Human Dignity and Managerial Responsibility

The issue of human rights, in the context of corporate social responsibility, is normally taken to relate to concern about exploitation in the supply chain - child labour, slavery in developing countries, and similar evils; but of course, human rights are engaged in relation to the treatment of employees in any work situation. Indeed, as Human Dignity and Managerial Responsibility illustrates, the handling of employees is increasingly recognised as an important ingredient of sustainable enterprise - evidence shows that ethical and socially responsible behaviour is increasingly and successfully being engaged in many large corporations. Much has been written about the responsibilities of managers. Since employees are claimed by all organisations to be among their most important stakeholders it is ironic that research finds that the behaviour of many managers towards employees is often inappropriate. The editors and contributors of Human Dignity and Managerial Responsibility argue that there is a clear connection between maintaining the dignity of the workforce and corporate performance and sustainability. Their multiple perspectives on the workplace examine the position of the employee as a stakeholder, together with issues about managing employees in relation to social responsibility and sustainability. They discuss diversity in the broadest sense, filling a gap in the research-related literature essential to a more rounded understanding of CSR. Human Dignity and Managerial Responsibility will appeal to a wide audience amongst those with an academic or professional interest in CSR, sustainability, governance and stakeholder management, human rights, diversity, human resource management, and organisational development.

Ana-Maria Davila-Gomez is Associate Professor in the Department of Administrative Sciences at the University of Quebec (UniversitAc du QuAcbec en Outaouais) in Canada, where she teaches Management, Organizational Change, and Interculturality. Her current researches include managers' challenges towards more socially responsible organizations, as well as human virtues and responsiveness from management education. She holds a Ph.D. from the A?cole des hautes etudes commerciales de MontrAcal, Canada, and an MBA and an Industrial Engineer degrees from the Universidad del Valle, Colombia. For several years, she worked at various private and public organizations in Colombia (e.g. governmental service, telecommunications, and manufacturing) supporting and implementing Information Technology and Business Process Reengineering projects. David Crowther (www.davideacrowther.com) is Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility and Head of the Centre for Research into Organisational Governance at De Montfort University, UK. He is also Chair of the Social Responsibility Research Network (www.socialresponsibility.biz) a worldwide network with over 750 members, organizer of the series of International Conferences on Corporate Social Responsibility (now in its 11th year) and editor of Social Responsibility Journal. He has published 35 books and has also contributed over 350 articles to academic, business and professional journals and to edited book collections. He has also spoken widely at conferences and seminars and acted as a consultant to a wide range of government, professional and commercial organisations. His research is into corporate social responsibility with a particular emphasis on the relationship between social, environmental and financial performance.