Corporate Social Responsibility - A key for success

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2009 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, Dr. M.G.R. University, course: MBA, language: English, abstract: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming most popular and a must for many companies. This CSR means not only doing some community service or social service or maintaining business ethics etc. Apart from the social good brought about by it, CSR also makes business sense. IT companies in India are increasingly sending out this message and a growing number of companies and institutions in India are seeking to link their own growth and survival to the social cause that they are promoting.
CSR is generally understood to be the way in which a company achieves balance or integration of economic, environmental and social imperatives while at the same time addressing shareholder and stakeholder expectations. It helps make inroads into areas where a company might otherwise not have had a presence, building a talent tool, capacity building in communities, being perceived as a socially responsible corporate among employees, which adds to a sense of pride for an organisation.
Today not only the IT industry fuelling India's growth, it is also acknowledged to be one of the front runners in CSR initiatives. Pointing out some potential areas where a CSR can play a vital role in India, Vikas Goswami, CSR lead, micro soft India says, "We have understood that certain issues like providing IT training, skills, techniques and tools to create social and economic opportunities can transform communities and help people realize their potential."
To engage in CSR activities is important to any organisation irrespective of origin and category but then the importance of such engagements becomes even more critical when in new industry booms in a country and with it the society gets introduced to new opportunities as well as issues.Emphasing the growing importance of globalization, CSR can also be looked as a source of competitive advantage as it aligns the company's mission and values with initiatives that delve into civic engagement. Companies wanting to reach the bottom of the pyramid have to innovate and CSR no longer gets labeled as 'do good' but more as a core business opportunity.


A sample of 100 is considered with convenient sampling considering various sectors of the industry. The responses were tabulated and analyzed with some statistical tools to arrive conclusions and recommendations. Apart from the various types of the companies, the size of the company (in turnover) is also considered for research.