INCORPORATING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE BOARD – by Hemant Batra

“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”

There are three emerging perspectives that form corporate social responsibility.

 A business perspective that recognises the importance of ‘reputation capital’ for capturing and sustaining markets.

 An eco-social perspective they also recognise the fact that increasing poverty can lead to social and political instability. Seen from the eco-social perspective, corporate social responsibility is both a value and a strategy to ensuring the sustainability of business. It is a strategy because it helps to reduce social tensions and facilitate markets. For the new

 The rights-based perspective on corporate responsibility which stresses that consumers, employees, affected communities and shareholders have a right to know about corporations and their business. This perspective stresses accountability, transparency and social and environmental investment as the key aspects of corporate social responsibility.

The CSR should not be merely a statement of intent. It should be made compulsory for the corporate operating in India. This will definitely help in upholding human rights.

It considers that a corporation is not just a self-centered profit-making entity, but that the company and its actions are also integral to the economy, society, and environment in which they occur. Directors and officers are becoming ever more aware that CSR may provide human rights, labor, and environmental protections to the communities in which they live and to the people they employ. The business case for such social responsibility among corporations is becoming clearer as globalization progresses.

What CSR comprises will differ from company to company and industry to industry.

Directors’ Responsibility

The duties are as follows:-

 Attend meetings regularly. Disclosure with respect to their directorship and their shareholding in the company is to be done. When the board is to decide on issues on which the director has interest he should not vote or make nay deliberation to such an effect.

 Exercise the authority and power with due diligence and discharging the fiduciary duty of the office in best interest of the company.

 The personal interest of the directors should not conflict with the interest of the company and should not come in way of discharge of his duties.

 They should not engage in transactions to derive their personal benefits or benefit of his other relative or try to influence the transaction. There should be independent judgment to the best of the interest of the company.

 Abide or comply with the policies of the company.

 Conduct business in compliance with competition laws and principles of fair market competition.

 Maintain high ethical and professional standards.

 Responsibility towards protecting the environment improving the human life

 Maintain confidentiality.

 Use company’s property only for official purposes. Should not be misused and to be used with due authorization.

 Deal fairly with members, suppliers, employees and partners.

 Respect safety and health of all the employees and provide safe working conditions. The safety of community at large is also to be taken into consideration.

 Not take up any activity competing with the business of the company.

Conclusion
In taking up the question of Corporate Social Responsibility (SCR) it is very important to critically delve into the ends and means question to glean the real essence of the organisational policy towards civil society. Hence while Corporate Social Responsibility is a term that transcends the corporate world and is generic in nature so much so that it concerns every single type of organisation that has a social conscience, it is certainly not window dressing for an organisation to don a façade of social respectability.