Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Human Resource Management Practitioners in African Small Micro and Medium Enterprises

Entrepreneurial organisations die or live based on their ability to create new and better products and services, as well as their capacity to move quickly as market opportunities present themselves. Competitive advantages are difficult to achieve and maintain without the right people who are properly managed. Despite an organisational commitment to behave in an ethical and accountable manner to their different stakeholders, organisations are often confronted with ethical dilemmas, such as the need to profiteer to maintain the bottom line. These ethical dilemmas in Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), especially those related to the Human Resource Management, have not been explored effusively from a scholarly or practitioner perspective. The aim of this research is therefore, to explore ethical dilemmas encountered by the people managing the human resource in the SMMEs of Lesotho, and the factors that influence the ethical decision-making process. This qualitative research is underpinned by the Utilitarianism Ethical theory. Purposive sampling and snowballing were used to select the participants for the research. The findings reveal that the majority of the SMMEs do not have specific qualified HR officials. The study also indicates that most of the HR functions are done by the business founders with some vested interest in their ventures. This could be another source of ethical dilemmas as contradictions might arise from the need to meet personal idiosyncratic interests and the need to pursue venture imperatives thereby perpetuating ethical dilemmas. The dilemmas have been frequently encountered in recruitment, rewards, training and performance assessment of employees. In these areas, there are the conflicts of interest and dilemmas arising due to discrimination, personal relations and favouritism. It is highly recommended that the SMMEs have clear Human Resource Management policies, which are effectively implemented to avoid most of the challenges. This paper suggests that all the employees could be accountable for their actions to ensure successful implementation of policies.