LEADERSHIP AND
CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee
11th January, 2013, Mumbai
Defining Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
(Wikipedia)
Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate
conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable
responsible business/ Responsible Business)is a form of corporate
self regulation integrated into a business model CSR policy functions as a
built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and
ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards,
and international norms. CSR is a process with the aim to embrace
responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact
through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees,
communities, stakeholders, and all other members of the public sphere
who may also be considered as stakeholders.
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Corporate India: Drivers of Economic
Growth
The Indian economy has gained a lot from the
role that corporates have been playing. In
recent years they have become:
 Key drivers of economic growth;
 Delivery mechanisms for change;
 Agents of innovation.
Indian corporate houses today are pervasive
and have tremendous reach cutting across
geographies, ethnicities, culture, languages
etc.
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Already a Track Record for Corporates
in CSR
There are many outstanding examples of corporate
CSR activity;
Indian entrepreneurs and business enterprises have
a long tradition of working within the values that
have defined our nation’s character for millennia;
Indian businesses have engaged in philanthropic and
charitable activities even from pre-colonial days;
However, in recent times, organizations in India have
shown both innovation and business acumen in
taking up CSR initiatives and integrating them into
their business processes.
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Development-Centric Agenda for
Indian CSR
Our CSR Agenda should be ours. What we do in CSR
should have a strong Indian orientation and we must
use our CSR initiatives to address our particular
Social, Economic and Environmental challenges;
Quite clearly the challenges of the nation should not
and cannot be borne by government alone;
Mitigation strategies will have to include businesses
with their resources which can be channeled into a
diverse array of programmes to address these
problems and to bring about a sustainable future for
all.
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Synergy among Corporates
There are a large variety of activities/programmes
to which corporates may direct their energies and
indeed many corporates have developed a great
deal of momentum in areas of their choice;
However, these efforts are largely individual;
 There should be a greater synergy among
corporates to address some areas unitedly, for a
greater impact - otherwise resources would be
spread too thin for tangible outcomes to emerge;
Combined efforts will lead to results that will be
both demonstrable and measurable.
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The Purpose of Inclusion of CSR in the
Companies Bill
The CSR provisions of the Bill seek to create
an enabling environment;
They will allow corporates to harness and
channelise their core competencies as well as
develop effective business models;
They will promote and facilitate far better
connect
between
businesses
and
communities.
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The Purpose of Inclusion of CSR in the
Companies Bill {Contd.}
They will facilitate deeper thought and longer
term strategies for addressing some of our
most persistent social, economic and
environmental problems;
They will assist in synergizing partnerships
between Corporates, Governments and Civil
Society Organizations.
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Catalytic Role of the Bill
The Bill also provides great flexibility to
business and industry for strategising and
conducting their CSR initiatives;
Intention of government and purpose of bill
is not to make a rigid structure which will
constrain the creativity and imagination of
the corporates;
It will actually enhance their efforts, provide
an even broader platform and re-energize
their efforts.
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Possible CSR Activities (Schedule VII)
 Schedule VII of The Companies Bill draws attention to
an illustrative list of activities that can be carried out
under the CSR Agenda;
 It could be worthwhile to concentrate our energies on
some aspects of development where tangible results
can be achieved within a relatively short period of
time;
 Some of these areas could be:
 Toilet and Sanitation Facilities
particularly for girls;
 Education Projects;
 Provision of Health Facilities;
 Combating Malnutrition;
 Skill Development.
in
rural
schools,
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Project Mode
Since the Bill contemplates measurability in rupee
terms, corporates may well adopt the Project Mode
to execute their Corporate Social Responsibility
programmes. This would involve:
 Specific Allocation of Financial Resources;
 Baseline Survey;
 Project Preparation;
 Corporate CSR Plan;
 Project Monitoring;
 Impact Assessment;
 Third Party Evaluation.
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National Foundation for Corporate
Social Responsibility (NFCSR)
 Although there is a growing consciousness in the
area of CSR among the Indian companies, there is
a need to bring all the actors together so that they
can collaborate to make a significant impact
towards the national goal of inclusive growth and
development;
The NFCSR has been established at the IICA to
help create a national platform for the corporate
sector to work in partnership with the
Government, Non-Governmental, Civil Society and
local community organizations.
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National Foundation for Corporate
Social Responsibility (NFCSR) {Contd.}
Would be a global gateway and would provide the
following services to corporates in the field of CSR in a
single-window mode:
Knowledge and informational services;
Assistance for formulating CSR projects;
Impact Assessment and Social Audit of CSR projects;
Preparing a cadre of Certified CSR Professionals;
Training and capacity building;
Rating of CSR performance and recognition through
awards;
 Maintaining a Database of good practices;
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 Research, including action research.
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THANK YOU