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Corporate Digital Responsibility Dissertation Topics I phdassistance.com
Introduction
The minor digital technologies’ rapid development, such as AI, big data, and platform-based systems, has not only complicated the ethical and governance issues for the organisations but also given rise to the Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) framework that sets up the standard for responsible digital practices beyond mere legal compliance. Scholarly research on the topic, though increasing, is still fragmented, mostly conceptual, and related to a particular time. Gursoy et al. (2025) have mentioned that not much empirical data is available regarding the development, the adoption, and the consequences on the stakeholder trust and organisational performance of CDR practices across time. The absence of longitudinal studies, validated measurement frameworks, and stakeholder-focused perspectives has led to the creation of static models that do not reflect the vibrant nature of responsible digital transformation, thus emphasising the demand for theory-driven doctoral research.
Dissertation Topic 1:
Understanding the Development of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR): A Longitudinal Investigation into Ethical Integration and Organisational Outcomes
Background Context
The increasing dependence on digital technologies has resulted in ethical, social and governance issues becoming more pronounced to a large extent for firms, and hence the emergence of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) as a paradigm for responsible digital practices that go beyond just compliance with the law. Recent research has started to take a conceptual approach to CDR and to pinpoint the main aspects, such as data privacy, transparency, and algorithmic fairness, but the literature is still somewhat scattered and mainly cross-sectional in nature. Gursoy, along with his companions (2025), observed that empirical evidence regarding the evolution and gradual embedding of CDR practices during the process of digital transformation is still quite scarce. The absence of longitudinal, process-oriented studies hinders the development of theory and, at the same time, restricts the gaining of insights into the evolution of ethical digital commitments and their impact on long-term organisational outcomes.
PhD-Level Verification
Till now, there is not a single comprehensive longitudinal or process-oriented study that explores the ways organisations develop, institutionalise, and continue with digital responsibility practices through the years. Thus, the existing literature calls for more in-depth empirical research that would not only be descriptive and normative but would also use dynamic, context-rich, and temporally sensitive models of CDR implementation and impact.
Research Questions
PhD-Level Contributions
Suggested Readings:
Gursoy, D., Baṣer, G., & Chi, C. G. (2025). Corporate digital responsibility: Navigating ethical, societal, and environmental challenges in the digital age and exploring future research directions. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2025.2465634
Dissertation Topic 2:
Institutionalising Corporate Digital Responsibility: A Process Model of Governance, Accountability, and Ethical Decision-Making
Background Context
CDR has been recognised as a priority response to the ethical and societal problems brought by the new digital technologies like AI, big data, and algorithmic decision-making. Although earlier studies have mainly concentrated on giving a definition of CDR and its normative significance, there has not been much progress in the area of understanding how companies embody CDR values in their formal governance and daily decision-making. According to Gursoy et al. (2025), one reason for this lack of understanding is that the majority of the studies conducted so far ignore the organisational processes that facilitate the institutionalisation of digital responsibility, as a result of which there is a gap between the symbolic commitments and the actual practice. It is still unclear how the companies, through governance mechanisms, accountability systems, and internal controls, ensure the consistent and credible implementation over the years, if not examined.
PhD-Level Verification
Theoretical framework based on empirical data and oriented to the process is missing in the literature, which can describe how the governance structures for CDR have been created, changed, and influenced the ethical digital decision-making in organisations.
Research Questions
PhD-Level Contributions
Suggested Readings
Gursoy, D., Baṣer, G., & Chi, C. G. (2025). Corporate digital responsibility: Navigating ethical, societal, and environmental challenges in the digital age and exploring future research directions. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2025.2465634
Dissertation Topic 3:
Measuring Corporate Digital Responsibility: Scale Development and Validation Across Digital Contexts
Background Context
The debate surrounding Corporate Digital Responsibility has gotten louder in academic and professional gatherings; nevertheless, owing to the absence of strong and validated measurement tools, empirical studies have not progressed much. Gursoy et al. (2025) indicate that the prevailing research draws largely upon the deployment of disconnected indicators and proxy metrics, which in their turn will limit the potential for comparability, testing of theories, and gradual accumulation of knowledge. CDR touches on a wide range of issues—such as data protection and availability, and the social and ecological impacts—therefore, it is of utmost importance to already have an exhaustive, diverse scale that can capture the nuances of responsible digital practices in the most appropriate way for various organisations and industry contexts.
PhD Level Verification
Theoretical framework based on empirical data and oriented to the process is missing in the literature, which can describe how the governance structures for CDR have been created, changed, and influenced the ethical digital decision-making in organisations.
Research Questions
PhD-Level Contributions
Suggested Readings
Gursoy, D., Baṣer, G., & Chi, C. G. (2025). Corporate digital responsibility: Navigating ethical, societal, and environmental challenges in the digital age and exploring future research directions. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2025.2465634
Dissertation Topic 4:
Stakeholder Perceptions of Corporate Digital Responsibility: Implications for Trust, Legitimacy, and Brand Outcomes
Background Context
Corporate Digital Responsibility is commonly examined from the viewpoint of an organisation or the management, but not many studies have investigated how stakeholders see and judge companies’ digital responsibility measures. Gursoy et al. (2025) point out that CDR activities will not be considered valuable unless the customers, employees, and the public give them credit as being trustworthy and significant. The dearth of studies focusing on the stakeholders restricts the perception of whether the digital responsible practices are so good that they lead to trust, legitimacy, and favourable brand outcomes, or are regarded as a show or mere acting.
PhD-Level Verification
Theoretical framework based on empirical data and oriented to the process is missing in the literature, which can describe how the governance structures for CDR have been created, changed, and influenced the ethical digital decision-making in organisations.
Research Questions
Contributions at the PhD-Level
Suggested Readings
Gursoy, D., Baṣer, G., & Chi, C. G. (2025). Corporate digital responsibility: Navigating ethical, societal, and environmental challenges in the digital age and exploring future research directions. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2025.2465634
Dissertation Topic 5:
Corporate Digital Responsibility and Organisational Performance: A Longitudinal Study of Ethical Digital Transformation
Background Context
Corporate Digital Responsibility is often regarded as a driver of competitive advantage and long-term value generation; however, empirical studies validating such assertions are still scarce. According to Gursoy et al. (2025), the majority of research works take for granted the positive impact on performance, while not systematically looking into the responsible digital practices as an influencing factor to organizational performance over time. The continuous change of digital transformation indicates the need for a longitudinal method to find out if initial CDR investments result in the continuous advantages of financial, reputational, and operational nature, or if such projects have already started facing the issue of diminishing returns.
PhD-Level Verification
Currently, no longitudinal studies are available that have sufficient evidence to show the impact of Corporate Digital Responsibility on long-term organisational performance.
Research Questions
PhD-Level Contributions
Suggested Readings
Gursoy, D., Baṣer, G., & Chi, C. G. (2025). Corporate digital responsibility: Navigating ethical, societal, and environmental challenges in the digital age and exploring future research directions. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2025.2465634
Conclusion
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