Contemporary People Management

Running head: CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
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1CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Immanuel Kant is one of the majorly celebrated philosophers of the eighteenth century
and is considered to be one of the key figures of the modern philosophy. The second major
formulation of “The Categorical Imperative” by Immanuel Kant discusses the humanity
formulation while the third formulation discusses the factors that are presented due to the
autonomy within the organization (Baron, 2018). The following essay discusses the
implementation of the Kantian ethics within the organizational management of human resources.
The essay aims to argue on the fact that the human resource management should not treat the
employees of the organization as a medium to attain the set goals of the organization. The essay
opens with a discussion on the second formulation of “The Categorical Imperative” as discussed
by Immanuel Kant. The essay proceeds to discuss the key functions of the human resource
department of any given organization. The essay nears its conclusion with the discussion on the
relationship that exists between the second formulation of “The Categorical Imperative” and the
core functions of the human resource department.
Kantian Philosophy
Ethics or the moral philosophy refers to a certain branch of philosophy that is majorly
dedicated to the systematization, the defense and the recommendation of the notions of correct
and incorrect conduct that is maintained within the multitude of the business organizations all
over the world. The moral philosophy of a person is useful in the exploration of the morality of
the concerned person. The branch of moral philosophy further tends to discuss the factors that
are presented due to the issues resulting from the comparison of the lives of people with others
who have been living in the surroundings of the concerned person (Evans, 2018). There are
many philosophers who have been undertaken researches in the matters that are related to the

2CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
ethical factors related to the operations that are undertaken by the business organizations
functional all over the world. One such philosophy is the Kantian philosophy. The Kantian
philosophy states that the correctness and the incorrectness of a certain action does not depend
on the resultant factors but on the fulfillment of the duties that were to be fulfilled by the activity.
According to the Kantian philosophy, there exists a supreme principle in regards to the
morality or the ethical factors. This principle is, according to Immanuel Kant termed to be “The
Categorical imperative”. The categorial imperative as formulated by the eminent philosopher
comprises of three major formulations. The first major formulation talks of the formulation of
the universality with the help of the natural laws. Ward (2018) states that the second major
formulation discusses the humanity formulation while the third formulation discusses the factors
that are presented due to the autonomy within the organization.
The second formulation of the categorical imperative rests on the Formula of Humanity.
This formulation states that the people should not be utilizing the humanity of themselves or of
others in order to deal with the issues that are presented in the accomplishment of the given task.
The philosopher opines that no person is granted the rights to use some other person as a mere
means to attain the end (Werhane, 2018). The philosopher illustrates the concept better with the
imagery of a slave and his owner. The philosopher states that the owner of the slave might be
stated to have been using the slave as a means to attain the goal of a proper harvest. This
according to the author tends to defy the principle of the second formulation of the categorical
imperative.
Core HRM Elements