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APPENDIX 1A: LIST OF CATEGORIES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL DISCLOSURE
In order to evaluate the specific corporate social disclosures within each theme being made by
companies in the four nations studied, each theme was broken in subcategories or topics. This
sub-classification scheme is shown as follows:
The following is taxonomy of the types of corporate social disclosure that form the substance of
the content analysis of annual reports. The list is intended to represent an exhaustive itemization
of information with social importance (Hackston and Milne, 1996).
Any additions to the list used by Hackston and Milne (1996) are shown in italics
1. ENVIRONMENT
1. Environmental pollution
• Pollution control in the conduct of business operations; capital, operating and research
and development expenditures for pollution abatement.
• Statements indicating that the company's operations are non-polluting or that they are in
compliance with pollution laws and regulations.
• Statements indicating that pollution from operations have been or will be reduced.
• Prevention or repair of damage to the environment resulting from processing or natural
resources, e.g. land reclamation or reforestation.
• Conservation of natural resources, e.g. recycling glass, metals, oil, water and paper;
using recycled materials.
• Efficiently using materials resources in the manufacturing process.
• Receiving an award relating to the company's environmental programmes or policies.
• Preventing waste.
2. Aesthetics
• Designing facilities harmonious with the environment.
• Contributions in terms of cash or art/sculptures to beautify the environment.
• Restoring historical buildings/structures.
3. Other
• Undertaking environmental impact studies to monitor the company's impact on the
environment.
• Wildlife conservation.
• Protection of the environment, e.g. pest control.
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• Signatory status to agreements that commit the organisation to consider the
environment in its operations.
• Discussion of environment management systems
2. ENERGY
• Conservation of energy in the conduct of business operations.
• Using energy more efficiently during the manufacturing process.
• Utilizing waste materials for energy production.
• Disclosing energy savings resulting from product recycling.
• Discussing the company's efforts to reduce energy consumption.
• Disclosing increased energy efficiency of products.
• Research aimed at improving energy efficiency of products.
• Receiving an award for an energy conservation programme
• Voicing the company's concern about the energy shortage.
• Disclosing the company's energy policies
3. EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
• Reducing or eliminating pollutants, irritants, or hazards in the work environment.
• Promoting employee safety and physical or mental health.
• Disclosing accident statistics.
• Complying with health and safety standards and regulations.
• Receiving a safety award.
• Establishing a safety department/committee/policy.
• Conducting research to improve work safety/implementing devices to improve
safety.
• Providing low cost health care for employees.
• Disclosing benefits from increased health and safety expenditure
4. EMPLOYEE OTHER
1. Employment of minorities or woman
• Recruiting or employing racial minorities and/or women.
• Disclosing percentage or number of minority and/or women employees in the
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workforce and/or in the various managerial levels.
• Establishing goals for minority representation in the workforce.
• Programme for the advancement of minorities in the workplace.
• Employment of other special interest groups, e.g. the handicapped, ex-convicts
or former drug addicts.
• Disclosures about internal advancement statistics.
2. Employee training.
• Training employees through in-house programmes.
• Giving financial assistance to employees in educational institutes or continuing
education courses.
• Establishment of trainee centers.
• Do not include performance monitoring schemes
3. Employee assistance/benefits
• Providing assistance or guidance to employees who are in the process of retiring or who
have been made redundant.
• Providing staff accommodation/staff home ownership schemes.
• Providing recreational activities/facilities.
4. Employee remuneration
• Providing amount and/or percentage figures for salaries, wages, PAYE taxes,
superannuation (figures only – not associated explanations).
• Any policies/objectives/reasons for the company's remuneration package/schemes.
5. Employee profiles
• Providing the number of employees in the company and/or at each branch/subsidiary.
• Providing the occupations/managerial levels involved.
• Providing a description of staff – where the staff are stationed and the number involved.
• Providing statistics on the number of staff, the length of service in the company and
their age groups.
• Providing per employee statistics, e.g. assets per employee and sales per employee.
• Providing information on the qualifications of employees recruited.
Note – disclosures relating to individual employees (e.g. length of service) as well as
disclosures in aggregate were included in this category.
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6. Employee share purchase schemes
• Providing information on the existence of or amount and value of shares offered to
employees under a share purchase scheme or pension programme (only values – not
explanations).
• Providing any other profit sharing scheme.
7. Employee moral
• Providing information on the company/management's relationships with the employees
in an effort to improve job satisfaction and employee motivation.
• Providing information on the stability of the workers' jobs and the company's future.
• Providing information on the availability of a separate employee report.
• Providing information about any awards for effective communication with employees.
• Providing information about communication with employees on management styles and
management programmes which may directly affect the employees.
8. Industrial relations
• Reporting on the company's relationship with trade unions and/or workers.
• Reporting any strikes, industrial action/activities and the resultant losses in terms of
time and productivity.
• Providing information on how industrial action was reduced/ negotiated.
9. Other
• Improvements to the general working conditions – both in the factories and for the
office staff.
• Information on the re-organisation of the company/discussion/branches which affect the
staff in any way.
• The closing down of any part of the organisation, the resultant redundancies created,
and any relocation/retraining efforts made by the company to retain staff.
• Information and statistics on employee turnover.
• Information about support for day-care, maternity and paternity leave.
• Winning an award for being a good employer.
5. PRODUCTS
1. Product development
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• Information on developments related to the company’s products, including its
packaging, e.g. making containers reusable.
• The amount/percentage figures of research and development expenditure and/or its
benefits (needs to relate to a specific product).
• Information on any research projects set up by the company to improve its product in
any way.
2. Product safety
• Disclosing that products meet applicable safety standards.
• Making products safer for consumers.
• Conducting safety research on the company’s products.
• Disclosing improved or more sanitary procedures in the processing and preparation of
products.
• Information on the safety of the firm’s product.
3. Product quality
• Information on the quality of the firm’s products as reflected in prizes/awards received
(any award from an independent organisation for the firm's product).
• Verifiable information that the quality of the firm’s product has increased (e.g. ISO
9000).
7. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
• Donations of cash, products or employees services to support established community
activities, events, organizations, education and the arts (includes declarations of
sponsorship).
• Summer or part-time employment of students.
• Sponsoring public health projects.
• Aiding medical research.
• Sponsoring educational conferences, seminars or art exhibits.
• Funding scholarship programmes or activities.
• Other special community related activities, e.g. opening the company’s facilities to the
public.
• Supporting national pride/government sponsored campaigns.
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• Supporting the development of local industries or community programmes and
activities.
8. OTHERS
1. Corporate objectives/policies: general disclosure of corporate objectives/policies
relating to the social responsibility of the company to the various segments of society.
Disclosure of objectives/policies that pertain to the environment, health and safety, or
where neither the environment or health and safety can be classified as the dominant
topic.
2. Other: disclosing/reporting to groups in society other than shareholders and employees,
e.g. consumers; any other form of information that relates to the social responsibility of
the company.
As quoted in Hall J.A. (2002) “An Exploratory Investigation Into The Corporate Social Disclosure of
selected New Zealand. Companies”.Discussion Paper Series 211. Available at
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Colleges/College%20of%20Business/School%20of%2
0Accountancy/Documents/Discussion%20Papers/211.pdf
364
APPENDIX 1B: CSR disclosure index by Williams, S. Mitchell. and Carol-Anne Ho Wern
Pei
In order to evaluate the specific corporate social disclosures within each theme being made by companies in the four nations studied, each theme was broken in subcategories or topics. This sub-classification scheme is shown as follows: Environment 1. General environmental considerations and statements 2. Environmental policy statement 3. Environmental audit 4. Environmental product and process-related 5. Environmental financially related data 6. Sustainability 7. Environmental aesthetics 8. Environmental education programs, awards and studies Energy 1. Energy conversion 2. Energy efficiency 3. Utilization of waste materials 4. Recycling and associated energy savings 5. Efforts to reduce energy consumption 6. Increasing of product efficiency 7. Research on energy conservation 8. Awards Human resources and management 1. Health and safety 2. Employment of minorities or women 3. Employee assistance, remuneration and benefits 4. Employee profiles 5. Employee morale and relations 6. Industrial relations 7. Employee welfare 8. Employee training and conditions 9. Improvement of working conditions, department closures and restructuring Products and customers 1. Product development and research 2. Product safety 3. Product quality information 4. Consumer information 5. Consumer satisfaction and feedback 6. Consumer awards 7. Actions in response to consumer response Community 1. Donations to community groups and charitable bodies 2. Student employment
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3. Sponsoring public health, sporting and recreational projects 4. Aiding medical research 5. Sponsoring educational conferences, seminars or art exhibits 6. Funding scholarship program or activities 7. Supporting national pride/government sponsored campaigns 8. Sponsoring community self-help activities 9. Supporting the development of local industries or community industries 10. Supporting community program and activities
Williams, S. Mitchell. and Carol-Anne Ho Wern Pei the (1999)“Corporate Social Disclosures by Listed Companies on Their Web Sites: An International Comparison” International Journal Of
Accounting, vol. 34, issue 3, pp390-419.
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Appendix 2- List of companies selected in the sample
S.N Company Name Industry Mkt Cap(Rs cr)
1 Reliance Industries Refineries 327,424.93
2 ONGC Oil Drilling And Exploration 238,366.65
3 NMDC Mining/Minerals 177,995.92
4 MMTC Ltd Trading 171,249.00
5 NTPC Power - Generation/Distribution 166,888.20
6 TCS Computers - Software 141,663.66
7 Infosys Computers - Software 137,691.47
8 Bharti Airtel Telecommunications - Service 117,060.03
9 BHEL Engineering - Heavy 114,067.95
10 Wipro Computers - Software 93,425.64
11 ITC Cigarettes 93,061.37
12 Larsen Engineering - Heavy 86,721.41
13 SAIL Steel - Large 84,404.74
14 IOC Refineries 75,145.13
15 Sterlite Ind Metals - Non Ferrous 63,198.11
16 Jindal Steel Steel - Sponge Iron 56,935.65
17 DLF Construction & Contracting - Real Estate 52,863.84
18 GAIL Oil Drilling And Exploration 52,039.29
19 HUL Personal Care 51,318.42
20 Hind Copper Metals - Non Ferrous 49,008.80
21 Cairn India Oil Drilling And Exploration 47,919.31
22 Tata Steel Steel - Large 47,359.49
23 Power Grid Corp Power - Generation/Distribution 45,623.84
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24 Hind Zinc Metals - Non Ferrous 44,955.28
25 NHPC Power - Generation/Distribution 39,608.39
26 Maruti Suzuki Auto - Cars & Jeeps 39,496.89
27 Tata Motors Auto - LCVs/HCVs 36,641.15
28 Reliance Comm Telecommunications - Service 34,820.13
29 Reliance Power Power - Generation/Distribution 33,890.75
30 Hero Honda Auto - 2 & 3 Wheelers 31,623.51
31 Sun Pharma Pharmaceuticals 31,252.83
32 Tata Power Power - Generation/Distribution 30,502.46
33 Sesa Goa Mining/Minerals 29,805.05
34 Mah and Mah Auto - Cars & Jeeps 28,024.10
35 Oil India Oil Drilling And Exploration 27,889.10
36 Jaiprakash Asso Construction & Contracting - Civil 26,582.89
37 Hindalco Aluminium 26,041.82
38 Mundra Port Engineering 25,976.01
39 Nestle Food Processing 25,634.53
40 Cipla Pharmaceuticals 25,348.23
41 Neyveli Lignite Power - Generation/Distribution 24,712.66
42 Bajaj Auto Auto - 2 & 3 Wheelers 24,518.79
43 NALCO Aluminium 23,462.54
44 Grasim Diversified 23,457.30
45 Reliance Infra Power - Generation/Distribution 23,423.60
46 Adani Enterprises Trading 23,276.62
47 Adani Power Power - Generation/Distribution 23,151.97
48 HCL Tech Computers - Software 23,027.36
49 Siemens Telecommunications - Equipment 21,188.83
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50 BPCL Refineries 20,698.29
51 GMR Infra Construction & Contracting - Civil 20,555.52
52 Dr Reddy’s Labs Pharmaceuticals 18,846.78
53 Asian Paints Paints/Varnishes 18,679.42
54 JSW Steel Steel - Large 18,384.08
55 JSW Energy Power - Generation/Distribution 17,712.59
56 Idea Cellular Telecommunications - Service 17,639.54
57 Unitech Construction & Contracting - Civil 17,067.98
58 Essar Oil Refineries 16,893.51
59 Ranbaxy Labs Pharmaceuticals 16,892.42
60 ABB Electric Equipment 16,729.11
61 Container Corp Transport 16,189.36
62 United Spirits Breweries & Distilleries 15,964.30
63 ACC Cement - Major 15,806.25
64 Bharat Elec Electricals 15,688.00
65 Sun TV Network Media & Entertainment 15,643.19
66 Ambuja Cements Cement - Major 15,343.77
67 Crompton Greave Electric Equipment 15,260.17
68 Dabur India Personal Care 15,237.73
69 Bosch Auto Ancillaries 14,840.69
70 Mphasis Computers - Software 14,825.09
71 Torrent Power Power - Generation/Distribution 13,698.64
72 Lupin Pharmaceuticals 13,456.02
73 MRPL Refineries 13,409.70
74 GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals 12,921.45
75 Suzlon Energy Engineering - Heavy 11,667.70
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76 HPCL Refineries 11,626.77
77 UltraTechCement Cement - Major 11,550.42
78 Tech Mahindra Computers - Software 11,519.42
79 EngineersInd Engineering 11,492.07
80 Zee Entertain Media & Entertainment 11,379.67
81 Lanco Infratech Construction & Contracting - Civil 11,087.94
82 HDIL Construction & Contracting - Real Estate 10,653.68
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Appendix 3- The recording sheet for CSR disclosures (Space incidence method – Unit of
content analysis is number of sentences)
N- Narrative, Q-Quantitative, M-Monetary
Company Idea Cellular Siemens Jindal Steel SAIL Year
Theme N Q M N Q M N Q M N Q M
Environment 4 1
Energy 2
Employees 6
Product
Carbon
emissions
2001
community
Environment 1 4 2 32 11
Energy 1 11 7 1
Employees 10 4 33 4 12 1 48 10 3
product
Carbon
emissions
2002
community
Environment 19 1 23 28
Energy 30 11 6 52 27 6
Employees 15 5 64 32 4
Product 12 2 4 8
Carbon
emissions
2003
Community 3
Environment 13 1 1 8 2 5 5
Energy 45 22 2 15 9 12 7 4
Employees 4 3 20 1 54 24
Product 4 1 3 6 1 6 13
Carbon
emissions
2004
Community
Environment 15 2 8 1 0 17 7
Energy 46 19 18 17 1 24 34 2
Employees 24 3 8 2 53 22
Product 2 7
Carbon
emissions
2005
Community 22 7 2 9 1 23 4
Environment 9 2 8 19
Energy 1 25 12 24 3
2006
Employees 4 2 15 4 1 33 17
371
Product 2 12
Carbon
emissions
Community 18 7 1 18 6
Environment 9 2 8 19
Energy 1 25 12 24 3
Employees 4 2 15 4 1 33 17
Product 2 12
Carbon
emissions
2007
Community 18 7 1 18 6 8
Environment 37 5
Energy 1 19 29
Employees 3 3 0 42 6
Product 4 3 0 5
Carbon
emissions 15 16 1
community 13 0 0 55 10 1
2008
Environment 2 13 1 10 6 1
Energy 64 6 0 3 1 4
Employees 3 7 30 14 6 0 26 12
Product 1 0 0
Carbon
emissions 4 5
2009
Community 14 32 15 54 1 1 26 12
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Appendix 4 - The recording sheet for CSR disclosures (use of CSEEE index)
Item
code
Detail of Items CCI MMT
C
Adani
Enterpris
es
Airt
el
Relia
nce
ENV 1 Pollution Consciousness in expenditure/Manufacturing
1
ENV 2 Statements Indicating non-polluting, operating and Compliance to pollution laws
ENV 3 Statements regarding reduction of pollution 1 2 ENV 4 Land Reclamation /Reforestation
ENV 5 Recycling glass, metals, oil, wastepaper reuse 3
ENV 6 Receiving an award for Environment programs and Policies
ENV 7 Preventing Waste/ waste management
ENV 8 Biodiversity/Wildlife Conservation
ENV 9 Signatory to agreements for environment Management Systems
ENV 10 Water, Environment studies/surveys 2
ENV 11 Water reuse, water reduction
3
ENV 12 Use of environment friendly materials
ENV 13
Claims that the company is water positive/ targets to become water positive
ENV 14 Environment Management Systems
ENV 15
Donations/ Restoring historical buildings/ structures
Environment disclosure Score 0 0 4 6 2
ENG 1 Conservation in operations/Manufacturing 5
ENG 2 Use of alternate sources of energy 3
ENG 3 Efforts to reduce energy consumption 4
ENG 4 Receiving an award for energy management
ENG 5 Energy Policies 3
ENG 6 Voicing concerns about energy shortages
ENG 7 Energy Conservation /Day week/ month/awareness
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Energy Disclosure Score 0 0 0 15 0
HR 1 Statements regarding reduction of Pollutants, irritants, hazards, injuries
HR 2 Safety, Physical and Mental health 1
HR 3 Comply with Health & Safety regulations
HR 4 Receiving Safety Awards
HR 5 Safety Dep’t, Committee, policy
HR 6 Providing Low Cost Health Care to Employees
HR 7 Minorities and Women appointed in various Managerial Levels
HR 8 Employment of differently abled People/Ex-Servicemen
HR 9 In House Training Programs 4 3 3
HR 10 Financial Assistance for external training and development Programs
HR 11 Establish Training Centers 2 2
HR 12 Staff Accommodation
HR 13 Recreational Activities/ Cultural activities
HR 14 Statistics regarding employees at Branch/Department
2
HR 15 Asset per employee, sales per employee
HR 16 Strikes/ Statements regarding cordial relations 1
HR 17 Good general working conditions
HR 18 Employee Turnover Ratio
HR 19 Winning an award for good employer
HR 20 Awards for motivation of employees 3
HR 21 Stock option plans 5 HR 22 Retirement Benefits
HR 23 Subsided canteen
HR 24 Subsidized Transport
HR 25 Feedback from employees 2
HR 26 Employee Loan Facilities
HR 27 Employee Welfare Fund
HR 28 Day Care, Maternity, Paternity
HR 29 Holiday Benefits 2
HR 30 Goals for appointing Women and Minorities 1
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Human resources disclosure Score 9 3 6 5 8
PSI 1 Information on Product Development
PSI 2 Specific product R&D Expenditure
PSI 3 Prizes/ Awards received on quality
PSI 4 Verifiable Information on increased quality
PSI 5 Improved Sanitary conditions in Processing and Manufacturing
PSI 6 Information on Safety of Product
Product safety and innovation 0 0 0 0 0
CD 1 Donations/ Scholarships/ education general statements
1 4
CD 2 Part-time Employment of Students 2
CD 3 Sponsor educational conferences, seminars, and Art exhibits
CD 4 Sponsor public health projects/medical camps 1 1 3 4
CD 5 Aiding Medical Research
CD 6 Supporting National Pride and Government campaigns
4
CD 7 Local Industry/ Community Programs 1 3 4 CD 8 Generation of Job potential 3
CD 9 Establishment of Educational Institutions/ maintained of schools
4
CD 10 Vigilance Committee to check corruption 2
CD 11 Livestock/ wasteland development
CD 12 Providing Relief Natural Disasters 3
CD 13 Employee Volunteerism for Community work 3
CD 14 Rural Development program/Adoption of villages
3 4
CD 15 Rainwater Harvesting
CD 16 Improving road network
CD 17 Improving agricultural productivity
CD 18 Aids to support supports 4
CD 19 Mid-day meals for the disabled / children 3
CD 20 Other special activities/Opening Company Facilities to Public
CD 21 Adopting Old age homes/
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CD 22 Mass marriage programs
Community Development 2 2 2 35 16
Other 1 Other Disclosures on CSR Policies/Objectives 5
Other2 Receiving CSR Rewards
Other 3 Social accounting system Audit
Other 4 CSR or a part of CSR as a theme on title page/ part of company mission vision statement
2 1
Other 5 Official language encouragement Implementation
2 3
Other 6 Value added statements
Other CSR Disclosure Score 2 10 1 0 0
Emsn 1 Carbon Emission targets
Emsn 2 Mode -used for reducing Carbon Emission
Emsn 3 Statements showing emission within the limits
Emsn 4 Efforts to reduce carbon emissions 4
Emsn 5 Clean Development Management Project (use of clean technology)
Emsn 6 Carbon Emission Management System
Emsn 7 Green building movement 3
Emsn 8 Statements that co is carbon positive
Emsn 9 Signatory to MOU with other Corporate
Emsn 10 Member of UN Global compact Program
Carbon and harmful gases emissions 0 0 0 7 0
376
Appendix-5: GRI Reports Frequency over 13 years ending 2011
Organization Sector 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
ABN AMRO INDIA
Financial Services
G3, U
BPCL Energy G3, A+, 3p
G3, A+, 3p
Chemplast Sanmar
Chemicals G2, IA, Sd
G3, A+, GRI
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories India
Healthcare Products
G3, U
G3, U
Ford India Automotive
G1
Grasim Industries
Construction Materials
G3, A+, GRI
HCC Construction
Indian Oil Energy Utilities
G3, U
Infosys Technologies India
Computers G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
ITC Conglomerates
G2, CI
G2, CI
G3, A+, Sd
G3, A+, Sd
G3, A+, 3p
G3, A+, 3p
Jain Irrigation Systems
Agriculture
JSW Conglomerates
Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd
Chemicals G2, CI
G2, IA, Sd
G2, IA, Sd
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
KOEL Energy
Larsen & Toubro
Conglomerates
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
Mahindra Conglomerat G3, G3,
377
es A+, GRI
A+, GRI
Maruti-Suzuki
Automotive
Moser Baer India
Other G3, A, Sd
MSPL Mining G2, IA, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX)
Financial Services
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
Energy
Paharpur Business Centre
Commercial Services
G1 G3, C, 3p
Reliance Industries Limited
Conglomerates
G2, IA, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
Sesa Goa Mining G2, IA, Sd
G3, B+, 3p
G3, A+, 3p
G3, A+, 3p
Shree Cement Construction Materials
G2, IA, GRI
G2, IA, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
G3, A+, GRI
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
Financial Services
Sree Santhosh Garments (SSG)
Textiles and Apparel
SRF Conglomerates
G3, A+, Sd
Sterlite Industries
Mining G3, U
G3, U
378
TATA Automotive G1 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Computers G3, A,
GRI
G3, A,
GRI
G3, A,
GRI
Tata International
Conglomerates
G2, CI
Tata Motors Automotive G3, C, Sd
G3, A, Sd
Tata Steel Metals Products
G2, IA, GRI
G2, IA, GRI
G2, IA, GRI
G2, IA, GRI
G2, IA, GRI
G3, A, 3p
G3, A+, 3p
G3, A+
Tata Tea Food and Beverage Products
G3, U
G3, A+, 3p
UltraTech Cement
Construction Materials
V. S. Dempo & Co.
Mining G3, B+, 3p
Varroc Engineering
Equipment G3, U
Wipro Computers G3, A+, 3p
379
Appendix 6A – Investor’s Perceptions Regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its
Disclosure
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR INVESTORS
Respected Sir/Madam
I, Monika Kansal, Asst. Professor at UBS, Ludhiana am working on my dissertation project entitled “Corporate Social Disclosure Practices of Indian Companies”. One of the objectives of the study is to measure the perceptions of Investors and Brokers with regard to Corporate Social Responsibilities and its Disclosures. Corporate Social Responsibility means the social work done by Indian companies with regard to Environment, Energy, Human Resources, Product, carbon and other harmful gases emissions and community. Many companies are engaged in corporate social responsibility, for example: TATA, RELIANCE, SBI, BHEL, INFOSYS, WIPRO, ITC etc.
Your response will be kept confidential and will be used strictly for my academic work. You are
requested to give a rank to each part of Question No.1, 4 and 8 in order of your preference. Your response to this questionnaire shall be a valuable contribution towards my research.
I- Awareness level & Importance of CSR 1. Which factors do you consider while making investment in any company?
(Give ranking, 1 for MOST important, 2 for next important and so on, 5 for LEAST important)
a) Past Financial Performance of the Company
b) CSR activities of the Company
c) Friends advice
d) Advice of brokers/ consultants
e) Future Prospects of the Company
2. Name two major CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities undertaken by Indian
Companies.
(a) Education ( b) Healthcare (c) Environment
(d) Employee Health and Safety (e) Rural Development
(f) Any other______________
3. What is the source of information regarding CSR activities of the companies?
a) Annual Reports
b) Company’s websites
c) Stand Alone CSR Reports
d) Media
CHD.
380
4. While planning the CSR activities of the companies, whose interest should be considered.
(please Give ranking, 1 for MOST important, 2 for next important and so on, 4 for LEAST
important)
a) Employees/Workers
b) Shareholders/ Investors
c) Customers
d) Community at large
5. As of now, companies conduct social responsibility to
a) To do some good to the society in reality
b) To offset damage done by their acts in surrounding areas
c) To gain publicity (as a marketing tool)
6. Please tick the appropriate column on each of the statements
II- Relationship between CSR and financial performance
7. Please tick the appropriate column on each of the statements
Statement Strongly
Agree (4)
Agree(3) Disagree(2) Strongly
Disagree (1)
Every co. should perform CSR even if it is not profitable. large companies should invest more in CSR activities than small companies Multinational corporations should perform more corporate social responsibility activities than domestic companies. For CSR, companies must collaborate with NGO’s. For CSR, companies should collaborate with government. Business is for earning profits not for charity/CSR
Statement Strongly
Agree (4)
Agree
(3)
Disagree
(2)
Strongly
Disagree (1)
381
8. Which of the following forms of CSR has maximum impact.(plz. Rank 1 for maximum impact 2 for next lesser impact and so on, and 6 for minimum impact)
a) Community welfare b) Labor/Employees welfare & Development c) Environment conservation d) Energy conservation e) Carbon and other harmful gas emissions f) Product and service safety, innovation etc.
III- Disclosure of CSR activities
9. Should a company disclose its CSR activities? (a) Yes (b) No
why ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------…………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. Where do you feel, the information regarding CSR activities should be located?
(Multiple options can be ticked)
a) In Chairman’s Speech of Annual Report
b) Management discussion and analysis in annual reports
c) In separate CSR reports
d) In advertisement campaigns
11. Which of the following, is the best form of reporting CSR activities (multiple options can be ticked)
a) Narrative/Descriptive
b) Quantitative
c) Monetary (expressed in rupees)
d) Photographs, Charts, graphs and tables
e) All of the above
A socially responsible Company enjoys better profits in the short run through increased confidence of customers. A CSR company enjoys higher level of confidence of investors in form of higher stock prices. Good social performance shall lead to more profits in the long run. A CSR company can survive hard times more easily A CSR company has more reputation and goodwill
382
12. Companies disclose CSR activities for (multiple options can be ticked)
a) Enhanced goodwill with customers
b) Increased short term profitability
c) Long term sustainability
d) Better employee relationships
e) Compensating their unfair business practices
13. Are you satisfied with the level of CSR disclosures?
13. As compared to present, CSR disclosure should… (Please tick in the relevant box)
Item Increase Not change Decrease
a) Community welfare like Schools, hospitals,
promotion of arts, sports
b) Labor/Employees welfare & Development
c) Environment conservation
d) Energy conservation
e) Carbon and other harmful gas emissions
Product and service safety, innovation etc.
14. Is CSR reporting is successful? Yes/No
If not, what could be the reason? (Multiple options can be ticked)
a) Poor ethical decision making
b) Laxity in regulation
Completely Satisfied (5)
Moderately Satisfied (4)
Satisfied
(3)
Moderately dissatisfied (2)
Completely Dissatisfied (1)
383
c) Confused policies on CSR
d) Increased cost of disclosure
e) Fear of damage to goodwill if perceived to be less socially responsible due to lesser amount of disclosure
Please tick the appropriate column on each of the statements
15. What is the average amount invested (annual) in all kind of instruments? (a) 0-1 Lac (b) 1-10 Lacs (c) More Than 10 Lacs 18. Since how long, you have been an investor in the stock market.
(a) Less than 5 years (b) 5 to 20 years (c) 20 years or above
Name ………………… Gender: Male/ female Age…
Qualification: a) Matriculation b) Graduation c) Post graduation
Phone No. ………………. Signature………………
Thanks for filling up the Questionnaire
Statement Strongly
Agree
(4)
Agree(3) Disagree(2) Strongly
Disagree
(1)
A company should disclose its CSR activities even if it is not profitable Companies normally exaggerate CSR claims CSR disclosures should be made mandatory. Honest and less information on CSR has negative effects rather than positive Companies disclose CSR activities because competitors also disclose their CSR There is need for standard instrument to measure CSR
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APPENDIX 6B- QUESTIONNAIRE FOR BROKERS
STOCK BROKERS’S PERCEPTIONS REGARDING CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) AND ITS DISCLOSURE
I- Awareness level & Importance of CSR 1. Which factors do you consider while advising investment in any company?
(Give ranking, 1 for most important & 5 for Least important)
f) Past Financial Performance of the Company g) CSR activities of the Company h) Management of the company i) Future Prospects of the Company j) Performance of Sector based indices
2. Name two major CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities undertaken by Indian Companies.
(b) Education ( b) Healthcare (c) Environment (d) Employee Health and Safety (e) Rural Development
(f) Any other______________
3. What is the source of information regarding CSR activities of the companies? e) Annual Reports f) Company’s websites g) Stand Alone CSR Reports h) Media
4. While planning the CSR activities of the companies, whose interest should be considered. (please Give ranking, 1 for MOST important, 4 for LEAST important)
e) Employees/Workers f) Shareholders/ Investors g) Customers h) Community at large
5. As of now, companies conduct social responsibility to
a) To do some good to the society in reality
b) To offset damage done by their acts in surrounding areas
c) To gain publicity (as a marketing tool)
6. Please tick the appropriate column on each of the statements
Statement Strongly
Agree (4)
Agree
(3)
Disagree
(2)
Strongly
Disagree (1)
Every co. should perform CSR even if it is not profitable. large companies should invest more in CSR activities than small companies Multinational corporations should perform more
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II. Relationship between CSR and financial performance
7. Please tick the appropriate column on each of the statements
8. Which of the following forms of CSR has maximum impact ( please Rank 1 for maximum impact and 6 for minimum impact)
g) Community welfare h) Labor/Employees welfare & Development i) Environment conservation j) Energy conservation k) Carbon and other harmful gas emissions l) Product and service safety, innovation etc.
III. Disclosure of CSR activities 9. Should a company disclose its CSR activities?
(b) Yes (b) No why --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Where do you feel, the information regarding CSR activities should be located? (Multiple options can be ticked)
corporate social responsibility activities than domestic companies. For CSR, companies must collaborate with NGO’s.
For CSR, companies should collaborate with government. Business is for earning profits not for charity/CSR
Statement Strongly
Agree (4)
Agree
(3)
Disagree
(2)
Strongly
Disagree (1)
A socially responsible Company enjoys better profits in the short run through increased confidence of customers.
A CSR company enjoys higher level of confidence of investors in form of higher stock prices.
Good social performance shall lead to more profits in the long run. A CSR company can survive hard times more easily A CSR company has more reputation and goodwill
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e) In Chairman’s Speech of Annual Report f) Management discussion and analysis in annual reports g) In separate CSR reports h) In advertisement campaigns
11. Which of the following, is the best form of reporting CSR activities (multiple options can be ticked) f) Narrative/Descriptive g) Quantitative h) Monetary (expressed in rupees) i) Photographs, Charts, graphs and tables j) All of the above
12. Companies disclose CSR activities for (multiple options can be ticked) f) Enhanced goodwill with customers g) Increased short term profitability h) Long term sustainability i) Better employee relationships j) Compensating their unfair business practices
13. Are you satisfied with the level of CSR disclosures?
14. As compared to present, CSR disclosure should… (Please tick in the relevant box)
Item Increase Not change Decrease
Community welfare like Schools, hospitals, promotion of arts, sports Labor/Employees welfare & Development Environment conservation Energy conservation Carbon and other harmful gas emissions Product and service safety, innovation etc.
15. Is CSR reporting is successful? Yes/No If not, what could be the reason? (Multiple options can be ticked)
f) Poor ethical decision making g) Laxity in regulation h) Confused policies on CSR i) Increased cost of disclosure j) Fear of damage to goodwill if perceived to be less socially responsible due to lesser
amount of disclosure 16. Please tick the appropriate column on each of the statements
Completely Satisfied (5) Moderately Satisfied (4)
Satisfied (3) Moderately dissatisfied (2)
Completely Dissatisfied (1)
Statement Strongly
Agree (4)
Agree(3) Disagree
(2)
Strongly
Disagree (1)
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17. What is the average amount of investments made through you (annual) in all kinds of instruments?
(b) Up to 500 lakhs (b) 500-1000 lakhs ( c) 1000 lakhs or more
18.. How long you are in this business of financial and investment consultancy? (Mark tick in relevant box)
(a) Less than 5 years (b) 5 to 20 years (c) 20 years or above
Name ………………… Gender: Male/ female Age:……………….
Qualification: a) Matriculation b) Graduation c) Post graduation
Phone No. ………………. Signature………………
Thanks for filling up the Questionnaire
A company should disclose its CSR activities even if it is not profitable Companies normally exaggerate CSR claims CSR disclosures should be made mandatory. Honest and less information on CSR has negative effects rather than positive Companies disclose CSR activities because competitors also disclose their CSR There is need for standard instrument to measure CSR
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389
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Appendix 8- Expert’s comments on the questionanre
what is the background of the study? why do you want to conduct it? what are your hypotheses? data collection (i.e. q'naire) should reflect needs of hypotheses testing.
i am glad you have mentioned the obj but in order to comment a q'naire one needs more info about the study. as of now, i can only talk of the scale aptness, sequencing, and semantic issues. i am dividing comments in two parts (A & B with former more on conceptual aspects and B on specific issues of your q'naire)
A- as far as i understand, investors would look at profitability. are indian customers evolved enough to considering csr in their investments? are companies practicing disclosures, if yes to what extent? are thei differences between industries? has the disclosure provision impacted disclosures? if yes, to what extent?
but any study is a continued effort to contribute to the sea of knowledge. so what are the findings so far, in india and overseas. of course, while diffs between western and eastern (developing) models may exist there would be broad similarities in behaviour.counter hegemony (serving social interests)- we had a semi socialist leaning but now turned capitalists.
for example, past researches have hinted at foll issues-
legitimacy gap- what do you do when you know you fall short in some public good areas
it good to be good but not too good (investors will cry foul if you ever spend in csr),
there are country variants,
broadly csr would cover employees, environment, community and customers- how many pages to each?
employee vs community (former is more popular), with little space given to community, and many pages on employee csr
while csr does not directly affect profitability there are lagged effects, it seems your study is cross-sectional, what about looking at reports over a period of time (longitudinal approach)?
csr as a distraction of attention
you may like to consider all this, maybe you already have but it has not appeared in your communication.
B- 1) investor Q'naire
you need to put nos. to your qns.
have you done a prelim/ pilot survey to see the basic appropriateness of your response choices?
are you considering non-investors also? if no, then qn 1 is not needed, its only a screening qn which you will ask orally.
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why dont you ask them to rank in qn 4 as done i qn 8 (factors for investment- since all would be considered but to varying degree and in certain order of priority, by the investor)
qn 5-7 should appear before qn 4 as they are merely awareness type qns, not behaviour
why dont you give multi-response option in qn 10
in qn 11, response option a and c are fine, b looks odd (what do you mean by ulterior here?)
in qn 15, satisfaction, scale could be-
completely satisfied to completely dissatisfied with moderate and uncertain in between choices
if you are there in workshop we can talk of perception items in more detail (qn 16)
in demo info give options with age, qualfcn, and income in categories. you dont need names, it will also inhibit certain responses (e.g. investments)
2) broker q'naire- same for awareness qns and other qns.
but i need to ask you, why should you question broker? why not the company?
more as you may respond.
Alok Saklani
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from what i could gather in the article, it is merely a checklist which can be used only to identify sentences in the documents and no statistics per se (except for aggregations) has been used.
the instrument would possess face validity, such as a birth certificate has a face validity of one's age except that it should be exhaustive enough and you should not miss out any parameter to judging csr efforts. and if so, you could go ahead with this task.
validity issues become complex in perception items such as a few in your q'naire.
alok saklani
On Sat, Apr 24, 2010 at 11:18 PM, alok saklani <[email protected]> wrote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------if however, it needs to be amended, you may do a pilot study and then check the cronbach alpha value for reliability.
reg the synopsis and the q'naire, let me get it straight. want you are trying to say is that- you have mentioned in synopsis that you would do study with brokers. or, is it that you mentioned you would use this particular q'naire. as far as i know, synopsis is a general plan and small issues like adding companies also, to brokers and investors in your respondent groups, does not cause any problem. you may add data set surely (not reduce it though). but your guide may understand your university issues better so do discuss with him if you feel there is a digression.
alok saklani
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Appendix-9: Invitations from Citizen Awareness Group
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Appendix 10: Theories of corporate social disclosure
The theories mentioned below attempt to try understand why organizations should report social practices to its stakeholders? Mathews (1995) classified reasons of CSRD under three heads i.e. 1. Social disclosures have a positive impact on the performance of the organization; 2. It facilitates to legitimize an organization’s behavior by influencing the perception of other stakeholders; 3. Voluntary CSD signifies the recognition of the organization’s moral accountability. Gray et al. (1996) divided the theories in this area into three overlying categories: stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and political economy theory. Holland and Foo (2003) noted that accounting researchers, in an attempt to understand what has encouraged the development of CSR reports, have classified the reasons under four perspectives. These are agency theory, legitimacy theory, political economy of accounting theory and stakeholder theory (Gray et al., 1995, 1996; Guthrie and Parker, 1990; Roberts, 1992). Mainly three theories are used explain rationale of CSD as mentioned below:
1. Stakeholder theory: is described as an attempt for an examination of the impacts of firms on all stakeholders. The stakeholders are defined as groups that can influence the firm or be influenced by the firm (Freeman, 1984); any groups or individuals who can affect, or are affected by, the achievement of the organization’s objectives Freeman (1994). The stakeholders may be primary and secondary stakeholders (Clarkson, 1995) and a primary stakeholder is ‘‘one without whose continuing participation the corporation cannot survive as a going concern.” Primary stakeholders have direct influence on the firm, such as customers and employees, and other stakeholder groups with more indirect impact, such as the community and the environment are secondary stakeholders.
As shareholders supply capital to a company’s managers. The managers are allowed to spend the corporate funds for such activities and reasons that are authorized by the shareholders (Smith, 2003). This concept is well expressed by Friedman (1962, as cited in Hackston, and Milne, 1996) in his claim that the only social responsibility for a corporation is to use its resources and engage in
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activities designed to increase its profits as long as it engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. However, the argument of maximization of shareholder wealth as the singular goal of corporate management is opposed by the proponents of stakeholder theory (e.g. Freeman, 1994; Sharplin, 2003). They present the argument that the supremacy of the shareholder group is neither defensible on the basis of equity nor necessarily efficient (Sharplin, 2003).
Despite some doubts with regard to which group of stakeholders deserve priority considerations, some argue that shareholders have the dominance while this priority treatment is considered undue by some researchers as every stakeholder group has intrinsic value and deserves consideration from other groups and the managers for its own worth, and not because of its ability to further the interests of some other groups. So, stakeholder theory, proposes that an organization’s management is expected to undertake activities expected by its stakeholders and to report on those activities to the stakeholders. The theory suggests that all stakeholders have a right to be provided with Information about how organizational activities impact them (for example, through pollution, community sponsorship, safety initiatives, etc), even if they choose not to use the information, and even if they cannot directly play a constructive role in the survival of the organization (Deegan, 2000). Stakeholder theory has two branches 1. An ethical (moral) branch 2. A positive (managerial) branch. The ethical branch argues that all stakeholders have the right to be treated fairly by an organization, and that managers should manage the organization for the benefit of all of its stakeholders (Deegan, 2000). The positive branch argues that a stakeholder’s power to influence corporate management is viewed as a function of the stakeholder’s degree of control over resources required by the organization (Ullmann, 1976) and as a way of managing the organization’s relationship with different stakeholder groups (Deegan, 2000). The more important the stakeholders are to the organization, the more effort will be made to manage the relationship. 2. Legitimacy theory: Legitimacy theory is based on the idea of a social contract between business and society; society allows businesses to exist and have rights,
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and in return expects businesses to fulfill societies’ expectations about how it should conduct its operations. Legitimacy theory argues that organizations seek to ensure that they operate within the bounds and norms of society (Deegan, 2000). Society's expectations have changed and businesses are expected to "…make outlays to repair or prevent damage to the physical environment, to ensure the health and safety of consumers, employees, and those who reside in the communities where products are manufactured and wastes are dumped" (Tinker and Niemark, 1987). CSRD are an important way for organizations to establish and maintain their legitimacy. Legitimacy theory seems to be prominent theory in the corporate social and environmental disclosures literature (e.g. Brown and Deegan, 1998; Buhr, 1998; de Villiers and van Staden, 2006; Deegan, 2002; Deegan et al., 2002; Patten, 1992; Campbell et al., 2003 as cited in Laine, 2009). Corporations use social and environmental disclosures to maintain their legitimacy in society (Gray et al., 1995); to gain, maintain or repair (O’Donovan, 2002; Suchman, 1995) the legitimacy, depending on the prevailing situation; may seek to alter how society perceives the corporation, try to change the public expectations of the corporation’s activities or attempt to divert society’s attention to some positive matters (Deegan, 2002; Gray et al., 1996). 3. Political economy theory takes a wider perspective to explain CSD. The theory incorporates "the social, political and economic framework within which human life takes place" (Gray et al, 1996). This theory considers that economics, politics and society are inseparable and should all be considered in accounting research. This theory attempts to “explicitly recognize the power conflicts that exist within society and the various struggles that occur between groups within society” (Deegan, 2002). So, the theory suggests that CSD is a proactive process of information provided from management's perspective and serving management's own self-interest (Guthrie and Parker, 1989 cited in Hall, 2002), Therefore, it is possible that the fluctuating disclosure levels reflect managers' use of CSD to further their own interests by maintaining the current social, economic and political structures.
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Bibliography for Appendix 1 to Appendix 10
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Ethics Quarterly, 4(4), p. 409-421. Friedman, M. (1962), Capitalism and Freedom, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL Gray, R., Kouhy, R., and Lavers, S. (1995) “Methodological themes: Constructing a research database of social and environmental reporting by UK companies”. Accounting, Auditing,
and Accountability Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp 78-101. Gray, R.H., Owen, D, and Adams, C., (1996), “Accounting and Accountability: Changes and Challenges in Corporate Social and Environmental Reporting” Prentice-Hall International
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Guthrie, J. E. and Parker. L. D. (1990) “Corporate Social Disclosure Practice: A Comparative International Analysis.'' Advances in Public Interest Accounting, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 159±176. Hackston, D. and Milne, M.J. (1996), “Some determinants of social and environmental disclosures in New Zealand companies” Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp 77-108. Hall, J.A. (2002), “An Exploratory Investigation Into The Corporate Social Disclosure Of Selected New Zealand Companies” Discussion paper series 211, available at: http://www-accountancy.massey.ac.nz/Publications.htm Holland, L. and Foo, Y.B. (2003), “Differences in environmental reporting practices in the UK and the USA: the legal and regulatory context”, The British Accounting Review, Vol. 35, pp. 1-18. Laine, M. (2009) Ensuring legitimacy through rhetorical changes? A longitudinal interpretation of the environmental disclosures of a leading Finnish chemical company Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 22 No. 7, pp. 1029-1054.
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Accountability Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 344-71. Patten, D.M. (1992), “Intra-industry environmental disclosures in response to the Alaskan oil spill: a note on legitimacy theory”, Accounting, Organisations and Society, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 471-475.
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is mapping corporate social reporting (CSR) vis à vis Indian companies and
to investigate CSR reporting by undertaking an extensive study of the form and content of the voluntary
disclosures of social and environmental information in annual reports and to understand the perceptions of
two groups of stakeholders i.e. investors and stock brokers with regard to various issues of CSR and
CSRD.
This topic is relevant in present times in context of religious perspective on global CSR, ever widening
atypical gap between the Haves and Have – not’s throughout the world, and emerging managerial
implications of CSR as a strategic tool. An extensive review of literature existing on corporate social
disclosures across various countries in the globe and in India in particular is carried out to understand the
research gaps, frame research questions, design corporate social environmental and carbon disclosure
index (CSECDI) and to develop the hypotheses.
The objectives of the present study are
1. To compare the content, extent, nature, quality and location of disclosures regarding the corporate
social responsibility by Indian companies.
2. To benchmark corporate social disclosures against Global Reporting Initiatives.
3. To find out the association between the social disclosures and corporate characteristics such as
size, profitability, risk and others etc.
4. To examine the perceptions of investors and the stock brokers with regard to the corporate social
disclosures by the Indian companies.
The content analysis, a highly used method in CSR disclosure studies has been used for measuring the
items of social importance. Both un-weighted and weighted disclosure score disclosures have been
calculated. Space incidence method is used for conducting the longitudinal analysis of CSRD over a
period of 2000-2001 to 2008-2009. Unit of content analysis used is sentence. Average number of
sentences has been used to measure the extent of disclosures. A sample of top 100 companies from BSE-
500 selected on the basis of market capitalisation is considered.
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A Corporate social, environment, carbon disclosure index (CSECDI) has been developed based on the
following criteria:
(i) The checklist cited in Hall, 2002 and Mitchell and Carol-Anne, 1999 has been taken into
consideration.
(ii) Disclosure items identified in earlier studies examining disclosure in India (Agarwal, 1992; Singh,
2005).
(iii) Many items which could become part of corporate social disclosures on the basis of pilot study have
been considered.
(iv) After this, the Cronbach's Alpha has been run to assess the reliability of the index.
The disclosure index constructed for this study finally included 96 items spread over 7 categories
environment, energy, human resources, product, community development, carbon related disclosures and
others. A new category namely carbon emissions has been added for the first time.
Determinants of CSR
CSRD made by Indian companies are associated to the various company characteristics such as size
which is measured by sales, total assets, number of employees, compensation of employees and average
capital employed. Regarding profitability both accounting based absolute and relative terms, and market
based market return have been used. The measures of profitability used are PAT, PBT, Earning margin
ratio, ROI, ROCE, RONW. For risk measures used are debt equity ratio as a financial leverage and beta
as market risk. In addition, some new characteristics like age of the company, era of origin, number of
awards are used as other explanatory variables as determinants of CSRD.
Perceptions of investors and brokers on CSR and CSRD issues:
Perceptions of investors and brokers on regarding CSR and CSRD have been explored to check the
awareness level and importance of CSR to Indian investors and brokers. Issues such as relationship
between CSR and financial performance and motives behind csr disclosures, forms of CSRD, success of
CSR Reporting, reliability and standardisation of CSR instruments are investigated. Significance of
variance in average satisfaction level of investors and brokers on the basis of size, duration of investment,
gender and educational profile of the respondents is investigated.
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The disclosures are found to be low and mainly narrative. Significant differences exist over various items
of CSRD. Community development theme has seen highest disclosures followed by human resources.
The trends in CSRD are encouraging. The average number of sentences per company (aggregated over all
categories) has increased. Many items have seen zero disclosures in quantitative and monetary forms.
Qualitative disclosures are less than narrative disclosures and more than monetary disclosures in all
themes except community development. Temporal trends in overall CSR disclosures depict the maximum
growth in narrative disclosure only. Total CSR Disclosure does not vary significantly across Industries.
The steel industry, one of the most polluting sectors makes maximum disclosures in environment,
community development and HR. Sixty four private sector companies make an overall lesser disclosure
with score of 54.44 as compared to 18 public sector enterprises with an average score of 44.11. Out of the
82 companies in the sample, only one company from the Tata group, has been publishing its GRI reports
consistently since the year 2002.
The results showed that CSECD are associated with some characteristics of the companies e.g. size. The
variables those are established to be positively significant in determining disclosure levels are average
capital employed, total assets and compensation to employees. Significant relationship also is traced
between CSECD score and PBT, PAT. The risk profile of the company doesn’t determine the CSRD of
the company as relationship was negative and weak. It is observed that more the number of awards, more
the CSRD score.
CSR information does not have very influential role in investment decisions. Past and future
performances enjoy higher level of credence for investing. This may due to fact that CSRD currently are
low and are in narrative form. Investors and brokers feel that the companies exaggerate their CSR claims.
Investors want that the companies should be using all forms of CSR disclosures. Investors feel that top
reason for disclosures is enhanced goodwill followed by long term sustainability. Large companies and
multinational companies need to have CSRD than smaller and domestic firms. Collaboration with
Government and NGO is welcomed by investors and brokers. Educational background, investment
experience and age of investors do not influence the mean levels of satisfaction of the investors but
female investors have significantly higher level of satisfaction with regard to CSR disclosures than males.
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Poor ethical decision making and laxity in regulation are the reasons explaining why companies do not
disclosing their CSR performances.
Contributions to the Field of Research and Originality
1. Rating scale: To make the study more meaningful, the rating 0-5 has been designed to give due
importance to the extent of disclosure.
2. Development of index: Two methods, the disclosure index and space incidence (No. of sentences
and number of pages have been used) to capture CSR disclosures in detail. Subjective judgment
(review based items and identifying country specific national issues) complemented by precision
offered by the quantitative research methods is involved in constructing the disclosure index.
3. This is the first research examining brokers’ and investors attitude and behaviour in response to
different CSR initiatives of Indian corporate. It has implications for companies developing CSR
strategies.
Limitations of the study: The study is limited by the fact that CSR data extracted from the company’s
annual reports are taken as given. An inability to carry out a large-scale survey of opinions as planned
due to unwillingness of the brokers is another limitation. Some other stakeholders such as community
development leaders, community chiefs, youth development leaders, religious leaders, employees and
other opinion leaders around the locations plant of companies are not considered in the study.
The items included in the index were selected on the basis of extensive review of existing literature, but
still some important items might have been left out. A larger sample size that includes medium sized and
small companies could have provided additional evidence.
The practical implications and suggestions:
It is suggested that the disclosures need to be made mandatory. Though the bossy- boots mind sets
and any forms of capitalist bashing are not safe but there is certainly need for amendments in
Companies Act, 1956 or some monitoring by some central regulatory body like SEBI in addition to
effective orientation role played by professional accounting bodies like ICAI and ICWA. It is
observed that more the number of awards, more the CSECDI disclosure score. So, it seems the
recognition of efforts can help the corporate world to make more CSR efforts and disclose it. CSR
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credits should also be developed on the lines of carbon credits with international trade markets.
Various governments must fix minimum support price for carbon and CSR credits. CSR credits may
be developed as a base for the subsidies, to encourage and incentivize the companies to proceed
further in this direction. Quality of disclosures needs to be improved. Companies must have a pre
defined program of corporate CSR that fit their interests, their capacities, their responsibilities and
avoid irrelevant diversion of corporate assets.
