Colloquium - Madhuri Menon, March 29, 2007
CEO, Amaya Consultants
The Power to do Good
Corporate Social Responsibility is an area that is gaining in importance in today’s business scenario. This can be attributed to increasing levels of consumer awareness. The general public is becoming more insistent on companies being accountable for their actions. Ms. Madhuri Menon talked about the advantages that the practice of CSR offers to the various people involved in it.
CSR has a huge effect on individual employees. It helps them feel good about their contribution to the society. They also develop a sense of pride towards the organization in which they work. In addition much needed ‘soft skills’ such as communication and intercultural skills are automatically picked up so that companies don’t have to spend huge sums of money on developing these skills through training programmes.
The organization benefits mainly because the public will have a good image about it and they (the public) will be more likely to support the organization in it’s various ventures. In addition CSR contributes to the development of a holistic organizational climate and value based organizational culture. The employees will also feel more committed to the workforce.
Other stakeholders will also benefit because CSR has this effect by which benefilts are cascaded through society. It has the power to set in motion a whole new social structure. A good example for this is the case of AT&T, Pune whose employees helped relocate around hundred families of pavement dwellers to another area with basic housing which was built by the employees themselves. This change involved a huge change for the pavement dwellers as many of them had been rag-pickers and the change in location also meant a change in their profession too. One lady who was a third generation pavement dweller tearfully told her benefactors that she had never even dreamed of having a roof over her head.
To conclude CSR is of special relevance in a country like India where atleast 26% of our population is below the poverty line. CSR can help bridge the huge income divide in existence today. It is also an opportunity for corporate workers to contribute meaningfully to society.
Anju Varghese Philip
1st MBA
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