Making CSR work...!

The NEWS of India being the first nation to make the historic CSR Act is still fresh, so is all the controversy
and improbability that surrounds it, majorly from the Corporate sector. It is not that imperceptible as it
would be the corporate world that would be forced to Comply or Explain, at least for the first year for the
effect of the CSR Act. However, the picture is also not that blurry if put in a right angle and understood from
a holistic perspective.

At the outset, the financial implication of this Act that is being taken as an additional 2% Tax needs to be
reconsidered and thought of as an investment in future, if nothing else. After all sustainable means nothing
but being able to survive in future. And inclusive couldnt get simpler than facilitating the future consumer
of your product or service not only just to survive but retain (and even improve, if possible) its purchasing
power all the way to the future. Moreover Development could make sense only when it does justice to all
its stakeholders the key concept of any project, for that matter.

Now once we understand the intent and spirit of CSR, it would be crucial to learn about its desired attributes
that spell ICT Initiative, Contribution and Transparency. Lets take a closer look at all these 3 in a
conscientious way.

1. Initiative - Elbert Hubbard was so right when he said Initiative is doing the RIGHT things without
being told. It should be the governing factor of any Initiative for that matter and Right here doesnt
necessarily mean technically correct, but it has a broader sense of being legal, ethical as well as conscious.
It is spelled by

Rational being considerate of all the implications of your act, intent or even thought.
Inventive finding new means to do the routine chores in an economical and ecological way.
Glocal a new age term introduced with the globalization Thinking Global Acting Local.
Humanitarian having humane values in mind all the time all along the progress graph.
Trustworthy being righteous, honest and generous to the extent of benevolent for larger good.

2. Contribution Misunderstood as only a monetary concept by and large, this is more of an Involvement
an internal phenomenon, rather than Giving or Offering an absolute external and philanthropic kind of
activity that discriminates the Donor from the Beneficiary. This spells more like the Corporate
Citizenship with all the responsibilities thereof rather than a Corporate Tycoon that could white(green)-wash
any activity that is not really conducted with an inclusive perspective but more of an increased productivity
or higher profitability act compromising either a single or many societal, environmental and/or ecological
norms and ethics, so to say. A simple measure to keep this in check is to ask three additional questions, apart
from Is it profitable?, for every business decision

Will this activity impact the world economics in any irrecoverable way and if yes, is it worth it?
In the long run, is this activity potential to commit ecocide of the ecosystem it belongs to?
If this activity is going to make any harm to environment, could it be compensated and how?

3. Transparency Its been years Honesty is the best policy has become a clich as futile as Man is a
social animal; nowadays media has found a place in between and man has become a social media animal!
Thats where the value of transparency counts. In the era of WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook, it is neither
affordable nor possible to do something secretly that involves more than one person; in no time it could go
viral. Why, with the CCTV cameras, even a solo act could be put under scrutiny. Considering this power and
influence of these tools, it could be leveraged for good.

A consistent, decent and honest web-presence all around the year is the best way to remain transparent and
open for all the concerned authorities, stakeholders and general public as well. It not only helps image
building but also adds up to the trustworthiness in multitude eventually. The best way to do is

Fabricating a righteous CSR Policy and making it available in the public domain.
 Define, design and develop few good CSR projects and declare their adoption.
Keep your audience updated on the development of those initiatives regularly.

Apart from help improve your trustworthiness and brand-value, transparency has an intrinsic, seemingly
small but effectually big, benefit of being the currency of leadership. This single characteristic of any entity
or identity can put it in the Leading from the front spot, as it takes peoples faith to lead and faith is
nurtured by the openness aka transparency!

Last but not the least is the 3C approach towards the CSR policy Connection, Communication and
Credibility. The CSR initiative must establish a connection between the brand and its project,
Communication being the key, it must be communicated loud and clear what is intended, why is it chosen
and how will it be achieved. Finally, credibility is nothing but the integrity throughout! ICT and 3C
approach towards CSR would definitely prove it to be the boon as deliberated by its masterminds and not the
curse as it is comprehended by its protagonists. Way to go!