FOREWORD BY PROFESSOR DAVID CROWTHER

Foreword by Professor David Crowther

Another year has past and we are in process with the 9th conference and welcome all delegates to the conference being held in Zagreb. This time we have the theme for the conference of CSR and Global Governance, reflecting the very topical nature of issues being dealt with. There is considerable evidence that the field of social responsibility is changing and maturing. This can be seen from the issues which are of concern to people currently researching in the field. Thus in these Proceedings we can see that ecological issues are of concern and so too are ethical issues. This concern is reflected in the field as a whole. The main issues which concern people are with governance and with the supply chain. As far as the supply chain is concerned then this is reflected in a concern for the environment and for human rights and is not concentrated in the organisation but permeates the whole supply chain. This extends from the sourcing of raw materials through to customers and what concerns them. Papers in the conference reflect these concerns.

As far as governance is concerned then there is a considerable increase in interest in governance in its broader interpretation. Probably this interest has been heightened not just by the corporate scandals that we have witnessed but also by the economic and financial crisis that we have experienced. And this concern for governance is broader that corporations, extending also to the governance of markets and countries and to governance in a global economy. And governance itself has expanded its area of concern to more than just a concern with owners and investors. Now governance is – rightly – concerned with relationships between a firm and all of its stakeholders. This too is reflected in the papers in this conference.

Two other trends are also apparent. One perhaps results from the economic crisis which we have experienced and that is a concern for what is taught and how it is taught. We are often re-examining this and that is a healthy sign. As academics we are affecting the future by what we teach to our future business and societal leaders and we want to teach the right information in the right way. We also want to equip these people with the right ethical concerns as well as with the tools to enact those concerns, hence our need to continually investigate these issues. The other trend is the continually increasing global nature of all of these concerns, and the way that this is manifest both in developed and developing countries. This too is reflected in this conference with similar concerns being addressed in a variety of countries. This too is a healthy sign that the lead in the development of the discourse of socialresponsibility is no longer from a few developed countries in Europe and NorthAmerica. Now every country has a contribution to make and we can all learn fromeach other. Indeed it is becoming apparent that there is a concern with investigating how social responsibility operates in different environments and different parts of the world. From this the question is beginning to be raised as to whether CSR is a western concept which can only apply in different forms in other parts of the world.This too is important research and is helping our understanding to develop. So too is the increasingly apparent theorising which is also helping to change the discourse as the subject area matures. So we can readily observe the healthy state of the discourse of social responsibility and this is a cause of optimism for the future.

This is the 9th conference to be organised by the Social ResponsibilityResearch Network and the Network continues to grow and develop. Currently we have over 600 members and by attending this conference you too become a member – if you are not already. The Network is interdisciplinary and so too is the conference. This is one of our strengths. And our other main activity is publishing. Social Responsibility Journal is the official refereed journal of the Network and is published by Emerald so too is our book series – Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility. We also publish a Discussion paper Series and a quarterly Newsletter containing short articles. You can find full details of all of this on our website – www.socialresponsibility.biz and I hope that attending this conference will inspire you to contribute further.

David Crowther

Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, UK

Chair, Social Responsibility Research Network

Chair Scientific Committee, 9th International Conference on CSR