Adoption of the UN Global Compact in Spanish banking: a case study

The aim of this work is to analyse the process involving adoption of a corporate social responsibility initiative—the United Nations Global Compact—in a Spanish financial institution. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for such purpose with managers, workers and customers from this organisation. From the analysis carried out, it can be ascertained that only professionals from the specific field of corporate social responsibility in the organisation being analysed have suitable knowledge about the initiative adopted, while the other professionals are practically unaware of it—even among professionals such as accountants who should clearly have suitable knowledge about the subject in order to draft sustainability reports. As a result, the research also provides evidence about the ceremonial adoption of the United Nations Global Compact, highlighting the internal friction existing within an organisation that until very recently stood out in the Spanish banking sector for the amount of externally obtained awards in recognition of its sustainability practices. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.