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Socio-political theory

and ethics in HRM

Gill Palmer

Human resource management is a relatively new ‘discipline’ in management,
but debates about appropriate ethical approaches to the management of peo-
ple at work have a much longer history. This chapter comments on the history
of socio-political and economic ideologies, in order to provide a broad context
relevant to current debates about ethics and HRM.
Many theorists, from different backgrounds, have pondered the ethical
basis of employment relations. The academic disciplines of industrial and
organizational sociology, political theory, and IR shared a concern to analyse
employment relationships, and these can be used to enrich the current stud-
ies of HRM. This widespread interest is not surprising because the types of
employment relationships that develop in society are important, not only for
the success of organizations and for the life experience of individual employ-
ees, but for the wider political and social culture of society as a whole.
Clearly, the nature of relationships between employees and employers can
vary greatly. At one extreme are casual, short-term, and probably strictly
instrumental exchanges of small amounts of time and labour for limited
rewards (e.g. a student paid an hourly rate for evening or Saturday work at the
local shop/garage/restaurant or bar). At another extreme is the employment
relationship that consumes the majority of an employee’s time and emotional
energy, with the expectation of a lifelong career within one organization,
determining not only financial rewards and immediate lifestyle, but a person’s
lifetime opportunities for personal development, organizational influence,
and social prestige.
For most employees, in most countries, and for much of recent history, the
rewards and job satisfaction associated with their employment relationship
will have a determining influence on their standard of living and life experi-
ence. For breadwinners with dependent family, the standard of living of loved
ones will also be involved.
For most employers the relationship is also of critical importance. The cost
of labour, and the effective use of the HR, is often a major influence on the
success of an organization. The employee body as a whole will be impor-
tant, although the economic importance of individual employees will depend
on the employers’ dependence on their skills, and ability to replace them if