Since its launch in 2000, the [UN Global Compact]...has emerged as the world's dominant force for promotion of...corporate social responsibility (CSR)... The project has its critics. The self-assessment process [by companies] is neither monitored nor evaluated objectively; critics deride it as a public-relations gift for participants... But the low bar may have been set deliberately. The compact has been able to attract enough members that it can claim legitimacy to set rules in the increasingly crowded and confusing field of CSR. At this stage, simply getting a firm to commit to something on paper—and expose itself to scrutiny—is worthwhile.