ABSTRACT
This chapter fills the theoretical gaps left by Matten and Crane’s definition and constructs an ideal type of corporate citizenship (CC) that can be operationalized. This allows the elements derived from such a model CC conception to be systematically grounded in theory. A typology consists of conceptually derived interrelated sets of ideal types, and thus creating an ideal type of CC eventually helps to measure whether corporations are conforming more or less with the phenomenon of CC. Based on the review of examples of good practice, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), as the largest global CC initiative, has also drawn up a list of key success factors in implementing the UNGC. With the elements derived from the newly constructed CC concept, as well as the stages of development borrowed from Zadek’s organizational learning model, the assessment tool has a solid theoretical base. The interactive dimension of CC is already built into the elements of the procedural dimension of CC.
