The global employee volunteer: a corporate program for giving back

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of PricewaterhouseCoopers' partners in functioning in teams engaged on global development projects in the context of the relationship, created by so‐called globalization, between developed (particularly the US) and less developed countries. Design/methodology/approach – The design of the paper sets the actual experience of the PricewaterhouseCoopers' partners who took part in Project Ulysses within the framework of contemporary geopolitical attitudes and briefly outlines the historical antecedents for Western (European and American) philanthropic efforts to assist economically less‐developed countries. Findings – The paper describes the parallel benefits of Project Ulysses in supporting the developmental needs of the countries in which participants conducted their projects and the cultural awareness/team building outcomes for PricewaterhouseCoopers and its partners. Originality/value – The value of the paper is that the case study it describes offers a model to other large multinational organizations faced with the challenges of creating cross‐cultural teams while at the same time presenting themselves as globally aware corporate citizens committed to participating concretely in the development of less developed countries. The care in preparation, training, measurement and follow up exhibited by the program offers a road map for other organizations contemplating similar initiatives.