A Strategic Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility Practices

In context to India the term CSR might be the new but the concept is as old as Indian culture. Previously Hindu’s call it ‘dharmmada’, Muslims call it ‘zakatah’, and Sikhs call it ‘dashaant’. As individuals joined hands to form organizations, the same concept became embedded in the organizations. As India entered the phase of liberalization, increasing number of agencies and firms including the multinational firms have started social sector development in India. Our economy is exposed to changing market structures and competitive environment. And this practice of donation of money for the social cause or social upliftment of the society has changed with economic reforms. Today the Corporate social responsibility (CSR) goes far beyond the old philanthropy of the past – donating money for a good cause at the end of the financial year– and is instead an all year round responsibility that companies accept for sustainable environment around them, for the best working practices and for the engagement of local communities. Now we need to move towards a challenging measure of corporate social responsibility i.e. how organizations can generalize the concept of CSR to help the society.