CONCEPT PAPER
Project 1
Voluntary CSR – An Entrepreneur’s Perspective
with special reference to Business Units of Bangalore.
Team Members:
1.Prof. Harish G Ugraiah
Introduction:
India’s development sector has evolved substantially over the last few decades and is now
witnessing unprecedented interest and investments across the value chain indicating the consistency
of the economy. A widespread adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices
voluntarily among small business units can have far-reaching implications for the country. Social
responsibility is not necessarily a new concept and is no longer an option but is a key component of
a sustainable business strategy. Social Responsibility is not a short-cut to business success, but an
investment that can pay off in the longer term. By requiring companies, with a minimum net profit
of 5 crore INR, to spend on CSR activities, under the Companies Act, 2013 it is expected that while
micro-enterprises will not qualify, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will. But the
business units that are not covered under this Mandatory CSR, have also been contributing to
society in lot many ways since many years and are exploring all possible ways of giving back to
society. The impact though is not considerable at present, is going to have a better scope in the
coming days. This will usher in a fresh set of challenges to the sector that is increasingly being
expected to comply with environmental and social standards, while remaining competitive in terms
of price and quality. Thus, these smaller units will have to quickly learn to be compliant with these
diverse set of challenges. The tasks like proper and effective assessment of the present status of
these smaller business units, their readiness, challenges and avenues for voluntary Social activities
would certainly result practical proposition in the present situation.
Purpose
An entrepreneur starts his business and earns profits only after selling his products to different
segments in the society. The requirement to make the venture successful is not only entrepreneur’s
business acumen but also right help from right people at right time from his environment. Hence
when an entrepreneur earns profits he gives back to the society in one or the other way, which in
modern days is phrased as Corporate Social Responsibility. The question then is, are businesses
satisfactorily managing to return something to the society around them for having used it as a
platform for their growth? Additionally it needs to be explored whether businesses are voluntarily
doing social activities and forcefully. If that is being practiced, what areas have been opted for
social services and what might come up in future, the quantum of investment made by these firms,
is that quantum sufficient for achieving the right impacts of social services etc.., have to be
assessed. The recent notification by the Central Government making qualifying companies to
mandatorily spend certain fraction of their net profit on CSR activities has increased though not
pressure but expectations on non qualifying firms.
Project Description
This paper attempts to discuss about the voluntary social responsibility, provisions and benefits for
these smaller units, their present status and perception towards Voluntary Social Responsibility
initiatives, challenges on the way, and concludes with some comments on avenues available for
Voluntary Social Responsibility implementations. Methodology opted for the study relies on
Published Research papers, Internet based data, case studies, previous publications or review of
literature and also the responses collected empirically.
Sample Size: A sample size of 100 smaller business units which are not qualified for mandatory
CSR activities has been purposefully selected for the study. The sample size comprises of
manufacturing units, service units, sub-contractors, job-contractors etc..,
Goals and Objectives/Research Questions
1. To study and understand the present status of voluntary contributions of industrial units
towards social causes.
2. To compute the quantum of investments voluntarily made by these units towards social
causes.
3. To identify the limitations and challenges faced by these units in voluntary contributions.
4. To identify and propose avenues and provisions in voluntary contributions towards society,
to achieve better mileage.
Period of the study: The period of the study is six months from July 15 to Dec 2015.
Tools for data Analysis: Based on the nature of the data, Parametric and non-parametric tests
will be performed.
Timelines:
Month
July
July
Aug
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Nov
Dec
Dec
Week
1,2 &3
4
1,2,
3,4
12,3,4
1,2,3,4
Proposed Plan
Research proposal :Title finalization and submission of synopsis
Review of literature on finalized topic
Indentifying the research gap Preparation of Research design,
Questionnaire Design, Pilot testing
Collection of both Primary as well as Secondary data-Visits the
indentified Business Units, Meet the experts
1,2,3
4
1,2,3
4
Data analysis
Writing of Article
Fine tuning the article
Finalization and forwarding for publication
Limitations
The study is confined to Business Companies in and around the City of Bangalore.
The quality of the study depends purely upon the accuracy, reliability and quality of the responses
provided by the respondents.
The data collected may be biased.
Contact Information - Name, Contact info, e-mail, cellphone.
Prof. Harish G Ugraiah, Associate Professor, harishgu@pes.edu, 9845550559