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The changing nature of the interaction between multilateral institutions and the private sector, such as the one extended by the United Nations (UN) through the Global Compact, has raised profound questions about authority and legitimacy in international relations. This paper seeks to provide the criteria for fairly assessing corporate citizenship initiatives as these form an integral part of the changing nature of corporate governance.

This paper uses the Global Compact's 2007 annual review as a point of reference and critical evaluation. The paper refers to the gap found among participants and their inability to answer to the relevant questions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as originally set forth by the UN.

There has been a substantial increase in both scale and impact by this type of private sector initiative: a 50‐fold growth in just seven years – unlike any other international collaborative partnership. Based on the assessment, the ongoing question regarding its legitimacy, its operationality and efficiency for improving global governance still remains a challenge at large.

Empirical research on the impact, accountability, challenges and successes of the Global Compact is limited. The aim of this study is to progress understanding of both the limitations on, and opportunities for, the role of business in global governance when CSR is used as an international tool for community involvement. To this end, in addition to a critique of the UNGC's self‐assessment, the paper proposes a researcher's model for assessing corporate citizenship initiatives.

This purpose of this paper is to examine how two, American‐based, international public relations agencies came to participate in the United Nations Global Compact. The global compact is an initiative which brings together more than 4,000 member organizations in over 100 countries to address some of the world's most pressing issues. Specifically, this paper seeks to identify: the events that prompt these senior‐level executives, as members of their agency's dominant coalition, to initiate participation in the global compact; what obstacles within the agency present challenges to joining the global compact; and how each agency integrates the compact principles into its work.

Grunig's situational theory of publics is used as a framework to create a single, embedded case study which integrates three subunits of analysis: in‐depth interviews, and primary and secondary document analysis. In‐depth interviews are conducted with one senior‐level executive/counselor from each of the two agencies that are examined. Primary document analysis focuses solely on the Communication on Progress reports which must be submitted on a bi‐annual basis by every global compact participant. Secondary document analysis includes any agency‐produced materials, such as speeches/presentations, as well as articles written for business publications.

Overall, results indicate that both agencies have yet to fully integrate the compact principles into their own internal functions, and primarily use the global compact as a tool for counseling clients. However, both agency executives reveal that it is going to become necessary for their agency to involve themselves in the global compact, within and across the entire agency – particularly in terms of confronting issues such as ethics and diversity.

This paper adds to the existing scholarship in a few, important ways. First, it incorporates and encourages the continued use of qualitative methods to examine contemporary issues that face the practice of public relations. Second, this research establishes an argument for furthering the idea that public relations professionals can be advocated for social change and can be influenced through the work they do. Finally, this paper stresses the continued importance of public relations work in facilitating global citizenship initiatives.

Recent research has emphasized the need for engaging non-financial companies in combating money laundering for the efforts to be efficient and effective. To incentivize engagement, several options are available, such as regulation, voluntary disclosure or commitment to international principles such as the United Nations (UN) Global Compact. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how anti-money laundering fits the aim of the UN Global compact and how anti-money laundering can support the other principles of the UN Global Compact. Furthermore, this paper addresses the necessity to include anti-money laundering in the core principles to reach the overall goal of sustainability by the UN Global Compact. Such an inclusion will incentivize the signatories of the UN Global Compact to include anti-money laundering as a part of their social responsibilities, helping the financial sector in combating money laundering.

The methodology of this paper is a functional approach to law and economics. It seeks to enhance the efficiency of the regulatory framework combating money laundering by including economic incentive theory and addressing new areas of law.

The paper finds a strong relationship between the UN Global Compact and anti-money laundering. Furthermore, it is concluded that it is necessary to include anti-money laundering as a core principle in the UN Global Compact if the Global Compact is to be efficient and effective in terms of its sustainability goals. The reason being that money laundering to a great extent supplies operational finances to the illegitimate sector related to core issues of the UN Global Compact such as human trafficking, child labor and corruption.

The paper identifies a significant missing element with regard to the core principles of the UN Global Compact. Although most research within anti-money laundering concerns the financial sector and thereby does not address the UN Global Compact, the focus of this paper is the link between anti-money laundering and the UN Global Compact. Furthermore, most research related to the UN global compact does not connect the core principles to the illegal financing of the businesses contradicting the principles. This paper addresses both of the neglected areas and combines them to improve the overall combating of money laundering while supporting the UN Global Compact sustainability goal.

The purpose of this paper is to identify whether the Spanish stock market experiences a negativity effect on the announcement of Spanish consumer sentiment information and if firms that are signatory to the UN Global Compact on corporate social responsibility are relatively more salient in the minds of investors.

The authors use consumer sentiment announcements to show how the negativity effects on the Spanish stock market are significantly influenced by how salient the stock is in the minds of investors. If a firm’s stock exhibits negativity effects on the release of consumer sentiment information then this stock is salient to investors. If firms who are signatory to the UN Global Compact exhibit significant negativity effects, it could be concluded that these stocks are salient, particularly if firms that are not signatory to the Global Compact do not exhibit a similar negativity effect.

The IBEX35 index experiences significant negativity effects upon the release of Spanish consumer sentiment announcements. This is similar to that reported in other countries, notably Australia and the USA. Using the constituent firms in the IBEX35 index, the authors find that those firms that are signatory to the UN Global Compact are significantly more likely to experience negativity effects upon the release of Spanish consumer sentiment information than if they are not signatory to the Global Compact. This indicates that firms that are part of the UN Global Compact are more salient to investors.

Available published Spanish data on consumer sentiment.

Little is understood of the impact that consumer sentiment announcements have on stock prices. Studies in USA and Australia have identified significant negativity effects in stock markets when consumer sentiment information is released. This research has found that a psychological negativity bias occurs in firms that are salient to investors. Salience has been found to be important in asset pricing.

This paper tries to find out which companies are more likely to sign the UN Global Compact. These companies are more sensitive to consumer sentiment, because they depend on the everyday decisions of the consumers. The more the companies depend on consumers, the more they care about them. And, when the consumer sentiment goes down, they are more affected by this sentiment. These firms are also more worried about the long term. They are not only thinking about the profits in the short term but also about maintaining the generation of profits in the long term.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the global policy on sustainability, United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), is in alignment with the complexity of the sustainability landscape utilizing complex adaptive system (CAS) theory and theory of change.

An original Complex Adaptive Policy System (CAPS) framework is used as a qualitative instrument with a constant comparison of 11 CAS themes in analyzing 117 UNGC speeches listed on the Global Compact Web site.

Although this study is intended as a preliminary study, the findings raise important questions regarding the long-term impact of the Global Compact as a global policy on sustainability.

The limitations of the study include the preliminary study design and limited source of information. Future research should include a comprehensive evaluation of the UNGC to yield specific recommendations for aligning policy with the landscape.

The study offers an original systems framework to evaluate public and private organizational polices on sustainability.

The continued rise of the multinational and debate as to what constitutes global business values is predicated on the UN Declaration and Global Business Compact. This research suggests both documents explicitly exclude the existence of a foundational ethereal power creating morals thereby nullifying two thirds of the general population’s belief system. The authors argue against humanism as a global value beginning and suggest theism as a better origin and use the scientific method to introduce mathematical axioms supporting theism and complimenting humanism. Ontologically, the theist becomes a stronger base for the scientific inquiry into morals, values and business ethics. A comparison of major religious morals revealed eight factors: assurance; candor, fairness and honesty; character, integrity, truthfulness and exacting in truth; charity and compassion; environment; perseverance and tolerance; sacrifice; and seriousness. The research suggests that the UN documents do not adequately reflect these morals suggesting a change for businesses especially in Islamic regions.

A comprehensive review of religious materials emphasizing morals rather than customs, eternal entity description or negative behaviors yielded 1,243 morals and associated synonyms via six religions (Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism) representing 4.5 billion people. All positive morals were cross-referenced and only common items across all six religions were included. With the 29 common morals, the authors completed a word meaning search and did a second comparison that yielded 8 moral factors or constructs.

Eight moral factors were found to be common in all major religions (assurance, fairness/honesty, character/integrity, charity/compassion, environment, tolerance, sacrifice and seriousness). By using the scientific method (Axioms), the authors argue that theism is a better beginning to researching morals and values within business and marketing.

Multinationals should be made aware of the disconnect between the underlying problems of the Global Business Compacts’ values and the global morals identified. The results suggest adopting a codification system based on the pertinent morals as related to economic theories: capitalism, socialism and theism. The use of theism as a base to business and marketing ethics includes billions of customers and employees and their belief systems that should increase the validity and reliability of actions associated with corporate social responsibility, the environment and best practices.

The UN Declaration and subsequent Global Business Compact are argued to be flawed by its exclusion of religious morals and the historical period in which it was created. By using the scientific method and creating two axioms, the base to all business and marketing ethics must shift to the common moral factors identified.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a global trend involving corporations, states, international organizations and civil society organizations. It is far from clear what CSR stands for, what the trend really is, where it comes from, where it is heading and who the leading actors are. If one views it as a social movement, one must ask: a movement of what and for whom? The purpose of this paper is to examine the CSR trend in all its complexity and draw conclusions regarding its development and potential impact.

Analysis of central documents and publications on CSR is combined with interviews with driving corporate actors.

This article portrays the CSR trend in three ways: as a regulatory framework that places new demands on corporations; as a mobilization of corporate actors to assist the development aid of states; and as a management trend. Each of these portraits suggests certain actors, relations, driving forces and interests as being central. An analysis shows that no one of these views seems to be more accurate than the others: rather the movement comprises a collection of diverse interests, actors, origins and trajectories. These multiple identities may partially describe the trend's success, but could equally well describe its contestation, fragility and fluidity.

The conceptual distinction shows the likely development and potential impact of a corporate social development. Moreover, the discussions help us reflect on the formation of management trends and how certain models come to flow rapidly and extensively around the globe, following and adding to institutional change – especially to changes in the roles, relations and boundaries between and among states, business corporations and civil society organizations.

Essays on social responsibility call the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) “by far the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative”. The authors look at two avenues to encourage responsible business behavior. First, at law, where law is not the answer and, second, at the UNGC. This paper aims to increase awareness of the UNGC, an umbrella organization supporting corporate good conduct.

The goal is to make corporations socially responsible. Law by nature addresses misconduct. The UNGC is more positive, encouraging responsible behavior in ten areas. The UNGC could be more effective. The authors suggest that social media and management education can help the UNGC positively impact corporate behavior.

The UNGC represents a significant opportunity. If the UNGC lives up to its potential, corporate misconduct may be lessened and corporate good behavior could be publicized, rewarded and increased.

The time has come to let readers start thinking about the UNGC and its goals. This can help bring greater social responsibility in tomorrow’s businesses.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the highlights of the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, the Principles for Responsible Management Education Global Forum and the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative General Assembly held in New York and Boston in June 2010. It discusses the potential of the connections and collaborations between these organisations and others to lead to change.

The paper draws out key themes of these concurrent events; connections and collaborations between these initiatives and others; and considers the potential of further collaborations to facilitate change.

There is an acceptance on the part of business of the need to be more socially and environmentally responsible, but a lack of technical know‐how and leadership capacity. Universities generally, and business schools in particular, need to do more to develop graduates for a changing business context with specific reference to the overarching challenge of the twenty‐first century to achieve global environmental sustainability and social justice.

Further collaboration between these organisations is important to drive change through, e.g. sustainability performance management at universities; accreditation processes; and, partnerships between business schools, business and civil society organisations.

The originality and value of this paper is in summarising the highlights of three key interconnected events, the collaborations that led to them, the connections that are strengthening between the organisations and potential of those connections to facilitate change.

This paper aims to explore sustainability‐related perceptions of proponents of corporate social responsibility (CSR) from 53 countries in order to shed light on contextual differences regarding the conceptualization of the role of CSR in global governance.

The results of a survey of corporate UN Global Compact participants are presented, focusing on respondents' perceptions regarding 23 key issues in sustainability. Non‐parametric statistics are applied to identify regional and country‐level patterns within the overall sample.

While general perceptions regarding the urgency of key global sustainability challenges appear to be relatively homogeneous around the globe, significant differences can be identified regarding the specific roles and responsibilities respondents attribute to their own companies in countries from the global North and South, respectively.

The paper focuses on generic patterns within the overall sample; more detailed analysis is needed in future work to explore their origins and impact on corporate practice.

There is a need for an improved integration of Southern stakeholders in CSR practice and policy making in order to fully unfold the potential of CSR in global governance.

The paper uncovers generic differences between conceptualizations of the corporate role in global sustainability between the global North and South.