Notes on Ethics and International Human Resource Management
IHRM
Session 18
Ethics & IHRM
Ethics
Ethics may be defined as an individual’s or society’s beliefs regarding what is right and wrong, or good and bad.
Ethics is about how our decisions affect other people.
It is also about the rights and duties of people, the moral rules that people apply in decision making and the nature of relationships in a society.
Managerial Ethics
Managerial Ethics refer to the standards of behavior of individual managers in their work.
Four Levels of Ethical Questions in Business
Societal – At the societal level, we ask questions about basic institutions, practices and behaviors in a society.
For example, is racial discrimination right?
Is capitalism the just system to allocate resources in a society?
Stakeholder – At the level of the stakeholders of a business, such as customers, shareholders, suppliers, etc., the ethical issues concern, disclosing correct information to customers, insider trading, relationship and trust with suppliers, etc.
Internal Policy – Ethical issues relating to internal policy concern nature of employment policies, fairness of job contracts, work rules, motivation, layoffs, etc.
Personal – At the personal level ethics refers to individual behavior in an organization and covers issues of honesty, professional integrity, etc.
Tools of Ethics
Values – are beliefs that are
Relatively few in numbers
Serve as a guide for culturally appropriate behavior
Enduring or difficult to change
Not tied to specific objects or situations
Widely accepted by members of a society
Values are the answers to the “why” questions.
Rights – Claims that entitle a person to take a particular action
Duties – obligations to take specific steps or obey the law
Moral rules – Rules for behavior that often become internalized as moral values
Relationships – People are related directly or indirectly in a society, which makes ethical behavior necessary
Session 18
Ethics & IHRM
Ethics
Ethics may be defined as an individual’s or society’s beliefs regarding what is right and wrong, or good and bad.
Ethics is about how our decisions affect other people.
It is also about the rights and duties of people, the moral rules that people apply in decision making and the nature of relationships in a society.
Managerial Ethics
Managerial Ethics refer to the standards of behavior of individual managers in their work.
Four Levels of Ethical Questions in Business
Societal – At the societal level, we ask questions about basic institutions, practices and behaviors in a society.
For example, is racial discrimination right?
Is capitalism the just system to allocate resources in a society?
Stakeholder – At the level of the stakeholders of a business, such as customers, shareholders, suppliers, etc., the ethical issues concern, disclosing correct information to customers, insider trading, relationship and trust with suppliers, etc.
Internal Policy – Ethical issues relating to internal policy concern nature of employment policies, fairness of job contracts, work rules, motivation, layoffs, etc.
Personal – At the personal level ethics refers to individual behavior in an organization and covers issues of honesty, professional integrity, etc.
Tools of Ethics
Values – are beliefs that are
Relatively few in numbers
Serve as a guide for culturally appropriate behavior
Enduring or difficult to change
Not tied to specific objects or situations
Widely accepted by members of a society
Values are the answers to the “why” questions.
Rights – Claims that entitle a person to take a particular action
Duties – obligations to take specific steps or obey the law
Moral rules – Rules for behavior that often become internalized as moral values
Relationships – People are related directly or indirectly in a society, which makes ethical behavior necessary