Ethical Issues in HRM Strategy
Richard H. Hill
Dr. Grace M. Endres
July 18, 2012
Strayer University
Abstract
This paper concerns itself with the role of Human Resource Management and the role it plays in the development of corporate strategy. Additional, the paper addresses the issue of ethics concerning Human Resource Managers sharing information learned from a previous client with the new client.
Identify the areas of overlap in the new client organization with others that you have had as clients. If you have limited experience with these types of problems, be sure to research common issues to complete the question.
An area of overlap for a Human Resources consulting include the area of employment laws based in Title VII
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These articles also documented the unethical behavior of an HR consultant who used privileged financial information to enrich himself and his best friend at the clients expense ("Former Mercer HR," n.d.).
Discuss your approach to customizing HRM strategy to business strategy
Prior to any discussions regarding HRM alignment with business strategy, it is necessary to distinguish the role of traditional HR from the role of strategic HRM. The Journal of Management published an excellent article written jointly by Brian E. Becker and Mark A. Huselid. The article was entitled Strategic Resource Management: Where Do We Go From Here? Becker and Huselid made a distinction between Human Resources and Strategic Human Resource Management. According to Becker and Huselid, the distinction between HR and HRM centers on two important facts. First, traditional HR focused on individual performance and in contrast, HRM focused on organizational performance. Second, HRM uses human resources systems to solve business problems conversely, traditional HR kept human resource functions separate from the business functions (Becker & Huselid, 2006).
Human Resource managers must gain the confidence of the business leaders for whom they work. HRM gains the confidence of the business team by approaching human resource strategy and business goals as inextricably linked. In others
Alignment between HRM practices and organizational strategy establishes a coherent system for organizations. There has to be a "fit" between the human resource planning and organizational strategy, Internal fit aligns HR practices with strategic organizational objectives while external fit aligns HR practices with the external environment. The external fit exhibits a more precise fit between quality policy and assertive performance HRM practices (Youndt,
Human Resources professionals are in a unique position to help corporations build the integrity of the company and develop positive organizational cultures. They can use their influences on many levels within an organization promote ethics by developing programs and policies that encourage employees to make the right choices. This may be in form of a written code of ethics or ethical training for managers and employees that make them fully aware of the company’s expectations in areas such as discrimination, sexual harassment, and the treatment of employees. The HR department can also be a resource and kept close at hand when ethical situations arise they are not clearly addressed in the policies or as a mediator for conflict resolution. Since the HR department is involved in the hiring of new employees, they can be proactive in identifying desirable character traits that align with the company’s philosophies as well as on-boarding programs that reinforce the values of the company.
Today 's fast-paced, competitive business environment has resulted in "rediscovery" of the human resource management function as a group that may be able to enhance firm competitiveness and performance by being "strategic" (Dyer & Kochan, 1995; Ulrich, 1997). Strategic Human Resource Management is a term describing an integrated approach to the development of Human Resource Strategy that will enable the organization to achieve its goals (Armstrong, 2005). Whiles strategy is an action that managers take to attain one or more of the organization’s goals. Strategy presents a general direction set for the company and its various components to achieve a desired state in the future. This results from the detailed
Wright and McMahan (1994) define strategic HRM as “the pattern of planned Human Resource deployments and activities intended to enable the organisation to achieve its goals.” A HR function should impact the success of an organisation; a policy must remain current and suitable to both the internal and external environment. Ulrich and Lake (1990) affirm, ‘HRM systems can be the source of organisational capabilities that allow organisations to learn and capitalise on new opportunities.’
Furthermore, business strategy can be defined as the implementation of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for achieving these long-term aims (Johnson et al 2011). Therefore, HRM plays an important role in allocating human resources, which can assist in achieving
The term Human Resource Strategy is well defined as - “Human Resource management (HRM) is a strategic approach to managing employment relations which emphasises that leverage people 's capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices.” [ Bratton and Gold,4e,p3]
Strategic human resource management is best defined in line with the original concept of strategic, integrated and coherent approach to employment, development and well being of the people/ personnel working within the organisation ( Armstrong M. , 2012). Boxhall and Purcell (2003) describe HRM as all those
Human Resources professionals are responsible for several roles in the workplace, including implementing and managing policies, recruiting and retention, and training and development. The HR department is responsible for making sure that organizations conduct business ethically and that shareholders are treated ethically. The HR department must be able to monitor compliance with federal and state laws and regulations as well as monitor the conduct of the organization. Implementing and managing policies is just one piece of the HR and ethics relationship, the HR professional must also conduct themselves in an ethical manner. This paper will
There are a few theories supporting the act of HRM. Two of these theories; Resource-based View and Ability and Motivation and Opportunity theories give off an impression of being the most well-known theoretical frameworks used in the studies that connect HRM and organizational performance. The Resource-Based View (RBV) theory which mixes ideas from organizational economics (Penrose, 1959) and strategic management (Barney, 1991) has it that HRM conveys included worth through the strategic development of the organization’s rare, significant, difficult to emulate and difficult to substitute HR. The RBV sets up that competitive advantage no more lies in regular assets, technology or economies of scale, subsequent to these are anything but easy
HRM is an organization that undergoes the process of managing people in a structure and manner. It is also a process of making the efficient and effective use of human resource so that the goals are achieve. Superior human resources are an important source of competitive advantage. And any factors that allow an organization to characterize its product or service from competitors to increase the market share are called competitive advantage. Competitive advantages can best be achieved by seeking improvement in the managing people, through better utilization of HRM. And also by translating strategy into HR policy and practice to produce the employee competencies and behavior that the company requires.
Tyson, S. (1997) Human Resource Strategy: a process for managing the contribution of HRM to organizational performance. International Journal of Human Resource Management 8[3],
Human Resource Management is crucial to any organization’s success; do I believe that it should be a part of the overall company’s strategic plan absolutely by aligning Strategic planning within an organization it plays an important role as to how productive the organization is. Human Resource Management has many different aspects and each one of these has a part of the overall strategic plan of the organization for example Staffing, Policies, Compensation and Benefits, Retention, and of course Training and Development.
In these cases, the ethical issues relate to lying, money cheating, deception, law breaking, exploitation of employees, and profiteering.
It is important for the human resource management to take some approaches that regards to the issues of business ethics. The implications of ethical conducts and morality are essential to apply in the practices of this function. Some examples of these implications could be thing like building a good ethical framework in human resource management practices (Nadia et al. 2012, p.98). By doing this, there will be more ethical decisions made; managers will need to go through critical planning and activities that involves ethical practices. These will include considerations about what is best for the employees’ welfare and also for the businesses’ operation. Addressing problems about business ethics also implies that human resource management function must be aware of how crucial some legal components are (Martin et al. 2001, p.246). This helps to make sure that unethical business conducts will not occur in the organisation and the human