136 ANALYSING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
been explicated. In doing so, it is apparent that the demands of ethical HRM
are very high in that they include both the moral treatment of employees and
the engagement of employees in matters affecting their interests. This raises
the important question of whether ethical HRM can or should belong as part
of the investor-owned corporation.
Second, by depicting the employment relationship as either moral or
amoral (strategic), the possibility of ‘immoral’ arises. It has been argued that
where employee engagement exists in the absence of a moral relationship, the
possibility of the immoral treatment of employees exists. Whilst criticism of
the rhetoric and practice of HRM exists in many forms, the idea of it being
potentially immoral or ‘irresponsible’ has not been developed. One of the
central tasks of business ethics is to explain the ‘darker side of organizational
life’ (Seabright and Schminke 2002: 19). Stakeholder theory has the potential
to provide a framework to consider the ‘dark’ side of HRM and, as such,
further the theoretical understanding of this area.
In conclusion, we have explored questions of how our understanding of
the ethical management of employees as HR can be informed and developed
by stakeholder theory. We suggest that stakeholder theory holds the potential
to contribute to understanding of the ethical nature of the organization–
employee relationship in several ways.