Corporate Social Responsibility Jobs

………………………..

An article on the Ethical Corporation website explores the recent events at Satyam in the context of Satyam once being admired as a leader in Corporate Social Responsibility.

Considering the nature of Satyam’s downfall, how could they have been considered a beacon for corporate responsibility?  Of course the answer lies in what you define corporate socialresponsibility to mean.

“Such a narrow definition of corporate responsibility as charity is common among Indian companies. When talking about responsible business, most exclude key issues such as transparency, ethics, governance, anti-corruption and accountability to stakeholders. Most list only charity projects as their corporate responsibility programmes.”

The full article is available here:

Satyam fraud Responsibility issues in India

Technorati Tags: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, India

Despite the economic downturn leading to a recruitment freeze in most companies, some still consider corporate social responsibility a priority. Recently, 36 national and international companies took part in a unique jobs fair for the disabled in Chennai, with many surprised by the untapped talent they found.

Duration : 1:40

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Corporate Social Responsibility Jobs, CSR Jobs, Financial Crisis, India

………

As posted earlier, there has been some recent reports in various Indian newspapers about different initiatives from state governments in relation to corporate social responsibility. Last time we examined a draft document prepared by the Gujarat state government, that held the idea of the state government getting involved in directing initiatives for corporate social responsibility to help overcome the scattered nature currently faced when private businesses individually go out into the community and do CSR and other ethical activities without any overall direction.

In the state of Karnataka, the state government seems to be taking things a step further by unveiling a draft mandatory policy for corporate social responsibility. Jobs connected to such a policy in the field of CSR would undoubtedly increase, if it was to be made law. N N Upadhaya, president of Bangalore Chamber of Industries and Commerce is quoted saying “It is a matter of giving back to society to compensate for what the company has taken. There is an element of social justice. If CSR becomes mandatory, every corporate entity must adopt it with absolute sincerity”.

The creation of the policy seems to have been provoked by some corporations not providing adequate facilities to their own employees. For example, some truck drivers were not provided adequate toilet facilities. In a smart move, instead of the government insisting that the companies provide toilet facilities just for there own employees, the idea is that the company would build a toilet facility that would be public in nature so that it benefits the employees of the company and the surrounding community at the same time.

So two main themes can be drawn from this recent development in Karnataka.

- Having corporate social responsibility as a mandatory requirement that businesses must undertake.

    – If businesses are forced to undertake CSR, then it’s probable that at least some corporations will begrudgingly find ways to shirk this requirement with as little effort as possible.

    – Companies that voluntarily undertake corporate social responsibility activities says something in its own right about the companies that do contribute to society in the absence of a mandatory policy.

- The idea of businesses investing in essential services that allow them to conduct their day-to-day operations, but at the time of making this investment, with a little creative thinking, could they spend a little extra and build the infrastructure or service with the larger community in mind.

    – For example, What about a company that builds (or rents) a new corporate office and allows a not for profit charity to use some space for its needs?  It may be more efficient than donating money to a charity so that they can pay their rent.

    – Or, a company only needs some jobs filled part-time.  A marketing person may only be needed part-time, but the corporation may hire them full time, and donate the left over hours to some corporate social responsibility jobs.

Technorati Tags: Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility News, India

Over the recent few days Indian newspapers have been reporting on various state government initiates around corporate social responsibility. Jobs in the area of CSR could increase dramatically if the government initiatives being discussed, particularly in the state of Karnataka take hold. More on the Karnataka state policy later in another post.

First lets look at the announcement of a draft document prepared by the Gujarat state government to be presented to the Gujarat Global Investors’ conference in January 2009. A quote from the document goes as follows, “By and large, corporates undertake CSR activities. The efforts are, however, scattered and dispersed, because of which the outcome is not visible to the public at large. Hence, there is a need to synergise CSR activities with government initiatives for better visibility, sustainability and outcome.” In particular, it seems the policy is aimed at making sure government funds are supplemented with corporate funds for projects.

This idea of a central body (in this case the government) giving direction to companies on where to direct there CSR initiatives and money around common and coordinated goals is an interesting one. Can more “greater good” be achieved by pooling efforts and monies into collective efforts, rather than having corporations going off on their own and often separate directions in terms of what they support and fund? The government may provide an overarching blueprint for corporate social responsibility, coordinating the effort, and for example allocating certain districts or areas to particular companies.

The idea has a lot of merit, not just in India but for corporate social responsibility worldwide. As CSR becomes more widely adopted by businesses, the idea that government (or some other body that can provide central coordination of effort), would be particularly useful in cases where companies want to donate not just money to an existing charity, but wish to provide some other type of support to society. For example, donating some of their employees time to help local community causes. In these instances it may be beneficial to have an impartial body that can allocate these resources to the areas of most need. This could provide a way to stop companies supporting what may be seen as popular or more marketable charities or causes rather than those in more need, so to speak.

Technorati Tags: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, Government, India