Ethical development of advanced technology: A postmodern stakeholder perspective

Zygmunt Bauman is arguably the most well-known theorist in postmodern ethic s. He argues that to develop and enforce universal ethical laws or codes le ads to an abdication of individual moral responsibility. Actors rely on ext ernal rules and a rational consideration of costs and benefits rather than on moral impulse. In order to recognize and act upon moral impulse, the mor al agent must both recognize and understand the Other. We operationalize th ese ideas, applying them to the development of advanced information technol ogy (AIT) in organizations. We propose that a stakeholder theory of enablin g can be used to formulate processes that will give form and voice to the O ther by providing mechanisms for face-to-face interactions and dialogue. Ap plying the principles of affirmative postmodern ethics through an enabling stakeholder oriented system development process explicitly allows for the e xamination of moral concerns which might otherwise be overlooked, ignored, or silenced.