In the field of global rule-setting for responsible business behaviour, multi-stakeholder standards have emerged in recent years because of their potential for effective consensus-building, knowledge-sharing and interest representation. Proponents also hold that multi-stakeholder standards could address problems related to other forms of global rule-setting for business. Despite alleged advantages, however, analyses of multi-stakeholder initiatives, considering benefits and drawbacks, have been lacking. This article examines multi-stakeholder standards compared to other collaborative standards adopted in the past decade, and focuses subsequently on the peculiarities of multi-stakeholder standards regarding participation, governance and implementation. Multi-stakeholder standards, which involve business and NGOs, and sometimes also governments, are more specific and well-elaborated than other types of standards. But monitoring and implementation are rarely used as means for increasing participation from multiple stakeholders, including most notably those from developing countries. The article also discusses the implications of the current lack of specificity of the (multi-)stakeholder concept and suggests refinement of multi-stakeholder standards in terms of narrow versus broad inclusiveness.
Ahrne, G. and Brunsson, N. (2004) `Soft Regulation from an Organizational Perspective ' in U. Mörth (ed.) Soft Law and Governance in Regulation: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, pp. 171—90. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar.
2.
Ascoly, N. and Zeldenrust, I. (2003) Monitoring and Verification Terminology Guide. Amsterdam: SOMO.
3.
Barrientos, S. and Auret, D. (2006) `Participatory Approaches to Social Auditing and Corporate Accountability', IDS Briefing Paper, Brighton.
4.
Boström, M. (2006) `Regulatory Credibility and Authority Through Inclusiveness: Standardization Organizations in Cases of Eco-Labelling', Organization13(3): 345—67.
5.
Braithwaite, J. and Drahos, P. (2000) Global Business Regulation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Brunsson, N., Jacobsson, B. and associates ( 2000) A World of Standards. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7.
Carroll, A.B. (1999) `Corporate Social Responsibility', Business and Society38(3): 268—95.
8.
Ccc (2005) Looking for a Quick Fix. How Weak Social Auditing is Keeping Workers in Sweatshops. Amsterdam: Clean Clothes Campaign.
Gioia, D.A. (2003) `Business Oganization as Instrument of Social Responsibility' , Organization10(3): 435—38.
11.
Hill, C.W.L. and Jones, T.M. (1992) `Stakeholder-Agency Theory', Journal of Management Studies29(2): 131—54.
12.
Jenkins, R., Pearson, R. and Seyfang, G. (2002) Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights. London: Earthscan.
13.
Jensen, M.C. (2001) `Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Ojective Function', Journal of Applied Corporate Finance14(3): 8—21.
14.
Kantz, C. (2005) `The Kimberley Process: Public-Private Partnerships as Effective Tools for Regulating Transnational Conflicts?', paper presented at the Global governance and the Power of Business conference, Wittenberg Centre for Global Ethics.
15.
Kolk, A. (2005) `Sustainability Reporting'. VBA Journal21(3): 34—42.
16.
Kolk, A. and Pinkse, J. (2006) `Stakeholder Mismanagement and Corporate Social Responsibility Crises', European Management Journal24(1): 59—72.
17.
Kolk, A., Van Tulder, R. and Welters, C. (1999) `International Codes of Conduct and Corporate Social Responsibility: Can Transnational Corporations Regulate Themselves?', Transnational Corporations8(1): 143—80.
18.
Kpmg (2005) International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting. Amsterdam.
19.
Leipziger, D. (2003) The Corporate Responsibility Code Book. Sheffield: Greenleaf.
20.
Merk, J. and Zeldenrust, I. (2005) The Business Social Compliance Initiative: A Critical Perspective. Amsterdam: Clean Clothes Campaign.
21.
Mitchell, R.K., Agle, B.R. and Wood, D.J. (1997) `Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts', Academy of Management Review22(4): 853—86.
22.
Oecd (1999) Codes of Corporate Conduct: An Inventory. Paris: OECD .
23.
O'Rourke, D. (2002) `Monitoring the Monitors: A Critique of PwC Labor Monitoring' in R. Jenkins, R. Pearson and G. Seyfang (eds) Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights, pp. 196—209. London: Earthscan.
24.
O'Rourke, D. (2003) `Outsourcing Regulation: Analyzing Nongovernmental Systems of Labor Standards and Monitoring', Policy Studies Journal31(1): 1—29.
25.
Reinalda, Bob (1999) `NGO Influence on International and Transnational Politics' in B. Arts and G. Van Roozendaal (eds) The Influence of Non-Governmental Organizations on International and Transnational Politics, pp. 7—13. Nijmegen: Nijmegen University Press.
26.
Roberts, John (2003) `The Manufacture of Corporate Social Responsibility: Constructing Corporate Sensibility', Organization10(2): 249—65
27.
Ruggie, J.G. and Kell, G. (1999) Global Markets and Social Legitimacy: The Case of the `Global Compact'. Toronto: York University.
28.
Sternberg, E. (1997) `The Defects of Stakeholder Theory', Corporate Governance: An International Review5(1): 3—10.
29.
Tamm Hallström, K. (2006) `ISO Enters the Field of Social Responsibility (SR). Construction and Tension of Global Governance' in G. Folke Schuppert (ed.) Global Governance and the Role of Non-State Actors, pp. 117—56. Berlin : Nomos.
30.
Unrisd (2002) Voluntary Approaches to Corporate Responsibility. Geneva: NGLS.
31.
Utting, P. (2002) `Regulating Business via Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: A Preliminary Assessment' in UNRISD. Voluntary Approaches to Corporate Responsibility , pp. 61—126. Geneva: NGLS.
32.
Utting, P. (2005) Rethinking Business Regulation: From Self-Regulation to Social Control. UNRISD Programme Paper TBS-15, Geneva.
33.
Vakil, Anna C. (1997) `Confronting the Classification Problem: Toward a Taxonomy of NGOs', World Development25(12): 2057—70.
34.
Van Tulder, R. and Kolk, A. (2001) `Multinationality and Corporate Ethics: Codes of Conduct in the Sporting Goods Industry', Journal of International Business Studies32(2): 267—83.
35.
Van Tulder, R. and Van der Zwart, A. (2006) International Business-Society Management. Linking Corporate Responsibility and GlobalizationLondon: Routledge.
36.
Wick, I. (2005) Worker's Tool or PR Ploy? A Guide to Codes of International Labour Practice. Bonn: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
37.
World Bank (2003) Company Codes of Conduct and International Standards: An Analytical Comparison. Washington, DC: World Bank.
38.
Zadek, S. (2001) The Civil Corporation: The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship. London: Earthscan.
