Emerging Technologies, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: The Perception of Business Students in Ghana

The present fourth industrial revolution is characterized by concerns for technological advancement. Studies in literature have examined the factors that affect the perception of business students towards either corporate social responsibility or sustainability or both. Yet, there has not been any study that examines how students’ embracing, knowledge and ability to make business cases out of these emerging technologies affect either corporate social responsibility or sustainability. The current study filled this gap by using a survey dataset of 150 business students of the University of Ghana Business School. The study employed the partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine the relationships. Generally, the students have a relatively higher concern for corporate social responsibility and sustainability. As regards the knowledge of emerging technologies, responses are just a little above average. The top four technologies with high student knowledge are the internet of things, mobility technology, digital service delivery and cybersecurity while the bottom four are blockchain, quantum computing, big data analytics, and robotics. The study found that students that embrace emerging technologies eventually take steps to increase their knowledge in these technologies but the knowledge may not necessarily enhance the concern for corporate social responsibility and sustainability. It is when students embrace the new technologies and eventually make business cases and envisage implications from them that they get concerned about issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. We propose for more case study based teaching about issues in emerging technologies tied to corporate ethics — corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The study offered relevant insights for policy, practice and academia.