Business Ethics and Governance in Digital Transformation: Protecting Human Agency Through Inclusive Corporate Policies

Corporate digital governance often fails to mitigate the social impact of digitalization due to short-term profit optimization, triggering AI black box phenomena that marginalize digital workers' welfare. This study explores the integration of ethical dimensions into corporate governance frameworks to safeguard stakeholder rights. Employing a qualitative literature review approach (2019–2026), this research analyzes technology corporations' accountability regarding automated work systems. The findings reveal tha…

Business Ethics and Governance in Digital Transformation: Protecting Human Agency Through Inclusive Corporate Policies
Ethics of AI in Digital Medicine – Explanation why transparent explainable AI is important by KI-Campus. CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

In brief

A qualitative review of literature published between 2019 and 2026 examined how technology corporations are held accountable for automated work systems. It concluded that governance at digital platforms tends to put financial returns ahead of social equity, which produces opaque algorithms and exposes workers in Indonesia to vulnerability.

The paper matters because it ties short-term profit optimization to the welfare of digital workers and argues that transparency of algorithms should be part of regular corporate compliance. Its proposal of periodic ethical audits remains a recommendation, and the source does not show that such audits have been adopted or tested.

Main points

  1. The study is a qualitative literature review covering 2019 to 2026.
  2. It links short-term profit optimization to AI black box effects that marginalize digital workers' welfare.
  3. The findings point to algorithmic opacity and worker vulnerability in Indonesia.
  4. It recommends that boards of directors be mandated to run periodic ethical audits on AI systems.

The problem

Current platform governance prioritizes financial gains over social equity, producing algorithmic opacity and leaving digital workers in Indonesia vulnerable.

The rundown

The research focuses on how corporate digital governance frameworks can integrate ethical dimensions to safeguard stakeholder rights. It analyzes the accountability of technology corporations for automated work systems, rather than collecting new field data.

Its conclusion is that algorithmic transparency should become an integral part of corporate compliance. The authors present board-level ethical audits of artificial intelligence systems as a way to support business sustainability and distributive justice.

Sources

  1. Peer-reviewedNeo Journal of economy and social humanities2026-10-21

The debate