Corporate social responsibility as a strategy

What is CSR?
Corporate Social Responsibility is a commitment to improve community well-being through
discretionary business practices and corporate resources.

Philip Kotler and Nancy Lee, Corporate Social Responsibility, Wiley, 2007

Corporate social initiatives:

Corporate social initiatives are major activities undertaken by a corporation to support social
causes and to fulfil commitments to corporate social responsibility.

Types of social initiatives:

1. Cause Promotions
Provides funds, in-kind contributions, or other organization resources to increase awareness
And concern about a social cause.
Example- MTV Staying Alive Campaign Example

2. Cause related marketing

Commits to making a contribution or donating a percentage of revenues to a specific cause

based on product sales
e.g. donate 10% of the price of each product sold.

3. Cause related marketing

It is the first time that the worlds leading companies have made a commitment to
channel a portion of their profits from sales of specially designed products to the
Global Fund to support AIDS programmes for women and children in Africa."

4. Social Marketing
Supports the development and/or implementation of a behaviour change campaign.
Example- Anti-Smoking Campaign

5. Corporate Philanthropy
Makes a direct contribution to a charity or cause, most often in the form of cash grant,
donations, and/or in-kind service.

6. Community Volunteering
Supports and encourage employees, retail partners, and/or franchise members to volunteer
Their time to support local community organization and causes.
Example Mahindra and Mahindra tree plantation campaign.
7. Socially responsible business practices
Adopts and conducts discretionary business practices and investments that support social
Causes to improve community wellbeing and protect the environment
e.g. community trade, environmental friendly process
The Body Shop Example
Views against CSR
The one responsibility of business is to maximize profits
CSR is not definable and just another marketing trick
Dilutes the primary aim of the business
Business is not equipped to handle social activities
Limits the ability to compete in a global marketplace

Practical application of CSR

You need to evaluate various aspects of your business and operations
You need to evaluate the impact your business is having on your stakeholders.
Then set realistic targets on how to improve your business operations and processes.
Draw up a result- driven CSR Policy.
Embed your CSR into your business strategy.
A good CSR Policy must be result-driven
Business assessment is important
CSR example project SHAKTI

Villages with a population of about 2000-3000 are selected.

Personnel from HUL approach SHGs.

Selection of the Shakti Amma.

HUL vouches for Shakti Ammas with banks from credit.

One Shakti entrepreneur is appointed for one village & villages that are about 2
kilometres apart from her village.

The Shakti dealer places initial orders worth Rs.15000(principal customer of HUL

The Shakti dealer organizes a Shakti Day in the village(display of products & free
gifts)

The recruitment of a Shakti Entrepreneur or Shakti Amma (SA) begins with the
executives of HUL identifying the uncovered village.

The representative of the company meets the panchayat and the village head and
identify the woman who they believe will be suitable as a SA.

After training she is asked to put up Rs 20,000 as investment which is used to buy
products for selling. The products are then sold door-to-door or through petty shops at
home.

On an average a Shakti Amma makes a 10% margin on the products she sells.

Why Do they do it?

Sec. 10 of Income Tax Act

Income Tax Exemption for activities like
Research & Development
Education Activity
Health Activity
MAT credits available
Sec. 80 of Income Tax Act
Income Tax Deduction for activities like
Contribution to Relief Funds
Contribution to Employees funds
Staff Training
Society Welfare activities
Other Benefits

TATA group

All production units certified to ISO 14001

Town Services certified to ISO 14001
Planted -thousand trees for thousand days - as a millennium gift for future
generations. The eventual count was 1.6 million
20% reduction in consumption of raw materials in the past five years
100% treatment of waste water, discharged upstream from point of collection
Greening of Supply Chain

CSR strategy Reliance Company

Reliance Power in its continuous efforts to positively impact the society, especially the areas
around its sites and offices, has formulated policies for social development that are based on
the following guiding principles:
Adopt an approach that aims at achieving a greater balance between social development and
economic development.
Adopt new measures to accelerate and ensure the basic needs of all people.

Work towards elimination of all barriers for the social inclusion of disadvantaged groupssuch as the poor and the disabled
Give unfailing attention to children for in their hands lies the country's future. It is for their
sake that health, education and environment get topmost priority in our programmes and
investments.
In areas around its power plant sites in Sasan,Rosa,Krishnapatnam,Butibori,Chitrangi and
others,Reliance Power has been actively involved in various social and environmental
organizations to address the issue of sustainable development and social uplift. The Company
in discharge of its responsibility as a corporate citizen actively contributes to community
welfare measures and takes up several social initiatives every year.

Reliance Power Ltd. has been closely working with institutions and social organizations and
supporting their programmes for social development, adult literacy, adoption of village, tree
plantation schemes etc.

Health:
Health and safety are of universal concern across the spectrum of communities. As a
company, we are not only committed to compliance with legal norms but its is our endeavour
to voluntarily go beyond that and provide quality healthcare facilities in the regions around
our site. We are committed to providing all possible support to create awareness on various
health related issues impacting the local people.We believe in a multidimensional approach
that considers the needs of the area leading to an effective plan to address all issues in

consultation with the local administration, community workers and NGOs working in the
area.
At its various project sites,Reliance Power sites runs medical facility center, physiotherapy
center, and mobile medical vans that dispenses free medicines and provide free health checkups. Also periodically we come up with health camps like general health check up camps,
gynaecology camps, eye check up camps and corrective surgery camps for disabled children.
Education:
Education is a basic tool to bring development to an area and its people. We aim to create an
awareness pool of human resource both within and across our area of operations. We are
committed to bridging the digital divide between the haves and have nots in educational
infrastructure and facilities. Exposure to technology along with a sustainable education model
could be strengthened through partnership with government and quasi-government agencies.

Reliance Power is involved in a surfeit of activities that have changed the lives of the people
residing at the sites or the PAFs (Project Affected Families).Education is the main thrust of
these activities.Major contributions made in the area include building of a DAV school at the
site for the children of the PAFs and the children of the villages around the sites, free school
bus facility for the students, stipend to every child who attends school (a boy child gets Rs.
250 per month while a girl child gets a stipend of Rs. 300 per month), free uniforms, study
tours for children, teaching aids to the teachers, training of teachers,as well as night schools
for uneducated adults etc.

Employment:
Community is an integral part of the business environment and the basic commitment lies
towards augmenting the overall economic and social development of local communities by

discharging our social responsibilities in a sustainable manner. Reliance Power invests

significantly in skill upgradtion of people around the sites.
The trained manpower available for construction will ensure quality and accident free
working. CIDC, a Government of India initiative has been engaged and has trained about 300
project affected youths as electricians, welders, carpenters and masons and bar benders in
batches of 40 each. To further encourage them we paid them, a monthly stipend of Rs.1000
per month. In addition efforts are on to enroll the oustees in short term courses at the ITI
operating in the region. Apart from these, training is also provided are:
Computer coaching centre
English speaking classes
Personality development classes
Physiotherapy training center
Training by NAC (National Academy of Construction)and use them for future requirement of
the construction.

Ambuja cement
The Ambuja Cement Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibilitywing of Ambuja
Cements Ltd. that works with the rural communities surrounding Ambujas manufacturing
sites. The Foundation is engaged in a variety of people-centric, integrated rural development
projects.

Since inception, the Foundation has expanded its reach and diversified its programmes to
include as many members of its stakeholder group as possible. While working with the

participation
of the people, ACF has held its mission statement central
to all its operations.
Presently the Foundation has made its presence felt in twelve states across the country and is
engaged in programmes like Natural Resource Management, Agro based and skill based
livelihoods and improvement of health status, educational support and economic
enhancement.
Ambuja Vidya Niketan Trust(AVNT)
Ambuja Vidya Niketan Trust (AVNT) is a non-profit making trust promoted by Ambuja
Cements Ltd. for providing educational facilities to the wards/dependents of employees of
Ambuja Cement Ltd. and children of the Villages around the plant / projects of the Company.
AVNT operates 5 schools across India, affiliated to C.B.S.E. Board .The school provides an
ambience to motivate learners to be creative in their responses, adopt a positive approach, to
explore and innovate, there by upholding the quest for knowledge. The values and skills
which the students acquire in the process of learning go a long way in guiding and helping
them to meet the challenges of life and achieve their goals and aspirations.