Institutionalization of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India and Its Effects on CSR Reporting: A Case Study of the Petroleum and Gas Industry

Author(s):  
Shilpi Banerjee
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1038-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah George Lauwo ◽  
Olatunde Julius Otusanya ◽  
Owolabi Bakre

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate on governance, accountability, transparency and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the mining sector of a developing country context. It examines the reporting practices of the two largest transnational gold-mining companies in Tanzania in order to draw attention to the role played by local government regulations and advocacy and campaigning by nationally organised non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with respect to promoting corporate social reporting practices. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a political economy perspective to consider the serious implications of the neo-liberal ideologies of the global capitalist economy, as manifested in Tanzania’s regulatory framework and in NGO activism, for the corporate disclosure, accountability and responsibility of transnational companies (TNCs). A qualitative field case study methodology is adopted to locate the largely unfamiliar issues of CSR in the Tanzanian mining sector within a more familiar literature on social accounting. Data for the case study were obtained from interviews and from analysis of documents such as annual reports, social responsibility reports, newspapers, NGO reports and other publicly available documents. Findings – Analysis of interviews, press clips and NGO reports draws attention to social and environmental problems in the Tanzanian mining sector, which are arguably linked to the manifestation of the broader crisis of neo-liberal agendas. While these issues have serious impacts on local populations in the mining areas, they often remain invisible in mining companies’ social disclosures. Increasing evidence of social and environmental ills raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the regulatory frameworks, as well as the roles played by NGOs and other pressure groups in Tanzania. Practical implications – By empowering local NGOs through educational, capacity building, technological and other support, NGOs’ advocacy, campaigning and networking with other civil society groups can play a pivotal role in encouraging corporations, especially TNCs, to adopt more socially and environmentally responsible business practices and to adhere to international and local standards, which in turn may help to improve the lives of many poor people living in developing countries in general, and Tanzania in particular. Originality/value – This paper contributes insights from gold-mining activities in Tanzania to the existing literature on CSR in the mining sector. It also contributes to political economy theory by locating CSR reporting within the socio-political and regulatory context in which mining operations take place in Tanzania. It is argued that, for CSR reporting to be effective, robust regulations and enforcement and stronger political pressure must be put in place.


MedienJournal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Maria Gruber

Corporate Social Responsibility reporting has grown increasingly in importance for companies in terms of portraying themselves as good corporate citizens. However, when confronted with a major corporate crisis that evoked an extensive loss in stakeholders’ trust, it remained unclear, how to further deal with the need for CSR communication without presenting oneself as exceedingly hypocritical. In the course of this study, the questions of how and to what extent crises cause change in a corporation’s CSR rhetoric were addressed. Therefore, the utilization of the rhetorical dimensions of logos, ethos, pathos, cosmos and autopoiesis as well as the amount of negative disclosure in the CSR reports of the world’s leading automobile companies (Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen) were analyzed, one year before and one year after they had maneuvered themselves into a corporate crisis. The rhetorical analysis revealed that the distinctive context of each case (including the corporations’ responsibility for the crisis) dictated the rhetorical adjustments of the CSR reporting after the crisis. Moreover, it could be shown, that when reporting on the crisis cause itself, corporations tend to apply the dimension of ethos more frequently to counter the audience’s potential perception of their hypocrisy.


Think India ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Abhijit Ranjan Das ◽  
Subhadeep Mukherjee

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not a very new concept, it is an old concept. Earlier, in India it was optional to the company that they may contribute voluntarily towards CSR but after the Companies Act 2013, it was formally introduced in the business environment and was made mandatory for those companies whose net worth and profit cross a threshold limit. They should contribute 2% of the average net profit of just preceding three years profit. This paper primarily focuses on CSR practices of some selected public sector petroleum companies in India. The study has been conducted based on the Annual Reports of seven selected public sector companies. Five years of data on CSR spending from 2009–10 to 2014–15 were examined. Moreover, the pattern of expenses was also examined. Since petroleum companies are giants of the India economy and contribute significantly towards the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of our country. Thus it is necessary to look into how these companies are contributing towards CSR. An attempt has been made to examine the early impact of Section 135 of the Companies Act.


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