All Rights Reserved @ Maha Journal of Education (Citation: Paul, V. M., & Nimmy, A. G. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a Strategy for Inclusive Development-Learning from Oil Companies in India. Maha Journal of Education , 1 (1), 22-30.)
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CORPORATE
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) AS A STRATEGY FOR INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT - Learning
from Oil Companies in India
(Paul
V Mathew, Research Scholar, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT),
and Nimmy A George, Assistant Professor, Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakkara )
Abstract
In
the wake of globalization and neo liberalism, the concept of contributing for
social development by business is getting high relevance. It is apparent that a few business
enterprises explore and exploit common resources for lucrative purpose and gain
momentum at the cost of others. While business are promoted by government by
encouraging investment, the procuring of lands, making of decisions, catalyzing
innovations and development expects a
positive turn . A participative and responsible approach of the business
and the Government alone would secure our future and ensure that an inclusive
development that favors planet, people and profit happens. CSR, an effective tool for Public Private
Partnership (PPP) alone will be able to help countries to meet their ambitious
goal of faster, inclusive and sustainable all round development.
Keywords - Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR), Triple Bottom Line (TBL), Participatory Approach, Sustainable
Development, Inclusive Growth, Base of the Pyramid (BoP)
INTRODUCTION
The
term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an evolving concept getting wide
attention and gaining different dimensions day by day. Even though the term is
new, the concept has a long history even from pre Christian period. At the same
time, sustainable business, responsible business, social and environmental
performance, social action program, corporate citizenship etc are emerged as a
proxy for CSR. Albeit the term ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ was coined by
R. Edward Freeman in his book titled ‘Strategic
Management: A Stakeholder Approach’, this term does not have a globally
accepted definition. But the common concise is that CSR is essential to
business and majority believes that business should serve as a steward in
society, and that it has a duty to investors, employees, consumers, communities
and the environment (Michel Blowfield and Alan Murray (2005). This can be
corroborated by the fact that while in 1977 less than half of the Fortune 500
firms even mentioned CSR in their annual reports, by the end of 1990,
approximately 90 percent Fortune 500 firms embraced CSR as an essential element
in their organizational goals, and actively promoted their CSR activities in
annual reports (Boli and Hartsuiker, 2001).
The
meaning of CSR has two dimensions. On the one hand, it is the ethical behavior
of an organization that exhibits towards its internal and external stakeholders
and on the other hand, it denotes the responsibility of an organization towards
the environment and society in which it operates. According to World Business Council for Sustainable
Development “Corporate social
Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and
contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the
workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at
large”. While debating on definition, there is no dual opinion on the fact that
CSR relates with sustainable development. The common principles constitute to
form a concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach which gives a holistic view
on CSR. This may be encapsulated as the organization/individual effort towards
overall social, environmental and economical enhancement of the society. This was
evolved in line with the three pillar concept (People, Planet and Profit). In
short CSR can be expressed as the organization’s responsibility towards overall
positive impact of the society.
APPROACHES OF CSR
Business
has a long term liability towards society and environment; this may be in the
wake of its strong link with various components of environment and society.
While business explores resources and fetches profit from the people, it has
the liability to ‘give something in
return’. Even though this may be the core notion behind CSR, time taught
business entities to think beyond CSR and to behave more responsibly.
Researchers have identified the reasons why firms develop CSR strategies; such
as reputation improvement, government regulations, competitive advantage, stake
holder pressure, critical events and top management pressure (Hall and
Vredenburg, 2004; Kassins and Vafeas, 2006; Chih Hung Chen and Winai
Wonsgurawat, 2011.). The selection of issues under CSR by organizations depends
on a host of factors including organizational mandate, current relevance of
issues and demand from the community. The priority areas covered under CSR
initiatives include education (82 percent),environment (81 per cent), health
(81 per cent), women empowerment (63 per cent), livelihood promotion (62 per
cent), sanitation (61 per cent), microfinance (60 per cent), HIV/ AIDS (54 per
cent), child care (55 per cent), slum improvement (50 per cent), disaster
management (44 per cent) and agricultural development (29 per cent). (Survey;
Times Foundation and TNS, 2010). Other than CSR initiatives, business
enterprises are striving to depict its commitment, transparency, accountability
and governance practices to enhance its brand image and competitiveness through
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Reports.
CSR and Inclusive Approach
In
order to ensure equality and justice in the society, more attention is vital to
cater the needs of neglected and underprivileged sections of the community. The
recently published 12th plan period approach paper of India is
titled ‘faster, sustainable and inclusive’ growth. Inclusive development,
inclusive growth and inclusive banking are some of the key strategies of the
Governments to make certain that all are benefitting. India is the country with largest number of
stunted (31%), wasted and underweight (42%) children in the world (HuNGama
Report, 2011). One in three malnourished children worldwide is found in
India (UNICEF India recorded the
highest number of deaths due to premature births (Born Too
Soon: The Global Action Report on Pre-Term Birth, 2012). India accounted for 47 per cent of Measles
deaths in 2010 (WHO, The Lancet, 23 April, 2012). Lack
of health service and inadequate nutrition emerge as a serious cause of concern.
It is true that government is very keen to consider various social evils and
implemented myriad schemes to surpass these issues. Whereas many of them are
fruitful, rampant corruption and policy paralysis are drowning people to severe
peril. As per the Transparency
International Report, India ranked 83 out of 172 countries in the corruption
index. At the same time, as a result of neo liberal policies of government, corporate
powers are now in the race to fetch public resources with lesser prices. In this background business needs to be more
transparent and should play a vital role in social development. In order to extend the services of the
Government and to fill the existing lacuna, corporate and business enterprises
can contribute a lot for inclusive development of the country.
CSR and Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
approach
The
conspicuous concept Triple Bottom Line (TBL) model contributes a large towards
sustainable development initiatives. TBL is the totality of the corporation’s
financial, social, and environmental performance in conducting its business. It
envisions a holistic approach that reiterates the responsibility of business
towards society, economy and environment. Attaining sustainability requires
stabilizing or reducing the environmental burden, keeping business people
friendly by maximizing social benefit and making the business economically
feasible. This was the Sustainable development conceptualized by the Brundtland
Commission Report in 1987 – ‘meeting the needs of the present generation
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’
and it is now commonly paraphrased. United Utilities defines sustainability as
‘development that conserves natural resources, protects and enhances the
environment, support the communities we serve, and maintains economic growth,
for AMEAC, ‘a commitment to acting responsibly in all that we do, whilst
talking into account the concerns of our stake holders’. The Global Compact
Programme, 2000, announced by Mr Kofi Annan, is now considered as the model of
social responsibility of corporate enterprises all over the world and its
sustainability approach is globally acclaimed. The United Nations' Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and the Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture, and
Biodiversity (WEHAB) agenda of the UN Secretary General are also deemed as
essentials for bringing about a solution to the basic problems facing our society
and environment. Therefore, responsible
actions of business can tackle multiple problems in the society by
incorporating different dimensions of economy and environment. There are
several bodies now emerging on the Indian scene that focus on issues of CSR.
For instance, the Corporate Roundtable
on Development of Strategies for the Environment and Sustainable Development -
Business Council for Sustainable Development (CoRE-BCSD) of India is a
grouping of Indian corporate trying collectively and individually to build in
sustainable development concepts into their operations (EMC, 2005). The efforts
of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII),
Times Foundation, EU – India CSR Network etc are laudable.
CSR and Participatory Approach
Participation
is considered as one of the success factors of effectiveness and mission
accomplishment. People democracy, works committee, community involvement, industrial
democracy and employee participation have evolved from this ideology. The same
has been enshrined in our constitution especially through 73rd and
74th amendments which provided constitutional guarantee to the
formation of Panchayat at village and other levels (Grama Sabha). However,
there is no expectation in the case of CSR implementation. CSR defined by the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (1999) gives a stakeholder
dimension – ‘the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic
development, working with employees, their families, local community and
society at large to improve their quality of life’. Another definition states
as ‘Corporate social responsibility is the overall relationship of the
corporation with all of its stakeholders. These include customers, employees,
communities, owners/investors, government, suppliers and competitors. Elements
of social responsibility include investment in community outreach, employee
relations, creation and maintenance of employment, environmental stewardship
and financial performance’ (Khoury et
al., 1999). The stakeholder theory of CSR put forwarded by Freeman
(1984) describes the role of primary and secondary stake holders. The business
community can make tremendous contributions in the well being of our nation in
partnership with local people, NGO’s, Government and different philanthropists.
In order to understand the ground realities and people needs, a strong
participatory approach is essential. This will help to create a win - win
situation by maintaining a strong and long lasting partnership with different
stake holders. It is apparent that a healthy collaboration among business,
Government and community is very essential in CSR projects.
During
this period, expectations of people have increased enormously along with their
demands focusing on unemployment, health, social infrastructure, education and
poverty alleviation. Pressure groups like NGO’s and Community organizations are
successfully persuading corporate enterprises to fund various CSR schemes. However, the efforts of the Government may not
be adequate to provide basic services to its citizens. It is being increasingly
recognized that progress and welfare of a society is not only the
responsibility of the Government alone, but many more stakeholders need to be
involved to attain the development goal (Save the Children Sweden, 2007). The
corporate sector has a pivotal role to play in ensuring private investment
flows to those rural areas that have been left out of the development process
so far and also to work for sustainable development of rural areas in general. (Corporate
Social Responsibility in Rural Development Sector: Evidences from India, Sanjay
Pradhan, Akhilesh Ranjan) . At
the same time, it is essential to understand the actual needs of society rather
than creating a doom effect through
CSR.
METHODOLOGY
The main
objectives of the study were:
·
To study and understand the CSR initiatives
being taken by selected oil companies in India
·
To examine the CSR approach and their
mode of action for implementation for CSR initiatives;
This
paper adopted case study method to analyze various approaches and practices of
CSR implementation. Three elite Oil companies Bharath Petrolium (BPCL), Indian
Oil and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) have been selected to identify the
practices. While considering the business of exploring natural resources and
creating environmental hazards in different ways, Oil companies have a clear
responsibility towards its consumers/people and the environment. The sector was
selected in the wake of its highly international orientation, successful and
diverse CSR strategies and availability of comprehensive overview on Sustainable
Management. These oil companies have well written CSR policies and demonstrate
their sustainability strategy through Global Reporting Initiative. Data were
collected from different secondary sources like Sustainability reports, Annual
reports, especially web sites of corresponding companies. Researchers also
conducted interviews with public relations officers in oil companies to
crystallize the CSR orientation of related companies.
CASE ANALYSIS
HPCL
Corporate Social Responsibility –Inclusive Approach
Hindustan
Petroleum
|
|
Approach
|
Inclusive
|
Target
|
Girl
Child, Juveniles, School Dropouts, Youth and Truck Drivers
|
Thematic
Areas
|
Women
Empowerment, Education, Health and Skill Enhancement
|
Partners
|
People,
Employee, Experts, Experienced Agencies
|
Ownership
|
Human
Resource Department
|
HPCL
is built on its founding principle “creating socially responsible business
processes to produce an overall positive impact on society”. The company aims
at taking up various CSR activities and initiatives to reach out the rural
sector and underprivileged sections of the society. HPCL’s CSR model is based
on “Creating Shared Value”. The shared value model is based on the concept that
corporate success and social welfare are interdependent. Additionally it
develops and initiates plans that consider “People, Planet and Profit” equally.
HPCL’s commitment towards building social capital, skill development, community
development and care of girl child is highly noteworthy. Its inclusive approach
invariably proves that the company has a special consideration for the
marginalized and neglected community especially in rural hinterlands. Primary
focus of HPCL is in girl child, juveniles, school dropouts, youth and truck
drivers. Almost all projects are developing only after the critical analysis
and understanding of the problems exist in the society and with the aim of
finding solutions to these problems.
Dating
back to 1985, HPCL is one of the organizations in the country initiated CSR
with a philosophy to work with all stakeholders and communities, where the organization
has its operations. In partner with the inclusive approach of Government, HPCL
initiates CSR projects aims at Women Empowerment, Education, Health and Skill
Enhancement of the people. There is an array of projects envisions at the
overall development of the society. Hamara pump is a venture of HPCL to provide
fuel to the farmers in rural areas. Farmers can access this single point outlet
for a variety of agri inputs and farm financing. The HP Rasoi Ghar (Community
Kitchen) is a now a boon to women in the rural areas. Women who wandered for collecting
bio-fuels and exhausted by obnoxious fumes while cooking are now provided with
LPG connections. Over 22,000 families benefit every day from the 15,000 HP
Rasoi Ghar spread across the country. Considering
this, HPCL has been awarded Golden Peacock Award in 2005 for CSR and National
Excellence Award for innovative techniques for improving the access of rural
women to a modern fuel. The Inclusive approach of HPCL is evident from
the table below.
Name
of the Project
|
Theme
|
Beneficiaries
|
Number
|
Unnati
|
IT
Education
|
Rural
People
|
18550
|
Nanhi Kali
|
Education
|
Girls
|
11603
|
Muskan
|
Housing
|
Street
Children
|
800
|
Suraksha
|
AIDS
Awareness
|
Truckers
|
-----
|
Swalamban
|
Training
|
BPL
|
5600
|
Navjyot
|
Health
|
Children
|
19060
|
Child Right & You
|
Human
Rights
|
Children
|
-------
|
TOTAL
|
55613
|
Table 1: HPCL CSR
Highlights (Source: Bringing Smiles, HPCL)
The
project Unnati in association with National
Institute of Information Technology, (NIIT) aimed at providing
computer training programmes and personal computers to students in semi-urban
and rural schools. HPCL takes up a strategy to tackle unemployment through its
project Swalaban. By providing skills training, capacity building exercises,
workshops and technical supports, Swalabhan equips the rural youth capable of
being self employed. It also gives preference to provide amble opportunities in
primary sector of the economy which also contributes to the accomplishment self
sufficiency and high agricultural productivity. Training is being given to
1,800 youths in different locations in association with the Confederation of India Industry (CII)
have already started earning. HPCL concentrates on the health and academic
excellence of girl children in rural areas. The girl child is provided with
school uniforms, given extra training and encouraged to participate in
extra-curricular activities like singing, dramatics and the like. Muskan provides
shelter and basic needs for two hundred
street children and Navjyot improves the health index of children by
providing health care. Suraksha is the project of HPCL to educate the truck
drivers and cleaners about HIV-AIDS and ways of preventing the diseases. As a
part of its inclusive approach, HPCL has established various skill development
centers, craft making units and IT training centers for employment generation,
skill enhancement and livelihood. Along with these HPCL focuses on awareness on
global warming, rehabilitating victims of natural calamities and poverty eradication
projects.
It
is true that the key success factor of CSR of any organisation is not only the
funds earmarked, but the commitment and enthusiasm of the employees of that
organization. The participation and commitment of employees of HPCL in its CSR
activates is an exceptional feature.
Here Human Resource Department is the owners of Corporate Social
Responsibility projects. Employees identify the needs of the community and
implement multitude of programs to bridge the gap of the people needs. HPCL staffs
play a crucial role in creating a strong bond between the community and company
at its locations. The staff at the HPCL outlets educates the drivers and
cleaners and leads various section of the society about HIV - AIDS. Each year,
a large number of employees of HPCL offer voluntary services at the
Dikshabhoomi at Nagpur (to commemorate the embracing of Buddhism by Dr
Babasasheb Ambedkar) to make the programme successful.
In
par with the ‘Agenda of Government for inclusive growth’, HPCL strives to maintain
harmony and equality in the society. HPCL strongly believes that doing business
responsibly does have a positive impact and the contribution to society. CSR
policies and practices of HPCL stand in 4 pillars- Community based CSR,
Environment based CSR, Product based CSR and Workplace based CSR. HPCL proceeds
in a truly corporate manner, planning investments in social causes
methodically, executing the various steps with utmost care and securing
distinctive developments for the poor and the downtrodden masses. The company
works closely with district administration and identifies developmental needs
of the area and the people. It is certain from its purpose statement ‘using
core competence, expertise and technology of our business to reach the common
people, especially the underprivileged, is our aim, Developing capacity in the
community is our strategy; and Enhancing human excellence and improving quality
of life is our endeavor..
Indian Oil
Indian
Oil – Triple Bottom Line Approach
|
|
Approach
|
Sustainable
Development (Triple Bottom Line Approach)
|
Target
|
Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled Tribe
|
Thematic
Areas
|
Health,
Family Welfare, Education, Environment and Women Empowerment
|
Partners
|
Community
|
Ownership
|
Indian
Oil Foundation and Indian Oil
|
Fund
Allocation:
|
2%
of the Retained Profit
|
CSR
is inherent in whatever Indian Oil do. Beyond CSR initiatives, Indian Oil
strives to incorporate intrinsic values in its products and services. Indian Oil has been considering CSR as the
cornerstone of success right from the inception in the year 1964. Mission
statement of Indian Oil reads like that "…to help enrich the quality of
life of the community and preserve ecological balance and heritage through a
strong environment conscience." The commitment towards society, economy
and environment is evident from the aforesaid statement. The same has been
proved by Indian oil through myriad ventures.
Indian
Oil has clear policy guidelines for CSR projects. 2% of its retained profit is
devoted for social development activities. Unspent amount, if any, will be
carried forward to the next year. (This is against the ceiling of 0.75% of net
profit, which was in force hitherto). In this a minimum of 35% towards national
causes/natural calamities, amount not exceeding 5% towards donations/contributions,
30% towards community development activities including special component plan
and tribal sub plan, 30% towards IOC's scholarship, of which 50% amount would
be utilized towards providing scholarships to the students belonging to weaker
sections of society and 50% amount for others. About one-fourth of the
community development funds are spent on the welfare of scheduled caste and
scheduled tribe beneficiaries. While utilizing the community development funds,
more emphasis should be laid on the projects of providing clean drinking water,
health & medical care and education. Health, family welfare, education,
environment protection, providing potable water, sanitation, and empowerment of
women and other marginalized groups are the thematic areas of operation. Indian
oil enshrined a holistic approach which is not limited in economic development.
It says ‘economic development alone is no longer viewed as a strategy for
poverty reduction and well being of society. It is recognized that a society’s
economic goals are intricately intertwined with its social and environmental
goals. This realization is also the guiding force behind Indian Oil’s
commitment to build a strong sustainable business that is firmly rooted in the
community and demonstrates concern for the environment’.
Diagram
1: Indian OIL CSR Themes
The sustainability approach of Indian
Oil spreads in Triple Bottom Line areas.
Reduce its carbon footprint, become water positive, manage waste
responsibly are the key environmental strategies of Indian Oil. Indian Oil has
done a serious of experiments in the exploration of renewable energy for
alleviating energy poverty and improving energy access at the ‘base of the
pyramid’ in India. By adopting “3 – R” (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) policy,
Indian Oil ensures resource efficiency in operations, especially for key
resources like energy and water. Effective waste management, water treatment
and installation of regulatory requirements make Indian oil, the best in
sustainable environmental practices.
Indian Oil operates and undertakes
various solar power projects (in Rajasthan under the Jawaharlal Nehru National
Solar Mission), wind mills (Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh), and nuclear power
plants (Rawatbhata, Rajasthan with Pressurised Heavy Water Based Reactor (PHWR)
technology). Addition to this Indian Oil-CREDA Biofuels Ltd. has undertaken
nearly 6000ha plantations of Jatropha curcas in different districts of
Chhattisgarh. The projects at Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have generated
more than 3.5 lakh man days of rural employment. Solar lanterns project of Indian Oil is one of the novel ventures that
provides basic energy solutions to the poor by distributing solar lanterns
through its extensive retail network and Kisan Sewa Kendras spread
across the country. More than 30,000 solar lanterns have been distributed during
2010-11.
Some of the other major sustainability
initiatives of Indian Oil are
Solar Photovoltaic systems installed at
retail outlets to minimize the use of diesel generators for dispensing units
and lighting loads, thereby reducing carbon emissions.
Exercise to
assess ecological foot printing Indian Oil’s operations
in terms of carbon emissions, water use and waste generation.
Constant endeavors to make all its major
events/workshops/seminars/conferences carbon neutral.
Rainwater harvesting
projects at several of its locations.
Use of Organic
Waste Converters for the eco-friendly utilization of organic waste
Regular workshops and training
programmes are organized to generate awareness about sustainability issues.
Indian Oil takes
concrete action to realize its social responsibility objectives, by supporting
various social and community initiatives in India. Besides focusing primarily
on the welfare of economically and socially deprived sections of society,
Indian Oil helps victims of natural calamities. Indian Oil’s community-focused
initiatives include allotment of petrol/diesel station dealerships and LPG
distributorships to beneficiaries from among scheduled castes, scheduled tribes,
physically handicapped, ex-servicemen, war widows, etc
The Indian Oil Foundation (IOF), a
non-profit trust focuses on protection, preservation and promotion the national
heritages, art, culture and traditional folks in collaboration with ASI and NCF
of the government of India. Community
Development programme of Indian Oil adopts a multi-disciplinary approach
that encompasses medical camps, immunization, AIDS awareness, eye, blood
donation, pre and post-natal care. Besides the above, Indian Oil also runs and
maintains number of hospitals for the benefit of the local community. In order
to support education Indian Oil provide financial assistance to schools and
distributes around 2600 scholarships to meritorious students.
Bharath Petroleum – Participatory
Approach
Bharath Petroleum
|
|
Approach
|
Participatory
|
Target
|
Vicinity
of Operation
|
Thematic
Areas
|
Education,
Health, Environment and Community Support
|
Partners
|
Local
Body, NGO’s and People
|
Ownership
|
Human
Resource
|
|
Diagram 2: BPCL - CSR Approach
|
The CSR vision of BPCL states like that ‘build
a powerful partnership with society for ‘Sustainable Development’. It is
evident that the strategy adopted by the BPCL for the implementation CSR
initiatives is in partnership with society. This participatory approach, grass
root level planning process and the involvement of bottom to top members make
the CSR efforts of BPCL unique. In order to identify the needs and wants of the
local people and to identify the gaps in the society, an attempt for
participatory planning and grass root level interventions are necessary. Local
government has a crucial role in the development of region as well as the bridging
of infrastructure lacunas. Local governments provide the core utilities and
infrastructure on which the community requires. Additionally, role of NGO’s can
enhance the robustness of CSR initiatives by augmenting capacity building plans
and by maintaining strong acquaintance with people and government. Here BPCL is
synergizing the actions of stake holders like local self government, NGO’s and
community through a participatory planning approach. (The CSR methodology of BPCL is shown in the diagram 2.) Through
this strategy, BPCL acts as a centre point to hold all its stake holders
together thereby provide the needs of community. While ensuring the involvement
of local Panchayat, BPCL manages to utilize the expertise of NGO’s. Benefitting
communities are selected on the basis of their socio economic circumstances and
their needs are identified through discussion with local stakeholders. Local
NGO’s that are familiar and adept at working with these communities are
identified to carryout work with the communities on behalf of BPCL. The CSR
activities are regularly monitored and evaluated by BPCL officials. Along with
these, employees of BPCL visit these locations and participated with the local
community by providing training, medical benefits, workshops and construction
of basic amenities. The strong network exists between local self governments
and NGO’s serves as a catalyst for CSR operations.
BPCL
has a tie up with Gramin Social Welfare Society & Community Action for
Rural Development in Tamilnadu,Vivekananda Girjana Kalyan Kendra in
Bhubaneswar(Orissa),Kalyan Vikas Kendra & Sevavrata & Divyayana in
Jharkhand,G.P.Tin UP & Rajasthan,Sevavrata in West Bengal, to deliver
social welfare services at grass root level. Project Boond is one of the novel CSR ventures
of BPCL aims at alleviating the drought situation in five villages on
the leeward side of the Western Ghats. This was in support with a well known
NGO, Bridge Public Charitable Trust. BPCL provided all the material supports.
Community contribution was raised in the form of “Shram Daan”, or voluntary
service. Villagers contributed a day’s work per week to the village and were
paid for the remaining days of the week. BPCL employees also participated along
with villagers in construction of some of the structures. The project Boond has
been honored with Asian Corporate
Social Responsibility Award 2008. In the wake of the positive impacts of
the project, BPCL now extends it to various villages all over the country. BPCL
received the ‘CIDC Vishwakarma Award 2011’ for the good work done in the area
of CSR
Corporate
Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) in BPCL have emerged from the belief
that it is only through collective effort that change can be brought about in society.
BPCL has successfully completed various projects in the fields of education,
water conservation, health, environment conservation and economic empowerment
in collaborations with different NGO’s and local governments.
BPCL
gives preference for local procurement of goods and services to support the
livelihood of immediate communities. For procurements other than crude,
approximately 90% of the materials procure indigenously. NRL is historically been
isolated from rest of the India's growth story due to difficult terrain, lack
of infrastructure and few access routes. Albeit many constraints like limited
availability of local vendors and contractors, BPCL procures goods and services
from the region. During the financial year 2007-08, the quantum of social
benefits to local communities in and around NRL is estimated to be Rs. 84.82
million.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The
purpose of this case study is to analyze the strategies, practices and
approaches of oil companies in their CSR projects. Even though the study
incorporates many factors of CSR for analysis, one should bear in mind the fact
that most of the observations are based on qualitative data derived from
secondary data sources and limited resources were available to analyze the data
quantitatively. Another factor for consideration is the sector we considered
for analysis includes three elite oil companies which have sustainable foot
prints in the industry and regularly publishing its sustainability reports as
part of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Additionally, all of these
companies are emerging as model in sustainable practices and the same is
evident from the honors and awards received. Albeit activities of all the
organizations are more or less same, the study is limited to identify the
strategy they adopted for CSR implementation. At the same time companies insist
responsible and sustainable practices in almost all areas of operations
inherently. The CSR implementation strategy adopted for the analysis is the
widely accepted notions and the researchers tries to comply company’s practices
with these concepts. There may be diverse approaches for CSR implementation and
further research recommended in this regard.
It
is apparent from the case study that priority of companies varies. HPCL adopts
an inclusive approach and strives to enhance social indices of the nation by
including the neglected and marginalized. Whereas Indian Oil adopting a triple
bottom line (TBL) approach that gives equal attention for people, planet and
profit by enhancing intrinsic values, BPCL adopts participatory approach for
sustainability by ensuring active participation of stakeholders. Whilst considering different strategies of
oil company for the implementation of CSR, an integrated approach incorporates
some common features evolve as a model CSR. A Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach
which imbibes all the responsibilities in its operation seems very sustainable
for any organization. But while implementing CSR initiatives, a participatory
approach involving underprivileged sections of the society shall be accepted.
Though
keeping pace with sustainable development we need to keep in mind that the
responsibility lies in the hands of certain people in power. The interference
of Government, NGO's, Corporate and various funding agencies can have multitude
effects in the community. In a market oriented economic structure, corporate
sector is the prime mover of economic growth. It is, therefore, imperative that
it comes forward and shares the responsibilities for redistributive and
inclusive growth. The role plays by corporate in supporting Government’s
commitment to provide greater economic opportunities to the disadvantaged makes
a win - win situation. Thus the initiatives put forward by the corporate seem
to be most effective. At the same time new and more effective forms of
interventions at grassroots level, addressed at underprivileged sections, are
needed. To comply with this objective, a self driven urge to adopt Responsible
Business practices is very vital. Along with the aim of profit, a triple bottom
line approach that ensures commitment towards society, economy and environment
is a need of this hour. In short,
ethical principles and responsible practices in all the areas of business have
significant role in the success and sustainability of business. In order to achieve
developmental goals, Participatory Approach as a mode of operation and
Participatory Planning, Execution and Management as the strategy for implementation
are necessary.
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Email: paulvmathew.hr@gmail.com
Email: nimmygeorge86@gmail.com
All Rights Reserved @ Maha Journal of Education (Citation: Paul, V. M., &
Nimmy, A. G. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a Strategy for
Inclusive Development-Learning from Oil Companies in India. Maha Journal of
Education , 1 (1), 22-30.)
