AI Trustworthiness in Managerial Decision‑Making: Ethics, Transparency, and Explainability as Key Drivers

Guangming Cao; Yanqing Duan; John Edwards

doi:10.1007/s10551-026-06400-x

AI Trustworthiness in Managerial Decision‑Making: Ethics, Transparency, and Explainability as Key Drivers

Guangming Cao
, Yanqing Duan^*
, John Edwards

^*Corresponding author for this work

Ajman University
University of Bedfordshire

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Although the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in managerial decision-making has attracted growing attention, understanding of how perceived AI trustworthiness is associated with the adoption of different AI technologies and their perceived impact on decision efficacy (quality, speed, and integrity) remains underexplored. In particular, limited attention has been paid to how ethical conditions are associated with AI adoption and its impact on decision-making. This study examines the relationships among managers’ perceptions of AI trustworthiness, the adoption of predictive AI (PAI) and generative AI (GAI), and perceived decision efficacy. Perceived AI trustworthiness is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct comprising ethics, transparency, and explainability. Using survey data from UK managers analyzed via structural equation modeling, the findings indicate that perceived AI trustworthiness is positively associated with the adoption of both PAI and GAI, which in turn are positively associated with perceived decision efficacy. PAI shows a stronger, more consistent association. Decision complexity weakens the positive association between GAI and perceived decision efficacy but does not moderate the PAI-perceived decision efficacy relationship. To enrich the interpretation, illustrative cases from BYD, Netflix, and HSBC provide contextual insight into how ethical, transparent, and explainable AI practices correspond with managerial AI use and perceived decision-making outcomes. Collectively, the findings suggest that perceived AI trustworthiness is positively associated with responsible AI adoption and higher perceived decision efficacy, while decision complexity is an important boundary condition associated with the perceived efficacy of GAI in managerial decision processes. The findings advance understanding of how perceived AI trustworthiness is associated with the adoption and performance of distinct AI types in managerial decision-making, contributing to debates on responsible AI, managerial accountability, and ethical technology use in organizations.

Original language	English
Number of pages	21
Journal	Journal of Business Ethics
Early online date	14 Jul 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-026-06400-x
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 14 Jul 2026

Bibliographical note

Copyright © The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Keywords

AI trustworthiness
Ethics
Transparency
Explainability
Decision efficacy
Predictive AI
Generative AI
Business ethics

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10.1007/s10551-026-06400-xLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cao Duan and Edwards_AI Trustworthiness in Managerial Decision‑Making
Copyright © The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Final published version, 986 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

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title = "AI Trustworthiness in Managerial Decision‑Making: Ethics, Transparency, and Explainability as Key Drivers",

abstract = "Although the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in managerial decision-making has attracted growing attention, understanding of how perceived AI trustworthiness is associated with the adoption of different AI technologies and their perceived impact on decision efficacy (quality, speed, and integrity) remains underexplored. In particular, limited attention has been paid to how ethical conditions are associated with AI adoption and its impact on decision-making. This study examines the relationships among managers{\textquoteright} perceptions of AI trustworthiness, the adoption of predictive AI (PAI) and generative AI (GAI), and perceived decision efficacy. Perceived AI trustworthiness is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct comprising ethics, transparency, and explainability. Using survey data from UK managers analyzed via structural equation modeling, the findings indicate that perceived AI trustworthiness is positively associated with the adoption of both PAI and GAI, which in turn are positively associated with perceived decision efficacy. PAI shows a stronger, more consistent association. Decision complexity weakens the positive association between GAI and perceived decision efficacy but does not moderate the PAI-perceived decision efficacy relationship. To enrich the interpretation, illustrative cases from BYD, Netflix, and HSBC provide contextual insight into how ethical, transparent, and explainable AI practices correspond with managerial AI use and perceived decision-making outcomes. Collectively, the findings suggest that perceived AI trustworthiness is positively associated with responsible AI adoption and higher perceived decision efficacy, while decision complexity is an important boundary condition associated with the perceived efficacy of GAI in managerial decision processes. The findings advance understanding of how perceived AI trustworthiness is associated with the adoption and performance of distinct AI types in managerial decision-making, contributing to debates on responsible AI, managerial accountability, and ethical technology use in organizations.",

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AI Trustworthiness in Managerial Decision‑Making: Ethics, Transparency, and Explainability as Key Drivers

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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