Introduction
Proper respect for human rights is one of global concerns that should not be neglected by for-profit organizations which usually prefer to deal with numbers turning a blind eye to external and internal problems related to human relations. Moreover, there are good grounds to hypothesize that being responsible for addressing human rights issues may be beneficial for private companies. Fair policies and humanitarian activities may contribute to improved care for employees and therefore increase their productiveness. Companies will not hang behind competitors in terms of positive image if human rights issues are properly addressed. Last of all, companies that work in the global markets have very long supply chains and production networks that involve a large number of people in the developing countries. Addressing human rights along the entire supply chain would improve the lives of many people around the world and consequently increase sustainability of businesses and industries.
Argument 1
It is obvious that human rights issues affect everyone in the company, and can help to significantly increase employees’ morale as well as offer protection to those stakeholders that are engaging with the company. As it was stated in Nolan (in Martin & Bravo, 2015), corporations have a right to conduct business practices without challenging human rights.
Argument 2
Next, nowadays human rights issues are being discussed on a much wider scale than they have been discussed before due to the “growing power of the internet and social media” (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015, p6). This means that inability to follow up on the problems related to the human rights might eventually lead to significant harm to the company’s reputation and overall performance.
Argument 3
Finally, human rights issues affect people on all levels of the supply chain, and corporations have a responsibility to protect all of those that work for them. Sometime supply chains exceed boundaries of a country in which the company is based. So it is important to monitor respect for human rights on all levels of supply chain. For instance, it has been noted that young children are often found within the first stages of the supply chain, with children aged seven mining cobalt for smart phones (Kelly, 2016). This type of issue is obviously an ethical one and needs to be addressed by corporations who have the responsibility to uphold human rights breaches on a global scale (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015).
Restatement of Thesis
In conclusion, without a doubt despite the complexity of the human rights issues and relative inability of private businesses to address social policies, all Australian companies should be made responsible for addressing human rights issues in Australia and abroad. All the more so because there are several underestimated advantages such as increased morale of employees, improved public image and ability to follow management trends in the national and global markets, and improvement of living standards in developing countries or underdeveloped local areas that will eventually lead to the long-term economic growth, including increased effectiveness of production. Various academic studies that were carried out around the world in the past few years support ideas that were mentioned above and now it is high time for companies to start to pay much more attention to the human rights issues in order to have more positive influence in the rapidly changing world.
References
Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015. Human rights in supply chains: Promoting positive practice [WWW Document]. URL https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/publications/human-rights-supply-chains-promoting-positive-practice (accessed 8.30.16).
Kelly, A., 2016. Children as young as seven mining cobalt used in smartphones, says Amnesty. The Guardian.
Martin, J., Bravo, K.E. (Eds.), 2015. The Business and Human Rights Landscape: Moving Forward, Looking Back. Cambridge University Press, New York.
