THE DESIGN OF AN EPISTEMOLOGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT DISCIPLINE WHICH RESOLVES DILEMMAS AMONG ETHICAL AND OTHER IMPERATIVES

We outline an epistemology to resolve dilemmas among conflicting imper atives which arise in management situations involving action programs which are ''useful'' economically and technically but which, at the sa me time, must satisfy, among others, aesthetic, ethical, and legal req uirements. These ''situations'' occur in problem domains such as manag ement science, environmental management, conservation management (the science devoted to the protection and preservation of our cultural and historical heritage), urban planning, government administration, and the like. Basically, these actions programs are designed to ''improve the state of the real world'' and take into account the inevitable con flicts and tradeoffs which inhibit maximization of objectives. In the end, the epistemological framework which is proposed leads to the form ulation of a methodology to reconcile the economic, scientific, politi cal, legal, ethical, epistemological, and aesthetic imperatives, in th e context of a strategic and pragmatic framework.