Bridging the Great Divide? Making Sense of the Human Rights-CSR Relationship in UK Multinational Companies

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Human rights (HR) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are both fields of knowledge and research that have been shaped by, and examine, the role of multi-national enterprises in society. Whilst scholars have highlighted the overlapping nature of CSR and HR, our understanding of this relationship within business practice remains vague and under-researched. To explore the interface between CSR and HR, this paper presents empirical data from a qualitative study involving 22 international businesses based in the UK. Through an analysis based on sensemaking, the paper examines how and where CSR and HR overlap, contrast and shape one another, and the role that companies’ international operations has on this relationship. The findings reveal a complex and multi-layered relationship between the two, and concludes that in contrast to management theory, companies have bridged the ‘great divide’ in varying degrees most notably in their implementation strategies

What Does This Mean?: How UK Companies Make Sense of Human Rights

How do companies understand and talk about human rights? Do they consider human rights a moral, legal or political construct? What type of responsibility do they assume in respect of human rights (e.g. direct/indirect, narrow/broad)? Is the language and label of human rights used within day-to-day practice? This article attempts to address these questions by drawing on empirical data collected as part of an in-depth, qualitative study on the development of human rights within 22 UK companies. Through an analysis based on sensemaking, the paper explores the meaning of human rights, the grounds used to justify corporate responsibility, and the human rights terminology and labels employed within the corporate setting. It then analyses what this understanding and discourse means for the debate about the role of private entities for the protection of human rights

CSR and Corporate Governance: The Role of CSR Managers

The number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers within business organisations has increased noticeably in recent years. To date, research examining the role and experiences of CSR managers is scarce, owing primarily to its relatively new status within management. Drawing on interview data collected as part of qualitative study on the understanding and implementation of CSR and human rights within UK companies, this paper provides an insight in to the work of CSR managers. It explores what CSR managers ‘do’ in everyday practice as well as their views about their role, purpose, goals, challenges and achievements. Based on this (descriptive) data, the paper highlights and discusses three key themes. First, to implement and deliver an effective CSR strategy, CSR managers use a range of strategies to influence the sensemaking of others: thus they represent significant change agents and ‘sense-givers’ within their organisations. Secondly, the development CSR as a distinct profession within the business and management fields signals, in part, a company’s commitment to CSR. More broadly, it represents an increasing recognition by the business sector that they impact on, and are accountable to, a much broader range of stakeholders. Thirdly, noting that the CSR and corporate governance fields have primarily developed along separate paths, CSR managers not only represent a new corporate governance mechanism, but they also provide a visible bridge between the respective fields, thus simultaneously encompassing the twin pillars of sustainability (responsibility and governance). The paper then concludes by highlighting the implications of this research for the governance and CSR field(s) within both scholarly work and business practice