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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) AS A STRATEGY FOR INCLUSIVE

DEVELOPMENT - Learning from Oil Companies in India

(Paul V Mathew, Research Scholar, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), and

Nimmy A George, Assistant Professor, Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakkara )

Abstract

In the wake of globalization and neo liberalism, the concept of contributing for social

development by business is getting high relevance. It is apparent that a few business enterprises

explore and exploit common resources for lucrative purpose and gain momentum at the cost of

others. While business are promoted by government by encouraging investment, the procuring of

lands, making of decisions, catalyzing innovations and development expects a positive turn . A

participative and responsible approach of the business and the Government alone would secure

our future and ensure that an inclusive development that favors planet, people and profit

happens. CSR, an effective tool for Public Private Partnership (PPP) alone will be able to help

countries to meet their ambitious goal of faster, inclusive and sustainable all round development.

Keywords - Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Triple Bottom Line (TBL), Participatory

Approach, Sustainable Development, Inclusive Growth, Base of the Pyramid (BoP)

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INTRODUCTION

The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an evolving concept getting wide attention

and gaining different dimensions day by day. Even though the term is new, the concept has a

long history even from pre Christian period. At the same time, sustainable business, responsible

business, social and environmental performance, social action program, corporate citizenship etc

are emerged as a proxy for CSR. Albeit the term „Corporate Social Responsibility‟ was coined

by R. Edward Freeman in his book titled „Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach’, this

term does not have a globally accepted definition. But the common concise is that CSR is

essential to business and majority believes that business should serve as a steward in society, and

that it has a duty to investors, employees, consumers, communities and the environment (Michel

Blowfield and Alan Murray (2005). This can be corroborated by the fact that while in 1977 less

than half of the Fortune 500 firms even mentioned CSR in their annual reports, by the end of

1990, approximately 90 percent Fortune 500 firms embraced CSR as an essential element in their

organizational goals, and actively promoted their CSR activities in annual reports (Boli and

Hartsuiker, 2001).

The meaning of CSR has two dimensions. On the one hand, it is the ethical behavior of an

organization that exhibits towards its internal and external stakeholders and on the other hand, it

denotes the responsibility of an organization towards the environment and society in which it

operates. According to World Business Council for Sustainable Development “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”. While debating on definition, there is no

dual opinion on the fact that CSR relates with sustainable development. The common principles

constitute to form a concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach which gives a holistic view

on CSR. This may be encapsulated as the organization/individual effort towards overall social,

environmental and economical enhancement of the society. This was evolved in line with the

three pillar concept (People, Planet and Profit). In short CSR can be expressed as the

organization‟s responsibility towards overall positive impact of the society.

APPROACHES OF CSR

Business has a long term liability towards society and environment; this may be in the wake of

its strong link with various components of environment and society. While business explores

resources and fetches profit from the people, it has the liability to ‘give something in return’.

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Even though this may be the core notion behind CSR, time taught business entities to think

beyond CSR and to behave more responsibly. Researchers have identified the reasons why firms

develop CSR strategies; such as reputation improvement, government regulations, competitive

advantage, stake holder pressure, critical events and top management pressure (Hall and

Vredenburg, 2004; Kassins and Vafeas, 2006; Chih Hung Chen and Winai Wonsgurawat, 2011.).

The selection of issues under CSR by organizations depends on a host of factors including

organizational mandate, current relevance of issues and demand from the community. The

priority areas covered under CSR initiatives include education (82 percent),environment (81 per

cent), health (81 per cent), women empowerment (63 per cent), livelihood promotion (62 per

cent), sanitation (61 per cent), microfinance (60 per cent), HIV/ AIDS (54 per cent), child care

(55 per cent), slum improvement (50 per cent), disaster management (44 per cent) and

agricultural development (29 per cent). (Survey; Times Foundation and TNS, 2010). Other than

CSR initiatives, business enterprises are striving to depict its commitment, transparency,

accountability and governance practices to enhance its brand image and competitiveness through

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Reports.

CSR and Inclusive Approach

In order to ensure equality and justice in the society, more attention is vital to cater the needs of

neglected and underprivileged sections of the community. The recently published 12th

plan

period approach paper of India is titled „faster, sustainable and inclusive‟ growth. Inclusive

development, inclusive growth and inclusive banking are some of the key strategies of the

Governments to make certain that all are benefitting. India is the country with largest number of

stunted (31%), wasted and underweight (42%) children in the world (HuNGama Report, 2011).

One in three malnourished children worldwide is found in India (UNICEF India recorded the

highest number of deaths due to premature births (Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on

Pre-Term Birth, 2012). India accounted for 47 per cent of Measles deaths in 2010 (WHO, The

Lancet, 23 April, 2012). Lack of health service and inadequate nutrition emerge as a serious

cause of concern. It is true that government is very keen to consider various social evils and

implemented myriad schemes to surpass these issues. Whereas many of them are fruitful,

rampant corruption and policy paralysis are drowning people to severe peril. As per the

Transparency International Report, India ranked 83 out of 172 countries in the corruption index.

At the same time, as a result of neo liberal policies of government, corporate powers are now in

the race to fetch public resources with lesser prices. In this background business needs to be

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more transparent and should play a vital role in social development. In order to extend the

services of the Government and to fill the existing lacuna, corporate and business enterprises can

contribute a lot for inclusive development of the country.

CSR and Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach

The conspicuous concept Triple Bottom Line (TBL) model contributes a large towards

sustainable development initiatives. TBL is the totality of the corporation‟s financial, social, and

environmental performance in conducting its business. It envisions a holistic approach that

reiterates the responsibility of business towards society, economy and environment. Attaining

sustainability requires stabilizing or reducing the environmental burden, keeping business people

friendly by maximizing social benefit and making the business economically feasible. This was

the Sustainable development conceptualized by the Brundtland Commission Report in 1987 –

„meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs‟ and it is now commonly paraphrased. United Utilities

defines sustainability as „development that conserves natural resources, protects and enhances

the environment, support the communities we serve, and maintains economic growth, for

AMEAC, „a commitment to acting responsibly in all that we do, whilst talking into account the

concerns of our stake holders‟. The Global Compact Programme, 2000, announced by Mr Kofi

Annan, is now considered as the model of social responsibility of corporate enterprises all over

the world and its sustainability approach is globally acclaimed. The United Nations' Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) and the Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture, and Biodiversity

(WEHAB) agenda of the UN Secretary General are also deemed as essentials for bringing about

a solution to the basic problems facing our society and environment. Therefore, responsible

actions of business can tackle multiple problems in the society by incorporating different

dimensions of economy and environment. There are several bodies now emerging on the Indian

scene that focus on issues of CSR. For instance, the Corporate Roundtable on Development of

Strategies for the Environment and Sustainable Development - Business Council for Sustainable

Development (CoRE-BCSD) of India is a grouping of Indian corporate trying collectively and

individually to build in sustainable development concepts into their operations (EMC, 2005). The

efforts of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Times

Foundation, EU – India CSR Network etc are laudable.

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CSR and Participatory Approach

Participation is considered as one of the success factors of effectiveness and mission

accomplishment. People democracy, works committee, community involvement, industrial

democracy and employee participation have evolved from this ideology. The same has been

enshrined in our constitution especially through 73rd

and 74th

amendments which provided

constitutional guarantee to the formation of Panchayat at village and other levels (Grama Sabha).

However, there is no expectation in the case of CSR implementation. CSR defined by the World

Business Council for Sustainable Development (1999) gives a stakeholder dimension – „the

commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with

employees, their families, local community and society at large to improve their quality of life‟.

Another definition states as „Corporate social responsibility is the overall relationship of the

corporation with all of its stakeholders. These include customers, employees, communities,

owners/investors, government, suppliers and competitors. Elements of social responsibility

include investment in community outreach, employee relations, creation and maintenance of

employment, environmental stewardship and financial performance‟ (Khoury et al., 1999). The

stakeholder theory of CSR put forwarded by Freeman (1984) describes the role of primary and

secondary stake holders. The business community can make tremendous contributions in the

well being of our nation in partnership with local people, NGO‟s, Government and different

philanthropists. In order to understand the ground realities and people needs, a strong

participatory approach is essential. This will help to create a win - win situation by maintaining a

strong and long lasting partnership with different stake holders. It is apparent that a healthy

collaboration among business, Government and community is very essential in CSR projects.

During this period, expectations of people have increased enormously along with their demands

focusing on unemployment, health, social infrastructure, education and poverty alleviation.

Pressure groups like NGO‟s and Community organizations are successfully persuading corporate

enterprises to fund various CSR schemes. However, the efforts of the Government may not be

adequate to provide basic services to its citizens. It is being increasingly recognized that progress

and welfare of a society is not only the responsibility of the Government alone, but many more

stakeholders need to be involved to attain the development goal (Save the Children Sweden,

2007). The corporate sector has a pivotal role to play in ensuring private investment flows to

those rural areas that have been left out of the development process so far and also to work for

sustainable development of rural areas in general. (Corporate Social Responsibility in Rural

Development Sector: Evidences from India, Sanjay Pradhan, Akhilesh Ranjan) . At the same

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time, it is essential to understand the actual needs of society rather than creating a doom effect

through CSR.

METHODOLOGY

The main objectives of the study were:

To study and understand the CSR initiatives being taken by selected oil companies in

India

To examine the CSR approach and their mode of action for implementation for CSR

initiatives;

This paper adopted case study method to analyze various approaches and practices of CSR

implementation. Three elite Oil companies Bharath Petrolium (BPCL), Indian Oil and Hindustan

Petroleum (HPCL) have been selected to identify the practices. While considering the business

of exploring natural resources and creating environmental hazards in different ways, Oil

companies have a clear responsibility towards its consumers/people and the environment. The

sector was selected in the wake of its highly international orientation, successful and diverse

CSR strategies and availability of comprehensive overview on Sustainable Management. These

oil companies have well written CSR policies and demonstrate their sustainability strategy

through Global Reporting Initiative. Data were collected from different secondary sources like

Sustainability reports, Annual reports, especially web sites of corresponding companies.

Researchers also conducted interviews with public relations officers in oil companies to

crystallize the CSR orientation of related companies.

CASE ANALYSIS

HPCL Corporate Social Responsibility –Inclusive Approach

Hindustan Petroleum

Approach Inclusive

Target Girl Child, Juveniles, School Dropouts, Youth and Truck Drivers

Thematic Areas Women Empowerment, Education, Health and Skill Enhancement

Partners People, Employee, Experts, Experienced Agencies

Ownership Human Resource Department

HPCL is built on its founding principle “creating socially responsible business processes to

produce an overall positive impact on society”. The company aims at taking up various CSR

activities and initiatives to reach out the rural sector and underprivileged sections of the society.

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HPCL‟s CSR model is based on “Creating Shared Value”. The shared value model is based on

the concept that corporate success and social welfare are interdependent. Additionally it develops

and initiates plans that consider “People, Planet and Profit” equally. HPCL‟s commitment

towards building social capital, skill development, community development and care of girl child

is highly noteworthy. Its inclusive approach invariably proves that the company has a special

consideration for the marginalized and neglected community especially in rural hinterlands.

Primary focus of HPCL is in girl child, juveniles, school dropouts, youth and truck drivers.

Almost all projects are developing only after the critical analysis and understanding of the

problems exist in the society and with the aim of finding solutions to these problems.

Dating back to 1985, HPCL is one of the organizations in the country initiated CSR with a

philosophy to work with all stakeholders and communities, where the organization has its

operations. In partner with the inclusive approach of Government, HPCL initiates CSR projects

aims at Women Empowerment, Education, Health and Skill Enhancement of the people. There is

an array of projects envisions at the overall development of the society. Hamara pump is a

venture of HPCL to provide fuel to the farmers in rural areas. Farmers can access this single

point outlet for a variety of agri inputs and farm financing. The HP Rasoi Ghar (Community

Kitchen) is a now a boon to women in the rural areas. Women who wandered for collecting bio-

fuels and exhausted by obnoxious fumes while cooking are now provided with LPG connections.

Over 22,000 families benefit every day from the 15,000 HP Rasoi Ghar spread across the

country. Considering this, HPCL has been awarded Golden Peacock Award in 2005 for CSR and

National Excellence Award for innovative techniques for improving the access of rural women

to a modern fuel. The Inclusive approach of HPCL is evident from the table below.

Name of the Project Theme Beneficiaries Number

Unnati IT Education Rural People 18550

Nanhi Kali Education Girls 11603

Muskan Housing Street Children 800

Suraksha AIDS Awareness Truckers -----

Swalamban Training BPL 5600

Navjyot Health Children 19060

Child Right & You Human Rights Children -------

TOTAL 55613

Table 1: HPCL CSR Highlights (Source: Bringing Smiles, HPCL)

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The project Unnati in association with National Institute of Information Technology, (NIIT)

aimed at providing computer training programmes and personal computers to students in semi-

urban and rural schools. HPCL takes up a strategy to tackle unemployment through its project

Swalaban. By providing skills training, capacity building exercises, workshops and technical

supports, Swalabhan equips the rural youth capable of being self employed. It also gives

preference to provide amble opportunities in primary sector of the economy which also

contributes to the accomplishment self sufficiency and high agricultural productivity. Training is

being given to 1,800 youths in different locations in association with the Confederation of India

Industry (CII) have already started earning. HPCL concentrates on the health and academic

excellence of girl children in rural areas. The girl child is provided with school uniforms, given

extra training and encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities like singing, dramatics

and the like. Muskan provides shelter and basic needs for two hundred street children and

Navjyot improves the health index of children by providing health care. Suraksha is the project

of HPCL to educate the truck drivers and cleaners about HIV-AIDS and ways of preventing the

diseases. As a part of its inclusive approach, HPCL has established various skill development

centers, craft making units and IT training centers for employment generation, skill enhancement

and livelihood. Along with these HPCL focuses on awareness on global warming, rehabilitating

victims of natural calamities and poverty eradication projects.

It is true that the key success factor of CSR of any organisation is not only the funds earmarked,

but the commitment and enthusiasm of the employees of that organization. The participation and

commitment of employees of HPCL in its CSR activates is an exceptional feature. Here Human

Resource Department is the owners of Corporate Social Responsibility projects. Employees

identify the needs of the community and implement multitude of programs to bridge the gap of

the people needs. HPCL staffs play a crucial role in creating a strong bond between the

community and company at its locations. The staff at the HPCL outlets educates the drivers and

cleaners and leads various section of the society about HIV - AIDS. Each year, a large number of

employees of HPCL offer voluntary services at the Dikshabhoomi at Nagpur (to commemorate

the embracing of Buddhism by Dr Babasasheb Ambedkar) to make the programme successful.

In par with the „Agenda of Government for inclusive growth‟, HPCL strives to maintain

harmony and equality in the society. HPCL strongly believes that doing business responsibly

does have a positive impact and the contribution to society. CSR policies and practices of HPCL

stand in 4 pillars- Community based CSR, Environment based CSR, Product based CSR and

Workplace based CSR. HPCL proceeds in a truly corporate manner, planning investments in

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social causes methodically, executing the various steps with utmost care and securing distinctive

developments for the poor and the downtrodden masses. The company works closely with

district administration and identifies developmental needs of the area and the people. It is certain

from its purpose statement „using core competence, expertise and technology of our business to

reach the common people, especially the underprivileged, is our aim, Developing capacity in the

community is our strategy; and Enhancing human excellence and improving quality of life is our

endeavor..

Indian Oil

Indian Oil – Triple Bottom Line Approach

Approach Sustainable Development (Triple Bottom Line Approach)

Target Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe

Thematic Areas Health, Family Welfare, Education, Environment and Women

Empowerment

Partners Community

Ownership Indian Oil Foundation and Indian Oil

Fund Allocation: 2% of the Retained Profit

CSR is inherent in whatever Indian Oil do. Beyond CSR initiatives, Indian Oil strives to

incorporate intrinsic values in its products and services. Indian Oil has been considering CSR as

the cornerstone of success right from the inception in the year 1964. Mission statement of Indian

Oil reads like that "…to help enrich the quality of life of the community and preserve ecological

balance and heritage through a strong environment conscience." The commitment towards

society, economy and environment is evident from the aforesaid statement. The same has been

proved by Indian oil through myriad ventures.

Indian Oil has clear policy guidelines for CSR projects. 2% of its retained profit is devoted for

social development activities. Unspent amount, if any, will be carried forward to the next year.

(This is against the ceiling of 0.75% of net profit, which was in force hitherto). In this a

minimum of 35% towards national causes/natural calamities, amount not exceeding 5% towards

donations/contributions, 30% towards community development activities including special

component plan and tribal sub plan, 30% towards IOC's scholarship, of which 50% amount

would be utilized towards providing scholarships to the students belonging to weaker sections of

society and 50% amount for others. About one-fourth of the community development funds are

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spent on the welfare of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe beneficiaries. While utilizing the

community development funds, more emphasis should be laid on the projects of providing clean

drinking water, health & medical care and education. Health, family welfare, education,

environment protection, providing potable water, sanitation, and empowerment of women and

other marginalized groups are the thematic areas of operation. Indian oil enshrined a holistic

approach which is not limited in economic development. It says „economic development alone is

no longer viewed as a strategy for poverty reduction and well being of society. It is recognized

that a society‟s economic goals are intricately intertwined with its social and environmental

goals. This realization is also the guiding force behind Indian Oil‟s commitment to build a strong

sustainable business that is firmly rooted in the community and demonstrates concern for the

environment‟.

Diagram 1: Indian OIL CSR Themes

The sustainability approach of Indian Oil spreads in Triple Bottom Line areas. Reduce its carbon

footprint, become water positive, manage waste responsibly are the key environmental strategies

of Indian Oil. Indian Oil has done a serious of experiments in the exploration of renewable

energy for alleviating energy poverty and improving energy access at the „base of the pyramid‟

in India. By adopting “3 – R” (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) policy, Indian Oil ensures resource

efficiency in operations, especially for key resources like energy and water. Effective waste

management, water treatment and installation of regulatory requirements make Indian oil, the

best in sustainable environmental practices.

Indian Oil operates and undertakes various solar power projects (in Rajasthan under the

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission), wind mills (Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh), and

nuclear power plants (Rawatbhata, Rajasthan with Pressurised Heavy Water Based Reactor

(PHWR) technology). Addition to this Indian Oil-CREDA Biofuels Ltd. has undertaken nearly

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6000ha plantations of Jatropha curcas in different districts of Chhattisgarh. The projects at

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have generated more than 3.5 lakh man days of rural

employment. Solar lanterns project of Indian Oil is one of the novel ventures that provides basic

energy solutions to the poor by distributing solar lanterns through its extensive retail network and

Kisan Sewa Kendras spread across the country. More than 30,000 solar lanterns have been

distributed during 2010-11.

Some of the other major sustainability initiatives of Indian Oil are

Solar Photovoltaic systems installed at retail outlets to minimize the use of diesel

generators for dispensing units and lighting loads, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

Exercise to assess ecological foot printing Indian Oil‟s operations in terms of carbon

emissions, water use and waste generation.

Constant endeavors to make all its major events/workshops/seminars/conferences carbon

neutral.

Rainwater harvesting projects at several of its locations.

Use of Organic Waste Converters for the eco-friendly utilization of organic waste

Regular workshops and training programmes are organized to generate awareness about

sustainability issues.

Indian Oil takes concrete action to realize its social responsibility objectives, by supporting

various social and community initiatives in India. Besides focusing primarily on the welfare of

economically and socially deprived sections of society, Indian Oil helps victims of natural

calamities. Indian Oil‟s community-focused initiatives include allotment of petrol/diesel station

dealerships and LPG distributorships to beneficiaries from among scheduled castes, scheduled

tribes, physically handicapped, ex-servicemen, war widows, etc

The Indian Oil Foundation (IOF), a non-profit trust focuses on protection, preservation and

promotion the national heritages, art, culture and traditional folks in collaboration with ASI and

NCF of the government of India. Community Development programme of Indian Oil adopts a

multi-disciplinary approach that encompasses medical camps, immunization, AIDS awareness,

eye, blood donation, pre and post-natal care. Besides the above, Indian Oil also runs and

maintains number of hospitals for the benefit of the local community. In order to support

education Indian Oil provide financial assistance to schools and distributes around 2600

scholarships to meritorious students.

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Bharath Petroleum – Participatory Approach

Bharath Petroleum

Approach Participatory

Target Vicinity of Operation

Thematic Areas Education, Health, Environment and Community Support

Partners Local Body, NGO‟s and People

Ownership Human Resource

BPCL firmly believes that sustainable business and inclusive growth can be achieved through

responsible efforts in all areas of their operations. While traversing through development, BPCL

balances economic progress with social value, health, safety, security and environmental care.

The organization has a strong commitment towards social development and depicts it through

multiple ways. Education, health,

environment and community support are the

key thematic areas of company‟s CSR

operation. Even though BPCL concentrates

on its vicinity of operation for the

implementation of CSR projects, its impact is

ubiquitous. Corporate Social Responsibility

initiatives (CSR) in BPCL have emerged from

the belief that it is only through collective

effort that change can be brought about in society. BPCL‟s CSR initiatives are pan India in reach

and involve collaboration with a number of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) who are

committed to the cause of social development and people empowerment.

The CSR vision of BPCL states like that „build a powerful partnership with society for

„Sustainable Development‟. It is evident that the strategy adopted by the BPCL for the

implementation CSR initiatives is in partnership with society. This participatory approach, grass

root level planning process and the involvement of bottom to top members make the CSR efforts

of BPCL unique. In order to identify the needs and wants of the local people and to identify the

gaps in the society, an attempt for participatory planning and grass root level interventions are

necessary. Local government has a crucial role in the development of region as well as the

bridging of infrastructure lacunas. Local governments provide the core utilities and infrastructure

on which the community requires. Additionally, role of NGO‟s can enhance the robustness of

Diagram 2: BPCL - CSR Approach

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CSR initiatives by augmenting capacity building plans and by maintaining strong acquaintance

with people and government. Here BPCL is synergizing the actions of stake holders like local

self government, NGO‟s and community through a participatory planning approach. (The CSR

methodology of BPCL is shown in the diagram 2.) Through this strategy, BPCL acts as a centre

point to hold all its stake holders together thereby provide the needs of community. While

ensuring the involvement of local Panchayat, BPCL manages to utilize the expertise of NGO‟s.

Benefitting communities are selected on the basis of their socio economic circumstances and

their needs are identified through discussion with local stakeholders. Local NGO‟s that are

familiar and adept at working with these communities are identified to carryout work with the

communities on behalf of BPCL. The CSR activities are regularly monitored and evaluated by

BPCL officials. Along with these, employees of BPCL visit these locations and participated with

the local community by providing training, medical benefits, workshops and construction of

basic amenities. The strong network exists between local self governments and NGO‟s serves as

a catalyst for CSR operations.

BPCL has a tie up with Gramin Social Welfare Society & Community Action for Rural

Development in Tamilnadu,Vivekananda Girjana Kalyan Kendra in

Bhubaneswar(Orissa),Kalyan Vikas Kendra & Sevavrata & Divyayana in Jharkhand,G.P.Tin UP

& Rajasthan,Sevavrata in West Bengal, to deliver social welfare services at grass root level.

Project Boond is one of the novel CSR ventures of BPCL aims at alleviating the drought

situation in five villages on the leeward side of the Western Ghats. This was in support with a

well known NGO, Bridge Public Charitable Trust. BPCL provided all the material supports.

Community contribution was raised in the form of “Shram Daan”, or voluntary service. Villagers

contributed a day‟s work per week to the village and were paid for the remaining days of the

week. BPCL employees also participated along with villagers in construction of some of the

structures. The project Boond has been honored with Asian Corporate Social Responsibility

Award 2008. In the wake of the positive impacts of the project, BPCL now extends it to various

villages all over the country. BPCL received the „CIDC Vishwakarma Award 2011‟ for the good

work done in the area of CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) in BPCL have emerged from the belief that it

is only through collective effort that change can be brought about in society. BPCL has

successfully completed various projects in the fields of education, water conservation, health,

environment conservation and economic empowerment in collaborations with different NGO‟s

and local governments.

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BPCL gives preference for local procurement of goods and services to support the livelihood of

immediate communities. For procurements other than crude, approximately 90% of the materials

procure indigenously. NRL is historically been isolated from rest of the India's growth story due

to difficult terrain, lack of infrastructure and few access routes. Albeit many constraints like

limited availability of local vendors and contractors, BPCL procures goods and services from the

region. During the financial year 2007-08, the quantum of social benefits to local communities in

and around NRL is estimated to be Rs. 84.82 million.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The purpose of this case study is to analyze the strategies, practices and approaches of oil

companies in their CSR projects. Even though the study incorporates many factors of CSR for

analysis, one should bear in mind the fact that most of the observations are based on qualitative

data derived from secondary data sources and limited resources were available to analyze the

data quantitatively. Another factor for consideration is the sector we considered for analysis

includes three elite oil companies which have sustainable foot prints in the industry and regularly

publishing its sustainability reports as part of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Additionally,

all of these companies are emerging as model in sustainable practices and the same is evident

from the honors and awards received. Albeit activities of all the organizations are more or less

same, the study is limited to identify the strategy they adopted for CSR implementation. At the

same time companies insist responsible and sustainable practices in almost all areas of operations

inherently. The CSR implementation strategy adopted for the analysis is the widely accepted

notions and the researchers tries to comply company‟s practices with these concepts. There may

be diverse approaches for CSR implementation and further research recommended in this regard.

It is apparent from the case study that priority of companies varies. HPCL adopts an inclusive

approach and strives to enhance social indices of the nation by including the neglected and

marginalized. Whereas Indian Oil adopting a triple bottom line (TBL) approach that gives equal

attention for people, planet and profit by enhancing intrinsic values, BPCL adopts participatory

approach for sustainability by ensuring active participation of stakeholders. Whilst considering

different strategies of oil company for the implementation of CSR, an integrated approach

incorporates some common features evolve as a model CSR. A Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

approach which imbibes all the responsibilities in its operation seems very sustainable for any

organization. But while implementing CSR initiatives, a participatory approach involving

underprivileged sections of the society shall be accepted.

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Though keeping pace with sustainable development we need to keep in mind that the

responsibility lies in the hands of certain people in power. The interference of Government,

NGO's, Corporate and various funding agencies can have multitude effects in the community. In

a market oriented economic structure, corporate sector is the prime mover of economic growth. It

is, therefore, imperative that it comes forward and shares the responsibilities for redistributive

and inclusive growth. The role plays by corporate in supporting Government‟s commitment to

provide greater economic opportunities to the disadvantaged makes a win - win situation. Thus

the initiatives put forward by the corporate seem to be most effective. At the same time new and

more effective forms of interventions at grassroots level, addressed at underprivileged sections,

are needed. To comply with this objective, a self driven urge to adopt Responsible Business

practices is very vital. Along with the aim of profit, a triple bottom line approach that ensures

commitment towards society, economy and environment is a need of this hour. In short, ethical

principles and responsible practices in all the areas of business have significant role in the

success and sustainability of business. In order to achieve developmental goals, Participatory

Approach as a mode of operation and Participatory Planning, Execution and Management as the

strategy for implementation are necessary.

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Paul V Mathew

Vazhayil

Kinginimattam, Kolenchery

Ernakulam, Kerala

India - 682311

Res: 0484-2766667

Mob: +91-9745482028

Email: paulvmathew.hr@gmail.com

Nimmy A George

Assitant Professor

Department of Commerce

Bharat Mata College, Thrikkakkara

Kochi-682 021

Ph: 91-484-2425121 Fax: 91-484-2427796

Email: nimmygeorge86@gmail.com

All Rights Reserved @ Maha Journal of Education (Citation: Paul, V. M., &

Nimmy, A. G. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a

Strategy for Inclusive Development-Learning from Oil Companies in

India. Maha Journal of Education , 1 (1), 22-30.)