Corporate Social Responsibility of the TAJ Hotels and Palaces

Running Head: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND
PALACES
Corporate Social Responsibility of the TAJ Hotels and Palaces
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1CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND PALACES
Executive summary
Corporate social responsibility is the business and a management tool through which the
organization contributes a share of their profit towards the development of the society. The
industries nowadays thrive for development that is sustainable and contributes towards the
development of society through corporate social responsibility. The corporate social
responsibility not only benefits society, but it is also beneficial for the employees and
stakeholders as well. When the companies spend a portion of their income towards the
development of the people and environments in a sustainable manner is termed as CSR
activities. The analysis deals with the corporate social responsibility of the TAJ Hotels,
resorts and palaces in India. It is an Indian hospitality and tourism company and how it
operates with three pillars of sustainable development. The paper also explains how the CSR
activities of this industry have made an impact in India. CSR activities are not only beneficial
for the organisation in maintaining its brand identity and remain in the competitive market,
but it also proved beneficial for the society as well and helped in fighting several evils in the
society.

2CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND PALACES
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Overview of the industry............................................................................................................2
CSR policy of the TAJ Hotels and Palaces................................................................................3
Impact of CSR activities of The TAJ Hotels and Palaces in India............................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
In the era of industrialization and globalization, development has become a threat to
society. It is the responsibility of every responsible citizen to contribute towards sustainable
growth and development. The industries nowadays thrive for development that is sustainable
and contributes towards the development of society through corporate social responsibility.
Corporate social responsibility is a philanthropic activity undertaken by organizations (Tai &
Chuang, 2014). Corporate social responsibility is the activity carried by organizations for the
welfare of society. The corporate social responsibility not only benefits society, but it is also
beneficial for the employees and stakeholders as well. When the companies spend a portion
of their income towards the development of the people and environments in a sustainable
manner is termed as CSR activities. Corporate social responsibility and sustainable
development go hand in hand. It is a management tool that increases the morale of the
employees and creates the brand image of the organisation as well. Some examples of CSR
activities include- charity, investments towards the development of society, materials used to
be sustainable so that it should not harm the society and the people (Grayson & Hodges,
2017). The analysis deals with the Corporate Social Responsibility of The TAJ Hotels and
Resorts, which is an Indian hospitality and tourism company and how it operates with three
pillars of sustainable development. The paper also explains how the CSR activities of this
industry have made an impact in India.
Overview of the industry
TAJ Hotels and Resorts are among Asia’s most prominent and luxurious hotel groups
consisting of around 100 hotels across the world. The founder of the Tata Group, Jamshedji
Tata, established this hospitality industry in 1901. It is the subsidiary of Indian Hotels
Company Limited having a net income of around US$ 14 million (Sharma & Kochher, 2018).

4CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND PALACES
It is among the biggest conglomerates across the globe. The visitors can experience the
perfect hospitality treatment and the modern luxury at each hotel of The TAJ Group. The
reason behind the construction of the TAJ Hotels was to attract people to India and improve
the Bombay(currently Mumbai). The parent company under which the TAJ Group came into
existence is the Tata Group. It has various categories in terms of hotels like luxury hotels,
leisure hotels, and business hotels. It has a celebrity status among the other travel and tourism
industries in the world (Ferus-Comelo, 2014). The first hotel opened by the TAJ Group was a
beach resort named The Fort Aguada Beach Resort in Goa. It was constructed in the year
1974 (Sufi, 2015). The hotel has a presence in around twelve countries around the globe,
including Malaysia, the USA, Maldives, UAE, UK, Zambia, South Africa. The TAJ Group is
in innovation for centuries to sustain in the market, and it is not just serving the people of
high class, but it has also targeted the sections of the middle class as well. Its competitors are
JW Marriott, ITC Hotels, Oberoi, and many more (Palepu, Raina & Chawla, 2017).
CSR policy of the TAJ Hotels and Palaces
CSR activities have rapidly evolved in India during the last decades. Companies
continue to contribute towards nation-building through strategic initiatives of CSR activities.
CSR activities of the TAJ have taken actions based on the triple bottom line- people, profit
and planet. The hotel has benefited Indian society in three areas, namely social,
environmental and economic.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Policy has maintained the legacy of Tata Group,
“giving back to society.” According to the Companies ACT 2013, the CSR activities of the
TAJ GROUP mainly focus on the vocational programs, preserving the Indian heritage, arts,
cultures, and many more (Kaur, 2019). The CSR Committee consists of three or more
directors, with one being the independent director. The CSR committee works in alignment

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with the Board and reports the policy that has to take place. Monitoring the CSR activities
and the cost related to perform the activities has to be reported to the Board by the CSR
committee. The amount spends on CSR activities by the TAJ Group is 2% of the net income
of the company during the financial year. The communities targeted by the TAJ Group for
CSR activities are the under-privileged, abandoned by the society, disaster victims of the
society, school and college dropouts, disabled, and many more (McWilliams, 2015).
The major CSR activities performed by the group are- the TAJ group has supported
many NGO’s who provide vocational training to the youth from schedule caste and scheduled
tribes, minorities, underprivileged, and the disabled. These activities are to support the
hospitality and the service sector in the Indian society. Around 30 skill centres are in progress
across the country to support the education sector. In addition to this personality
development, grooming and employment opportunities are being provided to the youth of
society. The TAJ Group has been into preserving the heritage of India through protecting the
sites that attract the tourists, providing proper training to the tourist guides of the country, and
preservation of the heritage sites (Yameen, 2013).
The TAJ group has recently taken initiatives for Clean India Campaign to improve
and maintain the surrounding. Promoting the culture of the country through local art and
craft, handlooms manufactured by India, cuisines, and displaying the local products of
artisans by the NGO are some of the CSR activities supported by the TAJ Group. The hotel
Group supports the local self-help groups, NGO’s and other local vendors by purchasing their
products like (fish, candles, vegetables, fruits, honey, and many more), thereby helping the
groups to earn a living and also generate opportunities for the members of the contractual
labour (Bhardwaj & Agarwal, 2014).

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Relief programs are carried out by the TAJ Hotels under the TAJ Public Welfare trust.
These programs aim to help the people suffered from any disaster. Getting inspired by the
survivors of the Mumbai terror attack on Hotel TAJ on 26 November 2008, The TAJ Public
Service Welfare Trust (TPSWT) was set in December 2008 (Rubdy, 2015). Welfare Trust
supports the people who suffer from man-made or natural disasters and help them to reform
and restart their lives. The welfare aims to provide relief to the victims of calamities and
construct rehabilitation centres to support the victims (Bhardwaj & Agarwal, 2014). TAJ
Public Service Welfare Trust works in collaboration with the NGOs, TATA Group, and trust
and other welfare institutions.
The partnership of the TAJ Group with the Earthcheck has resulted in the conserving
of valuable assets like water, energy and other valuable resources of nature (Song & Zhang
2014). They are thereby contributing to the sustainability of the environment, maintaining
public places like maintenance of the Gateway of India in Mumbai, preservation of parks,
museums, roads, and other public sites. One of the significant steps toward the CSR activities
of the TAJ Group is the recycling of renewable resources and converting them into a usable
form (Bhardwaj & Agarwal, 2014).
The TAJ Hotels and Palaces work on the three pillars of sustainable development and
triple bottom line as well for the benefit of corporate as well as the Indian society. There are
three pillars of sustainable development, namely environment, social and economic (Dhahri,
& Omri, 2018). The hotels have contributed towards the environmental pillars by the use of
reusable products in the infrastructure, recycling, preserving natural resources like water,
sustainable development and many more. The hotel contributed towards the second pillar,
which is a society by providing job opportunities to the poor, working on the up-gradation of
the rural sector, helping the people suffer from human-made and natural disasters, supporting
the employees and the stakeholders and many more activities. The third pillar of sustainable

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development, the economic pillar is supported by the TAJ Group is by contributing towards
the Indian economy in terms of GDP growth, promoting and representing the country
overseas, sustainable and profitable business to the Indian economy, attracting a large number
of tourists, attracting the investors and many other such activities (Dhahri, & Omri, 2018).
Impact of CSR activities of The TAJ Hotels and Palaces in India
“Giving back to society” is the legacy followed by the Jamshedji, founder of the
TATA group (Patwardhan, 2017). The TAJ group has been implementing corporate social
responsibility through the implementation of the triple bottom line, which was to focus on the
people, profit and planet. The CSR activities of the TAJ hotels hugely influenced the Indian
economy in several ways. India lacks a trained workforce, so educating the rural sector has
improved the living standards of the people living in rural areas. Promoting the Indian
culture, art and craft, handloom and other products overseas have helped the country with
more job opportunities to the poor and helped the Indian culture to be promoted globally.
Figure 1: TAJ CSR activities
Source: Tajhotels.com. 2020

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Being among the most prestigious hotel chains across the world, it is contributing
towards the economy of the country and plays a crucial role in the GDP growth of India
(Patwardhan, 2017). Every year The TAJ group attracts numbers of travellers from overseas,
which boosts the sales and helps in generating foreign reserves in the country, thereby
increasing the Foreign Exchange Reserve (FOREX) of India (Song & Zhang, 2014).
Figure 2: TAJ hotel retained economic value chart
Source: Tajhotels.com. 2020

9CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND PALACES
The CSR activities are working in the eradication of poverty by providing
employment opportunities to the underprivileged, giving them a chance to rise in society. The
TAJ group also hires staff on a contractual basis that also generates job facilities for some
sections of the community. TAJ represents India globally, which in turn makes the brand and
the country recognizable among the world economies. Through its Corporate Social
responsibility, TAJ has helped Indian society with the organizational growth, retaining of the
best talents, increasing the morale of the employees, sustainable development, GDP growth,
recognition globally, reputation building since it represents the country globally (Vinay,
2016). Since India has a huge section of the poor people, these CSR activities helped the
people participate and contribute towards the development of the country.
Making use of the nation’s valuable resources in a reusable manner has helped in the
preservation of energy for future generations. It has brought goodwill for the Indian society
and a ray of hope for the destitute. The TAJ hotels have promoted eco-friendly products
through their hotels Vedanta. For example, the use of compressed bricks, reusable tiles on the
floor, handcraft furniture and old woods. These can be recycled and are used for the spa in
the hotel. River stones used for the decoration purpose, strawberry farm and preservation of
some endangered flora have also contributed towards the sustainable development of Indian
culture as well as the environment (Roy & Mohapatra, 2014).

10CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND PALACES
Figure 3: water usage
Source: Tajhotels.com. 2020
Figure 4: energy reused by the TAJ
Source: Tajhotels.com. 2020
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it is clear that the hotel industry is growing at a
faster pace in India, and with every step the organization takes towards the development, it is
the responsibility of the organization that it should contribute towards the society as well. The
corporate social responsibility taken by the TAJ Hotel Group has impacted society a lot and
is working towards the eradication of some social evils of the society like poverty,

11CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND PALACES
unemployment and many more. Being among the giants in the Hotel and tourism industry,
TAJ has taken tremendous efforts towards sustainable development as well by adopting
certain measures like the use of eco-friendly products, preservation and reusability of the
natural resources and thereby giving a message to society to meet future needs through
sustainable development. The hotel group has also emerged as the voice of many NGOs is
working in India who look for opportunities to sustain and recognition. The CSR activities by
the TAJ Hotel and Palaces have helped the Indian culture to get recognition globally and
have also contributed towards the development of the society through several activities
mentioned above. Therefore, it is clear from the discussion that CSR activities are not only
beneficial for the organization in maintaining its brand identity and remain in the competitive
market, but it also proved helpful for the society as well and helped in fighting several evils
in the society. Thus, the TAJ Hotel and Palaces have succeeded in maintaining the legacy of
the Tata group by giving back to society.

12CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TAJ HOTELS AND PALACES
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