Business and Human Rights Scholarship in Social Issues in Management: An Analytical Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith SCHREMPF-STIRLING ◽  
Harry J. VAN BUREN

AbstractBusiness and human rights (BHR) scholarship addresses whether corporations have human rights responsibilities and if so, what such responsibilities mean for corporate behaviour. BHR scholarship is cross-disciplinary and scattered across numerous academic disciplines such as law, philosophy, management, political science and accounting. While BHR scholarship in law is well established, this review focuses on BHR scholarship in the social issues in management (SIM) field, which – like BHR scholarship – addresses the nature and content of corporate responsibility. Based on a review of 180 articles from SIM speciality journals published between 1990 and 2017, the article suggests that BHR research has emerged as a subfield of study within SIM. BHR scholarship to date has largely focused on the justification for why firms have human rights responsibilities, and on descriptive research studies at the organizational and macro level. The article develops a conceptual framework for future BHR research which can usefully guide scholars – both SIM and non-SIM BHR scholars – in identifying potential research gaps and embedding their research in related focus areas.

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Maria João Mimoso ◽  
Clara da Conceição de Sousa Alves ◽  
Diogo Filipe Dias Gonçalves

Since the beginning of the 19th century, we have assisted major proliferation of the oil and gas industry. This phenomenon of exponential growth is due to the fact that oil companies hold the world’s oil monopoly on the extraction, processing and commercialization. Therefore, as being one of the most influential sectors in the world, is crucial to strictly regulate how oil and gas contracts concerns the potential environmental and social impacts arising from the conduct of petroleum operations and how such behavior affects the human rights. As a matter of fact, the social issues field is an emerging area, and despite such importance, oil contracts do not often deal with them in great detail, corresponding to an actual emptiness of the human rights provisions. In terms of responsibly, oil companies, have an inalienable obligation to ensure that their actions do not violate human rights or contribute for their violation. This study aims to trace a detailed analysis of the impact of the oil and gas agreements in human rights. In order to fully comprehend the deep effects of this industry, we will examine, in detail, numerous of published oil and gas agreements, as well as, decode which are the real standards and practices accepted by this industry. We will use a deductive and speculative reasoning. We will try to demonstrate how incipient and short protection is given to human rights and what responsible conducts must urgently be developed.


Author(s):  
Muchlinski Peter T

This chapter evaluates another element of corporate social responsibility (CSR) applicable to multinational enterprises (MNEs): human rights. Historically, human rights have been used by corporations to protect their vital interests against state action, leading to human/civil rights protections for corporations. The chapter focuses on how far MNEs, and other business actors, should be responsible for human rights violations. This has been significantly influenced by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), endorsed in June of 2011 by the UN Human Rights Council, which implement the UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework. The UNGPs have created a framework for business and human rights that covers three pillars: the state duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and access to remedy. The chapter then traces the development of concern for business and human rights, and discusses the justifications for holding businesses accountable for human rights violations, the establishment of business and human rights on the agenda of the UN and the principal areas in which business violations of human rights arise.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Bright ◽  
Axel Marx ◽  
Nina Pineau ◽  
Jan Wouters

AbstractThe corporate responsibility to respect human rights was formally introduced in 2011 with the unanimous endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) by the UN Human Rights Council. It is grounded in social expectations and forms part of the companies' “social license to operate.” This paper argues that this responsibility is progressively turning into a legal duty for lead companies to respect human rights in those types of value chains which are characterized by a high level of control by a lead company over its business partners. Our argument rests on two recent legal developments. Firstly, the article analyzes the judicialization of the corporate responsibility to respect in the case law on parent company liability in various jurisdictions, which, we argue, is highly likely to have some implications in relation to certain types of value chains so as to trigger the liability of lead companies for the human rights harms arising out of the activities of entities over which they exercise sufficient control. Secondly, the article delves into the legislative developments which increasingly require lead companies to exercise due diligence so as to prevent and address adverse human rights impacts in their own activities and global value chains.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 357-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Emmer De Albuquerque Green

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore care home providers’ public communications covering their commitments to respecting residents’ the human rights. The discussion considers the United Nations guiding principles on business and human rights United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and a domestic legal and regulatory human rights framework. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative content analysis undertaken in 2017 of 70 websites of England’s largest commercial care home providers. Findings There are strong value-based public commitments in the websites of many English care home providers, which may or may not be interpreted as expressing their commitments to human rights. Research limitations/implications Research was limited to websites, which are public facing and marketing tools of care home providers. This does not provide inferences regarding the practical implementation of value-based statements or human-rights-based procedures or policies. This paper does not make any value judgements regarding either the public communications of care home providers or normative claims regarding human rights and care home service provision. Practical implications There is a need for clarification and debate about the potential role and added value of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and the UNGPs’ operating principles within the English residential care sector. Further exploration of the relationship between personalisation/person-centred care and human rights might be useful. Originality/value This paper introduces the UNGPs and corporate responsibility to respect human rights to the debate on human rights, personalised/person-centred care, safeguarding and care homes in England. It adds a new perspective to discussions of the human rights obligations of care home providers.


Significance The Homeland Union-Christian Democrat (TS-LDK)-led government sworn in on December 11 will make no changes to Lithuania’s US- and EU-aligned and anti-Moscow foreign policy. The conservative-liberal cabinet is more coherent than its predecessor, the country’s youngest (average age 42) and its most female (six ministers out of 14). Impacts Government policy will absorb previous cabinets’ good practice. Lithuania’s democratic political culture will improve after the toxic rule of the LZVS-led coalition. The opposition will be divided on values but agree on social issues, with the Social Democrats contributing to human rights policies.


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