Learning To Talk
Corporate Citizenship and the Development of the UN Global Compact
Edited by Malcolm McIntosh, Universities of Bath, Nottingham, Bristol (UK), Waikato (NZ) and Stellenbosch (SA); Sandra Waddock, Center for Corporate Citizenship, Boston College, USA; and Georg Kell, Executive Director, Global Compact Office, United Nation
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It is time to reflect on the first tentative steps of the only truly global corporate citizenship initiative.
The UN Global Compact complements other corporate citizenship initiatives by
promoting dialogue on the relationship between business and society. At the same
time it is the only truly global corporate citizenship initiative. It is not an
auditable standard; indeed, it is not a standard or a code in the way that these
are normally viewed. It is a set of principles through which business and the
United Nations can work in partnership for global social development. For some
businesses it is a simplified codification of their existing policies and
management practices, but for many engagement represents a challenge and an
opportunity to raise their game by aligning profitability with the common
good.
As the only genuinely global corporate citizenship initiative, the
Global Compact draws its moral authority from the UN Secretary-General and its
moral and political legitimacy from the UN as the only global political body. It
can be viewed as a series of nested networks involving the Secretary-General's
Office, the ILO, UNEP, UNHCHR, UNDP and UNIDO, business, NGOs and labour. It can
variously be described as an international learning network, as a social network
of people and organisations engaged in a global conversation, as a global public
policy network, and as a multi-stakeholder dialogue. It is all of these things,
but more than anything its greatest success has been in providing a convening
platform for a growing global conversation about social development among a
variety of actors.
However the Global Compact is viewed, it is time to
reflect on the first tentative steps of an initiative born in the aftermath of
the Cold War, in the 'triumph of global economic liberalism' and mass
demonstrations against 'globalisation'. In its first few years, the world has
experienced 9/11 and the Iraq War, not forgetting the forty or so civil wars
that are ongoing at this time. Whatever is written about the UN Global Compact
or its success will be tentative. But there can be some serious reflection on
its aims and origins; some telling of stories of engagement; and discussion on
how this initiative has quickly become an important reference point in the
dialogue on global and corporate governance.
Foreword
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations
This item available in PDF format for free download 
This item available in PDF format for free download Introduction
Malcolm McIntosh, Independent Commentator, Sandra Waddock, Boston College, USA, and Georg Kell, UN Global Compact
This item available in PDF format for free download
This item available in PDF format for free download 1. An Appeal To World Business: 31 January 1999
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
2. The theory and practice of learning networks
John Ruggie, Harvard University, USA
3. The Global Compact Network: an historic experiment in learning and action
Georg Kell, UN Global Compact, and David Levin, University of Pennsylvania, USA
4. De-compacting the Global Compact
Tom Donaldson, Wharton School, Philadelphia, USA
5. Business and human rights
Klaus Leisinger, Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development and University of Basel, Switzerland
6. Operationalising the Global Compact with a focus on the human rights principles: learning to walk the talk
Erroll Mendes, University of Ottawa, Canada
7. Institutionalising global standards of responsible corporate citizenship: assessing the role of the UN Global Compact
Mara I. Hernandez, Massachussets Institute of Technology, USA
8. Growing big, learning that small is beautiful
Cornis de Lugt, United Nations Environment Programme, France
9. Flags of inconvenience? The Global Compact and the future of the United Nations
Jem Bendell, Nottingham University Business School, UK
10. Labour and the Global Compact: the early days
Jim Baker, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
11. The UN Global Compact: a triple-win partnership
Michael Hougård Pedersen, Novozymes, Denmark
12. Reflections on the Global Compact
Chris Tuppen, British Telecommunications, UK
13. Learning from company engagement with the Global Compact: the First Global Compact Learning Forum, Denham, UK, November 2001
Malcolm McIntosh, Independent Commentator, and Ruth Thomas, Sustainability Researcher
14. Learning from experience: the United Nations Global Compact Learning Forum 2002
Sandra Waddock, Boston College, USA
15. Learners and leaders: evolving the Global Compact in North America
Sandra Waddock, Boston College, USA
16. Pfizer: a New Mission in Action
Nancy Nielsen, Pfizer Inc. USA
17. Learning from doing: The Third International Global Compact Learning Forum Meeting in Belo Horizonte, Nova Lima, Brazil, December 2003
Malcolm McIntosh, Independent Commentator
18. Shaping the future by walking together: Novo Nordisk’s promotion of human rights and good environmental management, with specific reference to an evaluation of suppliers in 2002/2003
Malcolm McIntosh, Independent Commentator, and Annette Stube, Novo Nordisk
19. Responsible excellence pays
Claude Fussler
20. The Global Compact as a new organisational form: a global action network
Steve Waddell, Global Action Network Net, USA
21. Learning by doing: the Global Compact and the ethic of corporate citizenship
James E. Post and Tanja D. Carroll, Boston University, USA
22. The living world of the UN Global Compact
Malcolm McIntosh, Independent Commentator
23. The UN Global Compact Cities Programme. The Melbourne Model: solving the hard urban issues together
David Teller, Committee for Melbourne, Australia
24. The Global Compact: promoting convergence in corporate responsibility
Deborah Leipziger, Consultant, Corporate Responsibility
25. The Global Compact: selected experiences and reflections
Georg Kell, UN Global Compact
26. Vision and action: the possibilities of action research
Gill Coleman, University of Bath, UK
27. The future
Malcolm McIntosh, Independent Commentator, Sandra Waddock, Boston College, USA, and Georg Kell, UN Global Compact
Appendix A: The Millennium Development Goals
Appendix B: The Global Compact Advisory Council
Appendix C: Global Reporting Initiative indicators for progress on the UN Global Compact
Appendix D: Results of the consultation process on the introduction of a principle against corruption
Bibliography
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Malcolm McIntosh is a writer and teacher on corporate responsibility and sustainability and a Visiting Professor at the universities of Bath and Nottingham (UK) and Waikato (NZ). He also teaches at the universities of Stellenbosch (SA) and Bristol (UK). In 2003 he was appointed a Special Advisor to the UN Global Compact. He is Founding Editor of The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Editor of Visions of Ethical Business 1998-2002 (FT Management/PricewaterhouseCoopers) and author and co-author of many books and articles on corporate citizenship. His latest book is Raising a Ladder to the Moon: The Complexities of Corporate Responsibility (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). He has recently co-edited a new book,Something to Believe In: Creating Trust and Hope in Organisations (Greenleaf Publishing, October 2003) with David Murphy and Rupesh Shah. |
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Sandra Waddock is Professor of Management at Boston College's Carroll School of Management, USA, and Senior Research Fellow at Boston College's Center for Corporate Citizenship. She received her MBA (1979) and DBA (1985) from Boston University and has published extensively on corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship and inter-sector collaboration in journals such as The Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Human Relations and Business and Society, among many others. Her book, Not by Schools Alone, was published by Praeger in 1995. Her 1997 paper with Sam Graves, entitled 'Quality of Management and Quality of Stakeholder Relations: Are They Synonymous?', in Business and Society, won the 1997 Moskowitz Prize. Her latest book is Leading Corporate Citizens: Vision, Values, Value Added (McGraw-Hill, 2002). She was Senior Fellow at the Ethics Resource Center in Washington, DC, from 2000-2002 and a founding faculty member of the Leadership for Change Program at Boston College. She is former General Editor ofThe Journal of Corporate Citizenship. |
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Georg Kell is the Executive Head of the Global Compact Office, overseeing a network that includes several hundred companies, international labour, non-governmental organisations and other civil-society groups. Mr Kell was one of the chief architects of the Global Compact initiative. Mr Kell has extensive experience in international trade and development issues. In 1990, he joined the New York office of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) where, from 1993-97, he served as office head, closely interacting with delegations and the UN General Assembly. Mr Kell began his career at the UN in 1987, spending three years in Geneva with UNCTAD. Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr Kell worked as a financial analyst in developing countries in Asia and Africa, appraising industrial projects for banks and multilateral institutions. Mr Kell holds advanced degrees in economics and engineering from the Technical University in Berlin. Following his postgraduate studies at the Fraunhofer Institute, he spent two years in Tanzania where he helped establish an industrial research institute. |