CSR Evolution - Part 3 : Track of the Concept

October 16, 2021

Corporate Social Responsibility as a management concept as we know it today is mainly a product of the twentieth century, taking shape in the early 1950s. In the mid-to-late 1800s, there was growing concern about worker wellbeing and productivity among industrialists. industrial betterment and welfare movements at the time were viewed as a combination of humanitarianism and business acumen. Although responsible companies had already existed for more than a century before, the term Corporate Social Responsibility was officially coined in 1953 by American economist Howard Bowen in his publication Social Responsibilities of the Businessman. As such, Bowen is often referred to as the father of CSR. In 1971, the concept of the ‘social contract’ between businesses and society was introduced by the Committee for Economic Development in USA. This contract brought forward the idea that companies function and exist because of public consent and, therefore, there is an obligation to contribute to the needs of society.

The 1990s marked the beginning of widespread approval of CSR. In 1991, University of Pittsburgh professor Donna J. Wood published Corporate Social Performance Revisited, which expanded and improved on early CSR models by providing a framework for assessing the impacts and outcomes of CSR programs.

In the same year, business management author and professor at the University of Georgia Archie B. Carroll published his article The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. In his paper, Carroll expanded on areas he believed were crucial when implementing CSR in an organization.

By the early 2000s, CSR had become an essential strategy for many organizations, with multi-million dollar companies, such as Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, and Pfizer incorporating this concept into their businesses processes.

But India has a different route about transition from Business Ethics to Corporate Goverance and to CSR altogether. Indian situation has caught well on the move as is seen from the 'e-Choupal' of ITC and Project Shakthi of HUL .

Launched in June 2000, 'e-Choupal', has already become the largest initiative among all Internet-based interventions in rural India. 'e-Choupal' services today reach out to over 4 million farmers growing a range of crops - soyabean, coffee, wheat, rice, pulses, shrimp - in over 35000 villages through 6100 kiosks across 10 states (Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu). 'e-Choupal' makes use of the physical transmission capabilities of current intermediaries - aggregation, logistics, counter-party risk and bridge financing -while disintermediating them from the chain of information flow and market signals.

Hindusthan Unilever Limited (HUL) started ProjectShakti in 2001 with the aim of increasing the company's rural distribution reach as well as providing rural women with income-generating opportunities. This is a case where the social goals are helping achieve business goals.

This initiative targets smallvillages with population of 2000 people or less. Shakti is organised in Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and is focused on improving living standards in rural India.

Project Shakti has nearly 120,000 thousand women micro-entrepreneurs across 18 states. The women entrepreneurs, called Shakti Ammas, are trained on basic principles of distribution management. Women can now earn a sustainable income of about $10 - $14 per month, which is double their average household income.