Mal Warwick - Sep 26, 2006 2:22 pm (#1 Total: 26)
Author, consultant, public speaker


Your questions are interesting. But I'm more intrigued to know what's really happening on the ground in Madurai. By coincidence, it's a city I've gotten to know through four or five visits in recent years -- working on fundraising with a large charity hospital there. Can you provide concrete examples of which businesses are working with which nonprofits -- and what each is getting out of it?

CHRISDANIEL - Sep 26, 2006 10:09 pm (#2 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Mal Warwick:

Greetings to you. Thank you  so much for your response.I am glad to know  of your visits to the temple city of Madurai.Yes there are a number of industries in and around this city who have been involved in corporate giving/philanthropy or running direct and/or indirect programmes through their own foundations/trusts in the fields of education,health,sanitation etc. Sadly enough,cross-sector partnering between these companies and nonprofits is not very much evidenced. Though a few corporates are involved in cross-sector collaboration with nonprofits,their programmes are not of long term in nature nor multi-year partnering.It may be fitting to mention that the concept of 'corporate partnership with nonprofits'  is not understood nor the importance of corporate giving is not very much realised by many companies  in and around  this temple city. There are no concrete examples I could cite wherein businesses get activley involved in cross sector partnering with nonprofits in Madurai.In fact, my organisation 'GOODWILL SOCIAL WORK CENTRE' took up  a  corporate-nonprofit partnership project with a "DuPont(SHE)Award 1997,offered by the DuPont South Asia Limited,Madurai Plant,India.It was a one time grant fund  used for environmental action program for children in villages(1997-98).You may visit my organisation's website:http://mfcs.malianfoundation.org/goodwill/. I look forward to the opportunity of meeting you here in this temple city when you will visit again.Best wishes.

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

 

Bharat Kakkad - Sep 27, 2006 8:41 am (#3 Total: 26)
Synapse Market Access Fund

Most of your questions are very relevant and in seeking answers they lead to further questions. In my experience there is a lot of 'lip service' offered by larger corporates as part of their modern approach to Corporate Social Responsibility. While this subject has received a lot more attention in the recent past, there are few examples of great "success" stories.

Information and materials on this topic is fragmented with few people who have in-depth knowledge. It would be good to use this platform to accumulate as much material as possible then assess if there is commonalty across countries, continents and the world.

Would be happy to participate in further discussions.

Ed Beauchamp - Sep 27, 2006 9:00 am (#4 Total: 26)
World Tourism Foundation


Brand alignment.  Brand is the most underutilzed Asset of non-profits, an asset that could generate substanial income.  Look at the Olympics.

Mal Warwick - Sep 27, 2006 10:01 am (#5 Total: 26)
Author, consultant, public speaker


Thank you, Prof. Daniel, for your response about the limits to corporate-nonprofit partnerships in south India. Unfortunately, I wasn't surprised by your answer. Both your comments and those of Bharat Kakkad reflect the same reality I've seen -- not just in India, but in most parts of the world.

The proverbial bottom line is that CSR is more fiction than fact for all but a handful of companies. It's true that, worldwide, the principal multinationals have grudgingly begun to issue annual social impact reports as well as financial reports, and some of those firms have launched impressive initiatives. However, for the most part, CSR in my opinion is little more than window-dressing for most companies. Many call it "reputation insurance."

The problem is partly one of definition. Most companies look on CSR as a call to engage in corporate philanthropy and, secondarily, in environmental activity. Yet a recent study by the international public relations firm Fleischman-Hillard shows that the public -- the U.S. public, at least -- feels that those are the *least* important aspects of CSR. Most important of all: paying workers well. Second: engaging with the community or communities where the company does business.

To compound the problem, the discussion about CSR focuses on big businesses -- yet the overwhelming number of businesses are small. There are only 500 companies in the Fortune 500 -- out of more than 25 million businesses in the United States alone.

It's true, of course, that big companies -- once they start walking their talk and demonstrating a concern for all their stakeholders -- will have a big impact on society. But it is the efforts of *small* companies that, in the final analysis, will truly bring CSR home.

That's why I teamed up with Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, to write "Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun." In this little softcover book, Ben and I profile two dozen small and mid-sized companies that have taken great strides toward genuine CSR -- striving toward the "triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit."

To date, I've seen companies in such countries as Brazil and South Africa -- not to mention Europe -- demonstrate equal commitment. So far, though, I haven't seen it in India. Too bad!

Akhil - Sep 27, 2006 8:37 pm (#6 Total: 26)
www.ief.in


I would tend to agree that a large majority of Indian companies have not started focussing on CSR activities. But there are exceptions. The most obvious examples are the the TATA group, the Birla Group, ICICI Bank... These entities have always invested in contributing to the society. A simple search would reveal the extent of their CSR activities.

But as Mal points out, it will be the efforts of the small companies that will bring about a significant change. I dont want to tom-tom our company's initiatives because there are a lot of friends/companies I know who are quite serious about giving back to the society and are doing their bit.

Our company is focusing on the education sector in India. It aims to set quality benchmarks in the education sector AND become the largest diversified education player in India. 5% of our EBIDTA goes into funding our foundation www.ief.in which has the mandate to improve the quality of K12 education in India. The two entities combined, in the long run will definitely make a significant difference in the education scenario in India. But as I said, our company is not alone in making CSR an integral part of our operational and financial strategy. There are many others.

CHRISDANIEL - Sep 27, 2006 9:52 pm (#7 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Mr.Bharat Kakkad:

Many thanks indeed  for your response.I am in full agreement with your views.I am attaching an article of mine on 'Business/Non-profit partnerships' in India(courtesty:www.foreignaid.com).Hope  you will find it useful.Your views and comments are most welcomeLooking forward to be in contact with you.Regards.

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

Attachments:

Introduction2.doc (41 KB)

CHRISDANIEL - Sep 27, 2006 10:52 pm (#8 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Mr.Mal Warwick:

Thank you  so much your response.Your question 'Is CSR for real'? is so revealing.I am attaching an article of mine 'Business/Non-profit partnerships in India'(Courtesy:foreignaid.com).You will really find it interesting to know more of CSR in India!.Happy reading!

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

Attachments:

Introduction2.doc (41 KB)

OKInternational - Sep 28, 2006 9:57 am (#9 Total: 26)
Occupational Knowledge International


This is an interesting discussion. I agree that there is more lip service than reality in many Corporate CSR programs. However, I would like to tell you about some exceptions.

My organization, OK International, in partnership with two Indian NGOs has been working cooperatively with business leaders to address one of India’s most significant environmental health threats. The Better Environmental Sustainability Targets (BEST) program is designed to restructure the incentives that drive industry behavior. The goal is to encourage lead battery companies to adopt improved pollution control measures by offering a certification program as an incentive. Participating companies that agree to meet minimum emission standards, and to take back batteries for proper recycling, will be eligible to place eco-labels on their batteries.

These environmental certification standards for the lead battery industry are being developed by a multi-stakeholder group convened by OK International along with our Indian NGO partners -- Development Alternatives (DA) and the National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India (NRCLPI) -- for this purpose. Participants include the two largest battery companies in India, major purchasers including Hero Honda and Tata, government and NGO representatives. The program was initially piloted under a cooperative agreement with Amara Raja (India’s second largest battery company) which provided us access to their facilities.

The stakeholders have completed three meetings and substantial progress has been made. The process is expected to be completed in February 2007 and the resulting draft standard will then be circulated for public comment. Although the program is being launched in India, it is anticipated that the program will be phased in on a global basis following its initial introduction.

In general, we have found much interest among Indian businesses to engage in open and constructive dialogue. My experience with these large players (as well as with small-scale stone crushing industries on another project in Orissa) suggests that there is more openness among businesses to work cooperatively with NGOs in India than in the U.S. I also believe that there are many more opportunities to conduct similar programs with other industries in India that are not being pursued due to lack of funding for these types of initiatives.

For additional information contact see: www.okinternational.org

Perry Gottesfeld Occupational Knowledge International (OK International)

K.L.SRIVASTAVA - Sep 28, 2006 7:53 pm (#10 Total: 26)
Researcher and Consultant,Hyderabad,INDIA

Collaboration is an important concept for sustainable development of countries like India. Thank you Prof. Daniel for hosting this discussion.

In this context, the initiative of agencies like OK International can play significant role in facilitating the process.

I was wondering whether there is any initiative from Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) or Govt. of India for facilitating this process. Is there any other international agency working in this field?

Thanks and regards,

KL

priyapatil - Sep 29, 2006 8:04 am (#11 Total: 26)

Thank you Dr. Daniel for starting this discussion. I am working with CRY - Child Rights and You, an organisation working for Child Rights in India. My experience with corporate partnerships has been diverse, we have had partnerships of all kinds as mentioned on the collaborative continuum, however, most of them have been transactional. The last few years have seen CRY move to a rights based approach and it is a challenge for us to take our resource partners on the same path. While some companies are moving away from the "charity" approach, we are still some way off from companies looking at CSR or corporate giving with a "development" approach. I am interested in what you call "integrative" partnerships on the collaboration continuum and would appreciate some thoughts on the same.

Thanks and regards,

 

OKInternational - Sep 29, 2006 11:10 am (#12 Total: 26)
Occupational Knowledge International


Dear KL

I am not aware of any programs in India devoted to NGO/Business partnerships. Although CII is participating in our stakeholder process, it may be difficult for them to take the initiative on such efforts without backing from membership companies. The government is also participating, but not focusing on our effort as a model that can be replicated.

As for other international agencies working in this area, I am aware of a program at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) that is called The Local Community Development and Stakeholder Engagement Program which has supported our efforts. Also in the UK The Centre for the Advancement of Sustainable Development Partnerships (CASDP) is focused on this area.

Regards Perry Gottesfeld

CHRISDANIEL - Sep 30, 2006 10:43 pm (#13 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Priyapatil:

Thank you so much for subscribing your views.It is good to know that corporates who partner with CRY have advanced into the transactional stage relationship on the collaboration continuum. I must appreciate the good work your organization has been  doing in the promotion of children's rights in India and working in  partnership with corporates in India. I have given  below a brief presentation on 'integrative partnership' which might interest you.

An integrative stage relationship is the higher level of engagement of partners’ missions, organizations and activities. This mutual mission relationship is described as ‘boundarylessness’.While businesses and nonprofits remain separate entities, when they come together to take up any development initiatives for the community, they become one organization. To quote from the book “The Collaboration Challenge” (James Austin, 2000) ‘The integrative stage relationship begins to look like a highly integrated joint venture that is central to both organizations’ strategies. The magnitude and form of resource exchange increases, and joint activities broaden still further. Personnel interactions intensify, and in several of the third stage relationships studied. One of the corporate partner’s top executives had been to the nonprofit partner’s board of directors and had become engaged in the governance of that partner. Individual value creation escalates to joint venture creation; each organization’s culture is affected by the other’s; processes and procedures are instituted to manage the growing complexity of the relationship.Ultimately, the alliance becomes institutionalized’. Obviously enough, this third stage of the collaboration  is at the extreme level in cross sector alliances.

 

Evidently, there are a number case studies reported on the Integrative stage relationship between businesses and nonprofits in the developed countries.Relatively no such alliance is evidenced in the Indian context.Have you come across any such instances wherein nonprofits and companies have advanced in to this degree of integration? Thanks.

 

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

priyapatil - Oct 1, 2006 4:39 am (#14 Total: 26)

Thank you for the information on integrative relationships. It does give  ideas on how we can attempt to move some of our transactional relationships towards an integrated stage. We have had some partnerships which would lie in the domain between transactional and integrative relationships, however sustaining them has been a challenge as change of key personnel, change in policies, performance to name a few, directly affect non-profit and corporate relationships. I haven't yet come across any such alliances as described by you in the Indian context.

CHRISDANIEL - Oct 1, 2006 6:34 am (#15 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Priyapatil:

Thanks very much.Looking forward to  remaining in contact with you in the future.Please log on to my organization's website:http://mfcs.malianfoundation.org/goodwill/. Regards.

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

 

CHRISDANIEL - Oct 1, 2006 6:37 pm (#16 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Mr. Perry Gottesfeld:

 

Thank you so much for your participation in the discussion. I have greatly enjoyed visiting your website and getting to know of OKI International’s  mission statement and description of activities.

I must express my warmest appreciation to you for your partnership initiatives with non-governmental organizations, government and businesses in environmental protection for sustainable development. It is so absorbing to learn about the fact that your organization in partnership with two Indian NGOs has been working in close cooperation with business leaders to combat environmental health threats and Indian companies have been engaging in open and constructive dialogue. Indian businesses ought to be ‘socially responsible’ in the sense they should feel more responsible towards the environment and even future generations. A socially responsible business has awful environmental, social and ethical obligations, which it needs to sustain. It should consider the “planet as a stakeholder “and take into account the environmental damage that they do.It is a heartening news that your organization is actively in building  an integrative stage relationship with nonprofits, businesses and government for promoting ‘corporate environmentalism’.

 

Please log on to my organization’s website: http://mfcs.malianfoundation.org/goodwill/ . Our organization would be most willing to associate with OKI in taking up any partnership initiatives in the State of Tamilnadu, South India. Best wishes.

 

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

CHRISDANIEL - Oct 2, 2006 9:09 pm (#17 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Mr.Srivastava:

I am deeply grateful to you for participating in this discussion.I am attaching my article for your attention.Looking foward to remaining in contact with you in the future.Best regards.

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

Attachments:

Introduction2.doc (41 KB)

tutormentor - Oct 3, 2006 5:17 pm (#18 Total: 26)
Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor Connection


Mr. Priyapatil, and others. I lead a US non profit that has been building connections with many US business and professional people who come from India.

My focus is on education, and connecting youth living in poverty with adults and businesses who will help these youth move through school and into careers. I have created a strategy intended to support all tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region, rather than just one or two. This is based on using GIS mapping software and searchable databases.

A few years ago I received a contribution from one of CRY's US sponsors who indicated that since he lives and works in the US, he wanted to make donations in the US, not just in India. That has led me to many new friends, most recently with the India Development Coalition of America. http:www.idc-america.org. This group will be holding an annual meeting in Chicago in a couple of weeks. If you're able, I encourage you to attend.

In my networking with people from India (and other countries), I recognize that many of the problems of big cities are similar. The ideas that work to solve a problem in one country could be borrowed to solve the same problem in many countries, if the resources were availabe.

I also recognize that the huge IT sector in India could be partners with me or other organizations in developing technology solutions that could benefit people in both countries.

In talking about SCR I feel that one strategy that could reach big corporations, or smaller ones, is for groups in multiple cities or countries to develop working relationships, which could be supported by branches of companies that do business in many places. Such collaborations would have an international appeal over local organizations that may have stronger local power than our own organizations.

Meeting on this portal is just one step toward forging cross country partnerships and working together to obtain corporate sponsorship and support. I hope we can connect more in the future.

CHRISDANIEL - Oct 4, 2006 5:37 pm (#19 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Attachments:

Introduction2.doc (41 KB)

lakshmi - Oct 5, 2006 7:26 pm (#20 Total: 26)


I am Lakshmi Iyer, member of the Corporate Philanthropy team of and Indian non profit - GiveIndia and my role is to manage the social initiatives of an Indian Corporate

Mr.Dan Bassill's : "connecting youth living in poverty with adults and businesses who will help these youth move through school and into careers" sounds very similar to the social initiatives strategy of the corporate whose program I manage. I wonder if you could share your program in more detail especially the NGO-corporate collaboration bits

As part of my work I do get to see NGO-corporate engagement at various levels, though not as high as mentioned by Prof Daniel !!

CHRISDANIEL - Oct 5, 2006 11:15 pm (#21 Total: 26)
PROF.DR.J.CHRISTOPHER DANIEL

Dear Ms.Lakshmi Iyer:

Thank you so much for your response.It is so delightful to know that you are managing partnership initiatives of an Indian Corporate. I would like to hear more about your activities? Where does your organisation fall on the collaboration continuum?  Do you partner with any grassroots level NGOs in India and provide funding for taking up social development programmes?

I am the Chief functionary and Executive Director of Goodwill social work centre(NGO),Madurai,India.You may please log on my organisation's website:http://mfcs.malianfoundation.org/goodwill/. Looking forward to remaining in contact with you in the future.Best regards.

Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel

priyapatil - Oct 5, 2006 11:49 pm (#22 Total: 26)

Dear Dan Bassill and others

I do hope we can connect to look at cross country partnership options and obtaining corporate sponsorship and funding. CRY is also present in America (www.america.cry.org) and I will definitely inform my colleagues about the IDCA. I work from CRY from Pune, India.

I would like to know whether you have had any experience with working with the corporate sector on partnerships aimed at restoring to people their rights. A rights based approach is somewhat intangible, is quite process oriented and "results" take time - which is difficult for many people to understand in today's "instant/quick fix world". I would like your thoughts on how one can forge long term partnerships in such a scenario.

Thanks and regards,

Priya

lakshmi - Oct 6, 2006 1:19 am (#23 Total: 26)


To answer your questions, Prof Daniel :

The focus of our social initiatives is to empower underprivileged youth to become more employable. To achieve this, we do partner with implementing NGOs who work in this area. Some of the programs (mostly vocation training based) are funded while others are non financial in nature.

Whether the partnership has a financial angle to it or not, we do engage with our partners at various levels, eg. we support our partners in - developing curricula, post training placement, delivering sessions that add value to their existing curricula, training of their trainers etc.

Though we have moved beyond the transaction stage, I must admit we are nowhere near the “higher level of engagement” stage articulated by Prof Daniel

As mentioned earlier, it would be interesting to hear more about Dan Bassill’s program and the levels of NGO-Business engagements therein

tutormentor - Oct 6, 2006 1:16 pm (#24 Total: 26)
Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor Connection

Prypa and Lakshmi, 

In the LINKS section of http://www.tutormentorconnection.org I have a sub category titled Process Improvement, Innovation and Collaboration. This divides into sub sections such as Concept Mapping, Geographic Information Systems, etc.  These sites illustrate various thinking about how we might collaborate on solving complex problems such as the one of getting people and corporations to give long term attention to the issues we're discussing.

In the Tutor/Mentor Institute section of my site I use GIS maps and simple charts to illustrate my ideas.  I feel that until others beging to visualize their ideas, or the process of getting from here to a desired result, we won't be able to understand what each other is talking about, and we won't be able to add to the blue print we each are visualizing.

The type of thinking in the Process Improvement and Innovation section is taking place in companies and universities in India, the US, and in other parts of the world.  Until we recruit people with these tools, who understand these concepts, to work with us to map our ideas, we not only won't reach much agreement amoung a few people about ways to solve our problems, but we won't create a path for millions of others to follow.

As you read this, take a look at your rolodex, and your own web site or blog. Think of all of the ways you can tell the people you know to come to this portal, or the T/MC portal or to other web sites, where complex ideas are being visualized and shared as discussions intended to lead to shared  understanding and collaborative action (which to me is action done with self interest in mind).

In short, we need to create knowledge centers that attract people to our discussions, and marketing and communications that reaches out every day to draw more people.  This is what faith communities have been doing for years.  We can learn a lot from them.

Dan

simonthreehands - Oct 27, 2006 6:58 am (#25 Total: 26)

I've been very interested to read this thread.

We are researching the possibility of businesses in India taking part in our Socially Responsible Development programmes; team, personal and leadership programmes which deliver development and learning whilst engaging the teams in community projects. There's more info on www.threehands.co.uk .

I'd appreciate your views.

Simon Hamilton

 

tutormentor - Oct 27, 2006 9:01 am (#26 Total: 26)
Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor Connection


Simon,

I visited your web site and it looks like you are focused on project based activities that serve a few organizations in the UK. I think this is important, but would encourage you to consider another level of leadership.

If you create a map of the UK or India showing where specific social issues create a need for socially responsible involvement (such as poverty indicating a need for education support, or water poverty, indicating a need for water solution projects, or AIDS concentrations, indicating a need for health solutions) the map could then be a roadmap for your role in connecting people who could help, such as corporations and corporate volunteer teams) with people and organizations addressing these issues in the different parts of the UK or India where the issue needs to be addressed)

Instead of just mobilizing volunteers, or donors, you begin to be an intermediary bringing people and resources together to solve problems. You could focus on a single city, or an entire country.

I model this type of thinking and acting in the work being done by the Tutor/Mentor Connection. In the Program Locator and Tutor/Mentor Institute sections of http://www.tutormentorconnection.org you can see maps and charts that illustrate where help is needed, what help might look like, and how long help needs to be provided.

I also host a conference in Chicago to bring people together to discuss the issues, the challenges, and to create capacity building collaborations. At http://www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com you can read about the Chicago conference, and you can view an eConference page that illustrates how I'm trying to connect with partners around the US and the world who might facilitate part of this, drawing their own stakeholders together, and connecting them to me and others around the world.

In doing so my goal is to draw greater attention to the issues, and greater support from multi national organizations who might support a project with partners in many countries more than they would support the same project presented by many different projects from many different places.

If you see opportunity for your group to take a role in the econferences, just for the purpose of expanding the discussion we're having here, let's talk of how that might happen.

This invitation is open to anyone else who visits Social Edge and is looking for a way to have a greater impact.

Dan Bassill