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The Tatas are one of the largest industrial conglomerates in India, yet the fame of the group is not indebted to company's economic prowess. The name symbolizes trust and ethicality, an intangible asset that has accumulated over a long period of time. Not many years in the past, employees would put up with lower salaries, just because it happened to be a Tata company.

In the late nineteenth century, when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata founded the group, corporate ethics or social responsibility were coins that were yet to be minted. He talked about human resource management, giving back to the community and philanthropic initiatives. His successors followed suit to make Tata a trusted brand name.

Sadly for India, there have not been many such stories. A very few individuals did shine through their philanthropic efforts. The whole idea of companies returning to their community was something that was fairly unheard of. Making ad hoc donations to a few NGOs or arranging a blood donation drive was the maximum that a company indulged in.

Trends Elsewhere
Globally, for the past many years, companies have embraced concepts like CSR or corporate philanthropy. CSR basically boils down to how a company evaluates the macro impact of conducting business in a locality, and conducts business in a manner that it meets all the regulatory and mandatory requirements as well as non-regulated spheres-internal and external-that could be affected by specific actions or business policies.

Most of the CSR activities in foreign countries are driven by regulatory needs and requirements. Thanks to stiff trade policies, most of the companies have to ensure that the workforce is not exploited, the environment is not polluted, etc. For instance, most of the international treaties are pretty stern on the issue of child labor.

Beyond that many companies are coming to realize that CSR could have immense business value as well. Thus, companies like Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and Microsoft are not only doing things for the community at large, but also they are increasingly talking about it.

CSR Vs Corporate Philanthropy
CSR is often confused with corporate philanthropy. But there is a big difference between the two; donating for causes and charities falls under the ambit of philanthropy but CSR is an assimilation of all these and more. Thus, a company in spite of making heavy donations for various charitable causes might be rated rather lowly on the CSR index simply because it does not treat it employees well.

In his bestseller, "The Living Company," author Arie de Geus compares an organization to an individual. He talks about how individuals are often conscious about the environment they exist in. Similarly, corporate entities need pay attention to the overall economic condition of the locality they function in.

de Geus compares two organizations, namely one that is centered on maximizing gains and the other that is conscious about social upliftment. With time, the company that was solely concerned about profitability withers away, while the second one continues to change with times and lives on for much longer span.

Desi Awakening
To be fair, off late Indian companies are waking about concepts like CSR and are increasingly talking about such initiatives. The good news is the new sector, namely the IT industry is showing the path to corporate India. More and more tech companies are taking active interest in CSR related projects.

"Being a part of the society, it's not just the individuals who can make a difference to the people, to the environment or to various other institutions around them. Giving back a part of the benefits that the company got over a period of time from the society and building an ecosystem with strong values is a responsibility and not a service," says Pradip K Dutta, MD and president, Synopsys.

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