Our understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility needs a paradigmic change. It has moved
way beyond its philanthropic and community roots. CSR today is a business opportunity and
needs to be treated as a business goal. It should permeate across all spheres of the business activity - manufacturing, product development, business development, marketing, procurement, finance, human resources and so on.
Poor are a business opportunity, a source of wealth creation and innovation. They should not be treated as the begging bowl of our economic system. 800 million poor of India represent one of the largest untapped consumer markets on this planet. Their combined economic power is greater than the economy of some sovereign nations. They are an immense source of innovation offering the biggest business opportunity of our times. Widening socio economic disparities since the advent of globalization are indicative of the lethargy of business innovation. The business should have a vested interest in thinking of revolutionary ways to remove the widening gap.
The greatest business challenge of our times is to draw the poor in to the market economy and reassure them that globalization will equally work for them. Corporate leaders like ITC, HLL and ICICI who have made a significant contribution in developing rural markets need to highlight business benefits of accessing the untapped poor markets. They should aggressively publicize the bottom line improvements so that more corporates are encouraged to adopt CSR as a business goal and not shy away assuming CSR is about giving handouts.
See full Foreword, in pdf format.
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