TY - JOUR

T1 - Technology, Megatrends and Work

T2 - Thoughts on the Future of Business Ethics

AU - D’Cruz, Premilla

AU - Du, Shuili

AU - Noronha, Ernesto

AU - Parboteeah, K. Praveen

AU - Trittin-Ulbrich, Hannah

AU - Whelan, Glen

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/10/1

Y1 - 2022/10/1

N2 - To commemorate 40 years since the founding of the Journal of Business Ethics, the editors in chief of the journal have invited the editors to provide commentaries on the future of business ethics. This essay comprises a selection of commentaries aimed at creating dialogue around the theme Technology, Megatrends and Work. Of all the profound changes in business, technology is perhaps the most ubiquitous. There is not a facet of our lives unaffected by internet technologies and artificial intelligence. The Journal of Business Ethics established a dedicated section that focuses on Technology and Business Ethics, yet issues related to this phenomenon run right through all the sections. Kirsten Martin, editor of the Technology and Business Ethics section, joins our interim social media editor, Hannah Trittin-UIbrich, to advance a human-centric approach to the development and application of digital technologies that places Business Ethics at centre of the analysis. For Shuili Du, technology is the defining condition for a new era of Corporate Social Responsibility—CSR 3.0—which she defines as “a company’s socially responsible strategies and practices that deal with key ethical and socio-technical issues associated with AI and related technologies on the one hand and leverage the power of AI and related technologies to tackle social and environmental problems on the other hand.” It is not just technologies that are a determining feature of our lives but technology companies, an argument made by Glen Whelan as he examines Big Business and the need for a Big Business Ethics as we try to understand the impact of Big Tech on our post-work world. Indeed, as noted by Ernesto Noronha and Premilla D’Cruz, megatrends in addition to advancement in technologies, namely globalization, the greening of economies, and changes in demographics and migration, are shaping the future for workers in ways previously unimaginable. Contributing to this important debate, Praveen Parboteeah considers the influence of another longstanding but oft overlooked megatrend, the role of religion in the workplace. Given the enormity of the influence of technology and other megatrends in our world, it is not surprising that this essay introduces ground-breaking ideas that speak to the future of business ethics research.

AB - To commemorate 40 years since the founding of the Journal of Business Ethics, the editors in chief of the journal have invited the editors to provide commentaries on the future of business ethics. This essay comprises a selection of commentaries aimed at creating dialogue around the theme Technology, Megatrends and Work. Of all the profound changes in business, technology is perhaps the most ubiquitous. There is not a facet of our lives unaffected by internet technologies and artificial intelligence. The Journal of Business Ethics established a dedicated section that focuses on Technology and Business Ethics, yet issues related to this phenomenon run right through all the sections. Kirsten Martin, editor of the Technology and Business Ethics section, joins our interim social media editor, Hannah Trittin-UIbrich, to advance a human-centric approach to the development and application of digital technologies that places Business Ethics at centre of the analysis. For Shuili Du, technology is the defining condition for a new era of Corporate Social Responsibility—CSR 3.0—which she defines as “a company’s socially responsible strategies and practices that deal with key ethical and socio-technical issues associated with AI and related technologies on the one hand and leverage the power of AI and related technologies to tackle social and environmental problems on the other hand.” It is not just technologies that are a determining feature of our lives but technology companies, an argument made by Glen Whelan as he examines Big Business and the need for a Big Business Ethics as we try to understand the impact of Big Tech on our post-work world. Indeed, as noted by Ernesto Noronha and Premilla D’Cruz, megatrends in addition to advancement in technologies, namely globalization, the greening of economies, and changes in demographics and migration, are shaping the future for workers in ways previously unimaginable. Contributing to this important debate, Praveen Parboteeah considers the influence of another longstanding but oft overlooked megatrend, the role of religion in the workplace. Given the enormity of the influence of technology and other megatrends in our world, it is not surprising that this essay introduces ground-breaking ideas that speak to the future of business ethics research.

KW - Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics

KW - Accountability · Artificial intelligence · Big business · Corporate social responsibility · Demographic challenge · Digital technology · Ecosystem · Global production networks · Just transition · Platforms · Post-work · Religion · Robots

KW - Accountability

KW - Artificial intelligence

KW - Big business

KW - Corporate social responsibility

KW - Digital technology

KW - Ecosystem

KW - Global production networks

KW - Just transition

KW - Platforms

KW - Post-work

KW - Religion

KW - Robots

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139201492&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/9e2ecae1-48f7-3e74-8dad-489aeed58c4e/

U2 - 10.1007/s10551-022-05240-9

DO - 10.1007/s10551-022-05240-9

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 36212627

VL - 180

SP - 879

EP - 902

JO - Journal of Business Ethics

JF - Journal of Business Ethics

SN - 0167-4544

IS - 3

ER -