Ethical Success of Corporate India
By
Ekta Jain
Asst Prof
Vidya International School of Business
Meerut (UP)
Ph: 09997208380
E-mail: e.ektajain@rediffmail.com
&
Saurabh Kumar Sigh
Asst Prof
Indraprastha Institute of Management
Saharanpur (UP)
Ph: 09897339725
E-mail: saurabh_singh770@rediff.com
Abstract
God has provided us a beautiful place to live in i.e., Earth. The architect of whole of this
planet has created and carved each of its element so nicely and precisely that he himself
loves to live on it. Human beings the most beautiful and creative creature of this
beautiful creation when started destroying this beautiful creation and its resources
rather than saving them, there arises the need to raise the voice of responsibility to save
our earth and its creatures. Corporate being the most resourceful houses should feel
most cognizant towards this issue. India carries a resonance legacy of thousands of
years and meant for a comprehensive understanding of values and responsibilities.
Culture of a country describes its national ethos which further recommends code of
conduct for its citizens and creates the milieu for business environment. India is always
known for conscientiousness and affability rather than narcissistic and conceited. In the
times when idealism has fallen into disrepute, Indian Business world has marked its
footsteps in the field of ethics and responsibility fulfillment towards the community as a
whole, though a large has to achieve yet.
The paper examines the need of Business world to fulfill their social obligations. What
factors influence corporate to understand their responsibilities towards the society.
What are the areas focused by the business houses. What are the motivations and
support factors provided by the government and the community?
Key words: corporate social responsibility, Ethics, Morals, perception, Organization,
Humanity
Introduction
Humans are the colonized civilians and lives in a society that follows the theory
of give and take. We all are responsible for different people, things etc and vice
versa. Responsibility and ethics is something that makes us humans in the real
sense. But how many of us owe our responsibility properly or even aware of it?
To be socially responsible one has to be responsible first. There should be a
proper understanding of responsibility that to whom we are responsible, why we
should be responsible, and how can we fulfill our responsibilities?
Methodology of The Study
This paper is a literature review on the recent progress made in the field of Social
responsibility in India by examining the following questions:

What is the need of corporate social responsibility?

Why do corporate undertake social responsibility?

What trends are visible in corporate social responsibility globally?

What are the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs?

What steps need to be initiated for women entrepreneurial development in
India?
Corporate Social Responsibility
“Corporate social responsibility is operating a business in a manner which meets
or excels the ethical, legal, commercial & public expectations.”i Society does
have expectations from the business world for its well being. CSR is something
that an organization does to influence the society favorably in which it exists and
grow. It could be in any form like, adoption, sponsorship, scholarships,
preservation of cultural heritage, beautification of cities, maintain schools,
hospitals etc. The theme is to thank and to show a feeling of gratitude towards the
society for what it has taken from it to create wealth.
CSR implies open and transparent business practices based on ethical values,
respect and care for everyone, whether employees, environment or community as
a whole. India is a land of ethics and values Indians believes in fulfilling their
responsibilities, pay respect to elders and affection & care to younger. It is a land
where even water, animals, trees, sun, moon, etc are meant for respect and
worshipped. CSR is not a new concept in Indian scenario; it is the part of its
ancient tradition.
Broadly we can classify CSR into two dimensions:
1) Those who have a contractual relationship with the business directly like
employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers etc
2) Those whose lives are impacted by the behavior of business indirectly like
society, environment.
Business Ethics
Ethics is the “Science of morals”. Business ethics are moral principles that define
right and wrong behavior in the world of business. Business ethics can also be
defined as a set of principles prescribing a behavior code, explaining what is good
and right, bad or wrong. It outlines moral duties and obligations.ii
Business situations are often complex and requires a practical approach. Decision
makers may contradict on what action is ethical for a particular situation.
Managers must evaluate their decisions with different viewpoints as their
decisions affect the community differently.
Indian tradition of Ethics and Responsibility
Spiritualism gushes in the winds of India. As per Indian mythology, man can live
individually but can survive only collectively. Vedantic or psychological
approach deals spiritually with the human nature. Indian philosophers like Swami
Vivekananda, Ramakrishna paramhansa, Swami Dayanand among many others
are the main contributors of modern age of psycho philosophy. Different religions
have defined the same concept differently but with the single motive “well being
of society and its members”.
Jain religion favors a holistic approach to reality through admitting a relativist
view of things. Indian tradition believes in the survival of all form of lives that is
it believes in releasing the living beings from exploitation.
Rigveda spreads the dignified notion “let noble thoughts come from every side”
Loksamgraha as taught in Gita aims at working for good of all without any
proclivity to exclusively for your own sake or for the good of your own people. It
aims working for the benefit of whole community.iii
The great epic Ramayana exposes different characters depicting values and ethics
throughout their lives. Rama, Lakshmana, Bharat, Sita, Hanuman and many
others are the epitome of idealism and values. Maryada Puruhottam Rama , the
hero of the Ramayana always set examples while performing in different roles of
his life, whether, a son, a brother, a husband, a warrior, a friend or a king. Rama’s
character was molded by his parents and teachers.Rama’s younger brother Bharat
refused to become king of Ayodhya as he felt that it was Rama’s right. His second
brother Laxman and wife Sita accompanied in jungle while in exile. These are the
rare examples of relations in the history of mankind that we found on the land of
India.iv
Epic of Mahabharata is composed of numerous stories related to the philosophy of
human relations and their role in the society, governance; judiciary etc. The
Bhagvad Geeta chapters of Mahabharata dwell on human values advocated by
Lord Krishna. He highlights the importance of duty, action, knowledge, wisdom
& spirituality. As per the chapter 2, verse 47 of Bhagvad Geeta advocates that
duty lays in the action (work) and not in its fruit (result). As per the philosophy of
Lord Krishna “the right cause and duty in the interest of humanity and society
justify the means”v
Need of Corporate World to be socially responsible
India is a country of growing and developing economy at a rapid pace. In 2009,
Indian GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP) stood at USD 3.5 trillion
making it the fourth largest economy. India’s service industry accounts for 62.5%
of the GDP while the industrial sector contributes 20% to the GDP.vi
Though Indian economy is showing growth charts it is also facing certain socio
economic problems like poverty, illiteracy, poor infrastructure, etc. India is a
country full of natural resources and knowledgeable personnel but much of its
population is poor because of the increasing gap between rich and poor, leading to
different newer socio economic problems. In such an economy which on one hand
is considered as one of the most varied market at international level or business
world is looking it as one of the most lucrative market and on the other hand it is
still in the process of evolution. CSR really plays a very important and critical in
such an economy.
“Organizations don’t commit crime; they are the people within it.”vii
We all know that organizations are intangible and employees of the organizations
are responsible for its ethical or unethical behavior. This really sounds unethical
to question why to behave ethically? According to me being human should be
enough to behave ethically. Still, some of the reasons could be:

Organizations generate profits from the society.

They utilize different resources of the society

They develop and grow within the society

They exist because of society

CSR enhances Brand loyalty and reputation

CSR boost employee morale

CSR helps in maintaining customer loyalty
Today face of the Business has transformed from the mere objective of profit
making to the wider canvas of concern for society. People as consumers,
employees or just as a part of society are well aware of their rights and obligations
of Business world. Gone are the days when employees were treated only as
machines, Society as a source of resource lender and customer as the needy. With
the development of Management thought and application and globalization
everyone has got wider opportunities, whether for employment, product or
anything else. Today organizations can’t survive or grow in a long run if they
circumvent their responsibility for different factors of the society. It really
involves cost to run business ethically and fulfill social responsibilities, but
organizations experience profits of such investments in long run. Today, we are in
the era of liberalization and Industrial Relation, where relationship matters and
given importance. No doubt Business is meant to earn profits but now a days to
grow and to maintain a brand loyal clientele it is necessary for the Business world
to be socially aware and fulfill their responsibilities towards it and to be
responsible one has to ethical.
Ethical Awareness
To behave ethically one needs to have awareness about ethics. Ethical Awareness
is the capability to perceive and to be sensitive to relevant moral issues that
deserves consideration in making choices that have significant impact on others.
This could be developed through ethics perception and ethics sensitivity.
Perception is to perceive, interpret or visualize the things. Ethic perception is the
capability to see, recognize or discover the ethical dimensions of a situation.
Different people have different perception for different things and similarly ethics
varies person to person and practically it relies on situation.
Training and practice in ethical interpretation can develop ethical awareness by
equipping managers with skills to interpret ethical situations correctly, viably,
adequately and actively.
Ethic sensitivity is the capability to value the relative importance of the ethical
dimensions or features of a situation.viii
Some people may be morally perceptive but morally insensitive. Thus managers
should be trained to develop their perception and sensitivity skills.
Sources of Ethics:

Genetic inheritance: It is the genes present in body inherited by parents
that act as traits followed by the presence of ethics and values in a
person.

Family: “Matru Devo Bhava”. House is the first school and mother acts as
the first teacher for every child. We learn what we see. Morals are taught
in the house by the parents especially mother.

Religion: religion binds people together. It enlightens us with the
knowledge, values and morals.

Philosophical system: They teach us the pleasure of being good. They help
us in developing an understanding for self actualization and self
realization.

Culture: The society within which one grows and develops directly plays a
big role in mounting ethical know-how.

Organization: Place from where one generates its lively hood and
opportunity to grow in professional life have a critical effect on value
building.

Legal system: Rules and regulations of the country from which an
individual belongs also play a source of ethic building in one’s life.
Reasons of being unethical
“There could be no valid reason for being unethical”. There could be no
justification for the wrong act but yes there could be the reasons why modern
society is facing such problems. Some of the may be:

Nuclear Family: Indian tradition of Joint family is losing its glitter.
Children don’t get the learning’s from their grandparents who have the
capability to make them aware of our tradition of sacrifice, respect,
affection, and care for all. Parents don’t find time to spend with their
children; as a result we are losing our values.

Professionalism: acharya devo bhava, ethics and values are inculcated by
the teachers as well. Teachers are treated as God, but their impressions
have also been changed with the time. Teachers have become
professionals, teaching has become a profession rather than responsibility
and duty of shaping the individuals character and to infuse morals in them
to become an ethical person.

Perception difference. What means ethics for one may not be same for the
other.

Environment: Face of the society has been changed. Today people are self
centered. In such a system people find it difficult to remain with the ethics.
They are forced to adjust with their ethics and values to survive and grow.

Materialism: Modern societies tend to create wealth. They are becoming
more money minded.

Competition: Competitiveness to create wealth and urge to become the
best. Today man is facing dual competition, both within oneself and with
the outer world.
Steps to be Ethical
“Act in a way you expect others to act towards you.”
It is not hard to be ethical, what is required is just to understand ourselves, purity
of spirit, sense and respect for our culture and its values and love for nature and
humanity. Managers face ethical dilemma and challenges due to Globalization
and work force diversity
Ethical judgment could be made with the help of Ethics analysis and Ethics
resolution. Ethic analysis is the rational step of moral argumentation and dialogue
designed to identify, interpret, prioritize, and weigh the key resources for
managing and resolving ethics conflict. Ethic resolution is the rational step of
meeting a firm justified decisions and bringing ethics analysis to a final
conclusion.ix
Beauty of being ethical
The spiritual conception of world teaches us to discover the purpose, vision and
plan of God behind this wonderful creation. Nature is full of examples of
fulfilling responsibility and behaving ethically.

It provides a deep satisfaction. When we do something for others it really
provides an inner satisfaction

It enlightens our soul

We feel near to humanity and God.

It brings respects and honor

Sympathy is the human quality and willingness to share feelings of others.

Self-control is the ability and willingness to set limits and control on self
indulgence. It further expands the horizons of self satisfaction and self
realization.

It develops a sense of confidence
Motivation by Government
Though it is a voluntary program, government of different countries including
India are also introducing different schemes to motivate the corporate world to
participate in such activities and fulfill their social responsibilities. Government of
India has proposed several awards to enhance corporate world to fulfill their
responsibility towards society:

Golden Peacock Environment Management Award and Golden Peacock
Award for Corporate Social Responsibilityx

The Tamil Nadu Government has awarded the prestigious Corporate
Social Responsibility Award to Hyundai Motors India Limited for the year
2009-2010. It was facilitated for its philanthropic activities in the areas of
community development, education, road safety and preservation of art,
culture and heritage.xi

The 2010 list of Forbes Asia’s ‘48 Heroes of Philanthropy’ contains four
Indians. According to social enterprise CSR Asia's Asian Sustainability
Ranking (ASR), released in October 2009, India was ranked fourth among
the top ten Asian countries paying increasing importance towards
corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure norms.

In 2009, the government made it mandatory for all public sector oil
companies to spend 2 per cent of their net profits on corporate social
responsibility.

Besides the private sector, the government is also ensuring that the public
sector companies participate actively in CSR initiatives. The Department
of Public Enterprises (DPE) has prepared guidelines for central public
sector enterprises to take up important corporate social responsibility
projects to be funded by 2-5 per cent of the company's net profitsxii

Government everywhere including India use taxation measures to
encourage or discourage the utilization of resources for a particular sector,
area or class of citizens.xiii
Examples from business world
There could be different aspects or factors on which society evaluates a business
entity to be socially responsible. As per the views of Azim Premji, Chairman
Wipro, “Values and ethics are nurtured in the organization by the owner and the
leaders”. Some of them could be:xiv

Is the business complying with the law of land?

Does the business have a sense of propriety?

Do product claims match reality

How forthcoming is the company with information sharing

How does the company handle third party ethics?

How charitable is the company

How does the company reacts when faced with negative disclosures
India has a long tradition of altruistic and community programs. Nearly all
leading companies are involved in CSR activities in one way or other.

Anand Corporate Services Limited
Anand Corporation Services Limited implement its CSR functions in
concepts like ‘Zero Tolerance Zone for Child Labour’, ‘Zero Waste Zone’
using strategies like Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.

Avon Cycle Limited
They adopted the responsibility to provide healthcare solutions to poor and
ignorant
of
India’s
rural
population
at
their
reach.
The
MATAKAUSHALYA DEVI, PAHWA CHARITABLE HOSPITAL run
by the organization formulated a scheme titled 'Celebrated Female Child'
to inspire positive and enduring environment for society's all–consuming
passion for 'sons only' to end.

Mahindra & Mahindra
K.C. Mahindra had a vision to transform the lives of people in India
through education, financial assistance and recognition to them, across age
groups and across income echelon. It promotes education through different
ways mainly by the way of scholarships. The “Nanhi Kali” project has
over 3,300 children under it and the aim to increase the number of Nanhi
Kalis (children) to 10,000 in the next 2 years, by reaching out to the
underprivileged children especially in rural areas

Tata Consultancy Services
The Adult Literacy Program (ALP) was introduced in May 2000 to deal
with the problem of illiteracy. To accelerate the rate of learning, it uses a
TCS-designed Computer–Based Functional Literacy Method (CBFL), an
innovative teaching strategy that uses multimedia software to teach adults
to read within about 40 learning hours.

ITC Limited
Story of CSR initiatives cannot be completed without the e-chaupal venture of
ITC. At e-chaupal farmers can access the latest local and global information on
weather, scientific farming practices, latest market price in their local language.
The initiative taken by ITC to help poor tribal to make their wastelands
productive; investing in rainwater harvesting to bring much-needed irrigation to
parched dry lands; empowering rural women by helping them to evolve as
entrepreneurs; and providing infrastructural support to make schools exciting
for village children. Through all these social activities ITC touches the lives of
nearly 3 million villagers across India.xv
Conclusion
“Samasta Jananaam Sukhino Bhavantu”
It is the moral duty of being a human being that our actions should be guided for
the welfare of the whole community. Many of the problems of the contemporary
society like
domestic
abuse,
violence,
crime,
drug addiction,
verbal
aggressiveness, suicide etc are the results of lack of ethics both individually and
society as a whole. When managers deal with poor work habits, disrespect for
authorities, employee sabotage, sexual harassment, antisocial hostilities, all these
can be viewed as results of lack of self control. Sometimes anger arouse out by
something unjust, mean, intolerable or unworthy act and known as resentment.
Such resentment is caused basically due to unethical act or behavior of others.
Thus we should avoid practicing unethical means.
Ethics is all about conscientious. It is our conscience that enables us to
differentiate between good or bad, right or wrong. They are the internal motives
and impulses, feelings and emotions guided by our beliefs and other factors as
discussed above. There is a lofty need of purification of our soul and thoughts to
practice ethical way of living. Pure and noble emotions when mixed with strong
will and clear vision brings positive vibes creating magic both for the individual
and the society as a whole.
In order to function in an ethical manner, companies should not engage in
business practices that are abusive, unfair, corrupt or anti-competitive. CSR
should become integral parts of overall business policy and aligned with business
goals. Undoubtedly Ethics and CSR requires serious thinking and application
process to shun malpractices our lives and society. It is required to provide an
intellect thought about what is right and wrong. Corporate world need to
understand and appreciate the importance of social responsibility personally and
needs to deviate from the traditional mindset that a company is responsible only
to its shareholders. Time has come to understand the fact that business can survive
in long run only if they ensure the well being of the society in which they activate
their functions.
Suggestions:
Ethics and values are the most important aspect of every society and society is
developed by its members who further join organizations or business world to
exploit their potentialities. Thus how an organization behaves (ethical or
unethical) largely depends on its employees and overall management. Therefore
for organizations to behave ethically or fulfill their social responsibilities it is
really important to produce good human beings. One should learn from its culture
and must respect its traditional values. Religious and spiritual understanding helps
us to be ethical and developing a code of conduct accepted and respected by all.
Some of the Indian philosophies are discuss below to inculcate ethics:

Yoga: It develops a link between the individual and the supreme power
helping in purifying our soul.

Yama : It implies social and ethical discipline in the life. It relies on the
theory that one should not desire things that are not required in one’s life.

Ahimsa : It relies on non violent behavior. Jain religion believes on the
theory of “ Jiyo aur Jeene do”.

Satya : One should believe in truth and accept its importance.

Asteyam : It implies not to steal. One should not have desire for other’s
things.

Brahmacharya : celibacy. One should practice self control.

Aparigraha : It means noncovetousness that is one should minimize his
needs and possession.

Niyama : It is discipline. One should act as per the described code of
conduct.

Pratyagraha : It means control of senses. One should exercise self control
on his desires and wants

Dhyan : Meditation. It helps in self realization and self acceptance. If one
practices prayer and meditation, one can get peace of mind and can earn
wisdom to tolerate the extremes of life.
Greed, ego, pride, jealousy, hatred, selfish and all negativities should be
thrown out of our lives to maintain a peaceful life for self and also for others.
It is evident that our actions affect not only to us but it has a wider affect on
others. Morals are followed and recommended everywhere in the world
despite of national boundaries. Ten Moral Rules given by Gertxvi

Don’t kill

Don’t disable

Don’t deprive of pleasure

Keep your promise

Obey the law

Don’t cause pain

Don’t deprive the freedom

Don’t deceive

Don’t cheat

Do your duty
CSR is a global issue and everyone from any part of the globe understands its
importance and can visualize the difference between the right and wrong act. The
need is to activate the humane aspect sleeping within us. It is vital to promote
human civilizations to understand their obligations towards the society and to act
accordingly to realize the dreams of holistic happiness and holistic rate of growth
for the prosperity of this beautiful creation of God.
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ii C.S.V.Murthy, Business Ethics, Himalaya publishing house, p. 5
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iv
v
Dr. J.R.Bhatti,Total Quality Leadership,New Age international publishers, p.65-66
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vi
http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Business/indian-economy.php
Jack Anderson,” Enron Blame Game Missing Real Target”, Morning Times, March 26, 2002
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xi http://living.oneindia.in/automobiles/auto-news/2010/hyundai-corporate-award-290710.html
vii
viii
xii
xiii
http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi?sfArticleId=2857
Sanjay K.Agarwal, Corporate Social Responsibility in India, Response books, Sage publications, p.218
Azim premji, “Business with a soul, "Business today 14, no.1, January16 2005, p.166
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xvi C.S.V.Murthy, Business Ethics, Himalaya publishing house, p. 88
xiv