The world in this new millenium has experienced tremendous economic downturns, followed by partial recovery phases, but what has not been changing, unfortunately, is the magnitude of some crucial global challenges originated by the modern economy itself. Climate change is probably the most cited, but the list is far wider: the rising disproportionate accumulation of wealth and opportunities between countries and even between regions inside the same country, the acceleration of urbanizations phenomena with depletion of rural areas, and millions of workers who still today persistently experience labor conditions not suitable for humans—just to quote a few. Politics have, of course, a key role in addressing these challenges, but it seems that a large and persistent consensus about what has to be done is still a difficult goal to achieve. In the meantime, luckily, some firms have taken the lead from the bottom, orientating their behavior in a more responsive way toward social and environmental issues. Academia, too, has been more and more sensitive to these issues, and over the years we have seen a vibrant debate about Corporate Social Responsibility (CorpSR) and the way it can be implemented in the real life of firms. Only recently has it become more clear that the efforts toward social responsiveness from the “offer” side (CorpSR), in order to be really productive, have to be coupled by parallel efforts from the “demand” side. In other words, a real improvement can be reached only when consumers will become more sensitive to the social consequences of their market choices (Consumer Social Responsibility [ConsSR]). What I am arguing for is that digitalization and, in particular, a bunch of technologies that allow clients to have full and instant visibility down to what happens in the production process and around it, might better connect CorpSR and ConsSR. As a consequence of the new digital revolution, we can expect a wide range of changes in: consumers’ behavior, with regard to their process of collecting pieces of information and structuring their market choices; and firms’ behaviors, with regard to how they organize their procurement structure, their relationships with local communities, and the way they communicate with clients. The “good news from the future” is that new digital technologies might encourage firms to raise their level of care about their local communities and the environment. Furthermore, it seems that digitalization can facilitate the evolution of CorpSR toward the adoption of a Humane Entrepreneurship strategic approach aimed to increase the firm’s competitiveness, connecting innovation strategy, care for the organization, care for society, and care for the planet.

Digitalization, Consumer Social Responsibility, and Humane Entrepreneurship: Good news from the future?

Parente Roberto
2020-01-01

Abstract

The world in this new millenium has experienced tremendous economic downturns, followed by partial recovery phases, but what has not been changing, unfortunately, is the magnitude of some crucial global challenges originated by the modern economy itself. Climate change is probably the most cited, but the list is far wider: the rising disproportionate accumulation of wealth and opportunities between countries and even between regions inside the same country, the acceleration of urbanizations phenomena with depletion of rural areas, and millions of workers who still today persistently experience labor conditions not suitable for humans—just to quote a few. Politics have, of course, a key role in addressing these challenges, but it seems that a large and persistent consensus about what has to be done is still a difficult goal to achieve. In the meantime, luckily, some firms have taken the lead from the bottom, orientating their behavior in a more responsive way toward social and environmental issues. Academia, too, has been more and more sensitive to these issues, and over the years we have seen a vibrant debate about Corporate Social Responsibility (CorpSR) and the way it can be implemented in the real life of firms. Only recently has it become more clear that the efforts toward social responsiveness from the “offer” side (CorpSR), in order to be really productive, have to be coupled by parallel efforts from the “demand” side. In other words, a real improvement can be reached only when consumers will become more sensitive to the social consequences of their market choices (Consumer Social Responsibility [ConsSR]). What I am arguing for is that digitalization and, in particular, a bunch of technologies that allow clients to have full and instant visibility down to what happens in the production process and around it, might better connect CorpSR and ConsSR. As a consequence of the new digital revolution, we can expect a wide range of changes in: consumers’ behavior, with regard to their process of collecting pieces of information and structuring their market choices; and firms’ behaviors, with regard to how they organize their procurement structure, their relationships with local communities, and the way they communicate with clients. The “good news from the future” is that new digital technologies might encourage firms to raise their level of care about their local communities and the environment. Furthermore, it seems that digitalization can facilitate the evolution of CorpSR toward the adoption of a Humane Entrepreneurship strategic approach aimed to increase the firm’s competitiveness, connecting innovation strategy, care for the organization, care for society, and care for the planet.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/4756289
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 12
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact