Indian Experience of CSR and Corporate Governance in the Post-liberalised Era

Abstract

Corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have gained considerable space in business management literature in recent times. Both these concepts share many commonalities and overlap in the day-to-day operational and strategic life of business organisations. The purported aim of both CG and CSR is to ensure that corporations behave ethically and responsibly and are governed strictly according to the law while interacting with and empowering all the stakeholders. Therefore, it is important to explore the potential commonalities and hurdles in achieving synergy between CG and CSR in the Indian context. Indian CG serves the monopoly corporations by tweaking the basic principle of a free market economy. It leaves workers, customers, the environment, society and other important stakeholders in the vagaries of predatory market forces. Similarly, CSR in India, like elsewhere, is used to hide the systematic vices of the corporate sector. The unholy nexus of corporates, politicians and bureaucrats is killing the essence of CG and CSR synergy. Therefore, a strong, effective, non-partisan, transparent and independent policy-making, institutional, regulatory, accounting and audit mechanism must be implemented to insulate all stakeholders from the tyranny of monopoly corporations. This article uses an argumentative analytical method to conceptualise and theorise the different aspects of CG and CSR in the Indian context.