RT Article
T1 Re-thinking ‘Spheres of Responsibility’: Business Responsibility for Indirect Harm
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 99
IS 4
SP 549
OP 563
A1 Macdonald, Kate
LA English
YR 2011
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785641395
AB This article considers two prominent, competing approaches to defining the scope of business responsibility for human rights. The first approach advocates extension of business responsibility beyond the boundaries of the enterprise to encompass broader ‘spheres of influence’. The second approach advocates a business ‘responsibility to respect’ human rights (but not a ‘positive’ duty to protect, promote or fulfil rights). Building on a critical evaluation of these competing accounts of business responsibility, this article outlines a modified account, referred to as a framework of ‘spheres of responsibility’. On such an account, business responsibility for human rights outcomes is conceptualised not only in relation to direct ‘harms’ imposed by business, but also in relation to corporate influence over broader relationships and institutions that shape and constrain the substantive realisation of human rights.
K1 Spheres of influence
K1 responsibility to respect
K1 negative versus positive duties
K1 Corporate Responsibility
K1 business and human rights
DO 10.1007/s10551-010-0668-x