Editorial

Citation

Crowther, D. (2013), "Editorial", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 9 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/srj.2013.36809caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Social Responsibility Journal, Volume 9, Issue 3

Lean, agile, world class. These are the words we often hear in the new era of production and industry management just as we heard of mass production at the beginning of the last century as a new breakthrough. Those good old days when there was no fear of lack of resources. The economy was based on the assumption that there is always an unlimited access to resources and nobody cared about Hubbert’s Peak and resources scarcity. But the uncertainty brought about by increased awareness on our effects on the world and so on the lack of resources causes a concern on whether or not our management strategies are sustainable or do they need more flexible systems of thought and production. Flexibility in production has caused a change from the economy of scale to that of scope and so we face a wonderful variety in technology and especially in IT. But flexibility in thought means a power of leadership which demands ones capability to manage suitable and unavoidable changes in our environment and economy and society. How you deal with your competitor in a global market while any thoughtless and one-sided competition might enforce the bidding up of production and resources costs. So we see that a modern world is an era in which we face many struggles and CSR should encompass and incorporate the clues for the new puzzles.

Corporate social responsibility is a roadmap created to improve our quality of life. It is a roadmap starting from the factory level but it is contagious so soon exerts influence on the community around and the society outside and creates sustainable development for society at large. This way the factory or company attains its chief objective which is sustainability. Incorporated in this huge philosophy are quality management and environmental management. We can assume that corporate social responsibility is a vaccine to immune the world from the negative effects of our activities in the world. So corporate social responsibility should be a lean considered as the lean philosophy of our new era. This is because it has to have the capacity to tackle the risks and to devise a new approach.

Definitely our focus on the issues we consider for publication in this journal is basically concerned with this need. The papers are chosen among a very huge amount sent according to how the author is helping the world by his / her initiative in giving answers to the technical and managerial questions we need to grapple with. Corporate social responsibility is a multidisciplinary matter including and incorporating almost all the expertise and talent. Corporate social responsibility means how you produce a new object to create a cleaner and more comfortable world. It means how we devise a new strategy to avoid and manage the risks related to reducing resources both monetary and material. It also means how we improve the everyday life of the earth dwellers by creating better resolutions for global governance to eradicate any injustice to humankind of any race and colour. There are many facets and all are welcome in this journal – study of this issue and past issues will illustrate the range which we publish. So I encourage you to join the debate by submitting your paper. First though read and consider the papers in this issue.

David Crowther