The interaction between conflict management and ethics in organisations occurs within a complex web of power relations, organisational structure and belief systems. Added to this have been the significant reforms organisations have undertaken in order to remain competitive in increasingly globalised markets. The role of human resource management (HRM) policies and practices has been pivotal in implementing these changes through the management of employees. Key to this role is the management of conflict in the workplace. It is argued that ethical decision making is challenged in an environment driven by the need for workplace efficiency. This paper considers a number of approaches to ethics and organisational conflict and concludes that a pluralist perspective may offer greater scope for fair decision making but at greater cost than other alternatives.