A Responsible Exit: Conceptualizing Business & Human Rights Responsibility in Conflict Settings
Type
conference contribution
Date Issued
2025-04-06
Author(s)
Abstract
Heightened global conflict presents a dilemma for managers of multinational enterprises (MNEs): should they stay or should they go? In recent years, conflict has played a significant role in corporate decision making, impacting a range of industries, from clinical trials in Ukraine following the Russian invasion (Kurihara et al., 2022) to cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of armed group violence (Calvão, McDonald & Bolay, 2021). Although extant scholarship has explored the human rights related responsibilities of MNEs in complex contexts (Hsieh, 2009; Wettstein, 2010, 2012; Giuliani, Santangelo & Wettstein, 2016) as well as the role of preparedness in preventing human rights abuses (Olsen, Rehbein, Snelson-Powell & Westermann-Behaylo, 2022), there remains scope to conceptualize the human rights related responsibilities of MNEs when considering a responsible exit. This paper, therefore, explores the following research questions, namely, what does a responsible exit look like from a conflict affected setting? And what are the human rights related responsibilities of MNEs when doing so? To address these questions, this paper draws from the Eisenhardt Method to develop theory through case studies and proposes a framework for understanding the human rights related responsibilities of MNEs in the context of a responsible exit from a conflict affected setting.
Event Title
International Association for Business & Society (IABS)
Event Location
Maastricht, the Netherlands