The digital world of work and social media, despite its
challenges, is here to stay as an integrated part of our day-to-day operational
norms. Therefore, we must make the best of it on a proactive basis before the
private data of our employees and consumers becomes hacked remotely by
criminals. Privacy violations and hacking of data cannot be sustained since they can be very costly and may even lead to bankruptcy. As such, today’s
leaders, managers, and educators have
the responsibility of preparing their future replacements for themodern digital economy, so their organizations’ operational processes can remain competitive, safe, and
sustainable. Operational
sustainability, in this paper, is proposed as a tripod or “three-legged stool” of environmental,
social, and digital responsibility. With more employees and entrepreneurs
accessing digital data remotely through
vulnerable or unsecure online platforms, the opportunities for
cybercrimes rise. Therefore, this article focuses more on the often-neglected
digitalization element of operational sustainability. All leaders must be aware of the legal, social, and
environmental expectations of a digital society by doing what is good
for the world while also being efficient and safe from cybercriminals. The
paper proposes that future leaders must be socialized with a sustainability
mindset about data privacy and safety measures that are necessary for this
fast-changing digital economy where hackers and
artificial intelligence (AI) tools can make the process more challenging.With AI being used by some actors to generate
false yet realistic content, companies will have to do more to make sure
their brands are not defamed or tarnished. As such, this conceptual article
discusses a model for operational sustainability, which includes the privacy and safety of data
that can be used by managers, educators and other leaders for training and
development purposes in today’s digital world of work.
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