Many Avatars of CSR in India

Ever since the Government of India mandated a minimum 2% of profit of a corporate to be invested into CSR back in 2014, there have been many corporate jumping on the bandwagon of CSR. Very few have already aced it, others are stumbling through it, while many are still finding their bearings. We are also at a stage in the evolution of CSR, where it no longer remains the domain of just a few Sustainability or CSR professionals in the organisation to carry out these responsibilities.

It is here that I would take a pause, and talk about the various forms of CSR that have taken shape. Their pros and cons. And in what truly lies the future of a Responsible Corporate!

1) Philanthropy-based CSR - This is the form of CSR that works mostly through Trusts and Foundations. Their area of operations and impact might not necessarily be around the manufacturing plants. But, the focus is mostly on larger development work. Tata Trusts of course is a leader in this space, with a team of development professionals spread across the length & breadth of the country - working on issues ranging from sanitation & hygiene, to education and health. The image of the TATA Group as a responsible corporate, has a lot do with its historical interventions and tangible actions in the space of community upliftment and environment preservation. When done with the right intent and approach, this form of CSR indeed has its massive positives. Where it probably derails for a few other organisations is when the philanthropy is viewed more tactical and reactive to a sudden problem - rather than being a long-term & proactive for community development work.

2) Embedding Sustainability into the value-chain - Sharing an image of the CSR-Sustainability mandate of the Colt Group here, as I loved the way they have created an Ikigai-sort of a sweet spot around their sustainability vision. Otherwise, there are many organisations that come to mind when we think of Corporate Sustainability initiatives - Amazon, Ikea, Pepsi, Philips being a few clear top of the mind recall (my surveys done across multiple B-Schools I visited in the past few years, clearly show a pattern of recall on this front). What I can write about on this point is based on my own experience at AB InBev - the world's largest beer maker. We have defined four clear global goals on Sustainability - Climate Action, Circular Packaging, Water Stewardship and Smart Agriculture. The difference in this particular approach to CSR/Sustainability is that we focus on our vast value-chain comprising of humans and natural resources in the elements of bottles, cans, electricity, fuel, raw materials, water, barley etc - and then create a sustainable eco-system around it. This requires long-term commitments and buy-ins from across functions in the organisations - all of which works in tandem to create, if I may use this cliched term, a model corporate citizen, which holds itself to high standards (and need not be awaken by regulations to do the right thing!).

3) Brand-led Sustainability/CSR initiatives - When a Dettol leads a "Banega Swachch India" campaign or a Harpic creates a "More than a toilet" campaign, they are leveraging the powerful voices of their existing brands and attaching it to a cause that is topical to their environment, and is also recognized by its consumers as an issue of important concern. There are many brands which are even committing a portion of their profits back into that cause - based not on just board-room whims, but, the voice of consumers in their own market surveys which show that consumers WILL pay that extra buck for a cause (Authentic, Purpose, Credible, Visionary being clear characters that they would want their brands to live and express). What one must watch out for is a brand-cause dissonance. A Lifebuoy can create successful campaign by taking over Global Handwashing Day, but when an Aircel takes over the mandate of "Saving our Tigers", somewhere a brand-cause dissonance still remains.

4) Donations-based CSR - This happens mostly in those organisations which do not have an existing CSR or Sustainability team that works on their CSR mandate. Their aim is mainly to reach a 2% goal at the end of the year, to not face the ire of the government authorities or of its own shareholders. This in my view, remains the most myopic and redundant way to look at CSR. It simply remains a financial transfer into some other authorized development work. Corporates and PSU's must strictly veer away from such mindless donations, or face the ire of its consumers - who have now started seeing through this charade. Even for those who have been donating to the right organisations - as a corporate a lot more is expected from us than just donation into causes, we don't even imbibe or live in our own existence.

5) Corporate-led Industry Impact initiatives - A classic example of this, is what I lived through while I was part of the team that worked at Pidilite, in setting up their Skill Adoption program in the state of Gujarat. Pidilite has products in plumbing, carpentry and interior designing - ranging from M-Seal to Fevi-Kwik to Fevicol. We thought through it and then proposed a tie-up to the Government of Gujarat Skill Development Department for Knowledge Development of their Industrial Training Institutes (ITI's) - which ranged from upgrading their training material, providing a resource for each of the 33 district for co-ordinating counselling and placement sessions, providing our internal experts for guest lectures & sessions as well as creating special projects w.r.t. traditional arts & crafts development for the state. I was massively impressed by the dedication of the organisation in making this unique model come to life. Others in the auto-sector (from Ford to Nissan to Maruti), who are investing in road safety are doing much the same - right from accident hot-spot reductions, road safety infrastructure investments and training of front line traffic and engineering personnel. In this type of CSR, the corporate work for the values of the INDUSTRY it is a part of. A Google investing in accelerator/incubation for start-ups - much the same! Many do not come back in the companies workforce for sure - but, the larger industry and the humans impacted by it are much richer and advanced by their efforts.

Have a lot more to write. But, maybe over another article in this series. Till then, stay safe! And as usual, open to critique or further ideas from you all, on anything that I could have missed out here.