Can Human Rights Provide a Workable Ethical Framework for Corporate Governance?

Abstract

We suggest that the Commission’s recommendations can be made ‘organisation ready’ if the ethical culture is developed in a way that is consistent with internationally recognized human rights norms. Human rights remove some of the subjective element from ethics and replace it with internationally agreed standards ready to be incorporated into thoughtful governance and corporate decision making processes. We suggest that this model can help build valuable social capital so organisations are seen to be self-regulating ethical conduct beyond governmental controls.