Codes of conduct and international framework agreements: New forms of governance at company level - Case study: Unilever

In 1996, Unilever formulated its ‘Corporate Purpose’, a mission statement which formed the basis of its ‘Code of Business Principles’. This code was revised in 2001-2002 mainly in order to adjust the code to the recently revised OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (published in June 2000) and to take into account the UN Global Compact. In order to implement the code of conduct into day–to-day business, Unilever has developed many instruments and projects. The company is also committed to continuously improve and deepen its image of a socially responsible company. This case study is based on an analysis of Unilever documents as well as interviews carried out at the Unilever headquarters in Rotterdam in the first half of 2007.