• PREETI UTTAM

The Indian economy is one of the largest economies in the world. But besides of this fact, a large number of the people of India are living in absolute poverty, which in some or the other manner presents a picture of uneven distribution of benefits of growth, which is the major basic cause of social unrest of the country. Besides the fact that economic development is the determining factor that whether a country is a developed or developing or least developed, it deters the environment or natural resources. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government to protect the environment and social security. The government and various statutory bodies to settle this unrest, issued some guidelines which are voluntary in nature on Corporate Social Responsibility which is popularly known as CSR for the sake of protection of society and environment. But now the responsibility lies on the business and corporate world for the effective participation in the form that they spend some of their profit on CSR. CSR in simple terms can be understood which refers to the running the affairs of a company in conformity with ‘business ethics’; ‘transparency’; ‘good governance’ and ‘being accountable to both the shareholders and the society at large. Business ethics involves fair and honest treatment to all the stakeholders, including the shareholders. Some people may get confuse the concept of CSR with that of charity by the corporate bodies or entrepreneurs, some may consider it as ‘philanthropy’; some may consider as a form of “good governance” or some may consider as “business ethics”. As it has been said that this concept of CSR is not a new phenomenon and rather its roots exist in Indian culture as India has one of the richest traditions of CSR because of the reason that charity and philanthropy existed in Indian culture from the time immemorial. Hence, in the light of above background, it can be said there prevails a dichotomy regarding the nature and definition of the concept of CSR throughout the globe. And since it is emerging as the most important strategy being adopted by big corporate houses to protect the society and environment, it is important to eradicate this prevailing confusion regarding its nature and definition. This paper is an attempt of the author to settle down the nature of the concept of the CSR. SCOPE OF THE TOPIC This paper is an attempt to define the nature and definition of the concept of CSR. As it has been said that CSR is all about corporate entities acting as good corporate citizens, therefore, the scope of the paper may include the brief introduction of the concept of “corporate citizenship”. CSR can be understood from various perspectives which may include (a) the societal perspective; (b) the strategy-driven perspective; (c) the stakeholder perspective; (d) the ethical perspective; (e) the political perspective; and (f) the philanthropic perspective. The paper shall also be dealing with the “evolution of CSR in India” which shall include various phases of the development and evolution of CSR which has been divided into five phases. The paper shall also be covering the “CSR competency framework” which has been adopted by the British Government as a flexible tool which can be considered as a ‘way of thinking’ for companies. Further, the paper shall also be dealing with all the concepts such as ‘philanthropy’; ‘good corporate governance’ etc. with which the concept of CSR has been compared with. The paper shall also mention in brief the “recent trends of corporate sector in CSR activities”. Lastly it shall include the brief account of “CSR strategies and policies”. And accordingly, conclusion shall be drawn with an attempt to determine the nature and definition of the concept of CSR. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The objective of this research paper is to make an attempt to define the concept of CSR as there has been dilemma regarding the actual nature of the concept of CSR. Some may confuse it with charity done by the corporate bodies some may consider it as a means of philanthropy; some consider it as a means of good corporate governance. So in the opinion of the author it is required to delimit its scope and also to provide it a specific definition by understanding its nature and various strategies and policies which are being adopted by various companies or corporate bodies now-a-days. HYOTHESIS On the basis of the above statement of problem, the author has drawn the hypothesis for this paper which can be mentioned as: “Is the concept of CSR an amalgamation of various other concepts or it has a completely different footing and has its own individual understanding?” RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. What is the prevailing understanding of the concept of CSR? 2. How does the concept of CSR relate to the concept of corporate citizenship? 3. What are the similarities between the concept of CSR and philanthropy and how can they be distinguished from each other? 4. How has the concept of CSR evolved in India? 5. How far the concept of CSR has proved to be a competent framework for the good corporate governance? 6. What are the recent trends of the corporate sector in CSR activities? 7. What strategies and policies have been adopted by the corporate sector to adhere to CSR guidelines? 8. Is the concept of CSR an amalgamation of various other concepts or it has a completely different footing and has its own individual understanding?

"CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.940-957, June-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906E94.pdf

"CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp940-957, June-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906E94.pdf