David,
My thanks to you and the other members of the committee who developed the ethical guidelines. Overall, I think the document is clear and concise. It's broad enough to be inclusive, but not overly prescriptive. As I read through it, two things occurred to me as meriting further discussion.
1. The second bullet in the Society section mentions aspirations to be "forthcoming about our assumptions, interests, sponsors, motivations, and potential conflicts of interest." With regard to the word assumptions (and related some of the others), I would introduce the additional terms constraints and limitations. These three words -- constraints, limitations, and assumptions -- are often used interchangeably, although they are distinctly different. I do not mean constraints in terms of an optimization problem, but rather an analytic study more generally.
Constraints are restrictions imposed by the study sponsor that limit the study team’s options in conducting the study. The key element to note in the definition is that the restriction comes from the study sponsor. Limitations, on the other hand, are restrictions or gaps that the study team has in its own ability to address study issues. Often in a study, particularly studies that address the future, it is not entirely certain that a course of events will come to pass. Study teams develop assumptions, which they treat as facts, to enable them to complete the study. In many cases, an assumption will be made to accommodate a limitation.
Recommendation: While it may not be necessary to address constraints, I do believe that limitations should be clearly identified as well. Please consider adding "limitations" to this list of things about which to be forthcoming.
2. The introduction to the Profession section mentions, "the profession of operations research and analytics." While you're unlikely to find many stronger proponents that me for INFORMS expanding into the "analytics space," I do question the wording here. It appears that "operations research and analytics" is one commonly accepted profession. A number of our members might take exception to that for a number of reasons. For example, "management science" is not mentioned. Also, some have been more reluctant to embrace participation the "analytics" movement by INFORMS.
Recommendation: Adjust to read, "Whereas we are operations research, management science, and analytics professionals and have an obligation ..." That seems to address all members, whatever they consider themselves to be, while still acknowledging them as members of a profession.
Regards,
Scott
------------------------------
Scott Nestler, PhD, CAP, PStat
Associate Teaching Professor
Mendoza College of Business
University of Notre Dame
Original Message:
Sent: 05-05-2016 23:30
From: David Hunt
Subject: INFORMS Ethical Guidelines
Dear colleagues,
The INFORMS Board of Directors created an ad hoc committee to develop a set of ethical guidelines for INFORMS members. The Committee’s charge was to draft a “…document defining aspirational guidelines for ethical conduct of INFORMS members.”
Before the INFORMS Board of Directors vote on whether or not to adopt the draft Ethical Guidelines, the Committee is posting the document on Connect and is encouraging an open discussion.
We would like to emphasize that the Ethical Guidelines are meant to be aspirational. The intent is to offer guidance for students and young professionals, and to cause all members of the Institute to broaden their thinking on where they personally draw the line between ethical and unethical behavior on a range of topics. The Guidelines are NOT a Code of Ethics that INFORMS members agree to follow. There are no plans to develop a Code of Ethics.
The draft Ethical Guidelines are attached to this message. If you have difficulty accessing them, please email david.hunt@oliverwyman.com or contact any of the Committee members for a copy.
We look forward to your comments.
Ad Hoc Ethics Guidelines Committee:
Dave Hunt (Chair) – Oliver Wyman
Susan Albin – Rutgers University
Steve Graves – MIT
Paul Messinger – University of Alberta
Matt Walls - INFORMS
------------------------------
David Hunt
Oliver Wyman
Princeton NJ
------------------------------