Corporate social responsibility and public relations in india

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND
PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDIA















GANGA SASIDHARAN
(B.A., M.B.A.)

A THESIS SUBMITTED

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
COMMUNICATIONS AND NEW MEDIA PROGRAMME
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE


2010
i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It‘s time to let go. It‘s time to thank each element in the Universe that
conspired to make this dissertation happen. First and foremost, I must thank
Dr. Milagros Rivera, my guide, supervisor and mentor and Dhanesh, my
spouse, partner and cheerleader. This dissertation would not have seen the
light of the day without them.
Millie has been an absolutely inspiring guide and mentor. A professor
once told me that the single most important ingredient that makes a successful
Ph D. is the relationship with the supervisor. I completely agree with him. If I
am still sane today after juggling doctoral research, teaching and three boys,
it‘s thanks to Millie. Whenever things looked bleak and impassable, she was
there for me. When I felt daunted just thinking of travelling all over India and
interviewing leaders who graced the covers of business magazines, she told
me to shine a torch on the next five feet in front of me. That was the best piece
of advice a guide could have given a faltering student. You can be sure that

little gem will be passed on to future generations, Millie!
Most doctoral dissertations thank the family at the end of the
acknowledgements section. If I did that, I would be doing a huge injustice. For
just as Millie inspired and mentored me, Dhanesh never let me slack. There
were so many moments when I just wanted to throw in the towel. I had had
enough. I wanted to spend more time with my kids. I was sick of shooing them
away from the study. For the life of me, I couldn‘t understand what the heck
were ontology and epistemology. That‘s when Dhanesh got into action; took
the kids out for soccer so that I could study; spent more time with them so that
they wouldn‘t miss me much; and told me if anyone could do it, it was I. And
ii

finally, I got my head around ontology and epistemology! Without you, this
wouldn‘t have happened, Dhanesh.
Then, of course members of my amazing dissertation committee, Dr.
Linda M Perry and Dr. Mohan J Dutta. Linda has always amazed me as a
teacher and will continue to be my role model. When I joined NUS, the first
lecture I attended was Linda‘s and her performance left me in no doubt as to
whose teaching style I should follow. Whenever I wanted to clear my thinking,
I knew who to go to. Her clarity of thought and ruthless red pen have
transformed two of my term papers to published pieces! I have thoroughly
enjoyed my conversations with her that have greatly enriched my research,
teaching and more importantly, my perspectives on life. Thanks a ton, Linda,
for your support and encouragement.
Mohan had come to NUS for a semester during his sabbatical from
Purdue University. His class on advanced theories in public relations took the
students on a trek across functionalist, interpretive and critical landscapes;
each one delivered with equal passion and conviction. The lectures shook me
out of my predominantly functionalist comfort zone and the conversations we
have had gave me ample food for thought and set me off on a journey

exploring new intellectual pastures I had never treaded on before. There,
another role model for me! Finally, and perhaps most importantly, his
confidence in my research bolstered my spirits whenever I felt overwhelmed
and thought that I couldn‘t make it. Thanks a ton, Mohan!
One professor went way above and beyond the call of duty and was
selfless in helping a student who has historically been weak in math and
statistics. Dr. Hichang Cho has been solely responsible to help me master my
iii

fear of numbers. I still can‘t believe that I am no longer scared of alphas, betas
and gammas; that my first journal article is a quantitative paper that employed
multiple hierarchical regression analysis; and that I even used regression
analysis in my thesis! I am indebted to you for these achievements. Thank
you, Hichang!
Every student needs a mentor and I have been blessed with many. I was
especially lucky to have met Dr. Sriramesh Krishnamurthy at the very outset
of my foray into academia. At a time when I was listening to myriad talks and
lectures at the University, each one of them equally fascinating, at a time when
I didn‘t know which wonderful path to follow, my dear friends Fran and Raj
introduced me to Sriramesh. Those initial conversations with him not only
helped me to decide on the field of public relations and communication
management but also piqued my interest in research on Asia. Thank you,
Professor!
It‘s impossible to pick and choose each person I would like to thank
because so many people have played a role in making this dissertation happen,
some knowingly, some unknowingly. When I first joined CNM, the then
graduate coordinator, Dr. Sreekumar T.T. gave a piece of valuable advice-
don‘t limit yourself to the minimum mandatory number of classes; learn as
much as you can and attend as many classes as you can. That piece of advice
has certainly enriched my learning experience at NUS. Looking back at my

four years at NUS, I must also thank all my teachers who inspired me and
opened up such fascinating avenues for research and teaching.
Dr. Tim Marsh introduced me to the intriguing world of computer
mediated communication that I am sure I‘ll explore one day. Whenever I felt
iv

down and thought that I couldn‘t pull it off, Dr. Sun Sun Lim‘s smiling face,
while managing research, teaching and family, always reassured me and
boosted my dipping confidence levels. Dr. Ingrid Hoofd‘s classes on advanced
theories in communication challenged the students and made me start reading
a paper behind the lines, under the lines, through the lines, above the lines…
I must also thank three wonderful professors from other departments
who generously gave of their time and were kind enough to discuss my
research and offer immensely helpful suggestions. I must thank the ever-
smiling Dr. Ho Kong Chong from the Department of Sociology, who explored
every minute detail and nuance of survey management that none of his
students could go wrong in administering surveys! Yet another Sociology
module I thoroughly enjoyed was Dr. Maribeth Erb‘s class on qualitative data
analysis where she taught us to appreciate the essence of qualitative inquiry,
without slipping into a quantitative style. In a class where the students thought
and spoke in math, Dr. Klaus Boehnke was kind enough to reply in English so
that the scared-looking doctoral student from Communications and New
Media could follow the lecture on multivariate statistics in psychology. Thank
you so much professors! Each one of you in your own way helped me to
complete this dissertation.
Towards the end of the dissertation experience, when you are trying to
wring some sense out of your data, the most important gift you can get is time
and peace of mind. In my last semester I was assigned as a research assistant
to Dr. Seow Ting Lee. I am grateful to Seow Ting for letting me focus on my
work in the first part of the semester so that I could complete my dissertation.

v

Thank you for this gift of time! I promise to make up for this lovely gift, in the
second half of the semester.
I am also indebted to Dr. Archie B. Carroll, the professor who has
created one of the most widely used definitions and conceptualizations of
CSR. I reached out to him at critical points in the course of my doctoral work
and he always responded warmly with plenty of helpful suggestions and
materials. Thank you!
Of course, this dissertation wouldn‘t have happened without the warm
co-operation of all the participants. All the senior managers, leaders and CEOs
I met were very friendly and candidly shared their perspectives on CSR. I
must especially thank Ms. Sujata Chandran and Dr. Rajeev Kumar who helped
me to get access to participants. I must also thank the NUS and the Lien
Centre for Social Innovation for supporting this research. And of course, my
fellow graduate students who made the journey a little more fun and bearable,
the library staff and the administrative staff at CNM, especially Ms. Retna
Muthuveloo who always eased any administrative hassle with a smile.
I have always had the blessings of my elders in all my academic
endeavors. Every time I shouted out for help, my parents took the next flight
to Singapore and took over the kids and the house, while I went chasing
research rainbows. Whenever the going got tough, my dad-in-law encouraged
me with his wise proverbs and my mom pointed to the light at the end of the
tunnel that she made to appear much shorter than it was! Thanks to my dear
brother who stood by me from the beginning to the end. Finally, a deep thanks
to my boys, Sohan, Amal and Nandan, who put up stoically with many hours
of missing their mom and worse still, being shooed out of the study. Thanks to
vi

all my angelic mommy friends who always stepped in and organized

sleepovers at their places so that I could work in peace. Thanks to my
wonderful helpers, Maricel and later, Christy who completely managed the
house while I was lost to the world. And finally, thanks to my constant
companion who curled up at my feet and kept me company through endless
hours of tears and joy, my dear little puppy, Bubbles. Without each one of you
and the blessings of many more well-wishers, this dissertation would not have
happened. Thank you!

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
SUMMARY……………………………………………………………… xiv
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………. …………… 1
Background and Context……………………………………………. 1
Global Practice of CSR; Euro-American Traditions of Research 2
CSR Theorizing in Developing Nations………………………… 3
CSR Research in Asia and India are Under-researched……… 4
India: Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Milieu…………. 6
Political and Economic Settings……………………………… 6
Social Scenario……………………………………………… 7
Cultural and Religious Influences……………………………. 10
Statement of Purpose……………………………………………… 12
Corporate Discourse on CSR in India…………………………… 13
Internal Stakeholders: A Vital Missing Link in CSR Research…. 15
Rationale of the Study………………………………………………. 18
Significance of the Study…………………………………………… 20
2. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………… 23
CSR Across the World……………………………………………… 26
Definitions and Terminology…………………………………… 26
CSR in Management Studies-Key Theoretical Approaches…… 31
The Business-in-society Approach……………………………. 31

The Economic Approach……………………………………… 32
viii

The Stakeholder Approach……………………………………. 34
CSR in Public Relations and Organizational Communication…… 35
Corporate Social Responsibility and Internal Stakeholders……… 41
Definition of Stakeholders…………………………………… 41
Importance of Employee Stakeholders……………………… 42
CSR and Employee Stakeholders…………………………… 43
CSR in Asia………………………………………………………… 45
CSR in India…………………………………………………………. 49
The Concept of Dharma and an Ethos of Giving………………… 50
History of CSR in India………………………………………… 54
Current Research on CSR in India……………………………… 59
Postmodern Theories in Public Relations…………………………… 65
Rationale for a Postmodern Approach to Public Relations………. 67
Key Tenets of Postmodernism Applied to Public Relations…… 68
Postmodern Public Relations and CSR…………………………… 71
Appropriateness of a Postmodern Lens to the Study of CSR
in India…………………………………………………………… 72
Dialecticism in Communication Theory…………………………… 74
Common Assumptions in Dialecticism………………………… 76
Research Questions 1-5……………………………………………… 79
Relationship Management Perspective in Public Relations…………. 80
Definitions of Organization-Public Relationships……………… 82
Models of Organization-Public Relationships……………………. 83
Antecedents of Relationships………………………………… 84
Relationship Concept/Maintenance Strategies…………………84
ix

Consequences/Relationship Outcomes……………………… 86
Key Streams of Research in Relationship Management…………. 87
CSR and Relationship Outcomes………………………………… 88
Research Questions 6 and 7…………………………………………. 89
3. METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………… 91
Methodology: Phase One……………………………………………. 92
Research Approach and Rationale for Conducting a
Qualitative Study…………………………………………………. 93
Overview of Research Design……………………………………. 95
The Information Sought……………………………………… 95
Method-Qualitative Interviewing …………………………… 96
Participants……………………………………………………. 107
Contingency Plans…………………………………………… 111
The Data-generation Process…………………………………… 112
Before the Interview…………………………………………… 113
During the Interview………………………………………… 114
After the Interview……………………………………………. 115
Data Analysis…………………………………………………… 116
Evaluation Criteria in Qualitative Research……………………… 120
Credibility…………………………………………………… 120
Transferability…………………………………………………. 121
Dependability………………………………………………… 121
Confirmability…………………………………………………. 122
Ethical Considerations……………………………………………. 122
Methodology: Phase Two……………………………………………. 123
x

Rationale for Conducting a Quantitative Study………………… 124
Overview of Cross-sectional Research Design…………………… 125
Survey Research Method……………………………………… 126

Sampling Strategies…………………………………………… 127
Pre-tests and Preliminary Survey……………………………… 133
Data Collection Procedures…………………………………… 134
Measures……………………………………………………….135
Data Analysis…………………………………………………… 137
Ethical Considerations……………………………………………. 138
4. FINDINGS …………………………………………………………… 141
Answers to Research Questions 1 to 5………………………………. 144
RQ 1: Meanings of Corporate Social Responsibility……………. 145
Summary of Answers to Research Question 1……………… 152
RQ 2: Key Motives, Norms and Beliefs………………………… 154
Summary of Answers to Research Question 2…………………160
Other Findings………………………………………………… 161
Summary of Other Findings……………………………………163
RQ 3: Tensions in the Corporate Discourse on CSR…………… 164
Roles of Business, Government and Civil Society……………. 164
Summary of Answers: Business, Government, Civil Society… 167
The Link Between CSR and Core Business Strategy…………. 168
Summary of Answers: CSR and Core Business Strategy…… 173
RQ 4: Perceived Key Enablers and Benefits…………………… 174
Enablers that Facilitate Adoption and Implementation of
CSR Programmes……………………………………………… 174
xi

Perceived Benefits of Being Socially Responsible……………. 181
Summary of Answers to Research Question 4…………… 181
RQ 5: Key Stakeholders and CSR Communication……………… 182
Key Stakeholders in the CSR Space and Stakeholder
Communication……………………………………………… 182
Attitude Towards CSR Publicity……………………………… 183

Summary of Answers to Research Question 5…………………188
Answers to Research Questions 6 & 7………………………………. 189
Descriptive Statistics…………………………………………… 190
Regression Analysis………………………………………………. 193
Influence of Awareness of CSR Practices on Trust…………… 194
Influence of Awareness of CSR Practices on Control Mutuality196
Influence of Awareness of CSR Practices on Commitment… 198
Influence of Awareness of CSR Practices on Satisfaction……. 201
Summary of Answers to Research Questions 6 and 7………… 203
5. DISCUSSION………………………………………………………… 204
Analytic category 1: CSR as Social Development……………… 209
The Nation Building-Inclusive Growth Dialectic……………… 209
The Paternalism-Egalitarianism Dialectic……………………… 211
Paternalistic Notions of CSR………………………………… 211
Egalitarian Notions of CSR……………………………… …. 213
The Organizational Activist-Agent Dialectic…………………… 215
The Internal-External Dialectic………………………………… 220
The cell model of CSR……………………………………… 222
Analytic category 2: The Duty-Consequence Dialectic…………… 223
Analytic category 3: The Integration-Separation Dialectic…………. 228
xii

Analytic category 4: The Enabler-Disabler Dialectic……………… 231
Analytic category 5: CSR Communication………………………… 234
Behavioral over Symbolic Relationships……….………………… 234

Marginalized Role of Public Relations in CSR Communication… 235

Audience-driven Communicative Practices……………………… 237

Analytic category 6: CSR and Internal Relationships…………… 238
A Synthesis of the Six Analytic Categories…………………………. 240
The Dharma-based Driver of CSR in India……………………… 241
The Concept of Symbiotic CSR………………………………… 242
CSR as Shared Social Responsibility…………………………… 243
CSR Practitioner as the Postmodern Public Relations Practitioner. 244
Managers‘ and Employees‘ Perceptions of Relational Influence
of CSR……………………………………………………………. 245

6. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………… 247
Implications for theory………………………………………………. 248
The Role of Public Relations Practitioner as Organizational
Activist…………………………………………………………… 249
Concept of Symbiotic CSR Problematizes Dualistic Notions of
Strategic and Altruistic CSR……………………………………… 250
Notion of Shared Social Responsibility Shifts Attention to
Interconnectedness of Multiple Social Actors……………………. 250
Expand CSR Theorizing to Include Symbolic and Behavioral
Relationships………………………………………………………251
Focus on Relational Influence of Separate Dimensions of CSR
Practice…………………………………………………………… 252
Implications for Practice…………………………………………… 252
Choice of a Suitable CSR Practitioner……………………………. 253
Shared Social Responsibility and the Need to Adopt a
Collaborative Stance………………………… ………………. 254

xiii

Practices in CSR Communication……………………………… 254

Emphasize Ethical and Legal Dimensions of CSR in Employee
Relationships………………………………………………………255

Limitations and Future Research…………………………………… 256

Concluding Remarks………………………………………………… 258

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………. 260
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………… 296
Appendix A: Standard & Poor ESG India List of Constituents…… 296
Appendix B: Sample Letter of Invite to Senior Managers………… 297
Appendix C: Sample letter of invite to employees………………… 299
Appendix D: Copy of online employee survey questionnaire………. 300

xiv

SUMMARY

This study aimed to create a holistic understanding of the phenomenon
of CSR as constructed in non-Euro/American contexts, specifically in an
emerging Asian nation, India through (a) a macro focus that aimed to
understand and critique corporate discourse on the conceptualizations,
perceptions, practices and communication of CSR and (b) a micro focus that
aimed to examine whether the business-case-for-CSR holds true in a non-
Western context as well; specifically by exploring associations between
awareness of CSR practices and employee relations.
In addition to mainstream CSR theories, the study employed an
interpretive dialectical approach and a postmodern perspective in public
relations to highlight dialectical tensions in corporate discourse on CSR in
India based on 19 in-depth qualitative conversations with senior managers and
leaders of corporations in India that are known to be socially responsible.
Based on the insights from these conversations, the study further administered
an online survey to employees of two organizations in the information
technology industry in India to explore linkages between awareness of CSR

practices and the relationship outcomes of trust, control mutuality,
commitment and satisfaction, set within the relationship management
framework in public relations.
This study identified a core dialectical tension in corporate discourse on
CSR between the simultaneous acceptance of and resistance to the modernist
capitalist paradigm to deliver economic and social motives. Acceptance of the
capitalist ideology was evident in terms of subscribing to the modernization
paradigm of development that privileges the modern, formal rungs of the
xv

economy over more traditional values, systems and ways of life. On the other
hand, corporate discourse on CSR in India did not reveal a classic case of a
one-sided repressive neo-liberal mission. The discourse revealed a keen
awareness of the ills of the modernist capitalist system, such as power
structures that privilege organizational actors over internal and external
publics and the potential of powerful organizational discourse to erase the
voices of the marginalized. This awareness combined with a sensitivity to
indigenous social, cultural and economic systems appears to enable the
boundary spanners of the organization to adopt participatory communicative
practices that aid in bringing the voices of the marginalized into organizational
discourse. Thus the discourse of the dominant coalition, while entrenched
within a modernist, capitalist ideology, is also permeated with a postmodern
perspective. Based on these findings, the researcher proposed a
conceptualization of CSR as a cell, suggested the notion of Dharma that
encompasses both duty and consequences-based drivers of CSR, and discussed
concepts of symbiotic CSR and shared social responsibility.
Further, findings from the research with employees suggested that the
dominant business-case-for-CSR appears to hold forte in India as well. The
findings indicated that awareness of CSR practices was significantly related to
relational outcomes such as trust, commitment, control mutuality and

satisfaction. Specifically, the results fore-grounded the importance of ethical
and legal dimensions of CSR practice over societal/discretionary and
economic dimensions in engendering stronger relationships between
employees and their organizations. Finally, implications and recommendations
for research and practice are also discussed in the thesis.

LIST OF TABLES
3.1. Description of Sample………………………………………………132
4.1. Dominant Themes in the Conceptual Construction of CSR in India 154
4.2. Key Drivers of Social Responsibility in India…………………… 161
4.3. Beliefs on Recent Spate of Activity in the CSR Space in India…… 164
4.4. Exploring Tensions: Roles of Business, Government and NGOs…. 168
4.5. Exploring Tensions: Linkage between CSR and Core
Business strategy…………………………………………………… 173
4.6. Perceived Enablers and Benefits of CSR………………………… 181
4.7. Key Stakeholders and Stakeholder Communication with
Respect to CSR…………………………………………………… 183
4.8. Attitude towards CSR and Publicity……………………………… 189
4.9. Means, Standard Deviations and Cronbach Alphas of the
Constructs of CSR and Relationship Outcomes…………………….191
4.10. Means, Standard Deviations and Correlations for the CSR and
Relationship Constructs……………………………………………. 193
4.11. Regression Results for Trust……………………………………… 195
4.12. Regression Results for Control Mutuality…………………………. 198
4.13. Regression Results for Commitment………………………………. 200
4.14. Regression Results for Satisfaction……………………………… 202

LIST OF FIGURES

2.1. The Theoretical Framework……………………………………… 24
2.2 The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility
(Carroll, 1991, p. 42)……………………………………………… 28
2.2. Evolution of CSR terminology (Mohan, 2003)……………………. 30
2.4 Summary of Research Questions………………………………… 90
5.1. The Cell Model of CSR……………………………………………. 223
5.2 Key Dialectics Identified in Corporate Discourse on CSR in India 233

1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background and Context
The notion that businesses should be socially responsible can be traced
far back for many centuries and over multiple cultures and societies (Carroll,
1999). However, it was only in the last 60 years or so that the concept of
corporate social responsibility (CSR) transformed into a topic for serious
debate in both academia and business. Since then, and increasingly so from the
turn of the millennium, there has been a sharp spike in the number of cases
worldwide involving instances of corporate social irresponsibility, with
debilitating effects on society, which has thrust the notion of CSR into public,
corporate and academic limelight.
The debacles of fatally tainted milk in China, the poisonous gas cloud
that snuffed out over 3000 lives in Bhopal and continues to cripple many more
lives and, most recently, the financial meltdown in the United States of

America that impacted hundreds of thousands of lives all over the world, are
but a few examples that demonstrate the devastating impact that unethical and
irresponsible corporate practices can have on internal and external
stakeholders. As a result of public protest over such irresponsible and
negligent corporate behavior, corporations started paying more attention to
matters of social responsibility and invested in CSR programmes.
These instances of unethical and irresponsible conduct drawn from
across the globe not only illustrate the importance and significance of the topic
but also that CSR is a global phenomenon, closely associated with forces of
globalization.
2

Global Practice of CSR; Euro-American Traditions of Research
Scholars such as Scherer and Palazzo (2008) and Chambers, Chapple,
Moon, and Sullivan (2003) argued that globalization has played a crucial role
in increasing the demand on businesses to be socially responsible. Scherer and
Palazzo (2008) noted that globalization has weakened the power of the state to
regulate the activities of corporations that expand across national borders.
Further, Davis, Whitman, and Zald (2006) maintained that another important
characteristic of the globalized environment—business process outsourcing—
has blurred the boundaries of corporate social responsibility between activities
that are conducted inside and outside of the corporation. Therefore, while the
notion of CSR used to largely revolve around responsibilities to employees
and to local communities where the corporations are located, corporations are
now held accountable for their external global supply chains as well,
exemplified by the recent furor over Nike‘s Asian sweatshops and Mattel‘s
defective toys made in China.
However, although the current practice of CSR is situated within the
realm of highly complex and intertwined processes of globalization, CSR
research has not kept pace. Globalization has highlighted the ethnocentricity

that characterizes current public relations practice and research (Sriramesh,
2008; Pal & Dutta, 2008). This ethnocentricity extends to research on CSR
also, which continues to be ensconced within the Euro-American intellectual
traditions of scholarship (Mohan, 2001). This enclave of CSR theorizing does
not capture the broader gamut of the global phenomenon of CSR and thus
presents an incomplete and unbalanced view of CSR. This study is a modest
attempt to correct this imbalance in CSR research by situating this research in
3

a non-Euro-American context and by offering a richly textured, contextual,
inside-out understanding of CSR.
Further, it is imperative to study processes of CSR practice and
communication in the global south not only because it is important to correct
the Euro-American slant of CSR theorizing, but also because increasingly,
corporations‘ economic power and fixation on maximizing profits have had a
greater impact on developing economies with more fragile socio-economic-
political systems than on developed economies (Bhushan, 2005; Prieto-
Carron, Lund-Thomsen, Chan, Muro, & Bhushan, 2006). This factor served as
the rationale for the researcher to study the phenomenon of CSR in one of the
world‘s largest and fastest growing developing nations.
CSR Theorizing in Developing Nations
The budding scholarship on CSR in developing nations has highlighted
the often fiercely competing perspectives in the realm of CSR and socio-
economic development. On the one hand, scholars believe that corporations
can contribute positively to social development (Swift & Zadek, 2002). On the
other hand, critical scholarship argues that corporations, constituted as profit-
maximizing entities, are the root cause for generating multiple social ills.
Further, a lack of expertise and accountability make it dangerous to allow
corporations to continue to tread on spaces of social development (Bhushan,
2005; Frynas, 2005).

Scholars have also criticized an apparent collusion between corporations
and the state (Munshi & Kurian, 2007; Schwarze, 2003; Townsley & Stohl,
2003) and have highlighted issues of power and participation evidenced by the
missing voices of vulnerable publics in CSR discourse (Cloud, 2007; Munshi
4

& Kurian, 2007). However, scholars such as Christensen (2007) have
cautioned against a blanket depiction of corporations as immoral and not
worthy of being trusted. Therefore, the researcher approached this study in a
manner that carefully avoided both extremes of eulogizing and disparaging
CSR initiatives.
CSR Research in Asia and India are Under-researched
Within the group of emerging nations, Asia has gripped the attention of
the world, especially with China and India not only sharing almost half of the
world‘s population, but also clocking dramatic rates of economic growth,
largely fuelled by capitalist engines (www.eiu.com, India country report,
2009; China country report, 2009). Rapid economic growth led by
corporations has resulted in massive adverse impacts on human and natural
environments, specifically exacerbating existing social disparities, which by
itself behoves the study of corporations‘ sense of social responsibility in Asia.
Further, research has found that Eastern philosophies such as Confucianism,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism could have been influential in
shaping notions of CSR in Asia (Pio, 2005; Whelan, 2007). Mohan (2003)
argued that any variations in conceptualizing CSR across the world are deeply
embedded within the system or superstructure. For instance, Western
capitalism is based on the exclusivity of private property and individualism, as
opposed to Eastern capitalism, which is based on the inclusivity of
stakeholders innately oriented towards seeking consensus and harmony.
Despite these compelling reasons to examine the phenomenon of CSR in Asia,
research on CSR practices is still in its infancy and scholars such as Sriramesh,

5

Ng, Soh, and Lou (2006) have called for more research on CSR from Asia.
This study is a response to that call.
However, scholars have argued that Asia is not a homogenous entity. On
the contrary, it is characterized by remarkable cultural, political, economic,
social and geographic diversity and, therefore, research must be carried out
within specific national contexts (Whelan, 2007). Although scholars have
responded to this call, a review of literature on CSR in Asia revealed that
emergent research has focused mostly on East and Southeast Asian
economies, economies that are primarily driven by principles of
Confucianism. Sparse research has been conducted on CSR in India despite
compelling reasons that stem from India‘s specific social, economic, political
and cultural contexts.
First, India is one of the fastest growing and important emerging
economies in both Asia and the world. Second, after economic liberalization
in the early 1990s, India has had dramatic rates of national economic growth
led largely by corporations. However, the impressive national economic gains
have been rather unevenly distributed, further worsening existing social
disparities (www.eiu.com, India country forecast, 2010). Third, India has had
a long, unbroken history of trade and commerce characterized by notions of
social responsibility and a cultural ethos and tradition of dharma, karma and
giving (Mitra, 2007; Sundar, 2000). Fourth, since the later part of the twentieth
and early part of the twenty-first centuries, Indian corporations have been
making their mark on the global arena across industries ranging from steel to
software; and that calls for the examination of attitudes, norms and beliefs that
shape the conceptual construction of CSR within Indian corporations. These
6

factors justified the choice of India as a fertile context to situate this study

within.
Further, research has found that CSR practices are firmly grounded in
national traditions of societal and corporate governance (Birch & Moon, 2004;
Mohan, 2003). Therefore, it is imperative to examine the concept of CSR from
a macro perspective that explores CSR practices and communication situated
within specific contexts. Accordingly, the following sections will give a brief
preview of the political, economic, social and cultural systems of India that
may have influenced the conceptualization of CSR embedded within those
contexts.
India: Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Milieu
Political and economic settings. India gained independence in 1947
after two centuries of British colonial rule. Under the leadership of India‘s first
Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the state established a complex system of
socialist economic controls that remained in place until the 1980s. The state
continued to implement an inward-looking socialist economic policy that
stifled economic growth, hampered productivity, and confined India‘s
economy to the so-called Hindu rate of growth of about 3% a year
(www.eiu.com, India country profile, 2008).
During this insular phase, India followed a statist model of social
responsibility where the state delivered social objectives through its public
sector organizations (Kumar, Murphy, & Balsari, 2001; Mitra, 2007).
Following the 1991 general election, a minority government under Prime
Minister Narasimha Rao initiated a series of economic reforms that set India
on a path of robust economic growth. The coalition government led by the
7

Hindu-nationalist party, BJP, from 1998 to 2004, continued with economic
reforms and market-friendly policies.
Following economic liberalization, India is now the fourth-largest
economy in the world (after the US, China and Japan), measured on the basis

of purchasing power parity exchange rates, and is projected to be one of the
world's fastest-growing economies from 2010 to 2014. Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) per head is forecast to grow by 5.1% a year, the second-fastest
rate in the world, just behind that of China (www.eiu.com, India country
forecast, 2010).
The service sector, which is the main driver of economic growth, is both
the largest component of the economy and the best-performing. The service
sector accounts for 55% of GDP and is expected to continue to be the main
engine of economic growth (www.eiu.com, India country forecast, 2010).
However, India is a two-tier economy, with an internationally competitive
knowledge-driven services sector that employs the brightest of the middle
classes on the one hand, and a sprawling, largely rain-fed agricultural sector
that employs the majority of the vast and poorly educated labor force on the
other (www.eiu.com, India country profile, 2008). Although it accounts for
just over 17% of GDP, the agricultural sector employs two-thirds of the labor
force and, unlike in East Asian countries, the shift of the labor force from
agriculture to non-agriculture in India has been particularly slow
(www.eiu.com, India country profile, 2008).
Social scenario. The tremendous economic growth powered by
corporations after economic liberalization in 1991 has not been evenly
distributed. As the popular refrain goes, national economic growth has led to