윤리경영과 인권경영의 대화 -사회문제의 해결에 기업을 참여시키는 방법에 관하여-

Given the increasing seriousness of social problems such as social inequality and climate issues, the social expectations for companies have risen, leading to demand for various forms of ethical management, including corporate social responsibility (CSR), creating shared value (CSV), stakeholder theory, sustainability, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG). In line with this, the concept of business and human rights (BHR) has emerged, but it has not yet received significant attention from business ethics scholars. Therefore, this paper considers the implications of the rise of BHR for business ethics. This paper first critiques existing business ethics from the perspective of BHR. It points out that business ethics is generally regarded as denying shareholder primacy, but this is not the case in reality. In fact, many business scholars promote the instrumental value of business ethics. If management adopts this attitude, it is difficult to expect the company to seriously tackle social issues. Furthermore, this paper argues that the recent trend in business ethics of claiming to reject the principle of shareholder primacy is not only difficult to accept for normative reasons but also unlikely to help solve social issues. Consequently, it seems difficult to expect companies to address social issues within the existing business ethics framework. In this context, BHR can be an alternative to overcome the limitations of existing ethical management. The second half of this paper describes BHR itself and how it differs from the standard business ethics approach. This paper argues that BHR has the potential to contribute more effectively to solving social problems than business ethics for four main reasons: (1) the human rights norms on which BHR is based are strong, (2) stakeholders participate in the human rights due diligence process as rights holders, (3) there are drivers within companies to expand BHR, and (4) legal regulations are employed. This paper also emphasizes that the BHR approach has been firmly accepted globally and now represents an irreversible trend. Based on this discussion, this paper proposes that business ethics should expand its scope to include an interest in the institutional aspects that enable ethical management. It also argues that BHR, which relies on the empowerment of stakeholders other than shareholders, should be added to the business ethics portfolio.