HR's view of ethics in the work place: Are the barbarians at the gate?

Danley, John R.; Harrick, Edward J.; Schaefer, Diane; Strickland, Donald E.; Sullivan, George M.

doi:10.1007/bf00382953

Cited by 19 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Jones (1991a, 1991b) defined it as being morally unacceptable to the larger community. Unethical behaviour results from disregarding laws, policies, regulations and organisation norms and leads to damaging consequences for others (Danley et al , 1996) and is considered illegal or unethical by society (Brass et al , 1998, p. 15).…”

Section: Ethical Behaviour In the Organisation: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who cares about ethical practices at workplace? A taxonomy of employees’ unethical conduct from top management perspective

Jha¹,

Singh²

2021

IJOA

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Purpose The purpose of the study is to explore the various kind of prevailing unethical practices at workplace along with identification of factors triggering such unethical practices. Growing incidences of indulgence of employees in unethical acts in various organisation and negative consequences associated with it for the organisation such as erosion of reputation because of advance digital media coverage, shareholder value and others made compulsive to study the root cause of unethical behaviour at the workplace. Design/methodology/approach This study extracts meaning from the experiences of top managers working in nine Indian organisations to understand the challenges faced by individuals at the workplace using the Gioia methodology. A total of 33 top management team (TMT) members were interviewed in detail to capture their experience in regard to various challenges that impose a threat to ethical conduct in the organisation. Findings The authors identified four categories of unethical behaviour, namely, pro-self, lack of autonomy, pro-organisation, systemic and negligence. Further, the authors have developed a taxonomy suggesting strategies to control unethical conduct at the workplace. Besides, the current study unravels the triggers behind different categories of unethical conduct, such as bottom-line mentality, rent-seeking behaviour of government officials, fluid ethical study culture and others. Originality/value Various types of unethical behaviour have been identified and frameworks to address such unethical practices are suggested in the paper. TMTs views have been captured to understand the root cause of unethical practices and strategies for addressing them have been discussed in the paper.

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Section: Ethical Behaviour In the Organisation: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who cares about ethical practices at workplace? A taxonomy of employees’ unethical conduct from top management perspective

Jha¹,

Singh²

2021

IJOA

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“…Social moralities and "morally managing" dilemmas, implicitly and explicitly, are given priority over ethics and the humanity of the practitioner. The dilemma is one of an H/RM "professional" (Wiley, 2000;Woodall, 1996;Danley et al, 1996) in which virtues have hierarchies of importance according to their contribution to job performance (Ardagh and Macklin, 1998). Alternatively, practitioners and their dilemmas are HR roles to be placed along a continuum between the needs of the business and the needs of employees (Foote and Robinson, 1999), or, to be viewed in terms of how HR roles are impacted by organisational and charitable values (Foote, 2001).…”

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

The conscientious HR manager and the Rubik's Cube

Steers

2009

Personnel Review

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Purpose -By examining the literature on the ethical dilemmas of H/RM practitioners, the paper aims to put an "H" in H/RM. Design/methodology/approach -Analysing the significant contribution which H/RM scholars have made in studying the ethical dilemmas of H/RM practitioners, the paper builds a view of an H/RM practitioner as a "conscientious HR manager" loosely connected to an ethical dilemma, a "Rubik's Cube". Using these linguistic devices to simplify others scholarly work, the paper introduces a complex autopoietic system to provide a more "connected knowing" of ethical dilemmas and the "H" in H/RM. Findings -Generalising from this analysis, the paper connects a social sub-system (H/RM) with a living human system. Research limitations/implications -Naturalistic "grounds" for launching a normative critique of H/RM that celebrates humans as social and biological animals are provisionally outlined. Originality/value -The paper adapts Capra's complex autopoietic system to present a normative critique of H/RM from the Darwinian left.

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“…Even though it is argued that there are no ethical crisis in the workplace (Danley, Harrick, Schaefer, Strickland, & Sullivan, 1996), ethics is an increasingly important topic for Generation Y. As ethical and unethical behaviour is based on the human values and actions within the organisation, it is a core concern of HR practitioners to understand employees and work with employee relations.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Young Generation Y's Expectations to Ethics at Work in New Zealand

Øevrebøe¹

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<p>This thesis is an exploratory study of the young Generation Y’s expectations to ethics at work in New Zealand. Chapter 1 sets out the structure of the thesis and introduces background information as well as the research question. The literature focuses on intergenerational conflicts in the workplace, and sees generations as an aspect of diversity that is often difficult to balance to human resource management. Generation Y has been highly criticised in relation to other generations in academic and popular literature, and are considered entitled, lazy and self-absorbed. The research aims to let Generation Y speak for themselves without stereotyping, while also focusing on the underlying values that drives ethics at work. Chapter 2 discusses literature on the changing nature of work, as well as Generation Y before it moves on to business ethics literature. Ethics research found that values based ethical culture is needed to successfully run an ethical organisation, with ethical leadership playing a significant role. Further, the thesis discusses implications of a more complicated socialisation and prolonged formative phase of Generation Y in comparison to older generations, which makes Generation Y seem different. Scarcity theory discusses the impact that the abundance of human basic needs has on value preference, and it can therefore be argued that because Generation Y’s formative years were during a period of economic and social stability, they value other physiological means and fulfilment such as self-expression more than a basic income. A third argument of differentiating Generation Y from others, found particularly in popular media, is Generation Y’s focus on work with meaning and concern for the environment. Ecological Modernisation Theory advocates involving institutions in environmental concerns, where the focus on potential financial gain by an environmentally ethic organisation has brought the topic to public attention. This heightened focus developed in the period in which Generation Y was socialised, and provides the grounds to argue that it plays a major role for Generation Y’s focus on ethical work. These three theories form the basis of an argument as to how and why Generation Y is perceived as different, and can provide the knowledge needed to understand what the new workforce expect and want from work. Chapter 3 discuss the Q-methodology that was used to investigate these expectations, while Chapter 4 analyses the findings. It found that Generation Y’s expectations centre around three sets of values in relation to ethics at work. This is illustrated with The Achiever, The Ethical Employee, and The Public Conservationist ideal types. People associated with the first set of values want to be the best at what they do, and expect a good work-life balance in order to be able to do the best work they can for their organisation. Though they are hard workers and wish to add value to the organisation, they do not put much focus on ethics at work. In contrast, the second group values strong ethical cultures where managers are expected to set the tone in the workplace, and want to be in an organisation where they feel comfortable and where employee behaviour is regulated. For the final group, the focus is on preserving the environment and giving back to society. They expect to work with intrinsic motivation and see work as a holistic part of their lives due to their passion for what they want to do. Further, the participants agree that money is not the main reasons to work. They wish to have a say with innovative ideas and expect that all employees should be treated decently at work. Chapter 5 discusses the findings in relation to the literature before the thesis is concluded with discussions of limitations, implications and recommendations. This research provides data on the differences and consensus within a generation, whilst providing information that can make it easier to understand today’s young workforce. This thesis adds to academic literature by providing a New Zealand based perspective of Generation Y’s various expectations about ethics at work, where some find it significantly more important than others.</p>

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HR's view of ethics in the work place: Are the barbarians at the gate?

Cited by 19 publications

References 2 publications

Who cares about ethical practices at workplace? A taxonomy of employees’ unethical conduct from top management perspective

Who cares about ethical practices at workplace? A taxonomy of employees’ unethical conduct from top management perspective

The conscientious HR manager and the Rubik's Cube

The Young Generation Y's Expectations to Ethics at Work in New Zealand

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