CSR in the Era of Sustainability

The assignment content discusses the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities of TATA Group in Jamshedpur, India. It highlights how TATA's literacy program helped educate village women and tribal kids, and how it created a self-sustainable society where people supported each other. The article also mentions the Tata Sports Academy, which has produced national and international-level players for India. The author suggests that TATA's CSR activities follow a tree-like structure, with each step building upon the previous one, leading to tangible outcomes for both the society and the business.

Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
Name
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
An infrastructure to nourish the basic roots of the local economy...........................................................3
Integration of the local people in the business process is the best practice for sustainability...................6
It is a story beyond the numbers and achievements of an organization....................................................8
CSR activity should follow a tree like structure......................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................9
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
Introduction
Check out the CSR reports of various big organizations, mention of Roads, Electricity, Schools
and other infrastructure-related facilities are very common. Based on the investment they often
maintain a CSR balance sheet of these companies as well. This type of CSR activities certainly
raise the living standards of the local residents and help the donor or the industry in attaining a
bit of profit as the reverse multiplier impact of the CSR activity. In other words, we can say that
it works on a crop and yield structure, a company requires investing in the process on a regular
level in order to sustain them (Walli, 2015).
In the current case study, we are going to discuss the case of TATA group of India, their CSR
activities in the area of Jamshedpur city are remarkable and probably created the best model for
fetching reverse model of multiplier impact of the CSR activity. Here we will try to count the
achievements of CSR tree that are bearing fruits year after year and helping the local economy
and society to live a better life.
An infrastructure to nourish the basic roots of the local economy
Business can act as a strong constituent of any given society and CSR plan of TATA industries
in the area of Jamshedpur India is a poignant example for that. The founder of the company, Late
Jamshed Ji Tata inhabited a city around a steel plant at the turn of the previous century. It was a
barren land at that point of and some tribal communities were surviving under severe hardships,
they were struggling with the basic amenities of the life and intellectual development was a
distant dream for them (Pratap, 1985)
The area was rich in minerals and ores, however, it was a tribal area and people were not keen to
entertain any business entity because they were under the impression that entry of new people
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
and cultures in their tribal world will destroy their existence. Right from the mindset to the basic
standard of the life everything was centuries back, any touch and go CSR activity was a fruitless
venture at this place because the hardships were very strong and people were not able to see
beyond the difficulties of the life.
Jamshed Ji Tata, took this problem as a challenge, as the first step towards the welfare of the
local society he started offering medical facilities to the local people. He converted local health
units into small counseling areas where HR experts motivated tribal people to join the
mainstream of the society by joining the work at the establishments at TATA industries.
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
Figure 1 Ten Point CSR activity integration plan of TATA, This plan acts on the 360-
degree transformation of the person who is under the program
The CSR of TATA group follows Ten Commandments that are depicted in the image; all these
steps are aimed at a 360-degree transformation of the individual. Just like the core of a metal,
CSR activities of TATA Steel picks up a raw person, convert it into a person who has some
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
utility in the social system and sustains well. This ten-step plan created a new example of CSR
practices, which is unparalleled in its own right, and many more organizations are learning few
practices from this glorious history book of CSR (Mathews, 2012).
Integration of the local people in the business process is the best practice for sustainability
“Putting Principles into practice," in the year 2017 the CSR ideology makes this proud statement
before commencing before starting their address on any forum. They are following the
fundamentals of CSR principles from last eight decades and it will not be a farfetched statement
when we will say that they are writing new fundamentals of CSR activities.
In the year 1970, TATA group focused on increasing the literacy levels of its operational areas
under a ten-year plan, adult literacy was prime in their agenda. It was a different kind of step at
that point of time when societies were expecting some tangible help from the side of a business
entity that was making huge profits (Witzel, 201 ).
The inception of this literacy campaign, however, opened three new segments, the first segment
comprised of the youngsters and teenagers seeking for the next level of the education that was
the level of the professional studies. The adult literacy program also educated village women and
they were keen on taking their information level to the new level. The same literacy program
also served as a boon for the tribal kids who got an access to the basic education and came in a
position where they can move to the next level. Endeavors of TATA made it sure that they never
miss the bus of development; they took care of their own society and helped them in attaining the
next level of the growth. Finally, a layer of people emerged who were keen to help the inferior
people in the society because once they were also inferior people (Cronin, 2017).
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
Figure 2 The Focus Chart for CSR activities, this focus chart is a crucial element for the
sustainability of the CSR efforts
The above-mentioned image depicts the CSR focus areas of any company, almost seventy years
back when TATA started their CSR activity, they were clear about their focus, it started when
they provided health facilities to the local people. In the next step they developed, a green belt in
the area the frontier of education gave them the wings of sustainability and they attained the
goals of Economic and community development. Tata started its green belt related efforts in
1930 under the title of Greenfield mission, Jamshedpur is a green and clean town with minimum
environmental concerns. In fact, it scored among the top cities in India when the government of
India launched its cleanliness drive in 2015 (Corporate Author, 2017).
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
We can draw a timeline of the events for TATA CSR activities, in a summarized form, we can
always say that first, they trained local people to join the plants of TATA steel and engaged them
in other fruitful activities. In the second step they organized the life of these people by sharing
some benefits with them and in the third step, it became a self-sustainable society where different
layers started supporting each other (Mathews, 2012).
It is a story beyond the numbers and achievements of an organization
During the last two decades, TATA sports academy of Jamshedpur has produced many national
and international level players for India. This academy is an outcome of consistent efforts of
TATA CSR activities; they created this nursery for sporting talent in the region of Jharkhand.
Now let us check the efforts of TATA CSR activities on the scale of Maslow’s need base
hierarchy.
In the year 1920, they were arranging means of health and education for the local population, in
the year 1950 they were commissioning institutions for technical education for the same
population. In the year 1970, the same population was seeking for some nursery grounds where
they can cherish the sporting talent of the society. In the year 2017, the fruits of the same CSR
activity are coming out in the form of some national and international players.
In the year 1920, the society was struggling for basic amenities, in the year 1950 they were
seeking for a better life where they can add some luxury into their life and finally in the year
2016-17 they were seeking for the goals of self-actualization.
CSR activity should follow a tree like structure
The above-mentioned case of the CSR activities done by TATA is a classical case of a CSR tree,
the ten step principles make sure that the CSR activities are not losing track and they are
integrated. This integration of the events finally brought them to a platform where they delivered
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
the best for the society and now the same society is contributing in the favor of business because
the operations of the TATA steel are never short of technical hands. They also opened many
more facilities, like they are manufacturing heavy automobiles and other consumer durable
goods. Tata is also planning some housing projects in the area, these housing projects under the
flagship name of Nano-housing are an attempt to cater to the lower strata of the corresponding
society (Witzel, 201 ).
Conclusion
If we can imbibe a CSR activity into the fabric of a social group or a society then it becomes a
tree like structure and this tree like structure can come up with regular fruits to support the
society. The CSR activities done by TATA has created a great example, the company has now
reached a level where they are launching products that cater to the social interest along with the
objectives of the profits. CSR activities can also support the cause of the brand positioning and
TATA Group created an example for that, there CSR activities are not one sided, they are
tangible for the lower strata of the society, which is struggling for basic amenities. They also
create a psychological feel-good factor for the upper sections of the society that are running after
some finer goals in life.
Bibliography
Corporate Author, T. (2017, February 20). MGMMC begins cleanliness drive, greening of
campus. Times of India, pp. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jamshedpur/mgmmc-begins-
cleanliness-drive-greening-of-campus/articleshow/57239524.cms.
Cronin, M. J. (2017). Managing for Social Impact: Innovations in Responsible Enterprise.
Mathews, P. J. (2012). Making a difference.
Pratap, R. (1985). Growth and Regional Pattern of Industrial Complexes: A Case Study of Bihar.
Walli, D. J. (2015). CSR: Roots in PHILOSOPHY.
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Running Head: CSR & BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT OF TATA GROUP
Witzel, M. (201 ). Tata: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand.
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