Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Human Resources Governance and Compliance: Essentials of Business Ethics

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Human Resources Management

  • 790 Accesses

Abstract

Business ethics has come a long way from a good to have initiative, captured in glossy reports with photographs of smiling children and pristine nature, to being an integral part of the business strategy of any global corporation. The proliferation and acceptance of global standards of good corporate governance set similar standards of behavior of a global corporation be it in Jakarta or Bogota. The leaps in communication technology ensure that the information on activities of a corporation in one part of the globe will percolate to other parts in a matter of hours and not years, and corporations cannot behave in disregard of these standards without compromising its credibility with the customer base across the world. This rise in expectations of corporate behavior applies to potential and present employees as well. Ethical business practices thus play an increasing role in both attracting high-potential employees who look for more than just a fat pay check and keeping the motivation of current employees high by identifying themselves with the employer’s demonstrated values. This chapter analyzes the emergence of business ethics into the management discourse and how it impacts human resource management, the opportunities presented by it in attracting and retaining high potentials, and the pitfalls to watch out for in integrating business ethics into the corporate strategy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    (c.f. empirical studies Deloitte Development 2011; Smith 2010; Brammer et al. 2007)

References

  • Alvesson M (2000) Social identity and the problem of loyalty in knowledge-intensive companies. J Manag Stud 37(8):1101–1123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attridge M (2009) Measuring and managing employee work engagement: a review of the research and business literature. J Workplace Behav Health 24(4):383–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett CA, Glinska M (2001) Enron’s transformation: from gas pipeline to new economy powerhouse. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Battacharya CB, Sen S, Korschun D (2008) Using corporate social responsibility to win the war for talent. MIT Sloan Manag Rev 49(2):37–44

    Google Scholar 

  • BBC (2009) How Leeson broke the bank. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/375259.stm. Accessed 10 Oct 2014

  • Beechler S, Woodward IC (2009) The global “war for talent”. J Int Manag 15(3):273–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley University Millenials in the Workplace (2012) http://www.bentley.edu/centers/center-for-women-and-business/millennials-workplace. Accessed 10 Jan 2014

  • Brammer S (2006) The feel good factories. The Guardian, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Brammer S, Millington A, Rayton B (2007) The contribution of corporate social responsibility to organizational commitment. Int J Hum Resour Manag 18(10):1701–1719

    Google Scholar 

  • Bratton J, Callinan M, Forshaw C, Sawchuk P (2007) Work and organizational behavior: understanding the workplace. Palgrave Macmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bridges H (1958) The robber baron concept in American history. Bus Hist Rev 32:1–13. doi:10.2307/3111897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buttkereit S (2009) Intersectoral alliances: an institutional economics perspective. WVB, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnegie A (1889) Wealth. N Am Rev 148(391):653, 65762

    Google Scholar 

  • Chambers E, Foulon M, Handfield-Jones H, Hankin S, Michaels E III (1998) The war for talent. McKinsey Q 3:44–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier J, Esteban R (2007) Corporate social responsibility and employee commitment. Bus Ethics Eur Rev 16:1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dale Carnegie Training (2012) What drives employee engagement and why it matters. http://www.dalecarnegie.com/assets/1/7/driveengagement_101612_wp.pdf. Accessed 10 Oct 2014

  • Deloitte Development (2011) Deloitte volunteer impact survey. http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/us_2011DeloitteVolunteerIMPACTSurvey_ExecutiveSummary_060311.pdf. Accessed 24 Sept 2014

  • Drucker PF (1969) The age of discontinuity: guidelines to our changing society. Harper & Row, New York, p 259

    Google Scholar 

  • Drucker PF (1989) What business can learn from nonprofits. Harv Bus Rev 67(4):88–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmans A (2011) Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices. J Financ Econ 101(3):621–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission (2011) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a Renewed EU Strategy 2011–14 for Corporate Social Responsibility. COM (2011) 681 final, 25 Oct

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrin DL, Dirks KT (2003) The use of rewards to increase and decrease trust: Mediating processes and differential effects. Organ Sci, 14(1):18–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleming P, Andrew S (2009) Just be yourself!: towards neo-normative control in organisations? Employee Relat 31(6):569–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming P, Jones MT (2012) The end of corporate social responsibility: crisis and critique. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Flood PC, Turner T, Ramamoorthy N, Pearson J (2001) Causes and consequences of psychological contract among knowledge workers in the high technology and financial services industries. Int J Hum Resour Manag 12(7):1152–1165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortune (2013) America’s defense industry is going gray. http://fortune.com/2013/11/12/americas-defense-industry-is-going-gray/. Accessed 24 Sept 2014

  • Freeman RE (1984) Strategic management: a stakeholder perspective. Pitman, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup (2013) State of the global workplace. http://www.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx. Accessed 10 Sept 2014

  • Granovetter MS (1973) The strength of weak ties. Am J Sociol 78(6):1360–1380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunningham N, Kagan R, Thornton D (2004) Social license and environmental protection: why businesses go beyond compliance. Law Soc Inq 29(2):307–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harter JK, Schmidt FL, Hayes TL (2002) Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: a meta-analysis. J Appl Psychol 87(2):268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood J (1998) Do corporations have social responsibilities? Freeman 48:680–684

    Google Scholar 

  • Innocenti L, Pilati M, Peluso A (2011) Trust as moderator in the relationship between HRM practices and employee attitudes. Hum Resour Manag J 21(3):303–317. Business Source Premier. Available via EBSCOhost. Accessed 24 Sept 2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones Christensen L, Mackey A, Whetten D (2014) Taking responsibility for corporate social responsibility: the role of leaders in creating, implementing, sustaining, or avoiding socially responsible firm behaviors. Acad Manag Perspect 28(2):164–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaptein M (2011) Toward effective codes: testing the relationship with unethical behavior. J Bus Ethics 99(2):233–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz D (1964) The motivational basis of organizational behavior. Behav Sci 9:131–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Küng H, Leisinger KM, Wieland J (2010) Manifesto global economic ethic: consequences and challenges for global businesses. dtv, München

    Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Harrison JR (2008) Corporate governance and national culture: a multi-country study. Corp Gov 8(5):607–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LRN (2006) Ethics study: employee engagement. A report on how ethics affects corporate ability to attract, recruit and retain employees. http://www.ethics.org/files/u5/LRNEmployeeEngagement.pdf. Accessed 05 Sept 2015

  • Mahoney LS, Thorne L (2005) Corporate social responsibility and long-term compensation: evidence from Canada. J Bus Ethics 57(3):241–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marx K (1932) Economic and philosophical manuscripts. In: Marx-Engels Gesamtausgabe, vol 3. Marx-Engels Institute, Berlin (Originally published, 1844)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer DM, Kuenzi M, Greenbaum R, Bardes M, Salvador RB (2009) How low does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 108(1):1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinsey JO (1929) Effect of mergers on marketing, production, and administrative problems. J Bus Univ Chic 2:326–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyerson D (2001) Tempered radicals: how people use difference to inspire change at work. Harvard Business Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell RK, Agle BR, Wood DK (1997) Towards a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts. Acad Manage Rev 22:853–886

    Google Scholar 

  • National Association of Colleges and Employers (2013) The Class of 2012 Student Survey Report. https://www.naceweb.org/uploadedFiles/Content/static-assets/downloads/executive-summary/2013-student-survey-executive-summary.pdf. Accessed 05 Sept 2015

  • Pew Research Center (2009) MILLENNIALS confident. Connected. Open to change. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1501/millennials-new-survey-generational-personality-upbeat-open-new-ideas-technology-bound. Accessed 10 Sept 2014

  • Porter ME, Kramer MR (2011) Creating shared value. Harv Bus Rev 89(1/2):62–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter A (2011) The authenticity hoax: how we get lost finding ourselves. Random House LLC, Harper Collins, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Quintanilla SAR, Wilpert B (1991) Are work meanings changing? Eur Work Organ Psychol 1(2/3):91–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Ralston DA et al (2011) A twenty-first century assessment of values across the global workforce. J Bus Ethics 104(1):1–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reuters (2014) DEALS-Global M&A at seven-year high as big corporate deals return. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/30/deals-ma-idUSL2N0P40FK20140630. Accessed 24 Sept 2014

  • Saunders CB, O’Neill HM, Jensen OW (1986) Alienation in corporate America: fact or fable? J Bus Ethics 5(4):285–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidman D (2004) The case for ethical leadership. Acad Manag Exec 18(2):134–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selsky JW, Parker B (2005) Cross-sector partnerships to address social issues: challenges to theory and practice. J Manag 31(6):849–873

    Google Scholar 

  • Sims R, Brinkmann J (2003) Enron ethics (or: culture matters more than codes). J Bus Ethics 45(3):243–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith CA, Organ DW, Near JP (1983) Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents. J of Applied Psychology 68(4):653–663

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith K (2010) Work-life balance perspectives of marketing professionals in generation Y. Serv Mark Q 31(4). doi:10.1080/15332969.2010.510720

    Google Scholar 

  • The Economist (2014) http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21614101-corporate-america-finding-it-ever-harder-stay-right-side-law-mammoth-guilt. Accessed 10 Oct 2014

  • Treviño LK, Weaver GR (2001) Organizational justice and ethics program “follow-through”: influences on employees’ harmful and helpful behavior. Bus Ethics Q 11(4):651–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • US Sentencing Guidelines (2012) § 8 sentencing of organizations, p 496. http://www.ussc.gov/Guidelines/2012_Guidelines/Manual_PDF/Chapter_8.pdf. Accessed 10 Jan 2014

  • Van Dijk RL, Van Dick R (2009) Navigating organizational change: change leaders, employee resistance and work-based identities. J Chang Manag 9:143–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren DE, Gaspar JP, Laufer WS (2014) Is formal ethics training merely cosmetic? Bus Ethics Q 24(1):85–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber M (1965) Politics as a vocation. Fortress Press, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Weick KE (1995) Sensemaking in organizations. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Whyte WH (1956) The organizational man. Simon and Schuster, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wieland J (2001) The ethics of governance. Bus Ethics Q 11(1):73–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wieland J (2014) The design of the theory. In: Governance ethics: global value creation, economic organization and normativity. Springer International Publishing, Heidelberg, pp 15–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Yigitcanlar T, Baum S, Horton S (2007) Attracting and retaining knowledge workers in knowledge cities. J Knowl Manag 11(5):6–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zogby J (2008) The way we’ll be: the Zogby report on the transformation of the American dream. Random House LLC, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin (LEIZ), Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    Josef Wieland & Murali Nair

Authors
  1. Josef Wieland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Murali Nair
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josef Wieland .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. HRMnext Ltd., Sheung Wan, Hong Kong SAR

    Matthias Zeuch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Wieland, J., Nair, M. (2015). Human Resources Governance and Compliance: Essentials of Business Ethics. In: Zeuch, M. (eds) Handbook of Human Resources Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40933-2_94-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40933-2_94-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40933-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation