The Articles by Islam( 2012) and Guest and Woodrow (2012)

The Articles by Islam( 2012) and Guest and Woodrow (2012)
Introduction
The articles by Islam (2012) and Guest and Woodrow (2012) have been selected for analysis in this paper. The article by Islam (2012) titled “Recognition, Reification, and Practices of Forgetting: Ethical Implications of Human Resource Management” explores ethical human resource management (HRM) from a theoretical-recognition standpoint. It aims to identify how HR managers can protect the dignity of employees and regard them as autonomous individuals rather than a means to an end for organizations. The article by Guest and Woodrow (2012) titled “Exploring the Boundaries of Human Resource Managers’ Responsibilities” examines how HR managers can incorporate ethical HRM by reconciling the conflicting needs of employers and employees. Both articles discuss the importance of ethical HRM in organizations. Yet, they apply different theoretical approaches to determine how HR managers can incorporate ethical HRM in their practice and ensure employees' interests and judgment about certain HR decisions are considered in the workplace.
Critical Analysis of Articles
Article 1
The article by Islam (2012) first acknowledges that ethical HRM is essential in ensuring employees’ dignity is protected. The author applies Honneth’s recognition theory to demonstrate that dignity and self-esteem among human beings are driven by social participation, including participation in work. As such, ethical HRM must recognize the value of recognition in supporting human beings/employees' well-being beyond their economic welfare. Even though economic benefits are essential for employees' overall well-being, they only account for part of this well-being. The other part of employee well-being comprises social relationships (p. 39). These social relationships are important in assigning value to the work performed by employees, thus giving them a sense of self-esteem and dignity.
By applying Honneth’s theory of recognition, the author acknowledges that employees are social beings who depend on the feedback provided by others to form an identity. The author goes further to explore reification as a recognition problem. He points out that human resources are objectified through reification for organizational capital gain (p.40). This approach helps explain why human resources are treated as a means to an end in organizations rather than autonomous beings. The author notes that this theoretical recognition standpoint would ensure that HR managers recognize employees rather than reify them (p. 45). The author relies on rich literature to support his argument throughout the article.
Article 2
Guest and Woodrow (2012) acknowledge that HR managers have to represent the interests of employees and employers. To do so, they must reconcile the conflict between employees' and employers’ interests. The authors utilize the Ulrich HR champion model and incorporate some aspects of the Kantian view in establishing how HR managers can resolve the conflict to achieve ethical HRM. Ulrich's HR champion model recommends the redefinition of the HR role into four main functions to ensure HR managers represent the interests of employees and employers...