Cover Story

Taking responsibility

Apart from the social good brought about by it, CSR also makes business sense. IT companies in India are increasingly sending out this message and a growing number of companies and institutions in India are seeking to link their own growth and survival to the social cause that they are promoting. By Faiz Askari

Responsibility comes automatically upon maturity. IT companies operating in India have moved into a second phase where maturity is discernable. As part of this stakeholders of the Industry understand their responsibilities towards society.

Corporate Social Responsibility is generally understood to be the way in which a company achieves balance or integration of economic, environmental, and social imperatives while at the same time addressing shareholder and stakeholder expectations. The way businesses engage shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, governments, non-governmental organisations, international organisations, and other stakeholders determines the success of CSR. It helps make inroads into areas where a company might otherwise not have had a presence, building a talent pool, capacity building in communities, being perceived as a socially responsible corporate among employees which adds to a sense of pride for an organisation.

Today, not only is the IT industry fuelling India’s growth, it is also acknowledged to be one of the front runners in CSR initiatives, investing heavily for CSR programs spanning various sectors and themes such as education, health, poverty reduction, etc. 

In India, IT companies have seen a trend, wherein there is a need to collaborate and create a talent pool for the future. Mamtha Sharma, Manager, Corporate Community Relations at IBM India says, “A recent prediction by Teradata talks about an impending nationwide labour shortage by 2010 with 10 million jobs left unfilled. This has created quite a stir across industries in India. Going by the prediction, we have exactly three years to devise a backup talent pool to prevent the predicted shortage; hence there is a need to harness every possible potential talent available in the market.”

Bidyut K. Thakur, Asst. Vice President & Mentor, Corporate Social Responsibility at CSC India says, "The IT Industry is a sunrise industry; however it adopted CSR as one of its core missions quickly. The IT Industry's apex body, NASSCOM, has a separate arm the NASSCOM Foundation which was formed to leverage the commitment of NASSCOM and its members towards social development. At CSC too, we have a comprehensive program on CSR which is managed by a dedicated group called SSC (Social Services Committee) which is democratically elected by the employees. Employee volunteers work with the SSC group to take the CSR initiatives forward."

Needed by millions

Pointing out some potential areas where CSR can play a vital role in India, Vikas Goswami, CSR Lead, Microsoft India says, “We have understood that certain issues like providing IT training, skills, techniques and tools to create social and economic opportunities can transform communities and help common people realise their potential. Microsoft’s community investment efforts are focused on increasing digital inclusion and bringing the benefits of technology and technology skills to 250 million underserved people worldwide by 2010.”

In an age when brand reputation, repositioning of government activities and privatisation are the norms of the global economy, it is increasingly important to do business ethically, morally and with concern for society. “Businesses today are realizing that the world is not made up of strangers. There are bonds between human beings—customers, employees, shareholders and neighbours— all forming part of an extended community,” says Alok Bharadwaj Vice President Canon India. He adds, “India is a fast growing economy and both national and multinational firms are booming. At the same time, India also faces social challenges like poverty, population growth, corruption and illiteracy to name a few. Therefore it is all the more imperative for Indian companies to be sensitised to CSR in the right perspective in order to facilitate and create an enabling environment for equitable partnership between civil society and the business community.” 

Rahul Bedi, Director Corporate Affairs, Intel India says, “As a socially responsible corporate citizen, Intel India is focused on enhancing lives by helping provide a fair opportunity to education  and improved healthcare, as well as, undertaking various community welfare initiatives. Reflecting Intel’s global objective of transforming communities through the effective use appropriate technology, Intel India is actively involved in preparing students to succeed in the global economy, spreading awareness of timely healthcare and educating communities on the responsible use of natural resources.”

Over the years, as economies have transitioned and experienced different stages of growth, CSR has become an integral and important part of doing business in almost every country. Georg Kniese, Managing Director, SAP Labs India says, “To me, engaging in CSR activities is important to any organisation irrespective of origin and category but then the importance of such engagements becomes even more critical when a new industry booms in a country and with it the society gets introduced to new opportunities as well as issues.” This is the situation faced by the Indian IT Industry. A vast majority of flourishing and renowned IT companies in India are not more than a decade old.

CSR can also be looked at as a source of competitive advantage as it aligns the company’s mission and values with initiatives that delve into civic engagement. Besides enhancing the company brand it assists in building a positive mindshare with the concerned stakeholders—its share holders, customers, government and also energising its human capital.  Lokesh Mehra, Regional Manager - Corporate Responsibility for Cisco Systems - South Asia says, “Companies wanting to reach the bottom of the pyramid have to innovate and CSR no longer gets labelled as a ‘do-good’ but more as a core business opportunity. In short, the goal post for businesses has moved due to society’s expectation from them and it is now a generic concern for the “good of all” rather than risk mitigation.”

Emphasising the growing importance of globalisation, P Ravindranath, Director Public Affairs, HP India, says, “Global Citizenship is an important part of our business, from developing energy-efficient products and managing a responsible supply chain to protecting data privacy and recycling equipment at the end of its useful life.” Apart from this he also informed that HP invites everyone to take a look at its FY06 Global Citizenship Customer Report to learn more about how HP’s hidden component—Global Citizenship—is helping create a better world.

Yvonne Spalding, COO, Xansa (India), says, “CSR is now considered as a platform to connect with all key stakeholders like the community in which we operate; the clients, who wants their partners to be socially aware and committed and the employees, who prefer working with a socially responsible organisation.” 

Managing e-waste

With the rapid growth of the IT industry globally in recent years, the consequent environmental implications have to be considered. A side-effect of the IT revolution is the generation of e-waste, a colloquial term for electronic products that have become obsolete or reached their end of life.  Hazards arise due to the improper recycling and disposal processes used. E-waste is a mounting concern; 20 million devices become obsolete every year. 

Over the years, e-waste leads to chemical and metal leaching finally resulting in groundwater contamination. Mercury, for example, will leach when certain electronic devices such as circuit breakers are destroyed. 

HP’s Ravindranath says, “We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our operations, products and services. We design our products to be sustainable throughout their life cycles, offer product reuse and recycling solutions, and set high environmental standards in our operations and supply chain. The HP Planet Partners Hardware Return and Recycling Program offers to take back end-of-life HP computer and printing hardware products. This initiative offers customers an option to dispose and recycle of used computing equipment in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.”

HP is working with an approved e-waste recycling vendor in Bangalore. “Waste management is a serious concern. An estimate says that IT in Bangalore produces almost 7,000 tonnes and India produces nearly 100,000 tonnes of ‘end of life’ (products to be recycled) equipment, annually. In the past one year HP has recycled 160 tonnes of equipment from its facilities,” says Ravindranath. 

Pointing out some ways to tackle the issue, Sachin Duggal CEO, Nivio says, “Hardware being out of date is an old problem, we think that nothing should be wasted (unless otherwise unavoidable) and in fact equipment can have its life extended. Our planet has a finite amount of space and a finite amount of resources; the time now is for keeping it clean and using resources sustainably. Nivio, hopefully, is a strategy to deal with some of the waste.”

Mehra of Cisco says, “At Cisco we believe that corporations have a responsibility to consider the broader effects of their operations on the communities in which they do business. Cisco’s citizenship practices demonstrate that our actions improve the health of our business as well as the health of the global community.”

As a global company working towards a recycling-oriented society, Bharadwaj of Canon says, “We are conducting “inverse manufacturing (IM)” activities. That is, we consider recycling from early in the design and development stage and create sophisticated product lifecycle systems. Canon is working to restructure recycling systems and promote the principle of 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle), which is the basis of IM activities.” He adds, “At Canon, we have follow ‘green procurement’ norms, which is the practice of purchasing environmentally conscious parts and materials that make Canon’s products friendly to the environment.”

Calling IT one of the most 'green' industries, Thakur of CSC adds, "Environmental hazards (unlike for the nuclear industry or the manufacturing industry) is not the driving factor for IT companies to adopt CSR. However, it is imperative that IT waste is disposed off in an environmental friendly way. CSC has a global asset disposal policy in place. Other environment concerns, such as energy conservation, are taken seriously by us.”

Waste management has become a critical part of CSR programmes across the IT industry.  e-waste is one of the biggest hazards faced by the average Indian corporate.  Spalding of Xansa says, “Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the rapidly growing environmental problems of the world as organisations tend to procure new machines and dump the older ones.”

Education remains a priority

In a country like India, where a vast majority of the children are deprived of even basic primary education, investing in a child’s education becomes one of the prime CSR initiatives for making a visible contribution towards society. CSR initiatives in India emphasise improving the quality of education in the country especially among underserved communities. Education can result in empowering people from these communities with the necessary skills for eking their livelihood.

Vikas Goswami, CSR Lead, Microsoft India says, “Education is considered to be a critical issue for our society that needs to be properly looked at. Talking about computer education or basic computer literacy, there is a huge demand. We are focused on this mission and we believe that access to computers and knowledge about computer will enhance anyone’s qualification in today’s world.”

Intel India is involved in various educational initiatives through the Intel Teach Program, which is aimed at training teachers in the use of technology. Bedi of Intel says, “The program helps them learn from other teachers how, when and where to incorporate technology into their lesson plans, with a focus on developing students’ higher-order thinking skills. Launched in India in the year 2000, the program has spread to more than 35 cities nationwide and has touched more than 7 lakh teachers to date.”  

Bedi also points out the value of content in India. He says, “Intel collaborates with governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), education and healthcare leaders, and local businesses to accelerate the development of localised software, digital content, and services for social, economic, educational and health applications.” These collaborative initiatives focus on open standards (for content creation tools, hardware, software, and file formats) and by using public domain resources to help keep costs down and make adoption easy.

Rekha Menon, lead executive, India Geographic Services & Human Capital & Diversity, Accenture India says, “Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of education in social development, education in the field has remained severely underdeveloped. There is a need for a shared and up to date repository of knowledge that will enable in guiding sound policy decisions in the field. At Accenture, we lay emphasis on supporting initiatives aimed at the education of children and youth, including challenged children enabling us to make a positive impact in society.” 

Krishan Dhawan, Managing Director, Oracle India says, “The whole initiative is known as Oracle Education Initiatives (OEI). We know that the long-term future of our business and the IT industry is reliant upon the next generation of learners and leaders. By investing in the education of today’s students and partnering with governments and academic bodies, Oracle is helping students meet the challenges of the information age. Over 4,00,000 students in Indian schools and colleges benefit from OEI today.”

Spalding adds, “Xansa CSR initiatives with its focus on schools and education, has reached out to more than 18,000 school children across the country. Xansa has associated itself in different ways with 24 schools and orphanages–11 in Noida, 10 in Chennai and 3 in Pune.”

“SAP Labs India has a huge emphasis on CSR projects with an added focus on educating children. SAP is dedicated to educating today’s students so that they can play an active role in tomorrow’s economies. On a global level, we do it through our University Alliance Programme and First Lego League programme. On a national and local level; we have customised programmes that suit and meet the local needs of the society,” says Kniese of SAP.

An effective medium

Spalding says, “CSR is one of the most effective tools to create a common platform for service providers and customers. In the case of Xansa, our clients support various community initiatives in India.  Xansa is able to create a channel for its customer to reach out to the community in India.”

Bharadwaj of Canon says, “We believe that the private sector can contribute a lot more in the social sector by working together in implementing different programs. In fact many industry organisations like the FICCI, CII and NASSCOM have periodically appoint special committees to conceptualise and implement various CSR programs. There are many such programs that are already rolling even in the hinterland be it regarding water conservation, primary and secondary education or providing healthcare.”    

Mehra of Cisco says, “All the partners in a company’s ecosystem need to be involved in the stakeholder engagement. To give an example, Cisco partners with BT for running Lifelines while both vie for the same customers in the commercial space. Similarly a HDFC may partner with an ICICI for a project that may require housing loans and microfinance.”

Moving on

It is good to see that Indian IT Industry is trying hard in its own capacity to enhance the life of the average citizen. The different CSR initiatives by these IT companies are the evidence of their commitment towards India. At the same time there is one thing that they can do which has not been done to date. There is a huge need of technology that serves the poor. This technology could be in the form of some small ERP package for a slum area through which the slum dwellers are able to manage, utilise and monitor their existing resources. Any IT company can play a big role in this and it will have a direct, measurable impact on the poorest of the poor.