Human rights due diligence in swiss small and medium-sized enterprises : the bottom-up approach
Creators: name: Hermon, Gabriel
Publisher: name: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften
Year: 2020
Subjects: 658.408: Sicherheitsmanagement, Umweltmanagement

description: Responsible business conduct with its multipliers of corporate responsibility, and environmental sustainability are omnipresent in international literature and politics. The current increasing involvement of private and public actors shows, that the topic is taking a key role in international business. Contemporaneously, the ongoing shift challenges small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland to assess the existing literature and the essential guidelines. At the centre of the discussion is the process called human rights due diligence which involves the identification of human rights risks and eventually taking measures to cease, prevent, or mitigate them. Despite all the contemporary theoretical intelligence compiled in the literature, there is little to no research conducted solely dedicated to facilitating human rights due diligence for Swiss SMEs.

This thesis assessed the feasibility of the proposed OECD human rights due diligence process for Swiss SMEs with three comprehensive analyses of qualitative nature. Thereby, the focus was put on the international literature on human rights due diligence, the opinion of experts who are currently working with the framework, and Swiss SMEs as the target audience.

It was identified that the overall structure of the human rights due diligence topic in Switzerland predominately affects the outcome and involvement of Swiss SMEs. The flow of information and the adaptation of human rights due diligence to the specifications of Swiss enterprises are found to be insufficient. The insufficiency originates in the complexity of the subject and the lack of support from superordinate organisations such as sector and industry associations. This issue, not only affects the applicability of the process but also the motivation to implement it. This thesis proves that the OECD framework is applicable for any size of company if the measures are adapted to the means of the enterprise. Hence, the process and all the supporting measures and tools must be phrased in a language understandable for any size of company. Further, this thesis reveals that leverage is perceived as insufficient and must be supported by all associations concerned with the economic future of Swiss SMEs. The most recent decision of the European Union to introduce legislation for mandatory human rights due diligence transforms the external motivation to a necessity. Additionally, the assessment of the European Union has proven that voluntary measures are ineffective, suggesting that a new regulation is feasible.

Ultimately, Swiss sector or industry associations and the state government are required to disseminate concise and unanimous information to facilitate the applicability of the human rights due diligence process. After all, Swiss SMEs remain a crucial part of the Swiss economy. Achieving an increasing number of SMEs to implement the human rights due diligence process, and by doing so, counter their insufficient leverage, mirrors the fundamental idea of human rights in business and is necessary to develop the process further.