Essay: Ethics And Morality In HRM - A Kantian Perspective.

Strategic Human Resource Management (SRHM)

Question:

Discuss about the ethics of Human resource management.

Human Resource Management can be considered the most effective and easy people Management concept that is utilised across various different kinds of organisational scenarios. However it has to be mentioned that there is a significant difference between core human resource management and people management. According to the authors traditional people management only focuses on organising and controlling employees from an administrative point of view. However in case of human resource management the employees are often treated as a resource rather than being actual people (Berman et al. 2012). That is the reason the ethics and morality of human resource management in the organisational scenario has been researched and criticized many times. One of the most sought after school of thought regarding the ethics of human resource management has been provided by the Kantian research. This essay will attempt to explore the Kantian imperatives of human resource management and whether human resource management could ever treat employees as “end in themselves” instead of a tool or resource.

In order to correlate the construct of ethics and morality with human resource management, the core ideology and principles of human resource management and its contribution and importance and organizational scenario has to be understood. Strategic human resource management (SRHM) is a very important component of organizational structure. The primary contribution of SHRM on the organizational scenario is providing and ensuring skilled, committed, and inspired workforce that facilitates sustainable competitive advantage to the organization. Strategic human resource management (SRHM) relies on resource base theories and frameworks that emphasizes investment in each of the employees equivalent to the profitability value that a company can achieve by facilitating a strategic fit between the human resources and the opportunities they can provide to the company (Bolton and Houlihan 2007).

Elaborating on the origin and development of SRHM, it can be mentioned that there are two theoretical principles based on which SRHM functions. One reflects a contingency approach between employee motivation and employee engagement with desired performance outcomes. On a more elaborative note, this process of strategic human resource management is targeted at improving in controlling employee behavior in engagement to achieve optimal performance outcomes and profitability for the company. Known as the Hard SHRM strategy, it uses contextual variables in order to arrive at the best way to manage people only to achieve the organizational goals (Bowie 2017). On the other hand the soft approach focuses on high commission high-performance strategy to people management. Hence it can be mentioned that in contrast the soft HRM techniques facilities of psychological link between organization and employee engagement in order to achieve the desired goals, whereas the hard technique involved no psychological attachment for the employees. Overall, the employees or human resource to be precise, are treated as tools or machinery by the company where the optimal benefits are excised based on different strategic approaches (Boxall and Purcell 2017).

Kantian View of Human Resource Management

Basic principle of SHRM, there are many substantial benefits which makes SHRM the most important components of organisational structure and operational management. First and foremost it has to be mentioned that SHRM has a direct link with effective business planning and effective human resource deployment based on expertise and experience. According to the authors Human Resource Management anticipates individual employee performance outcomes and relates it with the long term goals and strategies of the organisation. SHRM also has significant role in the cost benefit analysis and planning of an organisation in terms of employment, training, and remuneration cost imbalance management. Lastly, a suitable SHRM technique also helps in maintaining and enhancing the market demand and reputation providing the organization with a competitive advantage. Therefore, HRM is an essential element of the business process management, although maintaining the humanitarian ethics in the organizational scenario often is very difficult in the cut throat corporate world (Gotsis and Kortezi 2010).

According to the ideology of Immanuel Kant, humans or humanity should be treated as ‘ends in themselves’ rather than being treated a means to an end. For instance, his ideology is based on the fundamental principle that people are not just a tool or resource to be used and exploited by the organizations rather they are ends in themselves. Now it has been mentioned that the ethical stand to the construct of human resource management has been researched and evaluated time and time again in research. The morality of ethics of Human Resource Management can be effectively correlated with the Kantian view (Bowie 2017).  

Elaborating more on the Kantian view any individual can only be considered ethical when that particular individual and his actions can be justified by preserving moral worth. The fundamental element of Kantian ethics is based on the difference between categorical and hypothetical need or necessity, only in the case that the person utilizes logical unreasonable path to address that need. Along with that, the author has also mentioned that for any categorical imperative to be considered ethical, moral commands must be involved in the decision making as well (Greenwood 2013).

Extending the principles of Kantian ethics to human resource management, it can be mentioned that in terms of reversibility and universality, any action that is thought to be accurate for one particular individual will have similar effects in case of all other individuals. In this regard it can be argued that even human resource management needs to treat all individuals equally in order to maintain optimal ethics and morality of the construct. Moreover, the Kantian ethics when correlated with strategic Human Resource Management, indicates the use of a deontological view to the entire scenario. According to Kantian principles, the human resource management should also consider the people as the ends themselves, a part of the goal rather than treating them as only objects in path of achieving the goal. Therefore it can be mentioned that the Kantian point view of human resource management directs SHRM to be compassionate and supportive of employee rights and benefits along with organizational profitability and goals. Along with that the human resource management, in terms of Kantian ethics, should optimize their strategies ensuring the greater good if the employees as well along with the organizational profit, and in order to enhance profitability or minimize, the employee rights and welfare must not be compromised on any manner (Jack, Greenwood and Schapper 2012).

Challenges with Maintaining Ethics and Morality in Human Resource Management

Despite the Kantian ethics being correlated with human resource management in research studies, there are no effective results being reflected in the strategic human resource management scenarios of different organizational sectors. In the present corporate scenario the employees are still treated as a tool or resource that provides the means for the company to attain the organizational goals. The severity with which the employees are treated as resource that is utilized in order to attend specific ends depends on their hierarchical position in the organization. The lower ranks are often the most exploited resources in most of the organizations and their welfare is the most neglected in the present day scenario.  Now there are many contributing factors that can be discussed here as restricting the human resource management from developing a particular morale. First and foremost, organizational culture and corporate stereotype needs to be mentioned. It must not be ignored that the entire construct of human resource management or administrative operational management is focused on the sole prospect of increasing profitability and market demand of the organization and facilitating smooth the business process management. That is the reason that strategies that are employed in both human resource management and operational management scenario in most of the organizations are only concerned with the processes and practices that will aid to the enhanced profitability and productivity, regardless of the impact on the employees (Jiang et al. 2012).

On the other hand it also has to be mentioned that there are many moral conflicts that an HR manager needs to face in the organizational scenario which makes the path of following ethical and moral integrity very difficult. According to the article by Pinnington, Macklin and Campbell (2007), maintaining justice and impartiality in the organizational decision making can be very difficult in the face of more than one decision makers. It is also supported by the fact that the organizational decision making or HR policy implementation is not always in the hands of the human resource management, there are many other stakeholders that are involved with the process. Now the question remains whether HR management is powerless while maintaining morality and justice in the organization. Despite the human resource management not being the sole purpose of justice in an organization the influence of the human resource management on the business processes is also significant. With honest effort and dedication towards safeguarding the best interest of the employee along with it into the organizational performance and productivity can enhance the morality of HR and construct (Patrick Neumann and Dul 2010).

The present age of technological revolution in globalization and with all the changes that are operating in the organizational sector treating the employees just as a resource is a highly flawed perception. It has to be mentioned that organizations can obtain profits only on the basis of the performance and hard work that the employees invest and hence they also deserve to be valued by the company. The human resource management can be the first step in safeguarding the employee rights and abiding the contracts or promises can actually implement lawful and justified fairness in the work culture of organizations. Hence despite being difficult treating the employees as “ends in themselves” instead of “means to an end” is not impossible for human resource management with effort and will.

References:

Berman, E.M., Bowman, J.S., West, J.P. and Van Wart, M.R., 2012. Human resource management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. Sage.

Bolton, S.C, and Houlihan. H, (2007). Searching for the human in human resource management. NewYork: Macmillan, availablefrom:https://books.google.co.in/books?id=V_AcBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Searching+for+the+human+in+HRM:+theory,+practice+and+workplace+contexts&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidoa2y9qTZAhXKLY8KHYkzALUQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Searching%20for%20the%20human%20in%20HRM%3A%20theory%2C%20practice%20and%20workplace%20contexts&f=false.[accessed on] 15th February, 2018.

Bowie, N.E., 2017. Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press.

Boxall, P. and Purcell, J., 2011. Strategy and human resource management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Gotsis, G.N. and Kortezi, Z., 2010. Ethical considerations in organizational politics: Expanding the perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(4), pp.497-517.

Greenwood, M., 2013. Ethical analyses of HRM: A review and research agenda. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(2), pp.355-366.

Jack, G., Greenwood, M. and Schapper, J., 2012. Frontiers, intersections and engagements of ethics and HRM. Journal of business ethics, 111(1), pp.1-12.

Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.

Kalshoven, K. and Boon, C.T., 2012. Ethical leadership, employee well-being, and helping: The moderating role of human resource management. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 11(1), p.60.

Koonmee, K., Singhapakdi, A., Virakul, B. and Lee, D.J., 2010. Ethics institutionalization, quality of work life, and employee job-related outcomes: A survey of human resource managers in Thailand. Journal of business research, 63(1), pp.20-26.

Patrick Neumann, W. and Dul, J., 2010. Human factors: spanning the gap between OM and HRM. International journal of operations & production management, 30(9), pp.923-950.

Pinnington, A, , Macklin, R., and Campbell, T., 2007. Human resource management: ethics and employment. Oxford University Press, pp. 260-270. available from: https://www.hrpa.ca/Documents/Designations/Job-Ready-Program/Human-Resource-Management-Ethics-and-Employment.pdf. [accessed on] 15th February, 201