A Study of CSR in the Software Industry in India

Corporate Social Responsibility is the degree of moral obligation that may be ascribed to corporations beyond simple obedience to the laws of the state. The idea that a corporation can operate free of any moral restraints is absurd. (Kilcullen and Kooistra, 1999)The primary objective of this dissertation is to examine the status quo of CSR in the IT industry in India and recognize the gaps between theoretical underpinnings and tangible integration of industry level CSR in India. A preliminary look at the data available through several sources suggests that CSR in Indian industries is somewhat ambiguous and is limited to the social development of the country, given its strong embeddings in philanthropy and community participation. The IT industry being a global one needs to be more proactive in deploying CSR towards the management of its other stakeholders such as employees, governments, clients, environment, etc in order to attain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Two case studies have been analyzed to get a comprehensive understanding of the manifestations and understanding of CSR by the industry and its related bodies. It was found that CSR is not yet a fully developed concept in the software industry in India, unlike in the west, where considerable amount of research has led to the development of the topic. The cases were analyzed keeping in mind the inherent characteristic underlying the market and non market environment of business. As cited by Marshall, (2007) some commentators question the control corporations are exercising over how CSR is becoming defined, and argue that this represents a shallow and insufficient engagement with the stark realities of climate change and significant global poverty (Christian Aid, 2004; Gray and Milne, 2004; Kennedy, 2005; Mayhew, 1997). Lantos(2001) argues, given the ultimate responsibility of a corporation to its stockholders, strategic CSR, which financially benefits the business through serving society in extra-economic ways, is justifiable, and from society's perspective, should be applauded, not condemned as self-serving