IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v4y2014i2p2158244014532105.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The United Nations Global Compact Progress Reports as Management Control Instruments for Social Responsibility at Spanish Universities

Author

Listed:
  • Amber Wigmore-Ã lvarez
  • Mercedes Ruiz-Lozano

Abstract

Sustainability and social responsibility (SR) have emerged as a new way of managing all types of organizations. It is necessary that the resulting policy be integrated transversely in the control processes. The environment is especially demanding of higher education institutions (HEIs) and universities when it comes to behaving in a socially responsible manner due to their great influence in society. Many universities have adhered to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) principles to prove their commitment and gain legitimacy. The Communication on Progress (COP) is a management tool that helps to understand the level of implementation of the principles. Furthermore, COP analysis aids in establishing a process of continuous improvement in the management of the impacts that institutions have on their stakeholders. The aim of this study was to analyze the Spanish universities that have joined the Global Compact. Through a descriptive methodology, we identified the aspects that reflect this commitment and how this is integrated into their operational and educational processes. The results have shown that it is necessary to promote the integration of different international initiatives to guide the SR of universities. There are deficiencies in their SR management systems that prevent them from being more transparent, and it was found that in some cases, they are not aware of the implications the commitment can have in developed countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Amber Wigmore-Ã lvarez & Mercedes Ruiz-Lozano, 2014. "The United Nations Global Compact Progress Reports as Management Control Instruments for Social Responsibility at Spanish Universities," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(2), pages 21582440145, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:2:p:2158244014532105
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244014532105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244014532105
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244014532105?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williams, Oliver F., 2004. "The UN Global Compact: The Challenge and the Promise," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 755-774, October.
    2. Andreas Rasche & Daniel Esser, 2006. "From Stakeholder Management to Stakeholder Accountability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 251-267, May.
    3. Davila, Antonio & Foster, George & Li, Mu, 2009. "Reasons for management control systems adoption: Insights from product development systems choice by early-stage entrepreneurial companies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 322-347, April.
    4. Laura B. Cardinal & Sim B. Sitkin & Chris P. Long, 2004. "Balancing and Rebalancing in the Creation and Evolution of Organizational Control," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 411-431, August.
    5. Singh, Jang & Carasco, Emily & Svensson, Goran & Wood, Greg & Callaghan, Michael, 2005. "A comparative study of the contents of corporate codes of ethics in Australia, Canada and Sweden," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 91-109, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Almudena Eizaguirre & María García-Feijoo & Jon Paul Laka, 2019. "Defining Sustainability Core Competencies in Business and Management Studies Based on Multinational Stakeholders’ Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlos Martin-Rios, 2016. "Innovative management control systems in knowledge work: a middle manager perspective," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 181-204, May.
    2. Andreas Rasche, 2009. "Toward a model to compare and analyze accountability standards – the case of the UN Global Compact," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 192-205, July.
    3. Dima Jamali, 2010. "MNCs and International Accountability Standards Through an Institutional Lens: Evidence of Symbolic Conformity or Decoupling," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(4), pages 617-640, September.
    4. Selena Aureli & Andrea Cardoni & Mara Del Baldo & Rosa Lombardi, 2019. "Traditional management accounting tools in SMEs? network. Do they foster partner dialogue and business innovation?," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1 suppl.), pages 35-50.
    5. Ricardo Malagueño & Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras & Jacobo Gomez-Conde, 2018. "Balanced scorecard in SMEs: effects on innovation and financial performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 221-244, June.
    6. Andreas Rasche & Sandra Waddock, 2014. "Global Sustainability Governance and the UN Global Compact: A Rejoinder to Critics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 209-216, June.
    7. Ulrich Mueckenberger & Sarah Jastram, 2010. "Transnational Norm-Building Networks and the Legitimacy of Corporate Social Responsibility Standards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 223-239, December.
    8. Ivan Hilliard, 2013. "Responsible Management, Incentive Systems, and Productivity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 365-377, December.
    9. Ieda Margarete Oro & Carlos Eduardo Facin Lavarda, 2017. "Interaction Between Strategy and Organizational Performance: The Influence of Family Management," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 14(5), pages 493-509, September.
    10. Simone Aresu & Luigi Rombi & Andrea Cardia, 2019. "Management accounting systems in venture capital-backed start-up companies," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(3), pages 35-58.
    11. Thomas Hemphill & Waheeda Lillevik, 2011. "The Global Economic Ethic Manifesto: Implementing a Moral Values Foundation in the Multinational Enterprise," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(2), pages 213-230, June.
    12. Chen, Clara Xiaoling & Lill, Jeremy B. & Lucianetti, Lorenzo, 2023. "Performance measurement system diversity and product innovation: Evidence from longitudinal survey data," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Bart A. De Jong & Katinka M. Bijlsma-Frankema & Laura B. Cardinal, 2014. "Stronger Than the Sum of Its Parts? The Performance Implications of Peer Control Combinations in Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1703-1721, December.
    14. Susan A. Kayser & John W. Maxwell & Michael W. Toffel, 2014. "Supply chain screening without certification: The critical role of stakeholder pressure," Working Papers 2014-08, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    15. Hao Ren & Rongrong Wang & Suopeng Zhang & An Zhang, 2017. "How Do Internet Enterprises Obtain Sustainable Development of Organizational Ecology? A Case Study of LeEco Using Institutional Logic Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-21, August.
    16. Jana Kozáková & Mária Urbánová & Radovan Savov, 2021. "Factors Influencing the Extent of the Ethical Codes: Evidence from Slovakia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, January.
    17. Heloïse Berkowitz & Marcelo Bucheli & Hervé Dumez, 2017. "Collectively Designing CSR Through Meta-Organizations: A Case Study of the Oil and Gas Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 753-769, July.
    18. Claudio Aqueveque & Catherine Encina, 2010. "Corporate Behavior, Social Cynicism, and Their Effect on Individuals’ Perceptions of the Company," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 311-324, February.
    19. Mariëtte van Huijstee & Pieter Glasbergen, 2008. "The practice of stakeholder dialogue between multinationals and NGOs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(5), pages 298-310, September.
    20. Johnson, William H.A., 2011. "Managing university technology development using organizational control theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 842-852, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:2:p:2158244014532105. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.