The adoption by companies of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies is routinely characterised as voluntary. But if CSR is self-governance by business, it is self-governance that has received a firm push from external social and market forces, from forces of social accountability. Law is also playing a more significant role than the image of CSR suggests, and this legal accountability - the focus of the book - is set to increase. Legal intervention should not, however, be seen as making social accountability redundant. Wider ethical standards and social and market forces are also necessary to make legal regulation effective. Law is being brought into play in innovative and indirect ways. The initiative lies as much with private organizations as with the state. At the same time governments are using social and market forces to foster CSR. In the context of corporate social responsibility, a new, multi-faceted, corporate accountability is emerging.

Corporate Accountability in the Context of Transitional Justice explores how corporations can be held accountable for their role in past human rights violations when a country is making a transition from conflict or repression to peace and democracy. It breaks new ground in theorizing the linkages between the areas of transitional justice and corporate accountability and analyzing problems frequently arising where the two fields meet in practice, for example where the role of corporations in past human rights violations is examined by truth and reconciliation commissions or in the course of litigation. The book provides an overview of the current trends in law and in legal and political discussion relating to both areas, as well as in-depth analysis of how tools of corporate accountability and transitional justice can complement each other in order to achieve the best outcomes for bringing justice to victims and lasting peace to societies. The authors bring extensive experience from diverse professional backgrounds and jurisdictions to provide the first sustained attempt to address this link. The book will be of interest to scholars, practitioners, policymakers and activists working in the areas of transitional justice; corporate accountability; and business and human rights.

Written by a highly respected panel of experts, this book examines the difficult and nuanced questions associated with corporate accountability from all sides. This book contributes unique and thoughtful perspectives, legally grounded and passionately contended, to the ongoing dialogue about the intersection of human rights and corporate responsibility. Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights Impacts focuses mainly on developments in the United States and the United Kingdom, although examples of legal developments in corporate accountability for human rights in developing countries are discussed in many chapters. This book considers the question: how will lawyers and courts deal with the thorny issue of extraterritoriality in transnational litigation brought against companies for human rights abuses abroad?

The practice of social and ethical accounting is emerging as a key tool for companies in the 1990s in response to calls for greater transparency and accountability to different stakeholders, and as a means for managing companies in increasingly complex situations where social and environmental issues are significant in securing business success. This is the first book to address the practice of social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting, and its implications for the development of corporate social, ethical and environmental responsibility. It includes ten case studies, as well as an historical overview of the development of social and ethical accounting and reporting. The editors introduce a methodological framework that allows emerging practice worldwide to be analysed, understood and improved; and the case studies are written by the practitioners, giving insight into the experiences described. This innovative book, written by internationally acknowledged leaders in the field, will be of enormous value to business managers, particularly those with responsibility for corporate affairs, human resources, environmental management, financial management, or planning. It will also be a useful text for business students.

This book explores how corporations could effectively respect and protect human rights without compromising their primary business objectives. The book analyses the theoretical foundations and the existing scope and nature of corporate accountability arising from economic and social rights at the international and national levels

Corporate Governance and Accountability presents students with a complete and current survey of the latest developments involving how a company is directed and controlled. Providing a broad research-based perspective, this comprehensive textbook examines global corporate governance systems, the role and responsibilities of the directorate, and the frameworks designed to ensure effective corporate accountability for stakeholders. A holistic approach to the subject enables students to develop a well-rounded knowledge of corporate governance theory and practice, policy documents, academic research, and current debates, issues, and trends. Now in its fifth edition, this comprehensive view of the corporate governance agenda features fully revised content that reflects new research and global developments in codes of practice and governance and accountability mechanisms. In-depth chapters contain numerous real-world case studies and compelling debate and discussion topics, exploring corporate transparency, social responsibility, boardroom diversity, shareholder activism, and many other timely issues.

With this book, Charlotte Walker-Said and John D. Kelly have assembled an essential toolkit to better understand how the notoriously ambiguous concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) functions in practice within different disciplines and settings. Bringing together cutting-edge scholarship from leading figures in human rights programs around the United States, they vigorously engage some of the major political questions of our age: what is CSR, and how might it render positive political change in the real world? The book examines the diverse approaches to CSR, with a particular focus on how those approaches are siloed within discrete disciplines such as business, law, the social sciences, and human rights. Bridging these disciplines and addressing and critiquing all the conceptual domains of CSR, the book also explores how CSR silos develop as a function of the competition between different interests. Ultimately, the contributors show that CSR actions across all arenas of power are interdependent, continually in dialogue, and mutually constituted. Organizing a diverse range of viewpoints, this book offers a much-needed synthesis of a crucial element of today’s globalized world and asks how businesses can, through their actions, make it better for everyone.