Corporate affluence can be sustained only when social development takes place along with economic development, reminds K. N. Ajith in ‘Corporates & Social Responsibility’ (Eeswaar Books).
Arguing that CSR (corporate social responsibility) is an investment, which can yield multiple returns to business and society, the author cites Y. C. Deveshwar’s call for business models that would enable companies to co-create, with local communities, opportunities for sustainable livelihoods as well as enrichment of national capital. Also echoing the caution of E. Juholin (2004) that in times to come companies will be judged more by their social policies than on their delivery of products and services, Ajith seeks a widening of CSR to CSSR, where the first S is for ‘sustainable.’
The book refers to TERI Europe’s CSR survey of 2001 which covered more than 1,200 individuals in five Indian cities, including workers, executives and the general public. Five major findings, as Ajith paraphrases, are that the IT (information technology) sector is regarded as the most responsible while the tobacco and alcohol industries are at the other end of the spectrum; that public expectations of corporations on social and environmental matters are high and growing; that a greater trust is placed on the media and NGOs (non-government organisations) than on business or trade unions, and global companies operating in India are rated low in terms of their trustworthiness; that gender discrimination is a prominent issue in the workplace; and that workers and management have sharply diverging perceptions of labour conditions including child labour issues.
Instructive read.
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