Business Quote by Paul Polman
“Business has a responsibility and opportunity to be the driving force for the advancement of universal human rights.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, 2018
Businesses should leverage their influence to promote and protect universal human rights, seeing it as both duty and chance.
In simple terms: Companies must protect human rights as a duty and opportunity.
Key Takeaway
Integrate human rights into business strategy.
Themes
ethics
leadership
rights
Mood
inspirational
optimistic
Type
mission‑driven
leadership
When to use this quote
- policy making
- corporate governance
- global supply chains
- marketing
- public relations
Key Concepts
corporate social responsibility
sustainable development
Questions to Reflect On
- How can firms measure rights impact?
- What incentives drive rights‑focused business?
A Different Perspective
Balancing profit motives with rights can be challenging.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)