Florian Wettstein
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Prof. Dr.
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Wettstein
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Florian
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florian.wettstein@unisg.ch
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+41 71 224 3145
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Publication

Human Rights: A Promising Perspective for Business & Society

, Schrempf-Stirling, Judith , Van Buren III, Harry , Wettstein, Florian

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Publication

Business and Human Rights

2020-02-26 , Wettstein, Florian , Santoro, Michael , Ramasastry, Anita , Simons, Penelope

Business and human rights have not traditionally been addressed or theorized in close connection to each other. Rather, human rights have been seen as the exclusive domain of the state, that is, as a legal or political concept with little relevance or implication for companies. This view has changed dramatically in recent decades. There is now a broad interdisciplinary and dynamic discussion on the potential human rights responsibilities of business. While a systematic debate on the issue can be traced back at least to the mid-1990s, contributions to this debate have increased substantially in the wake of John Ruggie’s appointment as the United Nations Special Representative on Business and Human rights in 2005. This article structures this evolving debate and guides readers to the most relevant sources in the field. The debate has attracted contributions from a wide variety of disciplines and perspectives. This review is limited to contributions published in the broader management and business ethics literature and a selection of key contributions from the legal literature on the topic. Furthermore, with just a few exceptions, it includes only contributions that explicitly refer to human rights in the context of business. Articles that relate to or inform the debate on business and human rights, such as discussions on corporate social responsibility or on human rights in general, but lack the specific connection of both fields were not included.

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Publication

Human Rights and International Business Research: A Call for Studying Emerging Market Multinationals

2016 , Giuliani, Elisa , Santangelo, Grazia , Wettstein, Florian

Elisa Giuliani, Grazia D. Santangelo, and Florian Wettstein invite internationalbusiness scholars to study emerging market multinationals from the perspective oftheir human rights impact. Human rights is a new challenging issue in corporatesocial responsibility research, yet so far international business scholars have largelyoverlooked their role in the quality of work, access to water, and education inmarkets they operate. The perspective continues the leadership by Professor AnneTsui, the founder ofManagement and Organization Review, in calling for a study ofmultinationals as part of global governance affecting people’s lives.

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Publication

‘‘Why Should We Care about Marriage Equality?' : Political Advocacy as a Part of Corporate Responsibility

2015-03-29 , Wettstein, Florian , Baur, Dorothea

More and more companies are publicly taking a stand on social and political issues such as gay marriage legislation. This paper argues that this type of engagement, which can be called ‘‘corporate political advocacy,'' raises new conceptual and normative challenges especially for theories of corporate responsibility. Furthermore, it poses practical challenges for managers who are confronted with it. This paper addresses all three challenges: first, it defines and conceptualizes corporate political advocacy and dis- tinguishes it from other forms of corporate political in- volvement. Second, it makes normative sense of corporate advocacy as an element of corporate responsibility. Third, it reflects on the practical implications for managers deal- ing with this issue.

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Publication

Moral Repair: Toward a Two-Level Conceptualization

2022-05 , Vives Gabriel, Jordi , Van Lent, Wim , Wettstein, Florian

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Business and Human Rights Scholarship: Past Trends and Future Directions

2019-07 , Surya, Deva , Ramasastry, Anita , Santoro, Michael A. , Wettstein, Florian

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Beyond Guilty Verdicts: Human Rights Litigation and its Impact on Corporations' Human Rights Policies

2015-10-13 , Schrempf-Stirling, Judith , Wettstein, Florian

During the last years there has been an increasing discussion on the role of business in human rights violations and an increase in human rights litigation against companies. The result of human rights litigation has been rather disillusioning because no corporation has been found guilty and most cases have been dismissed. We argue that it may nevertheless be a useful instrument for the advancement of the business and human rights agenda. We examine the determinants of successful human rights litigation in terms of judicial, educational, and regulatory effects. This article reviews more than forty corporate foreign direct liability cases and their effects on corporate human rights policies and conduct. The review shows that most corporations adjusted their human rights policies and adopted additional measures to cope with human rights issues during or shortly after the legal proceedings. Opening legal channels for human rights litigation may be one way for governments to incentivize firms to respect human rights. These findings have implications for the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as well as on our interpretation of the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kiobel v. Shell.

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Publication

Betting on the Wrong (Trojan) Horse: CSR and the Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

2021-06 , Wettstein, Florian

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Publication

International business and human rights: A research agenda

2019 , Wettstein, Florian , Giuliani, Elisa , Santangelo, Grazia D. , Stahl, Günter K.

The discussion on business responsibilities for human rights is thriving – although, surprisingly, predominantly outside of the International Business (IB) field. This article introduces business and human rights (BHR) as a research area with great potential for IB scholars. IB scholarship has much to offer when it comes to better understanding the relation between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and human rights. BHR, on the other hand, is a field that can no longer be ignored by IB research if the field is to remain at the forefront of scholarship in globalization-related issues concerning MNEs. Therefore, this perspective article aims at providing guidance to IB scholars interested in engaging in BHR research by tracing common themes and overlaps, and outlining a research agenda that addresses some of the research gaps and open questions in both fields.

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Publication

Normativity, Ethics, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: A Critical Assessment

2015-06-11 , Wettstein, Florian

This article critically assesses the work of the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights (SRSG) John Ruggie. The article adopts a normative perspective on the issue. Thus, its critique is derived from the standpoint of ethics. The SRSG was instrumental in shifting the burden of proof to those who deny corporate human rights responsibilities. This achievement, however, is relativized by the very restrictive interpretation of such responsibilities, both in terms of their scope as well as the normative force assigned to them. Finally, the article explores and analyzes the SRSG's relative reluctance to address and engage with ethical categories more explicitly. It outlines the dangers and blind spots that may result from this reluctance and reflects on the role that ethics can, and perhaps should, play in the broader debate on business and human rights.

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