ethical codification documents, to identify the principles-based conceptual framework approach in the IFAC and CICPA codes of ethics.

A new triage method, MBCE (Medical Bio Social Ethics), is presented with social justice, bio, and medical ethics for critical resource distribution during a pandemic. Ethical triage is a complex and challenging process that requires careful consideration of medical, social, cultural, and ethical factors to guide the decision-making process and ensure fair and transparent allocation of resources. When assigning priorities to patients, a clinician would evaluate each patient’s medical condition, age, comorbidities, and prognosis, as well as their cultural and social background and ethical factors.

A statistical analysis shows no interactions among the ethical triage factors. It implies the ethical components have no moderation effect; hence, each is independent. The result also points out that medical and bioethics may have an affinity for interactions. In such cases, there seem to be some ethical factors related to bio and medical ethics that are correlated. Therefore, the triage team should be careful in evaluating patient cases. The algorithm is explained with case histories of the selected patient. A group of triage nurses and general medical practitioners assists with the triage.

The MBCE triage algorithm aims to allocate scarce resources fairly and equitably. Another ethical principle in this triage algorithm is the principle of utility. In a pandemic, the principle of utility may require prioritizing patients with a higher likelihood of survival or requiring less medical care. The research presents a sensitivity analysis of a patient’s triage score to show the algorithm’s robustness. A weighted score of ethical factors combined with an assessment of triage factors combines multiple objectives to assign a fair triage score. These distinctive features of the algorithm are reasonably easy to implement and a new direction for the unbiased triage principle.

The idea is to make decisions about distributing and using scarce medical resources. Triage algorithms raise ethical issues, such as discrimination and justice, guiding medical ethics in treating patients with terminal diseases or comorbidity. One of the main ethical principles in triage algorithms is the principle of distributive justice.

This article describes how ethical principles can be used in the decision‐making process. It describes a survey conducted amongst a group of managers and business students, who ranked a number of ethical principles in order of usefulness and applicability to their work. The notion of the “ethics screen”, composed of a number of ethical principles, is described. The article concludes that ethical principles are valuable only if there is a desire on the part of individual decision‐makers for them to be applied.

The developing academic field of machine ethics seeks to make artificial agents safer as they become more pervasive throughout society. In contrast to computer ethics, machine ethics is concerned with the behavior of machines toward human users and other machines. This study aims to use an action-based ethical theory founded on the combinational aspects of deontological and teleological theories of ethics in the construction of an artificial moral agent (AMA).

The decision results derived by the AMA are acquired via fuzzy logic interpretation of the relative values of the steady-state simulations of the corresponding rule-based fuzzy cognitive map (RBFCM).

Through the use of RBFCMs, the following paper illustrates the possibility of incorporating ethical components into machines, where latent semantic analysis (LSA) and RBFCMs can be used to model dynamic and complex situations, and to provide abilities in acquiring causal knowledge.

This approach is especially appropriate for data-poor and uncertain situations common in ethics. Nonetheless, to ensure that a machine with an ethical component can function autonomously in the world, research in artificial intelligence will need to further investigate the representation and determination of ethical principles, the incorporation of these ethical principles into a system’s decision procedure, ethical decision-making with incomplete and uncertain knowledge, the explanation for decisions made using ethical principles and the evaluation of systems that act based upon ethical principles.

To date, the conducted research has contributed to a theoretical foundation for machine ethics through exploration of the rationale and the feasibility of adding an ethical dimension to machines. Further, the constructed AMA illustrates the possibility of utilizing an action-based ethical theory that provides guidance in ethical decision-making according to the precepts of its respective duties. The use of LSA illustrates their powerful capabilities in understanding text and their potential application as information retrieval systems in AMAs. The use of cognitive maps provides an approach and a decision procedure for resolving conflicts between different duties.

This paper suggests that cognitive maps could be used in AMAs as tools for meta-analysis, where comparisons regarding multiple ethical principles and duties can be examined and considered. With cognitive mapping, complex and abstract variables that cannot easily be measured but are important to decision-making can be modeled. This approach is especially appropriate for data-poor and uncertain situations common in ethics.

Many scholars have primarily disregarded employee motivation in the context of Western and Islamic ideas. To better understand employee motivation, this paper aims to explore a novel approach of fusing McClelland’s needs theory (i.e. achievement, power and affiliation) with Maqasid Shariah.

This study adopts a theoretical research design. There will be a thorough literature study of McClelland’s theory, Maqasid Shariah, and employee motivation. Qualitative content analysis is used to examine and compile pertinent ideas. To give a thorough framework for comprehending employee motivation from both Western and Islamic ethical viewpoints, McClelland’s theory and Maqasid Shariah are integrated.

This paper has conceptualized the integration of Maqasid Shariah’s five requirements with McClelland’s need theory. It is suggested that Maqasid Shariah and McClelland’s need theory be combined to understand employee motivation. For employees, the integration of McClelland’s need theory and Maqasid Shariah entails developing a work environment that attends to their many needs, is consistent with Islamic principles, encourages justice and equity, supports both professional and personal development and promotes social responsibility. By combining McClelland’s need theory and Maqasid Shariah, 15 propositions are developed to explain employee motivation. The study offers a measurement index to explain employee motivation based on the two theories.

The integration of McClelland’s theory of need and Maqasid Shariah offers expected positive implications. By considering the cultural and religious context in Islamic societies, researchers can adopt a more sensitive approach to studying motivation. This blend provides a holistic understanding of motivation, incorporating individual needs and broader ethical dimensions. Studies may explore the impact on prosocial behavior, organizational values, leadership practices and employee well-being. Understanding the alignment between personal motives and ethical principles can benefit organizations in diverse workplaces, emphasizing long-term sustainability and fostering employee engagement and commitment.

The integration of McClelland’s theory and Maqasid Shariah shows the potential implications to increase employee motivation. This study contributes significantly to Maqasid Shariah theory in business research by guiding ethical decision-making aligned with Islamic values, fostering inclusive workplaces and offering strategies for boosting employee morale. It emphasizes ethical practices, legal compliance and community engagement, while also encouraging sustainable business models that consider societal well-being and the environment.

This paper provides its unique value by being among the first to integrate McClelland’s theory and Maqasid Shariah and providing an innovative approach in developing a new measurement index in the context of employee motivation.