Conclusion
Tom Campbell, Ashly Pinnington, Rob Macklin,
and Sheena SmithEthics in employment and HRM
The contributors to this book present a wealth of alternatives for encouraging
more ethical policy and practice in the discipline of HRM. The kaleidoscope of
perspectives adopted reveals a consensus on the significance for HRM of spe-
cific ethics within business and of broader societal values. Notwithstanding,
this common ground there are substantive differences between the contribu-
tors, and we hope that future HRM practice and research will be stimulated
by their debates and by our closing reflections as to the nature, feasibility, and
desirability of proactive and reforming modes of ethical HRM.
First, all agree thatthere is tremendous scope for bringing about moral
improvement in the treatment of employees. Indeed, Walsh (see Chapter 6)
cautions us to remember that moral choice is an integral part of market and
of labour commodities, and therefore ethics is systemic to decision-making in
business and employment relationships, whether the intentions and outcomes
are good, bad, or indifferent. It is evident that regardless of the contributors’
political perspective and approach to ethical reasoning, they are all somewhat
restrained in their evaluation of the ethical impact of individual HRM prac-
titioners. Furthermore and with only one exception, they do not say much
about the potential and contribution of professional HRM associations and
it is very clear that powerful social forces limit the freedom of action of
individuals who are seeking to be ethical in business.
Implicit to the different arguments of all of the contributors is the idea that
HRM systems are increasingly under the control of the higher management
of private corporations whose principal interests relate directly to short-term
stock market success. For a variety of reasons they can then be subdivided into
roughly two groups, those who recommend a more comprehensive or focused
system of balances and checks within the existing political and social system
and those who are more pessimistic about the potential of organizational and
societal cultures based on individualist employment relationships. The critical
goals of organizational flexibility, labour productivity, and social legitimacy
are often in tension with each other as they are also with ultimate business
goals such as the continuing viability of the organization, obtaining adequate
shareholder returns, and achieving competitive success (see Boxall and Purcell