Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations

2005 ◽  
Vol 59 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Prakash Sethi
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct

NGO Strategies for Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morton Winston
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
Corporate Social Accountability ◽  
Naming And Shaming ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
National Governments

This article describes and evaluates the different strategies that have been employed by international human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in attempting to influence the behavior of multinational corporations (MNCs). Within the NGO world, there is a basic divide on tactics for dealing with corporations: Engagers try to draw corporations into dialogue in order to persuade them by means of ethical and prudential arguments to adopt voluntary codes of conduct, while confronters believe that corporations will act only when their financial interests are threatened, and therefore take a more adversarial stance toward them. Confrontational NGOs tend to employ moral stigmatization, or “naming and shaming,” as their primary tactic, while NGOs that favor engagement offer dialogue and limited forms of cooperation with willing MNCs.The article explains the evolving relationship between NGOs and MNCs in relation to human rights issues and defines eight strategies along the engagement/confrontation spectrum used by NGOs in their dealings with MNCs. The potential benefits and risks of various forms of engagement between NGOs and MNCs are analyzed and it is argued that the dynamic created by NGOs pursuing these different strategies can be productive in moving some companies to embrace their social responsibilities. Yet, in order for these changes to be sustainable, national governments will need to enact enforceable international legal standards for corporate social accountability.

Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-117
Author(s):  
S. Prakash Sethi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Select Group ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Additional Support

This issue of Business Ethics Quarterly offers a special forum incorporating a select group of papers that were presented at the First International Conference on “Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations: Promises and Challenges,” held at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York, on May 12–15, 2004. The conference was organized by the International Center for Corporate Accountability (ICCA), Inc., and was co-sponsored by the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and the World Bank’s World Bank Institute. Additional support was provided by a number of major corporations, academic institutions, and nongovernment organizations.

Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations: Coordinating Duties of Rescue and Justice

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nien-hê Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Contractual Obligations ◽  
Voluntary Adoption

This paper examines the extent to which the voluntary adoption of codes of conduct by multinational corporations (MNCs) renders MNCs accountable for the performance of actions specified in a code of conduct. In particular, the paper examines the ways in which codes of conduct coordinate the expectations of relevant parties with regard to the provision of assistance by MNCs on grounds of rescue or justice. The paper argues that this coordinative role of codes of conduct renders MNCs more accountable for the performance of actions specified in a code of conduct than they would be without a code of conduct. This interpretation of the significance of codes of conduct is contrasted with the view that codes of conduct render MNCs accountable for performing actions specified in a code of conduct by grounding contractual obligations for the performance of such actions.

A Human Rights Approach to Developing Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Moral Force ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct

The criticism that voluntary codes of conduct are ineffective can be met by giving greater centrality to human rights in such codes. Provided the human rights obligations of multinational corporations are interpreted as moral obligations specifically tailored to the situation of multinational corporations, this could serve to bring powerful moral force to bear on MNCs and could provide a legitimating basis for NGO monitoring and persuasion. Approached in this way the human rights obligations of MNCs can be taken to include support for political as well as economic rights. This will go some way towards filling the regulatory gap created by the difficulty of controlling the activities of corporations operating globally. However, such a proposal will require a measure of ‘meta-regulation’ whereby the operations of MNCs are legally required to be sufficiently transparent to create the conditions for effective external moral scrutiny

Showing them the door (nicely): rejection discourses and practices of a global elite

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois Goxe ◽  
Nathalie Belhoste
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Emerging Countries ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Strategies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a critical approach of the identification and rejection strategies in discourses and practices of a “global elite” of business leaders and managers. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review of mainstream and more critical management and sociology literature on global or transnational elites and classes is presented. The identification and rejection discursive strategies of some (French) multinational corporations’ managers and internationalization agents are then empirically and qualitatively observed and analyzed. Findings – The findings are interpreted under the following strategies: constructive strategies, reproductive and legitimizing strategies and exclusion strategies. Some members of the global elite deploy a cosmopolitan and welcoming discourse to not only identify legitimate members of that class but also turn this discourse into one of exclusion, that is, find ways through language, and practice, to exclude those they perceive as illegitimate. Research limitations/implications – Management research on global elites needs more critical thinking and reflexivity to avoid acting as a mere vector of global managerial doxa. Studying values, practices and reactions of other less “prestigious” classes confronted with those elites (small- and medium-sized enterprises’ entrepreneurs, individuals from emerging countries, etc.) may contribute to such perspective. Originality/value – The paper shows that the literature (in management) often speaks very highly of global elites. It identifies some dynamics of power between members of that/those classes and individuals who intend to join them and thus provides explanations about the elite’s unwritten codes of conduct, pre-requisites for consideration and inclusion and shows how global classes/elites discursively legitimize and exclude others.

scholarly journals Corporate social responsibility against workers?

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Clément Séhier
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Value Added ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Audits ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper aims to investigate to what extent and for which reasons the codes of conduct and social audits of multinational corporations (MNCs) have failed to change practices within Chinese factories. A special attention is given to the social compliance initiatives (SCIs) and multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) which did not overcome the main obstacles of the compliance approach. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on a fieldwork in China, including 36 semi-constructed interviews with practitioners involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR), participant observation in the CSR programme of the International Labour Organisation office in Beijing and several visits of factories involved in CSR programmes. Secondary sources are used to estimate the distribution of value added along global value chains (GVCs). Findings The codes of conduct and social audits tend to reproduce the domination of MNCs within GVCs. This paper highlights some obstacles – and opportunities – for CSR appropriate to the Chinese context. Research limitations/implications Only a few MNCs agreed to meet the author and speak openly. No one allowed the author to visit their suppliers’ factories. Practical implications The findings of this study suggest that the most widespread approach to CSR by MNCs is flawed. More attention should be given to specific institutional contexts and to workers’ participation. Originality/value CSR discourse and practices in China are put in the context of GVCs and in the transformation of Chinese industry and labour relations. This method allows going beyond a case study approach. Instrumentations of several SCIs and MSIs are also analysed in detail.

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