Ethics
Discipline of dealing with what is good and bad, or right and wrong, or with moral duty and obligation.
Sources of Ethical Guidance
- Number of sources to determine what is right or wrong, good or bad, moral or immoral.
- Bible and other holy books .
- Conscience .
- Significant others .
- Codes of Ethics.
- Sources of ethical guidance should lead to our beliefs or convictions about what is right or wrong .
Type I Ethics
- Strength of relationship between what individual or organization believes to be moral and correct and what available sources of guidance suggest is morally correct.
Example: HR manager believes it is acceptable not to hire minorities, despite fact that almost everyone condemns this practice .
Type II Ethics
- Strength of relationship between what one believes and how one behaves.
Example: Manager knows it is wrong to discriminate, but does so anyway .
Legislating Ethics
- Procurement Integrity Act.
- Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO) .
- Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency Act.
Code of Ethics
- Statement of values adopted by company, its employees and directors and sets official tone of top management regarding expected behavior.
- Code of ethics establishes rules by which organization lives and becomes part of organization’s corporate culture .
Human Resource Ethics
- Application of ethical principles to HR relationships and activities.
- Code of Ethics – Many companies have a code of ethics.
Human Resource Ethics
- Application of ethical principles to HR relationships and activities.
- Some ethical lapses of recent years occurred in HR management.
- Some believe HR should have questioned salaries, stock options, and related perks received by some corporate executives .
Ethics and HR
Management
2 areas where HR can have a major impact on ethics.
- Corporate Governance.
- Executive Compensation.