Corporate Social Responsibility in Difficult Times

It has been fairly traumatic for everyone and every organization over the last couple of years as we have had to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. It has certainly been a shock to the economic system of the world from which many are still recovering. Equally it has affected social systems and the environment, the effects of which are still being felt and will be felt for some time to come. In addition, there has been a fairly general economic crisis around the world as people struggle and adapt to the new environment. Certainly, there have been and will be changes which are likely to become permanent. 
While recovering from one crisis however another is becoming more significant as climate change and its effects start to become ever more apparent. So, it seems inevitable that difficult times will continue into the future. This book therefore sets out to examine aspects of the changes to corporate and institutional behaviour which have come about by the difficult times of needing to deal with past and future crises. The international origins of the contributors to this volume make this very original, taking some of the best ideas from around the world. This approach is based on the tradition of the Social Responsibility Research Network (SRRNet.org), which in its 20-year history has sought to broaden the discourse and to treat all research as inter-related and relevant to business. This tradition has always been to explore the subject widely and to seek relevant solutions, while also sharing best practice. 

David Crowther is an expert in various fields: he is a specialist in business administration, a games theoretician and a psychologist while also a qualified accountant who had worked as an accountant, systems specialist and general manager in local government, industry and commerce for over 20 years. After a number of years in the financial services sector, including a spell as a divisional managing director during which he set up and ran a credit card scheme, he decided to leave the business world and become an academic. In 1994, he joined Aston University and there obtained a Ph.D. in 1999 for research into corporate social performance. In 2001, he became the first professor of Corporate Social Responsibility in the world. He now holds various positions as a professor as well as being visiting professor in various institutions. He gives advice as a chief research fellow at the Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics and has consulted extensively around the world. At Ansted University, he is also a member of the Board and President of the Sustainability Research Institute. He has consulted widely including to US Presidential candidates, UN, EU and governments.

David has published more than 60 books and has also contributed several hundred articles to academic, business and professional journals and to edited book collections. He has also spoken widely at conferences and seminars worldwide and acted as a consultant to a wide range of government, professional and commercial organisations. In 2002, he established the Social Responsibility Research Network, an international body which now has several thousand members, together with associated international conference series, journals and books series. In 2010, he established the Organisation Governance Network and conference series. He is listed in Who's Who in the World and various other directories. His research is into sustainability, governance and corporate social responsibility with a particular emphasis on the relationship between social, environmental and financial performance. His latest project has been to edit and produce the Palgrave major reference work on CSR.

Shahla is an engineer by background and worked for over 20 years in the National Standards Institute of Iran. There she was responsible for assessing products, developing national standards and international affairs as well as sitting on the National Steering Committee developing ISO 26000. In 2013, she relocated to the UK where she is now based. She is both a British and an Iranian citizen and continues to publish within her area of sustainability. She currently researches, writes and runs the Social Responsibility Research Network while also acting as consultant, editor, guest lecturer and keynote speaker.

Shahla has taught extensively-both to students and to managers-and translated much material into Farsi. As a qualified physical fitness trainer, she led courses in Tehran for a number of years. She is a founding editor of the journal Technological Sustainability (published by Emerald) and is a member of the editorial boards of several journals and book series around the world and consults and speaks in various locations. She has published more than 20 books in English and translated several into Farsi; she has published over 50 articles in English as well as numerous articles in Farsi. Her most recent book 'The World's Future Crisis: Extractive Resources Depletion' was recently published by Springer. Her latest projects have been to edit and produce the 'Palgrave Handbook on CSR' and to edit the Routledge Handbook to the Future of Management Research.