Lecture 10: People & Organisations London Metropolitan University MBA Programme || Module Number: MN7181 || Lecturer: Mr Laleen Katagodage || E-Soft batch-14-The Ethical Context of HRM


The Ethical Context of HRM





Human Resources managers were often thought as the control apparatus of the employing organizations and their sole purpose was to keep the “organizational show on the road”, but, as organizations evolve and gain awareness of ethical issues, they realize the importance of these professionals as “ethical agents”. (Ewing and Tharp, 2003)

We choose to focus on these professionals for two main reasons: Firstly, conventional wisdom suggests that “HR related jobs are a laboratory of ethical scenarios, particularly due to the high degree of role-multiplicity” (Wooten, 2001) thus it becomes important to examine the scenarios in which HR professionals are often involved in and gather valuable observations to help them ponder and enhance their ability to deal effectively with ethical problems.

Secondly, while philosophers became active in researching business ethics in the 1960s and 1970s, business ethics has been a staple of Catholic thinking on business for most of the last century (Bowie, 2000). Since then, the field of business ethics went through a time of definition to an emerging research field in the 1970’s, followed by specific research streams in the 1980’s (De George,1987). From the 1990’s on there have been significant academic contributions including many quantitative and qualitative research. The concept can be broadly defined as the study of Business situations, activities and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed (Crane and Matten ,2010)


 As Winstanley and Woodall (2000: 11) note, right based ethical frameworks tends to draw on two key concepts from the philosopher – Immanuel Kant as follows:  

  •   The principle that that what is right for one person is right for everyone, and thus it is important to do unto others as you would be done by – the criteria of universality and reversibility.
  •  The principle of respect for people whereby they should be treated as ends in themselves and never as means to an end. 


This Kantian framework forms the basis of deontological perspective to business ethics because of its focus on duty, and its perspective that links ethics to things that are good in themselves (Abreu and Badii, 2006). It epitomizes what Winstanley and Woodall (2000: 11) describe as ‘worth of the individual’. Abrue and Badii (2006: 110a) observe that the theory of Kant proposes several rights that concern the following issues: 

1) The fundamental right to life and safety.
2) The human rights to privacy.
3) Freedom of conscience.
4) Freedom to speech
5) Freedom to private property.

Steps to Ethical Decision Making

There are many models that provide several steps to the decision-making process. One such model was created in the late 1990s for the counseling profession but can apply to nearly every profession from health care to business. (Corey, G., Corey, M. S and Callanan, P. 1998).

Step 1: Identify the problem. Sometimes just realizing a particular situation is ethical can be the important first step. Occasionally in our organizations, we may feel that it’s just the “way of doing business” and not think to question the ethical nature.

Step 2: Identify the potential issues involved. Who could get hurt? What are the issues that could negatively impact people and/or the company? What is the worst-case scenario if we choose to do nothing?

Step 3: Review relevant ethical guidelines. Does the organization have policies and procedures in place to handle this situation? For example, if a client gives you a gift, there may be a rule in place as to whether you can accept gifts and if so, the value limit of the gift you can accept.

Step 4: Know relevant laws and regulations. If the company doesn’t necessarily have a rule against it, could it be looked at as illegal?

Step 5: Obtain consultation. Seek support from supervisors, coworkers, friends, and family, and especially seek advice from people who you feel are moral and ethical.

Step 6: Consider possible and probable courses of action. What are all of the possible solutions for solving the problem? Brainstorm a list of solutions—all solutions are options during this phase.

Step 7: List the consequences of the probable courses of action. What are both the positive and negative benefits of each proposed solution? Who can the decision affect?

Step 8: Decide on what appears to be the best course of action. With the facts we have, and the analysis done, choosing the best course of action is the final step. There may not always be a “perfect” solution, but the best solution is the one that seems to create the most good and the least harm.

Reference

Abreu, J. L., and Badii, M. H., (2006). Proposal of an ethical model for human resource management, International Journal of Good Conscience. 1

Bowie. N., (2000) “Business Ethics.” In New Directions in Ethics, edited by JosephP. De Marco and Richard M. Fox. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Corey, G., Corey, M. S and Callanan, P., (1998). Issues and ethics in the helping professions. Toronto: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company; Syracuse School of Education.

Crane. A and Matten. D., (2010) Business Ethics (Third Edition): Oxford University Press; 2010, Softcover; 3rd edition.

De George. R., (1987). Business Ethics. New York, London: Macmillan, Collier.

Ewing and Tharp, (2003). Ethics and Human Resource Management: A study on Ethical perceptions of HRM Practices

Wooten, K.  C. (2001). "Ethical dilemmas in human resource management:  an application of a multidimensional framework, a unifying taxonomy, and applicable codes. Human Resource Management Review.

Winstanley, D and Woodall, J., (2000). The ethical dimension of human resource management. Human Resource Management Journal, 10

Bibliography

Palmer, G. (2007). Socio-political theory and ethics in HRM, in A Pinnington., R Macklin, & T Campbell, (eds.) Human resource management: ethics and employment. New York: Oxford University Press.

Raibom, C., and Payne, D. (1996). TQM: just what the ethicist ordered. Journal of Business Ethics, 15: 563-572.















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