Analyzing the Ethics of HRM Through a Kantian Philosophical Lens

This essay explores the ethics of Human Resource Management (HRM) through the lens of Kantian philosophy, examining whether HRM practices can truly treat employees as 'ends in themselves' rather than merely as resources. It delves into Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), differentiating between 'hard' and 'soft' approaches, and highlights the importance of HRM in business planning, cost-benefit analysis, and maintaining a competitive advantage. The essay correlates Kantian ethics—emphasizing moral worth, categorical imperatives, and treating individuals as ends—with SHRM, advocating for compassionate and supportive employee rights alongside organizational profitability. It acknowledges the challenges in implementing these ethics due to organizational culture, corporate stereotypes, and moral conflicts faced by HR managers. Ultimately, the essay argues that despite these difficulties, treating employees ethically is not impossible and is crucial for long-term organizational success in the modern, globalized business environment. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar solved assignments and study resources.

Running head: THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
The ethics of Human resource management
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management can be considered the most effective and easy people
Management concept that is utilised across various different kinds of organisational scenarios.
However it has to be mentioned that there is a significant difference between core human
resource management and people management. According to the authors traditional people
management only focuses on organising and controlling employees from an administrative point
of view. However in case of human resource management the employees are often treated as a
resource rather than being actual people (Berman et al. 2012). That is the reason the ethics and
morality of human resource management in the organisational scenario has been researched and
criticized many times. One of the most sought after school of thought regarding the ethics of
human resource management has been provided by the Kantian research. This essay will attempt
to explore the Kantian imperatives of human resource management and whether human resource
management could ever treat employees as “end in themselves” instead of a tool or resource.
In order to correlate the construct of ethics and morality with human resource management,
the core ideology and principles of human resource management and its contribution and
importance and organizational scenario has to be understood. Strategic human resource
management (SRHM) is a very important component of organizational structure. The primary
contribution of SHRM on the organizational scenario is providing and ensuring skilled,
committed, and inspired workforce that facilitates sustainable competitive advantage to the
organization. Strategic human resource management (SRHM) relies on resource base theories
and frameworks that emphasizes investment in each of the employees equivalent to the
profitability value that a company can achieve by facilitating a strategic fit between the human
resources and the opportunities they can provide to the company (Bolton and Houlihan 2007).

2THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Elaborating on the origin and development of SRHM, it can be mentioned that there are two
theoretical principles based on which SRHM functions. One reflects a contingency approach
between employee motivation and employee engagement with desired performance outcomes.
On a more elaborative note, this process of strategic human resource management is targeted at
improving in controlling employee behavior in engagement to achieve optimal performance
outcomes and profitability for the company. Known as the Hard SHRM strategy, it uses
contextual variables in order to arrive at the best way to manage people only to achieve the
organizational goals (Bowie 2017). On the other hand the soft approach focuses on high
commission high-performance strategy to people management. Hence it can be mentioned that in
contrast the soft HRM techniques facilities of psychological link between organization and
employee engagement in order to achieve the desired goals, whereas the hard technique involved
no psychological attachment for the employees. Overall, the employees or human resource to be
precise, are treated as tools or machinery by the company where the optimal benefits are excised
based on different strategic approaches (Boxall and Purcell 2017).
Basic principle of SHRM, there are many substantial benefits which makes SHRM the most
important components of organisational structure and operational management. First and
foremost it has to be mentioned that SHRM has a direct link with effective business planning and
effective human resource deployment based on expertise and experience. According to the
authors Human Resource Management anticipates individual employee performance outcomes
and relates it with the long term goals and strategies of the organisation. SHRM also has
significant role in the cost benefit analysis and planning of an organisation in terms of
employment, training, and remuneration cost imbalance management. Lastly, a suitable SHRM
technique also helps in maintaining and enhancing the market demand and reputation providing

3THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
the organization with a competitive advantage. Therefore, HRM is an essential element of the
business process management, although maintaining the humanitarian ethics in the
organizational scenario often is very difficult in the cut throat corporate world (Gotsis and
Kortezi 2010).
According to the ideology of Immanuel Kant, humans or humanity should be treated as ‘ends
in themselves’ rather than being treated a means to an end. For instance, his ideology is based on
the fundamental principle that people are not just a tool or resource to be used and exploited by
the organizations rather they are ends in themselves. Now it has been mentioned that the ethical
stand to the construct of human resource management has been researched and evaluated time
and time again in research. The morality of ethics of Human Resource Management can be
effectively correlated with the Kantian view (Bowie 2017).
Elaborating more on the Kantian view any individual can only be considered ethical when
that particular individual and his actions can be justified by preserving moral worth. The
fundamental element of Kantian ethics is based on the difference between categorical and
hypothetical need or necessity, only in the case that the person utilizes logical unreasonable path
to address that need. Along with that, the author has also mentioned that for any categorical
imperative to be considered ethical, moral commands must be involved in the decision making as
well (Greenwood 2013).
Extending the principles of Kantian ethics to human resource management, it can be
mentioned that in terms of reversibility and universality, any action that is thought to be accurate
for one particular individual will have similar effects in case of all other individuals. In this
regard it can be argued that even human resource management needs to treat all individuals
equally in order to maintain optimal ethics and morality of the construct. Moreover, the Kantian

4THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ethics when correlated with strategic Human Resource Management, indicates the use of a
deontological view to the entire scenario. According to Kantian principles, the human resource
management should also consider the people as the ends themselves, a part of the goal rather
than treating them as only objects in path of achieving the goal. Therefore it can be mentioned
that the Kantian point view of human resource management directs SHRM to be compassionate
and supportive of employee rights and benefits along with organizational profitability and goals.
Along with that the human resource management, in terms of Kantian ethics, should optimize
their strategies ensuring the greater good if the employees as well along with the organizational
profit, and in order to enhance profitability or minimize, the employee rights and welfare must
not be compromised on any manner (Jack, Greenwood and Schapper 2012).
Despite the Kantian ethics being correlated with human resource management in research
studies, there are no effective results being reflected in the strategic human resource management
scenarios of different organizational sectors. In the present corporate scenario the employees are
still treated as a tool or resource that provides the means for the company to attain the
organizational goals. The severity with which the employees are treated as resource that is
utilized in order to attend specific ends depends on their hierarchical position in the organization.
The lower ranks are often the most exploited resources in most of the organizations and their
welfare is the most neglected in the present day scenario. Now there are many contributing
factors that can be discussed here as restricting the human resource management from
developing a particular morale. First and foremost, organizational culture and corporate
stereotype needs to be mentioned. It must not be ignored that the entire construct of human
resource management or administrative operational management is focused on the sole prospect
of increasing profitability and market demand of the organization and facilitating smooth the

5THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
business process management. That is the reason that strategies that are employed in both human
resource management and operational management scenario in most of the organizations are
only concerned with the processes and practices that will aid to the enhanced profitability and
productivity, regardless of the impact on the employees (Jiang et al. 2012).
On the other hand it also has to be mentioned that there are many moral conflicts that an HR
manager needs to face in the organizational scenario which makes the path of following ethical
and moral integrity very difficult. According to the article by Pinnington, Macklin and Campbell
(2007), maintaining justice and impartiality in the organizational decision making can be very
difficult in the face of more than one decision makers. It is also supported by the fact that the
organizational decision making or HR policy implementation is not always in the hands of the
human resource management, there are many other stakeholders that are involved with the
process. Now the question remains whether HR management is powerless while maintaining
morality and justice in the organization. Despite the human resource management not being the
sole purpose of justice in an organization the influence of the human resource management on
the business processes is also significant. With honest effort and dedication towards safeguarding
the best interest of the employee along with it into the organizational performance and
productivity can enhance the morality of HR and construct (Patrick Neumann and Dul 2010).
The present age of technological revolution in globalization and with all the changes that are
operating in the organizational sector treating the employees just as a resource is a highly flawed
perception. It has to be mentioned that organizations can obtain profits only on the basis of the
performance and hard work that the employees invest and hence they also deserve to be valued
by the company. The human resource management can be the first step in safeguarding the
employee rights and abiding the contracts or promises can actually implement lawful and

6THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
justified fairness in the work culture of organizations. Hence despite being difficult treating the
employees as “ends in themselves” instead of “means to an end” is not impossible for human
resource management with effort and will.

7THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
References:
Berman, E.M., Bowman, J.S., West, J.P. and Van Wart, M.R., 2012. Human resource
management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. Sage.
Bolton, S.C, and Houlihan. H, (2007). Searching for the human in human resource
management. NewYork: Macmillan, availablefrom:https://books.google.co.in/books?
id=V_AcBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Searching+for+the+human+in+HRM:
+theory,
+practice+and+workplace+contexts&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidoa2y9qTZAhXKLY8K
HYkzALUQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Searching%20for%20the%20human%20in
%20HRM%3A%20theory%2C%20practice%20and%20workplace%20contexts&f=false.
[accessed on] 15th February, 2018.
Bowie, N.E., 2017. Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press.
Boxall, P. and Purcell, J., 2011. Strategy and human resource management. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Gotsis, G.N. and Kortezi, Z., 2010. Ethical considerations in organizational politics:
Expanding the perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(4), pp.497-517.
Greenwood, M., 2013. Ethical analyses of HRM: A review and research agenda. Journal of
Business Ethics, 114(2), pp.355-366.
Jack, G., Greenwood, M. and Schapper, J., 2012. Frontiers, intersections and engagements of
ethics and HRM. Journal of business ethics, 111(1), pp.1-12.

8THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management
influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating
mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.
Kalshoven, K. and Boon, C.T., 2012. Ethical leadership, employee well-being, and helping:
The moderating role of human resource management. Journal of Personnel
Psychology, 11(1), p.60.
Koonmee, K., Singhapakdi, A., Virakul, B. and Lee, D.J., 2010. Ethics institutionalization,
quality of work life, and employee job-related outcomes: A survey of human resource
managers in Thailand. Journal of business research, 63(1), pp.20-26.
Patrick Neumann, W. and Dul, J., 2010. Human factors: spanning the gap between OM and
HRM. International journal of operations & production management, 30(9), pp.923-950.
Pinnington, A, , Macklin, R., and Campbell, T., 2007. Human resource management: ethics
and employment. Oxford University Press, pp. 260-270. available from:
https://www.hrpa.ca/Documents/Designations/Job-Ready-Program/Human-Resource-
Management-Ethics-and-Employment.pdf. [accessed on] 15th February, 2018.

9THE ETHICS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT