Philanthropy to Corporate Social Responsibility: An Indian Perspective

Purpose – Corporate social responsibility (CSR) involves corporations, states, international organizations and civil society organizations. It has emerged as a global trend. The various concerns regarding CSR includes: what CSR stands for, what the trend really is, where it comes from, where it is heading and who the leading actors are. And these issues are still far from clear. The purpose of this paper is to examine the trend of CSR in all its complexity and look forward in the potential impact and major concerns related to it. Design/methodology/approach – Combined analysis of central documents and publications on CSR with analysis of articles related to CSR. Findings – Apart from defining and explaining the various issues related to CSR, the paper throws further insights in the prevalent trends of CSR in various corporate in India. Originality/value – The conceptual explanations shows the likely development and potential impact of a corporate social development. Moreover, the discussions help us reflect on the formation of management trends.Social responsibility; Philanthropy; CSR reporting; CSR audit.

The role of corporate governance on CSR disclosure and firm performance in a voluntary environment

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) on firm performance and the moderating role of corporate governance on the CSRD–firm performance relationship of listed companies in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a panel data set comprising 841 firm-year observations for the period covering 2007-2016. Fixed effect regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between CSRD and firm performance, and the moderating role of corporate governance in the CSRD–firm performance relationship. Findings The results of the study show that there are positive performance implications for firms that engage in CSRD. Although this study finds no effect of board size on the CSRD–firm performance relationship, it provides a strong evidence of a positive effect of board independence on the CSR–firm performance relationship. Practical implications The study contributes to the understanding of CSRD–firm performance relationship by providing evidence of the moderating role of corporate governance. It is, therefore, recommended that a stronger regulation be put in place for CSR engagement and the disclosure of same in Nigeria as well as robust measures for the enforcement of corporate governance mechanisms because there are economic benefits to be derived. Originality/value The findings contribute to the literature by providing up-to-date and original insights on the CSRD–firm performance relationship within a developing country context. It also uses an unco mmon method of measuring CSRD, taking into account the institutional biases that may arise from other methods used in studies on developed countries

Redefining Corporate Purpose: An International Perspective

This comparative analysis of India’s move toward redefining corporate purpose proceeds as follow. Part I presents an overview of global debates over corporate purpose, drawing principally from the move toward the ESV model in the U.K. and benefit corporations in the U.S. This section briefly recounts the debates in both jurisdictions about whether the changes they have experienced will engender more socially responsible corporations. Part II then provides a condensed history of corporate law reforms in India and an overview of the legislative changes undertaken in the past decade. In Part II, this Article takes a broad approach toward analyzing the Act and argues that the various provisions of the Act demonstrate a move toward broader corporate purpose. In Part III, this Article argues that despite the goals of Indian law makers in passing the Companies Act, there are serious shortcomings in the law as it pushes toward a pluralistic stakeholder oriented purpose. Part III identifies several structural challenges that stand in the way of a move toward companies that truly are responsible to a wide variety of constituencies, including vagueness in the legislation, promoter-dominated ownership structures, ineffective institutional framework to support enforcement efforts by stakeholders generally, and weaknesses in the judiciary. These challenges suggest that India’s experiment with corporate purpose is one that is uncertain to succeed

Ethical Governance in the Indian Construction Industry: A Case Study of Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

Governance has moved beyond mere fulfilment of legal requirements. The corporate debacles of the last decade and more have indicated how very respectable corporate organisations across the globe succumbed to greed and compromised on ethics and organisational value systems. Corporate Governance is mainly concerned with the intrinsic nature, purpose, integrity, and identity of an organisation. It encompasses the entire gamut of organisational stakeholders. While a lot of literature is available in the field of Corporate Governance, an analysis of corporate organisations in terms of their stakeholder-related initiatives has hitherto not been attempted. In this paper, the author has used the case study of an Indian multinational corporation — Larsen & Toubro’s Engineering, Construction and Contracts Division (ECC) — and has attempted to study its practices with respect to two major stakeholders: the Shareholder and the Government. ECC is a market leader in the Indian construction industry and has been associated with some of the most prestigious governmental, commercial, and religious construction projects in the country over the last six decades. Triangulation of data has been gathered for this case study primarily through personal interviews with top executives of the Company and responses to an Executive Perception Survey on the Shareholders and the Government. This has been supplemented through other information available in the public domain

India's Journey with Corporate Social Responsibility-What Next?

One of the causes for raised eyebrows to the Companies Act, 2013 is Section 135. The provision mandates companies meeting certain requirements to compulsorily contribute to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, or explain the failure to do so. While this has been the subject of an ongoing debate ever since the provision was suggested in 2009, the provision in question has been met with considerable resistance from the industry. Arguments against Section 135 range from specific critiques of the semantics of the statute to critiques of the failure of India as a welfare state altogether.What this paper seeks is to attempt a definitive outline of the CSR law and practice in India, its roots in Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, Gandhian philosophies and the pre-2013 position on CSR. It shall also attempt to provide a critical analysis of Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 and how the provision may be ignored, or worse—misused. Three arguments are presented in this regard. Firstly, that Section 135 constitutes a departure from the accepted position that CSR needs to be imbibed into the business and management principles of a company and is heading towards a potentially destructive conversion of the principles of CSR into corporate altruism. Secondly, the provisions of Section 135 make the Board of Directors liable to show to their shareholders—the compliance of the company’s social responsibilities. Instead, if the company is to have and comply with social responsibilities, the same should be ascertained by the society, or at least a representative of society. Finally, there is a slew of extant laws in India which also mandate certain companies to take into account their social responsibilities

The Factors Influencing Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: In today’s world of increased awareness regarding the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate governance (CG), many firms in the developed countries consider noncompliance with CSR and CG standards as an important source of risk to their reputations with stakeholders. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) index and corporate factors, namely, board size, board independence, board meetings, CEO duality, a firm’s size, leverage, profitability and age. This is the first known study in the case of Saudi Arabia to use the GRI 4th edition indicators to construct the CSRD index and evaluate Saudi listed firms. Results: The results show that profitability and size factor have positive and significant association with CSR disclosure in listed Saudi firms. While CG characteristics have no impact on CSR disclosure except board independence which has a negative impact. Conclusion: The average of CSRD index among Saudi firms is too low, it is about 11% that means Saudi firms disclose 11% of the information that they have to provide for stockholders according to GRI guidelines. Furthermore, the study concludes that the most polluted sectors “Ene

The Emergence of New Corporate Social Responsibility Regimes in China and India

In an era of financial crises, widening income disparities, and environmental and other calamities linked to corporations, calls for greater corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) are increasing rapidly around the world. Though CSR efforts have generally been viewed as voluntary actions undertaken by corporations, a new CSR model is emerging in China and India. In a marked departure from CSR as it is known in the United States and as it has been developing through global norms, China and India are moving towards mandatory, not voluntary, CSR regimes. They are doing so not only in a time of great global economic change, but at a time when both countries are themselves undergoing massive economic and social change as they re-orient towards more market-based economies and seek to enter the ranks of global economic superpowers. This Article conducts a comparative analysis of the emerging CSR regimes in China and India. It examines why China and India are moving towards mandatory CSR regimes when other key global players have taken a largely voluntary approach. This article also begins an inquiry into some of the most significant implications of the CSR regimes now unfolding in China and India, and what these developments may mean for both countries as well as what other countries, including the United States, seeking to learn from China and India’s experiences. Finally, this article seeks to add to global debates over corporate governance models by enhancing understanding of the corporate governance developments and innovations now arising in China and India

Directors as Trustees of the Nation? India’s Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Reform Efforts

This Article argues that the Indian government’s corporate governance and CSR efforts, while laudable in some respects, are problematic in their approach to the governance of Indian companies and reflect a view of the ownership and governance of Indian companies that does not necessarily address the fundamental governance issues that arise in Indian firms. India’s proposed corporate law reforms suggest imposition of detailed corporate governance rules without necessarily assisting directors in addressing the fundamental majority–minority agency problems of controlled companies. Moreover, India’s proposed CSR guidelines may further hamper independent directors and exacerbate some of the problems that this Article discusses with respect to majority–minority agency costs

Directors as Trustees of the Nation? India’s Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Reform Efforts

This Article argues that the Indian government’s corporate governance and CSR efforts, while laudable in some respects, are problematic in their approach to the governance of Indian companies and reflect a view of the ownership and governance of Indian companies that does not necessarily address the fundamental governance issues that arise in Indian firms. India’s proposed corporate law reforms suggest imposition of detailed corporate governance rules without necessarily assisting directors in addressing the fundamental majority–minority agency problems of controlled companies. Moreover, India’s proposed CSR guidelines may further hamper independent directors and exacerbate some of the problems that this Article discusses with respect to majority–minority agency costs