SCOM Member Companies

NASSCOM Foundation recently initiated a study on Corporate Social Responsibility and its importance for member companies. Here's a look at the insights the survey provided on what Indian ICT companies were doing to further the CSR cause.

Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR is no longer a new phrase for India Inc. Some companies and groups have already incorporated the concept in their core values. Many are practicing it in some form or the other and all leading industry associations have made CSR an important part of their agendas. New concerns and expectations from employees, consumers, and investors in the context of globalization, are also emphasizing the need for responsible business practices.

Despite increasing activity around CSR, there is no real consensus about what it really entails. For some of the companies that participated in the Study, it was synonymous with corporate philanthropy. For others, it meant an alignment of business operations with social values and for yet others, CSR was about operating in a manner that positively impacted stakeholders.

Regarding the ambit of CSR, different companies held different views. For a few, it implied the creation and facilitation of optimal work practices and processes for employees and associates and complying with all laws and norms.

For others, it implied the use of skills and resources to initiate developmental work for the larger good.

A number of corporates that participated in the Study, mentioned stakeholders as key components of their CSR strategies. Either as partners in the CSR process, or as beneficiaries of CSR activities. The latter was an indicator of the need for corporates to evolve their CSR initiatives in a manner that was more strategic and aligned with core business interests, where the stakeholders were partners in the process and not just the recipients.

Moving Beyond Philanthropy

Volunteerism was yet another aspect which enjoyed considerable mention. Corporates proclaimed that volunteering provided an opportunity for their stakeholders, especially employees, to be of service to the community. Corporates were either volunteering their time and skills directly for beneficiary groups, or spending time raising resources for them.

For these corporates, CSR was clearly more than just philanthropy. According to the Study, corporates identified education, environment and ethical governance as the top three priority areas they wished to be involved in.

The key drivers of CSR were stated to be the company's vision, followed by the founder's vision of social responsibility. These were regarded to be even more persuasive than the desire to enhance the company's reputation and goodwill!

CSR, As Part of Corporate Agenda

Corporates which exhibited an evolved appreciation of CSR, and practiced it in its truest sense, were guided by written, well delineated, established CSR policies, on which were embedded their business values.

The findings of the Study suggested that approximately half of the respondents had a written policy pertaining to CSR–either as a distinct philosophy or corporate agenda, or as policies related to specific domains which fell within the CSR ambit, such as human capital, ethical governance, health and safety, etc.

Across NASSCOM’s member companies, it was primarily the Human Resources Director along with his department, who was driving the CSR agenda, followed by functional or departmental heads, or the Corporate Communications or Corporate Affairs department. In some cases, the CEO or COO was closely involved as well.

The study also showed that the success of the CSR initiative was dependent on the optimal availability and allocation of resources. Resources—ranging from manpower, knowledge and skills to infrastructure and physical space and funds—were being deployed by companies to fulfill their social obligations.

Approximately 20 percent of the respondents cited a lack of resources as the major barrier to achieving CSR goals.

Barriers To CSR

The key barriers to CSR for a majority of the member companies was a dearth of knowledge about what the concept entailed, followed by insufficient resources, which were a major hindrance. Other barriers included regulatory frameworks, the absence of a clear vision, and the lack of commitment.

Nearly 50 percent of the companies that participated in the survey, also stated that they did not have any mechanism for measuring the success of their CSR efforts. Many companies mentioned the use of surveys amongst stakeholders to garner feedback on the initiatives, while others stated that they used external audits and internal reviews.

A very small proportion of the corporates had received any certification for CSR. Typically, companies did not have high involvement with CSR forums or councils.

This was a direct reflection of the fact that though CSR was fast gaining ground, it still remained an individual pursuit by a corporate or institution.

While there are many international standards that support, measure and assist companies in implementing

CSR activities and report on them, most Indian corporates were not following these guidelines.

The responses generated from the study indicated that CSR was considered both a core business activity as well as a philanthropic gesture. The initiatives, whether philanthropic or business oriented, appeared to be primarily clustered under the areas of education, health and children. Besides these priority areas, initiatives for the elderly, people with disabilities, communities affected by natural or man made disasters were also being rolled out by NASSCOM member companies.

Recommendations For Implementing CSR

NASSCOM Foundation, in order to make CSR a more meaningful activity for its member companies, recommended the following in its Study. It suggested that:

• CSR initiatives needed to become more strategic and aligned with the core business interests of organizations
• Companies needed to review all activities that could be classified under CSR to identify the stakeholders they addressed, how strategic they were and the impact they would have
• Companies needed to have a greater awareness about some of the broad global CSR standards and guidelines that helped develop policies, toolkits, systems and processes to boost the CSR cause
• Companies needed to set up a support infrastructure within their domains, or work with external intermediaries to lead the process and play the role of CSR mentors

In its final analysis, the NASSCOM Foundation Study indicated that by and large, member companies were giving a serious thought to CSR and had in fact implemented strategies that contributed towards the upliftment of society and the financially and physically challenged citizens of the nation.