24 SITUATING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
necessary on the labour market. In the same way, the employee’s dependence
on a particular employer will rest on whether there are employment oppor-
tunities elsewhere. Nevertheless the employment relationship is important for
both sides. It is therefore not surprising that it has attracted much attention
and that ethical dilemmas associated with the relationship have for long been
the subject of analysis.
Several recent debates about ethics and HRM are summarized in the
Winstanley and Woodall (2000b) edited compilation of papers originally given
at conferences in the UK. They briefly note how various management theories
might be seen to approach ethics and HRM, and then explore some ethical
dilemmas associated with particular HRM practices, for example recruitment
and selection, training and development, work practices, remuneration, and
employee participation. They conclude that there are significant constraints
facing ethical HRM. Rather than continue this form of analysis, this chapter
comments on the underlying social and political theories that have influenced
ideas about work and society, and have a relevance in the more specific field
of employment and work.
The analysis of ethics and HRM can be related to the socio-political frame-
works that have been used for many years to explore the nature of authority,
government, and consent within society. Ethical dilemmas within work orga-
nizations often reflect ethical dilemmas about society as a whole and the role
and organization of government in society. The theoretical frameworks for
one can contribute to the analysis of the other.
In most classifications of political theory one finds unitarist, radical, and
pluralist theories. Unitary theory has been developed to explain the view, still
sometimes expressed, that the authority structures within social organizations
are uncontentious. Under unitary theories, no significant ethical dilemmas
will emerge if everyone submits willingly to the rule of the given authority.
Authority figures can and should be trusted to take decisions and resolve issues
in the best interests of the ‘unitary’ organizational whole. Ancient concepts
such as ‘the divine right of kings’ are unitarist. In more modern times, ‘man-
agerial prerogative’ has been seen as a moral claim to authority within the
unitary frame. Perspectives that see human organizations as akin to organic,
biological constructions have a similar view. They embody and support the
argument that all interpersonal conflicts and ethical dilemmas can and should
be resolved by trusting that those in positions of social power will invariably
act in the overall, long-term interests of the community as a whole.
There are few advocates of a totally unitary perspective towards HRM in
the advanced economies of our globalized world. However, unitary ideas are
seductive, and are often assumed.
Totally unitary theories on employment at work are rarely expressed,
because it is ingrained in modern economic theory that we understand that
the employment relationship is constructed as an exchange between people