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The Ethics of Lateral Hiring

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  • Gardner, Timothy M.
  • Stansbury, Jason
  • Hart, David

Abstract

Lateral hiring is the intentional action of one employer to identify, solicit, and hire an individual or group of employees currently employed by another firm, a practice often pejoratively labeled “poaching.†We use the method of critical genealogy to demonstrate that the norms that discourage lateral hiring are constructions used by powerful employers to control the turnover of their employees, making them subjects of their employer’s power rather than free and autonomous people in their own right. We suggest instead that ethical responsibility for entertaining or rejecting lateral hiring offers rests with the focal employee(s). We conclude that the form and symmetry of loyalty between employees and their current employers are the determinants of the appropriateness of an employee’s decision to entertain and accept outside offers. These conclusions imply responsibilities for employers to forge (and employees to honor) symmetrical relational loyalty in the workplace, but not for alternate employers to refrain from making lateral hiring offers.

Suggested Citation

  • Gardner, Timothy M. & Stansbury, Jason & Hart, David, 2010. "The Ethics of Lateral Hiring," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 341-369, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:20:y:2010:i:03:p:341-369_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Silvia Dorado & Ying Chen & Andrea M. Prado & Virginia Simon, 2022. "Attuned HRM Systems for Social Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 829-848, July.
    2. Tadhg Ó Laoghaire, 2023. "Why (Some) Corporations Have Positive Duties to (Some of) the Global Poor," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 741-755, May.
    3. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2012. "The evolution of lateral hiring and skill formation in the global airline industry, 1940–2010," MPRA Paper 63866, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2017. "Human Capital Flows in Failing Organizations: An Integrated Conceptual Framework," MPRA Paper 80781, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Nicholas O Mantey & Vannie Naidoo, 2016. "Service Quality Failure and Recovery Imperatives: Implications for Airlines Owned by South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 8(4), pages 67-78.
    6. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2020. "Talent Management and Global Competition for Top Talent: A Co-Opetition-Based Perspective," MPRA Paper 101113, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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