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The Global Compact Academic Network entails a wide array of academic institutions, from entire universities as well as colleges or business schools, to smaller units such as university departments, research centers or chairs. These institutions show their commitment to the Global Compact by bringing significant strategic added-value through actions in the following five areas:
Below we display a variety of examples within each area.
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Facilitator |
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Date |
| Project "Globally Responsible Leadership Brazil - A Call for Commitment" | FGV/ ISAE, Brazil | Student-led projects on how to implement CSR strategies: Objectives of the course: 1) Help companies to internalize the Global Compact principles in corporate strategic management as well as to perform catalytic role in tackling the difficulties arising from the relationship between companies and their stakeholders, 2) To disseminate knowledge regarding the Global Compact and its importance to corporate leading teams. 3) To motivate students to work on topics related to the application of the Global Compact principles. | 2006-2007 |
| Case Studies | Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada | Repository of case studies according to each of the Global Compact principles | Since 2006 |
| Course "Peace and The Global Compact" | TRANSCEND Peace University, Global | 12-weeks intensive on-line post-graduate seminar for practitioners, activists and policy makers from civil society, labour, academia, government , the UN and business people who are interested in gaining a deeper, more critical and practical understanding of the United Nations Global Compact and in probing into the roles business can play in the development of a more sustainable society including key issues such as poverty alleviation, human rights, labour rights, the environment and corruption. | Since 2006 |
| Global Compact validation for MBA degree students | Euromed Marseille Ecole de Management, France | Euromed Marseille has revised its ESC degree in accordance with the Global Compact principles. Instead of merely displaying the motivation of the School as an academic GC participant, the idea is to associate a label with the individual curricula followed by the students. Students showing an interest for these important issues are required to prove their commitment with respect to the values promoted by the Global Compact via an individualised programme engaged at every level: 1) Elective courses (in addition to the fundamentals, Euromed Marseille offers its students the possibility of selecting their courses amongst a choice of approximately 150 elective courses), 2) Internship, 3) Preparation and carrying out of student projects (Pro-Act), 4) End of studies dissertation. | Since 2005 |
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| Collaboration with Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at The Wharton School | Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at The Wharton School, U.S. | Memorandum of Understanding to provide framework within which collaborative activities and projects are undertaken and specific program areas elaborated between the Zicklin Center and the United Nations Global Compact. Projects so far: Zicklin Center and United Nations Growing Sustainable Business (GSB) Working Groups: First Working Group will focus on the statistical section which will contain data analysis (rankings, comparative analysis) that highlight both the business and development case for business contributions to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The second Working Group will deal with the collection of case studies including the formulation of selection criteria and filtering process.The third Working Group will deal with the partnership outreach and delivery mechanisms. | Ongoing |
| Analyis of Global Compact Local Networks data | Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York | The Zicklin School of Business assisted the United Nations Global Compact Office with the analysis of data from its new online database for the Global Compact Local Networks. This analysis was used by the Global Compact Office for, among other things, the production of the Annual Report on the Local Networks distributed at the 2010 Annual Learning Networks Forum in New York City, 24-25 June 2010. | Spring 2010 |
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| Conference "Is Corporate Citizenship Making a Difference?" | UNISA Centre for Corporate Citizenship, Lindenberg Center for Global Citizenship; convened at Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), South Africa/ Ghana | Conference adressed following issues: Is corporate citizenship making a difference? This question will become increasingly prominent as both protagonists and critics of corporate citizenship seek to understand, monitor, and enhance the contribution of business to sustainable development. It requires that we develop measures of success that are commonly agreed upon, that respond to the challenges of a transition to sustainability, and that relate to the broader impacts of business activity and not just discrete "best practice" examples. Specific questions pertaining to the impacts of corporate citizenship efforts, and their measurement, are relevant at a variety of scales, including local communities, the firm, multi-stakeholder partnerships, initiatives such as the Global Compact, and even international aspirations such as the Millennium Development Goals. | 21-22 October 2006 |
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Conference "Business as an Agent of World Benefit Global Forum: Management Knowledge Leading Positive Change" |
Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, U.S. | On-Site and virtual conference co-organized by Academy of Management, UN Global Compact, Case Weatherhead School of Management: The Global Forum brought corporate and thought leaders together in a unique setting to combine theory with practice as a means of developing actionable next steps for businesses seeking to respond to social issues like the environment, health and poverty while also making a profit. Instead of one-way speaking, the Forum differed from other conferences as it allowed participants to spend the majority of their time in intimate dialogue. Innovative processes which foster participative and interactive dialogue, such as Appreciative Inquiry, allowed participants to explore the business case for corporate social responsibility while developing solutions for implementing socially responsible activities. 400 delegates and over 1,000 virtual participants convened at the Global Forum to challenge the current state of corporate citizenship, envision possibilities for the future, and map out strategies for leveraging corporate citizenship activities. | 22-25 Oct. 2006 |
| Conference "Global Compact Learning Forum" | Sabanci University, Turkey; Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, U.S. | The first Global Compact Learning Forum academic conference was organized by Sabanci University, Turkey and Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, U.S. to facilitate accomplishments of United Nations Global Compact goals, mainly focusing on the environmental principles of the GC: The Sabanci University conference addressed environmentally sound technologies and supporting systems. The second conference, which took place at Wharton School in Philadelphia, built on the same theme and addressed the essential role of the private sector, in consort with the public sector and NGOs, to enable global implementation of environmentally sound technologies and sustainable environmental strategies. | May and September 2004 |
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| Communication on Progress Review Project | Global Compact Office in collaboration with a number of Global Compact academic participants |
The Global Compact requires participating companies to produce, annually, a Communication on Progress (COP) in order to promote transparency and accountability, share corporate practices, and protect the integrity of the initiative. With now more than 2,000 COPs from around 100 countries, the Global Compact has created one of the largest repositories of corporate citizenship reports, and further strong growth is expected. Because the current database has not been fully catalogued yet, the Global Compact has joined forces with several partners to develop a platform that facilitates the systematic review and indexing of each COP. The objective is to create a fully searchable database that will greatly facilitate both academic and professional research of company practices. The project also aims to stimulate further dialogue and learning – both fundamental components of the Global Compact’s voluntary approach. |
2007 |
| Kofi Annan Fellowship in Global Governance | Friends of Freie Universität Berlin, Germany | Friends of Freie Universität Berlin, in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact, offers the Kofi Annan Fellowship in Global Governance. Launched in 2005 at FFUB’s Transatlantic Bridge Award Gala honoring Prof. Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum, fellows will integrate research and expertise into the current work of the Global Compact, a sponsoring corporation and a partnering educational institution of the Freie Universität Berlin, each for 3 months respectively. The goal of the Kofi Annan Fellowship in Global Governance is to advance research and provide a conduit toward creating awareness by engaging the various sectors of society in finding solutions to promote a program of corporate social responsibility sustainable for decades to come. Fellows applying for admission to the program are encouraged to identify, prior to submitting their application, an area of interest within the ten principles of the Global Compact. 2006, October first time awarded | Since 2006 |
| Global Responsible Leadership Initiative | European Foundation for Management Development EFMD, Europe/Global | The Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative is the result of a year of intensive work by a group of senior representatives from companies, business schools and centres for leadership learning from five continents. The group was formed by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) with the support of the United Nations Global Compact. The initiative adresses four challenges which globally responsible leaders at all organisational levels face. First, globally responsible leaders should think and act in a global context. Second, they should broaden their corporate purpose to reflect accountability to society around the globe. Third, they should put ethics at the centre of their thoughts, words and deeds. Fourth, they - and all business schools and centres for leadership learning - should transform their business education to give corporate global responsibility the centrality it deserves. 2004 ongoing | Since 2004 |
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| Support for Global Compact Local Networks |
Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain Case Western Reserve University - Center Business as and Agent of World Benefit, Cleveland, Ohio, USA Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago de Chile, Chile |
These academic institutions serve as secretariats of respective Global Compact Local Networks in Spain, Northeastern US region, Chile. | Ongoing |
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Projects "MBA Students Apply Skills and Knowledge to Assess Companies’ Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility" |
Stern Business School, NYU, U.S. | In 2003, the Global Compact Learning Forum launched a pilot project to involve leading business schools in the evaluation of participating companies’ corporate citizenship efforts. The goal of the pilot project was to help promote transparency and dialogue around company efforts to internalize the Global Compact principles. The pilot project invited MBA students to analyze companies' contributions to the Global Compact website. Several other projects have been launched since then. | 2003-2004 |
