Guest editorial

Citation

Seifi, S. (2019), "Guest editorial", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 725-726. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-09-2019-333

The idea of editing this special issue was a long-time desire of mine, as an engineer with long-term experience in industries and the involvement in projects such as membership in the national mirror technical committee of ISO 26000. Having had worked on the effects of refrigerants on the environment and then on the substitution of solar systems in national level has given me the desire to attract the attention to the real issues in social responsibility and sustainable development relating to advancements in technology rather than just social implications. Thankfully, it was realised when Professor David Crowther, the editor-in-chief and all-time mentor invited me to edit a special issue of this journal to engage scientists and engineers internationally to deal with the real problems the world is tackling with. Although the editor-in-chief warned me about the difficulties of special issues, thankfully it created a lot of passion among researchers and many papers were submitted in different aspects of the topic. This has produced a rainbow of different scientific and technological contributions to corporate social responsibility showing that many people are concerned with this aspect of the topic. Here is a synopsis of the papers in the issue:

Greenland et al’s research investigates the impediments to the adoption of sustainable water-efficient technological innovation in agriculture, realising that while drip irrigation water efficiency is recognised, this is not the key determinant of farmers’ irrigation selection. Krkac elaborates the currently fashionable topic of artificial intelligence (AI) in his conceptual paper and draws on the literature and his previous works on the relationship between AI and human corporate social irresponsibility (CSI). The supposedly radical development of AI has raised questions regarding the moral responsibility of it. In the sphere of business, they are translated into questions about AI and business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper seeks to conceptually reformulate these questions from the point of view of two possible aspect-changes. Namely, starting from CSI, and starting not from AIs incapability for responsibility but from its ability to imitate human CSR without performing typical human CSI.

In a different area, Raimi’s paper shows empirically that there is a positive relationship between CSR and sustainable management of solid wastes and effluents in Lagos Megacity; Rajesh describes in his literature review paper that human activities, household and industrial, generate enormous amount of waste material both organic and non-biodegradable, which substantially contribute to land, water and air contamination.

A general review paper by Tamayo and Vargas examines the use of biomimicry to inspire sustainable development in economic systems. They explore the link between ecological and economic systems to highlight applied environmental solutions. On the other hand, Greenand et al’s research into the demographics of sustainable technology consumption in an emerging market addresses gaps in the sustainable technology literature by evaluating the demographics of energy efficient appliance consumption in Vietnam.

Gosh Ray’s research into a green cost calculus for corporate environmental responsibility shows that corporate environmental responsibilities are more of reputation-led rather than innovation- or efficiency-led and that some firms can simply comply with regulations at the society’s cost. He contends that unless the capital market supports corporate green initiatives, there may be destruction of shareholder wealth. And, Ismail explores in his technical paper optimising the safety of road transport workers on industrialised building system (IBS) building construction projects shows the improper handling and information management of road transport workers is a major safety concern in the IBS building construction industry.

As is apparent, the contributions are diverse in scope and come from all over the world, showing that this – often hidden aspect of social responsibility – merits greater attention within our community. In the preparation of this special issue, the first and greatest thanks goes to the editor-in-chief, my all-time mentor and guide for providing me with such a great opportunity. I should also thank all the people who helped me with review of the papers. Without their help, it could have not been as achieved to the high standard it is. Also, I thank all the authors for their contributions. The achievement through this special issue means that it will be the start for a new direction. So the second special issue is on the way […].