The need of local adaptation of the corporate social responsibility strategy of multinational companies: The case of India

Abstract

This paper assesses the need of local adaptation of the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy of Multinational companies, and more precisely investigates the case of India. The first part of this paper retraces briefly the history of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and summarizes what CSR practices and concerns have achieved so far. The absence of a single global definition of CSR reflects the importance of the different perspectives, concepts and dimensions that have been elaborated across the time and in the different cultures. The evolving standards, applicable international laws, standardized frameworks to measure and demonstrate CSR applicability and development in the globalized context will thus recall us the main challenges that this very cited topic represent for national as much as for multinational companies. In the second part of our paper, taking the Indian context as an example, with its still strong reliance on Hindu values, we will show which aspects of the national context of the biggest democratic nation of the world have to be taken into account in order to achieve high sustainable performances. The challenges of companies operating in the Indian context, then, will be revealed more precisely. The third and last part of this paper explains why international companies need to focus with sensitive attention on national situations. The case of the Indian public conglomerate company ITC Limited, an exemplary application of CSR in the Indian context, illustrates how leadership can combine ethical and sustainable ethical behavior integrating a smart business oriented approach. It reveals also that following such a strategy, a company wishing to develop a socially responsible organization has to consider the regulators', communities' and suppliers' support, and it more fundamentally has to invest in it. While some cases of international companies, underperforming in terms of local adoptions and engagement mainly, have not been able to achieve expected returns so far, we will finally address recommendations for an international company wishing to establish in India.