They may react to such dilemmas in different ways, either by withdrawing or staying while making efforts to respect human rights as far as possible. If they choose to stay, there is a range of risks such as negative regime reactions, protests from democracy activists, and dissatisfied staff that either thinks the company is doing too much or too little for human rights. If they choose to withdraw, they may be criticised for letting employees and/or customers down.
The report presents three cases of Norwegian companies facing difficult dilemmas, Yara in Belarus, Norsk Hydro in Brazil, and Telenor in Myanmar. While not providing solutions, it recommends ‘comprehensive strategies’ to overcoming authoritarian dilemmas, including democratic states applying targeted sanctions and other measures to support their operations.
View the full digitally report “Doing Business in Authoritarian States”