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Decision Neuroscience and Organizational Ethics

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Organizational Neuroethics

Part of the book series: Advances in Neuroethics ((AIN))

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Abstract

Recent advances in decision neuroscience hold promise to address questions that have engaged organizational ethics scholars for decades. Following from this promise, two research questions emerge: (1) What are the most productive ways to enhance organizational ethics through scholarly communication and collaborative work among philosophers, social scientists, and neuroscientists? (2) What contributions have already been made, and how can we build on those contributions? Specifically, how can scholars in the field of organizational ethics, both normative and empirical scholars, shape future neuroscience research on topics germane to their research interests? Decision neuroscience confirms that people do not make ethical decisions in a strictly rational manner but that emotion and intuition play important roles. The challenge is to link neuroscience findings such as these to questions specific to empirical organizational ethics research, as well as to higher-order normative questions. Research on moral cognition is emphasized, including conceptualizations of moral cognition, brain structure and function, and dual process theory and the role of emotion. Future research suggestions are included.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Note that in this paper I use the terms “moral” and “ethical” interchangeably.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Diana C. Robertson

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  1. Diana C. Robertson
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Correspondence to Diana C. Robertson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, HEC Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Joé T. Martineau

  2. IRCM, Université de Montréal, and McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Eric Racine

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Robertson, D.C. (2020). Decision Neuroscience and Organizational Ethics. In: Martineau, J., Racine, E. (eds) Organizational Neuroethics. Advances in Neuroethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27177-0_9

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