Critical Analysis Of Ethics In Human Resource Management .

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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2019ISSN 2250-3153580Critical Analysis of Ethics in Human ResourceManagement and Employee PerformancePaul Olendo Ombanda*, Prof. Peter K’Obonyo ***** PhDUniversity of NairobiDOI: .29322/IJSRP.9.01.2019.p8570Abstract- Current corporate dynamics have led to the growinginterest in business ethics, both in academia and in the professionalpractice. However, moral lapses continue to happen in humanresource management activities, leading HR academics andprofessionals to rethink what to do to reinvent new strategies tosuccessfully manage ethics in HRM functions. The broadobjective of this critical literature review therefore is to establishthe role ethics can play in human resource management to improveorganizational performance. The methodology used was criticalreview of relevant literature with the scope of the studyencompassing qualitative research of theories and comparativenature of ethics in HRM. The study attempted to answer thequestion: does the application of ethics in HRM functions improveemployee performance? The critical concern is that ethics in themanagement of human resource still lags behind compared tobusiness ethics today. The role of ethics in human resourcemanagement appeared to be relagated to compliance with businessprinciples perspective. The finding from the critical literaturereview was that ethics in HRM is significant in improvingemployee performance. All HR practices need to be fair in theirapproach and application and the call for strong appreciation ofethics in HRM should be headed. Studies strongly suggested aneed for the application of ethical principles in HRM which willbe seen to be fair, acceptable across the board and can beconsidered as a basis for a minimum standard to evaluate ethics inHR practices.Index Terms- Ethics ,Human Resource Management, Ethicalclimate, Employee PerformanceI. INTRODUCTIONL1.1 Background of the Studyiterature on ethics shows that organizations in the 21st centuryare experiencing the throes of ethical challenges that areessentially threatening their existence (Miller, 2009). Emergingscientific and technological advancements, increased employeeawareness of their rights, competitive challenges, globalizationand leadership behaviours have made it difficult for humanresource managers to ignore the important role ethics can play inthe business activities, employees’ daily activities, and in the HRfunctions. As noted by Berrone (2007), critics of ethics in HRMinfer that ethical issues still remain a controversial and sensitivearea and continue to challenge human resource managers’persuance of ethics against the organizational bottom line. p85XXsuch criticism many HR practitioners have begun to develop anappreciation for traditional philosophies of morality andappreciating diverse ethical viewpoints of others in organizations(Valentine, 2006). Rogers (2011) had a view that companies thatdevelop policies and procedures that address ethical behaviorbuild a positive environment for high employee performance.Critics of ethics in HRM however note that ethicalcommands are not always clearly evident and easily understoodby a number of HR and line managers thus leading todisagreements about what should be considered right or wrong andthat inference creates an ethical dilemma among managers(Hofstede (2001). Such ambiguities critics say sometimes leadsome business managers to believe that ethics is based merely onpersonal opinion and choice. Current reports show that unethicallabour behaviours are rampat in organizations in Kenya (Office ofOmbudsman, 2014). The report showed unethical businesspractices in Kenya as a big orchestrated syndrome whichmanifests itself in recruitment and promotions of employees in theform of kickbacks otherwiswe called bribes and nepotism. Themajor concern as noted by James (2002) is that unethical practiceshave contributed to high unemployment of skilled people, poorservices, business closures, legal cases, employees’ retrenchmetand so on that are a huge cost to organizations. With thisbackground, it is therefore vital to review the role of ethics inHRM and significantly in spurring performance in organizations.The main research gap is that there has been tremendous increaseresearch in business ethics but little has been about the relationshipbetween ethics in HRM practices and employees’ performance(O’Fallon and Butterfield, 2005). Broad objective of this criticalliterature review is to establish the role ethics in human resourcemanagement can play to improve organizational performance. Thestudy is expected to determine any further gaps available fromprevious studies that may enhance continous reseach in the studyof ethics in human resource management. The findings of thisliterature review are expectected to add to the body of knowledgein the study of HRM as an academic discipline. Further, thefindings will go along way in improving the HRM practice inorganizations and particularly in Kenya where organizations maydevelop policies as a result, with the aim of improvingperformance. Lastly the study is suppose to answer the question,does the application of ethics in HRM functions improveemployee performance?1.2 Human Resource Management Functionswww.ijsrp.org

International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2019ISSN 2250-3153Ulrich (1997) defined Human Resource Mangement(HRM) as the strategic approach to effectively and deliberatelymanage employees in organizations by maximizing employee’sperformance in meeting set objectives. Foot (2001) describedHRM as activities primarily concerned with managing employeesfocusing on policies and laws that govern employee employerrelationships and the general labour systems. Schumann (2001)noted that this process of managing the relationship betweenemployees, employers and managers raise ethical questions abouttheir individual responsibilities and rights as well as what isexpected as the right attitude. Van (2003) observed that HRM hasan ethical foundation and deals majorly with the consequences ofemployee behaviour in organizations and such justifies the reasonwhy ethical guidelines for HRM should be subsumed in HRMpractice in order to address the ethical HRM dilemma that canhinder the successful attainement of organizational perfomance.A review of HRM literature revealed there are five key HRfunctions in the organization thus, selection and the recruitmentprocess, employee development, employee relations, rewardprocess and performance (Wiley, 1993). Previous studies haveindicated that Human Resources Management main purpose is toensure that the organization is able to achieve success throughpeople by bringing in new talent and skills and motivating them togive their very best (Winstanley, 1996). Other than that, HRprofessionals manage the human capital of an organization andtarget implementing policies and processes that enhanceperformance. The concept of HRM functions therefore is all thoseactivities done by the HR department focused on managingemployees to achieve organizational goals.1.3 Employee PerfomancePerformance has been defined by Prasetya and Kato (2011)as the ability to achieve an outcome by the use of the employees’skills. Pattanayak (2011) also added that employee performance isdetermined by an observable and measurable outcome of his or heraction in a given measurable task. Employee performance includesindividuals’ contribution in the achievement of organizationalgoals. Individual performance is very key within work structures(Campbell, 1990). However, measure must be considered inidentifying specific individual performance by setting keyperformance indicators (KPI). Going by the current unpredictablebusiness challenges, the concept of performance and performancemeasurement models are changing as well and that draw ethicalconcerns (Ilgen and Pulakos, 1999).Studies show that when analyzing performance concept onehas to differentiate between the behaviourial aspect and theperformance out comes (Campbell, 1990). The behaviouralaspects refer to how an individual employee does his work tocomplete a task while performance out come is the targetorganizations set for employees to do. Therefore performance isnot only defined by the action itself but by measurement ofbehaviour and appraisal evaluative processes that require ethicalconsiderations (Motowidlo, Borman, and Schmit, 1997). Theconcern then is that the methods of performance management andevaluation process present ethical worries that this paper seeks toaddress.1.4 Ethics in X581Ethics has been defined differently by variuors scholars.Kidder, Rushworth (2003) contends that ethics involvessystematizing, defending, and recommending ideas of right andwrong conduct. Greenwood (2007) notes that ethics investigatesissues such as how best do people live, and what behaviuors areacceptable or not aceptable in any cultural environmenet. Legge(2005) notes that the practice of ethics is aimed at identifying andresolving challeges of morality by determining what is good orevil, right or wrong, virtuous or vice, justice and criminal. Fromthese definitions it can be deduced that ethics determineacceptable conduct in HRM functions. Many studies advocates forthe HR officers to take responsibility in promoting ethicalbehaviours that support organizational goals and societal ethicalexpectations of the business (Feldams 1996).Maxwell (2004) indicated that there are three main fields ofethical studies that are so far recognised today and viewed to be ofgreat relevance to HRM practice thus; the Moral ethics - that dealswith right or wrong behaviours through levels of growth andreasoning from childhood to adulthood clasified in stages of apersons development as pre-convetional, conventional and postconventional stages of gwowth; the Normative ethics – that is anarea that study ethical actions or beliefs in their prescriptive formfor example causing a child to die due to failure of seeking medicalattention because of a religious belief; and Meta-ethics – thatinvestigates how people understand morals, know morality andwhat is meant with what is right or wrong (Kidder, Rushworth,2003). Studies by the Institute of Business Ethics (2003) notes thatethics emanates from ethical reflection in work. Professionalethics of, for example, doctors, nurses and therapists, has itscounterpart in medical and health care ethics. The ethics ofbusinessmen has its counterpart in business ethics, so on (Crane2007). Ethics is therefore premised on the practice of a professionand that is where we invoke the indulgence of HR as a professionin adopting ethics in its functions as a tool for improvingorganizational performance.Scholars have variously attempted to give meaning andjustification as to why the role of HRM practices should beembedded in ethics in day to day HR activities. Valentine (2006)posited that moulding employees to behave ethically requiresdevelopment of a moral culture and climate. Ethical climate wasdefined as the shared perceptions of what ethically good behavioris, and also the method moral issues are handled (Victor andCullen, 1987). According Foot (2008), moral climate representsthe organization’s policies, procedures and practices on ethicalissues that influences workers’ attitudes and behavior and forms areference for worker behaviour. Oslon (1998) outlined moralclimate as a persons feeling of how moral problems in their workatmosphere are managed.Many reseachers have stressed over time the importance ofHRM in developing and sustaining ethical culture in organisations(John, 2000; Driscoll and Hoffman, 1998; Wiley, 1998; Wrightand Snell, 2005; Thite, 2013; Parboteeaha, et al, 2014). However,clarity is needed in the way moral dimensions in HRM can play arole in the process. Guest (2007) claimed that implanting ethicsinto HRM dimensions through acceptable firm interventions anddeveloping further benevolent ways in which organizationsoperate is perceived by workers as new approach to HR sensitiveand responsible organizations. Employees will accept that HRMcan effectively contribute in developing and sustaining ethicalwww.ijsrp.org

International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2019ISSN 2250-3153principles, moral culture and ethical climate that supportperformance (Baker, 2006). Entrenching ethical orientation inevery purposeful dimension of HRM is indispensable fororganizations now than ever before.II. THEORIES OF ETHICS2.1 Introduction582Baron (1997), mentioned three main approaches to moraltheories thus; consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethicsalthough modern researchers mention two additional theories thus;Utilitarianism and Hedonism. In consequentialist ethics, theethical character of associate action is measured by the particularand projected consequences of the action. Deontological moraltheories regard the action itself as the object of ethical analysiswhereas virtue theory thinks about the intention behind the action(Wiley, 2000) as shown in fig one below.Ethical TheoriesVirtue eoryFigure 1: Typology of ethical theories (source: Author, 2018)2.2. Virtue Ethics TheoryVirtue ethics was founded on a platform of four cardinalvitues known as Justice, Wisdom, Fortitude and Temperance(Paul, Richard; Elder, Linda, 2006). On the other hand Adams(1998) mentioned that there are nine more virtues that makes amoral person and further differentiated virtues dealing withemotions and desire from those dealing with the mind. Thosedealing with emotions are called moral virtues for example love,courage, honesty ambitions or humility and so on while the onesdealing with the mind were called intellectual virtues for examplewisdom, prudence, justice fortitude, magnificence, magnanimityand temperance. Virtue ethics is that category of ethics thatconcers honesty and morality of an individual (Meyer, 1997).Virtue ethics specifies the unwritten guidelines for people’s dailybehaviour towards each other in the spirit of complex ethicalinteractions. Studies show that the strengths of virtue ethics to bebetter than any ethical theory in that virtue ethics examines themoral agent unlike all other theories, it regards humanrelationships highly, puts more importance to human emotions andmost importantly it places virtue at the centre of morality (James,2002).Criticisms to virtue ethics fault it for not identifying whattypes of actions are morally or emotionally acceptable and whichones are not acceptable, and its failure to define what qualities aperson should portray to be seen as a good person (Foote, 2008).In addition acts like murder may look immoral or impermissibleby society and whoever does it lacks in virtue such as fairness orcompassion but the same act of murder is acceptable in law forself defence or as the highest legal penalty (Sandler, 2007). Criticsclaim virtues are group specific and not generalized characters ofpeople’s behaviours that are guided by unwritten acceptable rulesand principles and are informed by perceptions, expressions andpast experiences. Further criticism say virtues are influenced bythe enviromnet one was brought up in hence virtues are relativistsin nature, environmental specific and can not be generalized in thatcontext (Goodpaster, 2007). Given the very nature of .p85XXvirtues that is wisdom, justice, temperance and fortitude, there isvery little of moral advice and decision making skills one canreasonably learn from virtue moal dilemma if virtue orientedapproach is to be applied singularly (Sieber, 1992).2.3 Consequentialism TheoryPerle (2004) described consequentialism as a moral theoryapplied to examine the ethical relevancy of an actoion given itscontribution to general good of the society. Consequentialism istypically represented as a teleological theory, because it conceivesof an ethical theory as setting a goal that we must always attemptto attain (Trevino 2001). The goal that consequentialism sets is tocreate an environment based on the best balance of good over bad(Butterfield, 1996). Consequentialist theory depends on whetheror not the expected result is good or bad. The theory is sub-dividedinto three sub-types namely: moral egoism - as long as the actionis good to the one that carries the action out, it's right; ethicalaltruism - as long as the action is good to everybody else, it's right;and utilitarianism - as long as the action is good to everyone aswell as the one that carries the action out, it's right.Consequentialist theories concentrate on actions. The strength ofconsequeliasm is that each one action and decision has ameasurable consequence and it is straightforward to use (Ross,2002).Rule consequentialism theory is generally seen as a trial toreconcile deontology and consequentialism and in some cases;usually seen as a criticism of the rule consequentialism (Ross,2002). Like deontology, rule consequentialism claims that nsequentialism chooses rules depending on consequences thatthe selection of those rules has. Rule consequentialism exists inthe form of rule utilitatianism and rule egoism. Consequentialismtheory is used to examine whether an action is right or wrong bythe consequences of that action (Scheffler, 1982). For example itis widely agreed that lying is wrong but consequalists agree thatsaying a lie to save somenones life is right thing to do when facedwww.ijsrp.org

International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2019ISSN 2250-3153with such option. In a hypothetical example, a driver who is facedwith moral dilemma of either killing a person outside the road orhimself and his passengers on an imminent head on collision withan on coming trailer chose to continue off-road and kill the personinstead of braking and killing all five persons and himself is basedon the consequence of the outcome of his action (James, 2002).Killing himself and the other five persons has greater badconsequence than killing one person (Ethical Egoism). Also,killing himself and five other persons leaves more familiesemotionally and economically distressed than killing one person(Ethical Altruism) and lastly, killing himself and five otherpersons causes more physical and mental pain on everyoneinvolved including his friends and families than one person, thusUtilitarianism (Vickers 2005).Critics of consequentialism say the theory is complicatedand hard to predict the future actions (Berrone, 2007). Only asupernatural being may know the future with some precision tojustify time and scope as envisaged in consequentialism approach.Critics of consequentialism say that it is impractical as it can’t listall actions that are deemed good acts even when the actions areobjectionable. When deciding which act to perform,consequentialism stresses we should perform whichever act thatleads to the most good. According Kagan (2000)consequentialism, if it were determined that, say, beating childrento get them to behave, led to maximal happiness, then those wouldbe the correct moral choice. But the fact that we morally shy awayat such actions shows that consequentialism is not morally sound(Lafollette, 2000). Further critism argue that rule consquentialismis guilty of rule worship; it is utopian in bad taste and more oftencollapses into act consquentialism and manifestly implausible.Ideally critics of consecqeuntialism argue the theory permitsactions against important moral rules just on the basis that doingthose actions would produce better societal consequences in theagent’s actual circumstances (Foot, 2001).2.4 Deontological TheoryThe deontoligical ethi

research in business ethics but little has been about the relationship between ethics in HRM practices and employees’ performance (O’Fallon and Butterfield, 2005). Broad objective of this critical literature review is to establish the role ethics in human resource manage

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