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Business Ethics and Quantification: Towards an Ethics of Numbers

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  • Gazi Islam

    (Grenoble Ecole de Management and IREGE)

Abstract

Social practices of quantification, or the production and communication of numbers, have been recognized as important foundations of organizational knowledge, as well as sources of power. With the advent of increasingly sophisticated digital tools to capture and extract numerical data from social life, however, there is a pressing need to understand the ethical stakes of quantification. The current study examines quantification from an ethical lens, to frame and promote a research agenda around the ethics of quantification. After a brief overview of quantification research and its uses in state and market organization, I discuss quantification in terms of three core subprocesses—capture, specification, and appropriation, illustrating and identifying ethical concerns around each process. Linking these processes to the performative effects of measures, I present a working model of quantification from which the discussion builds ideas for developing a research agenda around quantification.

Suggested Citation

  • Gazi Islam, 2022. "Business Ethics and Quantification: Towards an Ethics of Numbers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 195-211, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:176:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04694-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-020-04694-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lane Peterson Fronczek & Martin Mende & Maura L. Scott, 2022. "From self‐quantification to self‐objectification? Framework and research agenda on consequences for well‐being," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 1356-1374, September.
    2. Steffen Böhm & Michal Carrington & Nelarine Cornelius & Boudewijn Bruin & Michelle Greenwood & Louise Hassan & Tanusree Jain & Charlotte Karam & Arno Kourula & Laurence Romani & Suhaib Riaz & Deirdre , 2022. "Ethics at the Centre of Global and Local Challenges: Thoughts on the Future of Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(3), pages 835-861, October.

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