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This chapter proposes a protocol based on blockchain technology applied to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The first part discusses the characteristics associated with CSR actions and the main difficulties its development faces, such as transparency, security, fault tolerance, among others. Subsequently, the authors describe the characteristics and concepts related to blockchain-based developments to later describe our framework for the control and development of CSR actions based on blockchain. Herein, the authors also describe how to publicly and privately identify the participating elements of CSR and the operations and resources necessary for the implementation and operation of the proposed protocol.

Amid rising environmental concerns, Industry 4.0 and blockchain technology (BCT) are transforming circular economy practices and prevailing business models. Recognizing the same, the current study examines the role of advanced technology in circular practices and their impact on eco-environmental performance, which influences organizational performance. The study collects data from 185 food processing enterprises that are located in Malaysian territories. By employing CB-SEM modeling, the study provides three key findings. First, Industry 4.0 significantly improves the circular economy practices. Second, circular economy practices help to improve firms' environmental performance but did not stimulate operational performance. Third, higher eco-environmental performance significantly boosts organizational performance. This study set out the foundations for participating countries/firms that help to achieve sustainable goals through the integration of blockchain technology in circular economy practices.

Blockchain technology is an extension of distributed ledger technology and it is used in cryptocurrencies. Many studies describe blockchain technology and cryptocurrency is an application of it in a very broad sense. Blockchain technology has several applications. Some of these applications could have direct or indirect relevance to either or both pillars of sustainability advocated by Crowther, Seifi, and Wond (2019). Extending to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, one possible connection to sustainability may be the reduction of the use of paper for printing currency notes, which can save forests. Furthermore, the growing cryptocurrency market attracted the investors to focus on the price fluctuations but making them forget about the terrifying carbon problem associated with cryptocurrencies. However, this possibility has not been demonstrated anywhere so far. The issue examined here is how blockchain technology can be used for solving sustainability problems. We initiate a qualitative study of the blockchain technology/cryptocurrency and sustainability using the twin pillars of sustainability: (1) responsibility, (2) governance. An exploratory review linking blockchain technology/cryptocurrency and sustainability and its two pillars revealed many actual and trial applications by corporates as CSR initiatives and other novel programs by various agencies in various countries. In governance, corporates use the CSR route to address sustainability issues. However, no definition is an available linking cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and sustainability and we developed a definition to fill the gap. This paper stresses that the sustainability perspective has not been used to develop the cryptocurrency definition, but rather technological and legal perspectives have employed.

COVID-19 pandemic was a health crisis that plunged the world into economic turmoil due to its resultant national lockdowns across economies which brought business and market activities to a standstill. In order to adapt to ensuing restrictions owing to the pandemic, forge ahead in a new way of living, work and interactions with one another (new normal), digitizing business and market operations is considered a necessary option. Sukuk is an essential Islamic capital market product whose operations involve multiple parties/intermediaries alongside some technical financial, administrative and legal/shariah processes. On this note, this chapter aims to study and examine the need for digitizing and automating sukuk operations and related activities to pave way for innovation, development and better continuity of sukuk market. In conducting the study, a review of literature approach is employed where relevant works on sukuk and fintech were examined. Using content analysis, the chapter explored digitization of sukuk in the Islamic capital market via fintech and blockchain and associated benefits, including peculiar challenges therein. An interview was also conducted to better understand the Wethaq case study. The chapter reveals that digitizing sukuk issuance adds value to sukuk and remedies certain inadequacies associated with sukuk transactions; can increase transparency of underlying sukuk assets and cash flows and can reduce costs due to lesser number of intermediaries. Digitization is the future of sukuk issuance and will promote sukuk well through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

One of the rallying cries of the blockchain community is that of immutability: the irreversibility of the past, the absolute truth which, once stored, remains there forever. The technology was designed with this foundational pillar in mind to ensure that changes to history are inordinately expensive and practically impossible to execute – and increasingly so, the further in the past the event which one intends to manipulate lies. This platonic view of absolute truth is in stark contrast with a world of manipulated truth, and it is not surprising that it is being revisited as a means of combating fake news. We argue that claims to the absolute nature of the blockchain are at best exaggerated, at worst misrepresented or even ‘fake news’. We discuss implicit centralised points of trust in blockchains, whether at a technological, social or governance level, and identify how these can be a threat to the ‘immutable truth’ stored within the blockchain itself. A global pandemic has unleashed an unprecedented wave of contradictory positions on anything from vaccines and face masks to ‘the new normal’. It is only natural that the pursuit of blockchain as a placebo for society's ‘truth’ problems continues.

Successful smart cities' implementation will require organisational leadership decision-making competences. The foundation of smart cities is digital technologies; many of these technologies are emerging technologies that require IT skills, which are scarce and will exacerbate the battle for talent between organisations. Filling the talent gap will necessitate global hiring, which has implications for organisational culture, cultural diversity and organisational leadership. Organisational cultural mix is an important contributor to leadership decision-making. However, decision-making is underpinned by trust. Blockchain is an emerging technology that has the potential to engender organisational trust in decision-making and, by extension, in the leadership with the ‘right’ organisational culture. Smart cities will be required to leverage emerging technologies to give business performance a competitive advantage and use emerging technologies’ applications to build a sustainable competitive advantage.