Abstract:
The objective of this article is to identify research gaps in Ethical Decision-
Making (EDM), and develop a conceptual model, to investigate the impact of
Ethical Orientation of HRM (EOHRM) on EDM in organizations. EOHRM is
a new concept in HRM literature. It is „the extent to which HRM functions
have been directed to create, enhance and maintain ethicality within
employees, to generate an ethical work force in the organization‟. Unethical
behavior of employees in organizations, mainly due to unethical decisionmaking,
has been a burning global issue for many decades. Unethical
decision is a decision that is either illegal or morally unacceptable to the
society. The influence of HRM functions on employee behavior at work had
received much scholarly attention over the past several years. Despite its
significance in contributing towards the organizational performance,
theoretical or empirical researches have not been conducted on the impact of
EOHRM on EDM in organizations. The authors systematically reviewed
existent literature on HRM practices, EDM, ethical/unethical behavior of
employees etc., published in refereed journals over the past 30 years, edited
book chapters and text books by prominent authors on the above subjects,
using the archival method. Authors identified six research gaps in EDM in an
organization. An integrated conceptual model was developed to investigate
the impact of EOHRM on EDM, with the interaction influences of three
variables: „Ethical Attitude‟, Ethical Competence‟ and „Personal Character‟ of
employee on this relationship. The originality and unique feature of this EDM
model is that, it has been developed based on a novel concept in HRM
literature, labeled EOHRM. Hence, this article has an original value and
significant utility for future research.
