The ethical dimension of human resource management

Winstanley, Diana; Woodall, Jean

doi:10.1111/j.1748-8583.2000.tb00017.x

Cited by 123 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This is strange since HRM should be a core process in all organizations affecting the way they acquire and use human resources, and how employees experience the employment relationship, (Legge, 1995;Keenoy, 1999;Winstanley and Woodall, 2000;Francis and Keegan, 2006). HRM is of strategic importance to all organizations, contributing to the success of the organization, (Pfeffer, 1998;Huselid, 1995), and helping to create competitive advantage, (Amit and Belcourt, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, rather than just adopting a purely managerialist (Keegan and Boselie, 2006) or unitarist (Geare et al, 2006) perspective, we are particularly concerned to investigate how these practices and process affect the employees perception of the work environment and the employment relationship, (Legge, 1995;Keenoy, 1999;Winstanley and Woodall, 2000;Francis and Keegan, 2006). Therefore the aims of our research project are:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human resource management in the project-oriented organization: Employee well-being and ethical treatment

Turner

Huemann

Keegan

2008

International Journal of Project Management

173

190

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As part of a wider study into Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in projectoriented companies, we investigated the issue of employee well-being. Project-oriented organizations adopt temporary work processes to deliver products and services to clients. This creates a dynamic work environment, where additional pressures can be imposed on the employee from fluctuating work-loads, uncertain requirements, and multiple role demands. Those pressures can create issues for employee well-being and ethical treatment, which need to be managed. HRM has traditionally had two roles, a management support role, providing the organization with competent people to undertake the work processes, and an employee support role, caring for the well-being of employees. In this paper we report our results on the HRM practices adopted in project-oriented organizations to fulfil the second role. We find that by and large in project-oriented organizations the management support role dominates, and they are not very good at caring for employees. The need for profit and responding to client demands often takes precedence over employee well-being. However, some of the organizations we have interviewed have adopted HRM practices to care for employees, and we report those. Also providing employees with career development opportunities is as important for the individual as it is for the organization, and we report practices for that.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human resource management in the project-oriented organization: Employee well-being and ethical treatment

Turner

Huemann

Keegan

2008

International Journal of Project Management

173

190

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In a penetrating study of the HRM responsibilities of middle line managers in the NHS, McConville (2006) describes the role dissonance of middle line managers charged with managing employees, and the added burden of increasing levels of HRM tasks especially as specialist HR practitioner numbers dwindle. Winstanley and Woodall (2000) question at a more general level whether the discussion about the current direction of HRM practice sufficiently considers broader issues of employee well-being, arguing that the emphasis on HRM becoming more strategic and efficient may be marginalizing the discussion on employee-related HRM outcomes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the line: exploring the HRM responsibilities of line managers, project managers and the HRM department in four project-oriented companies in the Netherlands, Austria, the UK and the USA

Keegan

Huemann

Turner

2012

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

131

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The topic of what HRM (Human Resource Management) responsibilities are devolved from the HRM department to line managers has attracted much interest in recent years. We report findings from a study on the devolution of HRM practices in four POCs (Project-Oriented Companies) and argue that although HRM practices are carried out beyond the HRM department, they are also carried out beyond the line. While the literature on devolving HRM responsibilities to line management is burgeoning, the HRM responsibilities of managers beyond the line organization are neglected. We make two contributions to the literature.Firstly, our study reveals that some HRM practices are the domain of the project manager rather than either the line manager or the HRM department. The complex interplay of the roles of the HRM department, line management and project management creates challenges and pitfalls where people are managed across the boundaries of the permanent and temporary organization. We identify a potentially powerful role for the HRM department in both monitoring and guiding the different players from the line and project organizations, and in protecting the well-being of employees whose work traverses these organizational boundaries.Our second contribution is that we map the diversity of practices in different POCs for managing the interplay between the three main parties delivering HRM practices and offer project-orientation as a contextual indicator that contributes to diversity in HRM practices.

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“…are all HR unethical?) or at the micro level about an individual practice (Winstanley and Woodall 2000). The microlevel analysis of specific practices or 'bundles of practices' can be of limited value and detract from the bigger picture.…”

Section: Credibility Ethics and The Hr Professionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethics and social responsibility – do HR professionals have the ‘courage to challenge’ or are they set to be permanent ‘bystanders?’

Parkes¹,

Davis²

2013

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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This paper considers the role of HR in ethics and social responsibility and questions why, despite an acceptance of a role in ethical stewardship, the HR profession appears to be reluctant to embrace its responsibilities in this area. The study explores how HR professionals see their role in relation to ethical stewardship of the organisation, and the factors that inhibit its execution. A survey of 113 UK-based HR professionals, working in both domestic and multinational corporations, was conducted to explore their perceptions of the role of HR in maintaining ethical and socially responsible action in their organisations, and to identify features of the organisational environment which might help or hinder this role being effectively carried out. The findings indicate that although there is a clear understanding of the expectations of ethical stewardship, HR professionals often face difficulties in fulfilling this role because of competing tensions and perceptions of their role within their organisations. A way forward is proposed, which draws on the positive individual factors highlighted in this research to explore how approaches to organisational development (through positive deviance) may reduce these tensions to enable the better fulfilment of ethical responsibilities within organisations. The involvement and active modelling of ethical behaviour by senior management, coupled with an open approach to surfacing organisational values and building HR procedures, which support socially responsible action, are crucial to achieving socially responsible organisations. Finally, this paper challenges the HR profession, through professional and academic institutions internationally, to embrace their role in achieving this.

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The ethical dimension of human resource management

Cited by 123 publications

References 21 publications

Human resource management in the project-oriented organization: Employee well-being and ethical treatment

Human resource management in the project-oriented organization: Employee well-being and ethical treatment

Beyond the line: exploring the HRM responsibilities of line managers, project managers and the HRM department in four project-oriented companies in the Netherlands, Austria, the UK and the USA

Ethics and social responsibility – do HR professionals have the ‘courage to challenge’ or are they set to be permanent ‘bystanders?’

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