Human Rights and Competitiveness: Reframing the Business Case for Human Rights

A new report by GSEM Professor Dorothée Baumann-Pauly and Dr. Berit Knaak, together with Professor Nicola Bonucci and supported by Clara Berrada and Steffi Khine, examines how companies integrate human rights into their operations.

Commissioned by the Council of Europe, the study builds on decades of expertise and more than twenty interviews with corporate professionals across sectors such as retail, transport, energy, and finance. It challenges the traditional “win–win” view of the business case for human rights and argues that respect for human rights should be embedded within core business models.

The authors conclude that companies aligning their operations with human rights principles are better equipped for long-term success and call on the Council of Europe to strengthen its engagement with the private sector through clearer frameworks and partnerships.

Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, Professor at the GSEM’s Institute of Management, directs the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights, established by UNIGE in 2019, and has served as Research Director at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights since 2013. A business ethics scholar, she has extensive experience in human rights implementation, has published widely on corporate responsibility and governance, and has taught related courses in the US and Europe for over fifteen years.

Berit Knaak is a Senior Research Associate at the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights. Her research focuses on corporate perspectives on human rights and strategies for business engagement with human rights issues.

> To read the full report, please click here.