Date of Defense

4-2-2014

Date of Graduation

4-2014

Department

Management

First Advisor

Jennifer Palthe

Second Advisor

Sime Curkovic

Abstract

Human trafficking has been a social justice issue that has been addressed in the past by many scholars in the social sciences fields and has recently started to be acknowledged by academics in business fields. Exploited labor assisted in building almost all civilizations and while is no longer as blatant as it once was, it is just as prevalent and the market is becoming more aware of the issue. As with profit performance and environmental sustainability, consumers are starting to demand that the third pillar of sustainability – people – be addressed by organizations. In this paper, the current status of human trafficking is explored and compared with its past and business’ role is looked at. The business of human trafficking is looked at and why it is attractive for both legitimate and illegal organizations to use. International, national, and local governments have started passing statutes that businesses have recently implemented which have yet to stand the test of time and there are some organizations who have taken leadership roles in this area. Why for businesses should assume more of a leadership role in addressing this issue is explored. The capital and structural resources businesses have can be used with the knowledge and expertise of nongovernmental organizations and governments in addressing the issue of human trafficking.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

Share

COinS