Managing for future - Assignment Example

Part I: Analysing the environment Corporate social responsibility Tata steel is one of the firms which were the first to have a fully fledged corporate social responsibility program, not only in India but also around the world. This began with its founder in the early 20th century, who in his own words said that “In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder in business but is in fact the very purpose of its existence" (Srivastava, 2012, p. 20). In the current time, Tata Steel Ltd.

has a well grounded corporate social responsibility program which includes community development, environmental sustainability, employee relationships etc. This has made Tata to be recognized around the world due to its pioneering in this area (Mahesh, 2001). According to Mahajan (2003), Tata Steel Ltd. today spends between 5 and 7 % of its after tax profits to facilitate corporate social responsibility activities. This is a commendable amount of money to spend in corporate social responsibility programs.

In this case study, commissioned and selected for studying the topic of CSR by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), it becomes very clear that Tata is one of the firms which have taken corporate social responsibility in a very serious way. . to identify the impact on the community in which the project is being carried out. This helps in influencing the way Tata Steel Ltd. operates its project especially with regard to the impact on the community and the environment. An evaluation of Tata Steel Ltd’s corporate social responsibility programs indicates its dedication in terms of making sure that its operations don’t affect the community in a negative way.

However, there are a number of issues which come up as one looks closer. The first issue is that although Tata Steel Ltd. has invested a lot in corporate social responsibility programs, these programs are mostly directed towards philanthropic programs to the communities. Offering scholarships, healthcare services and other community programs is just a very small part of the problem especially for a big firm like Tata Steel Ltd (Puneet, 2011). Tata steel has activities which are very destructive to the environment and it is necessary for the firm to be able to look beyond just having philanthropic programs.

Although Tata Steel Ltd. states clearly in its CSR policies that its CSR goes beyond just philanthropic projects, it does not seem so in practice (Wilson, 2012). It is possible that despite the many corporate social responsibility programs that Tata steel has, the long term effects of its operations will exceed the benefits achieved by the community through Tata’s corporate social responsibility programs. This indicates that there are issues which must be looked at in a very serious way in order to close this gap.

Tata must look beyond just having good corporate social responsibility programs and look at the ways in which it can deliver a more practical and useful CSR programs. Environmental