Keith W. Miller
Orthwein Endowed Professor for Lifelong
Learning in the Sciences

Definition #1: Computer-based techniques used in spotting, digging-out, and analyzing “hard” business data, such as sales revenue by products or departments or associated costs and incomes. http://www.businessdictionary.com/def inition/business-intelligence-
BI.html#ixzz47VsgSsFN

Definition #2: Business intelligence (BI) is an umbrella term that includes the applications, infrastructure and tools, and best practices that enable access to and analysis of information to improve and optimize decisions and performance.
http://www.gartner.com/itglossary/business-intelligence-bi/

Definition #2: Business intelligence (BI) is an umbrella term that includes the applications, infrastructure and tools, and
that enable access to and analysis of information to improve and optimize decisions and performance.
http://www.gartner.com/itglossary/business-intelligence-bi/

Definition #1: A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to any alternatives because it produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing things, e.g., a standard way of complying with legal or ethical requirements.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best
_practice

Definition #1: A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to any alternatives because it produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing things, e.g., a standard way of complying with legal or
.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_ practice

Definition #2: Best practices are a set of guidelines, ethics or ideas that represent the most efficient or prudent course of action. Best practices are often set forth by an authority, such as a governing body or management, depending on the circumstances.
Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/best_ practices.asp#ixzz47VuXWvnq

Definition #2: Best practices are a set of guidelines,
or ideas that represent the most efficient or prudent course of action. Best practices are often set forth by an authority, such as a governing body or management, depending on the circumstances.
Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/best_ practices.asp#ixzz47VuXWvnq

• Utilitarian
• Also known as “consequentialism” and
“teleological ethics”
• “The greatest good for the greatest number”
• Deontology
• Also known as “Kantianism” and “science of duties”

• ThingAJig competes fiercely with JollyJigs. The two companies are giants in the lucrative international thigamajig market.
• You are the CIO of ThingAJig. Pat, your second in command brings you some information about JollyJigs’ new thigamajig design that has not yet been made public.
You are interested in this information as it can help your company prepare your next design to compete directly with their newest features. You ask Pat, “where did you get this?” She says, “Don’t ask.”
• What do you do next? Why?

• You ask.
• Pat informs you that she sent operatives to dumpster dive in JollyJigs’ trash behind their corporate headquarters. They found the information in sifting through the trash.
• Pat also tells you that dumpster diving is not explicitly illegal in the locale of JollyJigs’ headquarters.
• What do you do next? Why?

• Chris, Pat’s assistant is trying to move up the ladder, and announces that he has more detailed information about JollyJigs’ new design.
• You ask Chris where he got the information.
He says, “Don’t ask.” You ask.
• Chris tells you that he hired a data information specialist to research JollyJigs, and the specialist emailed the detailed plans of
JollyJigs’ new design.
• What do you do next? Why?

• The only ethically acceptable laws of behavior are those that could rationally be adopted as a universal law.
• Example: Is it ethically acceptable to steal bread for your starving child? (the Les Misérables example)
• If you universalized a rule like “it is OK to steal,” chaos would soon ensue. That rule doesn’t universalize successfully.
• But, this rule- “it is OK to steal food to feed a starving child” - seems more likely to succeed.

• Utilitarian
• Also known as “consequentialism” and
“teleological ethics”
• “The greatest good for the greatest number”
• “Maximize opportunities, minimize vulnerabilities”
• Deontology
• A.K.A.“Kantianism” and “science of duties”
• “It is your duty to treat people with respect”
• “Good Rules Universalize”

• Because of your exemplary work as CIO, you are made the CEO of ThingAJig. On your first day on the job in your newly exalted position, Drew asks for an urgent meeting.
• Drew is the company lobbyist. Drew reports that legislation is pending in the Congress that will greatly enhance ThingAJig’s competitive advantage over
JollyJigs. Drew wants to immediately double
ThingAJig’s budget for political donations. You ask
Drew why. She says, “Don’t ask.”
• What do you do next? Why?

• Drew reports that she is in direct contact with at three key senators and two key representatives. None of them has directly asked for a quid-pro-quo, but Drew is absolutely convinced that they will vote for the measure if and only if ThingAJig makes appropriate donations to several different PACs.
• Because the law will give ThingAJig an arbitrary major advantage over JollyJigs, Drew expects that the law will eventually by declared unconstitutional. But during that litigation, ThingAJig can consolidate its market position, and perhaps force JollyJigs into bankruptcy.

• You are worried that some of Drew’s ideas are illegal. You ask ThingAJig’s head counsel about your anxieties.
• ThingAJig’s head counsel writes a memo supporting the lobbying costs and the legal strategy. She insists that ThingAJig will not be successfully prosecuted for these actions.

• A data analyst named Casey sends a memo about something she found using big data techniques on data collected by ThingAJig and by others who sold their consumer data to ThingAJig.
Casey found that the analysis uncovered a noticeable (but not conclusive) trend that suggests there is a correlation between sexual preference and which brand of thigamajig someone buys.
• Casey asked permission to pursue some cross-marketing opportunities that will allow ThingAJig to target individual consumers who have been identified as having a particular sexual preference with some advertising designed to appeal to exactly those consumers.
• What do you do next? Justify your answer ethically.