Activists accused Shell of environmental devastation and complicity with government forces in various attacks on an indigenous group known as the Ogoni. Shell has since denied all such allegations and says it wrote to Nigeria's head of state urging clemency. But the experience served as a wake-up call to management. In 1997, Shell added the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to its business principles. It now consults with human rights groups, distributes a human rights guide to its managers, and trains them to deal with such challenges.
Some activists believe the scrutiny has transformed a few corporations.
But being there has changed the way they think about these issues. Most activists acknowledge that the worst abuses are being eliminated. In some apparel factories, for example, workers didn't have clean drinking water, had severe restrictions placed on bathroom breaks, and even in some cases had their mouths taped shut during the day. Now companies need to address the next layer of issues, Ms. Benjamin says, which involve decent pay. And though some corporations, such as Levi Strauss and the Gap, have studied the issue, no company in the apparel industry has committed to paying a living wage, she adds.