The current era revealed the true dimensions of DEI in combination with influence of social media / AI in the sacred, secret/untouchable environments of [elite] Universities and beyond

IRDO - Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility has published about 50 co-authored books and international conference proceedings on social responsibility, recently on AN INNOVATIVE SUSTAINABLE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE SOCIETY. In our 20-year research period working with different stakeholders, we have found out, the role of managers/directors has not only legal obligations, but responsible managers must include the crucial attributes of the ‘5th level manager’ as well. The empirical research by J. Collins on causes for the success of companies that have been globally among the best ones for about a century (Collins, 2001) presents the 5th-level manager. The Level 5 leaders direct their need to assert themselves away from themselves—toward a more important goal: building a great company. Of course, these are not people without their own interest, selfishness and desire to establish themselves (ego). In fact, they are extremely ambitious – but their ambition is first and foremost for their organisation, not themselves. In the context of ISO26000:2010 and ESRS we will shortly present what the obligations of a responsible manager are and what actions he/she shall do to activate organisation towards more sustainability. This presentation will be based also on our 8 years of experience at the implementation of IRDO certification scheme on CSR & and sustainability education programs for different stakeholders. Until September 2024, we have delivered more than 350 certificates to experts/managers included in IRDO education programs on (corporate) social responsibility and sustainability so-far.

Humankind faces growing artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-based applications, influencing almost every activity, including human resource management (HRM), revolutionizing humans' work nature and content, workers, workplaces, HRM processes, etc. AI can support various HRM practices, such as candidate selection, employee training, data analysis, evaluation, etc. If organizations appropriately utilize AI, they can enhance productivity and their general/individual work performance, streamline processes, and increase efficiency, ultimately improving employee engagement and well-being. Hence, organizations can use AI to stay ahead of their competitors and help develop an innovative sustainable socially responsible society (ISSRS) to overcome crises. AI should only be used as a tool and not to replace humans, which is essential for a creative, efficient, satisfying, and successful work environment.

Raúl Espejo has been President of wosc since 2017. He is also the Director of Syncho Research (uk), a member of the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetics Sciences (iascys), and a former Professor of Systems and Cybernetics at the University of Lincoln (uk) and Aston University (uk). He has been invited to deliver talks at many universities in Europe, China, and Latin America. He has co-published six books and edited seven special issues of journals, most recently in Futures. He has published over 120 papers in journals and books and organized various wosc international congresses in 2014 (Colombia), 2017 (Italy), an online event in Moscow (2020/2021), and in Oxford (2024). This same year, he was awarded the Norbert Wiener Medal by the American Society for Cybernetics.

The upholding of fundamental human rights is essential for the survival and well-being of humanity, as emphasised by the fundamental principle of ISO 26000. Initially, corporations were encouraged to practise social responsibility (SR) willingly, without any legal requirement. However, this approach was shown to be inadequate for ensuring global sustainability and the preservation of human rights. This book chapter examines the relationship between human rights and sustainable development goals (SDGs) within the framework of a socially responsible society. It emphasises the importance of organisations integrating human rights points of view, in accordance with the 2030 sustainable development agenda. The research emphasises the urgent requirement for a forward-thinking and environmentally-friendly society dedicated to social responsibility in order to ensure the survival of humanity. This conclusion is based on a thorough examination of several documents, including academic literature and influential worldwide publications such as COP27.

V prispevku predstavljamo nastanek in delovanje IRDO - Inštituta za razvoj družbene odgovornosti od leta 2004 dalje, ključne aktivnosti inštituta IRDO in sodelovanje IRDO in Univerze v Mariboru ter njenega Centra za zaslužne profesorje in upokojene visokošolske učitelje Univerze v Mariboru v kontekstu trajnostne in družbeno odgovorne univerze (v Mariboru) in družbe.

Dve bolezni, ki jih doživljam doma, sta (pokojne Ivke) Alzheimerjeva in (moja) Parkinsonova bolezen. Ne moremo ju pozdraviti, lahko pa ju odložimo in lajšamo, če ravnamo, kot povejo tukaj povzeti in drugi viri. Ko se staramo, sta vse bolj pogosti, a ne nujni niti nujno smrtno nevarni. Obakrat gre za poškodbo možganskega tkiva, vzroki niso znani, potek bolj ali manj je. Nisem zdravnik, imam pa izkušnje, dolge več desetletij. Očitno znajo pri Parkinsonu bolje pomagati kot pri Alzheimerju. Meni reden tenis pomaga že preko 30 let, tablete Nikom Mite zadnji dobri dve leti. Za Ivko tablet nismo dobili. Najbolj priporočajo namizni tenis, pa tudi plavanje in ples, ko gre za Parkinsonovo bolezen, a tenis je najbolj priporočljiv (meni je tudi blizu doma in blizu utečene navade, saj ga igram preko 70 let). Za zdaj torej imam neozdravljivo bolezen in nisem bolan, sem pa discipliniran.

Sustainable HRM (SHRM) is a new approach to people management, focusing on long-term HRM, regeneration, and renewal. It helps firms attract and retain high-quality employees: by integrating SHRM practices into their employee value proposition, firms establish unique, attractive employer brands. Socially Responsible HRM, Green HRM, Triple Bottom Line HRM, and Common Good HRM are types of SHRM. Especially these characteristics of SHRM matter: Long-term orientation, care for employees, environment, profitability, employee participation and social dialogue, employee development, external partnership, flexibility, compliance beyond labor regulations, employee cooperation, fairness, equality. SHRM is based on sustainable HR policies, such as management of employment relationships, prevention, health and safety at work, training and continuous development, diversity and equal opportunities, fair remuneration and social benefits, communication, transparency, social dialogue, attraction, and retention of employees, work–family balance. The paper presents a possible requisitely holistic model of SHRM.

Nove tehnologije bistveno spreminjajo načine življenja in dela, pa tudi načine razmišljanja in dojemanja sebe in sveta okrog nas (Pogačar, 2017). V celoti ne moremo natančno predvideti, kakšna bo prihodnost dela, vendar se spremembe že dogajajo in zahtevajo upravljanje. Zagotovo pa vemo, da se na trgu dela zaradi digitalizacije povečujejo prekarne oblike dela, zaradi katerih se zmanjšuje dostop delavcev do sistemov socialne varnosti. Namreč, na trgu dela so se pojavili novi strukturni izzivi, ki povečujejo prepad med zaposlenimi, ki opravljajo delo na podlagi pogodbe o trajni zaposlitvi, in tistimi, ki delo opravljajo v drugih oblikah dela, ki so običajno prekarne. Neupoštevanje nevarnosti prekarnosti in težav z zdravjem ter družbenimi odnosi je znak šibkega upoštevanja družbene odgovornosti vplivnih ljudi in njihovih organizacij, vključno z vladnimi organi.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) becomes one of the prerequisites for success of contemporary organizations aimed at humankind’s survival by sustainable development. As SR behavior can generate significant benefits, more and more organizations are developing SR strategic plans and implementing SR initiatives. In ISO 26000, CSR has three basic concepts: Responsibility for one’s influences over society, interdependence and holistic approach. Therefore, authors focus on systemic approach to CSR. The purpose is to demonstrate how combined use of appropriate systems theories can help dealing with CSR. Accordingly, Dialectical Systems Theory (DST) and System Dynamics (SD), as relevant systems theories, i.e. methodologies stemming from different systemic paradigms, were selected. DST helped to identify some relevant aspects and components of CSR which were empirically tested in businesses in the Republic of Serbia. Hence, the following factors, i.e. groups of SR activities are selected as relevant for improving organizational performance: General CSR activities; CSR activities towards consumers; CSR activities towards environmental protection and beneficiaries’ health, and Socially responsible after sales activities. In addition, empirical research results indicating the influence of the above factors on performance were the basis for using the tools of SD, such as stock and flow diagrams and causal loop diagrams. SD tools contribute to simulating the system’s future behavior, i.e. future performance level after improving these CSR activities. Authors introduce a new, systemic approach to conceptualizing and researching CSR by providing appropriate methodological support for exploring relevant interdependencies of CSR aspects.

Poleg organizacije (vključno z njeno uspešnostjo in HRM-jem) predstavlja jedro raziskovanja človek kot zaposleni, ki poseduje sposobnosti, znanja, spretnosti in osebnostne lastnosti, obenem pa ga zaznamujejo motiviranost, volja, vrednote in druga čustva. Na osnovi teh človek skuša uresničevati življenjski smisel, med drugim tudi v vlogi zaposlenega. Čeprav delo človeku daje identiteto, samospoštovanje, socialno podporo in materialne nagrade, to nikakor ni edina vloga posameznika v življenju; vpet je v več vlog od partnerske, starševske do različnih sorodstvenih, prijateljskih, sosedskih in drugih, zanj prav tako pomembnih vlog. Vsaka od teh mu prinaša tudi obveznosti, ki naj bi jih v skladu z uveljavljenimi družbenimi normami uresničeval karseda optimalno.

In my young times I came across two professional disappointments: my professors of economics and business spoke about the desired goals of human activities and about the hierarchy of subordination, instead of well-grounded goals and interdisciplinary cooperation in process-steps/succession hierarchy and interdependence. Then I learned to know systems theory and my second disappointment was its prevailing limitation to using the word system instead of the word denoting what was covered under the word system, more concretely, e.g. house, hospital, mister So and So, electrical installation, market place, social order, method, etc. My first solution was my Dialectical Systems Theory as a methodology of systemic, i.e. as holistic as possible and necessary, called requisitely holistic, behavior. My second solution was using my Dialectical Systems Theory for my perception of the Social Responsibility concept, leading to the sustainable socially responsible society model, i.e. as a non-technological innovation process aimed at humankind’s search for the way out from the global socio-economic crisis caused by the globally prevailing neoliberalism’s monopolies destroying both market and democracy and natural precondition of humankind’s survival, to the benefit of a very small percentage of the current humankind. MOTTO: Thinking is the most important human behavior (De Bono (2005 & 2006) Šest klobukov razmišljanja.(in Slovene; Six Thinking Hats).Ljubljana: New Moment (In: New Moment, 28, all-journal issue)(Original ‘Six Thinking Hats’ published in 1985; new Slovene publication in 2021) ). Let us make things as simple as possible, but no more (Wikipedia on Einstein). The General Systems Theory was created against over-specialization (Bertalanffy (1968, edition 1979): General Systems Theory. Foundations, Development, Applications. Revised Edition. Sixth Printing. Braziller, New York.): VII). Cybernetics resulted from interdisciplinary creative cooperation of Norbert Wiener (Wikipedia on Norbert Wiener). Both Bertalanffy (philosophy, arts history, theoretical biology) and Wiener (mathematics, philosophy, zoology) were interdisciplinary personalities, others need teams in creative interdisciplinary cooperative work, to follow them. Hence, systems theory, systemic thinking and systemic behavior cover, like bridges, areas left un-covered by other/usual sciences and practices, in order to help humans to overcome the lack of holism of approach and wholeness of outcomes, in order to resolve resulting failures, reaching all way to world wars and destroyed natural preconditions and conditions of humankind’s survival. Who tries, may lose; who does not try, has lost already.