UNIT III

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Unit I
Moral Values and Ethics: Values Concepts, Types and Formation of Values, Ethics and Behaviour.
Values of Indian Managers; Managerial Excellence through Human Values; Development of Ethics,
Ethical Decision Making,
Business Ethics- The Changing Environment and Stakeholder Management, Relevance of Ethics and
Values in Business, Spiritual Values. Modern Business Ethics and Dilemmas, Overview of Corporate
Social Responsibilities (CSR) and Sustainability. (12 Hours)
Unit II
Managing Ethical Dilemmas at Work: The Corporation and External Stakeholders, Corporate
Governance: From the Boardroom to the Marketplace, Corporate Responsibilities towards Consumer
Stakeholders and the Environment; The Corporation and Internal Stakeholders; Values-Based Moral
Leadership, Culture, Strategy and Self-Regulation; Spiritual Leadership for Business Transformation.
Organizational Excellence and Employee Wellbeing through Human Values. (10 Hours)
Unit III
Corporate Social Responsibility: A Historical Perspective from Industrial Revolution to Social
Activism; Moral Arguments for Corporate Social Responsibility, Development of Corporate
Conscience as the Moral Principle of Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility
of Business, Employees, Consumers and Community. Corporate Governance and Code of Corporate
Governance, Consumerism, Current CSR Practices of the Firms in India and Abroad. Challenges of
Environment: Principles of Environmental Ethics, Environmental Challenges as Business
Opportunity, Affirmative Action as a form of Social Justice. (10 Hours)
Unit IV
Issues in Moral conduct of Business and CSR: Failure of Corporate Governance, Social Audit,
Unethical Issues in Sales, Marketing, Advertising and Technology: Internet Crime and Punishment,
Intellectual Property Rights, Corruption in Business and Administration. BS / ISO Guideline on CSR
Management (ISO-26000). (10 Hours) 2
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 The difference between freedom of action for the few and responsibility for
the many was prevalent in the middle ages, before and after the industrial
revolution, and even today. The focus of social responsibility has changed
over a period of time. The Tudors interfered to protect the peasants from
getting their common land enclosed. It was evident that at the end of the
eighteenth century, governments were committed to improvement.
And forced enclosure with a view to improving the communities, though it
could not serve the purpose of social responsibility. Consequently, there were
many other reforms introduced by the then governments.
Robert Owen showed that production could be efficient and responsible. For
example, the ventures created by Levers and Cadburys lasted far longer than
others, which were managed by hard headed contemporaries.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, British entrepreneurs
concentrated on self-help and co-operation. In North America, education was
given prime importance. And most of the North American entrepreneurs were
associated with educational institutions.

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 There was a distinction regarding the implication of corporate responsibility,
owing to different economic, political and social conditions. The success of
Germany and the achievements of US industry that weakened Britain. It was
identified that a new growth is required to reflect a new relationship
between the ways to generate wealth and the strategies to distribute wealth.
In the contemporary world, the new change will be founded on the ethics and
values. Simultaneously, the limits and risks of executive action will also be
recognized.
In the last 20 years, multinational corporations have played a key role in
defining markets and influencing the behaviour of a large number of
consumers. The rules of corporate governance have changed too. And there
has been a range of reactions to this change.
On the one hand globalisation and liberalisation have provided a great
opportunity for corporations to be globally competitive by expanding their
production-base and market share. On the other hand, the same situation
poses a great challenge to the sustainability and viability of such mega-
businesses, particularly in the context of the emerging discontent against
multinational corporations in different parts of the world.

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 Labourers, marginalised consumers, environmental activists and social
activists have protested against the unprecedented predominance of
multinational corporations.
A growing awareness about the need for ecological sustainability and the
New Economy framework with an unprecedented stress on
communication and image merchandising, have paved the way for a new
generation of business leaders concerned about the responses of the
community and the sustainability of the environment.
It is in this context that we need to understand the new trends in
corporate social responsibility.
There are three emerging perspectives that inform corporate social
responsibility:
One, a business perspective that recognises the importance of reputation
capital for capturing and sustaining markets.
Seen thus, corporate social responsibility is basically a new business
strategy to reduce investment risks and maximise profits by taking all the
key stake-holders into confidence. The proponents of this perspective
often include corporate social responsibility in their advertising and
social marketing initiatives.
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 The second is an eco-social perspective. The proponents of this perspective
are the new generation of corporations and the new-economy entrepreneurs
who created a tremendous amount of wealth in a relatively short span of time.
They recognise the fact that social and environmental stability and
sustainability are two important prerequisites for the sustainability of the
market in the long run.
Seen from the eco-social perspective, corporate social responsibility is both a
value and a strategy to ensuring the sustainability of business. It is a value
because it stresses the fact that business and markets are essentially aimed at
the well-being of society. It is a strategy because it helps to reduce social
tensions and facilitate markets.
There is a third and growing perspective that shapes the new principles and
practice of corporate social responsibility. This is a rights-based perspective on
corporate responsibility. This perspective stresses that consumers, employees,
affected communities and shareholders have a right to know about
corporations and their business.
Corporations are private initiatives, but increasingly they are becoming public
institutions whose survival depends on the consumers who buy their products
and shareholders who invest in their stocks. This perspective stresses
accountability, transparency and social and environmental investment as the
key aspects of corporate social responsibility. 7
 The primary drive for ethical business and corporate social responsibility came
from the USA and Europe in the '80s and '90s. Consumer boycotts, direct
action, shareholder action, ethical shopping guides, ethical product labelling
schemes, media campaigns and ethical competitors became increasingly
effective in changing corporate perspectives.
In the changing political paradigm, the market has begun to play a crucial role
in shaping the priorities and inclinations of the State and society. There was a
subtle shift from a State-centred policy to a market-centred policy. In such a
scenario, fluctuations in the market influence State policies, and it is markets
that increasingly define a State's boundaries of financial and social activity,
particularly through the World Trade Organisation and powerful individual
cartels and stock exchanges. A State's national economy is increasingly
dependent on the financial capital market and the consumer
market.
A recent survey showed that 86 per cent of about 4,000 people aged 15 or
older in Europe, expressed a preference for purchasing a product from a
company 'engaged in activities to improve society.

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 Although recognizing that profits are necessary for any business to survive,
for-profit organizations are able to obtain those profits only because of the
society in which they operate.
CSR emerges from this interaction and the interdependent relationship
between for-profits and society. It is shaped by individual and societal
standards of morality, ethics, and values that define contemporary views of
human rights and social justice.
CSR broadly represents the relationship between a company and the principles
expected by the wider society within which it operates. It assumes businesses
recognize that for-profit entities do not exist in a vacuum and that a large
part of their success comes as much from actions that are congruent with
societal values as from factors internal to the company.
At one level, the moral argument for CSR reflects a give-and-take approach,
based on a meshing of the firms values and those of society. Society makes
business possible and provides it directly or indirectly with what for-profits
need to succeed, ranging from educated and healthy workers to a safe and
stable physical and legal infrastructure, not to mention a consumer market for
their products.

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 Because societys contributions make businesses possible, those businesses
have a reciprocal obligation to society to operate in ways that are deemed
socially responsible and beneficial. And because businesses operate within the
larger context of society, society has the right and the power to define
expectations for those who operate within its boundaries.
At a deeper level, however, societies rest on a cultural heritage that grows out
of a confluence of religion, mores, and folkways. This heritage gives rise to a
belief system that defines the boundaries of socially and morally acceptable
behaviour by people and organizations.
The cultural heritage leads to an evolving definition of social justice, human
right and environmental stewardship, the violation of which is deemed morally
wrong and socially irresponsible. To violate these implicit moral boundaries
can lead to a loss of legitimacy that threatens the long-term viability of the
organization.

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 Moral principles prescribe rules of acceptable behavior that are intended to be
impartial.
Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Development

Universal Principles
Social Contract
Law & Order
Interpersonal
Instrumental
Obedience & Punishment
Childhood--------------Through-----------------Adulthood

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1. Obedience and punishment: person does the right thing mainly to
avoid punishment or to obtain approval.
2. Instrumental: person becomes aware that others also have needs
and begins to defer to them to get what the individual wants.
3. Interpersonal: person considers appropriate behavior as what
pleases, helps, or is approved by friends or family.
4. Law & Order: person recognizes that ethical behavior is not
determined only by reference to friends, family, co-workers, or
others whose opinions the individual might value.
5. Social Contract: person is aware that people hold a variety of
conflicting personal views that go beyond the letter of the law.
6. Universal Principles: person views appropriate conduct as
determined by a persons conscience, based on universal ethical
principles.

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 Ethical Models

Utilitarian Justice

Moral Rights

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 Ethical Models
Utilitarian Model: All employees should strive to increase the
companys profits.
Parts to Utilitarian Model:
(Organizational Goals): focusing on maximizing profits. Profits are
seen as the reward for satisfying customers.
(Efficiency): achieved by both minimizing inputs (e.g. labor, land, and
capital) and maximizing productive outputs.
(Conflicts of Interest): by having a financial interest in a supplier a
purchasing agent might be more likely to buy from his supplier even if
its not in the companies best interest.

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 Ethical Models
Moral Rights Model: Judging decisions and behavior by their
consistency with fundamental personal and group liberties and
privileges.
(Life and Safety): Employees, customers, and public have the right
not to have their lives and safety endangered.
(Truthfulness): They have the right not to be intentionally deceived
on matters about which they should be informed.
(Privacy): Citizens have the right to control access to personal
information.
(Free Speech): Employees have the right to criticize the ethics or
legality of their employers actions.
(Private Property): This right allows people to acquire, use, and
dispose of shelter and have lifes basic necessities.

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 Ethical Models
Justice Model: Judging decisions an behavior by their consistency
with an equitable, fair, and impartial distribution of benefits
(rewards) and costs among individuals and groups.
Distributive Justice Principle: moral requirement that individuals
not be treated differently because of arbitrarily defined
characteristics.
Fairness Principle: moral requirement that employees support the
rules of the organization when certain conditions are met.
Natural Duty Principle: moral requirement that decisions and
behaviors be based on a variety of universal obligations.

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 Affirmative Social Responsibility: Corporations and their leaders are
trying to move away from traditional, utilitarian models of business
and take a more proactive stance with regard to society.
5 steps of affirmative Social Responsibility:
1. Broad Performance Criteria
2. Ethical Norms
3. Operating Strategy
4. Response to Social Pressures
5. Legislative and Political Activities
Taking this approach requires companies to implement five different
an expensive behaviors:
1. Broad Performance Criteria: management and employees must
recognize broader views to measure growth.
2. Ethical norms: managers and employees must take definite stands on
issues of public concerns.
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3. Operating strategy: managers and employees should maintain or
improve current standards of the physical and social environment.
4. Response to social pressures: management and employees should
accept responsibilities for solving current problems.
5. Legislative and Political Activities: Managers must show a willingness
to work with outside stakeholders for enforcement.

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 Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate
conscience, corporate citizenship or sustainable responsible
business/ Responsible Business) is a form of corporate self-
regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as
a self-regulatory mechanism whereby a business monitors and
ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical
standards and international norms.
CSR may be based within the human resources, business
development or public relations departments of an organisation, or
may be a separate unit reporting to the CEO or the board of
directors. Some companies approach CSR without a clearly defined
team or programme.
Social accounting is the communication of social and environmental
effects of a company's economic actions to particular interest groups
within society and to society at large.
Social accounting emphasizes the notion of corporate accountability.

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 The rise of ethics training inside corporations, some of it required by
government regulation, has helped CSR to spread. The aim of such
training is to help employees make ethical decisions when the
answers are unclear.
Social license refers to a local communitys acceptance or
approval of a company. Social license exists outside formal
regulatory processes. Social license can nevertheless be acquired
through timely and effective communication, meaningful dialogue
and ethical and responsible behaviour.
CSR of Business
Demonstrate a commitment to societys values and contribute to
societys social environmental and economic goals through action.
Insulate society from negative impacts of company operations,
products and services.
Demonstrate that the company can make more money by doing the
right thing.

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 CSR of Employees
Relationships with suppliers must be based on mutual trust.
Belief in fair economic competition.
Business can contribute to social reform and honor human rights.
CSR of Consumers
Most consumers agree that while achieving business targets,
companies should do CSR at the same time. Most consumers believe
companies doing charity will receive a positive response.
Somerville also found that consumers are loyal and willing to spend
more on retailers that support charity. Consumers also believe that
retailers selling local products will gain loyalty.
Smith (2013) shares the belief that marketing local products will gain
consumer trust. However, environmental efforts are receiving
negative views given the belief that this would affect customer
service.

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 CSR of Community
A key priority for a socially responsible business is to develop and
maintain strong and mutually beneficial relationships with its
community.
Businesses that take an active interest in community well-being can
generate community support, loyalty and good will. This is often
referred to as building your social license to operate, an
important business objective for any business.
Your community relations priorities will depend on the local
circumstances and your business strategy, competencies and assets.
You will want to consult others, including your employees and
representative community groups, to help you determine where to
invest time and resources in your community relations program.

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 Corporate governance broadly refers to the mechanisms, processes and
relations by which corporations are controlled and directed.
Corporate governance has also been more narrowly defined as "a system of
law and sound approaches by which corporations are directed and controlled
focusing on the internal and external corporate structures with the intention
of monitoring the actions of management and directors and thereby,
mitigating agency risks which may stem from the misdeeds of corporate
officers.
The system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed
and controlled.
Corporate governance essentially involves balancing the interests of the
many stakeholders in a company - these include its shareholders,
management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the
community.
Since corporate governance also provides the framework for attaining a
company's objectives, it encompasses practically every sphere of
management, from action plans and internal controls to performance
measurement and corporate disclosure.
Most companies strive to have a high level of corporate governance. These
days, it is not enough for a company to merely be profitable; it also needs to
demonstrate good corporate citizenship through environmental awareness,
ethical behavior and sound corporate governance practices. 23
 Codes:
Rights and equitable treatment of shareholders: Organizations
should respect the rights of shareholders and help shareholders to
exercise those rights. They can help shareholders exercise their rights
by openly and effectively communicating information and by
encouraging shareholders to participate in general meetings.
Interests of other stakeholders: Organizations should recognize that
they have legal, contractual, social, and market driven obligations to
non-shareholder stakeholders, including employees, investors,
creditors, suppliers, local communities, customers, and policy makers.
Role and responsibilities of the board: The board needs sufficient
relevant skills and understanding to review and challenge management
performance. It also needs adequate size and appropriate levels of
independence and commitment.
Integrity and ethical behaviour: Integrity should be a fundamental
requirement in choosing corporate officers and board members.
Organizations should develop a code of conduct for their directors and
executives that promotes ethical and responsible decision 24
making.
 Disclosure and transparency: Organizations should clarify and make
publicly known the roles and responsibilities of board and management
to provide stakeholders with a level of accountability. They should also
implement procedures to independently verify and safeguard the
integrity of the company's financial reporting. Disclosure of material
matters concerning the organization should be timely and balanced to
ensure that all investors have access to clear, factual information.

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 Consumerism is a social and economic order and ideology that
encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-greater
amounts.
In the domain of politics, the term "consumerism" has also been used
to refer to something quite different called the consumerists
movement, consumer protection or consumer activism, which seeks to
protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest
packaging and advertising, product guarantees, and improved safety
standards.
In this sense it is a political movement or a set of policies aimed at
regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of
manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer.
In an abstract sense, it is the consideration that the free choice of
consumers should strongly orient the choice of what is produced and
how, and therefore orient the economic organization of a society
(compare producerism, especially in the British sense of the term).

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 The theory that a country that consumes goods and services in large
quantities will be better off economically. Consumerism for example,
is an industrial society that is advanced, a large amount of goods is
bought and sold.
Sometimes referred to as a policy that promotes greed, consumerism
is also coined as a movement towards consumer protection that
promotes improvement in safety standards and truthful packaging and
advertisement. Consumerism seeks to enforce laws against unfair
practices implement product guarantees.
Over-consumption is sometimes negatively attributed to consumerism.
For instance some people might argue that Christmas holidays are a
time of consumerism due to the large amounts of goods that are
purchased during this time. Consumers strive to find the perfect gifts
and this creates a demand for goods and promotes greed.
Consumerism causes a materialistic belief that the more materials
acquired the better, implying an increased value placed on material
possessions.
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 Corporate social responsibility (CSR) also called corporate
responsibility is a concept whereby organizations consider the
interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their
activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders,
communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment.
This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to
comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking
further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their
families as well as for the local community and society at large.
CSR could prove to be a valuable asset in an age of Mergers &
Acquisitions, as it helps firms spread their brand name.
INDIAN SCENARIO
Even much before the issue became a global concern, India was aware
of corporate social responsibility (CSR), due to the efforts of
organisations such as the Tata Group. (Around 66 per cent of Tata
Sons, the holding group of the Tata Group, is today owned by a trust).
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 Corporate companies like ITC have made farmer development a vital
part of its business strategy, and made major efforts to improve the
livelihood standards of rural communities.
Unilever is using micro enterprises to strategically augment the
penetration of consumer products in rural markets.
IT companies like TCS and Wipro have developed software to help
teachers and children in schools across India to further the cause of
education. The adult literacy software has been a significant factor in
reducing illiteracy in remote communities.
Banks and insurance companies are targeting migrant labourers and
street vendors to help them through micro-credits and related
schemes.
The findings of a survey carried out in June 2008 revealed that The
leading areas that corporations were involved in were livelihood
promotion, education, health, environment, and women's
empowerment. Most of CSR ventures were done as internal projects
while a small proportion were as direct financial support to voluntary
organizations or communities. 29
 Some say companies have an inherent "mental block" in reporting
development programmes. A recent KPMG study among 27 Indian
companies showed that a mere 8% mentioned their social expenditures
in their annual reports, and only 25% filed CSR reports at all.
But a quarter of them are also signatories of the Global Reporting
Initiative, a 10-year-old movement started by an NGO called Coalition
for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) and the United
Nations Environment Programme. This encourages companies to make
voluntary disclosures and lays down framework on improving reporting
principles.
The concept of corporate social responsibility has gained prominence
from all avenues. Organizations must realize that government alone will
not be able to get success in its endeavour to uplift the downtrodden of
society. The present societal marketing concept of companies is
constantly evolving and has given rise to a new concept-Corporate
Social Responsibility.

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 Global Scenario
When companies operate in an economically, socially and
environmentally responsible manner, and they do so transparently, it
helps them succeed, in particular through encouraging shared value and
social license.
Management and mitigation of social and environmental risk factors are
increasingly important for business success abroad, as the costs to
companies of losing that social license, both in terms of share price and
the bottom line, may be significant.
As Canadian firms take advantage of global opportunities, there is an
increasing understanding that incorporation of responsible business
practices into investments and operations abroad not only benefits the
local economies and communities, but makes good business sense.
Vietnamese shoe manufacturers and textile industries began respecting
CSR norms of conduct as a result of pressure from multinational
corporations in developed countries.
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 Global Scenario
When companies operate in an economically, socially and
environmentally responsible manner, and they do so transparently, it
helps them succeed, in particular through encouraging shared value and
social license.
Management and mitigation of social and environmental risk factors are
increasingly important for business success abroad, as the costs to
companies of losing that social license, both in terms of share price and
the bottom line, may be significant.
As Canadian firms take advantage of global opportunities, there is an
increasing understanding that incorporation of responsible business
practices into investments and operations abroad not only benefits the
local economies and communities, but makes good business sense.
Vietnamese shoe manufacturers and textile industries began respecting
CSR norms of conduct as a result of pressure from multinational
corporations in developed countries.
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 Global Scenario
While many companies now practice some form of social responsibility,
some are making it a core of their operations. Ben and Jerry's, for
instance, uses only fair trade ingredients and has developed a dairy
farm sustainability program in its home state of Vermont.
Starbucks has created its C.A.F.E. Practices guidelines, which are
designed to ensure the company sources sustainably grown and
processed coffee by evaluating the economic, social and environmental
aspects of coffee production. Tom's Shoes, another notable example of
a company with CSR at its core, donates one pair of shoes to a child in
need for every pair a customer purchases.
Undertaking socially responsible initiatives is truly a win-win situation.
Not only will your company appeal to socially conscious consumers and
employees, but you'll also make a real difference in the world. Keep in
mind that in CSR, transparency and honesty about what you're doing are
paramount to earning the public's trust.

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 Lack of Community Participation in CSR Activities:
There is a lack of interest of the local community in participating and
contributing to CSR activities of companies. This is largely attributable
to the fact that there exists little or no knowledge about CSR within the
local communities as no serious efforts have been made to spread
awareness about CSR and instil confidence in the local communities
about such initiatives. The situation is further aggravated by a lack of
communication between the company and the community at the
grassroots.
Need to Build Local Capacities:
There is a need for capacity building of the local non-governmental
organizations as there is serious dearth of trained and efficient
organizations that can effectively contribute to the ongoing CSR
activities initiated by companies. This seriously compromises scaling up
of CSR initiatives and subsequently limits the scope of such activities.

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 Issues of Transparency:
Lack of transparency is one of the key issues brought forth by the
survey. There is an expression by the companies that there exists lack of
transparency on the part of the local implementing agencies as they do
not make adequate efforts to disclose information on their programs,
audit issues, impact assessment and utilization of funds. This reported
lack of transparency negatively impacts the process of trust building
between companies and local communities, which is a key to the
success of any CSR initiative at the local level.
Non-availability of Well Organized Non-governmental Organizations:
It is also reported that there is non-availability of well organized
nongovernmental organizations in remote and rural areas that can
assess and identify real needs of the community and work along with
companies to ensure successful implementation of CSR activities. This
also builds the case for investing in local communities by way of
building their capacities to undertake development projects at local
levels.

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 Visibility Factor:
The role of media in highlighting good cases of successful CSR initiatives
is welcomed as it spreads good stories and sensitizes the local
population about various ongoing CSR initiatives of companies. This
apparent influence of gaining visibility and branding exercise often
leads many nongovernmental organizations to involve themselves in
event-based programs; in the process, they often miss out on
meaningful grassroots interventions.
Narrow Perception towards CSR Initiatives:
Non-governmental organizations and Government agencies usually
possess a narrow outlook towards the CSR initiatives of companies,
often defining CSR initiatives more donor-driven than local in approach.
As a result, they find it hard to decide whether they should participate
in such activities at all in medium and long run.

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 Non-availability of Clear CSR Guidelines:
There are no clear cut statutory guidelines or policy directives to give a
definitive direction to CSR initiatives of companies. It is found that the
scale of CSR initiatives of companies should depend upon their business
size and profile. In other words, the bigger the company, the bigger is
its CSR program.
Lack of Consensus on Implementing CSR Issues:
There is a lack of consensus amongst local agencies regarding CSR
projects. This lack of consensus often results in duplication of activities
by corporate houses in areas of their intervention. This results in a
competitive spirit between local implementing agencies rather than
building collaborative approaches on issues. This factor limits companys
abilities to undertake impact assessment of their initiatives from time
to time.

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 Every life form is unique and has intrinsic value, regardless of its
perceived value to humans.
The body of moral principles or values followed by a person in regards
to their total surroundings are environmental ethics.
Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which
considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely
including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts
influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental
law, environmental sociology, eco theology, ecological
economics, ecology and environmental geography.
Marshalls principles of Environmental Ethics:
Libertarian extension
Marshalls Libertarian extension echoes a civil liberty approach (i.e. a
commitment to extend equal rights to all members of a community).
In environmentalism, though, the community is generally thought to
consist of non-humans as well as humans.
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 Marshalls principles of Environmental Ethics:
Libertarian extension
He reasoned that the "expanding circle of moral worth" should be
redrawn to include the rights of non-human animals, and to not do so
would be guilty of speciesism.
Ecologic extension
Alan Marshall's category of ecologic extension places emphasis not on
human rights but on the recognition of the fundamental
interdependence of all biological (and some abiological) entities and
their essential diversity.
Whereas Libertarian Extension can be thought of as flowing from a
political reflection of the natural world, Ecologic Extension is best
thought of as a scientific reflection of the natural world.
Ecological Extension is roughly the same classification of Smiths eco-
holism, and it argues for the intrinsic value inherent in collective
ecological entities like ecosystems or the global environment as a
whole entity. 39
 Sustainable business offers companies a value based concern for
environmental stewardship whereby consumers will have preference
for an environmentally friendly brand.
Such product stewardship integrates the voice of the stakeholder into
the business strategy by allowing the firm to interact with external
groups such as suppliers, customers, regulators and so on. This
enhances the outsiders confidence in the companys commitment to
enhancing their corporate reputation.
The relation between businesses and environmental and social issues
are intrinsic; in the past industry created a revolution in society and
the economy and changed the way we live- it was the birth of
capitalism. We are entirely reliant on our environment and for our
economy and society to survive we must alter our form of capitalism,
for a wider, more inclusive, and cleaner variety.
This change is possible, and it is the responsibility of corporations to
catalyse this revolution for they have the resources, the technology,
the capacity and more importantly, the global reach.
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 Business would do very well by viewing the world through an
environmental lens, not only through reducing their operational costs
and risks, but through the opportunity that disruptive technologies
present.
Companies now have the opportunity to solve the global problems.
Furthermore, there is certainly pressure from the outside to improve
their corporate responsibility, especially with during the information
and green revolution.
This perspective enables companies to manage the downside risks by
increasing the efforts to cut waste and reduce resource use and save
money. Similarly it encourages them to redesign processes to use less
energy, reducing the exposure to external gas or oil prices.
Furthermore, meeting the needs of the poor and developing this
market at the BoP is a significant opportunity for businesses and is
perhaps the best place to incubate the technologies of the future.

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 Indias affirmative action (AA) programme is primarily caste-based,
although there is some AA for women in the electoral sphere.
Social discrimination
There is sufficient evidence that amply demonstrates the various
aspects of stigmatization, exclusion and rejection that Dalits continue
to face in contemporary India.
Urban India might have fewer overt instances of untouchability, but
for a practice which has been outlawed for over six decades, it is
remarkably resilient and continues to exist in various forms.
Economic discrimination
Average wages for SCs and Others differ across all occupation
categories, and there are a number of decomposition exercises which
divide the average wage gap into explained and discriminatory
components.
The evidence on persistence of caste-based economic discrimination in
rural areas is perhaps not as surprising as the evidence from urban
areas, especially in the modern, formal sector jobs. 42
 Compensation for historical wrongs
Finally, social policy ought to compensate for the historical wrongs of
a system that generated systematic disparity between caste groups
and actively kept untouchables at the very bottom of the social and
economic order.
However, given the complex and long history of the Indian sub-
continent, the use of this argument in the context of caste-based
oppression and un-touchability has to proceed with extreme caution,
as several rightwing outfits would like to extend this argument to
other arenas by invoking completely unsubstantiated, often
manufactured injustices against the so-called indigenous inhabitants,
and ask for compensation for historical wrongs.

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