Abstract
From ancient times, the merchant communities in India were held in high esteem and acclaim for their generous contributions for meeting the needs of society. Religious faith and a high sense of human concern were the initial driving forces that promoted philanthropy as a fair and honest mode of redistribution of individual and business wealth. Some who considered themselves to be privileged and empowered adopted a paternalistic attitude and decided on the directions in which funds or resources are to be deployed for social benefits.
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- 1.
The Sabarmati Aashram was Gandhiji’s residence between 1918 and 1930 and was the nucleus of the Indian independence movement for many years. It was from here that Mahatma Gandhi launched the Salt Satyagraha, popularly known as the Dandi March, in protest of the British Salt Law in 1930. After Indian independence, it has been preserved as a national monument established by the Government of India due to its significance for the Indian independence movement. It receives about 700,000 visitors every year and is a repository of the photocopies of about 34,000 letters written by Gandhiji and about 8,000 photographs and 165 films on him.
- 2.
Porter, Michael and Kramer, Mark (2011), ‘Creating Shared Value: How to reinvent capitalism and unleash a wave of innovation and growth’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 89 (1), pp. 62–77.
- 3.
Statistical details accessed at http://www.ibef.org/india/csr.aspx
- 4.
Shah, Shashank and Ramamoorthy, V.E. (2005), ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: Practices in India’, GITAM Journal of Management, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 90–113.
- 5.
Who Cares Wins: Connecting Financial Markets in a Changing World, The UN Global Compact.
- 6.
Core Strandberg (2005), Thought-leaders Study: The Convergence of Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility.
- 7.
Bonini, Sheila, Brun, Noemie and Rosenthall, Michelle (2009), ‘Valuing corporate social responsibility’, McKinsey Global Survey Results.
- 8.
Shah, Shashank and Ramamoorthy, V.E. (2004), ‘Corporate Social Responsibility–Corporate Governance Interface: A Study of Selected Organizations in India’, SCMS Journal of Indian Management, Vol. 1(4), pp.52–63.
- 9.
These were the same organisations that were studied for their CSR projects and have been listed in Table 7.1.
- 10.
The logic behind this parameter was that individuals who hold directorships of more than three companies may not be able to do justice to their job of monitoring the performance of the organisation and giving valuable feedback and suggesting midcourse corrections.
- 11.
This parameter symbolised active participation in the decision-making process of the corporate organisation. Directors who attend 100 % of the meetings of the board display greater commitment to the organisation and their role as the representatives of the shareholders in monitoring and contributing to the long-term growth, profitability and success of the organisation.
- 12.
Corporate Social Responsibility Handbook, Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2005.
- 13.
The Aditya Birla Group, a US$40 billion Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai and operating in 33 countries with more than 133,000 employees across the globe. The group has business interests in diverse industries such as viscose staple fibre, metals, cement, viscose filament yarn, branded apparel, carbon black, chemicals, fertilisers, insulators, financial services, telecom, BPO and IT services.
- 14.
‘Public Sector Oil Companies Spent Rs. 383.74 Crore During 2011–12 on Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme’, Indiacsr News Network, October 17, 2012; accessed at http://www.indiacsr.in/en/?p=8149&utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+indiacsr%2FjMaQ+%28INDIA+CSR%29
- 15.
In India, public sector organisations are a class of institutions/companies established by the government under its various ministries, to undertake commercial activities on its behalf in various industries. The majority stake in such organisations is held by the government. In many cases, the entity is 100 % owned by the Government of India. In all other cases, the majority stake is held by the government and the rest by various institutions and even individual shareholders. As of 2012, the Government of India administered and controlled over 250 public sector undertakings (PSUs). There are many other companies which are run at the state level by the respective state governments.
- 16.
Navratna was the title given originally to nine Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), identified by the Government of India in 1997 as having comparative advantages, which allowed them greater autonomy to compete in the global market. The Navratna companies could invest up to Rs. 1,000 crore without explicit government approval. The number of PSEs having Navratna status has since been raised to 16.
- 17.
In 2009, the government established the Maharatna status, which raised a PSE’s investment ceiling from Rs. 1,000 crore to Rs. 5,000 crore. The Maharatna firms could decide on investments of up to 15 % of their net worth in a project. As of December 2012, the five Maharatna PSEs included Coal India Ltd., Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., NTPC Ltd., Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd.
- 18.
Details of this study conducted by Dr. Shashank Shah are provided in Appendix 1.
- 19.
All the three issues catered to by the new Act were highlighted as suggestions in the two studies undertaken by us on CSR and on the interface between CSR and Corporate Governance in 2004–2005. These have been included in the first part of this chapter.
- 20.
Nandi, Suresh (2013), ‘PSUs fail to bridge the social responsibility gap’, Deccan Herald, February 11, 2013.
- 21.
Nifty 50 is a stock market index and benchmark index for Indian equity market. It covers 22 sectors of the Indian economy and offers investment managers exposure to the Indian market in one portfolio. It represents about 67.27 % of the free-float market capitalisation of the stocks listed at National Stock Exchange (NSE) as on September 30, 2012. As of November 30, 2012, it consisted of 50 major Indian companies.
- 22.
Somavanshi, KiranKabbta (2012), ‘Listed companies may have to spend Rs. 8,000 crore on Corporate Social Responsibility’, The Economic Times, December 20, 2012.
- 23.
‘Indian Inc questions mandatory CSR’, The Indian Express, New Delhi, December 20, 2012.
- 24.
‘Is the Mandate on CSR Spending by Corporations a Good Idea?’, Business Standard, January 29, 2013.
- 25.
Keynote Address at the Fourth Asian Invitational Conference on Family Business, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India, February 1–3, 2013.
- 26.
- 27.
Valedictory Address at the Fourth Asian Invitational Conference on Family Business, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India, February 1–3, 2013.
- 28.
‘Is the Mandate on CSR Spending by Corporations a Good Idea?’, Business Standard, January 29, 2013.
References
Keys, T., Malnight, T. W., & Kees van der Graf. (2009). Making the most of corporate social responsibility. McKinsey Quarterly, December 2009 Issue.
Porter, M., & Kramer, M. (2011). Creating shared value: How to reinvent capitalism and unleash a wave of innovation and growth. Harvard Business Review, 89(1), 62–77.
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Shah, S., Ramamoorthy, V.E. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility: The Indian Story Comes a Full Circle . In: Soulful Corporations. India Studies in Business and Economics. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1275-1_7
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