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Two major trends have shaped the international business field over the past decade: globalization and the quest for responsible leadership. Yet, what are the qualities that predispose business leaders to act responsibly in an increasingly complex, interlinked world, and thus to meet new social, environmental, and political responsibilities? How can organizations develop these qualities in their current and future leaders? In this chapter, we provide tentative answers to both questions by fleshing out some of the qualities global leaders need to succeed in a connected world and by comparing three innovative executive development programs that use international service learning assignments as a way to instill these qualities in their executives. These programs are PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Ulysses Program, Pfizer’s Global Health Fellows Program, and IBM’s Corporate Service Corps.

The purpose of this paper is to draw on empirical data from two major organisations (IBM and HSBC) to offer insight on the question of the effectiveness and potential value of experiential learning approaches to developing the mindsets and skills needed by organisational leaders as they respond to the pressures and opportunities of sustainability.

The data in this paper are drawn from semi‐structured interviews with previous programme participants in IBM's Corporate Service Corps and HSBC's Climate Champions Programme.

Interviewees reported that the learning programmes had a powerful impact and that a range of outcomes was achieved. The experiential, immersive experience was a fundamental factor in the achievement of these outcomes, from the perspective of participants, but only alongside a number of other key aspects of the design and facilitation of the programme, and also a number of factors related to the wider organisational context.

It would be valuable to explore similar questions with a larger sample of programme participants, and also to explore variations across a wider number of organisations. Similarly, it would be valuable to gather longitudinal data to explore how the perspectives of participants on the impact of these learning programmes vary over time.

The findings lend weight to arguments that those involved in management development might usefully give more consideration of the potential value of experiential learning approaches. The findings also suggest that appropriate consideration be given to a number of other design and facilitation factors, as well as the scope for influencing a range of relevant factors in the wider organisational context.

This paper contributes original empirical data on the effectiveness and potential value of experiential learning approaches.

International service learning is a new trend in management development and a new field of research. International Service Learning Programs (ISLP) are experiential corporate volunteering initiatives designed to give employees the chance to work for a short spell abroad (often in a developing or emerging market) on a service assignment with a partner from the social sector (e.g. NGO, social enterprise). The service assignment is a project defined with a social-sector partner on which the corporate employee works full-time on a pro-bono basis and contributes his/her knowledge and expertise in exchange for a rich learning experience. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the use of ISLP in business firms and conducts a comparative analysis of six programs set up by multinational corporations from three industries (health, technology, and accounting and professional services). It identifies characteristics and similarities among programs, discusses differences, offers criteria for program classification and areas for future research. As such, it is an important starting point for quantitative studies.

This is a qualitative study based on six ISLP. The data were gathered through desk research, interviews with program representatives and a structured questionnaire containing closed and open-ended questions.

Regardless of the stated aims (which usually stress value for the participants, the company and the communities), most programs had one clear focus (two programs in the area of leadership development, two in the area of community development) while two showed closely linked foci (with slightly greater emphasis on organization development than on the other areas).

The authors suggest that the type of ISLP has an effect on the learning outcomes. Since companies are still testing usefulness and outcomes of these programs, academic research that provides comparative quantitative data on the outcomes of such programs is of great value for business practice.

This systematic overview and classification of ISLP is a starting point for empirical program comparisons as well as for the evaluation of different service learning approaches. This could prove very useful for other companies planning to set up or refine their own ISLP to achieve certain outcomes.

This is the first paper that compares ISLP run by multinational corporations. It identifies a number of category areas in which they differ (e.g. in placement length, nature of the assignment – individual or in teams, learning methods used) and provides a typology for program classification (leadership development, organization development or community development).

Corporate branding has broadened its reach to include delivering the brand's promise to the full range of organizational stakeholders both inside and outside the firm. In turn, new approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR), involving employee, community, and stakeholder engagement, dovetail neatly with this idea of enterprise branding. This chapter will look, first, at the connections between corporate branding and CSR, and then at how design thinking and processes can be applied to join the two. Next it examines, from our firsthand experience, how several global companies linked the two to (1) rebrand their relationship to society or (2) repurpose their CSR efforts. All the firms have taken what seem to be serious brand-driven moves to create sustainable value for their businesses and society. The chapter concludes with a look at how corporate branding and CSR can be applied to organization design, product innovation, and the transformation of an organization.

This chapter examines public versus private sector roles in addressing CSR/Sustainability issues in the United States. It provides an historical perspective on the primacy of market-driven corporate practice in the United States and recent moves by the state to “balance” private and public interests through both regulatory and non-regulatory means. A typology of government and business roles, based on “who leads” and “who makes the rules,” illustrates shared governance of CSR/Sustainability in a variety of multisector and public–private partnerships.

Case studies examine how the U.S. government interacts with business and NGOs and its varied roles in the shared governance of sustainability. Examples from field interviews with business leaders in global operator General Electric (Global Business Initiative on Human Rights), apparel maker-and-seller Patagonia (Aquatic “Hitchhikers”), electronics retailer Best Buy (product recycling), IBM (global corporate volunteering), and others illustrate varieties of shared governance between business and the state in operation today.

Depending on “who leads” and “who makes the rules,” there are variations in whether responsible actions by the private sector are regulatory versus voluntary and whether government’s role involves mandating, partnering, facilitating, or endorsing private sector efforts. Successful shared governance depends on business’s “license to cooperate” and the multiple parties’s sharing responsibility for their goals, operations, and results.

There is a substantial literature on multi-business CSR-related networks and on business–NGO partnerships. Less attention has been given to the role of governments in this space, particularly in the United States where, partly for historical reasons, a company’s relationship with and obligations to society have been regarded as discretionary more so than regulatory activity and where government intervention in markets and in the affairs of companies has been sharply resisted, particularly by business interests, and is suspect among the citizenry.

This paper aims to deliberate on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) ought to be reconceived for better educational outcomes. It suggests that there are win-win opportunities for corporations and national governments to nurture human capital and address any skill gaps and mismatches in the labour market.

The businesses’ involvement in setting curriculum programmes may help to improve the quality and effectiveness of extant educational systems. This contribution reports on how different organisations are already engaging in responsible behaviours with varying degrees of intensity and success across many contexts.

Many firms are often training and sponsoring individuals to pursue further studies for their career advancement. It also indicated that there are businesses that are engaging in laudable behaviours to attract prospective employees. Moreover, this paper contends that the provision of education, professional development and training will boost the employees’ morale and job satisfaction, which may, in turn, lead to lower staff turnover rates and greater productivity levels in workplace environments.

This contribution implies that organisational cultures and their business ethos could be attuned with the governments’ educational policies to actively respond to the diverse needs of today’s learners and tomorrow’s human resources.

There is a business case for CSR as the corporations’ strategies realign their economic success with societal progress. Arguably, there is potential that such responsible behaviours can bring reputational benefits, enhance the firms’ image among external stakeholders and could lead to a favourable climate of trust and cooperation within the company itself.

As companies face an ever wider range of challenges, there is growing adoption of CSR initiatives to aid company success. The business case for CSR investigates the potential for economic value in socially oriented company actions. This paper aims to examine one key CSR initiative, that of employee skill‐based volunteerism.

Researchers consider three current applications of employee skill‐based volunteerism and the potential to generate company economic value.

This concept paper suggests employee skill‐based volunteerism aligns with the four components of the business case for CSR, including the enhancement of company reputation, the reduction of costs and risk, the achievement of business strategy, and the creation of learning and partnership.

This paper focuses on three companies' employee skill‐based volunteerism programs and does not reflect the comprehensiveness of a meta‐analysis. Hence conclusions are limited in generalization. Further investigation of company CSR program initiatives and their impact both short term and long term is suggested.

This paper seeks to highlight the potential for economic value within CSR initiatives. By considering the role of employee skill‐based volunteerism, this paper considers this specific CSR initiative and its potential for generating economic benefits for a company.

The authors suggest that employee skill‐based volunteerism can serve as a unique differentiating strategy employing the knowledge, skills and abilities of employees that are specific to any given company. As CSR initiatives continue to be adopted, there remains a need to learn which initiatives may serve as significant sources of economic value for a company, as well as how best these initiatives can be implemented.

Highly publicized scandals and increased stakeholder activism for sustainable development have resulted in calls for more responsible global leadership. At the same time, emerging economies characterized by weak institutions, political instability, and a shaky rule of law have gained in importance for global business. Under the lens of responsible global leadership, we highlight the challenges that global leaders face in addressing the needs of diverse, cross-boundary stakeholders, with a particular focus on Western multinational enterprises (MNEs) doing business in emerging markets. We identify three prototypical approaches that MNEs and their leaders take in responding to calls for responsible global leadership, focusing on the tensions and possible trade-offs between globally integrated and locally adapted approaches. We discuss the implications in view of managerial decision making and behavior and offer recommendations for how organizations may promote responsible global leadership.

This paper aims to explore how the model of an enterprise has dramatically changed as a result of globalisation and its subsequent impact on governance.

The paper starts off by explaining how enterprises transformed from the international corporation model of the nineteenth century, to the multinational corporation model of the twentieth century, to the globally integrated model of the twenty‐first century. It argues that, although the multinational model helped to build strong relationships with national governments and country‐based NGOs, the model has become redundant and uncompetitive in the globalization era. It shares how moving to the new globally integrated enterprise model is inevitable and raises governance implications at the international, national and local level across many dimensions such as culture, skills and ethics. In fact, the new globally integrated enterprise calls for a redefinition of relationships between an enterprise and its stakeholders and with greater collaboration taking place, the role of trust will become an essential foundation for all issues of governance.

The need for global governance to operate beyond national boundaries is being driven by the combination of a growing global interdependence driven by economics and the rise of transnational challenges such as climate change and poverty.

The paper is based on IBM's current business model, strategy and corporate citizenship activities and provides an insight into how IBM is evolving its business model in response to globalization.