Corporate Social Responsibility - The Indian Way

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is manifested in the objectives communicated by the top management of companies and usually with regular media coverage. A kind of ubiquitous image of CSR is projected by the corporate, sometimes even creating a doubt about the welfare conditions promised by the State. All activities of a firm which are not in relation to specific profit making strategies but which are beneficial to society in general can be classified under the broad heading of CSR. This definition of CSR includes active and passive orientation of activities accounting for the collective welfare of communities as far as the corporate is concerned. In a market driven economy the issues surrounding the general welfare regains importance and it has to be reluctantly accepted that the role of the state is diminishing to a certain extent. On the other hand, the controlling hand of government is called for at times of crisis only. In such a scenario the CSR and its impact has to be closely scrutinized. The scope and limitations of CSR are undoubtedly subject to criticism among managers and social scientists. Through this paper, a classification of CSR activities is conceived in order to explore specific industry-based outcomes affecting Society. Although the analysis of goodwill and quality of different initiatives within the umbrella of CSR is challenging an attempt is made to track the discourse of social responsibility.