Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal

Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in

India: A Study of Top 500 Companies
Richa Gautam and Anju Singh
Industrial Safety & Environment Management Group, National Institute of
Industrial Engineering (NITIE), India

Abstract
Purpose -The purpose of this study is to explore the various definitions and descriptions of
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); elaborate upon development of CSR in India; study the
theoretical concepts expounded by various researchers and study the deployment of current
CSR practices in India. This paper examines how India’s top 500 companies view, and conduct
their CSR, identifies key CSR practices and maps these against Global Reporting Initiative
standards.
Design/methodology/approach -It is a cross sectional study which is exploratory in nature.
It involved secondary data collection and use of content analysis technique to assess CSR
practices of companies operating in India.
Findings -The main findings of the study are that CSR is now presented as a comprehensive
business strategy, arising mainly from performance considerations and stakeholder
pressure. Companies consider their interaction with stakeholders and impact of its business
on society as significant issues. CSR policies vary with turnover and profit. The study
suggests that business and CSR strategy appear to be on a convergent path, towards
business and CSR integration across the company. Out of the top 500 companies, 229 did
not report on CSR activities and were therefore filtered. 49% of the remaining 271
companies were reporting on CSR. Many companies are making token gestures towards
CSR and only a few companies have a structured and planned approach. Several companies
spread their CSR funds very thinly across many activities. Every company defines CSR in
their own ways as per their needs. CSR is on an upward learning curve and is primarily
driven by philanthropy.
Practical implications -The study clearly maps the CSR performance of 500 top Indian
companies against GRI standards. This paper will be useful to any Indian company in
understanding more about its shortcomings and opportunities.
Originality/value -This is the first time that such an exhaustive study has been carried out
based on Indian companies. It gives a perspective on how top companies in India view and
conduct CSR.
Keywords:Corporate social responsibility, Indicators, Community Paper
type: Research Paper

Introduction
The broad rationale for a new set of ethics for corporate decision making, which clearly
constructs and upholds a organization’s social responsibility, arises from the fact that a
business enterprise derives several benefits from society, which must, therefore, require
the enterprise to provide returns to society as well. This, therefore, clearly establishes
the stake of a business organization in the good health and well being of a society of
which it is a part. More importantly, in this age of widespread communication and
growing emphasis on transparency, the managers should help their company in
development of a CSR management and reporting framework.

GBMR Vol. 2, No.

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The more the concepts of CSR are fostered and integrated into the business process, the easier
it will be to benefit from alternative thinking and perhaps handle the occasional problems that
for certain will occur. The more integrated the business process within the value chain, the
more opportunity there will be for organizations to influence the approaches of others on
whom they depend. The concept of CSR includes the openness or transparency of companies as
well as taking into consideration the will and expectations of their stakeholders.
Social responsibility means a doctrine that claims that an entity whether it is government,
Private Corporation or public organization has a responsibility to society. CSR is a concept
that reduces costs and risks, increases the brand value and reputation, effectiveness and the
efficiency of employees, improves transparency, and clarity in the working environment of
the business house.
In early 1950’s & 60’s the literature was not heavily represented in CSR discourse.
However, this decade ‘marked a significant growth in attempts to formalize, or more
accurately, state what CSR means’ (Carroll, 1999). According to Carroll, “CSR
encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations
that society has of organizations at a given point in time.”
Some of the most prominent writers during that time were Keith Davis, Joseph W McGuire,
William C Frederick and Clarence C Walton. Frederick wrote that ‘Social responsibility in the
final analysis implies a public posture toward society’s economic and human resources and a
willingness to see that those resources are used for broad social ends and not simply for the
narrowly circumscribed interests of private persons and firms’(Carroll 1999)
Howard Bowen in 1953 argued that since social institutions shaped economic outcomes it was
to be expected that business firms as an economic outcome of societal interests should consider
the social impact of business activity. According to Bowen, “CSR refers to the obligations of
businessmen to pursue those policies to make those decisions or to follow those lines of relations
which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society.” CSR implies some sort
of commitment, through corporate policies and action. This operational view of CSR is
reflected in a firm’s social performance, which can be assessed by how a firm manages its
societal relationships, its social impact and the outcomes of its CSR policies and actions (Wood,
1991). Social reporting and social audits are examples of how firms can assess their social
performance. In 1960’s Keith Davies argued that CSR refers to ‘the firm’s consideration of,
and response to, issues beyond the narrow economic, technical and legal requirements of the
firm’ (Davies, 1973). Frederick 1960 stated ‘Social responsibility means that businessmen
should oversee the operation of an economic system that fulfills the expectations of the people.
And this means in turn that the economy’s means of production should be employed in such a
way that production and distribution should enhance total socio-economic welfare’ (Fredrick,
1960). Thus, the definitions of CSR in 1960’s were an attempt to link society and businesses,
defining society in broadest terms.
In 1970’s there was one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and
engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game,
which is to say, engage in open and free competition, without deception or fraud. The idea and
inclusion of stakeholder began to appear. Harold Johnston 1971 stated that ‘a socially responsible
firm is one whose managerial staff balances a multiplicity of interests instead of striving only for
larger profits for its stockholders. A responsible enterprise also takes into account employees,
suppliers, dealers, local communities, and the nation. Carroll 1979 offered the following definition
of CSR. The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and
discretionary (or philanthropic) expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in
time (Turner, 2006).European Commission described CSR as “a concept whereby companies
integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction
with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis”. World Business

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Council for Sustainable Developmentdefined CSR as“the continuing commitment by business

to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life
of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.”
In 80s & 90s there were fewer definitions but more efforts to measure and conduct research for
the purpose of operationalizing CSR. New concepts which were closely related to CSR were
introduce; stakeholder theory, business ethics, corporate governance, responsiveness,
corporate social performance, and corporate citizenship. These concepts are closely related but
not identical. Lee 1997 stated CSR refers to a company’s commitment to operate in an
economically and environmentally sustainable manner, while acknowledging the interests of a
variety of stakeholders and maximizing economic, social and environmental value. It is holistic
concept that can mean different things to different groups and stakeholders. Gray, Owen, &
Maunders in 1987 defined CSR as “the process of communicating the social and environmental
effects of organizations economic actions to particular interest groups within society and to
society at large”. Similarly, Perks 1993 defined corporate social reporting as “the disclosure of
those costs and benefits that may or may not be quantifiable in money terms arising from
economic activities and substantially borne by the community at large or other stakeholders”.
A term ‘corporate social innovation’ was first introduced by Rosabeth Moss Canter in 1999
who argues that firms should use social issues as a learning laboratory for identifying
unmet needs and for developing solutions that create new markets. Large corporations
began to go public about corporate social responsibilities and publish some of their efforts,
but they also made public that ‘any approach to corporate responsibility must begin with
the practical recognition that the corporation must be profitable enough to provide
shareholders a return that will encourage continuation of investment’ (Wilson, 2000).
Another trend appearing in literature is the increasing dialogue between stakeholders.
Companies are augmenting their discussions with labor unions, environmental groups and
other relevant stakeholders and the implementation of certification solutions by
corporations, which is the establishment of codes of conduct (Kapstein, 2001), monitoring
and reporting. Kingston and Wagner 2004 suggest that leadership on sustainability and
CSR are important to set priorities and to ensure that commitments are achieved.
Bebbington et al.(2008) use the term CSR reporting, which highlights the link between the
reporting function and the organizational functions and operations that are concerned with,
and impacted by, activities associated with CSR. CSR and CSR (or sustainability) reporting
are inextricably intertwined across an organization, and at various levels, impact on strategic
planning, governance, stakeholder engagement, risk management, decision making, data
collection and management systems, performance measurement, performance management,
public relations and communications. The CSR movement was an early response to an article
published in 1970 by Friedman stating that ‘social responsibility of business is to increase its
profits’. CSR has emerged as the business issue of the 21st century and has been studied for
over 50 years. To this day academics do not have a consensus on its definition (Wood, 1991;
Carroll, 1991). Bowen’s definition of social responsibility of businessmen was ‘it refers to the
obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies to make those decisions, or to follow those
lines of relations which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society
(Carroll, 1999). Due to Bowen’s concern with social responsibility and his leadership role in the
topic, Bowen should be seen as father of CSR.
The main drivers for CSR have been the shrinking role of government, demands for
greater disclosure, increased customer interest, growing investor pressure, competitive
labor markets, and supplier relations. The companies enjoy several benefits like improved
financial performance, lower operating costs, enhanced brand image and reputation,
increased sales and customer loyalty, product safety, material recyclability, and greater use
of renewable resources etc.

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Codes / Standards / Principles on CSR

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Adopted by United Nations, this declaration
paved way for many international human rights standards for all sectors entities.
UN Global Compact: An international multi-constituent, voluntary initiative based on
internationally accepted ten principles in pursuit of a more sustainable inclusive global economy.
The ten principles covers human rights forced labor, child labor, environmental challenges and
responsibility, non discrimination, freedom of associations, collective bargaining, corruption, etc.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): Since its founding in 1997, the GRI has been addressing the
need for standardized approaches to corporate sustainability reporting. In 2006, GRI published
Version 3.0 (G3) of its Sustainability Reporting Guidelines emphasizing performance indicators,
which contain a separate section titled “Human Rights” with nine performance indicators.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): OECD guidelines
contains recommendations on core labor, environmental standards, human rights, competition,
taxation, science and technology combating corruption and safe guarding, consumer rights.
Social Accountability 8000:‘SA 8000’ standard for social accountability, created in 2000 by
the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency (CEPAA). SA8000 developed by
an international coalition of businesses, trade unions and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) on the basis of International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions - the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN convention on the Rights of the Child.
The SA8000 code of practice is broken down into nine key areas child labor, management
systems, working hours, compensation, disciplinary practices, forced labor, health &
safety, freedom of association & collective bargaining and discrimination.
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI): A set of global best practice principles for
responsible investment. It provides a framework for achieving better long term investment
returns and more sustainable markets.
Equator Principle: Equator principle is a set of environmental and social benchmarks for
managing environmental and social issues in development project finance globally. They
were developed by private sector banks- led by Citigroup, ABN AMRO, Barclays and
WestLB and were launched in June 2003.
Role of International Labor Organization (ILO): ILO seeks the promotion of social justice and
internationally recognized human and labor rights. It formulates international labor standards in
the form of conventions and recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labor rights.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000: ISO an International Standard
setting body is developing a new standard on Social Responsibility namely ISO 26000 to be
published in Nov., 2009. ISO 26000 is intended for use by all types of organizations and in all
countries and to assist organization to operate in a socially responsible manner.
Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS) Standard: OHSAS 18001 is
applicable to any organization which aims to establish a health and safety management
system at work.

CSR in Asia
In Asia, the concept of CSR is taking firm hold. Like India, there are a number of good examples of
alliances and networks promoting the essence of CSR amongst businesses and the general public
alike. Partners in Change of the South Asian Alliance for Responsible Business: building networks
and alliances in the South Asia region, Partners in Change is a founder member of South Asian
Alliance for Responsible Business (SARB), in partnership with CII. SARB seeks to further the
cause of CSR in South Asia. The group comprises participants from Nepal, Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lank and is in the process of developing a CSR Self-Appraisal Toolkit for use
by corporate sector. The larger stakeholder and intermediary consultation which this

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exercise would entail is being affected through an e-group route. CSR Asia was founded in Hong
Kong in 2004 to provide information and develop tools for CSR in the Asia-Pacific Region. CSR
Asia, in association with its partners (such as Centre for Social Markets, CSR in China, etc.),
publishes specialized reports, provides training and education on CSR issues, facilitates stakeholder
dialogues and undertakes customized contract research for multinational and NGO clients. CSR
Asia also informs people about CSR issues as they arise through their daily internet news service,
online news database and online weekly CSR Asia Newsletter.

The Asia-Pacific CSR Group

The Asia Pacific CSR Group was launched in July 2004, bringing together 9 CSR organizations
in the region. Members of the Asia Pacific CSR Group engage in active learning exchanges and
practices, networking and sharing of information with the aim of supporting each other to
achieve the vision of the members or goals of the group. Goals include the recognition of
standards and benchmarks that may commonly apply like governance as well as good business
practices in the fields of environmental protection/conservation, equitable human resource
management amongst others. The Group plans to undertake a study of a CSR Index for the
region to raise the level of CSR across the region and facilitate and enhance consumer
confidence through acceptable benchmarks.

CSR in India
CSR History
India has a long rich history of close business involvement in social causes for national
development. In India, CSR is known from ancient time as social duty or charity, which
through different ages is changing its nature in broader aspect, now generally known as CSR.
From the origin of business, which leads towards excess wealth, social and environmental issues
have deep roots in the history of business. India has had a long tradition of corporate
philanthropy and industrial welfare has been put to practice since late 1800s. Historically, the
philanthropy of business people in India has resembled western philanthropy in being rooted
in religious belief. Business practices in the 1900s that could be termed socially responsible took
different forms: philanthropic donations to charity, service to the community, enhancing
employee welfare and promoting religious conduct. Corporations may give funds to charitable
or educational institutions and may argue for them as great humanitarian deeds, when in fact
they are simply trying to buy community good will. The ideology of CSR in the 1950s was
primarily based on an assumption of the obligation of business to society.
In initial years there was little documentation of social responsibility initiatives in India.
Since then there is a growing realization towards contribution to social activities globally
with a desire to improve the immediate environment (Shinde, 2005). It has also been found
that to a growing degree companies that pay genuine attention to the principles of socially
responsible behavior are also favored by the public and preferred for their goods and
services. This has given rise to the concept of CSR.
After Independence, JRD Tata who always laid a great deal of emphasis to go beyond conducting
themselves as honest citizens pointed out that there were many ways in which industrial and
business enterprises can contribute to public welfare beyond the scope of their normal activities. He
advised that apart from the obvious one of donating funds to good causes which has been their
normal practice for years; they could have used their own financial, managerial and human
resourced to provide task forces for undertaking direct relief and reconstruction measures. Slowly,
it began to be accepted, at least in theory that business had to share a part of the social overhead
costs of. Traditionally, it had discharged its responsibility to society through benefactions for
education, medical facilities, and scientific research among other objects. The important change at
that time was that industry accepted social responsibility

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as part of the management of the enterprise itself. The community development and social
welfare program of the premier Tata Company, Tata Iron and Steel Company was started
the concepts of “Social Responsibility.” (Gupta, 2007)
The term corporate social performance was first coined by Sethi (1975), expanded by
Carroll (1979), and then refined by Wartick and Cochran (1985).In Sethi’s 1975 three-level
model, the concept of corporate social performance was discussed, and distinctions made
between various corporate behaviors. Sethi’s three tiers were ‘social obligation (a response
to legal and market constraints); social responsibility (congruent with societal norms); and
social responsiveness (adaptive, anticipatory and preventive) (Cochran, 2007).
The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed a swing away from charity and traditional
philanthropy towards more direct engagement of business in mainstream development and
concern for disadvantaged groups in the society. This has been driven both internally by
corporate will and externally by increased governmental and public expectations (Mohan,
2001). This was evident from a sample survey conducted in 1984 reporting that of the amount
companies spent on social development, the largest sum 47 percent was spent through company
programs, 39 percent was given to outside organizations as aid and 14 percent was spent
through company trusts (Working Document of EU India CSR, 2001). In India as in the rest of
the world there is a growing realization that business cannot succeed in a society which fails.
An ideal CSR has both ethical and philosophical dimensions, particularly in India where there
exists a wide gap between sections of people in terms of income and standards as well as socio-
economic status (Bajpai, 2001).
According to Infosys founder, Narayan Murthy, ‘social responsibility is to create maximum
shareholders value working under the circumstances, where it is fair to all its stakeholders,
workers, consumers, the community, government and the environment’. Commission of
the European Communities 2001 stated that being socially responsible means not only
fulfilling legal expectations, but also going beyond compliance and investing ‘more’ into
human capital, the environment and the relation with stakeholders(Bajpai, 2001). Over the
time four different models have emerged all of which can be found in India regarding
corporate responsibility (Kumar et al., 2001).
CSR needs to be understood within this context captured in the development oriented CSR
framework given below:

Table 1: The four models of Corporate Responsibility (Arora & Puranik 2004)
Focu
Model s Champions
Ethical Voluntary commitment by companies to public welfare M.K Gandhi
ownershi requirement
Statist State p and legal s determine Jawahar Lal Nehru
Corporate
responsibility
Corporate limite
Liberal responsibilities d to private owners Milton Friedman
(shareholders)
Stakeholder Companies respond to the needs of stakeholders- R. Edward Freeman
customers, employees, communities, etc.

CSR Initiatives:
Industry Association Initiative:Leading Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India are
traditionally active in social and environmental norms. Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FICCI), CII works closely in partnership with Government. CII in
partnership with UNDP set up India Partnership Forum to promote multi stakeholders approach
to CSR. Social Development Council (SDC) set up by CII, ensures corporate participation in social
development and provides an institutional base for social activities of the corporate sector.
Progress, Harmony and Development chambers of commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has major

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interventions in family welfare and rural development. Associated Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) through their members provided drinking water in 110 villages by
1996 on occasion of its platinum Jubilee. Bombay Chambers of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)
have been consistently on issues of populations and civic conditions in Mumbai.

Company Initiatives: An internet-based survey was conducted to understand the

philosophy & deployment of CSR as practiced (innovatively and in a sustained manner) for
National and International organizations.

Roundtables and Networks in India:Corporate Roundtable on Development of Strategies

for the Environment and Sustainable Development - Business Council for Sustainable
Development (CoRE-BCSD) of India is a grouping of Indian corporate trying collectively
and individually to build in sustainable development concepts into their operations. The
British Council’s CSR Network: Towards promoting CSR and generating awareness and
interest amongst young future business leaders.

CSR Surveys:In the context of India, CSR studies were few and limited. Singh and Ahuja 1983
conducted the first study in India on CSR of 40 Indian public sector companies for the years
1975-76 and found that 40 percent of the companies disclosed more than 30 percent of total
disclosure items included in their survey. Raman (2006) used content analysis technique to
examine the chairman’s message section in the annual reports of the top 50 companies in India
to identify the extent and nature of social reporting. This study concluded that the Indian
companies placed emphasis on product improvements and development of human resources
(Raman, 2006). According to a survey done by Partners in Change 2000, which covered 600
companies and 20 CEOs for judging Corporate Involvement in Social Development in India 85
percent agreed that companies need to be socially responsible; only 11 percent companies had a
written policy; over 60 percent of the companies were making monetary donations; health,
education and infrastructure were most supported issues.
From 2000 onwards, 4 important surveys have been conducted, which give significant macro
level conclusions about Indian corporate. The first and second surveys were carried out in 2001
and 2002 by Business Community Foundation for TERI-Europe. The survey sought to explore
the perception of workers, company executives and general public about social, economic and
environmental responsibilities. It was found that all companies irrespective of size or sector
have awareness of CSR and its potential benefits. Many companies were collaborating with
NGOs, have labor and environmental policy guidelines in place.
A third survey was jointly conducted in 2002 by CII, United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), British Council (BC) and Price Water Coopers (PWC). The most
striking features of the responses to the survey is that the respondents are in near
unanimity that CSR is very much a part of the domain of corporate action and the passive
philanthropy is no longer sufficient. A significant proportion of respondents, recognize
CSR as the mean to enhance long-term stake holder value.
The fourth survey, the Karmyog CSR rating 2007-08 is for the largest 500
companies.Karmayogis a platform for the Indian non-profit sector providing research on
CSR activities of Indian companies. It rated the 500 largest Indian Companies based on
theirCSR activities. The companies were rated on 0 to 5 levels based on criteria’s like
products & services, reach of CSR activities, expenditure on CSR, harmful processes etc.

CSR Study
Karmayog’s research (fourth survey) was kept as base & further research was extended to
find out the current scenario of CSR activities in India. For this, firstly the social aspects by

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organizations like OHSAS, GRI, and ISO etc were streamlined for compilation & better
understanding.Then, a list of 500 companies taken by Karmayog from Dun & Bradstreet’s 2006
edition of ‘India’s Top 500 companies’ was made. Karmayog rated these companies on a ‘0-5’ scale
based on information from the company’s website and latest annual report. Out of 500 companies,
229 companies got a ‘0’ rating and thus were filtered out for not showing any CSR activity or
producing cigarettes/tobacco products &liquor. For the rest 271 companies annual reports / CSR
reports were downloaded & its content analysis was done. It was found that around 26 companies
are reporting on environment in the name of CSR. These were dropped out from the list, so a final
list of 245 companies was obtained on which the further work was performed like downloading
CSR related reports from the websites and studying the same, etc.
The assessment of 245 companies was done by mapping their reported aspects against the 18
GRI social aspects which are globally accepted & most widely used. The GRI social aspects
were clubbed as Society Performance Indicators, Human Rights Performance Indicators,
Labor Practice & decent work Indicators, and Product Responsibility indicators. The CSR
reports (245 companies) were thoroughly examined & its content analysis was done to find out
the use of GRI aspects, CSR initiatives & special innovations. A binary code of ‘0’&‘1’ was
allocated for ‘not using’&‘using’ the particular indicator respectively. The assessment was
based on four criteria: the social indicators tracked by the company, the innovativeness in CSR
on a 5 point scale, linkage of CSR initiatives to business, and focus area of CSR in each
company. The results have been presented graphically in Table 2.

Table 2: Flowchart depicts step wise methodology used for carrying out the study

List of ‘India’s Top 500 companies’ from Dun &

Bradstreet’s 2006 taken by Karmayog

Karmayog rated these Top 500 companies on 0-5

scale in the year 2007

Karmayog ratings (0 to 5) were considered ONLY

for filtering the 500 companies for this study

229 companies with ‘0’ rating were filtered out

Remaining 271 company’s latest CSR reports

were downloaded from company’s website

Content analysis was done

26 others reporting on environment instead of

CSR were further filtered out

Final list of 245 companies was obtained

18 GRI social aspects were mapped against the

list of companies reporting on them

The results were graphical represented &

conclusions were drawn for India

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Observations
It was observed that 46% companies got zero rating (no reporting), around 8% scored 3/5 & 4/5
Karmayog rating (Table 3). Around 49% companies out of 500 largest Indian companies were
reporting on CSR. Most of the companies report on donations, renovating schools in villages, mid
day meals etc. It is expected from a company to at least spend a minimum of 0.2% of income on
CSR activities annually. But in most reports there is no mention of the amount spent in any of their
balance sheets or annual reports. Well defined expenditure on CSR has been shown by very few
companies. Companies reach for CSR activities was also unsatisfactory in the sense only 25%
companies CSR activities were for employees & rest were focusing on vicinity & society at large.
Many companies are only making token gestures towards CSR in tangential ways such as donations
to charitable trusts or NGOs, sponsorship of events, etc. believing that charity and philanthropy
equals to CSR. Most companies use CSR as a marketing tool to further spread the word about their
business, for instance, donation of a token amount to some cause on purchase of a particular
product. The fact that companies are hiring advertising agencies for their CSR further highlights
this. Companies hesitate to state the processes followed by them, the damage caused by these
processes, and the steps taken to minimize this damage.

Reporting on GRI aspects

250
No. of companies
200

150

100

50

Figure 1: Graph depicting reporting on GRI aspects by Indian Companies

Very few companies have a clearly defined CSR philosophy. Most implement their CSR in
an adhoc manner, unconnected with their business process. Most companies spread their
CSR funds thinly across many activities, thus somewhere losing the purpose of undertaking
that activity. Special CSR initiatives were taken by some companies like structured CSR
etc. Generally speaking, most companies seem either unaware or don’t monitor their
company’s CSR. However, all companies can be considered to be an upward learning
curve with respect to CSR.The overall approach still seems to be driven by philanthropy
rather than integrating it with business as has been happening in the west.

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Table 3: Summary of CSR Ratings of top 500 companies

Karmayog CSR Rating No. of Companies Companies with given rating

0/5 231 46%
1/5 92 18%
2/5 138 28%
3/5 35 7%
4/5 4* 1%
5/5 0 0
Total 500 100%
* HDFC, Infosys, Tata Steel, Titan Industries

The results suggest that CSR is often guided by the commitment of the top management. With
compliance and enforcement slack, employee’s care is just employers’ benevolence,
environment care and total quality management are driven by market forces and legislation,
CSR is considered as an additional activity of Human relation and public relation department.
Table 4 provides a glimpse of CSR focus areas and methodology adopted by 30 companies.

Conclusion
Business houses all over the world are realizing their stake in the society and engaging in
various social and environmental activities. The need of the hour is to formulate effective
strategic policies and adopt various instruments according to the company history, its
content, peculiarity in relationship with its different stakeholders so that CSR can be best
implemented towards its goals – sustained environmental, social and economic growth.
This research explores the existing literature available on CSR. The literature review shows trends,
definitions starting from the early days of 1950s when CSR was in its budding stage. As of now, the
trends have changed and CSR affects not only the company’s reputation and goodwill but also
govern the financial performance. It was analyzed that the reporting practices range from the very
sophisticated and well-established system to “a brief mention of CSR” in the annual report. CSR
reporting will continue to improve globally, but the information it contains would need to be
standardized. A feature noticed in the development of CSR reporting is the influence of several
international and local organizations with different frameworks, indices, directives and initiatives
etc. Many of these initiatives are voluntary but are likely to hinder rather than assist the
development in the reporting systems. India’s markets continue to exhibit a profusion of negative
externalities where the costs of resource use, environmental degradation, or community disruption
are neither paid by those who incur them nor are reflected in actual prices. Today’s economic
framework gives little encouragement for companies to consider the long-term – the essence of true
sustainable development.
There are several companies in India involved in diverse issues such as healthcare,
education, rural development, sanitation, microcredit, and women empowerment. Analysis
of several surveys in India suggest that though many companies in India have taken on
board the universal language of CSR, CSR seem to be in a confused state. Individual
companies define CSR in their own limited ways and contexts. The end result being that all
activities undertaken in the name of CSR are mainly philanthropy, or an extension of
philanthropy. It seems that CSR in India has been evolving in domain of profit
distribution. There is a need to increase the understanding and active participation of
business in equitable social development as an integral part of good business practice.

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Table 4: The CSR focus, methodology, and impact and business linkage of 30 companies

Company Type Focus Area Business Methodology Adopted Impact

Linkage
Bajaj Auto Auto Development of weaker Indirect Trust Undertakes long-term projects in Community
sections of society rural areas. Development
Castrol Chemic Strengthens link Rehabilitation of earthquake affected Community
between business & Indirect victims in Gujarat.
India als Service
social investments Castrol Drive for Safety Initiative
College establishment
Sharing wealth and Nanhi Kali (underprivileged girl child)
Mahindra & Auto- 1% Profit after tax for CSR activities Community
prom ote primary Indirect
Mahindra mobile Free education for girls Development
education
Lifeline Express: medical facility
Free surgeries
Infosys Foundation provide medical
facilities to remote rural areas, organizing
Support and encourage novel pension schemes and aiding Successfully
Infosys IT Indirect orphans and street children and rural implemented
underprivileged sections
education program titled “A library for projects
every school”, Human Capital
Education index for its employees
Through “e-choupal” organizing farmers
“Citizen First” into water user groups that plan and build
watershed development water-harvesting structures Supplier and
program ; Primary education
ITC FMCG Indirect community
Empowering Farmers; Livestock development
development
Greening Wastelands Social forestry
and Irrigating dry lands Integrated watershed development
First to be certified SA 8000 standard
Enhancing shareholder Eco Friendly approach; Community
Create awareness on HIV/AIDS; and
Engg. value and responsibility Service and
L&T Indirect waste minimization, Health
for welfare of society at environment
One of the first corporate to launch
large protection
HIV/AIDS program
Establishment of Sundesh , NGO
Programs for ecological regeneration &
Pharma Give back some part of protection of endangered plant species RM Supplier
Dabur India what Dabur has gained Indirect Promoting health and hygiene amongst
FMCG development
from community the underprivileged through Trust and
Create environmental awareness amongst
young minds
Benefited
Adopted 56 villages and provided over 80,000
infrastructure for schools for physically people.
Community and challenged children near its units
BHEL Engg. Direct Launched wind electric generators, solar Minimize
Product development
heating systems, solar photovoltaic environmental
systems, solar lanterns and battery impact of
powered road vehicles fossil energy
products,
Through “Green Millennium” campaign
Engg. “Improve the quality of planted 1.5 million surviving trees Settling
Tata Steel life of the communities Indirect Through Employment Generation, Sustainability
/Metal
 it serves.” Building people, education, health and Standards
hygiene
Through trust:
Learning Enhancement Provide rehabilitation to survivors of Community
W ipro IT Indirect natural calamities and
Disaster rehabilitation Service
Enhancing learning abilities of children
from underprivileged sections.
Through W ater Conservation, Natural
Integrated communities refrigerants replaced ozone depleting. Environment
Nestle India FMCG where it runs industrial Indirect Also include Nutrition & health projects, protection and
and commercial agricultural assistance, education and community
operations training, arts and culture, HIV/AIDS services
prevention and donations

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 Vol. 2, No. 1 Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal

Company Type Focus Area Business Methodology Adopted Impact

Linkage
Finan- Empower millions Through initiatives Community
ICICI economically & socially Direct Give India; Shop; Volunteer; and Info
cial development
challenged Indians. change.
Colgate - Colgate care for the Free oral care education Through Community
FMCG community where they Direct
Palmolive different community programs development
live & work
W adia Group
Britannia Community conscious, Welfare of its workers through trust Employee
FMCG desire to share Direct development
Industries Health care facilities
prosperity with Support
community.
Petroche Community Through Health, Rain water harvesting, Community
BPCL m- Indirect Infrastructure development, education,
development services
-icals HIV Health care and prevention.
Promoting education,
housing, social Employees’
Engg & upliftment, Three Foundations/Trusts to contribute to involvement
Godrej conservation, Indirect Social, Environmental, and in Group’s
FMCG
population management Educational causes. philanthropic
and relief of natural efforts.
calamities
Through “Aditya Birla Centre for
Community Initiatives and Rural
Textile Social and economic Development”.
Grasim Engg development of the Indirect Includes education, Health & family Community
Industries Chemic communities in which welfare, Sustainable development & Development
als we operate livelihood & agriculture & watershed
development, Infrastructure development
& Social causes
Cipla Foundation Through Dr. K. A. Community
Cipla Pharma Cipla Care Direct Hamied Institute & Cipla Cancer
service
Palliative Care Centre
Through donations of time, money and
goods.
Johnson & Pharma Support good works and Women’s and Children’s Health Community
Direct Community Responsibility
Johnson FMCG charities. Services
Access to Care
Advancing Health Care Knowledge
Global Public Health
Through Integrated Rural Development
Do something for Centre including :
Hospital, Sports complex,
Auto- community from whose Community
Hero Honda Indirect Vocational Training Centre,
mobile land we generate our development
Adult Literacy Mission ,
wealth
Marriages of underprivileged girl,
Rural Health Care
Through launch of International
Narrowing the digital Women’s Month uplifting Indian women, Community
NIIT IT Direct Computer literacy.
divide across the world, services
Developed I-Learn
Create awareness about AIDS
Zee Enter- being successful is to be Direct Public Service Ads / Fillers telecast to Community
Telefilms tainment socially responsible date are: Campaigns on TV Service
 Through Environmental:
Water Usage
Dr Reddy’s Prosperity of Energy Usage Environmenta
Pharma communities integral to Direct Wastewater Discharge
Lab l Protection
success of companies COD & TDS Load Discharge
HW-hazardous waste disposal
GHG emissions
Satyam Contributing to the Specific services through various Community
Computer IT well-being and Indirect
development projects Service
Service development of society

52
 Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal

Company Type Focus Area Business Methodology Adopted Impact

Linkage
Novartis Pharma Treatment for Leprosy Direct Free Multi Drug therapy. Cured 4.5 Community
million patients services
Flexible Global Global delivery model: Global 35 Countries
TCS IT business practices Indirect deployment & delivery of high value
benefited
services
Community
services
Financia Rehabilitation Benefited
Women empowerment statesAP, TN,
Citi group l Direct Education
Karnataka,
services Health
Kerala,
Maharashtra,
MP
Rehabilitation &
Resettlement policy,
NTPC Power community work, Direct Founded Global Compact Society for Community
gender equality, Policy India in 2003 services
of grant of paternity
leave,
AIDS awareness
Community Education
Medical facilities and health Community
SAIL Manuf. development Direct
Development of small scale/ancillary development
industries
Agriculture, poultry, fisheries
Poverty Alleviation Asian CSR award for Integrated Rural Community
Hindalco Manuf. Direct development
Program Poverty Alleviation Program

IT: Information Technology, Pharma: Pharmaceuticals, Manuf.: Manufacturing, FMCG: Fast

moving consumer goods.

Corporate no doubt have made significant contributions towards the sustainable development
of our country. Considering the limitations of the corporate in their CSR activities, some
recommendations which can be used towards satisfaction like companies should extend their
CSR activities in less privileged states rather than concentrate in resource rich states. It is
essential that companies develop an effective value chain system of their products through their
CSR activities, which is essential for competing in the global market. It will give better results
if activities are based on a more practical & participatory approach and touch the grassroots
level. Voluntarism among employees should be encouraged and institutionalized through
recognition and incentives. There is also need for public-private partnership with well-defined
controls and process for the best use of resources for social change. Special training needs to be
given to business managers in working with social issues. Participation of small and medium
business should be encouraged. Experience has shown that working with NGOs is more
worthwhile and result-oriented. Joining hands with related NGOs is therefore advisable.

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Vol. 2, No. 1 Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal

Corresponding Author
Richa Gautam can be contacted at: [email protected] or [email protected]

56
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