IIM-L kicks off course on CSR

The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, has a new bunch of students apart from its regular management students.

Mariel Gonsalves, who heads the Corporate Social Responsibility cell of Crompton Greaves is one of them. It was 'back-to-college' for her after several years of work.

This was the first day of a three day crash course IIM-L has started for corporate executives.

Gonsalves, along with three of her colleagues, had enrolled for it as had executives from other companies.

According to Prof Sushil Kumar, coordinator of the course, 16 'students' had originally enrolled themselves for this course.

They included deputy general managers from Reserve Bank of India and the Steel Authority of India and senior decision-makers from companies like the P V Sundaram, Hill and Associates, FM India, Crompton and Greaves and Pepsico.

Kumar, who claims that his short-term course was a precursor to a regular course being proposed by the Lucknow IIM, for the middle and senior level executives, said, "CSR was becoming one of the most important components of business in India as the country turns into a global hub for MNCs.''

Kumar, who teaches agri-business, entrepreneurship and carbon markets to undergraduates and graduates at IIM, claims that his course would enable the executives to "deal more effectively with pressures faced by their companies from various stakeholders, including employees, customers, local communities, governments, pressure groups, suppliers, and the media."

Sushil Kumar says, most of the managers today are far removed from the social realities of their broader business environment as they concentrate only on the economic aspect and fail to understand the complex interactions between the various stakeholders of their businesses.

"In India, some of the companies have huge disparities between the top-end and bottom-level salaries which, in turn, reflects the increasing gap between the poor and the upwardly mobile middle class.'' Sushil Kumar told Business Standard.

Gonsalves says she expects the IIM course to give her a perspective about global CSR practices. She along with three other colleagues have joined the IIM course.

Sunil Jain, a senior SAIL executive, who is attending the course, said, "CSR is a new area of corporate responsibility and hence we need to learn about new initiatives in this.''