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  CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:

RELECTIONS AND INSIGHTS FROM INDIA

 

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” The famous opening lines from ‘A Tale of 

The Two cities’ are so true even today! In an age of rapid and pervasive globaliation modern

organiations are struggling hard to survive and grow in a rapidly changing business scenario

fraught with uncertainty recession and turbulence. "hen profit motive appears to be the

dominant drive in business leaders operating in an aggressively competitive environment the

critical #uestion naturally arises $ where is the scope for directing our efforts to discharge our 

%orporate &ocial 'esponsibility (%&')*

To start with let us revisit two significant events in the year +,-. /n &eptember+0 +,- 1ew

2or3 Times published an article by the eminent economist 4ilton 5riedman where his

 pronouncement came bold and clear $ “The only social responsibility of business is to ma3e

 profits”. &urprisingly enough it was in the very same year 6.'.7. Tata the numero uno of Tata

&ons the ape8 body of all Tata companies had passed his instruction to all the Tata group

companies to include a clause on &ta3eholder 4anagement in their Articles of Association. Isn’t

the drama of life even the corporate life a play of opposites in two e8tremes*

+

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Tata 9roup with its century:old culture and cherished values always remained a glowing

e8ample demonstrating an authentic synthesis of business interests and social concerns. ;owever 

it was only during the last decade of the last century that growing interest in %&' among the

 business community worldwide was becoming discernible.

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afford to manipulate the customers and arm:twist the vendors. At a macro level corporate

leaders are compelled to consider the impact of their business decisions on the community and

the environment at large $ the distant others. 5urther with increasing dependence on stoc3 

mar3et for e#uity financing there is also the growing need to attract and fulfill the e8pectations

of conscious investors who value the goodwill of companies that invest in %&' initiatives. %&' 

today is not >ust a part:time philanthropic activity but a strategic imperative directly lin3ed to

 business results for long term sustainability of organiations. It may also be mentioned that the

scope of %&' is no longer limited to monetary donations for a social cause. %ompanies need to

reconsider their new role as partners and facilitators in development and participate in capacity

 building programs for the disadvantaged sections of the society. This will raise the overall

standard of living increase the purchasing power of people and thereby e8pand the mar3ets for 

selling their own products and services.

Incidentally such initiatives by any company also boost the morale of the employees by instilling

in them a sense of pride and ownership. This has direct and positive impact on their level of 

motivation and thereby enhances their productivity and contribution towards the achievement of 

the organiational goals and ob>ectives. After all engagement with %&' activities does ma3e

‘good business sense’.

It may be mentioned here that companies in which the level of employee satisfaction is low are

li3ely to be the least effective in %&' initiatives. It is not possible to generate goodwill in the

e8ternal environment without ta3ing good care of the needs and aspirations of the employees

%harity begins at home indeed.

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As to the ‘drivers’ of %&' they could be both e8ternal and internal. ?ublic policy guidelines

environmental regulations labor laws and the li3e constitute the e8ternal drivers. Among the

internal drivers the most important is the commitment of top management in %&' initiatives. If 

the leadership has a far:reaching vision real positive intent and passionate involvement then they

can creatively e8pand the nature and scope of %&' interventions beyond financial contribution.

&ometimes it becomes necessary to partner with 19/s social and cultural organiations to

address those needs of the community that do not come within the core competence of the

organiation. The ;ouse of Tatas ;@@ IT% Infosys 8cel Industries TB& 9roup and 7r.

'eddy’s @aboratories are some such organiations that have demonstrated their commitment to

%&' through active and creative initiatives over long years. Cusiness schools transnational

 19/s and multilateral organiations have also come forward by designing courses and

conducting wor3shops and training programs to improve the #uality impact and evaluation of 

%&' efforts.

It may now be worthwhile to revisit the Indian concept of ‘Seva’ loosely translated as service. In

our present understanding of service the provider of service emerges as the benefactor and the

receiver the prime beneficiary. The true spirit of ‘Seva’ implies >ust the reverse. ;ere the provider 

of service is the prime beneficiary because the receivers have given him an opportunity to serve.

India saw such enlightened leader in &wami Bive3ananda.

D

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;e was thefounder of the first Indian transnational organiation way bac3 in +E,E. ;e chose the

motto of 'ama3rishna 4ission the institution he created to spread the message of his spiritual

master &ri 'ama3rishna in action worldwide to be ‘atmanomokshartham jagathitaya cha’ i.e.

‘for the salvation of the self and the welfare of the world’. A century bac3 Bive3ananda had a

truly global mind while organically rooted in Indian culture and ethos. This volcanic mon3 a

veritable dynamo spread the cardinal message of classical India and attracted people from the

west to >oin his mission as embedded in the above motto.. 7uring his voyage to America his

fellow traveler was another inspiring leader 6.1. Tata the father of Indian industrialiation. 5or 

days they discussed the future plan for India. "asn’t this a divine coincidence*

Another signal contribution from India is the concept and model of Trusteeship as propounded

 by 4ahatma 9andhi. ;e was deeply inspired by the thoughts and formulations of the eminent

literary figure 6ohn 'us3in who held responsible the dominant self:interest based economics for 

 bringing ‘schism into the ?olicy of Angels and the conomy of ;eaven and also Tolstoy who

e8horted humanity with his message “The Fingdom of 9od is "ithin 2ou” following the

 precious Ciblical dictum. 4oreover the concepts of ‘aparigraha’ (non:possession) and

‘ samabhavana’ (e#uality or oneness with all) of the classical Indian te8t The  Bhagavadgita had a

strong influence on 9andhi’s formulation of Trusteeship. The Chagavadgita is the crystallied

wisdom of the Gpanishads a vast body of ancient Indian literature. 1o wonder the sage of 

 Ishopanishad  the first of the Gpanishad left us the message $ ‘Tena Tyaktena Bhunjitha’ (n>oy

 by renunciation).

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%entral to the concept of Trusteeship are 9andhi’s views of ‘property’ and ‘entitlements’.

Trusteeship is a means of transforming the capitalist order of society into an egalitarian one. It is

 based on the faith that human nature is never beyond redemption and the owners can be

reformed. It does not recognie any right to private property so far as it may be permitted by

society for its own welfare. The charter of production will be determined by social necessity and

not by personal whim or greed. The owner will manage the property for the service of the society

as a trustee and he will be entitled to a statutory commission that cannot be e8orbitant. It may be

worthwhile to recall 9andhi’s famous remar3H “The world has enough for everyone’s need but

not enough for everyone’s greed.” @i3e Bive3ananda 9andhi had e8erted very powerful and

 positive influence on leading Indian industrialists li3e 9. 7. Cirla ?urshottamdas Tha3urdas

"alchand ;irachand among others.

&trange may sound the concept of trusteeship to the proponents of individualism and free

enterprise but the caution of 4artin @uther Fing may be worth a while to ponder over that if we

ignore 9andhi it is at our own ris3!

The basic philosophy of %&' for an organiation has to be ‘enlightened self:interest’. A

visionary leader has the ability to e8pand the notion of the ‘self’ of the organiation beyond its

 premises to include all sta3eholders and even the absent others. If the notion of the ‘self’ of the

organiation is limited we end up calculating our narrow self:interest fail to see the deep

lin3ages with others and remain far from enlightenment. Cut an enlightened leader with an ever:

e8panding view of the organiational ‘self’ can naturally see the connectedness with others. ;e is

inspired by his conviction and not bogged down with calculations.

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5or truly enlightened leadership it is necessary first to light the fire in one’s heart and then ignite

the mind. Feeping %&' as a top priority among the agenda items in one’s diary helps to retain

focus in the midst of the frenetic chase after the bottom:line. ?erhaps the best time to refocus and

to ta3e stoc3 of the day’s activity is before dropping off to sleep. That is when one can attempt to

contact the innermost self and warm oneself by the light within. The results will come. A

different day will dawn fashioned by such a person.