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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.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence and advantages of leadership multiculturalism on global strategy development through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) from emerging market multinational companies (EMNCs) expanding into emerged markets. The key contribution of asymmetric multiculturalism is a novel finding based on inductive research. We fill a gap by further linking business leader characteristics and corporate strategic actions and examining how multicultural business leaders from emerging markets can be highly effective at CBA and CSR.

The paper draws on in-depth interviews, observations and documentary evidence analyzed with iterative coding, construct definition and thematic development to understand how leadership multiculturalism affects CBA and CSR in an EMNC over time.

The new construct of leadership asymmetric multiculturalism describes strategic advantages accruing to leaders from developing markets who are culturally fluent in both emerging and emerged market milieus. The construct contributes to emergent research on the rise of multicultural leaders and their strategic advantages and delineates a pathway toward identifying advantages of emerging over emerged market business leaders.

The research addresses specific CBA and CSR strategies within one emerging market region and EMNC. Future research should further articulate and validate the key construct of asymmetric multiculturalism, further examine its sources, draw more explicit comparisons with data from emerged market leaders, and explore the applicability of these findings to strategic actions and advantages in both emerging and emerged markets.

Emerging market corporate leaders should identify and develop pertinent aspects of their own asymmetric multiculturalism in enacting CBA and CSR strategy with respect to EMNCs and firms from developed markets. Emerged market leaders should become more aware of and cultivate their own multiculturalism.

Asymmetric multiculturalism can be accompanied by heightened awareness of global citizenship — including codes of ethics, environmental challenges, community outreach and fair labor practices — which, in tandem with CBA, can strengthen emerging market firms’ performance and reinforce their global stature and reputation.

Asymmetric multiculturalism is a new explanatory construct in the sociological, economic and management disciplines. Emerging markets corporate leaders utilize their multicultural competence to accelerate global CBA and CSR activity and advance strategic opportunities for their firms. The identification of advantages deriving from emerging market leadership capabilities is an unusual finding given the more typical emphasis on the privileges of emerged market leaders and firms.

How we should behave online is an issue that is deceptively complex. The online community, whether in a professional or a personal context, is much broader than the communities in which all but the youngest of us grew up. As such, the standards of propriety in this space can differ, in ways unexpected and dramatic, from those we are used to. In this chapter I ask whether and when we are under an obligation to conform to the expectations of the dominant groups within the online communities we participate in, and argue that there are at least some times when it is defensible to conform to one’s own local norms and expectations rather than subordinating these to the broader online community.

The global strategies of high-tech start-ups fall into two types. One is characteristic of knowledge-based firms; the other is characteristic of knowledge-intensive firms. We present two propositions related to timing of globalization and resource acquisition for each type and examine four case studies from the region around Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

Knowledge-based start-ups target global markets from the very beginning, aiming at rapid market penetration. From the start they are highly globalized in acquiring core technology and financial and human resources.

In contrast, knowledge-intensive start-ups start in local markets and initially restrict acquisition of core technology and financial and human resources to those markets. Only at a later stage, when the local business is solidly established, do they gradually expand their businesses to global markets.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an interpretative framework for the high market capitalisation companies (unicorns) universe, especially with the deployment of the mobile internet. The paper attempts to account for this global trend and to describe its global setting (global data), and its various components.

This paper originates from a research meant to document the phenomenon of high market capitalisation companies (unicorns) through the investigation of a qualitative sample of companies. The paper is based on desk research, a review of literature, review of the technical journals and analysis of annual reports. Going beyond the observations gathered from the sample, the research found that the transformations of the mobile communications ecosystem could provide an adequate framework to understand and put in perspective this phenomenon.

The paper defined unicorns as information technology (IT)-based (software mostly but hardware as well) start-ups that bridge pent-up demand and supply through innovative services and products mostly rooted in the mobile internet wave and the opportunities it brings along. The paper shows that smartphones as games changers facilitate the entry of new players in the mobile markets coming either from the IT sector or from Asia, much to the detriment of the European Union (EU) industry grappling with legacy business models. These companies derived the most from a mobile-first approach and have an outstanding number of unicorns. The paper identifies a potential telecom policy failure especially in the EU: policies have been tilted towards the supply side, without enough consideration of demand. The paper suggests that the EU, after having lead the previous wave, may have missed the last one (mobile broadband) not only from a policy but also from an industry viewpoint.

More research should be done to better investigate what might have been the causes of this apparently missed mobile turn in Europe. The paper deals mostly with the cases of Asia and the USA. As the paper concentrates on the issue of unicorns and mobile technology, some other aspects of the mobile markets may not be taken into account.

The paper suggests reconsidering some policies in the field, to better take into account the role of consumers and to improve the link with other policies like innovation policies.

The paper attempts at giving a better understanding of the evolution of demand and its role in the making of some new services. The paper does not deal with other societal issues like privacy or data.

The main assumption about the role of the mobile internet can shed some light not only about related developments such as the app economy but also about the business and technological environment of an array of start-ups, some of them having reached impressive market capitalisation. The paper reveals how this mobile wave is reshuffling companies, sectors, and geographies. The paper provides one of the first analysis of the unicorn phenomenon.

This paper examines four underlying trends in the changing business environment relating to information technology and geographic, functional and sectorial integration. It discusses three required changes in management focus needed to reach global profitability from product inception to promotion. The skills required for this change are listed by functional area, although the techniques are predominantly cross‐cultural. This paper explains the steps needed to move from a traditional firm to a globally competitive network and the cultural barriers to building consumer‐focused extended‐value chains. Finally it discusses ways in which business school education can promote strategic thinking about profitability and heighten awareness of the potential gains from cooperative inter‐firm partnerships.

Organizations have never addressed what it means to be global in its depth and entirety. It has been equated with being international, or having offices in different countries. It has been approached and appropriated through historical lenses of modernization, and of what sociologist Martin Albrow calls the “rational project”. It is felt that we have come to a situation that is nothing short of a crisis. Explores the depths of “global integrity” with a view to providing individuals, organizations and societies with the tools to engage in becoming global. In the process introduces our concept of the “four worlds,” and argues that each needs to be progressively transformed, from a local identity towards global integrity, if our current crisis is to be in any sense resolved. Such a resolution, moreover, requires, in each cultural case, tapping the core and bedrock as well as the subsoil and topsoil of each, as it were, with a view to evolving from a formative (local), as opposed to de‐formative, towards a normative, re‐formative and ultimately transformative (global) perspective.

This chapter explores the context of global ventures, gives an overview of an entrepreneur’s motivations, and discusses literature on internationalization strategies of firms. Entrepreneurs innovate and find new ways to create or discover new opportunities, start a new venture, or grow an existing venture. Indeed, firms grow through sustainable and innovative process considering economic, social, and environmental protection (the three pillars of sustainability). Indeed, entrepreneurial motivations to take business globally can be because of “push” or “pull” forces such as the creation of global products and services, access to global market, access to strategic resources, and access to global sourcing. However, the capability to internationalize is dependent on the interaction between entrepreneurs’ internal resources and external constraints. These constraints are explained by the Ghemawat’s CAGE Distance Framework, including “cultural,” “administrative,” “geographic,” and “economic” challenges.

In this final chapter, we explore the ever-evolving 21st century landscape where ethics drive community development toward resilience and progress. Drawing inspiration from the subheadings mapping our journey, we traverse international case studies spanning Canada, Brazil, Sweden, Kenya, China, Australia, Antarctica, and India. Through these global insights, we uncover the impacts of dynamic forces on communities worldwide, navigating ethical dilemmas and opportunities. We present strategies tailored to diverse continent-specific needs, explore inclusive governance models, and highlight the transformative power of ethical engagement. This journey underscores the vital role of resilience and concludes with a global call to embrace ethical approaches for inclusive community development and a sustainable future.