The Forced Migration Crisis and the Role of European Corporations: A Point of View

• Date: 01 December 2018
• Author: Akram Al Ariss,Philippe Naccache
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12157
• Published date: 01 December 2018

The Forced Migration Crisis and the Role of

European Corporations: A Point of View

PHILIPPE NACCACHE

1

and AKRAM ALARISS

2

1

INSEEC Business School, Claude, Vellefaux, Paris

2

Toulouse Business School, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France

In this articlewe consider the role of Europeancorporations in dealingwith the forced migrationcrisis that Europe

is currently witnessing. From the case of the immediate refugee crisis in Europe, we move our focus toward the

longer-term aspects of forced migrations. Demonstrating the multifaceted nature of the forced migration

phenomenon, we first problematize the irresponsible behaviours of corporations and the effect of such behaviours

on the environment and affected populations. Second, we suggest that corporations should favour an inclusive

economy that facilitates the integrationof forced migrants, materialized within the workplacein the form of inclusive

people management practices. We conclude our point of view by proposing that reverting to the social context is an

absolute necessity in order fororganizations to effectively address the issue of forced migrations. We finally suggest

strong actions that could support the revival of the social role of corporations.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility; deregulation; forced migration; refugee crisis; international migration;

responsible corporate behaviours; society of organization

We must have the courage for deregulation in the way

that so far we know from the United States (…)Ifthe

threshold for entry into the labour market is too high,

the integration of immigrants in society will fail (…)

It is better to enter the labour market with mini-jobs or

low-paid jobs than not at all and to be condemned to

social security, doing nothing and frustration. Tom

Enders, Airbus CEO (Chambers, 2015)

Introduction

Over the last few months the refugee crisis has put

European (Union) principles to the test. Everywhere in

Europe, confronted with the most impressive influxes of

forced migrants since the end of the Second World War

–according to the International Organisation for

Migration (IOM, 2015) more than one million refugees

joined Europe in 2015 –political tensions have been

revived including blatant xenophobia and religious

disputes. Somecountries such as Hungary decided to defy

European Union rules by building a fence to stop the

migrant flows. The refugee crisis was also a hot issue

during campaigning for the EU referendum in the UK,

which led to detrimental influence in the polls and

highlighted the fragility of the EU. Some countries of

refuge such as Sweden are now shifting their formerly

lenient policies (Traub, 2016). We consider this situation

is a political and moral test for European countries and

also for their corporations. This test is particularly crucial

because the forced migration issue does not only concern

the present situation in the Middle East (or indeed in a

number of areas across Africa and South Asia). Indeed,

forced migration is and is predicted to grow as a massive

phenomenon during the coming century as a result of a

mixture between environmental scarcity and

demographic, political, and social issues (Hugo, 1996;

Homer-Dixon, 1999; Castles, 2002; Bilak et al., 2016).

In this context,we argue that business corporationswill

have an important role to play. We argue that Enders’

stance (as per the quoteabove) is harmful both to migrants

and to Europeansocieties. Indeed, his call for deregulation

would excludeand leave more and more groups of people

in our continent in precarious circumstances, and

ultimately –and paradoxically –would continue to

downplay the role of organizations, and mainly

corporations,as the cornerstones of our societies (Perrow,

1991). On the contrary, our stance is that corporations

should be the mai nspring of the development of inclu sive

societies. According t o the World Bank (2013: p xxvi),

inclusion is defined‘as the process of improvingthe terms

for individuals and groups to take part in society’.In

others words, we argue that corporations should foster

Correspondence: Philippe Naccache, INSEEC Business School, 27

Avenue,Claude, Vellefaux75010, Paris, Tel: (0033)561 29 49 49. E-mail:

pnaccache@inseec.com

European Management Review, Vol. 15, 589–596, (2018)

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12157

©2017 European Academy of Management