The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) is one of the largest global corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and seeks to mainstream its universal CSR standards (the UNGC ten principles)...Show moreThe United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) is one of the largest global corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and seeks to mainstream its universal CSR standards (the UNGC ten principles) to promote responsible business worldwide. Following upon research on other global CSR initiatives, the author points out that these supposedly ‘universal’ standards are not necessarily shared by corporations in non-western countries. Relying on a qualitative case study of three corporations in South Africa, the results show that the conception of CSR amongst South African UNGC participants differs from the ten principles. The author argues that to facilitate responsible business on a global scale, the UNGC should not seek to impose its ‘universal’ standards but rather utilize its broad network to come to multiple CSR standards which are attentive to local contexts. The study contributes to the empirical evidence on UNGC participants as well as the theoretical discussion on local and global conceptions of CSR. Show less
