A dissertation on

CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
User-Administrator
I

DECLARATION

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENT
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Contents

Page number

Preface

Objective of the study

Company Profile

Different SBUs of the company

Literature Review

8-14

CSR initiatives of Balmer Lawrie

15-18

Research Methodology

19

Data Analysis

20-26

Research Findings

27

Recommendation

28

Some other initiatives by its

competitors

29

Conclusion

30

Bibliography

31

PREFACE

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CSR has become an integral part of corporate strategy. Companies have

CSR terms that devise specific policies, strategies and goals for their CSR
programs and set aside budgets to support them.
CSR has come a long way in India. From responsive activities to
sustainable initiatives, corporate have clearly exhibited their ability to
make a significant difference in the society and improve the overall quality
of life. Everyone sees CSR as part of a continuing process of building longterm value. Everything a company do, helps improve the reputation of
company and encourage customers and other stakeholders to stay
involved with it.
This dissertation tries to identify the CSR activities of Balmer Lawrie & Co
Ltd and how these initiatives have helped the company in its progress.
CSR initiatives of some companies have also been discussed.
There may be some scope for improvements but serious efforts have been
put into to get the best results.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

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To study the current CSR activities of an organization

To analyze the relevance of CSR initiatives in that organization

To study the implications of these activities

What more can be done for the betterment of the organization and
as well as the society

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COMPANY PROFILE

Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd started its corporate journey as a partnership firm
on 1st February, 1867 at Kolkata, founded by two Scot men, namely
George Stephen Balmer and Alexander Lawrie. It is one of the most
premier corporate entities in India. Balmer Lawrie became a private
limited company in 1924 and a public limited company in 1936
respectively. The companys main aim is to gain leadership in all business
segments through effective/ efficient use of its resources over the coming
years. Today Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd is a Mini Ratna I Public Sector
Enterprise under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas with a turn
over of Rs 2483 crores and a profit of Rs 220 crores. Along with its six joint
ventures in India and abroad, today it a much respected transitional
diversivied conglomerate with presence in both manufacturing and
service sectors.

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DIFFERENT STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNITS OF BALMER

LAWRIE & Co LTD

GREASES & LUBRICANTS: The Company is among the top ten grease
manufacturers and exports significant quantities. Because of the
technological superiority of its infrastructure, the Company is the
largest preferred contract processor for oil companies in the country.
Besides doing contract processing the company also manufactures
nearly 2000 performance value added products under its name
BALMEROL.

INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING: Balmer Lawire is Indias leading

manufacturer of MS drums holding the largest market share in the
country. It manufactures drums in a range of various thickness
configurations to suit different type of products.

REFINERY OIL FIELD SERVICES: It is an integral part of the

engineering and technological services portfolio of the Company in
the oil and gas related areas. In this domain the focus is on
providing environment friendly services centered for prevention and
recovery of hydrocarbon wastes. Few of the current activities of the
above SBU are:
In-situ mechanized tank bottom sludge cleaning
Lagoon/pit sludge cleaning
Composite repair of pipelines and tankages

PERFORMANCE CHEMICAL: BALMOL @ Synthetic range, BALMOL @

millenium range, BALSYN@ Universe range

TEA: It was the oldest traditional business of Balmer Lawrie. But in

2013 it has closed its tea unit.

VACATION EXOTICA: It offers personalized and comprehensive

services in Travel and Tourism through its offices at all major
business centers of India- Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Baroda, Chennai,
Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. All T&T offices of the company are fully
automated and enjoy ticket stock facility from Indian Airlines, Air
India and other major domestic international airlines.

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Corporate Social Responsibility

LITERATURE REVIEW
1. George Pohle and Jeff Hittner in their study on ATTAINING
SUSTAINABLE
GROWTH
THROUGH
CORPORATE
SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY have highlighted that CEOs have been long
accountable to a varied group of stakeholders-employees and
communities as well as investors. The nature of the relationships is
now changing in ways that significantly affect corporate
performance in part due to the emergence of the internet and
continuing globalization companies are becoming accountable for
labor issues and working conditions in their partners as well as their
own.
2. Paul Hohnen in their paper on CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:
An implementation guide for business have said that there is no
one-size-fits-all methods for pursuing a corporate social
responsibility (CSR) approach. Each firm has unique characteristics
that will affect how it views its operational context and its defining
social responsibilities. Each will vary in its awareness of CSR issues
and how much it has already done towards implementing a CSR
approach.
3. R. Edward Freeman, S. Ramakrishna Velamuri, Brian Moriarty in their
study on COMPANY STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITY- A new
approach to CSR have pointed out the fact that if a company is
enriching the lives of its stakeholders, then asking the additional
question of whether or not it is socially responsible simply makes
no sense- it is meaningless question. If the company is doing
everything to keep stakeholders happy, then it deserves to be
applauded and offered as an example for other firms to emulate. If it
is not doing it satisfactorily as particular stakeholders think it ought,
then these stakeholders could perhaps offer to help it do them
better, rather than appeal to actions and responsibilities that lie
outside its day to day activities.
Company stakeholder responsibility could be assigning a different
meaning to CSR. Company signals that all forms of value creation and
trade- all businesses-need to be involved. Stakeholder suggests that the
main goal of CSR is to create value for key stakeholders. And
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responsibility implies that we cannot separate what we do in the

workplace from ethics.

Meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):

Organizations and industry captains have now a days recognized the
importance of CSR. While there is no agreed upon definitions, the World
Business Council for Sustainable Development defines CSR as the
commitment and contribution to the quality of life of employees, their
families and the local community and society overall to support
sustainable economic development. In simple words, the business case for
CSR- establishing a positive company reputation and brand in the public
eye through good work that yields a competitive edge while at the same
time contributing to others- demands that organizations shift from solely
focusing on making a profit to including financial, environmental and
social responsibility in their core business strategies.

History of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):

CSR is as old as the evolution of business itself even though the
concept was not formulated formally until presently. Raad (2005)
describes the CSR is not a new topic.
The CSR genesis may be traced back to 50 years. In 1960, Davis has
mentioned the CSR concepts as the actions and decisions taken for
reasons at least partially beyond the organizations technical or direct
economic interest. In 1961, Walton and Eells defined CSR as the issues
that emerge when the corporate organizations throws its shadows on the
social scene, and the ethical principles that owes to rule the relationship
between the society and corporation.
In 1980s Committee for Economic Development described a 3 tier
approach: Tier 1 determines the sudden relations that is economic
functions which consists of development jobs and products. The next level
of relations is that the economic functions must be conducted with
sensitive awareness of altering social priorities and values. The third level
mentions newly developing and still amorphous responsibilities that
business must consider to become involved more actively in developing
the social environment. This idea was criticized that CSR as one focusing
on motivation and obligation and lacking the action part (Asongu, 2007).
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Later in 1990s, CSR emphasized proaction, implementation and

action of social rule. This was followed by the context of Corporate Social
Performance (Phadtare, 2011). Today CSR takes into assumption the
behavioral processes, observable results and encouraging principles or
managerial and corporate actions similar to the organizations
relationships with its external surroundings.
Thus it can be understood that CSR has an authentic history and has been
considered as one of the important strategies of organizations, right from
the beginning.

Steps of implementing CSR:

1. Conduct a CSR assessment
2. Develop a CSR strategy
3. Develop CSR commitments
4. Implement CSR commitment
5. Report and verify progress
6. Evaluate and improve

Need for CSR in organizations:

Building Relationships: CSR builds good relationship with local

authorities to make the business simpler and understands the vast
influence of their organizations which can support employees to
create profitable services and products. It can create more
competitive advantage and lower down the risk of sudden injury to
their organizations reputation. Investors identify this and come
forward to financing the organizations. The concept of CSR also
helps in recruiting socially conscious and talented personnel and
also improves community living standards for employees. It offers
nontaxable benefit for employees and makes them donate funds for
their favorite causes. CSR can be a win-win situation both society
and socially responsible organizations can benefit in long run.

Maximizing Profits: CSR gets lot of attention to stakeholders. The

classical view of CSR holds that the managements only
responsibility in running an organization is to maximize profit and
the major obligation of management must often be to shareholders
and owners. The CSR enhances long term profits, develops the
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public image of an organization, makes the organization more

attractive places to work and help eliminate regulations of
government.

Theories of Corporate Social responsibility:

The practices of CSR has been depicted and informed by three CSR
theories:
1. The Stakeholder Theory of CSR
2. The Business Ethics Theory of CSR
3. The Shareholder Value Theory of CSR

The Stakeholder Theory of CSR:

Since 1990s the stakeholder theory has become famous as a direct
alternative and challenge to the shareholder value theory (Freeman,
1984). It argues that the number of stakeholder pressure groups has
developed widely since the 1960s and the stakeholder forces impact on
business must not be underestimated. Ethical and pragmatic as it ought
to be business success assume vast interests of stakeholders than the
shareholders interests alone. The stakeholder theory emphasizes special
social rather than any others unrelated to the cooperation. Thus CSR is
denoted as a company stakeholder responsibility.

Business Ethics Theory of CSR:

The business ethics theory is based on wider social obligation and the
moral duty that business has towards society (Bigg, 2004). This theory
justifies CSR on 3 varied but interrelated ethical grounds.

Changing and emerging social responsiveness

expectations to particular social problems.

Eternal or intrinsic ethical values always inspired by Kantian ethics

and denoted as some normative and universal principles like social
justice, fairness, and human rights.

Corporate citizenship i.e. corporation as a better citizen in a society

to contribute to social well-being.

and

social

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The business ethics theory views CSR more as philanthropic and ethical
responsibilities rather than legal and economic responsibilities. CSR
initiates where legal obligation declines.

The Shareholder Value Theory of CSR:

The shareholder value theory a perspective denoted by the Noble
Laureate Milton Friedman (1970) argues that only social responsibility of
business is to develop its profits while following legal norms. Neoclassical
economists like Hayek assert that the function of business doing business
that contributes to society and economy and its functions must not be
confused with other social functions performed by not for profit
organizations and governments. Otherwise it is not the most effective
way of allocating resources in a free market. Economists like agency
theorists believe that the corporation owners are its managers and
stakeholders as agents have fiduciary duty to serve the shareholders
interest rather than any others.
Although maximizing the profit of shareholders is justified as the most
significant or only corporate responsibility, corporate social obligations
are regarded often as strategic instruments for corporate competitive
benefit and more profit gain.

Why should
mandatory?

Corporate

Social

Responsibility

be

made

Global businesses have significant technological and managerial

capabilities and have the potential to transform the society and
contribute to social welfare (Lea, 2002). For this to come about, as it can
be argued, firms ought to direct their capabilities at societal value
creation rather than value appropriation.

A Sustained Change in the World: From profit as the goal to profit

as the means to serve society- is needed. And, herein lays the
long-term sustainability of firms as well. To become socially
responsible in the real and deepest sense of the term calls for
change in the businesses. The first step in this direction would be
for firms to critically assess their core capabilities. Then restate
their corporate mission in terms of a few social problems that they
are uniquely placed to address. Some people believe that
regulation is necessary, others that it is convenient and pernicious.

Responsibility towards society: It hardly needs to state that the

role of the top managers in bringing about such a shift is crucial.
Treading this alternative path requires a firm commitment on their
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part and the ability to translate this commitment into a clearly

defined corporate purpose that permeates the organizations as a
whole and behind which the organizational culture of cooperation
are the two most important and immediate tasks that top
managers would need to address.
Therefore it is clear that there is a need to make CSR mandatory in
the organization since it is often seen a strategy to clean the sins
of pollution, or to provide a face lift to the companys public image.

Statutory Compliances regarding CSR in India:

CSR provisions are likely to be effective from financial year 201415.

Every company satisfying certain financial strength criteria is

mandatory required to spend at least 2% of its average net profit of
three preceding financial years on specified financial activities.

Each qualifying company to form a CSR committee which will

formulate the CSR policy of the company and effectively monitor
the CSR activities of the company.

Board of Directors of the companies are responsible to ensure that

the company spends the mandatory CSR spend on specified CSR
activities in accordance with the CSR policy of the company and
disclose the CSR policy and CSR activities of the company as
specified in the provision.

Applicability of the companies under the provisions of

CSR:
a. Every company having net worth of INR 5000 million
or more, or turnover of INR 10000 million or more or
net profit of INR 50 million or more during any
financial year will have to comply with the CSR
provisions as laid down under the Act.
b. If any of the above financial strength is met, the
qualifying company is mandatorily required to spend
at least 2% of average net profit of past three financial
years on specified CSR activities.
c. While the threshold level of net worth criteria and the
turnover criteria are kept higher, the net profit
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threshold limit of mere than INR 50 million will bring

majority of companies under the CSR net.

Engaging employees to take part in CSR activities:

It is not only important for organizations to formulate CSR strategies but
also important to make them to be adapted by their employees. The
human resource department and corporate social responsibility are closely
interrelated with each other. The success of implementing CSR relies upon
the participation of employees in it. It is the responsibility of human
resource department to make employees in more numbers to participate
in organizations CSR activities. Human resource management plays an
important role in propagating the values of CSR to the staff members.
The employees form the key role for the success of the implementation of
the CSR strategy. It is therefore important for organizations in order to
engage employees in CSR activities. The following figure shows the
Employee Engagement Pyramid, proposed by Melerum (2006), in order
to make them involved in CSR activities.

I am committed
to act

I believe (Employees are

familiar with CSR strategy and
how it helps to meet its
I understand the message

I am aware of the
message

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PYRAMID

CSR ACTIVITIES AT BALMER LAWRIE

We at Balmer Lawrie have a legacy of contributing towards community
development. As a responsible corporate citizen, we undertake several
CSR activities for the benefit of weaker sections of the society. Our CSR
initiative Balmer Lawrie Initiative for Self Sustenance (BLISS) is directed
at providing and improving the long term economic sustenance of the
underprivileged. Our other initiative Samaj Mein Balmer Lawrie (SAMBAL)
aims at improving the living standards of populations in and around our
work enters. In pursuance of this, we have undertaken several community
development projects, partnering with various NGOs with a focus to
trigger development at the micro community level and thereby generate
the desired developmental impact. While we were able to achieve our CSR
mandate up to a great extent, a need was felt to rationalize our efforts
and develop a CSR Policy and long term CSR plan that shall guide our CSR
initiatives for the next five to seven years. We engaged a specialized team
from Ernst and Young India called the Development Advisory Services
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team to assist us in developing the CSR policy and plan. We followed a

consultative and participatory approach while developing the policy and
CSR plan. A range of stakeholders at different levels including leadership,
middle management and staff were consulted with a view to get their
opinion and at the same time, develop a sense of ownership among them
about the companys CSR initiative. We strongly believe that the real
ownership of successful implementation of the CSR policy lies with all of
us in Balmer Lawrie. This CSR policy and long term perspective plan shall
act as the core framework that would guide our companys CSR efforts for
the next five to seven years.
VISION
We are committed to serve the community by empowering it to achieve
its aspirations and improving its overall quality of life.
MISSION
To undertake CSR activities in chosen areas through partnerships,
particularly for the communities around us and weaker sections of the
society by supporting need based initiatives.

OBJECTIVES
Improve the health and nutrition status of communities, particularly
vulnerable groups such as women, children and elderly by improving
health infrastructure and facilitating service provision. Focus on quality of
education and encourage children from marginalized sections and girls to
complete school education and opt for higher education.

To focus on

livelihoods and skill development in order to provide opportunities to

women and youth and make them self reliant.

Initiate holistic

development programs for differently able children and orphans with a

view to provide them opportunities to lead a meaningful life. To support
the national efforts in rehabilitation and relief post unfortunate natural
disasters.
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We at Balmer Lawrie are committed to continuously improve our efforts

towards our social responsibility, focus on marginalized sections and
encourage our employees to contribute 7 in CSR activities. Towards this
commitment, the company shall be guided by the following seven guiding
principles.

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After extensive internal deliberations and reviewing different options,

focus on the following thematic areas:

Health and Sanitation

Education

Livelihood

Holistic Development and Sustenance

The above thematic areas were considered necessary to align our CSR
policy with national priorities and our own business objectives. Moreover,
these areas are in line with our existing CSR activities. The above
thematic areas are indicative only and do not restrict inclusion of
additional/fresh activities under CSR.
A similar approach was followed to select the target groups for our CSR
activities. We categorically selected these target groups to ensure that we
are able to make a visible contribution to the lives of the marginalized
sections of the society. The following target groups have been selected for
our CSR activities:

Children (0 14 years)

Youth (15 to 35 Years)

Women

Differently abled

Elderly people

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Health and Sanitation

Health is a critical subject and our countrys achievements in this field
continue to be distant from the targeted goalposts as laid down in
Millennium Development Goals. As

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per the World Health Organization, India has the highest number of
maternal deaths in the world. The national Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)
is 254 per 100,000 live births. At this rate, India is likely to reach MMR of
135 per 100,000 live births by 2015, falling short of the MDGs target by 26
points.
One in every 15 children in India dies before it reaches its fifth birthday.
That is a total of 1.8 million children a year. Over half (54%) of all
childhood deaths in India are related to malnutrition; about 30% of
children have low birth weight, and rates of under-nutrition peak before
two years of age. There are 52 million undernourished children in India.
44% of Indian children below the age of five are underweight and 48% are
too short for their age due to chronic malnutrition (WHO, 2008). Even
though the government has implemented a wide array of programs to
combat these health challenges, further intensification of efforts and
redesigning of outreach strategies are required to provide momentum to
the progress towards achievement of the MGDs.
Recognizing the urgent need to focus on maternal and child health in
order to accelerate the nations effort to achieve MDGs, we will focus on
the following:

Reduce Maternal Mortality

Promoting institutional deliveries by addressing the three delays 1. Delay in decision-making to
go for institutional delivery. 2. Delay due to lack of transport facilities and 3. Delay due to lack of
preparedness at the health facility.
Strengthening healthcare infrastructure relating to mother and child healthcare.
Raising awareness on Ante Natal and Post Natal care.
Strengthening Anganwadi Services.
Capacity development of frontline workers.
Providing nutrition supplements to address malnourishment.
Focusing on prevention and management of anemia.
Strengthening family planning related services.
Preventing child marriages and raising awareness about correct age of women for pregnancy.

Reduce infant mortality (0-12 months) and Under -5 mortality ( 0 5

years)
Promoting institutional deliveries
Ensuring proper and complete immunization of infants and children.

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Growth monitoring to ensure identification and treatment of underweight and malnourished

children.
Promoting proper Infant and Young Child Feeding practices.
Raising awareness about infant and child health among the community members.

Provisioning of proper sanitation facilities.

Provisioning of household toilets.
Promoting hand washing with soap after defecation and before handling food.
Strengthening Anganwadi Services.

Reduce neo natal mortality (0-28 days)

Promoting institutional deliveries by providing referral transport.
Strengthening healthcare infrastructure relating to mother and child healthcare.
Raising awareness on neo-natal healthcare among the communities.
Capacity development of front line workers.
Establishing sick new born care units in Government hospitals.

Health care services to elderly

Screening of old age related diseases and link with healthcare facilities.
Mobile health care services for geriatric care.
Besides the above activities, we shall also focus on improving overall health and sanitation related
infrastructure at the community level by focusing on the following:
Provision of safe drinking water
Provision of drainage
Provision of household toilets
Mobile health care unit

Education
India is on track on most of the indicators related to universalization of primary education. However,
girl dropout rate, and low Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) among the weaker and marginalized
communities is a matter of concern. India missed the 2005 deadline of eliminating gender disparity in
primary and secondary education. However, the country has accelerated the progress and the Gender
Parity Index (GPI) for GER in primary and secondary education has risen. Achieving GPI in tertiary
education continues to remain a challenge. In this regard, the company is committed to improving the
condition and quality of education, particularly for the marginalized and girls across different levels
primary to graduation.

Efforts at primary and elementary level

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The key challenges at this level include quality of education, scope in improving infrastructure and
high absenteeism among children of marginalized sections and girls. Accordingly, the company shall
focus on the following:
Remedial classes for girls and students from marginalized sections
Capacity development of teachers in order to improve quality of education

Introduction of innovative teaching aids for improving quality of education and motivating children
to attend schools.
Infrastructure improvement
Awareness among the community to reduce drop out and absenteeism

Secondary and senior secondary level

At the secondary and senior secondary level, the key challenges include low enrollment rate, high
dropout rate and scope for improving infrastructure. In view of the challenges, we shall focus on the
following:
Scholarship to girls and students from marginalized communities to pursue higher education
Coaching support to children from marginalized sections and girls to prepare for competitive
examinations
Introduction of innovative teaching aids to improve quality of education
Infrastructure improvement

Graduation level
At this level, the key challenges include high dropout rate, low enrollment and availability of higher
education infrastructure especially in rural areas. We shall focus on the following to address some of
the challenges:
Scholarship to girls and students from marginalized communities to pursue higher education.
Career counseling
Coaching support to students from marginalized sections and girls to prepare for competitive
examinations.
Besides the above activities, we shall also focus on improving school infrastructure at different levels.

Livelihoods

India will have a very large population of youth in the near future. Around
50% of the population would be in the age group of 15 45 (Indias MDG
Report, 2009)

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As per Planning Commission, Government of India, 91% of the labour market is skill based, 93% of
the young work force in India has no skill-based training. Participation of women in employment and
decision-making remains far less than that of men, and the disparity is not likely to be eliminated by
2015 (India MDG Report, 2009). In this regard, actively supporting womens full participation in
economic, social and political life will be a key factor in reducing poverty, enhancing economic growth
and democratic governance. Moreover, the Government of India has set a mammoth target of skilling
and reskilling 500 million people by 2022.

We at Balmer Lawrie shall focus on contributing to the national mandate of skilling and reskilling
people in trades that are linked with our business objectives. We shall also emphasize on addressing
skill gaps through the livelihood framework that includes development of human, social, physical, and
financial capital.

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Human capital: Vocational training/skill development

We shall focus on the following:
Continuing with the existing training program in collaboration with IATA and other skill
development agencies particularly for our tours and travels business.
Logistics, transportation and warehousing require around 7.72 crore skilled workforce by 2022.
Accordingly, we shall focus on skill development intervention in collaboration with good partners in the
area of logistics, transportation and warehousing.
The Grease and Lubricants business may focus on adoption of ITIs as it would help our business
to get visibility. Special courses on grease and lubricants can be offered in different ITIs. The
approach will be cost effective and we shall be able to reach out to a large number of potential
trainees.

Physical capital
Promote Self Help Groups (SHGs) for livelihood initiatives.
Capacity building and training of the SHGs.

Financial capital
Link the SHGs with micro-finance or other financial institutions.
Work towards enterprise development and provide forward and backward linkages
to small entrepreneurs.

Social capital
As we have decided to focus on marginalized and weaker sections of the society, the
entire efforts shall be geared towards creating the social capital that may go a long way
in empowering the marginalized, women and other weaker sections of the society.

Holistic development/ sustenance to the deprived

We at Balmer Lawrie strongly believe that differently-abled children and
orphans are in the double disadvantaged groups. Given their special
psychological, social and economic needs, a holistic approach is required to
mainstream them in the society.

Differently abled children

Support children suffering from cerebral palsy

Provide health and education support
Provide support for rehabilitation

Orphans and other needy children

Support for holistic development of orphans and other needy children particularly on
health, nutrition, education, rehabilitation, etc.
All the above activities are indicative only. Based on the needs and
recommendations of regional CSR Committees, the company will take-up
other initiatives if required. It is proposed that the company shall also focus
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on relief and rehabilitation post natural disasters. Overall, proposed

budgetary allocations are as follows:
Planned activities as per the identified thematic areas and target groups: We shall
spend 75% to 80% of the CSR budget on the planned activities.
B. Support for disaster relief and rehabilitation: In case of natural disasters, the
company shall spend 5% to 10% of the CSR budget on post disaster relief and
rehabilitation.
C. Non-Project based activities: Given the diversity of our business, we may need to
spend a portion of the CSR budget on Non-project based activities depending on the
need. We propose to spend a maximum of 10 to 15% of our CSR budget on such
unplanned activities. It should, however, comply with the Government directives.
It is a national level company with a diverse nature of business including both the
manufacturing and services sector. As a result, they selected the geographic locations in
a way that all strategic business units get sufficient opportunities to implement our CSR
activities. . This way, they can select the most deprived areas anywhere in India helping
us maintaining our national status. This is required to ensure that they get appropriate
visibility for our good work, not only around our immediate plant locations but also at the
national level.
The company shall focus on the following geographic areas for the next five to seven
years:
For the initial two to three years, immediate surroundings of the areas of our
operation, within a radius of 30 kms, and gradually extend the reach to 50 kms.
Our flagship program can be implemented anywhere in India.
For the business units that do not have a manufacturing plant, it is proposed that we
shall identify most backward villages or slums for CSR intervention anywhere in India or
locations that are strategically important for our business.

Governance structure
The company has a well planned CSR governance structure in place. It has established
regional CSR committees that guide the company in CSR related initiatives. At the
corporate level, CSR is managed by a Senior Management team under the guidance of
Vice President, Human Resource. Overall, strategic directions and approvals come from
the Director Human Resource. Going forward, we will focus on evolving an effective
CSR Governance structure that will help us in encouraging involvement of strategic
management units as well as facilitate employee volunteerism in CSR activities.
We also deliberated on the possibility of having a separate CSR Foundation to plan and
implement our CSR mandate.

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Possibility of CSR Foundation

An effort has been made to create a CSR governance structure that will facilitate
companywide implementation of our CSR policy and ensure that CSR is embedded
across various business units and their operations. Also, emphasis has been given on
evolving a CSR governance structure that encourages employee volunteerism. This will
ensure that CSR plays an important role in enhancing our brand and improving the
visibility across business operations. The revised CSR Governance structure is
presented below:
CSR Governance Structure

Balmer Lawrie CSR Governance Structure

In the revised CSR governance structure, the Director HR & CA shall provide the overall
leadership and approvals. The day-to-day supervision shall be done by the Senior Vice
President, HR. The centralized CSR team shall be headed by Senior Manager CSR. The
team may comprise of consultants for partnerships, communication and reporting and
monitoring and evaluation. However, consultants may be hired in future depending on
the expansion of CSR activities.
At the regional level, the Regional Head, HR will provide strategic directions
to the strategic business units. The regional CSR committees will continue to
monitor and provide directions. The regional CSR committees will have
representation from the senior management, SBUs head, CSR department
and employees. As and when required, the regional Vice President HR may
invite sector experts, academicians and other stakeholders as special
invitees.
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At the SBU level, a CSR champion shall be nominated from the HR

department or any other related department that shall work closely with the
SBU head to implement CSR activities. At the unit level (manufacturing units),
a CSR steward shall be nominated for strengthening the employee
volunteerism in the unit. A position of CSR Consultant at the regional level
may be considered in the future depending on the need. The decision flow in
the revised CSR governance structure is presented below:

Balmer Lawrie CSR Decision Flow

The CSR stewards shall generate ideas for employee volunteerism and share
it with the CSR champion. The CSR champion at the SBU level shall hold
discussions with external stakeholders including community to generate
ideas for CSR activities in line with the CSR policy. The ideas for CSR activities
and employee volunteerism shall be approved by SBU head and would be
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forwarded to Regional HR head. The regional HR head shall present the same
to regional CSR Committee who in turn may recommend the same to the
centralized CSR team. The centralized CSR team shall compile the ideas and
present it to the Director HR & CA for approval.
The above decision flow shall enhance the role of SBU heads in CSR planning
and may be useful in internalizing CSR in the business objectives.
Roles and Responsibilities
Senior Manager CSR
Provide guidance to the centralized CSR team, CSR Champions, and CSR
Stewards
Review proposals and progress of partners
Knowledge management and sharing
Draft annual CSR plans, budgets, and progress reports to finalize the plans in
consultation with senior management and business units
Develop system for impact assessment and monitoring
Identify new partners and projects
Periodic progress reports and updates to Director HR
Periodic monitoring of CSR activities
Identify partnership opportunities with Government, community, and other
stakeholders to execute community initiatives
Any other work deemed necessary for effective implementation of CSR.
CSR champion at SBU
The CSR champion shall be preferably from the HR team at manager or above level. S/He should
spend 30% of her/his time on CSR. The specific roles and responsibilities include:

Coordinating with the business units to identify new ideas and initiatives to be
discussed with Regional CSR Committee
Providing support to CSR Stewards on employee volunteerism and internal
communication
Coordinating with Regional CSR Committee and manufacturing units
Monitor CSR activities in the region
Generate new ideas and projects for CSR activities
Coordinating with the implementing partners, government and community
Any other work deemed necessary for effective implementation of CSR.

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CSR Stewards at unit level

CSR Steward shall be preferably from the HR team at manager or above level. S/He
may need to spend 15% of her/his time on CSR related activities. The specific roles and
responsibilities include:
Spearhead employee volunteerism in the business unit
Disseminate information about company's CSR actions with the employees at the
unit level
Generate new ideas on employee volunteerism
Any other work deemed necessary for effective implementation of CSR
Regional CSR advisory committee
The regional CSR committee shall play an advisory role
Review the progress of CSR activities and provide recommendations
Provide ideas for new projects/activities
Review and provide recommendations on new initiatives
At Balmer Lawrie encourage the employees to participate in CSR related activities as volunteers. This
not only helps our employees contribute to community development but also plays an important role in
internalizing our CSR policy within the company. We shall provide appropriate opportunities to our
employees for volunteerism. Also, we shall evolve a mechanism wherein the employees themselves
can suggest appropriate activities where they would like to volunteer. Some of the broad activities that
may be considered by the company include:

Pay-roll giving program that gives employees options for monthly/yearly/one time
donation for a particular CSR activity of their choice child health, education, etc.
Used cloths, books, toys collection drives. The collected goods could be donated to
old age homes, children homes, NGOs. This could be linked with reward/ appreciation
from CMD to business unit(s) collecting maximum goods.
Tree plantation on birthday of employees this could be done in partnership with
NGOs.
Providing flexibility to employees to invest two to four hours per quarter on CSR
activities such as teaching children, taking vocational training classes, etc.
Arranging field visit to CSR implementation sites for employee volunteers once a
year.
Placing a suggestion box at manufacturing units/ location offices inviting employees
to suggest ways in which they want to participate in CSR as volunteers.
Organizing competitions such as poster making, drawing, slogan writing, etc. for the
employees and their families once a year.
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Celebrating important days such as health day, CSR day, womens day, teachers
day, mothers day, etc. at different locations by sensitizing the employees.
Inviting articles from the employees for CSR monthly magazine.

CSR Communication framework

At Balmer Lawrie strive to enhance the visibility by doing good things at the
community level. Visibility of our CSR initiatives and our learnings may help
other organizations to implement effective CSR initiatives. We firmly believe
that effective CSR communication is not only important for external
stakeholders but also for the internal stakeholders including our employees.
This will help us in integrating CSR within the DNA of the company. Our
overall CSR communication framework is presented in the figure below:

CSR communication framework of Balmer Lawrie

Internal visibility
For enhancing our visibility within the company, we shall focus on the following activities:
Introduce CSR policy orientation as a mandatory component of the employee
induction program.
Activate and support employee engagement programs through CSR
communications.
Keep employees informed about internal and external CSR developments and
results.

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Develop messages, content and manage the delivery of regular CSR communications,
including group mails, newsletters, company intranet, internal billboards, etc.
Develop and disseminate stories and case studies around community initiatives for
internal audiences.
Hold quiz competitions pertaining to companys CSR for different levels of staff.
Reinforce messages through various communication channels.
Involve leadership and top management to disseminate and reinforce
communication about companys commitment to CSR and its importance.
Bloom newsletter may be published in English and Hindi

External visibility
To enhance our CSR visibility among the external stakeholders, we shall focus on the
following: For reporting on the progress of CSR within the company.
Usage/ Adoption of the guidelines issued by Global Reporting Initiatives(GRI)
The communication framework for external visibility substantively form part of the
CSR policy.
Display of CSR policies prominently at relevant public interfaces.
Participation in public events highlighting the roles and achievements of our CSR
activities.
Consciously select participation in national CSR events and competitions.
Any other activity deemed necessary to enhance our visibility.

CSR Implementation Framework

There is no one-size-fits-all method for implementing a CSR policy. We at
Balmer Lawrie will give considerable value to efficiency and effectiveness in
CSR implementation. A broad framework for CSR implementation has been
developed that builds on our existing experience and emphasizes on
efficiency and effectiveness. The framework is divided in to three phases with
phase I comprising inception and investment domain, phase II includes
implementation and phase III emphasizes on impact.

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RESEARCH FINDINGS

The sample survey helps to notify one major issue that except the
Management, the non-management employees are not well
informed about the CSR activities of their organization. In general
they do not know properly what element can be included under CSR
activities. They are not informed about the needs and necessities of
the CSR activities. So according to them CSR is just a fancy idea
which increases the cost of the organization.
Though Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd is investing quite a good amount of
money in CSR activities but according to this research, employee
engagement is yet to be done widely.

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RECOMMENDATION

1. The company practicing CSR should provide information about the

after effects of CSR initiatives. This would help the stakeholders to
understand the initiative better.
2. The company should focus on more CSR initiatives as it leads to the
growing profit of the company.
3. Employee engagement leads to the betterment and success of the
project. Employee engagement can come with creative ideas of CSR
initiatives.

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Some Other Initiatives By Other Competitors of Balmer

Lawrie
Castrol India Limited:
Castrol has the presence in India over a 100 years. Over the years the
companys CSR program has evolved from charitable giving to a strategic
CSR program which seeks to support the communities it operates in and
its key stakeholders. Different training programs followed by them are as
follows;

Ekalavya- The Mechanic Training Program: Based on the popular

mythological legend, it aims to help independent two wheeler
mechanics, who have no access to technical education, to enhance
their skills and technical knowledge resulting in a better livelihood.

Relief and Rehabilitation of communities affected by natural

disasters: It has reached out to affected communities in such time
of needs to provide necessary relief and rehabilitation. This has
included support provided during the flood affecting Uttarakhand,
Silvassa, Bihar and Mumbai, the Tsunami in Tamilnadu and the
Gujrat earthquake. Reconstruction of houses, drinking water,
sanitation facilities, women empowerment providing sustainable
income, building schools with mid-day meal facility were the
agendas under these scheme.

Community Development: Castrol has started working for

community development around their plants. The initiatives are
like, computer education in local schools, education for differently
abled children, primary health care, establishing higher education
and supporting NGOs.

Drive for safety: Road safety is the number one priority for Castrol
in India. The company has been focused on driving safety for its
own employees as well as transport operators who ferry goods on
behalf of the company.

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CONCLUSION:
CSR is an emerging market for now a days. But each concept has its own
limitation. Thus Corporate Social Responsibility enhances long run profits,
develops the public image of an organization, makes the organization
more attractive place to work and help eliminate regulations of
Government.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
BOOKS:
Essentials of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relation by P.
Subba Rao
Essentials of Human Resource Management by Indranil Mutsuddi
Hayes D K and Ninemeier (2008), Human Resources Management in the Hospitality
Industry, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, p 163
Kreitner R and Mahopatra M (2008), Management, Dreamtech Press, New Delhi, p 140.
Schermerhorn J R (2010), Management, John Wiley & Sons, USA, p 68-70

Websites:
http://www.projectguru.in/publications/engaging-employees-to-take-partin-csr-activities/
http://www.projectguru.in/publications/theories-of-csr/
http://www.projectguru.in/publications/why-should-csr-be-mademandatory-in-organizations/
http://balmerlawrie.com/pages/corporatesocialresponsibility
http://www.castrol.com/en_in/india/about-us/CSR.html

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