Report on

NGO-CORPORATE RELATION

Submitted by

Abhishek V BL.EN.U4ECE09006
AnkitaShukla BL.EN.U4ECE09012
Arun Augustine BL.EN.U4ECE09015
Harish B BL.EN.U4ECE09018
Abhilash B BL.EN.U4ECE09021
LavanyaM.S BL.EN.U4ECE09069
NithishSalankey BL.EN.U4ECE09090

Submitted to
Asst. Professor, Ms. Beena T Nair
Department of English
Amrita School of Engineering, Bangalore

Submittedon
8th October, 2010

INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT:This report is a study on how NGOs and

corporates relate themselves to each other, the benefits enjoyed by them from
this relationship and also about the public’s awareness and knowledge about
these relations.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our Associate Dean, Prof. S.G. Rakesh, and
the entire management for expressing confidence in us and providing us an opportunity to
undertake such a project.

We would like to thank our Project Advisor, Asst. Professor Beena T Nair. Without her
ample support and co-operation, this endeavour wouldn’t have materialized.

During the course of this project, we met representatives of NGO and Corporate companies
and got their suggestions on our topic. We thank all of them, who showed courtesy to spare
few minutes of their valuable time answering our queries patiently and thus helping us
immensely in conducting the analysis.

Our friends have always been source of encouragement for us. We thank all of them for the
immense moral support they have given us.

Huge thanks also to our immediate families for the faith they had placed on us and for the
constant inspiration they have provided.
 DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT

This project is an analysis of Corporate-NGO relations in Bangalore. The objective of the survey
is to determine how effective corporate-NGO collaboration is. It also aims to know how aware
the public and the corporate employees are about NGOs associating themselves with corporate.

Case studies are made each for corporate and NGOs and their employees have been surveyed.
The corporates taken are WIPRO and IBM while the NGOs studied are CRY, SMILE and AZIM
PREMJI FOUNDATION.

Under the process the Corporates and NGOs were interviewed, their opinions are analyzed and
inferences are drawn, compared it with the survey answers of their employees. People were
surveyed for their awareness about the company projects, the activities of the NGOs it supports
and their willingness to volunteer for such social causes. The survey targets different age groups,
companies and NGOs for a thorough study. Pictorial representations of their responses are
presented in accordance to the survey results

The conclusion is based on the results of the survey and the views of the members of the team
providing an insight to the perspective of the masses towards Corporate-NGO relations.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Page no.

1. Introduction
2. Background
2.1
2.2
2.3
3. Survey Analysis

3.1 Methodology.

3.2 Analysis of field work.

3.3 Sample Questionaire.

3.4 Interview Scripts

3.4.1 Interview with IBM.

3.4.2 Interview with WIPRO.

4.
 INTRODUCTION

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is the voluntary role and contribution on

the part of the business community towards a better social and environmental
development, which is beyond their investment to organisational development.
The business organisations can be lead by large multinationals and for small,
locally based businesses. While, the actions on the part of business organizations
here to be ethically bound to its stakeholders, who include customers,
owners/investors, government, suppliers and competitors. Corporate Social
Responsibility consists of a wide-range activities and programs that involve
businesses looking at how to improve their social, environmental and local
economic impact, their influence on society, social cohesion and human rights,
and fair trade. Key areas of concern are environmental protection and the well
being of employees, the community and civil society in general, both now and in
the future. It refers to the comprehensive approach that a corporation takes to
meet or exceed stakeholder expectations beyond measures of revenue, profit
and legal obligation. . Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public
interest into corporate decision-making, and the honouring of a triple bottom
line: people, planet, profit.

Non-Governmental Organizations and Corporate Social Responsibility

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted

organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently
from any government and a term usually used by governments to refer to
entities that have no government status. In the cases in which NGOs are funded
totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental
status by excluding government representatives from membership in the
organization. The term is usually applied only to organizations that pursue some
wider social aim that has political aspects, but that are not overtly political
organizations such as political parties. Unlike the term "intergovernmental
organization", the term "non-governmental organization" has no generally
agreed legal definition. In many jurisdictions, these types of organization are
called "civil society organizations" or referred to by other names.

The corporate social responsibility blends the objective of social development and
environmental protection thorough ethical effort. Many non-governmental organizations in
India are engaged in social development and environmental development activities. These
organizations are good enough to support the industrial development by ensuring community
participation the developmental process. The concept of corporate social responsibility is
underpinned by the idea that corporations can no longer act as isolated economic entities
operating in detachment from broader society. Corporate Social Responsibility to be looked
upon as mutual support programs that ensure development of community near by the
industrial area with the expansion and development of the industrial organizations.

The community today needs external agency intervention in the alleviation of many
social problems like poverty, health, unemployment, community education, homelessness
and eco development programs. By looking upon the needs of the community, the
organization gets an opportunity to understand the social needs of the people and it will
enable them to intervene into such social issues and finding solution to the many basic needs.
It develops greater trust and confidence on the community on the business organization effort
in their real development. Integrated community investment strategies align internal
community-related issues and link business goals with community needs. Here the role of
Non Governmental Organizations can be better realized. The Non Governmental
Organizations existing within the industrial location and closer to the community can better
act as moderators and facilitators in the realization of their social need and better
environmental protection. The industrial expansion is a threat to the people living nearby and
it invites protest from many like consumer, investors, activist groups, government regulators
and other stakeholders. To develop a better rapport with the community in the
implementation of the developmental activities the Non Governmental organizations can play
better role with the industry and community. They can help the industrial management in
convincing the expansion program to the community and there by develop a proactive and
social environmental and industrial development policy. Lower operating costs, Enhanced
brand image and reputation, reduced regulatory oversight, Product safety and decreased
liability, improved financial performance etc are the benefit to the organization. The benefit
of Corporate Social Responsibility not only for the community and organization but also for
the employees. The Research demonstrates Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives have a
positive impact on employee morale, motivation, commitment, loyalty, training, recruitment
and turnover. Benefits in these areas have been found to improve the bottom line of
companies. A Surveyconducted across the globe, involving over 25 countries found that
employees felt greater loyalty, satisfaction and motivation when their companies were
socially responsible.
WORKING METHODOLOGY

For better functioning and efficient results, we split up into three subgroups, two
of the subgroups had two members each and the remaining subgroup had three
members.The subgroups consisting of two group members each dedicated
themselves for each of the companies we based our report/study that is one
group did everything that was required for IBM, and the other for WIPRO . The
subgroup that went for the IBM interview comprised of Abhishek V and Arun
Augustine, whereas the subgroup that went for the WIPRO surveys and interview
consisted of Abhilash B and Harish B. The third subgroup dedicated itself to the
NGOs based on our report, it consisted of AnkitaShukla ,Lavanya M.S and Nithish
S.

In the IBM interview, Abhishek and Arun conducted their interview on

22ndSeptember. They went to the IBM office located on ITPB, Whitefield, and
interviewed Mrs Suneeta Singh, after getting her interview they proceeded to the
cafeteria of the company building to get the public survey done.
AWARENESS OF THE PEOPLE:

A company’s reputation depends not only on the profits that it generates but also on its NGO
relation programmes that it takes up. It can be an aid to recruitment and retention, particularly
within the competitive graduate student market. Potential recruits often ask about a firm's
CSR policy during an interview as having a comprehensive policy can be an advantage. It can
also help improve the perception of a company among its staff, particularly when staff can
become involved through payroll giving and fundraising activities or community
volunteering.

From the public survey conducted, it has been inferred that 34% of the people were not aware
of corporate/company relations with an NGO,where as 66% of them were aware of corporate
company’s relationship with an NGO.
BENEFIT FOR SOCIETY:

NGOs carry out various programmes to benefit the society, these include, children’s
education, fight against child labour, women empowerment, free health services, eco
awareness, protection of rights of backward classes, NGO run educational institutions,
disaster relief services, fund raising events, animal rights protection, etc.

From the public survey conducted, it has been inferred that 69% of people feel that NGO’s
work for the benefit of the society, 1% people feel they don’t work for the benefit of the
society and the remaining 30% of the people are not sure about their social benefits.
REASON FOR NGO- CORPORATE RELATIONS:

The main aim for a company’s relation with an NGO need not necessarily be only for the
welfare of the society, it may arise due to the company’s need for promoting itself to the
public, or it can be a means to showcase to the public.

From the public survey conducted, it has been found that, 45% of the people feel that the
NGO-CORPORATE relation aim for the welfare of the society, 41% of the people feel that
these relations aim for mutual benefits for both the NGO and the corporate company, 4% of
the people feel that its only for promoting the company/ corporate brand names and the
remaining 10% are not sure as to the real reason behind the tie up.
UTILIZATION OF FUNDS BY NGOs :

From the public survey conducted, it has been inferred that 44% of the people feel that the
NGO’s utilize the funds appropriately, where as 14% of the people feel that funds provided to
the NGOs are misused,the remaining 42% of the people are not sure about it.
ENDORSEMENTS:

From the survey conducted, it has been inferred that ,56% of the people feel that the NGOS
do justice to the endorsement deals provided to them by the companies,32% of the people
feel that NGOs do not do justice to the endorsement deals provided to them, and the
remaining 12% of the people remain unsure about it.
SUPPORT OF AN NGO:

From the survey conducted it was inferred that only 47% of the people support an NGO ,the
remaining 53% of the people do not.

Of the 47% who support an NGO , 57% of the people support it by giving donations, 47% of
the people support it by carrying out voluntary work for the NGO, and the remaining support
the NGO by taking up the issues of the NGO in public.
AWARENESS OF EMPLOYEES:

From the survey conducted it was inferred that only 90% of the people knew about their
company’s relationship with an NGO, the remaining 10% did not know about their own
company’s relationship with an NGO.

Out of the 90% of the people who are of their company’s relationship with an NGO , 49% of
the people said that their company supports an NGO , the remaining 51% said that their
company does not support an NGO.

Out of the 49% of the people who said that their company supports an NGO, 29% of them
said that their company supports CRY FOUNDATION, 32% of the people said that their
company supports AZIM PREMJI FOUNDATION, 25% of the people said their company
supports ,SMILE FOUNDATION and the remaining 14% of the people said that their
company suports another NGO.
COMPANY BENEFITS:

From the survey conducted it was deduced that ,53% of the people feel that the brand value
of the company is enhanced by its association with an NGO, as compared to 4% of the people
who feel that the brand vaue of the company is notenhanced by its association with an NGO,
the remaining 44% are not sure about it.
TAX BENEFITS:

From the survey conducted, it was inferred that only 33% of people are aware of the tax
benefits enjoyed by the company due to its financial support to NGO, the remaining 67% of
the people are unaware of the benefits that their company enjoys from its relations with an
NGO.
 INTERVIEW WITH IBM

Name of the interviewee: SUNEETA SINGH

Name of the organisation: IBM INDIA

Designation: HR MANAGER, BANGALORE

Name of the interviewer: Arun Augustine and Abhishek V.

1. How many NGOs is your company associated with?

A) We are associated with a couple of NGOs and NGO initiatives.

2. Which are the NGOs your company is associated with? Please name a few?

A) CRY and SMILE, which act for the welfare of children .

3. What kind of support do you give them? And how?

A) Well, we had the opportunity to assist them in their initiatives in the form of financial
help as well as physical help by assisting them as volunteers.

4. What is your main aim in collaborating with NGOs?

A) To serve for the betterment of society in our own capacity as we are among those who
can assist them in their initiatives.
5. What benefits does your company enjoy with these relations?

A) I cannot answer that question, however my Organization encourages in extending a

helping hand by these initiatives .

6. Does your company involve its employees in such NGO issues?

A) Yes, it does pretty well.

7. Are your employee’s directly or indirectly affected by your tie-ups with an NGO?

A) I don’t think so or at least I have not come across such an incident which I could
explain here.

8. How would you rate your company’s collaboration with an NGO?

A) I rate Very Good because I see lot of NGO associated with my Organization.

9. What aspects of an NGO you consider while collaborating with it…?

A) NGO's whose vision is a world where people collaborate from business, public and
NGO sectors so children no longer die from preventable causes through lack of access to
simple medicines and the knowledge of how to use them.

10. Do you believe that your company’s relation with an NGO is a win-win situation for it?

A) Not necessarily. This is a pure help from our side and as a result itCascades to benefit the
people who are in need of them.
11. How do you spread awareness about NGO issues?

• By Social blogging

• By word of mouth

• By intra company communication so forth.

 INTERVIEW WITH WIPRO

Name of the interviewee:

Company: WIPRO

Designation:

Name of the interviewer:

1. How many NGOs is your company associated with? Which are they?

A few like Azim Premji Foundation and WIPRO cares

2. What kind of support do you give them? How?

We support them in any way we can. Mostly by providing financial aid,

volunteering ourselves and making people aware of their issues by
conducting special “EMPLOYEE AWARENESS” programmes in which we inform
our new employees about the company’s social programmes .

3. What is your main aim in collaborating with NGOs?

We aim for the betterment of the society through social activities like
education of children (Azim premji foundation & wipro cares) and also
sustainability of our planet through programmes like ECO-EYE and DIVERSITY.

4. What benefits does your company enjoy with these relations?

We do not look for benefits from them.

5. Does your company involve its employees in such NGO issues?

Yes,they serve them financially as well as by volunteering in it.

6. Are your employees directly or indirectly affected by your tie-ups with an

NGO?
Yes, they get a sense of pride, for having taken part in an activity which aims
for the welfare of the society.
7. How would you rate your company’s collaboration with an NGO?

I would call it an 8 on 10.

8. What aspects of an NGO do you consider while collaborating with it…?

We take up NGOs whose interests are genuinely concerned with the

betterment of our society.

9. Do you believe that your relation with an NGO is a win-win situation foryou?

I would not say a win-win situation only for us, but also for them.

10. How do you spread awareness about NGO issues?

By spreading awareness among the employees. Also by publishing it on our

website.

1. How many companies is your NGO associated with ?

As of now our organization is only associated with our founding company

i.e. WIPRO .

2. What kind of support do you receive from it ? And how ?

Based on the nature of the project, APF directly implements projects with
the involvement of local communities. Therefore, the Company provides
funds to APF which are
channelized into the project.

3. What is your main aim for collaborating with company?

 APF is a socio-technical NGO whose main aim is to provide education to
the rural class community and also to reduce the illiteracy rate in the
country. Target areas are selected based on its match with APF’s
organizational objectives.

4. What benefits does your NGO enjoy with these relations ?

Companies are increasingly getting involved in social issues through their

Corporate Social Responsibility model, either with a philanthropic
perspective in CSR 1.0 or for business sustainability in CSR 3.0. Over
the past decade, companies have shown more interest in environmental
restoration and community centered projects. For APF the core issues
are the same – upliftment of the rural poor through educational
programmes. Thus for APF the direct benefits are increase of its outreach
programme,
dissemination of its outlook and approach on rural livelihoods for
widespread adoption and policy advocacy, recognition amongst corporate
agencies regarding its work and genuine improvement in rural livelihoods.

6. How would you rate your NGO's collaboration with a company?

AFPRO’s project models are quite simple, being focussed on low-cost,
appropriate technology for land and water resources management, as
well as associated rural livelihood options. Success rate at the field
levels are very high, due to AFPRO’s long standing institutional
knowledge on both site-specific suitable interventions as well
networking strength with local NGOs and community level process
orientation. AFPRO has on its payroll or call, specialist staff such
engineers and technical specialists with a post-graduate or higher
qualification. As a non-profit and yet self-reliant organization,
AFPRO charges for its services in order to meet its institutional
costs

7. What aspects of a company you consider while collaborating with it…

? AFPRO adopts an open approach to companies, assessing the interests
of the specific corporate concerned and without taking a pre-judicial
stand. Based on the requirements of the corporate, a judgment is made
whether there is a match between AFPRO’s organizational values and the
project envisaged by the corporate. AFPRO usually finds that most
corporates are limited in scope of CSR activities to very basic
environmental conservation related activities or direct benefit to
individuals. Besides there is strong focus on a business benefit from
CSR and/or on philanthropic activities with immediate short-term
visibility. AFPRO attempts to persuade corporate agencies to adopt its
model of natural resource management and promotion of rural
livelihoods, or promote interventions its area of core competencies
for long term benefits in a chosen area or region. Visibility for such
projects are based on the impact, that can be observed only after the
completion of a particular gestation period. Corporate agencies like
SDTT, IKEA, ITC Ltd and Ultra Tech Ltd are using AFPRO’s model of
interventions for the benefit of marginal communities.

10. Do you believe that your relation with a company is a win-win

situation for you ? Once, there is understanding on mutual values of
the Company and AFPRO, with core objectives of AFPRO in relation to
its socio-technical orientation and targeted beneficiaries, it is a
win-win situation for AFPRO. For over forty years since its inception,
AFPRO has worked primarily with international funding agencies, and it
is a great sense of pride and satisfaction that Indian business
organizations are directing money from their earnings towards the
benefit of lesser privileged in the country. It becomes a greater
accomplishment because, when corporate agencies work with AFPRO, they
enable people with improved resources as well as knowledge and skills
for sustainable improvement in livelihoods and quality of life. Thus
corporate agencies and AFPRO both get the opportunity to work on
genuine value addition for national development, based on a)
environmentally friendly approaches, b)improved rural livelihoods and
c) serve the poor and marginal rural communities.
Human Resources

NGO-business relationships are proving beneficial to human resource

concerns for two particular groups: those people directly hired by
corporations, and those working with subcontractors.

Direct employees are being trained by NGOs on topics and in skills

that have been developed by NGOs over many years. Sometimes this is in
skills in working with the poor and marginalized and with people in
specific communities. Language and culture present barriers not just
for individuals, but for entire groups of people that the business
sector often has trouble working with; often the problem is that
corporate employees simply do not understand how to speak with people
outside of their own social group. Low-income community-based NGOs are
teaching bankers in the U.S. about informal barriers the poor face,
such as imposing formal bank branches that are physically
intimidating. And PACT, an international development NGO, provides its
expertise to Cabot, an American chemical company, in developing
community programs in Southeast Asia; PACT's presence also gives the
programs a higher degree of credibility and connects Cabot to PACT's
own community network.

NGOs are proving adept at identifying and developing people to work in

business environments. In the United States where there is a labor
shortage, corporate human resource departments are partnering with
NGOs and building better systems for the task of identifying and
preparing people for work who have been unemployed or left outside of
the mainstream workforce; NGOs have better networks, skills and
knowledge appropriate for the task. Since 1991 such a partnership
between the hotel group Marriott International and an NGO called
Pathways to Independence have produced remarkable results: 70 percent
of Pathways' graduates are still employed after a year, compared with
only 45 percent of welfare hires and 50 percent of general hires.
Marriott estimates it saves $4 for every $1 dollar spent, through
lowering turnover and absenteeism (Kanter, 1999).

NGO connections with business employees also develop through volunteer

programs. Hitachi, for example, acculturates its senior management
from Japan to local American communities by making them active board
members on local non-profit boards that are dominated by local people.
This builds both social networks and better understanding of local
communities for managers who might only spend a few years in a
community and have difficulty learning about it. Volunteer programs
are increasingly common with lower level employees, too. The
billion-dollar American boot company Timberland, has concluded that
they provide an important moral boost for their employees. The esteem
of volunteers for their employer increases, and the community work
increases employees' self-esteem.

The vertical disintegration of many firms through subcontracting has

led to human resource problems that NGOs are helping to address. The
scandals of child labor being used to produce soccer balls and
below-subsistance wages for subcontracted clothing manufacturers are
among the high profile and unintended outcomes this corporate
restructuring has generated. Traditional human resource strategies to
avoid such problems are impossible to apply to subcontractors.
Agitation for improved work standards by NGOs has provoked some heated
exchanges and is producing some interesting results. NGOs are actually
working with corporations to assist in defining standards, monitoring
them, and enforcing them. This is generating a new industry of
monitoring and auditing, such as with the ISO 8000 initiative
developed by the Center for Economic Priorities and the U.S.
President's task force on human rights and labor issues for American
companies with overseas operations.