Integrating Business and Human Rights in Management and Organization Studies

An article co-authored by GSEM Professor Judith Schrempf-Stirling and University of Tennessee Professor Harry J. Van Buren III has been published in the top-tier British Journal of Management. The study of Business and Human Rights has gained prominence over the past two decades due to the development of corporate guidelines by multilateral institutions, legal advancements across numerous countries, and the adoption of corporate human rights policies by various companies. However, it has been observed that current research tends to focus excessively on the content and sources of business and human rights obligations. This paper proposes a new direction for future research by emphasizing process-oriented approaches, incorporating perspectives from management and organization studies. To achieve this, the authors recommend two concepts, thereby expanding the interdisciplinary conversation within the field of Business and Human Rights.

ABSTRACT

Business and human rights (BHR) scholarship examines the role of business in human rights violations as well as business responsibilities to respect human rights and to provide remedy where needed. BHR scholarship has been thriving over the last several decades, but it is at a turning point that begs for increased cross-disciplinary exchange. We argue that dealing systematically and explicitly with a human rights perspective in management and organization studies provides BHR scholarship with a new impetus as well as with alternative perspectives on how to understand and further advance human rights obligations on businesses. We advance two BHR conceptualizations that will provide guidance for integrating human rights in management with organization studies research and thereby enlarge the cross-disciplinary conversation on BHR: BHR as Global Governance and BHR as Sensemaking. This paper expands existing management and organization studies constructs, invites management and organization studies scholars to provide their insights into this important research domain, and discusses the implications of human rights for the firm.

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Access the study: The Importance of Human Rights for Management and Organization Studies

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