SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:1. GOOD PUBLIC IMAGE: All businessmen must enhance there public image to secure more customers. To establish a good public image, the business will have to fulfil social responsibility. Hence it will attract more customers and lead to increase in profits. 2. AVOIDANCE OF GOVT. INTERFERENCE: When businessmen voluntarily discharge of social responsibility, the government obligations are avoided. For eg. If business takes care of water pollution, etc. then government wont interfere in the activities of such business which is opposite in other cases. Any interventions can damage the image of the business in society at large. 3. TO AVOID CLASS CONFLICT: If business fulfils its social responsibility towards its employees like providing them good work conditions, housing, medical facilities and other benefits then it will improve moral of employees and they will not go for strikes. It will lead to increased production and profits.

4. CONSUMER S CONSIOUSNESS: consumer has become more conscious about their rights. They are aware of legal rights . If any manufactures cheats on consumers by supplying inferior goods the consumer associations takes actions against such business units. So to avoid such conflicts with the consumers, business units should assume social responsibility and produce good quality goods. 5. BUSINESS IS A PART OF SOCIETY: Since business is a part of society so they must have a positive attitude towards the needs of the society. Therefore, while taking decisions business manager should take into consideration the welfare of not only his organisation but also the welfare of other sub-systems so that the entire society or complete system is benefited. 6. LONG TERM INTEREST OF BUSINESS: The social responsibility of business, if taken care of in the present, ensures the success of business in future. It is possible that in the beginning of the organisation may have to bear the financial burden for meeting its social responsibility but the future of the organosation becomes secure. Thus the business gets benifited in long run.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:1. INCREASE IN PRICES: Meeting social responsibility involves huge costs such as donations to educational institutions, charitable institutions, relief to flood camps, etc. this increased cost I passed on to the society in the form of increased prices. So it is the society that ultimately bears the cost of meeting social responsibility. 2. LACK OF SKILL TO SOLVE SOCIAL PROBLEMS: Social problems are of very complex nature. Solving social problems require specialized knowledge. A person may be god in managing business problems but he may not be good at solving social problems. 3. MEETING SOCIAL RESPONCIBILTY DEVIATES FROM MAIN OBJECTIVES: The main objective of any business is to earn profits. Meeting social responsibility goes against profit objectives. The money spend on meeting social responsibility can be invested in business to earn profits. Moreover , business is an economic institution and not social welfare organisations.

4. SHORTAGE OF TIME: Now-a-days, business does not merely mean buying goods and services. It involves many other activities i.e. advertising, launching sales promotion schemes, paying taxes, making a/c s, training employees, conduction meeting, etc. so in such a situation business managers have no time for solving social problems. 5. REGULAR BURDEN: Once a business starts meeting social responsibility then it becomes a regular burden of the business. The society expects the business unit to continue meeting its social responsibility forever in future. Even if business unit faces financial difficulties, it cannot afford to discontinue meeting social responsibility, as It will have negative effects on its image. 6. OPPOSITION BY OTHER FIRMS IN THE SAME INDUSTRY: If any business into spends some money on meeting social responsibility them it receives resistance from other business units in the same industry. The other business think that they too have to spend spend on meeting social responsibility line with this business unit. So other firms of the same industry oppose social responsibility measures taken by any other unit.

EXAMPLE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY:- HINDALCO

Long before corporate social responsibility found a place in the corporate lexicon, it was already textured into the Group's value system. As early as the 1940s, the late Mr. G.D. Birla espoused the trusteeship concept of management investing a portion of the company's profits for the larger good of society. The late Mr. Aditya Birla went beyond chequebook philanthropy when he brought in the concept of 'sustainable livelihood'. Today, we reach out to millions of people in the villages, of whom more than 60 per cent live below the poverty line. Their needs include: access to water, agriculture and sustainable livelihood, healthcare, and education. These four areas form the focus of our efforts. Focus areas: Health care Medical camps: Taking mobile medical units and providing ambulance service to remote areas. Health facilities: Setting up well-equipped and professionally manned health centres at several locations. Regular health camps: Providing family planning, mother and child care and specialised camps for eye care and for cataract; coordinating regular pulse polio immunisation drives; and promoting the awareness, prevention and treatment of malaria, water-borne diseases, TB, HIV/AIDS, and others diseases. Education Balwadis: Providing for the primary education of underprivileged children. Adult literacy: Providing formal and informal classes and active support to the government's mission to improve rural literacy levels. Merit scholarships / Schemes: Support female students for educational endeavours. Educational support: Contributing uniforms, textbooks and classroom equipment and undertaking school building construction and maintenance.

Skills training / capacity building The Aditya Birla Rural Technology Park (Muirpur, Uttar Pradesh, India): Runs over 70 training programmes in diesel / hand pump repair / maintenance, electrical repair/maintenance, beekeeping, tailoring, knitting and agriculture-related programmes and encouraging self-employment through income-generating projects. The Yashogami Skills Training Centre (Radhanagari, Tarale, Maharashtra, India): Trains women in skills such as rexine handicraft, fashion design, tailoring, food processing, pottery, lamination, electronics assembly, zardozi, jewellery design, papier mache, rangolli, and fabric design. Agricultural support Irrigation schemes: Land brought under irrigation with better yield and multi-cropping methods. Watershed development: Hydel towers, drainage canals, wells, check-dams, pedal pumps and harvest tanks. Training: Field schools train local farmers in modern agricultural techniques for higher crop yield; introducing lac cultivation, post-harvest technology with safe grain storage through an integrated pest-management system, floriculture, horticulture and kitchen gardens; shifting from mono to multi cropping patterns and distribution of high-yield seeds.