Defining the corporate social responsibility of business from international law

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that corporate social responsibilities of international business can be defined in terms of human rights responsibilities. Design/methodology/approach The approach taken is to draw from international law to examine whether these responsibilities can be defined in a precise way. Findings The paper finds that human rights responsibilities of business needs further refining. Research limitations/implications Research needs to be conducted from a law perspective on defining concepts such as “complicity”, “spheres of influence” or “respecting” human rights. Practical implications This paper calls upon international business and their stakeholders to use and pro‐actively manage their human rights responsibilities and further refine the existing managerial human rights tools. Originality/value In exploring the human rights responsibilities of business, this paper contributes to an important crossroads of international law and management.