Abstract
Human resource development as a field has an important responsibility for improving the ethical climate in organizations. As Frisque and Kolbe (2008) stated, ethical wrongdoings in today's organizations is a significant challenge as well as an opportunity for HRD professionals to improve ethical decision making among employees. Despite the increasing expectations from human resource professionals for promoting ethics (Foote & Ruona, 2008; Garavan & McGuire, 2010), human resource development as a field have not contributed significantly (Foote & Ruona, 2008). The purpose of this book as stated by the author is to “explore the role of HRD professionals in ethical and legal decision making in the workplace” (p.2). Considering the limited number of publications on ethics in the field, this book's contribution is important. The author is well published in human resource development (e.g., Hughes & Byrd, 2015) and her work has been recognized by receiving rewards and nominations within the field (e.g., Hughes, 2012). While the author has extensively published on issues of diversity and inclusion and how to integrate them within the workplace (e.g., Hughes, 2014; Hughes, 2015), to my knowledge, this book is her first major publication on ethics and ethical decision making. In this review, in addition to providing an overview of the book, I will discuss the strengths and limitations of the book from my perspective and will provide recommendations for using the book.
An Overview of the chapters
In the first chapter of the book, the author sets the stage for discussing the issues related to ethics within the field by providing the reasons ethics is important and also how and in what ways HRD professionals should and can get involved in ethical issues in the workplace. Considering the limited attention of academic HRD programs to this aspect of the field, at least in the United States, this can be seen as one of the most important contributions of this chapter.
Chapter two, raises an important point regarding the approach HRD professionals should take in addressing ethical and legal issues in organizations which is “using analysis that extends beyond the field of training” (p. 7). In this chapter, the author provides a table of some of the specific regulations (e.g., Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Civil Rights Act, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) that can affect the practice of HRD professionals. While, according to the author this is not an exhaustive list, it creates a good picture of kinds of regulations related to HRD as a field.
In chapter three, the author focuses on values and ethical decision making in the workplace. While, the topic of this chapter (i.e., ethical decision making) is at the core of ethical behavior and needs more attention, the chapter is rather short. This is, in my view, one of the main limitations of the book.
In chapter four, the author argues the importance of diversity in organizations from an ethical point of view. The recognition of the close connection between ethics and diversity, which has been often overlooked, is important. The author has successfully made the case for the link between ethics and diversity by arguing the need for “viewing diversity from an ethical decision–making perspective” (p. 55). This argument should help readers to further recognize the connection and integrate their efforts to create ethical and inclusive work environments.
Chapter five of the book focuses on hiring and retention. While the two concepts are usually considered as HR and not HRD related topics, the author raises very good practical points regarding the ways HRD professionals can and should involve in these two main HR functions.
In chapter six, the author discusses issues related to competition between employee needs and organization goals including: (a) electronic monitoring in the workplace, (b) whistleblowing, and (c) intellectual property rights.
Chapter seven focuses on three main themes: (1) research ethics, (2) the previous research on ethics in the field of HRD, and (3) the future of ethics in HRD. In terms of research ethics, the author discusses the importance of familiarity of HRD practitioners and students with the IRB process and protecting the research participants. The author also provides a list of 39 publications on ethics in the four main Academy of Human Resource Development journals (i.e., Advances in Developing Human Resources, Human Resource Development Review, Human Resource Development Quarterly, and Human Resource Development International). This can be seen as a good resource for researchers or practitioners who are interested in reading on the topic within the field of HRD. In terms of the future, the author reviews a number of important trends that affect today’ societies in which HRD can play a role.
And finally in Appendix 1, the author provides 12 ethical dilemmas in human resource development. Although the dilemmas are useful in providing context for future discussions on ethics in HRD, the book does not discuss these scenarios further to provide a better picture of the dilemmas or some possible approaches to take to address these dilemmas. Nevertheless, I believe that HRD educators can use these scenarios for prompting discussions in their courses. These discussions can develop a generation of HRD scholars and practitioners who are more mindful regarding the issues of ethics and inclusion in organizations.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Book
One of the main strengths of the book is that it takes a broad–based perspective of the activities that are related to HRD. For example, in the author's perspective, many primary HR functions in organizations such as hiring and retention can also have implications for HRD professionals (e.g., providing training or guidelines for those who are involved in the process of selecting job candidates).
The main weakness of the book is the lack of sufficient attention to and depth in sections on ethics and ethical decision making theories (chapter four) and also the lack of focus on evidence–based approaches to develop ethical thinking and to improve the ethical decision making in the workplace. To be more specific, a number of principles and theories of ethics have been listed and defined briefly but no connection to the context of the book and the field of HRD has been established. Moreover, while a long list of publications in areas of ethical/unethical decision making have been provided, none of these publications has been discussed. Furthermore, the behavioral approaches to ethical decision making (i.e., behavioral ethics) and the concept of bounded ethicality have not been included (e.g., Moore & Gino, 2015; Moore et al., 2012; Tenbrunsel & Smith–Crowe, 2008).
Recommendations
Despite the limitations listed above, the book contributes meaningfully to the literature by providing a review of the current status of the field and by raising many important questions in different chapters to be pursued by scholars and practitioners within the field. Specifically, it succeeds in meeting the stated purpose of exploring the role that HRD professionals can play in ethical and legal decision making in organizations. Different chapters of this book can be used by instructors in master's and doctoral levels as assigned readings. These readings can provide students with necessary knowledge to be able to influence their future work and work environments as HRD professionals. Moreover, as stated earlier, the dilemmas provided in the appendix of the book can be used as scenarios to be discussed in face–to–face classes or asynchronous online discussions. These scenarios can increase the awareness of students regarding ethical issues in the field and help them build a practical understanding of ethics and ethical decision making in the workplace.
Conclusion
When it comes to ethics, human resource development, with its focus on developing individuals, has a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on organizations and society as a whole. Therefore, it is important for the field to be involved in research and practice of ethical development in the workplace. Efforts such as this book will contribute greatly to increasing the awareness of HRD students, practitioners, and researchers about their important role for improving the ethical climate in organizations.