2

The ethics of HRM

in dealing with

individual employees

without collective

representation

Karen Legge

Introduction

In this chapter I wish to do four things. First, to establish the degree to
which collective representation has declined in neo-liberal Anglo-American
economies (with particular reference to Britain) and to consider why this has
occurred. Second, using Berlin’s ideas (1958/2002) about the two conceptions
of liberty as a heuristic, to explore the case for and against the ethicality of
both collectivism and individualism (see also Gray 1995). Third, on the basis
of this, to consider whether and to what extent particular groups without
collective representation enjoy the good life at work in the light of the explicit
or implicit HRM policies deemed appropriate to their occupational group.
Finally, I consider how the role and responsibilities of HRM might develop
in relation to these employees, noting that what might be ethically desirable
shows little evidence of emerging.

The slow death of collectivism?

First, let me make clear that in this chapter I am focusing on the so-called
‘Anglo-American’, neo-liberal, shareholder-oriented business systems of the
Western world, which arguably would include Canada and New Zealand as
well as the UK and the USA. A very different picture might be painted if
the focus was on the corporatist, stakeholder business systems of northern
Europe, where collectivism, although increasingly under attack from the pro-
ponents of labour market flexibility, resists the rampant individualism of neo-
liberal economies.