INTRODUCTION

ETHICS
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conductThe term comes from the Greek word ethos, which means "character". Ethics is a complement to Aesthetics in the philosophy field of Axiology. In philosophy, ethics studies the moral behavior in humans, and how one should act. Ethics may be divided into four major areas of study:

Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth values (if any) may be determined; Normative ethics, about the practical means of determining a moral course of action; Applied ethics, about how moral outcomes can be achieved in specific situations; Descriptive ethics, also known as comparative ethics, is the study of people's beliefs about morality;

Defining Ethics
According to Tomas Paul and Linda Elder of the Foundation for Critical Thinking, "most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious beliefs, and the law", and don't treat ethics as a stand-alone concept Paul and Elder define ethics as "a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures"

Business Ethics
Business ethics (also corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.

HRM Ethics
HRM Ethics is the affirmative moral obligations of the employer (business) towards the employees to maintain equality and equity justice Do not treat people (employees) simply as a means for our own purposes without their full and free consent, because they are ends in themselves
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Human Resource Management

Human resource management (HRM or simply HR) is the management of an organization's workforce, or human resources. It is responsible for the attraction, selection , training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership and culture, and ensuring compliance with employment and labor laws. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with the employees' representatives (usually a labor union). HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early 20th century, when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce. The function was initially dominated by transactional work such as payroll and benefits administration, but due to globalization, company consolidation, technological advancement, and further research, HR now focuses on strategic initiatives like mergers and acquisitions, talent management, succession planning, industrial and labor relations, and diversity and inclusion. We often hear the term Human Resource Management, Employee Relations and Personnel Management used in the popular press as well as by Industry experts. Whenever we hear these terms, we conjure images of efficient managers busily going about their work in glitzy offices. In this article, we look at the question what is HRM ? by giving a broad overview of the topic and introducing the readers to the practice of HRM in contemporary organizations. Though as with all popular perceptions, the above imagery has some validity, the fact remains that there is much more to the field of HRM and despite popular depictions of the same, the art and science of HRM is indeed complex. We have chosen the term art and science as HRM is both the art of managing people by recourse to creative and innovative approaches; it is a science as well because of the precision and rigorous application of theory that is required. As outlined above, the process of defining HRM leads us to two different definitions. The first definition of HRM is that it is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner. This covers the fields of staffing (hiring people), retention of people, pay and perks setting and management, performance management, change management and taking care of exits from the company to round off the activities. This is the traditional definition of HRM which leads some experts to define it as a modern version of the Personnel Management function that was used earlier.

The second definition of HRM encompasses the management of people in organizations from a macro perspective i.e. managing people in the form of a collective relationship between management and employees. This approach focuses on the objectives and outcomes of the HRM function. What this means is that the HR function in contemporary organizations is concerned with the notions of people enabling, people development and a focus on making the employment relationship fulfilling for both the management and employees.

Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is the collective behavior of humans who are part of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.

Definition
The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization. Organizational culture includes an organization's expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold it together, and is expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid. Also called corporate culture, it's shown in (1) the ways the organization conducts its business, treats its employees, customers, and the wider community, (2) the extent to which freedom is allowed in decision making, developing new ideas, and personal expression, (3) how power and information flow through its hierarchy, and (4) how committed employees are towards collective objectives.

Ethics in Human Resource Management

Human resource management deals with manpower planning and development related activities in an organization. Arguably it is that branch of management where ethics really matter, since it concerns human issues specially those of compensation, development, industrial relations and health and safety issues. There is however sufficient disagreement from various quarters. There are different schools of thought that differ in their viewpoint on role of ethics or ethics in human resource development. One group of thought leaders believes that since in business, markets govern the organizational interests and these interests are met through people, the latter are therefore at the highest risk. They believe that markets claim profits in the name of stakeholders and unless we have protocols, standards and procedures the same will develop into a demon monopolizing markets and crushing human capital; HR ethics are become mandatory. There is another group of ethicists inspired by neo-liberalism who believe that there are no business ethics apart from realization of higher profits through utilization of human resources. They argue that by utilizing human resources optimally, there is more value creation for the shareholders, organization and the society and since employees are part of the society or organization, they are indirectly benefited. Nevertheless ethics in human resource management has become a perennial debate of late! Discussions in ethics in HRD stem from employee relationships and whether or not there can be a standard for the same. Employee rights and duties and freedom and discrimination at the workplace are issues discussed and covered by most texts on the topic. Some argue that there are certain things in employment relationship that are constant others disagree with the same. For example, right to privacy, right to be paid in accordance with the work (fair compensation) and right to privacy are some areas that cannot be compromised upon.

Ethics and Market System

The kind of market system affects business and HR ethics; the latter thus becomes negotiable. In occupations where the market conditions do not favor the employees it is necessary to have government and labor union interventions in order to control the possible exploitation. In free market system, employees and the employer are almost equally empowered, negotiation create win win situations for both the parties. Government or labor union interventions become harmful. Globalization has brought about the concept of globalizing labor, trade unions have started to decline and the role of HR as such in issues like employee policies and practices has become a debatable topic. In fact many people are of the opinion that HR is nothing but an arm of the stakeholders through which major strategic and policy decisions are divulged geared towards profit making! Thought there can be no single opinion on ethics in HR that is convincing. Market in itself is neither an ethical institution nor unethical and no policies and procedures alone cannot govern
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and align markets to human well being. However the requirement of such policies and procedures can also not be denied. In lieu of this HR ethics should take care of things like discrimination (sexual, religion, age etc), compensation, union and labor laws, whistle blowing, health and safety of the employees etc.

Hard and Soft HRM

Hard HRM- where employees are viewed instrumentally as a means to achieve organizational goals Soft HRM- where employees are viewed as a subject-in-themselves. Soft HRM promotes employee rights, empowerment, involvement, participation, etc Both soft and hard HRM can be considered as ethical under utilitarianism concept (greatest good to greatest number), but deontological theory may accept only soft HRM as ethically correct and not hard HRM ( Deontological ethics or deontology is an approach to ethics that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of intentions or motives behind action such as respect for rights, duties, or principles, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions.)

What is the difference between hard and soft Human Resource Management?
HRM is an essential and vital function for organizational success. Areas within HRM like Manpower planning, Job analysis, Selection and Recruitment, Compensation and Benefits, Performance evaluations, Contract negotiations and Labor legislations are parts of hard HRM whereas functions like Organizational development, conflict management, human resource education, leadership development, organizational culture, and relationship building are components of soft HRM. The hard HRM can be catogorized as the basic functions and soft HRM as advanced functions. In today's knowledge economy, where human capital determines the growth and success of an organization, both hard and soft HRM are sig Hard HRM:*a very instrumental, practical approach *people seen as a passive resources to be used,deployed and if necessary diposed of *hr planning is seen as a factor of production *incompatiable with trade uions-may necessitate confrontation to implement concepts Areas within HRM like Manpower planning, Job analysis, Selection and Recruitment, Compensation and Benefits, Performance evaluations, Contract negotiations and Labor legislations are parts of hard HRM
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Soft HRM:*sometimes known as development humanism *stresses human side *entails trust,collabration, skill development *place for unions in this model where unions are marginalised and by passed on many issues or alternative forms of employee repersentation are initiated *above all, about commitment and partnership functions like Organizational development, conflict management, human resource education, leadership development, organizational culture, and relationship building are components of soft HRM.

Ethical issues in HR
Of all the organisational issues or problems, ethical issues are the most difficult ones to handle or deal with. Issues arise in employment, remuneration and benefits, industrial relations and health and safety.

Cash and Compensation Plans There are ethical issues pertaining to the salaries, executive perquisites and the annual incentive plans etc. The HR manager is often under pressure to raise the band of base salaries. There is increased pressure upon the HR function to pay out more incentives to the top management and the justification for the same is put as the need to retain the latter. Further ethical issues crop in HR when long term compensation and incentive plans are designed in consultation with the CEO or an external consultant. While deciding upon the payout there is pressure on favouring the interests of the top management in comparison to that of other employees and stakeholders.

Race, gender and Disability In many organisations till recently the employees were differentiated on the basis of their race, gender, origin and their disability. Not anymore ever since the evolution of laws and a regulatory framework that has standardised employee behaviours towards each other. In good organisations the only differentiating factor is performance! In addition the power of filing litigation has made put organisations on the back foot. Managers are trained for aligning behaviour and avoiding discriminatory practices.

Employment Issues Human resource practitioners face bigger dilemmas in employee hiring. One dilemma stems from the pressure of hiring someone who has been recommended by a friend, someone from your family or a top executive. Yet another dilemma arises when you have already hired someone and he/she is later found to have presented fake documents. Two cases may arise and both are critical. In the first case the person has been trained and the position is critical. In the second case the person has been highly appreciated for his work during his short stint or he/she has a unique blend of skills with the right kind of attitude. Both the situations are sufficiently dilemmatic to leave even a seasoned HR campaigner in a fix.

Privacy Issues Any person working with any organisation is an individual and has a personal side to his existence which he demands should be respected and not intruded. The employee wants the organisation to protect his/her personal life. This personal life may encompass things like his religious, political and social beliefs etc. However certain situations may arise that mandate snooping behaviours on the part of the employer. For example, mail scanning is one of the activities used to track the activities of an employee who is believed to be engaged in activities that are not in the larger benefit of the organisation. Similarly there are ethical issues in HR that pertain to health and safety, restructuring and layoffs and employee responsibilities. There is still a debate going on whether such activities are ethically permitted or not. Layoffs, for example, are no more considered as unethical as they were thought of in the past.
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To what extent should the organization follow HRM ethics?

Here, the two ethical concerns are To what extent should people be used as a means to an end To what extent the mgt has to act in the interest of the employees The last part of the definition of HRM effective and efficient utilization of HR supports the first concern The part to achieve personal/individual goals in the definition supports the second concern The definition of HRM clearly says that organizational interest cannot be compromised while doing justice to employees and vice-versa

Areas of HRM ethics

Basic human rights, civil and employment rights. E.g. Job security, feedback from tests, openness and consultation over matters which affect the employees Social and organizational justice. E.g. procedural justice, egalitarianism, equity and equal opportunity Equity/Distributive justice (proportionate pay for proportionate contribution), autonomy and respect Safety in the workplace Respect, fairness and honesty based process in the workplace Privacy ( Egalitarianism (derived from the French word gal , meaning equal ) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights)

Is HRM as a function full of conflicts?

Yes Reducing the individuals discretion Teamwork/synergy Undermine the trade union and collective bargaining Recognizing individual contribution No job/employment security Employability Manipulation/Exploitation Training & Development Making people take risk/responsibility Empowerment Part-timers to replace full-timers New working patterns Redundancy Downsizing/Rightsizing Reducing the no. of middle mgrs De-layering Mgt can do what it wants Flexibility Reality of HRM Rhetoric of HRM

Employees rights and duties

To job satisfaction For healthy and safe working conditions For participation Cooperation with boss/subordinates To due process Maintain secrecy/confidentiality For freedom of speech Just contribution to the organization For privacy Respect the rights of the employer To free
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association and strike Respect for current legal and moral norms For just compensation Loyalty to the firm To work Duties Rights Improving QWL Acceptance of labour court jurisprudence in conflicts Peaceful ways of settlement Acceptance of criticism from workers No disruption in work Work oriented code of conduct Requirement of correct behaviour at the workplace Fair compensation Loyal cooperation from employees No discrimination in rules for recruitment and conditions for firing Demand minimal productivity from employees Duties Rights

Organizational Culture's Influence in Ethical Policies

Ethics is an integral part of a functioning society, but many people struggle to define ethics and put it into practice in a business setting. Owners and managers set the bar for ethics in an organization, but they aren't the only participants. Employees and other business players also influence and perpetuate ethics. In the case of small businesses, managers need to know how to carry out ethical policies in addition to knowing the virtues. Employees From the point of view of employees, management sets the tone and shapes the overall working environment. It's easy to sow the seeds of unethical behavior into the minds of subordinates, especially if the people who sign the paychecks are not setting a good example. Employees need to know that they have personal and professional rights within a small business operation. For example, if an employee suffers any kind of harassment, management should take it seriously. Working conditions should be safe. Work schedules should be considerate and fair. Management that does not uphold the ethical rights of employees will end up creating policies that can adversely affect the morale and motivation of workers. Business Customers Small businesses frequently interact with other companies, such as suppliers and bankers. It is important to gain the trust and respect of these third-party organizations. You don't want to anger another company that supplies your business with a critical part in your manufacturing process or the lender at the bank that offers short-term loans to help your business meet payroll. Furthermore, you don't want to intimidate or strong-arm other businesses, because owners, managers, and even employees will take it personally. Companies should develop ethical policies that instill a sense of reliability and integrity, such as staying on top of bills due to other businesses in accounts payable or setting reasonable fees and terms when transacting or exchanging goods and services with another company.

Consumers While most people understand the concept of paying for goods and services that are consumed, the public usually does not take kindly to unfair pricing and billing practices. Also, consumers want assurances that they will get quality products and services, based on truthful advertisements and presentation. Price gouging or accepting payment but not delivering the goods is a sure way to lose a customer. Furthermore, consider that many consumers don't have a lot of business savvy and they trust companies to do the right thing. When that trust is violated, a single angry customer can form into a wave of resentment from other people who have had similar unethical experiences. In the age of social networking websites and consumer advocacy groups, bad publicity can destroy a company. Businesses large and small should have customer service policies and procedures in place to address consumer concerns before they get out of hand. Community Local businesses need to respect the institutions that keep a community intact and vibrant. In particular, city councils, county boards and state legislatures are all gaining influence in local, national and even global business matters. If lawmakers and enforcers become aware of unethical business practices, they can do more than express concern; they can enforce existing and create new laws that correct unethical behavior. Companies might need to consider creating legal policies, in addition to ethical policies. For example, convenience store clerks might make it a habit to check all driver's licenses and identification, no matter a person's age and appearance, before selling alcohol and tobacco products. Society In addition to respecting citizens, employees and community institutions, companies must respect the environment that society depends on. Social responsibility is the term that describes how businesses set out to be good stewards of the earth. Many larger firms have an entire section of a public website that clearly lays out the commitment to social responsibility. Some even hire staff who are environmental and sustainability specialists, helping the company develop these policies. Although small businesses often lack the extra resources to create new departments, managers can make a concerted effort to adopt more reasonable policies, such as recycling some trash or using energy-efficient lighting.

Relationship between organizational culture and ethics

There is a direct relationship between organizational culture and ethics. Organizational culture affects the way employees respond and react when placed in ethical dilemmas. The study of an organizations culture can reveal the unwritten ethical standards that guide employees in their decision-making. Using this information, businesses can avert risky ethical behavior by changing their organizational culture.

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Organizational culture is the study of the attitudes, beliefs and psychology within an organization. It not only encompasses how employees interact with each other, but also how they communicate with others outside of the organization. Ethical standards are the code of conduct required by the organization for employees to follow. The relationship between organizational culture and ethics is that the organizational culture guides employees when faced with ethical dilemmas. If the organizational culture counters what they are required to do ethically, employees may put the organization in risk by not acting ethically. When an employee is faced with a decision that others within the organization deem as appropriate, though it is unethical, the employee may follow what is acceptable as per the culture. For instance, if the organization rewards employees for gaining the most contracts at any cost, an employee may start bribing potential clients in order to gain more deals. If the corporate culture is to gain the most contracts but through normal techniques, an employee may not be as easily persuaded to do something unethical. It is this relationship between organizational culture and ethics that can get businesses into significant trouble in the long term. An organizational culture that supports risky decisions and unethical behavior will need to change its culture. Changing a businesss organizational culture is difficult but often necessary when a business is having trouble with employees making ethical decisions. Organizational culture and ethics are both psychologically linked, so employees must change their ways of thinking in order to accept a new direction. This is often difficult to do when employees have worked with the organization for a long time or are not provided with acceptable methods of doing business ethically. For instance, if the business wants employees to stop bribing foreign officials in order to gain contracts, it should provide employees with other effective methods that will work to gain the same results. If there are no other ways to gain the same results, the company needs to make sure it does not punish employees for not being able to sustain the old same results. Since organizational culture and ethics are linked, the business must change its culture in order to see results in its employees' ethical decision making. CREATING AN ETHICAL CULTURE Why is it important?

Ethical leadership is a combination of character, of who you are as a person, and performance, the active promotion of principled behavior within the organization. Turknett has developed a process that can help ensure that your organization has an ethical culture and that you have leaders who lead with character. Investing in a process that seeks to instill an ethical culture is especially important in the case where there is an ethical breach. Recent legal actions have been lessened for those who have invested in such programs. Developing a Culture of Character the three Cs

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We believe that the concepts of Code, Character and Conversation provide a good framework for thinking about infusing ethics into organization culture. Turknett has developed a process called Growing Leadership Character that you can use to cascade these concepts deep into the organizational ranks. 1-Code

Start with a clear code of ethics Model the code every day. Leaders must make certain that their actions and ideals are visible and known Know personal values. Each employee must have a personal ethical code.

2-Character

Make the code live. Organizations must have leaders who create a culture of character and support a continuing conversation to keep ethics front and center. Use a guide like the Leadership Character Model for creating character in individuals and organizations.

3-Conversation

Make ethics front and center every day. Ethical issues cant be separate from everyday business practices. Develop a culture where ethics is everyones job. Great leaders create practices that keep the ethical conversation alive. Read more.

PROCESS: Growing Leadership Character Growing Leadership Character is an effective way to develop leaders and broaden the ethical conversation within an organization. It provides the structure for developing leadership character in management and throughout the organization. Growing Leadership Character (GLC) is a cascading learning process. It is designed to expose an entire organization to specific concepts of integrity-based leadership. Because the most effective way to learn is to teach, we utilize a cascading Leaders Teaching Leaders approach. This approach allows leaders to be heavily involved in both facilitating and modeling the key concepts with a minimal impact on their time.

Overall goal: to create an organization where every person understands and lives the qualities of the Leadership Character Model. This simple yet profound model is grounded in the belief that character is the foundation for leadership. In an organization, leaders with Integrity create trust. Leaders who demonstrate a high degree of Respect create engagement and
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commitment, and those who live Responsibility create initiative and discipline. Ultimately, leaders with Integrity who balance Respect and Responsibility will always deliver maximum results. In multi-level organizations, the GLC process is typically rolled out in three phases: I. In Phase I, senior leaders attend a one-day Leadership Character workshop during which they will learn the basics of the Leadership Character Model, receive feedback on their own Leadership Character, and prepare to teach a 1.5-hour training module to other managers in the organization. II. In Phase II, the next management tier completes the same process in preparation to teach the remaining modules to the next level of supervisors. III. In Phase III, first-level supervisors attend a full day Leadership Character Workshop and receive feedback on their Leadership Character. Leaders at all levels will take part in reinforcement activities. Overall benefits: Managing ethical values in the workplace legitimizes managerial actions, strengthens the coherence and balance of the organizations culture, improves trust in relationships between individuals and groups, supports greater consistency in standards and qualities of products, and cultivates greater sensitivity .

The Key Role of HR in Organizational Ethics

What is important to discuss today is how research informs us about the pivotal role human resource professionals can and should play in ethics management. Research suggests that successful ethics management depends less on formal ethics programs and more on employees' fairness perceptions, ethical leadership at all levels, and the alignment of multiple formal and informal cultural systems to support ethical conduct. To the extent that HR systems invoke fairness evaluations, HR managers designleadership training, and HR systems help to create and maintain organizational culture, HR professionals must play a key role in ethics management. Research has found that employees' perceptions of fairness are equally or more important than other factors in terms of their influence on ethics-related outcomes. Fair treatment is so important because employees who perceive unfair treatment will rebalance the scales of justice by harming the organization. Employees who perceive fair treatment, on the other hand, will reciprocate by going above and beyond the call of duty to help management (by reporting ethical problems, for example). To ensure that employees feel they are treated fairly, it is important to design HR systems and interventions with perceived fairness as a key goal, with an emphasis on procedural (fair decision making procedures) and interaction (fair interpersonal treatment)
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fairness. Employees' perceptions of fair treatment should be monitored regularly via employee surveys, and changes should be made based upon the results. It is also important for HR managers to work with the ethics/compliance office to follow up on employees' ethics concerns because a large percentage of reported concerns are fairness and therefore HR system-related. Most employees equate ethics and fairness; for them, there is no bright line between the ethics and HR offices. Ethical leadership is vital to creating an ethical workforce. It is a myth that employees are fully formed moral agents who can 'lead themselves' when it comes to ethics. Research indicates that most employees look outside themselves to significant others for guidance in ethical dilemma situations. If this leadership and guidance is not provided by the leader of the organization, employees will seek it elsewhere, most likely from their peers. According to research on ethical leadership, an ethical leader is a leader who cares, listens to what employees have to say, and has the best interests of employees in mind. In addition, an ethical leader communicates an ethics and values message. When making decisions, he/she asks "what is the right thing to do?" An ethical leader also role models ethical conduct and conducts his/her personal life in an ethical manner. This role model is trusted by employees and sets an example of how to do things the right way in terms of ethics. An ethical leader holds everyone accountable, and defines success not just by results but also by the way they are obtained It is important that HR managers design performance management, career development, and training systems that: 1. Hold leaders accountable for the ethical dimension of their leadership; 2. Identify ethical leaders and rely on them for role modeling and mentoring others; 3. Incorporate the ethical dimension of leadership into all leadership training and development programs

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