1. Development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India
- Author
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Ravi Shankar, Leslie Chadwick, Shahzad Ghafoor, and Farooq Khan
- Subjects
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Performance, Analytical, India - Abstract
The interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which recognizes thatcompanies have obligations that extend beyond short-run profit maximization toinclude notions of social and environmental concern, has increased considerably inrecent decades. The globalization of the world economy and the related tradeliberalization has brought forward a discussion of the importance of business as anactor in the development of society. The aim of this research is to analyse theeffectiveness of the CSR strategies of international companies in terms of their impacton development in the host country. This will be performed as a case study of CSR inIndia. India constitutes a location with significant potential for international companiesto contribute to development through CSR since it is an open nation with substantialinternational presence but still faces challenges regarding poverty alleviation andinequalities. Very little academic literature examines the development effects of CSR.In order to undertake this analysis, an analytical tool will be established that willpresent key characteristics of efficient CSR in terms of its impact on development.These key characteristics will be derived from the theory of new institutionaleconomics, and will primarily argue that in order for CSR strategies to achieve thegreatest efficiency, they must adhere to the institutional framework of the host context.The case study of the research will outline the nature of the international companies’CSR strategies in India and evaluate them according to this analytical framework. Thefindings of the research indicate that the development effects of the contemporary CSRstrategies in India are modest. However, CSR is a relatively recent amendment to thecorporate agenda and it has potential to increase in efficiency and importance in thefuture
- Published
- 2011