HRM Incident: An Ethical Flaw Source: Mondy, R. W. & Martocchio, J.J. (2015). Hu
ID: 370113 • Letter: H
Question
HRM Incident: An Ethical Flaw
Source: Mondy, R. W. & Martocchio, J.J. (2015). Human Resource Management (14th ed.). Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Amber Davis had recently graduated from college with a degree in general business. Amber was quite bright, although her grades did not reflect this. She had thoroughly enjoyed school, dating, playing tennis, and swimming, but found few stimulating academic endeavors. When she graduated, she had not found a job. Her dad was extremely upset when he discovered this, and he took it upon himself to see that Amber became employed.
Amber’s father, Allen Davis, was executive vice president of a medium-sized manufacturing firm. One of the people he contacted in seeking employment for Amber was Bill Garbo, the president of another firm in the area. Mr. Davis purchased many of his firm’s supplies from Garbo’s company. After telling Bill his problem, Allen was told to send Amber to Bill’s office for an interview. Amber went, as instructed by her father, and before she left Bill’s firm, she was surprised to learn that she had a job in the accounting department. Amber may have been lazy, but she certainly was not stupid. She realized that Bill had hired her because he hoped that his action would lead to future business from her father’s company. Although Amber’s work was not challenging, it paid better than the other jobs in the accounting department.
It did not take long for the employees in the department to discover the reason she had been hired; Amber told them. When a difficult job was assigned to Amber, she normally got one of the other employees to do it, implying that Mr. Garbo would be pleased with that person if he or she helped her out. She developed a pattern of coming in late, taking long lunch breaks, and leaving early. When the department manager attempted to reprimand her for these unorthodox activities, Amber would bring up the close relationship that her father had with the president of the firm. The department manager was at the end of his rope.
QUESTIONS
From an ethical standpoint, how would you evaluate the merits of Mr. Garbo’s employing Amber? Discuss.
Now that she is employed, how would you suggest that the situation be resolved?
It may be that Mr. Garbo viewed the hiring of Amber as strictly a business decision that would ensure receiving continued business from Amber’s father. From your point of view, who should be involved in making this decision? And who are the stakeholders affected by this questionable ethical decision? Discuss
4.Suppose that you are the HR Director, what policies and procedures would you recommend to minimize the chances of such a behavior to occur in the future?
Explanation / Answer
From an ethical standpoint, how would you evaluate the merits of Mr. Garbo’s employing Amber? Discuss.
It is clear that Mr. Garbo has employed Amber without any merit. Amber clearly did not have any specific specialization in finance or accounting (she had graduated with a degree in general business). However, Mr. Garbo had given her employment with a bigger picture in mind - more orders from her father's organization. This is the clear motive, and the price he would have to pay would simply be the compensation for Amber, which would be miniscule considering she is a college fresher.
From an ethical standpoint, this is very wrong. This can lead to serious HR violation issues if it is brought to the notice of the right stakeholders. Rules generally say that if you personally know the candidate, you cannot be involved in the hiring process. It has to be done by someone who does not know the candidate personally so that the candidate is evaluated on merit.
Now that she is employed, how would you suggest that the situation be resolved?
Now that she is employed, she should first be told that she should not expect any special privileges. Secondly, she should be put in a department which is out of Bill's purview. Bill should not be involved in supervising that department in any way, and complete power should be with Amber's line manager. However, if Bill is the president and oversees all departments, then it should be ensured that Amber is in a department where Bill agrees not to interfere with the Line Manager's authority.
Amber should also be told that she would be treated like any other employee, only on the basis of merit and performance, and there should be zero tolerance towards the use of her proximity to Bill.
It may be that Mr. Garbo viewed the hiring of Amber as strictly a business decision that would ensure receiving continued business from Amber’s father. From your point of view, who should be involved in making this decision? And who are the stakeholders affected by this questionable ethical decision? Discuss
Firstly, such a decision is not at all acceptable for any firm. If at all they had to get orders by taking this route, they should understand that this is not a long term solution - they are simply going to get orders because of one personal favour. Tomorrow, if a much better player comes into the market, they will snatch orders from Amber's father (merit and quality will eventually prevail)
However, if they really had to make such a decision, the all of the senior management, the CEO, the stakeholders and the investors should have been apprised of this decision and their sign off should have been obtained. Only then can this be a partial justification for such an unethical decision
4.Suppose that you are the HR Director, what policies and procedures would you recommend to minimize the chances of such a behavior to occur in the future?
If I were the HR director, I would firstly ensure that all recruitment happens through the HR department only. Any CV which comes through for interviews will have to be subject to background checks and routine verifications and screenings. Also, the candidate or the applicant would have to declare if they know anyone within the firm. Transparency is always encouraged. Next, if the candidate is personally related to someone in the company, then that person cannot be involved in the hiring process at all. It has to be done by another competent individual.
These are the measures I would bring in if I were the HR director.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.