Integrity

Abstract

Human Resource Development (HRD) incorporates an ethical paradigm to evaluate the standards of behavior that inform Human Resource (HR) practice. HRD professionals who stress principles of ethics and integrity as guidelines promote and foster an environment conducive to building productive teams and socially responsible organizations. However, integrity has been so diversely defined that the role of HRD practitioners as guardians of ethical conduct remains obscure. Meanwhile, ethical scandals continue to challenge organizations globally and the cognitive hurdles to behaving with integrity remain unknown. Thus, it is the purpose of this article to direct scholarly attention to the construct of integrity from an intrapersonal perspective and the pivotal role that it plays in the ethical decision-making process of the individual. Specifically, this article identifies, defines, and distinguishes various types of integrity for the purpose of proposing models of alignment and incongruencies. Recommendations for HR theory, research, and practice are generated.