Corporate Social Responsibility & Ethical Issues

ABSTRACT
By
Prof. Bharathi. S, Associate Professor, Dept of Business Administration, Surana PG Center,
Bangalore.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) promotes a vision of business accountability to awide
range of stakeholders, besides shareholders and investors. Key areas of concern are
environmental protection and the wellbeing of employees, the community and civil society in
general, both now and in the future. The new globalised, networked economy, based on the coordinate management of knowledge, sets evolutionary trends in motion that raise the level of
ethicality, but simultaneously generates a braking effect on the ethical contents of corporate
behavior. Study defines and traces the emergence and evolution within the business literature of
the concepts of values, business ethics and corporate social responsibility to illustrate the
increased emphasis that has been placed on these issues over time. Even though, there are many
ethical issues emerging and need an immediate attention.
Key words: Stake holders, Civil Society, Environment.

Corporate social responsibility as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically

and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the work force
,their families and the local community and society at large.
CSR is about capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural differences and
finds the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the
government"
"A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner
environment, A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their
business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis"
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), also known as corporate responsibility, corporate
citizenship, responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB), or corporate social
performance
Business Responsibilities in the 21st Century

Demonstrate a commitment to societys values and contribute to societys social,

environmental, and economic goals through action.

Insulate society from the negative impacts of company operations, products and services.

Share benefits of company activities with key stakeholders as well as with shareholders.

Demonstrate that the company can make more money by doing the right thing.

CSR framework based on triple bottom line

This framework consists of activities to address issues related to economy, society, and
environment, a so-called "triple bottom line," on top of the fundamentals such as corporate
governance and internal controls.

Framework of CSR Activities

CSR in India
Corporate Social Responsibility is on the rise all over the world and in India also. Civil Societies,
consumers and other actors have increased pressure on companies to adhere to social and
environmental standards and this pressure has impact on the business in India.
Limits of regulatory initiatives, changing nature of judicial activism, governments greater
relevance on private enterprises etc. places greater responsibility on voluntary approaches as an
alternative means of building social rights.
Role of CSR in the world economy
A popular explanation of the term CSR is the continuing commitment by businesses to behave
ethically and contribute to economic development, while improving the quality of life of the
workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. Over the last
years an increasing number of companies worldwide started promoting their business through
Corporate Social Responsibility strategies because the customers, the public and the investors
expect them to act sustainable as well as responsible.

CSR is a result of a variety of social, environmental and economic pressures while some other
cases many large corporations, it is primarily a strategy to divert attention away from the
negative social and environmental impacts of their lives. It enables the company to leverage its
products, employee strength, networks and profits and up to some extent to create a sustainable
change for marginalized communities. CSR can not only refer to the compliance of human right
standards, labor and social security arrangements, but also to the fight against climate change,
sustainable management of natural resources and consumer protection. The various practices
followed by the corporate in different parts of the world differ significantly. In the Developed
nations, the basic needs of the population do not need so much support as in the under-developed
nations. The demographics, literacy rate, poverty ratio and GDP of the country have significant
role in determining the directions of CSR initiatives of an organization.
In the Asian context, CSR mostly involves activities like adopting villages for holistic
development, in which they provide medical and sanitation facilities, build school and houses,
and helping villages become self-reliant by teaching them vocational and business skills. This
Conference is designed to understand and deal with the unprecedented impacts of CSR on the
working population, society and environment and therefore to elaborate the various frameworks
for it with a view towards developing its practice in an evolutionary way
Initiatives in some Indian Companies
ACC Limited -CSR Activities
ACC has undertaken social volunteering practices almost from its inception, long before the
term corporate social responsibility was coined. The companys earliest initiatives in community
development date back to the 1940's in a village on the outskirts of Mumbai while the first
formal Village Welfare Scheme was launched in 1952. The community living around many of
our factories comprises the weakest sections of rural and tribal India with no access to basic
amenities.
Corporate Social Responsibility Policy
The Company shall continue to have among its objectives the promotion and growth of the
national economy through increased productivity, effective utilization of material and manpower
resources and continued application of modern scientific and managerial techniques, in keeping

with the national aspiration; and the Company shall continue to be mindful of its social and
moral responsibilities to consumers, employees, shareholders, society and the local community.
Community & Rural Welfare
ACC community development activities revolve around the under-privileged community that
lives in the immediate vicinity of our cement plants and is thus more dependent on us. The range
of our activities begins with extending educational and medical facilities and goes on to cover
vocational guidance and supporting employment-oriented and income-generation projects like
agriculture, animal husbandry, cottage industries by developing local skills, using local raw
materials and helping create marketing outlets.
Education
Education is imparted not only to children of ACC employees but also more importantly to
children from rural areas who do not have access to any medium of information or education.
ACC schools maintain high standards and are open to other children of the vicinity.
Healthcare
ACC takes pride in providing various forms of medical assistance to the families of its
employees and also to all those living in surrounding villages. Each factory has a medical center
with full-fledged doctors and the latest of basic equipment. Mobile medical services are provided
in the vicinity and regular medical camps are held to eradicate diseases, offers medical help,
treatment and preventive care. ACC has come out to provide support to the State and National
health initiatives such as the eradication of malaria, dengue fever and the dreaded HIV.

Hindustan Latex Limited - CSR Activities

Hindustan Latex Limited, a public sector company established more than three decades ago,
came to occupy a premier position in the countrys family planning and health care programs.
The company not only established itself as the leader in the segment of manufacture of

contraceptives, but also diversified into manufacturing and marketing of other related health care
products . Social marketing became one of the key areas of the company to ensure that quality
contraceptives are available to the people at an affordable price at an arms length of desire.
Hindustan Latex Limited thus ventured into social sector projects aimed at creating a planned
social change. It was with this objective that HLL formed the Hindustan Latex Family Planning
Promotion Trust, a non-profit organization promoted by HLL. Since its establishment in 1992,
HLFPPT has been undertaking the conceptualization and implementation of various Social
Sector Projects. The Trusts area of operations extends to the various states of India. Although the
Trust was established for promoting the agenda of family planning, the Trusts activities have
now been broad based to focus on reproductive and sexual health. The Trust is expected to
develop into a major civil society participant working in the health sector, in partnership with a
range of development actors.
Kanoria Chemicals Industries Limited
Kanoria Chemicals Industries Limited is a major player in the Indian Chemical Industry,
generating a sales turnover of about US$ 70million. The company's history dates back to 1962,
starting its operations in Renukoot ( the eastern region of India) as a single product company. At
present, KCIL has transformed itself into a multi-product, multi-location group and has
established itself as a pioneer in its field. Working on the philosophy of 'Pioneering growth
through technology' every single plant at KCIL has been set up with the best technology the
world has to offer. Without compromising the core values of business ethics, the group has
achieved impressive value additions resulting from the strategy of forward and backward
integration in its manufacturing operations. The company is involved in various community
development initiatives and has adopted villages around their plants for development activities.
The focus areas are community services which include social development schemes like
educational activities, medical programmes and cultural activities. Agricultural and
environmental activities which include tree plantation drives and water resource programmes,
self employment schemes which include training programmes for various income generation
activities like tailoring, basket making, wax farming etc. The company has built a nationally
recognised school and an in-house hospital that caters to the educational and health needs of the

local community in which it operates. The company has also planted around 2.75 lakh trees in its
premises reiterating the company's commitment towards environment.
Conclusion
The concept of CSR is underpinned by the idea that corporations can no longer act as isolated
economic entities operating in detachment from broader society. The concept of corporate social
responsibility is now firmly rooted on the global business agenda. There is increasing recognition
of the importance of public- private partnerships in CSR. Private enterprise is beginning to reach
out to other members of civil society such as non-governmental organizations, the United
Nations, and national and regional governments. Even though, there are many ethical issues
emerging and need an immediate attention.
Reference
Corporate Social Responsibility and its Control on Companies of India Sarthak Pattnaik/ Elixir
Mgmt. Arts 75 (2014) 27674-27678
Journal of Economic Literature: Vol. 50 No. 1 (March 2012)
Corporate Social Responsibility by Madhumita Chatterji
Corporate Social Responsibility in India Paperback by Sanjay K. Agarwal
Corporate Governance, Business Ethics & CSR Paperback by J. P. Sharma