Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik

Are 'Human Rights' the 'Business of Business'?

When the UN Global Compact was introduced in 1999 by Kofi Annan at the World Economic Forum in Davos, companies were asked to embrace, support, and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and since June 2004 also including anti-corruption. Thus any company that pledges support to the Global Compact commits itself to two human rights-related principles: Businesses should support and respect the protection of ...

'Voluntary or Mandatory: That Is (Not) the Question': A Comment

Wettstein and Waddock are correct in arguing that the question is not whether we need voluntary or mandatory standards, but rather what mix of the two is needed. Voluntary initiatives are needed to encourage the increasing number of enlightened businesses to incorporate human rights principles into the core of their business thinking. However, some form of mandatory rules, whether national and/or international, are also needed to hold accountable those companies that flagrantly violate human ...

Menschenwürde Als Konstitutives Und Regulatives Prinzip

Menschenwiirde in der Bioethik, by Nikolaus Knoepffler, is reviewed.

Positive Ethical Deviance Inspired by Moral Imagination*: The Entrepreneur As Deviant

The purpose of this paper is to extend the concept of positive ethical deviancy and moral imagination to the entrepreneurial environment. We specifically explore the connection between moral imagination and positive ethical deviance in firms that, from their inception, display positive deviance from established ethical industry norms. Our analysis identifies firms that do not deviate positively under pressure, or for other externally imposed reasons, but instead those that make a conscious an...

A Place to Stand Upon: The Development of a Human Rights Compliance Assessment for Companies1

This article discusses the main theoretical and conceptual challenges of defining the scope of corporate responsibilities with regard to human nghts. The article argues that it is possible to modify the human rights obligations of governments to a business context. The article then examines the methodological as well as practical limitations of existing initiatives to rewrite international human rights law for companies. Finally, the article outlines the functionality and added value of the H...

The Business Leaders Initiative On Human Rights: An Overview

Founded in May 2003, The Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights is chaired by Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and is presently made up of 10 international companies. The companies believe that human rights offer several a priori advantages over other approaches to corporate responsibility: 1. Universalism. 2. Multi-stakeholder engagement. 3. Legitimacy. 4. Cross-cutting.

Nonkonformistische Ethik. Moralphilosophische Überlegungen Zur Wirtschaftspraxis Aus Sicht Eines Aufgeklärten Materialismus

Nonkonformistische Ethik. Moralphilosophische Uberlegungen zut Wirtschaftspraxis aus Sicht eines aufgeklarten Materialismus Schriftenreihe fur Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik, by Yvonne Thorhauer, is reviewed.

Corporate Human Rights Responsibilities

This article begins with a discussion of why one should be concerned or at least interested in the human rights conduct of corporations. Hence, the first part of the article presents a couple of historical and current situations which require attention and standard-setting. The second part focuses on past efforts of international law and particularly international human rights law to deal with such nonstate actors as corporations. The third part discusses five major attributes of the U.N. Hum...

Editorial

Voluntary or Mandatory: That Is (Not) the Question*: Linking Corporate Citizenship to Human Rights Obligations for Business

Human rights have traditionally been considered a domain of governments. The ongoing economic globalization, however, has rendered this state-centered view increasingly inadequate. In this contribution we will argue that also the powerful transnational corporations must bear more and more direct responsibility for the impact of their actions on human rights. Florian Wettstein and Sandra Waddock will first clarify the conceptual connection between existing approaches to corporate citizenship (...

Menschenrechte Und Internationale Geschäftstätigkeit*: Positionen Und Ansätze Zum Umgang Mit Einer Regulativen Und Diskursiven Kluft

This article is based on two perspectives of the current situation. The first perspective portrays the idea that human rights and international business are not connected by regulatory mechanisms, while the second suggests that the obvious and ensuing gap is reflected in the realm of discourses: a neoliberal inspired discourse on the integration of Human Rights and International Business on the one side and a critical (activist) discourse on the impacts of International business on the other....

In Defence of Corporate Responsibility

Two serious criticisms of CSR have emerged from separate ends of the political spectrum. They are levelled at the heart of the purpose of business and what companies, particularly large companies are responsible for. From the Left, Joel Bakan, in his book and subsequent film, The Corporation, alleges that CSR is a smokescreen, enabling companies to hide their bad practices and strengthen their ability to resist regulation by government, from the Right, The Economist, building on arguments tha...

Intuitions About Human Development

The Ethics of Development: From Economists to Human Development, by Des Gasper, is reviewed.

The Noblesse Oblige of Global Business; an Agenda for Research

This article charts the evolution and content of the current debate around the legitimate role of global business, in which business is charged with a broader responsibility for social, economic and environmental conditions in the developing world. Drawing from the human rights framework, the paper suggests there is a distinction between the 'depths' of responsibility presented in this debate, and identifies Sustainable Enterprise as a more active engagement of global business in addressing t...

Lehrstuhl Für Angewandte Ethik Und Ethikzentrum an Der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

Korruptionscontrolling in Öffentlichen Und Privaten Unternehmen

Korruptionscontrolling in offentlichen und privaten Unternehmen, by Jurgen Stierle, is reviewed.