Ethics and HRM Practice in Serbia

This study examines how employees’ moral foundations shape perceptions of Human Capital Management (HCM) outcomes in Serbian organisations, with a focus on sustainable human resource management (HRM), employee well-being, and organisational development. Using the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ-30) and the Human Capital Management questionnaire, we assessed moral foundations alongside employee evaluations of leadership, workforce optimisation, knowledge accessibility, and organisational learning. Multiple regression analyses revealed distinct patterns: harm/care negatively predicted workforce optimisation (β = –0.154, p = 0.001) but positively predicted leadership (β = 0.098, p = 0.036); fairness positively predicted learning (β = 0.123, p = 0.007) and optimisation (β = 0.100, p = 0.028), while showing almost a positive but non-significant association with knowledge accessibility (β = 0.083, p = 0.074); loyalty negatively predicted organisational learning (β = –0.142, p = 0.008); and purity positively predicted learning (β = 0.104, p = 0.047). These findings indicate that moral orientations systematically influence how employees interpret HRM practices and modernisation efforts, particularly regarding fairness, well-being, developmental support, and ethical coherence. In practical terms, aligning HRM systems with employees’ moral expectations may enhance perceived legitimacy, trust, and support for organisational change.