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1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on
CSR in the Globalized World: Emerging Issues and Challenges, 2016.
Organized By: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
February 26-27, 2016
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Director’s Message
A very good morning to all of you! It is my pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of the Institute and on my own behalf to this International Conference on CSR in Globalized World: Emerging Issues and Challenges. It is my pleasure to welcome Mr. Nazeeb Arif, Executive Vice President and Head-Corporate Communications, ITC Ltd. to the Campus again. We are thankful to him for agreeing to deliver the Key Note Address. In the past, Mr. Arif had delivered talks about CSR and sustainability models and the best practices of CSR at ITC. I would also like to welcome the panelist from various sectors and industries (NGO, Public sector, Private) and their common thread of Corporate Social Responsibility that brings them to this campus. The conference is an ideal meeting ground for academics and industry. The academicians will deliberate on the perspectives and the practitioners will guide us through the best practices. Let us dwell very briefly about the conference, in particular, what CSR means for us. CSR is now a functional area of Business. Every company small or big need to practice and communicate their responsible business practices. Quite naturally, several questions arise: How companies perceive the need for CSR and how they overcome the challenges of doing CSR? What happens when there is lack of awareness and how should the industries deal with the problems related to practicing CSR? What does this 2% spending mean for MNCs and TNCs in India? Will it lead to good practices of CSR or this stands as a limitation? I am sure this two-day conference will address many of these issues through articles and panel discussion by researchers and practitioners from academia and industry. There are 38 papers being presented by more than 60 participants during the 2-day conference. There are International delegates from South Africa and Bangladesh. It is good to see that so many academics from various educational institutions are doing research in CSR for the benefit of Industry and society. Panel discussions will brainstorm best practices as well as cutting edge ideas on CSR with participants from industry, NGOs, social enterprises, Indian institute of corporate affairs (ministry of corporate affairs), Gandhian scholars, among others. We are indeed very happy to host this conference, in fact, IIM Calcutta’s vibrant academic atmosphere is the right place to deliberate about these issues.
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Let me now very briefly talk about the Institute. The academic atmosphere of IIMC is reflected in the recognition that we have received at the global level. We are one of the few institutions in the world that have accreditation from both AACSB and AMBA. In November 2012 we were elected the 28th member of CEMS (Confederation of European Management Schools – now known by the acronym CEMS). With this membership we will now be able to send a select group of students to one of the partner schools to attend one year of classes as part of their programme and earn two degrees, the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from IIM Calcutta and a Master in International Management (MIM) from CEMS. If our diploma programmes are the life of our institute, the soul is in our unending focus on research and interaction with industry and government. We achieve it though focused research facilitated by our centres:
Management Centre for Human Values Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Case Research Centre Centre for Corporate Governance Centre for Development and Environment Policy Financial Research and Trading Lab
Centre for Development and Environment Policy (CDEP) is also partnering in this conference. There is a need for industry to fund more in CSR research done in academia from their 2% CSR spending. More industry academic collaboration necessary for this to happen. There would be a special issue of International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets which is dedicated to publishing the best papers presented in this conference. During the last few years we have been giving a greater thrust on research. Our goal is to be known both for teaching excellence as well as research excellence and thought leadership. This conference is one such initiative from IIM Calcutta to develop thought leadership in CSR and sustainable business practices. Once again, I welcome you all to campus. I do hope that this conference will provide many thought provoking ideas for the industry and the academic community to debate and deliberate, leading to a better society for us. Prof. Saibal Chattopadhyay Director, IIM Calcutta
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Dear Delegate/Participant:
It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the International Conference on CSR in Globalized World: Emerging Issues and Challenges (CSR Conference 2016) at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC). This conference in its very first year has been able to attract leading CSR scholars and managers from all over the region and is expected to provide a strong platform for the exchange of ideas and perspectives on contemporary CSR issues. This conference aims to inspire CSR scholars to disseminate their research and provides a great platform for future research collaborations. As part of this multidisciplinary conference scholars will be examining, exploring and critically engaging with crucial issues and developments pertaining to CSR and related areas. We would like to express our deepest sense of appreciation to IIMC Director, IIMC Deans and moderators of various panels for their constant support and invaluable guidance for organizing the conference. We also thank all the volunteers, reviewers, officers and staff of various administrative departments of IIMC for their constant support. We hope that you will find CSR Conference 2016 both valuable and enjoyable and this event will facilitate debates on theoretical and applied aspects of CSR which will yield novel ideas to this burgeoning discipline.
Organizing Committee - CSR Conference 2016
Prof. Nisigandha Bhuyan Prof. Ramendra Singh Prof. Arpita Ghosh
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Prof. V. K . Unni
International Conference on CSR in Globalized World: Emerging Issues and Challenges
CSR CONFERENCE 2016 Schedule
Organized by: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India
Venue: L-53 New Academic Block, IIM Calcutta, Kolkata, India
February 26-27, 2016 Time Event
February 26, 2016 9 am-12 noon
Participant Registrations
9.15am-9.30am
Inauguration and Lighting of Inaugural Lamp
9.30 am- 9.45am
Welcome address by Director, IIM Calcutta, Prof Saibal Chattopadhyay
9.45am -10.45 am
Key Note Address Mr. Nazeeb Arif, Executive Vice President, and Head-
Corporate Communications, ITC Ltd. 10.45am-11am
Tea Break
11am-12pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: CSR – Where are We?
Panelists: Rajni Bakshi, Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations; Mayuri Misra, IICA; Ravi Guria, Digital Empowerment Foundation
Moderator: Prof Anup Sinha, IIM Calcutta
12pm-1.30pm
Track 1: CSR – Where are We?
Paper Presentations: Track 1A (L-53 NAB):
1. Assessment of community attitude towards corporate social responsibility: An analysis of Mathura refinery region by Purnima Singh.
2. CSR Practices in Bangladesh Comparing with Globalized World by Md. Amir Khan.
3. Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vehicle for Poverty Reduction and Community Development in Developing Countries by Anand Choudhury.
4. Understanding CSR in India: Motivation for doing corporate social Responsibility in India: A case Study on Neepco by Rituparna Baruah, and Ritismita Naath.
Track 1B(N-52, NAB):
1. Four decades of research on the business case for corporate social responsibility: major
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theoretical underpinning and methodological issues by Bikramjit Ray Chaudhuri.
2. It's Time to Walk the Talk: CSR for Nation Building by Anupam Singh, Priyanka Verma and Jahiruddin Halder.
3. The Trajectory of Corporate Social responsibility in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur by Vinay Kumar.
4. Motivation behind CSR policies: An Indian Perspective by Sanjoy Kumar Das, and Swati Deb.
5. Corporate Social Responsibility: Roots of Inception to Future Ahead by Raiswa Saha Sarkar.
Track 1C(N-53, NAB):
1. Spirituality and Commitment: A Grounded Theory Approach by Rajni Hira, C.S. Sharma, and R.K. Singh.
2. CSR in Skill Development: A Win – Win Model for Industry and Beneficiaries by Vaibhav Gupta
3. A Review of history corporate social responsibility in India by Shewata Bapat.
4. Corporate Social Responsibility in an Indian Public Sector Organization: A case Study of NTPC by Moumita Acharyya.
1.30pm-2.30pm
LUNCH
2.30pm-3.30pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: CSR and Business Strategy Panelists: Mr Pratyush Kumar Panda, Head(CSR) ACC Cement ; Aarti Wig,
Yunus Social Business; P R Ganapathy, Villgro
Moderator: Prof Sougata Ray, IIM Calcutta
3.30pm-5pm
Track 2: CSR and Business Strategy
Paper Presentations: Track 2A(L-53, NAB):
1. Engaging Corporates for the Poverty Reduction– Looking at the Possibilities and Proclivities for Partnerships under Corporate Social Responsibility by Roopinder Oberoi.
2. In pursuit of a Social License to Operate – strategies and results obtained by South African and Swedish iron ore producers by Freek Cronjé, N. Håkan, Tarras-Wahlberg, Suzanne Reyneke, Susanne Sweet.
3. In the Pursuit of Profit: The Dichotomy of Stained Violence and Sustained Benevolence of the Business Corporation by Rohan Sarma, and
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Vaibhav Singh. 4. Corporate Social Responsibility: Few Cases from
Indian Corporate by Birachi Narayan Swar, and Rajesh Panda.
5. How CSR influences brand performance –a study on Indian B2B context by Manali Chatterjee, Titas Bhattacharjee, and Soumya Sarkar.
6. Influence of CSR on Purchase Intention of Youth and Moderating Role of Ethics by Madhupa Bakshi, and Manali Bhattacharya.
Track 2B(N-52, NAB): 1. Corporate Social Responsibility and Its impact
on Bottom Line Benefits: An Empirical Study Based on Indian Public Sector Enterprise by Ruhee Singh, and Sweta S. Malla.
2. The Role of CSR in Consumer Purchase Behavior: An Unresolved Paradox by Chitralekha Navneet Kumar, Akshay Vipul Sadalge, and Vini Harshad Patel.
3. Corporate Social Responsibility Vis-à-vis Sustainable Marketing, and Its Implications for the Indian Consumers by Nabajyoti Deka.
4. A study to Analyze the Impact of CSR Activities of Top Level Management on Banks in Uttar Pradesh District by Namrata Singh, Rajlaxmi Srivastava, and Rajani Rastogi.
5. Fuelling Gender Stereptypes-A Content Analysis of Indian Automobile Advertisements by Namrata Sandhu.
Track 2C(N-53, NAB):
1. CSR Orientation of the Indian Food Industry: A Critical Perspective by Sharad Agarwal and Ramendra Singh.
2. Strategic Implementations of CSR in MSME's of Textile Sector in India by Balamurugan A., Nishigandha Bhuyan, and Cledwyn Fernandez.
3. A survey on Bankers' Perception of CSR in India by Suvendu Kr. Pratihari, and Shigufta Hena Uzma.
4. Attitude of Millennials towards Cause Related marketing by Mukesh Kr. Singh, and Usha Kiran Rai.
5. Evolution of Stakeholder Management approach in Business: A Literature Review by Shireesh Thakur.
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5 pm-6pm Workshop on Gandhi’s trusteeship model: A new Model for CSR
Rajni Bakshi, Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
7.30 pm-9.30pm
CONFERENCE DINNER
February 27, 2016
9.30am-10.30am
PANEL DISCUSSION: CSR - Financial Performance and Corporate Governance
Panelists: Kaushik Dutta, TARI; Srimathi Sivasankarn, Head Sustainability,
HCL Group; Neha Kumar, Sustainability and Business Responsibility, GIZ
Moderator: Nimruji Prasad J., IIM Calcutta
10.30am-11am
Tea Break
11am-12.30pm
Track 3: CSR - Financial Performance and Corporate Governance
Paper Presentations: Track 3(L-53,NAB):
1. Financial Performance Management and CSR - establishing the missing link through corporate governance by Ahana Bose.
2. Corporate social Responsibility Disclosure and Reporting: Regulatory Issues in India by Shakti Dev, and Indrajit Dube.
3. The Impact of green corporate social responsibility initiatives on brand relevant concepts-an Indian Perspective by Sangeeta Trott.
4. Corporate Social Responsibility, Gendered Governance and Business Groups: The Case of Emerging India by Debarati Basu.
5. A Study on Employees’ Involvement in CSR Initiatives and Its Impact on Employee Related Outcomes by Ratna Sinha.
12.30pm-1.30pm
Workshop: CSR in Emerging Economies
Prof Nimruji Prasad J., IIM Calcutta
1.30pm-2.30pm
Lunch
2.30pm-3.30pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: Viewing CSR through the Legal Prism
Panelists: Abhishek Ranjan, Brillio Technologies; Srikrishna Sridhar
Murthy, Sattva; Ajay Chaturvedi, HarVa
Moderator: Prof V.K.Unni, IIM Calcutta
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3.30pm-5pm
Track 4: Viewing CSR through the Legal Prism
Paper Presentations: Track 4(N-52,NAB):
1. New CSR Mandate 2013: Procreation or alienation? By Raiswa Saha Sarkar.
2. The Legal Framework of CSR by Bishwa Kallyan Dash, Avinash Gautam, and Rahul Agarwal.
3. Incorporating Management of Social Intellectual Property Management into Corporate Social Responsibility by Alokananda Sengupta, and P.G. Rao.
4. Corporate Social Responsibility: Choose Your Own Guidelines by Adyasha Nanda, Aishwarya Ray, and Tamoghna Saha.
5pm Valedictory & Goodbyes
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Keynote Speaker
Mr. Nazeeb Arif is the Executive Vice President and Chief of Corporate Communications of ITC Limited, one of India’s foremost private sector companies and a multi-business Indian conglomerate with a market cap of US$ 40 billion. Mr Arif is the spokesperson of the ITC Group and on the Company's behalf interacts closely with all its external stakeholders including multilateral institutions, Government, Chambers of Commerce, Media etc. He is also a Member of the Sustainability Compliance Review Committee set up by the Corporate Management Committee of the Company. Currently he is the Liaison Delegate in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development,
Geneva, representing ITC. Mr Arif is on the Board of Trustees of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, a unique institution engaged in the preservation and teaching of Hindustani Classical Music. Mr Arif’s professional experience spans 30 years. Prior to joining ITC in 2006, he led the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) as its Secretary General and CEO. Earlier, he has also served the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the apex Industry body in the country. In these roles, he has actively advocated policies for building competitiveness of Indian Industry to enable a larger contribution to national economic development. During this time, he also served as an Adviser to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its South-Asian Sub-Regional Economic Co-operation (SASEC) project promoting greater regional co-operation amongst 4 countries in South Asia. He has been very actively involved in environmental and sustainability issues, and his initiatives have also been awarded by international organizations. He was awarded the United States Asia Environmental Partnership –“Environmental Leadership Award”. Mr Arif set up the Environment Management Centre at ICC which won the world’s best project by the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, the apex body of business in the world. Mr Arif led a team from Europe and India to implement a project funded by the European Union on Industrial Disaster Management. Mr. Arif was invited by the United States Government as part of the International Visitors Program, and also by the European Commission as part of the European Union Visitors Program. He was also invited to attend the International Institute for Leadership in Germany (Theodore Heuss Akademie, Gummersbach) by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.
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Panel Discussion Speakers
1. Aarti Wig
Aarti is Co-Founder of Yunus Social Business India. YSB is a social business co-founded by
Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus to help catalyze selfless problem solving social
businesses- globally. At YSB, Aarti has led a range of ecosystem building initiatives from setting
up YSB's first fund in India, advising companies on creating social business and designing
innovative new financial instruments for social business such as the social success note. Aarti is
currently leading the creation of YSB's Corporate Action Tank- the first ever incubator for
corporates to help them create their own corporate social businesses. Aarti is a leader in the
Yunus Social Business movement - she is an Asia 21 young leader and a regular speaker at
several Indian and international social enterprise events. Aarti was previously with JPMorgan in
Mumbai and has a Master’s degree in Finance from the London School of Economics.
2. Abhishek Ranjan
Abhishek currently leads Banking Industry Marketing and CSR for Brillio Technology. Abhishek
brings with him 10+ years of Marketing and 20+ years of experience in the Social Sector. He was
handpicked by his CEO to setup the CSR framework of his company. He started his career with
IBM as Business Analyst and later worked for Oracle Financial Services, where he was credited
with setting up the Customer Centers and Industry Relations function in India.
He is a Social Media Expert and teaches Social Media Marketing at various B and T Schools. He
has run some of the most successful Social Media Campaigns globally, which have contributed
to businesses worth millions of dollars. Abhishek is also an avid blogger and his articles have
been published by leading global publications. He has served on the board of various non-profits
and CSR/IT committees of CII, BCIC and NASSCOM. He is the Chairman of Rotary JBN Trust
and the founder trustee of the Netra Lake Rejuvenation Trust. He was recently awarded for his
work in the area of lake and ward development by the Hon’ble Union Law Minister Shri
Sadanada Gowda. He has led community engagement projects to deliver Safe Drinking Water at
Railway Stations, e-Learning/Digital Learning, Teach @ School, Stem Cells Registry, Disaster
Management, 100+ Heart Surgeries for Children, Mobile Eye Clinic, Mid-Day Meal, Evening
School, Comfort Stations, Career Guidance, Girls Glory Project, AIDS Awareness, to name a few.
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He has been invited as speaker / moderator by Indian School of Business (ISB), Bangalore CSR
Roundtable, Christ College, Rotary Club, Narsee Monjee, Symbiosis (SCMHRD), Jyoti Niwas
College, SSMRV College and Vishwa Yuva Kendra and many more such organizations. He has
recently been selected as one of the 100 Most Impactful CSR Leaders (Global Listing) by World
CSR Congress. Abhishek completed his PGDCA from IMT Ghaziabad, and an executive program
on Digital and Social Media Marketing from ISB, Hyderabad.
3. Ajay Chaturvedi
Honored by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader 2013-18, Ajay Chaturvedi, is
an ex-Citi where he served in Strategy and Sales positions in Cards and Consumer banking
verticals. Ajay begun his career with IBM Consulting in the US and has experience in
Management, Operations and IT Consulting across Financial Services, IT and ITeS industries in
US, UK, and South East Asia. Ajay is an Engineer from BITS Pilani and a Graduate in
Management of Technology from the School of Engineering and The Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania, and holds a Diploma in Global Leadership & Public Policy from The
Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Ajay truly believes in the power of cost effective
innovation on all aspects that will lead to value creation across the world, especially in India and
supports the Socio-Capitalistic business models as the drivers of inclusive growth. He also
thinks that the real growth in rural areas across the world and in India is yet to come and is
possible only when we get into the real fabric of the country and not just overlay thoughts and
patterns from the developed nations. A voracious reader, an avid golfer and an ardent traveler,
Ajay spent almost a decade living in the US and across the world and now lives in Gurgaon. Ajay
was awarded CNN IBN Youth Icon / Young Indian Leader of the year 2011. HarVa XPO entered
the Limca Book of Records for being the first all women rural BPO in the world in 2011. HarVa
has won numerous awards and accolades including the Manthan Chairman Excellence Award
2011, SKOCH Financial Inclusion 2011 and TiE Entrepreneurial Excellence 2011 among the
latest recognitions. Earlier in 2011, HarVa was also identified as the 3rd most innovative
company in India (next only to Tata Motors) by the Fast Company magazine of New York,
Entrepreneurship, Sustainability & Empowered Woman Award by the Rockefeller Foundation /
United Nations 2012. Ajay was nominated as one of the Amazing Global Indian by Times Now
News 2012-13 and Yahoo unsung Heroes 2012-13. He has also been honored as an Iconic Youth
2014 by Rotary International, picked as 50 most creative leaders across the world to attend
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THNK, The Creative School of Amsterdam's Accelerator program for Creative Leaders, and
felicitated by the BITS Pilani in the golden jubilee celebrations as 50 most inspiring alumni in
50 years. Ajay is also an ambassador of the Power of Youth initiative of Scotland. He also holds a
unique distinction of being identified as one of the four most innovative game changers by the
Office of Advisor to the Prime Minister on Skill Development and Employability. Ajay is also the
author of bestselling book, “Lost Wisdom of The Swastika”.
4. Kaushik Dutta
Kaushik is the founding co-director of Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI) which a not
for profit organization set up under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act. TARI is one of the
few privately-funded, independent and non-partisan Indian think-tanks on Corporate
Governance, Sustainability, Economics and Public Policy. He has retired in July 2010 from
PricewaterhouseCoopers after spending over 22 years in the practice out of which 17 years have
been as a partner. He has been a member of the India Leadership Team of
PricewaterhouseCoopers, managed the India Advisory Board of PwC, national IFRS leader,
Corporate Governance Practice leader, deputy assurance leader amongst other national and
global roles. He was earlier a partner with the Global Capital Markets Group of PwC
International. He has worked in the areas of corporate governance since 1999 when he
participated in the Naresh Chandra Committee’s deliberations for developing the norms of
Corporate Governance in India with various committees including the Ministry of corporate
affairs Kaushik has also worked with Conference Board of the U.S.A., Asian Development Bank,
Institute of Directors UK, Asian Institute of Corporate Governance, NACD, USA, the Office of
the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, CII, FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, Department of
Public Enterprises, and National Foundation for Corporate Governance, Ministry of Corporate
Affairs etc. on governance matters. Kaushik has written for the Ministry of Corporate affairs, a
report along with colleagues from TARI and IIM Calcutta on State of Corporate Governance in
India in 2012. He has also worked with IICA and UN Global Compact to develop a report on
fraud and corruption by private sector in India (2013, which had been placed and referenced in
the Indian Parliament multiple times. He in 2013 has conceptualised for Serious Fraud
Investigation Office (SFIO), a fraud prediction model based on analytics and algorithms using
Bayesian principles and was a member of Government of India’s Steering Committee for
developing the model. In 2015, he was a member of Minister of Defence’s task force called the
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Aatre Committee on preparing the strategy and implementation mechanism of privatising
defence manufacturing in India. He has authored three books- Corporate Governance- myth to
reality( Lexis Nexis, 2005), India means Business- how the elephant earned it’s stripes( Oxford
University Press,2012) , Handbook for independent directors- Upholding the moral compass(
Lexis Nexis,2015) with EY. He has written over 100 thought papers on corporate governance,
sustainability, business and policy issues in newspapers, journals and business magazines.
Currently he is writing a Hand Book for Audit Committees with PWC, to be published around
July 2016. Kaushik serves as a director on the Boards of: HCL Info systems Ltd, HCL Services
Limited, NDTV Limited, New Gen Software Limited, Zomato Private Limited, NSL Renewable
Power Ltd, and Centennial Development Services Ltd. He is also a member of the Management
Committee of Delhi Public School Society, the largest private school network in India, UN
Global Compact, India and Charities like PSI, Help age and Charka. He is Fellow Member,
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and Bachelor of Commerce, St. Xavier's College. He
plays golf with a handicap of 8.
5. Mayuri Misra
With a Masters in Sustainable Economic Development from the United Nations University,
Mayuri started her career in Business Sustainability at the United Nations Headquarters in New
York where she served the IUCN permanent observer mission to the United Nations as an
attaché, assisting in defining the position on sustainable development issues, to be presented at
the Rio+20 ( 2012). Her master’s research explored the rise of corporate social responsibility
(CSR) agenda in the business world (particularly in Latin America) and how its practices can
contribute to Sustainable Development. At the Business Council for Sustainable Development -
The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, Mayuri gained expertise in identifying,
conceptualizing and implementing industry led thematic research projects in areas of
environmental management systems and business responsibility. Currently, she is employed as
a Senior Programme Executive with the National Foundation for CSR (NFCSR), Indian Institute
of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Government of India. Her role is to work in strategic, policy level
and capacity building interventions at the national level to assist the rollout of the new CSR
agenda in the country as required by Section 135, Companies Act 2013 on CSR. This includes
content development for training & certification programmes/Management Development
Programmes in CSR, design & development of the BSE- IICA CSR Index as part of the senior
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IICA team, and to contribute in developing a revenue model for NFCSR, which includes the pan-
India roll-out of CSR services and consultancies, ranging from setting up CSR processes to
implementation and impact assessment of Projects and Programmes.
6. Neha Kumar
Neha Kumar is working as Senior Advisor at GIZ with the Responsible Enterprise Finance
Initiative being jointly implemented by GIZ and SIDBI. Prior to this she was managing the Indo-
German Business Responsibility Initiative the outcome of which is the National Voluntary
Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business (NVGs) and the
SEBI mandated Business Responsibility Reporting for the top 500 companies. Her work has
involved steering a systematic engagement with key multiplier constituencies such as financial
institutions, government, industry associations, training institutions and the media on making
ESG/sustainability as driver for business growth and sustainable development. Currently, she is
a member of BIS committee on CSR and the Vice Chair of the Stakeholder Council of GRI.
Before her stint at GIZ, she worked as a non-financial risk advisor and consulted national and
international clients in the extractive sector on issues of land acquisition and resettlement,
corporate social responsibility, security and stakeholder engagement mainly in politically
sensitive parts of India. Her experience in the last twelve years or so ranges from working on the
ground and contributing to policy formulation processes.
7. PR Ganapathy
As President of Villgro, one of India's oldest and most respected social enterprise incubators,
and co-founder at Menterra Venture Advisors, an early stage social impact fund, PR Ganapathy
inspires, funds and mentors social entrepreneurs. He also works on building the social
enterprise ecosystem, through organizations like the Aspen Network of Development
Entrepreneurs and by serving on CII's CSR Subcommittee for the Southern Region. Prior to
Villgro, he co-founded a venture funded start up in the US, and worked at Infosys and the Tata
Group. He has an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and an Honors degree in Mathematics from
Hindu College.
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8. Pratyush Kumar Panda
Pratyush is a CSR & Sustainability professional with 19 years of experience out of which most of
his time he has worked for CARE, Vedanta and ACC Limited (The leading Cement Company in
India). He has done Masters in Sociology and MBA (Rural Management) from XIM,
Bhubaneswar. Pratyush is also an Aspire Circel Fellow by successfully completed the prescribed
course and four "Enlightened Social Leadership" in 2015. Presently he is serving as Corporate
Head CSR at ACC Limited, Mumbai and serving a million lives every year through 42
NGO partners, 07 corporate and personal voluntary services. In addition he is a member of
multiple committees of CII, FICCI and Global Compact Network of India. Pratyush is very
innovative and passionately working on CSR and its business strategy, Monitoring & Impact
Evaluation Tools, Anti-corruption, and Policy Advocacy.
9. Rajni Bakshi
Rajni is a Mumbai based author and Senior Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House: Indian
Council on Global Relations, Mumbai. She is author of Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom: for
a market culture beyond greed and fear (Penguin, India, 2009 and GreanLeaf, UK, 2012), which
won two Vodafone-Crossword Awards. Her earlier book Bapu Kuti: Journeys in Rediscovery of
Gandhi (Penguin, India, 1998) inspired the Hindi film ‘Swades’ directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar.
Her other books include: Long Haul: the Bombay Textile Workers Strike 1982-83 (1986), A
Warning and an Opportunity: the Dispute over Swami Vivekananda’s Legacy (1994), LETS
Make it Happen: a backgrounder on New Economics (2003) and An Economics for Well-
Being(2007). From November 2010 till March 2012 Rajni served as an independent director on
the board of Future Value Retail Ltd. Rajni serves on the Board of Trustees at Child Rights and
You (CRY), Citizens for Peace (CfP), Seva Mandir, Jansahayog Trust and Centre for Education
and Documentation (Mumbai & Bangalore). She is also General Body member of Timbaktu
Collective and serves on the Executive Committee of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti.
10. Ravi Guria
Ravi Guria is a Media person and Film-maker with over 15 years of experience. He has been
associated with a number of prestigious media organizations with a special focus on
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empowerment and development. Currently, he is heading Media, Communication, Design &
Awards at Digital Empowerment Foundation as Dy. Programme Director- Media &
Communication. He is spearheading a number of projects such as Social Media for
Empowerment and e-heritage.
11. Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy (Krishna)
Krishna is the Founder and CEO of Sattva and is responsible for the overall growth and strategic
direction of the company. Over the last few years, Krishna has been working with the senior
management of leading non-profits, social enterprises, corporate and funders to make their
social impact initiatives sustainable and scalable. Krishna started his career in 2002 as an early
member of the Dell R&D’s India operations and was involved in leading global product
development teams in the enterprise server and storage business of Dell. Krishna was also part
of the core-team that led Dell’s CSR initiatives across the Indian operations of the company.
Krishna has worked with multiple non-profits over the last 12 years and has served on the
Advisory Boards of Dream a Dream, a leading Indian non-profit and Hua-Dan, a social
enterprise in China. Krishna holds a B.E (Hons) in Computer Science from BITS, Pilani and an
MBA from INSEAD Business School with a focus on entrepreneurship and social innovation.
Krishna is a visiting faculty at IIM Calcutta on the topic of “Entrepreneurship in NGOs”.
12. Srimathi Shivashankar
Srimathi is Associate Vice President – HCL Technologies, and among the Future Leaders Forum
set up by World Business Council for Sustainability Development. She was a member of the
advisory council of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a working committee member of the
Global Gender Parity Group of the World Economic Forum, and was also a member in the task
force for drafting CSR guidelines for Indian companies. Currently she is also on the Leadership
Group of the UN- Women Empowerment Principles (WEP) group. At HCL she manages global
diversity, sustainability and CSR programs. She is the project director for HCL Grant and is also
on the steering committee of HCL Foundation.
18
LIST OF ACCEPTED PAPERS
Paper ID
Title Authors
1 Assessment of community attitude towards corporate social responsibility: An analysis of Mathura Refinery region.
Purnima Singh
2 CSR Practices in Bangladesh Comparing With Globalized World.
Md. Amir Khan
3 Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vehicle for Poverty Reduction and Community Development in Developing Countries.
Anand Choudhary
4 Understanding CSR in India: Motivation for doing CSR in India. A Case Study On NEEPCO.
Rituparna Baruah
5 Four decades of Research on the business case for corporate Social Responsibility: Major Theoretical Underpinning and Methodological Issues
Bikramjit Ray Chaudhri
6 It’s Time To Walk the Talk: CSR for Nation Building. Anupam Singh, Priyanka Verma, Jahiruddin Halder
7 The Trajectory of Corporate Social Responsibility in Tata Steel Jamshedpur.
Vinay Kumar
8 Motivation behind CSR policies: An Indian Perspective.
Sanjay Kumar Das, Swati Deb
9 Corporate Social Responsibility: Roots of Inception to Future Ahead.
Raiswa Saha Sarkar
10 Spirituality and Commitment: A Grounded Theory Approach.
Dr. C. S. Sharma, Dr. R. K. Singh, Ms. Rajni Hira
11 CSR in Skill Development: A Win – Win Model for Industry and Beneficiaries.
Sandeep Mohan Prasad, Vaibhav Gupta
12 A review of history of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India.
Mrs Shweta Bapat
13 Corporate Social Responsibility in an Indian Public Sector Organization: A Case study of NTPC.
Moumita Acharyya
14 Engaging Corporates for the Poverty Reduction– Looking at the Possibilities and Proclivities for Partnerships under Corporate Social Responsibility.
Dr. Roopinder Oberoi
15 In pursuit of a Social License to Operate – strategies and results obtained by South African and Swedish iron ore producers.
Freek Cronjé, N. Håkan, Suzanne Reyneke, Susanne Sweet,
16 In the Pursuit of Profit: The Dichotomy of Stained Violence and Sustained Benevolence of the Business Corporation.
Rohan Sarma, Dr. Vibhav Singh.
19
17 Corporate Social Responsibility: Few Cases From Indian Corporate.
Dr. Biranchi Narayan Swar, Dr.Rajesh Panda.
18 How CSR influences brand performance –a study on Indian B2B context.
Manali Chatterjee, Dr. Titas Bhattacharjee, Dr. Soumya Sarkar.
19 Influence of CSR on purchase intention of youth and moderating role of ethics.
Dr. Madhupa Bakshi, Manali Bhattacharya.
20 Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Bottom Line Benefits: An Empirical Study Based on Indian Public Sector Enterprises.
Ruhee Singh, Sweta S. Malla
21 The Role of CSR in Consumer Purchase Behavior: An Unresolved paradox.
Chitralekha Navneet Kumar, Mr. Akshay Vipul Sadalge, Ms. Vini Harshad Patel
22 Corporate Social Responsibility Vis-à-vis Sustainable Marketing, and its Implications for the Indian Consumers.
Nabajyoti Deka,
23 A study to analyze the impact of CSR activities of Top Level Management on Banks in Uttar Pradesh District.
Namrata Singh, Dr.Rajlaxmi
Srivastava, Dr. Rajni Rastogi,
24 Fuelling Gender Stereotypes – A Content Analysis of Indian Automobile Advertisements.
Dr. Namrata Sandhu
25 CSR orientations of the Indian food industry : A Critical perspective.
Sharad Agarwal, Prof. Ramendra Singh.
26 Strategic Implementation of CSR in MSME’s of Textile Sector in India.
Balamurugan A, Prof. Nishigandha Bhuyan, Cledwyn Fernandez.
27 A survey on Bankers’ Perception of CSR in India.
Suvendu Kr. Pratihari, Dr. Shigufta Hena Uzma
28 Attitude of Millennials towards Cause Related Marketing.
Mukesh Kumar Singh, Prof. Usha Kiran Rai.
29 Evolution of Stakeholder Management approach in Business.
Mr. Shireesh.
30 Financial Performance Management and CSR establishing the missing link through corporate governance.
Ahana Bose.
31 Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Reporting: Regulatory Issues in India.
Shakti Deb, Dr. Indrajit Dube.
32 The impact of green corporate social responsibility initiatives on brand relevant concepts-an Indian perspective.
Dr Sangeeta Trott.
33 Corporate Social Responsibility, Gendered Governance and Business Groups: The Case of Emerging India.
Debarati Basu.
34 A study on Employees Involvement in CSR Ratan Sinha.
20
Initiatives and Its Impact on Employee Related Outcomes.
35 New CSR Mandate2013: Procreation or alienation? Mr. Shiv Swaroop Jha, Raiswa
Saha Sarkar
36 The Legal Framework of CSR. Bishwa Kalyan Dash,
Avinash Gautam, Rahul
Agarwal
37 Incorporating Management of Societal Intellectual Property Management into Corporate Social Responsibility.”
Mrs Alokananda Sengupta, Dr.
P G Rao,
38 CSR Choose your own Guidelines. Adyasha Nanda.
21
Paper Presentations
Track 1A: CSR-Where are We?
Paper Title:
1. “Assessment of community attitude towards corporate social
responsibility: An analysis of Mathura Refinery region.”
Author(s): Purnima Singh, PhD Research Scholar, Central University of Haryana
Abstract:
This study aims to understand the expectations and explore the attitude of the
community towards the Corporate Social Responsibility in a massive region of
Indian Oil Corporation site Mathura Refinery. The paper tries to investigate the
perception and knowledge of the respondents residing in the nearby villages of
Mathura Refinery regarding different CSR activities like education, health,
drinking water and environment.
The convenient and multi-stage sampling technique is used to select the
respondent. The sample consists of total 100 respondents, taken from five villages
– Dhangaon, Chhargaon, Koyala Alipur, Baad, and Bhinsa. The 20 respondents
are chosen from each village on the basis of convenience. The interview is also
conducted with the HR manager of the Mathura Refinery, mainly responsible for
the CSR work to know his view on the CSR practices undertaken by the Mathura
Refinery. In the study both the primary and secondary data is used as per the
need. The primary data is collected by using a well-structured questionnaire
covering different aspects like socio-demographic characteristics, educational
status, water resource, healthcare. The Secondary data is collected from the
annual report of 2013-14, audited annual report of 2014-15, and the sustainability
report of IOCL.
The interaction with the respondent comes out with their problems and possible
areas of interventions. Majority of the respondents are not aware of the term
22
Corporate Social Responsibility nor they are satisfied on the account of services
rendered by Mathura Refinery. The results are not positively related to social
performance.
Although the sample size is small and restricted to nearby villages, the results are
quite robust. The study would help the companies to develop a strategic relation
between the CSR efforts and real needs of the society. Expectation of society is
very high and company has limited budget for social activities so there is a low
intercity conflict or dissatisfaction rise toward the CSR policies.
There is a lack of association in terms of consequences between the CSR practices
and the behavior of the society. Hence, the current paper tries to bring forth the
CSR practices undertaken by the Mathura Refinery and the perspective of local
people from the nearby villages towards the Mathura Refinery. Industrial
development and social issue has a matter of deep concern for Mathura Refinery.
Paper Title: 2. “CSR Practices in Bangladesh Comparing With Globalized World.”
Author(s):
Md. Amir Khan, Student of Business Administration East West University, Bangladesh
Abstract:
In Bangladesh CSR began to establish its base by the few years and it is certainly
viewed as fundamental of doing business worldwide. CSR is a developing idea in
the world, however in Bangladesh; CSR is described as the actions which are based
on moral ideas and transparency that bring sustainable development to the inner
as well as outer stakeholders for the sake of the business environment and
community. Contemplation about CSR exercises in here in neoteric global terms is
comparatively young. As we are part of globalized world, we cannot deny CSR
standard (Edward P. M, 2006).The objective of that paper is to place the
difference between Bangladeshi companies’ corporate social responsibility with
23
other developing and developed countries and what changes (with regard to
profitability, brand image, customer loyalty) they are experiencing through CSR.
What challenges are faced by the companies and type of drivers are responsible for
these. What type of strategies are businesses using to come out and whether these
strategies can be applied in other context and vice versa. The paper will be help to
trace out different paths for improvements. The research illustrates problems as
well as opportunities.
Paper Title:
3. “Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vehicle for Poverty Reduction and
Community Development in Developing Countries.”
Author(s):
Anand Choudhary, Masters Human Resource and Knowledge Management
Lancaster University Management School (UK)
Abstract: The study aims to trace the origin and development of corporate social
responsibility (CSR), in the modern era whilst exploring its recent transformation
as a vehicle for poverty reduction and sustainable development of local
communities in developing countries as proposed by multilateral development
agencies including the UNCTAD , World bank , DFID 1 2 3 and scholars (Williams,
2014; Idemudia, 2008; Lodge, 2006; Fox, 2004), among others. The company
whose CSR policies and initiatives are studied as part of the research is the ‘Tata
Steel Group’. Tata Steel has been selected for the study as it’s a reputable brand
name in India and claims to function as a responsible corporate citizen4. The
study is conducted at the ‘Lahanda’5 village in the Joda Block of Keonjhar district
in the state of Odisha where the Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS),
manages its CSR initiatives.
24
Paper Title:
4. “Understanding CSR in India: Motivation for doing CSR in India. A
Case Study On NEEPCO.”
Author(s): Rituparna Baruah, Faculty Member, SR Academy
Abstract:
Corporate Social Responsibility is a management concept whereby companies
integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and
interactions with their stakeholders. CSR is generally understood as being the way
through which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and
social imperatives while at the same time addressing the expectation of
shareholders and the other stakeholders. The North Eastern Electric Power
Corporation (NEEPCO) was incorporated on 2nd April 1976 as a wholly owned
Government enterprise under the Ministry of Power to plan, promote, investigate,
survey, design, construct, generate, operate and maintain both hydro and thermal
power stations for the development of power potential in the North Eastern
Region (NEC). In fulfilling its CSR commitments, NEEPCO has adopted the
structured schemes in line with DPE guidelines on CSR activities and focus is on
the rural India and backward districts of the hill states of North Eastern Region. It
has also adopted three I.T.I s ; two in Arunachal Pradesh and one in Assam.
NEEPCO also provides medical equipments in North Eastern Region, holds free
medical camps, funds scholarships to economically backward students in and
around project area.
Track 1B: CSR - Where are We?
Paper Title:
1. “Four decades of Research on the business case for corporate Social
Responsibility: Major Theoretical Underpinning and Methodological
Issues.”
Author(s): Bikramjit Ray Chaudhari, FP, IIM Calcutta.
25
Abstract:
Broad environmental degradation and social exploitation by the direct and indirect effects of
industrial development have been observed in the last century or so. In the face of that, the
businesses have become more responsive to environmental and social issues, sometimes by the
altruistic initiatives from the business leaders, and sometimes by the pressure from internal and
external stakeholders like regulators, shareholders, customers, and employees.
Investments in social causes that include environmental causes have faced stern challenges from
the sturdy and persistent theoretical economic argument that this causes a dent in the overall
corporate financial performance (e.g. Friedman, 1962; Keeley, 1988; Easterbrook & Fischel,
1991; Sternberg, 1997, Donaldson & Dunfee, 1999, Jensen, 2002), therefore diverting the
businesses from their core business purpose of wealth creation. They resort to trade-off
hypothesis, available funds hypothesis or slack resources hypothesis, agency theory, efficient
market view, and other theories to establish their point. In general, these scholars have argued
that the wealth creation and long-term market value should be the primary focus of the
businesses by which they can maximize the social welfare. For example, Jensen (2002: 239)
argued, “200 years' worth of work in economics and finance indicate that social welfare is
maximized when all firms in an economy maximize total firm value."
Therefore, businesses contribute best to society by providing employment opportunities in the
community and by fulfilling social needs through providing goods and services to the
marketplace at a competitive price. Only legitimate actor for particular work of reduction of
social degradation that includes environmental degradation should be the regulations set by
freely elected Governments and therefore would be solved by “the property rights and the
invisible hand of the market” (Easterbrook & Fischel, 1991: 37).
On the contrary, scholars use stakeholders theory (Freeman, 1984) and instrumental
stakeholders theory (Jones, 1995) as some of the dominant theoretical responses to the above
arguments to establish the dominant place for parties other than shareholders for the long term
viability of the businesses, which indicates that with increased social spending comes improved
stakeholder relationships that reduce firms’ transaction costs, increased market opportunities
and pricing premiums (Fombrun, Gardberg and Barnett, 2000), resulting in higher net financial
performance.
26
Other theoretical positions they use are including supply and demand theory of CSR (Anderson
& Frankle, 1980), base of the pyramid approach (Prahalad, 2004), natural resource-based view
of the firm (Hart, 1995), natural capitalism (Lovins, Lovins & Hawken, 1999), sustainable value
framework (Hart & Milstein, 2003), social impact hypothesis (Cornell & Shapiro, 1987), socially
responsible investing (Barnett & Solomon, 2003), ethical investing (Mackenzie & Lewis, 1999),
virtuous circle approach (Pava & Krausz, 1996). In this way, scholars have to find a way to
promote what they see as social justice in the world in which this shareholder wealth
maximization paradigm reigns. Through the theoretica explanation of risk mitigation,
enhancing legitimacy and license-to operate, reputation building, cost reduction, creating a
value-based community, and enhancing competitive advantage, scholars have tried to show that
such investments in social causes that include environmental causes are not dents to the
corporate financial performance in the long run, but actually return handsome benefits in the
overall financial performance.
Theorists and empirical researchers have sought to address the research question, which is
generally indicated as ‘the business case of corporate social responsibility’, since 1972 by
establishing a relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial
performance (CFP). In general, these studies were offered as something of an antidote to a
public conversation that was quite skeptical of corporate social responsibility (Levitt, 1958;
Friedman, 1962). Wood (1991: 693) defines CSP as a “business organization’s configuration of
the principles of social responsibility, processes of social responsiveness, and policies, programs,
and observable outcomes as they relate to the firm’s social relationships”. CFP is the “financial
viability of an organization” (Price & Muller, 1986: 128) and the degree to which a firm is able to
achieve its economic or financial goals (Venkatraman & Ramanujam, 1986), measured through
market-based, or accounting measures, or both. While many of these studies have theoretically
and empirically establish the positive relationship between the two, some of them observed the
negative relationship, and some more of them observed the non-significant relationship. Some
researchers highlight a reverse positive relationship, i.e., CFP influence CSP (for reviews, see
Margolis & Walsh, 2003; Orlitzky, Schmidt & Rynes, 2003). Overall, even after four decades of
theoretical and empirical researches there is not a clear winner between the critics and
proponents of the business case for corporate social responsibility. Barnett (2007: 794) has aptly
surmises this situation “that after more than thirty years of research, we cannot clearly conclude
27
whether a one-dollar investment in social initiatives returns more or less than one dollar in
benefit to the shareholder”.
Most theorizing on the relationship between corporate social/environmental performance (CSP)
and corporate financial performance (CFP) assumes that the current evidence is too fractured or
too variable to draw any generalizable conclusions. In this article, we do not aim to declare a
victor in this long-standing debate. Rather, we have reviewed 102 majors researches so far
published between.
Paper Title:
2. “It’s Time To Walk the Talk: CSR for Nation Building.”
Author(s): Anupam Singh, Senior Research Fellow,
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal. Priyanka Verma, Assistant Professor,
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal. Jahiruddin Halder, I.H.M., Pusa - Under NCHMCT,
Government of India.
Abstract: India as a country facing large development challenges, the discourse around Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) is increasingly about the crucial role corporate can play in bringing about
positive change in the area of human development and social inclusion. Now, CSR is no longer
seen corporate social assistance or philanthropy, but as essential to a good business strategy,
helping to reduce investment risks, harnessing stakeholders relationship and enhancing
business wealth by improving transparency and accountability. It is about working together -
with government, with civil society, and with the community - to improve the lives of millions of
people by making growth more inclusive. The purpose of this study is to assess India’s progress
on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and also to explore the opportunity how CSR can be
harmonized with government programs to achieve the unmet goals for a better India tomorrow.
28
Paper Title:
3. “The Trajectory of Corporate Social Responsibility in Tata Steel
Jamshedpur.”
Author(s): Vinay Kumar, Research Scholar, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
Abstract: The Corporate Social Responsibility emerged as solution of social problems in globalized era.
The increasing domination of business houses in providing basic amenities to neighborhood
communities has reduced the role of state. Indian government looked it as opportunities and
made it mandatory. The journey from voluntarism to mandated CSR attracts several questions
on CSR. Could social obligation be outsourced to private parties without defined accountability?
What are the people’s perceptions about providing civic amenities as CSR? Providing civic
amenities to urban agglomeration is part of elected local bodies. This development does not look
surrendering right of self-governance on the name of good governance. This paper struggles
with these questions through the study of CSR in Tata Steel regarding providing civic amenities
in Jamshedpur. Based on interviews of 100 respondents and participant observant, the paper
concludes that providing civic amenities as CSR could be good if quality, cost and accountability
should be properly addressed.
Paper Title: 4. “Motivation behind CSR policies: An Indian Perspective.”
Author(s):
Sanjay Kumar Das, Student, Department of Business Administration, Assam University.
Swati Deb, Student, Department of Business Administration, Assam University.
Abstract:
Corporate Social Responsibility in India is in practice long before the history is recorded; but in
spite of the voluntary action, CSR activities have always been driven by inner motives of the
businesses. The study thus is conducted with the purpose of identifying and understanding the
motivational factors that lead companies to engage in CSR practices and also to assess how such
practices differ among industries in India. Although in India, it’s a legal binding under the
umbrella of Companies Act 2013, but it is found that companies contribute more than the
minimum strata in CSR activities. The corporates are very much aware of the fact that CSR, if
implemented efficiently and effectively can bring enhanced access to capital and market. The
29
society perceives a notion to reject those companies who do not prove that they have a socially
responsible behavior. The businesses take on economic and commercial activities which is a
mere result of a social need that has to be fairly and rationally satisfied. Through CSR activities,
a company creates a brand image; which is one of the prime concerns of most of the companies
while formulating their CSR policy. For this purpose, four companies from divergent industries
are selected as case studies. The companies have been selected keeping in mind about the
divergent CSR activities undertaken by them. The study focuses on evaluating the motivators
that steer the companies’ CSR policy. In context of the study, some of the research questions
have been derived.
Paper Title:
5. “Corporate Social Responsibility: Roots of Inception to Future Ahead.”
Author(s): Raiswa Saha Sarkar, Research Scholar,
Department of Management Studies, SRM University Sonepat, Haryana India. Abstract: In modern years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a notion and practice has gained huge
momentum. The notion of CSR has matured itself from its ancient customs of corporate
altruism. With the liberalization of the world economy, the humanitarian or altruistic approach
towards the citizens have changed to a multi stakeholder approach whereby, companies are
reckoned accountable for all stakeholders including employees, customers, creditors,
community as a whole. In purview of the changes in the Indian Economy since liberalization and
globalization taking place on a substantial scale, rapid growth of industries, economic reforms at
every stages of industrial growth has altogether forced CSR to be a significant field of study and
research. The purpose of this paper on CSR: Roots of inception to future ahead is to provide a
theoretical background and framework of CSR from its inception to Contemporary CSR
Applications. The aim of this paper is to assimilate and merge all the important and major
studies from pro-independence to the current times on CSR. The growing attention towards
CSR in recent times have drastically changed the attitude and job responsibilities of businesses
all over the world and India is one such example where, CSR have played an important role for
survival and growth of industries. Enron downfall is a good example. It was involved in
accounting frauds and scandals leaving investors with millions of losses. The underlying
problem was the ethical drawback. The only motive of any Business corporation is to earn more
30
revenue in short span of time and the drive for more profit sometimes become dangerous which
not only destroys the institution but also hampers the growth of the entire industry. In the
earlier days, the pursuit for profit was perceived as the only legitimate goal. Milton Friedman
stressed that the only ethical behavior of corporations is to earn more and more profit. The logic
was that when firms earn profit, they will have to pay more taxes and the government will then
have more of resources to redistribute social welfare with the tax money. In other words, the
more tax corporations pay, the better the society we will have because government will take up
better means of societal welfare. According to this, only an individual can have social
responsibility but when we talk of society as a whole we have to be more concerned with the
broader or macro concept of understanding. Now, people are not only satisfied with the profit
motive alone. People have varied views and expectations about what corporations should be
devoting. We as citizens have broadened our expectations from the business organizations.
Track 1C: CSR-Where are We?
Paper Title: 1. “SPIRITUALITY AND COMMITMENT: A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH.”
Author(s):
Dr. C. S. Sharma, – Consultant, Advisory Council, JRE Group of Institutions, Greater Noida. Dr. R. K. Singh, . Professor, Department of Commerce, University of Delhi.
Ms. Rajni Hira, Research Scholar, Department of Commerce, University of Delhi. Abstract:
Spirituality, an essence ingrained in every individual, when integrated with one’s life and work
offers not merely a living, but also a hope of bringing about positive changes. Commitment,
acknowledged as an important organizational behavior parameter ensures success at multiple
fronts – both personal and professional. The two concepts, though studied extensively
independently, have escaped the scholarly attention of researchers with respect to their
interdependence. The present paper attempts to analyze and explore this relationship between
these two variables and their relationship with Corporate Social Responsibility. Using the
technique of content analysis in grounded theory, the authors have hypothesized a model
explaining the importance of social responsiveness so as to make a person more spiritually
inclined, which further increases his level of commitment at personal and professional front.
31
Paper Title:
2. “CSR in Skill Development: A Win – Win Model for Industry and
Beneficiaries.”
Author(s):
Sandeep Mohan Prasad, Addl. Private Secretary to Minister of State (IC)
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India.
Vaibhav Gupta, Consultant
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India.
Abstract:
India has a total workforce of 47.41 crore [1], however, in the persons of age 15 – 59 years,
only about 2.2% have received formal vocational training and 8.6% have received non -
formal vocational training [2]. On the other hand, there is an incremental human
resource requirement (2103 – 2022) of 11.91 crore in 24 priority sectors [3]. These
estimates point towards a major and gaping difference between demand and supply,
clearly indicating an impending crisis point. A study by National Skill Development
Agency showed that the average amount required to skill an individual is approximately
Rs. 20,000. Considering only the non-farm workforce of the country, there is a
requirement to train approximately 23 crore individuals. Additionally, 1.28 crore people
are added to the workforce every year, which ultimately adds to 6.4 crore additional
persons to be skilled over the next 5 years. The total figure, thereby, sums up to
approximately 29 crore. Considering that 30% of these individuals can afford to pay for
their training, rest 70% i.e. 20 crore (approx.) needs to be funded. At the rate of Rs.
20,000 per individual, training 20 crore people over the next 5 years would require Rs. 4
Lakh crore or Rs. 80,000 crore per annum.
In the Government of India, 22 Departments/Ministries are currently undertaking skill
development activities and the overall budgetary allocation (2015 – 16) for all the skill
development schemes under these Ministries/Departments is Rs. 8,500 crore, which is
approximately 10% of the total funds required in the skills ecosystem. Therefore, it can be
concluded that there is a huge deficit in financial resources to achieve the targets for skill
32
development in the country. The next obvious question that arises is the mechanism to
fulfill this enormous demand of financial resources. A study of the international trends in
funding of skill development activities is important to chalk out the roadmap to bridge
this financial gap in the sector. In Germany, the annual cost of training borne by private
sector is estimated to be around 24 billion Euros, while the Government contributed
another 3 billion Euros (as per BIBB, 2015 Statistics) in vocational education. In China,
1.5% of workers’ payroll is allocated towards in – service training. Similarly, in Brazil, 1%
of the payroll of corporate in the region goes for vocational training institutions such as
SENAI. This signifies a strong commitment of business community to vocational training.
Paper Title:
3. “A review of history of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India.”
Author(s):
Mrs Shweta Bapat, Assistant Professor in Management at
Kaveri College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Affiliated to University of Pune.
Abstract:
Corporate Philanthropy in India was one of the earliest activities and it was voluntary. Being
voluntary it was totally dependent on the willingness of the businessmen to donate for the
society. From few years, the influence of CSR is beginning to be seen in communities throughout
the world. Though it is believed that the concept of CSR emerged in 1930s to 1940s and became
formalised in 1953 with the publication of book named ‘Social Responsibilities of the
businessman’ by Howard Browen, the concept is not that new to India. The concept of CSR in
India can be traced back to ancient times of Vedas. The responsible corporate now days are not
only taking CSR seriously but are engaged in well-planned and whole hearted efforts to develop
community in general. The said situation is definitely not a result of only mandatory CSR but is
a regular practice of some of the well-known, responsible Indian corporate even before the
introduction of The Companies Act 2013. This research paper is an attempt to take a review of
the journey of CSR from voluntary CSR of the ancient times of Vedas to the mandatory CSR as
per Companies Act 2013.
On one hand CSR in India is trying to incorporate sustainable business practices and on the
other hand CSR is entering in to a mandatory requirement for the some of the corporations
fitting in to a specified criterion as per the new act.
33
Even, years before the introduction of ‘The Companies Act 2013’ some of India’s well-known
businesses were engaged not only in philanthropy but also in well-defined CSR activities to
address the issues of the surrounding community life. Though there is a noticeable impact of
mandatory spending on CSR activities as per section 135 of Companies Act 2013, the companies
which were already engaged in to CSR need not require to change their agenda significantly as
the awareness about CSR was already in existence because of the ancient Hindu Philosophy and
rich Indian value system.
Paper Title:
4. “Corporate Social Responsibility in an Indian Public Sector Organization: A
Case study of NTPC.”
Author(s): Moumita Acharyya, Assistant Professor, IILM, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR), the concept and practice, has received increasing
importance, particularly in the last couple of decades. There is enough evidence worldwide on
the potentially significant role that firms can play in furthering social, ecological and
environmental sustainability. Some organizations are adopting the CSR practices voluntarily
while others have to be coerced. The range of CSR initiatives that firms engage in include adult
education, women empowerment, water and energy conservation, medical assistance and so on.
The motivations or reasons for adopting CSR initiatives also vary from primarily philanthropy to
a strategic concern. Today, CSR has become an integral part of the business strategy of most
organizations, be it the multinationals, public sector or private sector firms. The general belief
among the public is that private firms engage in CSR activities to a significantly higher extent
when compared with the public sector firms. However, public sector firms like NTPC, NHPC,
BHEL, BPCL etc. have been leading and in the forefront due to the range of CSR activities they
implement as part of their business strategy. The public-people-private partnership also known
as ‘the golden triangle’ needs to be strengthened.
Public sector companies like NTPC, NHPC, BHEL, BPCL etc. are taking many initiatives which
are part of their CSR strategy.
The present research seeks to understand the nature of CSR actions and identify the relationship
between CSR actions and organizational social performance in National Thermal Power Limited
34
(NTPC), a public sector undertaking of India. NTPC is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU)
under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, engaged in the business of generation of
electricity and allied activities. NTPC has adopted several innovative CSR initiatives in and around
its plants. CSR has been synonymous with company’s core business strategy of power
generation. CSR and community development is viewed as a prime responsibility. As per the
industry analysis, NTPC is rated as the power major among all the PSE’s of the country with a
strong CSR presence. The present study is an attempt to understand the different motivations
for the CSR activities initiated by the organization and to determine the relation between these
motivations and organizational social performance.
The classification provided by Haberberg and Mulleady (2004) was used to identify the reasons
for adopting CSR actions by firms. The model identifies five such reasons, viz. philanthropic,
normative, competitive, coercive and enlightened self-interest. The concept of corporate social
performance (CSP) is an extension of CSR, and places more emphasis on the actions or results
achieved. CSP can be termed as outcomes of the corporate behavior and should not be
confused with corporate image, motivation, process or corporate structure. CSP is a tool which
assesses the effectiveness of CSR. To arrive at a better CSP, the social responsibilities of the firm
need to be assessed. The paper is an attempt to understand how different motivations for CSR
actions contribute differentially towards creating social value for the firm. The social
development process is not the sole responsibility of the government; rather every member of
the society has a role in this process. In contemporary environment of economic development,
the corporate sector cannot function in isolation. Firms need to function as responsible
members of society, just like an individual. It is very important to have a ‘social vision’ for the
success of ‘business mission’. The CSR bill being mandated by the government is one such step
to provide social values to companies. These developments in our society have ensured that
social responsibility of organizations becomes a reality. CSR and sustainability have started
gaining huge prominence among organizations.
Data was collected through primary and secondary sources. NTPC is a Central Public Sector
Undertaking (CPSU) under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, engaged in the
business of generation of electricity and allied activities. It is a Company incorporated under the
Companies Act 1956 and a "Government Company" within the meaning of the Act. The
Headquarters of the Company is situated at New Delhi. CSR has been synonymous with
35
company’s core business strategy of power generation. NTPC aspires to provide access to every
resource needed for a decent standard of living for the people. One of the important
stakeholders of the organization is community. In terms of NTPC –CSR and community
development is their prime responsibility. NTPC has built strong partnerships through a well-
conceived basket of community development interventions. As per the industry analysis, NTPC
is rated as the power major among all the PSE’s of the country with a strong CSR presence. This
study basically is an attempt to understand the different motivations for the CSR activities
initiated by the organization and to determine the relation between these motivations and
organizational social performance.
The sample for the study comprised of 20 middle and senior level executives working in NTPC.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 executives. Document analysis of the
company’s Annual Reports was also done.
‘Philanthropy’ was found to be the most dominant reason for adopting CSR action. Social
Performance of the firms was found to have a significantly positive correlation with
philanthropic, Normative and self-enlightened reasons of CSR action. Social performance was
not found to be correlated with competitive and coercive CSR action. Apart from this, the results
also suggested that:
Increasing range of CSR activities adopted by an organization reflect its wide presence in
the society.
There was a long term perspective towards CSR
Efforts were made by the firm to enhance employee awareness about CSR values.
The sample for the study comprised of 20 executives in one of India’s largest power
manufacturing company. The measures included (1) Semi-structured interviews with 20
executives and (2) Document analysis of the company’s Annual Reports.
These findings have implications for;
Emphasizing strategic CSR actions which encourage intrinsic motivations for effective
organizational social performance.
Making efforts towards internalization of CSR values and vision by holding workshops,
training etc. and linking it with individual KRA’s in performance appraisal system.
36
Track 2A: CSR and Business Strategy
Paper Title:
1. “Engaging Corporates for the Poverty Reduction– Looking at the
Possibilities and Proclivities for Partnerships under Corporate Social
Responsibility.”
Author(s): Dr. Roopinder Oberoi, Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science, University of Delhi India.
Abstract: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a major focus of interest not only for
corporate managers but also for development practitioners, both within the NGO community
and within the multilateral and bilateral development agencies. As the UK’s Department for
International Development (DFID) states, ‘by following socially responsible practices, the
growth generated by the private sector will be more inclusive, equitable and poverty reducing.’
Antonio Vivos of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) goes even further ‘CSR, by its
very nature, is development done by the private sector, and it perfectly complements the
development efforts of governments and multilateral development institutions.’ Establishing a
clear association between sustainable development and CSR from one side and its potential
positive impact on poverty alleviation from the other is a very complex task. The key point is
that although philanthropy and volunteerism have an important role, their capability to make a
fundamental impact on poverty alleviation is inadequate. Company involvement that goes
beyond an arm’s length model of corporate charity and is based on a solid business rationale is
the best way to produce a longstanding impact and transformation.
Paper Title:
2. “ In pursuit of a Social License to Operate – strategies and results
obtained by South African and Swedish iron ore producers.”
Author(s): Freek Cronjé, Bench Marks Centre for CSR, North-West University, South Africa.
N. Håkan, Tarras-Wahlberg, Sustainability Research Group (SuRe)
Stockholm School of Economics Institute for Research (SIR), Sweden.
Suzanne Reyneke, Bench Marks Centre for CSR North-West University, South Africa.
Susanne Sweet, Sustainability Research Group (SuRe),
37
Stockholm School of Economics Institute for Research (SIR), Sweden.
Abstract:
The term “Social License to Operate” (SLO) has emerged to describe the various strategies and
initiatives that mining companies choose to implement to ensure stakeholder support and
minimize social risk, with the overall purpose to access land for mineral extraction, ideally
without experiencing delays and disruptions (Owen & Kemp, 2013). There is no overall accepted
definition of exactly what a SLO is or how such a license may be obtained. However, the concept
relates to the existence of an acceptance and approval of a mining development, often
specifically by local community members but also to some extent by other important
stakeholders (Moffat & Zhang, 2013; Prno & Slocombe, 2012). Furthermore, from a corporate
perspective, attempts to obtain a SLO are usually mediated through Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) programmes and initiatives (Prno & Slocombe 2012; Idemudia, 2007).
As a result of, amongst others the question of a SLO, mining companies have come under
increasing pressure to improve their environmental and social performance. This pressure has
led to the development of a variety of national and international guidelines and performance
standards that apply to the sector, and to the strengthening of environmental and socially
related legislation, where requirements for environmental and social impact assessments are
commonplace and where, to an increasing extent, requirements for mining companies to
contribute to local community development are also included.
Four main practical ways are identified by which mining companies can respond to the above-
mentioned pressure: (i) by developing technical expertise to conduct, or commission,
environmental and social baseline and impact assessments; (ii) embedding relevant
international standards and guidelines into internal governance and reporting frameworks, as
well as to assure their practical application; (iii) take part in international corporate reporting
initiatives that have emerged to benchmark corporates’ environmental and social performance
(e.g. Global compact, GRI), and (iv) take part in initiatives aimed at demonstrating how mining
is contributing to providing socio-economic benefits to host communities and countries (e.g.
ICMM). In a similar vein, Owen and Kemp (2013) describe an increasing common trend that
mining companies in some jurisdictions enter into agreements with stakeholders (e.g.
38
community development agreements or Indigenous land use agreements) as a formal and often
also legally sanctioned means of securing stakeholder support for projects.
Paper Title:
3. “In the Pursuit of Profit: The Dichotomy of Stained Violence and
Sustained Benevolence of the Business Corporation.”
Author(s):
Rohan Sarma, Fellow and Head, Empanelment Committee Training and Capacity Building
National CSR Hub, Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Dr. Vaibhav Singh, Assistant Professor, IIM Trichy.
.
Abstract:
This paper is an attempt to historicize, problematize, contextualize and understand Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) in India, under conditions of changing socio-political- economic-
cultural contexts. Globalization would constitute the umbrella concept to refer to the changing
contexts.
Business corporations in contemporary societies strive to be global enterprises and several are
guided by global ethical business frameworks. Globalization has compelled organizations to be
sensitive and responsible to stakeholders and nations in which they operate (Chaudhri, 2006).
Corporations need to constantly balance local and global expectations in being ‘glocal’. A ‘glocal’
organization is expected to align its CSR policies to the cultural specificities and stakeholders.
There is an increasing tendency today in global firms ascribing to a ‘doing good while making
profit’ doctrine (Blodgett et al., 2014). Investors are beginning to consider global institutional
behaviors that contribute to society as a factor for investment decision-making. Even the so
called erstwhile ‘passive’ consumer has today become an informed social citizen and has a
preference for products that are produced under socially responsible and socially desirable
conditions (Scalet and Kelly, 2010). The CSR has been traditionally dominated by perspectives
from Western Europe and North America, but Asian perspectives are under theorized. Research
shows that Asians have a preference for businesses that are socially responsible (Chaudhri,
2006). In comparing the CSR initiatives of seven Asian countries, Chappel and Moon (2005)
39
demonstrate how in India, CSR is not yet considered to be a function of development for most
business corporations.
To understand CSR, we need to understand the larger context of the phenomenon. CSR needs to
be understood as an outgrowth of modern global capitalism. CSR is the human face of
capitalism. Just like capitalism is replete with inherent contradictions, CSR, as a byproduct of
capitalism, too is inherently paradoxical. Often, irresponsible corporate conduct is sought to be
offset with corporate responsibility. Voluntary corporate responsibility is also often an
afterthought, a curative measure after the damage is done. The context of CSR is paradoxical:
while on the one hand, companies report profit, this is also coupled with instances of increase in
vulnerabilities, deprivations and poverty. There is a need for the corporate sector to rise to the
occasion in the garb of a responsible corporate citizen and through CSR, provide solutions to
tackle social and environmental challenges1.
While globalization has led to increased competition among firms, it also affords possibilities for
setting global standards of ethical business conduct. In the structural shift from Keynesianism to
a neoliberal market economy, which institution is responsible for safeguarding the rights of the
poor and destitute and providing safety nets for social protection? Neoliberalism is
characterized by the abdication of the responsibilities of the State and a greater role played by
the market. However, the market economy is foundationally premised on the Social Darwinist
principle of ‘survival of the fittest’. The fittest is most necessarily the healthiest and the poor and
hungry cannot be either healthy or fit. Thus, the poor are wiped out in Adam Smith’s market
economy and have to fend for themselves albeit structural deprivations and disadvantages. It is
under these changing conditions, that the corporate sector through its CSR can provide relief
and social assistance to vulnerable communities through inclusive growth, whose
marginalizations and vulnerabilities are exacerbated as a result of unresponsive and insensitive
State and corporate activities.
Development theories state that during ‘transition from poor, predominantly agricultural
economy where majority of workers are self-employed, to a more prosperous society that is
predominantly urban and industrial where most workers are employees, self-employed small
40
producers are squeezed out of agriculture and non-agricultural activities. Historically, the
transition is bound to involve prolonged periods of ‘non-inclusive’ growth during which some
people accumulate capital and control over deployment of resources, including land, while
others lose their access to the means of production, control over production processes, together
with their relative independence. Collective efforts from the government, industry and civil
society is required in overcoming loss of livelihoods and skills and re-skilling people to for work
new sectors’ (Colquhoun, 1806 as cited in Allies, 1989; Harvey, 2005)
It is also worth mentioning in this context that the Washington Consensus codified norms for
nation states in undertaking economic reforms through an emphasis on both creation of social
safety nets as well as targeted poverty reduction measures (Hansjorg Herr and Jan Priewe,
2005). Therefore, achieving high levels of economic growth and its sustainability require
simultaneous action on alleviating poverty and securing new livelihoods for dispossessed
people. Development and welfare support by the corporate sector is integral as part of the State’s
response to addressing poverty and growing inequality in the process of economic growth.
In our pursuit of economic growth by any means, at any cost, we must be cognizant of the moral,
ethical and social aspects of the process of attaining economic growth. In other words, we are
arguing that it is equally important to focus on fair distribution along with focus on production
and consumption, to devise fair procedures and systems and have respect for the ecology and
communities in taking economic decisions, both by the State as well as the business corporation.
Therefore, the challenge of CSR in a globalized world is to engage in a process of creating and re-
creating standards of global business behavior. With globalization, there is also the potential of
greater value chain and supply chain responsibility as the extent and number of stakeholders in
the business chain are larger and often inter-terrestrial.
Paper Title:
4. “CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: FEW CASES FROM
INDIAN CORPORATE.”
Author(s):
Dr. Biranchi Narayan Swar, Associate Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Symbiosis International University, Pune.
41
Dr.Rajesh Panda, Associate Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management,
Constituent of Symbiosis International University, Pune. Abstract: Growth of industrialization in India lead to environment pollutions and also give rise to few
economic issues and probably that is the reason why today’s industries try to show their
concerns towards social, economic and ecological issues of the society through their CSR
initiatives. At the same time, the role of public sector has been declining with globalization and
privatization, this gave greater responsibility to the corporate sectors to serve the community
and provide services, which were hitherto provided by the state. This leads to the social
intervention of corporate sector ranging from poverty alleviation, rural development to
environmental protection. Moreover, recently the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has
notified Section 135 and Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, which relate to corporate
social responsibility (CSR) as part of the new Companies Act. The norms will apply to companies
with at least Rs 5 crore net profit or Rs 1,000 crore turnover or Rs 500 crore net worth. These
companies will have to spend 2 per cent of their three-year average annual net profit on CSR
activities in each financial year, starting from FY 2014-15. These all lead to the initiatives taken
by Indian corporates towards their CSR activities.
Paper Title: 5. “How CSR influences brand performance –a study on Indian B2B
context.”
Author(s): Manali Chatterjee, Research scholar, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Dr. Titas Bhattacharjee, Asst. Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Dr. Soumya Sarkar, Asst. Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi.
Abstract:
According to the shareholder theory, proposed by M. Friedman in 1970, the aim of a business
should be solely focused on maximizing the wealth of its shareholders’. It further describes a
business house’s role in addressing social issues as misappropriation of shareholders’ funds. But
to grow a sustainable business, an organization must take responsibilities in societal, legal and
ethical issues. Stakeholder theory, proposed by R. Edward Freeman in 1984, takes into account
this broad perspective of a business where other than shareholders, employees, managers,
42
customers, suppliers, society at large, legal and ethical issues are also considered. Over the time,
shareholders also are being more sensitive to grow a sustainable business. The concept of
corporate social responsibility (CSR) actually emerges from this broad aspect of addressing the
economical, legal and ethical issues of the society by a company. CSR can be applied into
institutional level, organizational level and societal level. By practicing CSR, an organization is
expected to treat its employees equally especially female and minority employees, being ethical
and integrated in its business operations, maintaining a sustainable environment for future
generation. Although the boundary of a firm to address the CSR issue has no such limit still
studies have identified that addressing those issues which have been directly or indirectly
caused by that firm, likewise a firm that produces leather products must indulge in
environmental protection issues, would be an efficient business strategy in terms of brand value
for that firm as well as maximizing their financial performance. Furthermore, if a company can
provide solutions to some environmental or societal issues quicker than government, both of its
financial and non-financial performance will reap the benefit. Even there is an increasing
demand for sustainable products from customer sides. Over the years increasing numbers of
organizations are taking CSR initiatives. Companies are also interested in taking systematic and
progressive policies for CSR. An organization may enlist its CSR activities either in its annual
report or may publish a separate report on CSR. CSR enhances both financial and non-financial
performances of the firm. The relationship between CSR activities and financial performance of
the firm varies depending upon the contextual and institutional level. Some studies show
positive relationship whereas some studies giving negative insights and it has been criticized
that the studies showing negative relationship either have outdated material or statistical and
methodological artifact. CSR has significantly positive influence on corporate reputation as well
as brand equity. Moreover it has been found in literature that corporate reputation and brand
equity act as mediating factors of CSR activities in influencing brand performance positively. Co-
creative interactions between the brand and its stakeholders influences the brand equity of the
company positively as the often the interactions are between stakeholders and the company the
more fulfilled the stakeholders are. High brand equity aids the company to charge premium
prices and thus enhancing its brand performance. Many literatures have supported that
companies often engage in CSR as a strategic investment and it helps the company to enhance or
at least maintain the corporate reputation. A good corporate reputation always helps the
company to be in competitive advantage as corporate reputation builds loyalty amongst the
stakeholders and literatures have supported that good corporate reputation augments
43
company’s brand performance. In India, CSR is gradually gaining attention. Key focus areas of
Indian Inc. are Education, environment, community development, health, safety, security,
resource and energy conservation, women empowerment, skill development and livelihood
generation, water and sanitation. Even disaster relief and rehabilitation activities are also on the
agenda of CSR activities. Many organizations are focusing on those economic or environmental
issues which are ill affected directly or indirectly by their service or productions. Furthermore,
regulatory bodies like IICA, MCA, DPE are playing significant role in making CSR a wide spread
practice in Indian Inc. without sacrificing organization’s financial performance. According to the
studies, around 26% of the companies have made a contribution toward relief funds such as PM
National relief fund, and CM State relief fund for various social initiatives. Many studies have
already been done on CSR in Indian context, impact of corporate social performance etc. but
most of those studies were done in B2C context. Very few (if any) studies have been found on
CSR practices in industrial markets. As a matter of fact, very fewer studies have been done on
brand equity in B2B context as compared to B2C context. In accordance with literatures, B2B
sector’s brand equity and corporate reputation consistently play a salient role in gaining
customer loyalty and it has been stated earlier that brand equity and corporate reputation has
positive influences on brand performance and CSR activities. Our studies have investigated the
impact of CSR on brand performance among industrial purchasers. In Indian context, although,
various studies have been done on the role and impact of CSR but very few (if any) studies have
been found which has studied on B2B sector’s CSR initiatives and its effect on brand
performance. We have surveyed the CSR activities of the B2B companies in India based on CSR
report or annual report (based on the availability). Our focus remained on company’s concern
on environment protection, equal treatment of all the employees’ especially disabled and female
employees, social initiatives taken by the company, facilities for the customers like filing of RTI
application etc. and we have found positive impact of CSR activities on company’s brand
performance. Thus our research has given insights on the importance of CSR activities in
industrial market. Govt. also can initiate policy to further promote CSR in industrial market
and our study will help the industrial suppliers also to take CSR as business strategy and
enhance their brand performance.
44
Paper Title:
6. “Influence of CSR on purchase intention of youth and moderating
role of ethics.”
Author(s):
Dr. Madhupa Bakshi, Associate Professor of NSHM Kolkata. Manali Bhattacharya, Assistant Professor of NSHM, Kolkata,
Pursuing PhD from Burdhaman University Management Studies. Abstract:
The premise of the corporate social responsibility movement states that organizations, because
they are the dominant institution of the planet, must squarely face and address the social and
environmental problems that affect society at large. However, companies can select the cause
that they support and how they convey that information to the society. Earlier research suggests
that consumers measure sincerity in the context of interaction between the consumer and the
salesperson (DeCarlo, 2005). Campbell and Kirmani (2000) found in their research that when
motives were accessible, consumers inferred an underlying persuasion attempt and the target
salesperson were perceived as less sincere. In the context of CSR, the type of cause that the
company supports may increase the salience of firm-serving benefits (Forehand & Grier, 2003).
Causes that are related with the company‘s business should increase the salience of firm-serving
benefits. Therefore corporate social responsibility can be defined as "a company's commitment
to minimizing or eliminating any harmful effects and maximizing its long-run beneficial impact
on society" (Mohr, Webb, and Harris, 2001).
Corporate social responsibility is a topic that has become increasingly important and popular
over last couple of years in India. Brand use this in their promotional activity to attract
consumers. Today, corporations know that CSR is inextricably linked to how customers make
purchase decision of the organizations products and service (Ahearne, Bhattacharya and Gruen,
2010). This paper tries to find out whether use of CSR communication in promoting a brand
plays any significant role in influencing consumers purchase decision or not.
CSR is used as a strategic tool that benefits not only the society but affects profit as well (Lantos,
2001). In this regard, companies would advertise their CSR activities to communicate corporate
image and build reputation in the mind of the consumer, which in turn benefits the company
financially. Lantos (2001) said that a company‘s CSR activities are designed to bring exposure
for the company, improve the company‘s reputation and brand image which reflects positively
45
on profits. Jones (1997) was of the view that, commitment to social responsibility often demand
short-term sacrifices, however, it usually ultimately results in long-term gain. Therefore, CSR
should be viewed as an investment that yields financial returns (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001).
This financial gain comes in the form of increased buying by the target consumers.
Therefore CSR helps in creating an impact on the purchase intention of consumers. Earlier
studies have assessed the effect of CSR communication on consumers but a specific study on the
student cohort is missing. Anim and Cudjoe found that consumers reward and punish
organizations based on the exhibit done by the firms. Carrigan and Attalla (2001) used focus
have studied whether consumers care about a firm‘s ethical behavior and found that consumers
are not active information seekers of a firm‘s CSR. According to them consumers are waiting to
be informed about firms‘CSR. Price, value, brand image and trend are the most important
factors that influence consumers‘choice. Consumers claim that they are willing to pay a higher
price for products of socially responsible firms, but are not willing to spend time on figuring out
which firm is socially responsible. Consumers with high ethical standard are keener towards
buying products from brands that invest a lot on social upliftment.
This paper tries to find out whether ethically inclined youth prefer brands that invest money for
CSR more than others. A small number of highly ethical consumers do exist. They care much
more about companies who do CSR in their buying and consumption choices (Carrigan &
Attalla, 2001).
Track 2B: CSR and Business Strategy
Paper Title:
1. “Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Bottom Line
Benefits: An Empirical Study Based on Indian Public Sector Enterprises.”
Author(s): Ruhee Singh, Ph.D. Scholar, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi.
Sweta S. Malla, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi.
46
Abstract:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is probably a new term for some but in India the trend of
giving back to the society is deeply grounded. There are several organizations which were doing
CSR activities way before the new CSR legislation came in India. However, after the new CSR
legislation this term has raised an alarm to those Indian organizations that are falling under its
ambit. Due to this new legislation Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are struggling to
identify the direct or indirect impact their CSR activities could have on bottom line benefits.
This study is an endeavor towards identifying the impact of CSR on three competitive factors of
Indian CPSEs, which are firm’s financial performance, corporate reputation, and employee’s
organizational commitment.
Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 has made it mandatory for the Indian companies which
have with a net worth of ₹500 crore or revenue of ₹1000 crore or net profit of ₹1000 crore to
invest 2% of their average profit earned over the last three years on social development related
activities. This exploratory study attempts to discover how CSR make an impact on the bottom
line benefits of Indian Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
Based on the market capitalization and convenience sampling, four CPSEs have been identified
for this study out of which two are Maharatna and two are Navratna. Data was collected from
334 respondents via questionnaire. The results showed significant positive effect of independent
variable called CSR on dependent variables which are financial performance, organizational
commitment and corporate reputation.
Reliability of the scale was measured using the Cronbach Alpha test. Furthermore, regression
analysis was carried out to analyze the impact. The results identified that CSR is one of the
crucial factors to build the corporate reputation, employee’s commitment towards organization
and also financial performance.
47
Paper Title:
2. “The Role of CSR in Consumer Purchase Behavior: An Unresolved
paradox.”
Author(s): Chitralekha Navneet Kumar, Assistant Professor, Welingkar Institute of Management
Development & Research, L.N. Road, Matunga Central Rly., Mumbai.
Mr. Akshay Vipul Sadalge, Management Student Prin, L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management
Development & Research,
Ms. Vini Harshad Patel, Management Student Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management
Development & Research.
Abstract:
Looking at the growing awareness about Corporate social Responsibility (CSR) among the
consumers, there was a need felt to study the role of CSR in consumer purchase behavior. The
researchers have collected primary data from twenty two respondents from Mumbai region in
India. The existing academic literature has been carefully reviewed to understand the role and
impact of CSR that relates to consumer purchase behavior. With respect to the consumers, this
qualitative study identifies the major factors that guide their buying behavior and their attitudes
towards CSR leading to emergence of three major themes that are discussed as research
findings.
Paper Title:
3. “Corporate Social Responsibility Vis-à-vis Sustainable Marketing,
and its Implications for the Indian Consumers.”
Author(s): Nabajyoti Deka, Lecturer, Department of Management,
Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge &Technologies, Nuzvid,
Andhra Pradesh.
Abstract:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and philanthropic activities is not a new concept for
Indian business organizations. However, limited documentation of CSR practices in India gives
an unclear picture of the extent of involvement of the business organizations in CSR activities.
The past few decades have seen a change in focus and approach in context of CSR in the global
48
forefront, with some of the biggest companies contributing significantly towards the
stakeholders, environment and the society at large. In India, it is growing realization that
business needs to engage with the people to survive in the long run [1]. The Govt. of India too
realized the impetus that business organizations can provide towards a sustainable and inclusive
India, and made the CSR clause a mandate in companies’ act 2013. The mandate will not only
make more and more companies accountable towards the society and environment, but also
influence the way companies engage with the consumers by and large through its marketing
activities. ‘Marketing’ as a crucial business function needs to adopt practices that have the
potential to go beyond the conventional norms of making profit, and create greater societal
impact. Whether it is the product concept or the technology used to produce, the packaging
material or the way of selling, all activities must tend to have a balanced approach to economic
progress, social progress and environmental stewardship. This is how the question of
sustainability arises for marketing practices, and also to all other business functions.
Sustainable marketing, as the term is frequently used , can be considered as a sub category of
sustainable development, where the former encapsulates the overall essence of the later.
Sustainable marketing find its root in ‘sustainable development [2]’ which emphasizes
development by avoiding degradation of the ecological, economic and socio-political
environment. Marketing practices should adhere to the rule of triple bottom line i.e. ‘people’,
‘planet’ and ‘profit’ to impart sustainability [3]. Sustainable marketing may eventually lead to
better customer relations through social engagement, efficient pricing of goods and services due
to waste reduction and improved quality standards, and hence greater profit in the long term.
Interestingly, as per a report by CII on CSR, much of the Indian CSR practices are an important
component of sustainability or responsible business, which is the larger idea [4].The report also
states that CSR in India focus more on what is done with the profits after they are made. In
contrary to that, sustainability is about considering the social and environmental impacts while
doing business. Does CSR activities of a company complement (or supplement) the sustainable
marketing approaches of the firm? How far is it possible to draw a parallel between the concept
of CSR and sustainable marketing? This paper aims to find answer to several of those questions
that will help to understand the possible interrelationship that may exist between the two
concepts.
A business organization may indulge in CSR activities to create a positive image, and eventually
attract more consumers. It may also adopt sustainable marketing practices to convince more
49
consumers to buy its product. Otherwise, it may simply develop a model in which its CSR
practices support its effort to impart sustainability which may lead to a leveraging effect to earn
greater profits. Whatever could be the firms’ intent, consumers are highly likely to be central to
any of the firms CSR idea or sustainable practices. In a scenario as such, it is inevitable to
understand the implications of both CSR and sustainable marketing on the consumers. Equally
interesting would be to find the consumers perception about these two new buzzwords in the
business world . Does the consumer correlate a firms social and environmental initiatives to
their product choices? Will the consumer prefer products which are manufactured through
sustainable means over those which are not? This paper is an attempt to understand both the
concepts with regard to Indian consumers, and develop a strong theoretical framework based on
observations and conceptual understanding. The research work will adopt qualitative research
methodology. Opinion of consumers from diverse background will be considered to complement
the study. The study will also consider some of the familiar examples from corporate India to
develop viable arguments for the concepts under consideration. Overall, the objective is to find
avenues for further empirical research in the direction, and establish strong theoretical base in
context of CSR and sustainable way of doing business.
Paper Title:
4. “A study to analyze the impact of CSR activities of Top Level
Management on Banks in Uttar Pradesh District.”
Author(s):
Namrata Singh, Research Scholar, Department of Management, Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial
University.
Dr.Rajlaxmi Srivastava, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Shri Ram Swaroop
Memorial University.
Dr. Rajni Rastogi, Professor Department of Management, Institute of Engineering and
Technology, Sitapur.
Abstract:
Sharma (2011) According to the author Indian banks are highly involved in the CSR activities
like children welfare, rural development, education, community welfare. He also added activities
like women’s empowerment, healthcare, protection to girl child and focused on poverty
50
eradication. Borogonovi, Veronica (2011), differences were made between the terms like CSR,
Corporate philanthropy and creating share value. Different companies have their own views
regarding CSR. Hartman (2011). In the article “Corporate social Responsibility in the food
sector” he analyzed the role of CSR in food sector. It was found that CSR is important for the
food sector but if we talk about the SME’s they are not highly involved in CSR activities towards
the society. Brammer,Jcakson & Matten (2012),CSR has been defined and discussed the
institutional theory under the “Corporate Social Responsibility and institutional theory: new
perspective on private governance” .It was found that apart from the voluntary activities
corporate social activities act as an interface between society and business. Wharton (2012), the
researches focuses on the importance of CSR which has been changed from time to time. It was
also examined that companies are doing CSR to earn higher profits for the long run . The article
suggested that CSR is beyond the natural and statutory obligation of the companies. In an article
of Economic Times (2013) the news was regarding the strategies of Dell company for initializing
CSR by motivating its employees. The employees are said to be as power that encourage and
force the company to involve in CSR activities. Besides Dell, other companies like Maruti and
Gogrej were also provided induction training to its employees for rendering community services.
Paper Title:
5. “Fuelling Gender Stereotypes – A Content Analysis of Indian Automobile Advertisements.”
Author(s): Dr. Namrata Sandhu, Associate Professor, Chitkara Business School, Chandigarh.
Abstract: Gender in advertising is a popular research topic among advertising critics (Hymen, Taney &
Clark, 1994). Previous researchers have identified a limited range of female roles – homemaker,
caretaker of family, sex object, endorser of beauty products etc. (Goffman, 1979; Tuchman, 1979;
Zotos & Lysonski, 1994). Female roles are often recreational and inconsequential (Lee, 2004;
Chao, 2005). On the other hand, men are depicted as dominant and authoritarian (Kolbe &
Albanese, 1996; Coltrane & Messineo, 2000). Gender asymmetry is also evident in the frequent
appearance and predominant male orientation of advertisements (Stern & Taylor, 1997;
Furnham & Voli, 1989).
51
Advertisers further extend their preference for the male gender to children’s advertising
(Browne, 1998; Graves, 1999; Childs & Maher, 2003) and advertisements for gender-neutral
products (Jaykaran, Yadav, Kantharia & Saxena, 2012). This preference is exhibited across
countries and cultures (Bretl & Cantor, 1998; Ford, Voli, Honeycutt & Casey, 1998; Furnham,
Mak & Tanidjojo 2000). Advertisers have not been able to keep pace with the changing gender
roles. Longitudinal studies reveal that though reduced in extent, gender stereotypy in still
evident in advertising (Ali, Ali, Kumar, Hafez & Gufran, 2012; Sandhu, Mahajan & Sharma,
2012; Grover & Hundal, 2014).
Track 2C: CSR and Business Strategy
Paper Title:
1. “ CSR orientations of the Indian food industry : A Critical
perspective.”
Author(s):
Sharad Agarwal, FPM, Student Indian Institute of Management Ranchi. Prof. Ramendra Singh, Assistant Prof. (Marketing), Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.
Abstract: Consumption of food products is one of the most essential components required for the survival
of the human being. Most of the developing nations have long struggled to ensure food security
for their population. India, the case of investigation in this chapter, on the one hand, is crippled
with a very high incidence rate of hunger and malnutrition, and on the other hand it boasts of
being the fastest growing consumer market for global food companies. These companies have, at
several points of time, being accused of deteriorating the health conditions leading to increase in
obesity, diabetes and other diseases among the Indian population. Some of the food companies
have also been ridiculed for depleting the resources such as ground water, meant for the
consumption of society. The food companies try to address these issues through their Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, with an aim to satisfy the needs of their primary and
secondary stakeholders. This study aims to explain and critically examine the Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) practices of the major companies constituting the food industry (snacks,
beverages, fast food and fruit juice segment) in an emerging economy i.e. India. Content
Analysis is used to generate the data for this research which is further categorized into 7 broad
categories: ‘Education’, ‘Health’, ‘Community Welfare’, ‘Entrepreneurship Development’,
52
‘Environment’, ‘Market Place’ and ‘Rural Development'. It is found that the CSR practices of
these companies align with their business needs rather than the social needs of the masses.
Suggestions are also provided for the food companies to further strengthen the impact of their
CSR practices for addressing various social issues such as hunger, malnutrition etc. We try to
explain why these companies do particular type of activities as part of their CSR and whether it
is the best approach for them, given their expertise in food industry rather than in organizing
social initiatives which might, at times, also require support and approvals from other
stakeholders such as civic authorities, over which they might have no control.
Paper Title:
2. “Strategic Implementation of CSR in MSME’s of Textile Sector in India.”
Author(s): Balamurugan A, FPM – XLRI.
Prof. Nishigandha Bhuyan , Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. Cledwyn Fernandez, FPM – XLRI.
Abstract: The objective is to understand the problems faced by MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium scale
Enterprises) in textile clusters of Tirupur in India, especially the dearth of labors, and propose a
solution by government intervention which shall enable utilization of existing resources
effectively thereby enabling the implementation of CSR in this cluster. The model which we are
trying to propose is a sustainable one taking into account of all involve stakeholder and not
limited to addressing one specific section which helps in creating shared value between the
society and the company by enabling an operational impact through government intervention.
Paper Title:
3. “A survey on Bankers’ Perception of CSR in India.”
Author(s): Suvendu Kr. Pratihari, Ph.D. Scholar, School of Management, NIT Rourkela.
Dr. Shigufta Hena Uzma, Assistant Professor, School of Management, NIT Rourkela. Abstract: In recent years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability have been considered as
the twin idea of global corporate consciousness. While both ideas have followed parallel
evolutionary paths, they have converged to convey a unified sense of a company’s long term
53
success and its existence (Vaaland et al., 2008). Since the last few decades, CSR has rapidly
evolved in India, where few companies have been focusing on strategic CSR initiatives to
contribute towards nation building. More pioneering companies have voluntarily made a
strategic approach to CSR, devoting unprecedented efforts and resources in creating value in the
sense for both the company and the society (Porter and Kramer, 2011). In light of these positive
effects, CSR strategies have been well incorporated by the international banking community
(Yeomans, 2005). The corresponding progress in Indian banking sector, CSR has been aimed at
addressing the financial inclusion, providing financial services to the unbanked or untapped
areas of the country, the socio-economic development of the country by focusing on the
activities like, poverty eradication, health and medical care, rural area development, self-
employment training and financial literacy trainings, infrastructure development, education,
and environmental Protection etc. (Dhingra and Mittal, 2014). The benefit of CSR for companies
includes gaining customer loyalty, trust, increased profits, positive brand attitude and
contending negative brand attitude are well documented (Drumwright, 1996; Murray and
Purkayastha and Fernando, 2007 and Grant, 2008). By doing so, companies can achieve the
competitive advantage as well as build a strong corporate brand (Porter and Kramer, 2006;
Bhattacharya et al., 2008). However, much of the research in the domain of CSR and banking
sector has emerged from a developed countries context such as USA and Europe (Belal, 2001) or
from multinational companies operating perspective in the developing and emerging
economies(Sophie Hadfield-Hill, 2014). While much of the evidences of CSR initiatives are
purely based on company reporting via websites (Chaudhri and Wang, 2007, Ahmed, 2013) and
promotional materials (Weber, 2008; Cohen and Simnett , 2015), and there are hardly any
studies available on how banks perceive CSR from a strategic view point in Indian context.
Therefore, an attempt has been taken to understand the role of CSR in Indian banking sector
from the perspective of strategic CSR and inclusive finance.
Paper Title:
4. “Attitude of Millennials towards Cause Related Marketing.”
Author(s):
Mukesh Kumar Singh, Junior Research Fellow, Faculty of Management Studies,
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
Prof. Usha Kiran Rai, Faculty of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
54
Abstract: Consumer in today‟s market place expects companies to take on responsibilities and act as good
citizens. In this context: Cause Related Marketing is a format whereby motives of both consumer
and company is being fulfilled along with doing good to the society. Especially in developing
country like India where sole dependency on government hasn’t turn out to be very fruitful,
much is need to be done socially and expectations of consumer toward corporations have
increased many fold. Most research studies have concluded that social cause promoting
marketing provides several benefits that marketing practitioners look forward for, such as
customer-company identification, company/brand awareness, customer contentment and
loyalty, favorable company image and greater brand equity, all of which provide a boost for the
firm’s performance (Brown and Dacin, 1997; Hoeffler and Keller, 2002; Bhattacharya and Sen,
2004; Luo and Bhattacharya, 2006; Krishna and Rajan, 2009; Winterich and Barone, 2011).
As per an online research done by Nielsen in 2013 on “Growing Willingness to spend more on
products from socially-responsible companies” India was on top of the list with 75% of the
respondents voting in favor. This clearly shows the inclination of Indian consumers toward
companies promoting their products by associating with a social cause.
As per another online research done by Nielsen in 2014 among 30,000 respondents across 60
countries including India, MILLENNIALS (respondent between age group 21 to 34) were most
responsive and willing to pay extra for a brand associated with social cause. India, a country
with a median age of 27 years looks promising for initiatives like cause related marketing.
As both of the above mentioned research were conducted through online survey and as Nielsen
2014 report shows that only 11% of Indian population is connected through internet. A more
deeper and representative study was required. Finding the gap this research was conducted.
Paper Title:
5. “Evolution of Stakeholder Management approach in Business.”
Author(s): Mr. Shireesh (PGDM, IIM Calcutta), Assistant Professor,
Chandragupt Institute of Management, Patna.
55
Abstract: Stakeholder Management approach gained ground after Freeman (1984) popularized the term
and concept as a strategic management tool for business. With sustainability becoming a global
agenda, stakeholder movement kept growing in prominence as more and more cases of
unsustainable practices of Multi National Enterprises (MNEs) came to light. In later decades,
Business Ethics literature described stakeholder approach from a normative theory perspective
and argued that it is not just a strategic management tool for improving firm performance but
also the morally right thing to do. This paper reviews existing literature in the development of
Stakeholder Management as a strategy for business and also as a normative theory in Business
Ethics literature. The paper also reviews Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature and
explores the linkage between CSR and Stakeholder Management approach. The paper also
reviews some of the major debates and critiques in the evolution of stakeholder theory. The
paper concludes by discussing some of the limitations and challenges of adopting stakeholder
approach by businesses, reviews some recent scholarly work in the area and suggests directions
for future research. Initially, a literature search of the major academic databases was conducted
using the keywords ‘stakeholder’, ‘stakeholder theory’, ‘stakeholder approach’, ‘stakeholder
management’ and ‘CSR and stakeholder’ ; further searches were made on important authors in
the field to access the existing published work. Very early after the development of stakeholder
approach in business, the concept was adopted by business ethics theorists as having normative
underpinnings. The decade of 1990 saw an Evolution of Stakeholder Management approach in
Business: A Literature Review number of scholars interpreting stakeholder management from a
normative theory perspective. Though scholars like Freeman and others kept arguing for a
single universal stakeholder theory which has normative connotations at its very core, Business
ethics and CSR theorists and scholars continued developing the stakeholder approach with
morality and ethics as strong pillars. This review paper brings together ideas and contributions
from more than 45 seminal works in the area of stakeholder management and corporate social
responsibility, carried out over the last three decades. By tracing the evolution of stakeholder
thinking and approach as it originated and got applied in business and also by identifying and
analyzing its current shape and form, the paper helps in advancing the understanding of
stakeholder concept and its application by CSR managers of firms. The paper helps in
understanding the theoretical underpinnings of the stakeholder management approach used so
ubiquitously by corporations in today’s challenging times. Bringing together contributions from
various articles covering different realms of application of stakeholder theory, the paper
56
presents a wide scope that stakeholder management approach offers to firms for tackling
various socio-political challenges of current times. The paper organizes the existing literature on
Stakeholder Management approach into three no overlapping tracks, viz. Stakeholder
Management as Business Strategy; Stakeholder Management as a Normative Theory and; the
link between Stakeholder Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. The paper also
reviews some of the contemporary scholarly work in the area of Stakeholder Theory in order to
bring out the current research directions. There is a palpable dearth of systematic review of
scholarly work in the area of stakeholder management and this paper attempts to address it.
Track 3: Financial Performance and Corporate Governance.
Paper Title:
1. “Financial Performance Management and CSR establishing the missing link through corporate governance.”
Author(s):
Ahana Bose, Doctoral Student in Finance and Control, IIM Calcutta. Abstract: CSR deals with the notion of greater good. It is a two way path; on one hand it deals with the
impact that businesses have on society at large while on the other it focuses on the societal
expectations of them. In India CSR is traditionally regarded as a philanthropic activity. Ho Je et
al (2015) examine „the relation between stakeholder governance and firms' CSR activities across
countries to determine whether CSR is employed as a mechanism to mitigate the conflicts of
interest between managers and stakeholders, or used as management perks‟. In this light
exploring the relation between CSR and corporate governance may prove to be an interesting
study.
Paper Title: 2. “Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Reporting:
Regulatory Issues in India.”
Author(s): Shakti Deb (Corresponding Author), Research Scholar, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur.
Dr. Indrajit Dube, Associate Professor, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law,
IIT Kharagpur.
57
Abstract: With a view to rationalize the philanthropic activities and warrant more accountability by
corporations, the Government of India made it mandatory for corporations to undertake CSR
activities under the Companies Act, 2013. One important feature of the CSR provisions under
the Companies Act is the step towards toward mandating disclosure of CSR policies by the
corporations. The CSR disclosure regime under the Companies Act has been shaped into
comply-or-explain approach. An effective approach of ensuring compliance with CSR law is the
presence of an informed or vigilant group of stakeholders. Disclosures of corporate social
responsibility activities constitute essential information for stakeholders, provided they can
make effective use of it. CSR disclosure satisfies two purposes- increased transparency of CSR
activities and show cast the concerns of corporations with regard to environment and society. It
acts as an effective component of corporations’ stakeholder engagement strategy.
The status of CSR disclosure by Indian corporation is still at nascent stage. Only few large
corporations adhere to global reporting standards. Though corporations which are subjected to
section 135 of Companies Act 2013, discloses information as to policy of CSR disclosures
adopted by them, but clear strategy or a roadmap to execute such policies has been a missing
content from the CSR disclosure. (PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited, 2014) Indian
companies do not adopt substantive approach to CSR disclosures and reporting. Their approach
of major focus of reporting is based on qualitative description of CSR initiatives and effort. (Baxi
& Roy, 2009) Expect the top 100 listed companies; companies are not required to disclose a
stand-alone report on CSR activities. A key question that requires attention is whether the CSR
disclosure framework in India has the potential to ensure effective compliance of CSR mandate.
The theme of the paper revolves around the analysis of regulatory mandate on CSR disclosure in
Indian context. This research paper seeks to study the regulatory framework of CSR disclosure
in India. This paper also seeks to study the regulatory issues in mandating CSR reporting and
disclosures in India. Conclusions will suggest a viable CSR disclosure and reporting style in
Indian context.
58
Paper Title:
3. “The impact of green corporate social responsibility initiatives on
brand relevant concepts-an Indian perspective.”
Author(s): Dr Sangeeta Trott, Associate prof-marketing, ITM-SIA business school, Mumbai.
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility has become a major branding tool globally. In India the
corporate social responsibility is gaining impetus on a similar platform. According to World
business council for sustainable development WBCSD(2000) Corporate social responsibility is
defined as ; “continuing commitment by businesses to contribute to economic development
while holding ethical codes and improving the quality of life and society at large”. However, the
focus recently has shifted from societal initiatives to protection of the environment. The major
thrust of most of the CSR campaign is the now on environmental concerns. This paper
introduces a new concept of green corporate social responsibility that is green CSR which can be
defined as , “continuing commitment by businesses to contribute to economic development
while holding ethical codes and improving the quality of life and society at large with respect to
environmental concerns.
According to Park et al (2009) Brand relevant concepts are unique abstract meanings associated
with the brand .Brand related concepts can activate the motivations and the goals for future
development. This paper seeks to study the impact of green CSR on certain green brand
concepts viz; green brand satisfaction, green brand trust, and green brand attachment.
Paper Title:
4. “Corporate Social Responsibility, Gendered Governance and
Business Groups: The Case of Emerging India.”
Author(s): Debarati Basu, FP, IIM Calcutta.
Abstract: India’s new Companies Act of 2013 introduced two major provisions2. The first provision is
compulsory spending on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities (Section 135) and the
other is the compulsory hiring of women directors on the Board of Directors (Section 149). The
CSR ideology rests on a firm contributing something to society in return for all the resources it
59
draws from the society. According to the new CSR policy, every qualifying company is required
to spend at least 2 percent of its average net profit for the immediately preceding three financial
years on CSR activities. The policy also entails setting up a CSR committee comprising of three
or more directors. The perceived importance of firms undertaking CSR expenses has soared over
the last decade. This is because higher CSR has been found to benefit not just the society but
also the firm through enhanced reputation and increased shareholder wealth (see Bonini, Brun
and Rosenthal, 2009; Epstein-Reeves, 2012).
There are two objectives to the provision of hiring women directors. The first is improving
gender diversity at the workplace which makes a moral case. This is integral in a country where
the sex ratio continues to be highly skewed in favor of men. According to the United Nations
Development Program’s Human Development Report 2013, India ranked 132 among 187
countries on gender equality. Among all South Asian countries, India ranked second last with
only Afghanistan ranked below. The second is enhancing governance which makes a business
case. In a country where concentrated ownership and complex organization structures like
business groups are the norm and the possibility of agency issues higher, governance is of key
importance (Chakrabarti, Megginson and Yadav, 2008). Since 2000-01, the regulators in India
have made multiple amendments in a bid to strengthen corporate governance (see Sharma and
Rathi, 2014; Chakrabarti et al., 2008; Goswami, 2002). This has been a result of the financial
crises and major governance lapses in frauds like Satyam. In 2014, in continuation of these
efforts, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) made it mandatory for all listed firms
to appoint at least one woman director on their Board of Directors.
The last decade has seen burgeoning literature aimed at understanding how higher
representation of women helps firms. In majority of the literature, firms with more women
representation have been found to display better performance, improved monitoring and more
honest practices (see Huang and Kisgen, 2013; Gul, Srinidhi and Ng, 2011; Adams and Ferreira,
2009). However, Ahern and Dittmar (2012) highlight how higher women representation can
result in lower operating performance, higher leverage and younger and less experienced
boards. Carter, D’Souza, Simkins and Simpson (2010) find no association between more women
directors and financial performance or growth. This dichotomy of whether more women
directors is good or bad indicates that the literature remains inconclusive. The dearth of
60
research in this area, particularly empirical, within the Indian context also makes it a key area to
study (see Rai, 2012).
The extant literature has also studied the impact women directors have on CSR strategy and
spends. However, while the literature has documented how higher women representation leads
to more CSR globally (see Setó‐Pamies, 2013; Soares, Marquis and Lee, 2011), there exists a gap
in understanding this association in emerging markets. It is even more imperative to study the
aforementioned association in a country like India since it a) is dictated by concentrated
ownership and complex business group like structures, b) displays low law enforcement, and c)
has embarked on increasing both women representation on boards and CSR spends. It is in this
context that we explore the impact of more women directors on CSR expenditure undertaken
within the Indian subcontinent. More importantly, we also examine the effect of different
organization structure related facets on this association. For this purpose, we moderate the
association with business group affiliation and public sector affiliation.
We expect group-affiliated firms to undertake higher CSR expenses since they are more
reputation-conscious (see Gopalan, Nanda and Seru). However, we expect women directors to
be less efficient in increasing the CSR at group-affiliated firms. This is because such firms are
largely controlled by insider owners and in such an environment, governance enhancing
mechanisms, like more women directors, are found to be less independent and effective (see
Jaggi, Leung and Gul, 2009). In the case of public sector firms, we expect more CSR since public
sector firms should lead by example and work as central change agents that support the
regulatory amendments (see Fox, Ward and Howard, 2002). Women directors are also expected
to be effective in enhancing CSR at public sector firms where the pressure of concentrated
ownership on independence is expected to be absent.
Using a sample of 279 listed Indian companies over a period of 9 years, we test each of our
hypotheses. We find that higher women representation does lead to higher CSR expenses even
in India. As expected, we see that reputation-conscious group-affiliated firms undertake more
CSR, but women representation is inefficient in increasing CSR further at such firms. This
highlights how agency costs override the benefits of governance enhancing mechanisms within
business groups. With respect to public sector firms, counter to our expectations, we find that
public sector firms neither do more CSR nor have women directors that help enhance CSR. This
61
dilutes largely the propagation of new policies since the government-run firms themselves
appear to either not respond to policy changes or show no benefits accruing from adoption of
such changes.
These results are important in the purview of the recent policy changes. The inferences help
understand how women representation has affected CSR practices historically in India, even
before these policies were made mandatory. This helps set future expectations from the policy
changes. Moreover, the significant moderating effect of organization structure indicates that the
regulators and policy makers should consider nuancing their policies more to increase efficiency
instead of setting standard requirements across all organization types.
Paper Title:
5. “A study on Employees Involvement in CSR Initiatives and Its
Impact on Employee Related Outcomes.”
Author(s): Ratna Sinha, Doctoral Student, XLRI JAMSHEDPUR.
Abstract: The quest for equitable, inclusive and sustainable growth is a visible need. Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) is a strategic issue which permeates departmental boundaries and
influences the way organization does its business and relates with its stakeholders. An important
stakeholder group forms the ‘employees’, upon whom the interest now rests. Various studies
and research have generated interests for the academicians on the aspect of CSR in relation to
financial performance (McWilliams & Siegel, 2000; Waddock & Graves, 1997), consumer and
marketing (Maignan & Ferrell, 2001; Vaaland, Heide, & Gronhaug, 2008) HR, engagement
(Greening & Turban, 2000) etc. However it must be noted that, CSR does not mean that it is just
a theoretical concept or strategy line for organizations. What happens to the actual involvement
of people? It is found that this has not been adequately captured in the earlier studies (Turker,
2009). This study is an attempt to work on organization’s most important stakeholder, viz., the
employees to find out if there is a trigger or a basis for employees to be involved. How does an
organization benefit when the employees get involved in CSR initiatives? Is the major concern
that this study attempts to explore. It is in this context that we would delve in this study the
employees’ involvement in CSR initiatives.
62
Track 4: Viewing CSR through the Legal Prism.
Paper Title:
1. “New CSR Mandate2013: Procreation or alienation?”
Author(s):
Mr. Shiv Swaroop Jha (Primary Author), Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management Studies
(FMS),
Amity University Haryana, India.
Raiswa Saha Sarkar (Co-Author), Research Scholar, Department of Management Studies
SRM University Sonepat Haryana India.
Abstract:
Because of huge amount of spending from corporates of India it is doubtful that such amount
will be properly channelized and the ultimate challenge will lie in the proper implementation
and execution of this new mandatory law of company’s act of 2013. The CSR initiative in India is
timely and pioneering. If implemented well, we could lead the world to a higher level of
corporate governance and social responsibility. If done badly it may reduce investors’
confidence. Most business leaders recognize CSR expenditures as not a donation but,
investment for the long term interest of its shareholders and society in general. The government
must rely on the board and its shareholders to make these investments choice and not be over-
prescriptive.
Paper Title:
2. “The Legal Framework of CSR.”
Author(s):
Bishwa Kalyan Dash, Research Associate-cum- Teaching Assistant at National Law
University, Odisha.
Avinash Gautam, 1st Year BBA.LLB. student at National Law University, Odisha.
Rahul Agarwal, 4st Year BBA.LLB. student at National Law University, Odisha.
63
Abstract:
What is corporate social responsibility? Seriously I would have no idea had I not been writing
this. So, I turned on to one thing everyone relies on to find all their answers, and then that
happened what I was expecting, Google had about 6,37,00,000 results in 0.32 seconds4, and
being a student of law that got into thinking .
Corporate social responsibility (herein after referred to as CSR), what is it? What are its legal
implications? What is the ambit of this topic? There has to be an anomaly to address to. And
therefore, we are writing this paper on the theme - Viewing CSR through the Legal Prism.
It is presumed that when a company is using the resources that belong to the people at large; the
user of those resources has an obligation to use it sustainably and at times repay back to the
society those benefits which will ease their sorrow by the minute intervention of the corporate.
CSR came in to the Indian picture because of the Gandhian philosophy of the trusteeship
concept where, the businesses are considered as the trustees of the resources they use, and are
obliged to return it. Till 2013, it was just a concept, now that Company’s (Amendment) Act 2013
is enacted; the same is a legal provision. The binding nature of the legal provisions that has been
enshrined in the progressive piece of legislation entwined with the philosophy of welfarism.
And, India being a progressive economy shall try to lead the through the Legal Prism world from
the forefront in cases of CSR related activities; and for the same it requires a consorted effort
from all the corners of the democracy. This development in this law signals that India as a
country is willing to expand its dimension towards the horizon of corporate social welfare
activities
Paper Title:
3. “Incorporating Management of Societal Intellectual Property
Management into Corporate Social Responsibility.”
Author(s): Mrs. Alokananda Sengupta, Senior Principal Scientist &Head,
PPM Division, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat.
Dr. P G Rao, Vice Chancellor, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya.
64
Abstract:
Intellectual property is an umbrella term for property which is the product of the innovation and
creativity of the mind or intellect. It is not physical property but abstract. Intellectual property is
created when an idea takes some tangible form. Intellectual property means things like an
invention, design, process, a poem, a painting, a film, a novel etc. The government provides legal
rights over intellectual property to encourage new inventions and creative works that benefit
society and to help innovators and creators make a living from their work. These rights which
can belong to individuals or organizations are recognized by governments and courts and known
as Intellectual property rights. Intellectual property can be protected in the form of:
Patents – of new and improved products and processes. It is an exclusive right granted by the
government to an inventor over his invention. The grantee has for a limited period, the right to
exclude others from making, using or selling the invention without his consent.
Trademarks - of brand identity of goods and services.
Paper Title:
4. “CSR Choose your own Guidelines.”
Author(s):
Adyasha Nanda, Student, National University Odisha
Abstract:
Thibaut and Kelley say that for stability in a relationship, there must be a
comparative yet relatable level of “alternatives, dependence and
barriers”(Encyclopedia.com,2015). As the social exchange theories say,
satisfaction alone will not ensure the continuance of a relationship. There are
some threshold factors on the basis of which a person decides whether to move on
from the relationship or to move forward with the relationship. The concept of
Corporate Social Responsibility is based on this very fulcrum; which balances
what it extracts from the society and what it offers back. Among the ambitious 17
goals to be adopted by the UN for the “Agenda 2030” are complete poverty
eradication, zero hunger, quality education, gender equality, sustainable cities and
communities and clean water and sanitation (United Nations Sustainable
Development, 2015). The companies can contribute to the achievement of such
goals through their social responsibility, which has also been made mandatory by
65
the Companies Act, 2013.The researchers believe that the Public Sector Units
prefer the CSR policy as made mandatory in the Companies Act, 2013 over the
guidelines laid down by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) since 2010 as
the CSR rules in the Companies Act are more flexible, giving more power to the
boards unlike the DPE guidelines equally favorable although a certain degree of
hindrance was common to both.
66
