CONCLUSION 285of attempting to implement such a vision, the consensus of the majority of the
contributors is that its consequences would not be desirable for many, if not
all, employees.
Within the knowledge of the shortcomings of idealism and abstract modes
of ethical reasoning divorced from their social and moral contexts, a number
of individual and collective alternatives are available for progressing HRM.
Macklin (see Chapter 16) outlines the groundwork for a normative concep-
tion of individuals acting decently within any specific community. Likewise,
Margolis, Grant, and Molinsky (see Chapter 14) offer genuine grounds for
hope by challenging stereotypes of business decision-making as bereft of ethi-
cal content. These contributors present a framework for encouraging moral
reflection and acting with integrity. They wrestle with understanding how
managers, including HR managers, should deal with ethical dilemmas which
frequently occur when people in authority have to perform ‘necessary evils’ for
the greater benefit of all. Moreoever, at the collective level of HRM institutions,
adopting a neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics perspective, Ardagh (see Chapter 9)
advances a detailed programme of action for reinvigorating and strengthening
HRM by setting demanding targets for professional organization.
Ethical standards in business and society
Having identified some of the common themes and agreement between the
contributors, it is worth reflecting further on their overall significance for
ethics within business, employment, and HRM. Assuming as all genuine eth-
ical debate must assume, that all social institutions, including business, have
to be morally justified, it is clear that at least part of that justification must
derive from the evaluation of the purpose(s) of that institution. In the case
of business, the main (but not necessarily the sole) legitimating objective is
the generation of wealth, efficiently and effectively. Here ‘wealth’ is taken to be
the sum of material goods and services generally considered desirable. Wealth
is not to be equated with profit, although profitability is generally considered
a prerequisite of wealth production in a capitalist system. Wealth creation in
this sense is generally taken to be the prime moral grounding and legitimating
goal of business in general. However other purposes, such as the provision
of meaningful and fulfilling occupations, may be added to wealth creation as
other or even as superior, legitimating objectives.
If the general justifying aim of business is the creation of wealth, conceived
of as desirable material goods and services, this gives prima facie legitimation
and hence conditional moral endorsement to the efficiently organized wealth
creation of any business organization. The norms that state how this objective