Professional Documents
Culture Documents
N. Santosh Ranganath
Faculty Member
Department of Commerce & Management Studies
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University
Srikakulam – 532410
In India as in the rest of the world there is a growing realization that business
cannot succeed in a society which fails. An ideal CSR has both ethical and
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philosophical dimensions, particularly in India where there exists a wide gap
between sections of people in terms of income and standards as well as socio-
economic status. However, the concept of CSR is not new in India. The idea of social
responsibility in the Indian society, bounded by notion of caste and fate, dates back
to the time of British Rule when Indian reformers launched reform movements
which slowly became more socially responsible. During the independence struggle
Indian companies, which began to proliferate and proper from the mid 19 th century,
throw in their lot with Mahatma Gandhi and the resulting concern for the nations
caused many of them to be involved in providing education, health service and
even clean water.
There is a wide consensus among public and private institutions that the
concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is based on a company attaining a
balance between the interests of all its stakeholders within its strategic planning
and operations. Over the past decade, numerous debates have emerged around the
question of whether such ‘responsibilities’ should be voluntary or not, especially
regarding growing environmental challenges in areas such as climate change, as
well as regarding the enforcement of labour standards and basic human rights.
Other critics have pointed out that the role of the private sector is defined purely
through production and profit-maximisation, generally assuming that only
government should take care of social and environmental issues through efficient
policy frameworks and mechanisms. Furthermore, concerns have been raised that
the almost total exclusion of SMEs (especially in developing countries) from
conceptual discussions on CSR could lead to a purely ‘northern agenda’ for
multinational companies. It should also be observed that CSR has frequently been
misleadingly equated simply with ‘corporate philanthropy’ and ‘charitable giving’,
which in turn are often separate from their core business and without an underlying
strategic plan behind it.
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profits. Furthermore, a growing number of large companies (and an increasing
number of SMEs) has recognised the need to improve their social and
environmental risk management strategies, grasp opportunities in innovative
technology development and knowledge creation, and engage more proactively
with their stakeholders. While there is growing conceptual clarity around CSR,
technical assistance activities in this field are still scarce. One of the problems is
that SMEs, notably in developing countries, often lack the capacities and
opportunities to learn about a possible CSR approach in their management planning
and daily operations. These companies are therefore either caught by surprise by
sudden ‘CSR-requirements’ from their (normally northern) customers and
counterparts, often in the form of complicated codes of conduct, or they face
increasing difficulties in accessing global supply chains.
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• Livestock development
• Social forestry
• Integrated watershed
development
• Health
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• Education
• Medical facilities and health
• Development of small
scale/ancillary industries
• Agriculture, poultry, fisheries
http://www.itcportal.com/
Society and business are benefited when there is a symbiotic relationship between
the two. Society gains through economic development and the provision of
employment opportunities; and business benefits through the workforce and
consumers provided by society.
Most firms are open systems, i.e., they interact with the external environment. The
internal activities of such firms have an impact on the external environment. To
avoid a negative impact on the external environment, firms should be socially
responsible.
By being socially involved, a company can improve its image and thus protect its
shareholders’ interests.
Through social involvement, a firm can create a favorable public image for itself and
endear itself to society. By so doing, a firm can attract customers, employees, and
investors.
Businesses have a history of coming up with innovative ideas. Therefore, they are
likely to come up with solutions for social problems, which other institutions were
unable to tackle.
Businesses should make optimum use of the skills and talent of its managerial
personnel as well as its capital resources to produce good quality products and
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services. By so doing, the business will be able to fulfill their obligations toward
society.
The main motive of a business is profit maximization. Social involvement may not
be economically viable for a business.
Excessive costs
When a business incurs excessive costs for social involvement, it passes the cost on
to its customers in the form of higher prices. Society, therefore, has to bear the
burden of the social involvement of business by paying higher prices for its products
and services.
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Businesspeople do not possess the necessary skills to handle the problems of
society. Their expertise and knowledge may not be relevant to deal with social
problems.
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8. Experience has shown that working with NGOs is more worthwhile and
result-oriented. Joining hands with related NGOs is therefore advisable.
Conclusion
Business houses all over the world are increasing in realizing their stake in
the society and engaging in various social and environmental activities. CSR holds a
very important place in the development scenario of the world today and can pose
as an alternative tool for sustainable development. As companies have shown great
concerns for their immediate community and the stakeholders, it can be safely
concluded that much of the fate of society lies in the hands of the corporates.
Nevertheless CSR has certain limitations which restrict its activities. The need
of the hour is to formulate effective strategic policies and adopt various instruments
according to the company history, its content, peculiarity in relationship with its
different stakeholders so that CSR can be best implemented towards its goals –
sustained environmental, social and economic growth. Corporates together can
make the world as a better place to live.
References
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (1999). CSR: Meeting changing
expectations, WBCSD. (http://www.wbcsd.org/includes/getTarget.asp?
Typed&\id=ODgwMw).
Bajpai, G.N. (Nov., 2001). Corporate Social Responsibility in India and Europe: Cross
Cultural Perspective (http://www.ficci.com). http://www.itcportal.com/
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