You Good and Faithful Servant? The Presentation of Ethics in Human Resource Management Textbooks

Abstract

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers. You Good and Faithful Servant? The Presentation of Ethics in Human Resource Management TextbooksShayna Frawley and Galina BoiarintsevaShayna FrawleyYork U. and Galina BoiarintsevaYork U.Published Online:30 Nov 2017https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2015.11464abstractAboutSections ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractHuman Resource Management (HRM) is often thought of as the "conscience of the corporation" and a profession with special ethical responsibilities (Edwards & Bennett, 1987: 66). This study investigates the presentation of ethics in 26 HRM textbooks recommended by the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed how ethics was described, rationales for being ethical, the kinds of ethical dilemmas and issues that were highlighted, and the groups that were most likely to appear in ethically murky situations. Ethical dilemmas were also analyzed using cognitive moral development theory. The majority of textbooks incorporated content on ethics, and overall textbooks outlined a variety of ethical challenges. At the same time, ethics was described as subjective, earlier stages of moral reasoning appeared most often, and self-interested reasons to be ethical or unethical were heavily emphasized. While HRM was frequently mentioned in micro-level situations involving individual quandaries, wider discussions about ethically troubling workplace trends focused on the role of employers or the reality of the business environment and rarely mentioned HR. As a result, textbooks ultimately presented HRM’s duty to promote ethics as subservient to organizational needs. FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 2015, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 30 November 2017 Published in print 1 January 2015 InformationCopyright of Academy of Management Journal is the property of Academy of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.KeywordsEducationEthicsHuman Resource Management