Article at a glance:

The UN's role in corporate social responsibility

The UN's corporate-citizenship initiative, the Global Compact, has enrolled more than 1,800 corporations, which have agreed to support human rights, environmental protection, and noncorrupt business practices. Unfortunately, participation—particularly by US companies—has fallen short of expectations.

The take-away

Some 40 percent of the compact's participants say that it had a good effect on their corporate citizenship, but hard work lies ahead to generate the insights and practical tools needed to implement its principles and to change the world's corporations for the better.