Course outline

PRM – 39
Academic Year 2019-20

Course Title: Corporate Social Responsibility

Term V
Credit 2
Core / Elective Elective
Introduction Business engagement in society is not new. Corporate social
responsibility (CSR) has been long debated in various global contexts.
With significant changes in economic environments over the past few
decades, CSR has become an important strategy of multinational
corporations (MNCs) and large domestic companies for the survival
and growth of the business. Since the 1990s, however, CSR has
become not just the business concern but a development imperative.
There is considerable debate surrounding the effectiveness of various
CSR initiatives for addressing development challenges such as poverty
alleviation, social welfare, environment and climate change, human
rights, labour standards, etc. India is one of the rapidly growing
economies and hence a lucrative market for business. It requires
accelerating its industrial and infrastructural development to pave the
way for economic development. However, this could have an adverse
social, environmental and economic impact. Mandatory CSR Act
(2013), introduced by the Indian government, attempts to ensure
corporate support to meet specific development goals. To what
extent mandatory/voluntary CSR enhances the contribution of
business to sustainable social and economic development? This
course will familiarise students with divergent conceptual frameworks
of CSR and approaches to CSR in India, and introduce them to current
practices of CSR.
Course Objectives 1. To broaden the conceptual understanding of students about corporate
social responsibility and its role in promoting sustainable development,

2. To introduce students to various aspects of and approaches to CSR, and

hone their professional competence to strategies and implement
Transformational CSR over Transactional Philanthropy,

3. To familiarise students with divergent practices of CSR,

4. To meet the country’s emerging needs of specialized business managers or

development professionals who assume a leadership role for advancing
the agenda of responsible business management in India.
Connect with IRMA’s The elective course on CSR is designed to adding value to the PRM course.
Mission and Course The course, in alignment with the vision and mission of IRMA, is intended to
equip our ‘managers of tomorrow’ with additional knowledge of practicing
responsible business. Knowing the nitty-gritty of responsible business
management in pursuance of doing sustainable, responsible and ethical
business is critical and important for any professional management in
today’s world. Therefore, this course will immensely benefit our students
who will get an overview of CSR from the global as well as Indian
perspective.
Learning Outcomes  What is meant by CSR and how is it similar or different from
Responsible Business Management (RBM).
 Global vs. local understanding on CSR/RBM
 The definitions and ‘drivers’ of CSR
 Principles of Responsible Business Management
 Important guidelines and frameworks for CSR/RBM
 CSR in the Indian context
 Indian Laws on CSR and its implications
 The shared lessons and common elements of CSR management.
 How CSR is managed inside companies.
 Different models of CSR implementation
 Different strategies & approaches to CSR
 Stakeholders as a managerial concept.
 The different types of stakeholder and difficulties with the
‘stakeholder’ construct.
 Stakeholder management.
 The business case for CSR.
 Civil society and corporate partnerships for common development
goals
 Critical perspectives on CSR implementation
 Transactional philanthropy vs Transformational CSR
 Need for CSR reforms: CSR Satyagraha
 New forms of reporting in the coming decade.
 CSR Audit for establishing accountability and transparency
 Performance evaluation: from outputs to outcomes & impact
 The emergence and development of CSR reporting.
 The mandatory requirement of the reports and the issues that
surround this feature.
 The theories which might help explain the practice of CSR and CSR
reporting.
 Emerging trends – where will CSR be after 10 years?
Measuring Learning Course Evaluation
Outcomes &
Evaluation Plan Classroom Participation : 10%
Group Presentation : 10%
Quizzes/debates (2) : 20%
Group Assignment : 20%
End-term Examination : 40%

Session Plan with Session 1: Introduction to the Course

Readings / Corporate Social Responsibility: The Global Context
References
Module 1: Managing Business Responsibly – Practicing
sustainability, responsibility and ethics

Session 2: Understanding Sustainability: Economic Dev. Vs Sustainable

Dev. and SDGs

Session 3: Knowing Responsibility: Concepts of Business Responsibility and

Stakeholder Management

Session 4: Valuing Ethics: Ethical Business and Domains of Business Ethics

Session 5: CSR – An overarching umbrella framework of responsible

capitalism seeking companies to go beyond philanthropy

Session 6: An overview of National Guideline for Responsible Business

Conduct (NGRBC), ISO26000, UN Global Compact, UN Guidelines on
Business & Human Rights, WBCSD guiding framework

Module 2: Understand divergent perspectives on CSR vis-

à-vis corporate philanthropy in the Indian context

Session 7: CSR and Philanthropy

Session 8: Mandatory Vs. Voluntary CSR - An open debate

Session 9: The Indian Law on CSR and amendments

Session 10: The CSR law and compliance – challenges and/or opportunities
for companies?

Module 3: How CSR is managed and implemented

Session 11: Strategisation – CSR Policy, Strategy and Governance

Session 12: Operationalization - CSR Implementation 1

Session 13: Operationalization - CSR Implementation 2

Session 14: Measurement – Results & Impact measurement and CSR Audit

Session 15: Reporting & Disclosure

Module 4: Transactional Vs. Transformational CSR

Session 16: Different aspects of and approaches to CSR – Are they effective
to bring transformation?

Session 17: CSR in India – Is it going wrong? An open debate

 Session 18: CSR Satyagraha – A Gandhian way to clean up the
wrongdoings & corruptions in CSR. Does CSR need reforms?

Module 5: The future of CSR

Session 19: Emerging trends- The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility
Session 20: Summing up

Intake 120

Eligibility Criteria Top 120 on basis of first year GPA