Opinion: Indian Firms Set Pace on Corporate Social Responsibility

Indian corporate leaders place a higher value than their American counterparts on weaving social missions into their business activities, a quartet of Wharton School professors say in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh, and Michael Useem, of the University of Pennsylvania business school, say in their report, “The India Way,” that major Indian firms put considerable stock in corporate social responsibility.

They cite examples such as the conglomerate ITC, which “sees no conflict between the twin goals of shareholder-value enhancement and societal-value creation;” the telecommunications firm Bharti Airtel, which put cellphones in the hands of millions of Indians with no other means of communication; and Hindustan Unilever, which used microfinance to build a sales force in the country’s poorest regions.

(A paid subscription is required to read this article.)