Guest Editorial: Business in Society and the Emergence Global Governance Paradigm

Abstract:     
This special issue of the Corporate Governance Journal is produced by the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) in close collaboration with ESADE Business School. The journal builds on content and insight from the EABIS 6th Annual Colloquium, which was hosted by ESADE in Barcelona on 20-21 September 2007 and chaired by Associate Professor Daniel Arenas.

The 2007 Colloquium sought to investigate the Global Governance paradigm that has emerged in recent years from a wide range of corporate responsibility (CR) initiatives and multi-stakeholder collaborations between companies, governments and civil society addressing governance deficits at global, sectorial, national and regional levels. The conference attracted a multi-stakeholder audience of over 350 representatives from business, academia, policy-making and civil society, including CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and some of the world’s leading scholars and practitioners.

This editorial paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of this new paradigm and the implications for business, government and other stakeholders. Following an in-depth synopsis of the historical and ideological roots of “Global Governance”, it explores the wider governance implications of CR, both in theory and practice. It then lays out a series of research issues and questions, integrating them into broader conceptual and thematic frameworks as a first step towards a new programme of academic research and collaborative multi-stakeholder knowledge development.

Keywords: global governance, business in society, corporate responsibility

JEL Classification: M14, F23

Accepted Paper Series