Corporate Social Responsibility
Volume 18, Number 4 Article by Shailaja V Pai December, 2006
Corporate Social Responsibility – Concepts and Cases: The Indian Experience : Edited by C V Baxi and Ajit Prasad, Excel Books, 2005, pp 534, Price: Rs 375. :
This book has been conceived and brought out under the aegis of the UNDP, the Confederation of Indian Industry, the All India Council for Technical Education and the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, which have come together for the purpose of introducing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the curriculum of business schools across the country. In a maturing business environment, it was noticed that management school curricula across the country failed to address topics like social responsibility that would sensitise graduating managers to society at large and stakeholders in particular.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part has articles on the conceptual framework of CSR. The second is a collection of eighteen real life cases highlighting various aspects of CSR in some of the most renowned companies in India. While the first part reads like a text book on CSR predominantly dealing with theoretical aspects, the strength of the book lies in the cases, several of which are thoroughly researched and well written.
The first case is about Excel Industries, a leading manufacturer of agrochemicals. The authors trace the history of CSR at the company to its founding director and then chart its evolution up to 2003-04. The company works through its four registered NGOs which include Shrujan and Vivekananda Research and Training Institute. What initially started as a charitable effort has now evolved into an institutionalised setup where the company designs some of its products to take care of social and environmental needs. Shareholder value is getting created along with social value.
Two cases on Titan Industries highlight the company’s CSR initiatives that are incorporated into the lives of its workers – especially local women and the handicapped community – by providing them with scope for employment on terms which are better than those available in the market. Given the overlaps between the two cases, the editors could have excluded one of them.
The case on the rise and fall of Travancore Rayons throws up the darker side of CSR. A single company can build the social fabric of a town; but on the other hand, it can tear apart the same fabric when it goes downhill. This was the case with Travancore Rayons, which was the main reason for the prosperity of Perumbavoor from 1949 to 1975. This leads readers to question the wisdom of unsustainable social development. It also emphasises the need to move from corporate sponsored development to self-sustaining avenues of development in the long run. Similarly, thrusting CSR efforts on potential beneficiaries could be counter-productive and even lead to a negative bias against the company as is shown in the Ballarpur Industries case. However, the company discovers how it can set things right by managing the expectations of the community and involving it in the CSR effort.
While a case on CSR at the National Thermal Power Corporation provides a glimpse of what a public sector enterprise has achieved in terms of responsiveness to issues relating to project affected land losers, two others explore the question of whether multinationals really care about being socially responsible in developing countries. Case 6 checks out the response of HLL to a case of environmental pollution through its thermometer producing unit in Kodaikanal while Case 8 studies the dilemma of Aviva Life Insurance as to whether to extend the CSR initiatives it follows in other countries to its fledgling operations in India.
The cement industry is potentially polluting. Nevertheless, its development cannot be fettered due to its direct impact on the infrastructure. The Gujarat Ambuja case shows how it is possible for a market leader in this industry to remain on the top even as it addresses various environmental issues like green house gas emissions and dust pollution through innovative practices, technology and policies geared towards sustainable development. Environmental pollution is further explored in cases on hospital waste management at a government hospital in Delhi and green activism by a manufacturer of Ayurvedic medicine against his industrial neighbour. Another case illustrates environmental friendly policies at Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative.
Some companies pursue CSR by putting in place systems that contribute to the field of education since they believe that the future lies in the development of children and their abilities. The Cummins India Foundation (CIF) promotes technical education among women by supporting a women’s engineering college benefiting middle class girls. The CIF also supports education for the needy by supporting an NGO called Door Step School. The case on the Wipro Way of Integrated Learning shows how the Azim Premji Foundation implements its policy on CSR by providing training in innovative techniques to help school teachers to become more effective.
Can a book on CSR ignore the czar of commercial fair play? Of course not. Case 16 puts forward the activities of the Infosys Foundation in the areas of social rehabilitation, education, healthcare and promotion of art and culture, while Case 18 is a case of beautiful minds. Microsign Ltd discovers that differently-abled people are great assets to the company and proceeds to employ them in large numbers. Its faith in them is not misplaced and the company proceeds form strength to strength. In a nation which largely ignores its handicapped, this case provides a live example of commercial success achieved by employing beautiful minds. Other cases touch on business ethics and on CSR and the media.
This book is a fairly large sized tome that might put off the casual reader. However, in one sense its size is an advantage since the eighteen cases included in the book cover a wide variety of situations where CSR is practised in the Indian context. Management teachers can choose the most appropriate cases for classroom discussion depending on the perspective they want to deliver. Most of the cases have thought provoking case-end questions that would help teachers to guide classroom discussions effectively.
Several cases are well written with appendices which contain data relating to the CSR activity whereas a few like The Times of India Samay Samaj Saphaltha could do with some serious editing or outright deletion from the book.
However, this effort will definitely prove beneficial to management institutes that offer courses on CSR which is a topic that will have to be given due importance in the days to come. Some of the initial chapters provide important theoretical inputs on CSR as a discipline and as it is practised in various countries. This combination of theory and practice makes the book a valuable addition to management education.
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