School of Economics, Management and Accounting of Ribeirao Preto, USP, Brazil
The potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform society is increasingly apparent, and this also applies to the business world. Recent news has covered science fiction-worthy situations, such as the possibility of AI taking on a company's CEO role. Although these changes have attracted significant attention from academia, with studies examining the implications of AI integration in organizations, there is still limited understanding of how this technology can be applied to decision-making. Additionally, the literature narrowly explores how combining AI and human managers can enhance the quality of decision-making. This gap is concerning, especially given the level of process automation organizations have achieved and the potential for expanding AI's use in strategic decisions. Recognizing the limitations of human decisions and the biases present in algorithmic decisions highlights the need to broaden the discussion across different decision-making scenarios. In this context, this study aims to investigate the role of AI in the decision-making process through the lens of stakeholder theory. A theoretical framework proposes integrating the bounded rationality of managers and the ethical limitations of AI with the assumptions of stakeholder theory. The article contributes theoretically to advancing discussions connecting AI, decision-making, and management, offering innovative insights to the stakeholder literature by addressing these topics together. On a practical level, the framework helps organizations integrate AI ethically and sustainably, mitigating risks and emphasizing the collaborative efforts between humans and machines to overcome contemporary challenges.
