Social Leadership Initiative with Hutchinson Global Services: A Visit to Dharavi

The Hutchinson Global Services Social Leadership Team

On April 16, 2013, Cristiana Peruzzo and Ankur Shukla participated with GEM employees from Hutchinson Vodafone in a very special CSR initiative centered around the objective of generating compassion towards others and enhancing leadership skills among the company’s leaders of tomorrow. 

GEM leaders had a special occasion to interact with the people of Dharavi and see their homes, their work places, and their spirit while witnessing a small scale industry powerhouse in Mumbai..  The day started with a intensive classroom session to introduce Hutchinson Vodafone employees to the constraint and challenges of slum dwellers as well as the story of Dharavi. Then, the entire group reached Dharavi by local train and experienced a wide range of activities such as : recycling, pottery-making, embroidery, bakery, soap factory, leather tanning, papad-making as well as witnessing the typical day in the life of a family in the area. All the participants were impressed by the outstanding  sense of community and spirit that exists in Dharavi and left Mahim with an enlightened sense of the purpose and determination that exists among the amazing people of Dharavi.

The day was part of a Social Leadership initiative centered around three core activities with the aim to expose each Hutchinson Vodafone young leader to unique challenges in the social sphere in order to develop his/her critical thinking on how to tackle some of the most pressing social issues in Indian society in a professional, humane and caring way. Watch out for our next activity taking place in September 2013!

What's in a Corporate Foundation Name? An Indian Perspective

The topic of what name to give to a corporate foundation has great relevance in an Indian context since creating trusts and foundations still remains the favourite route to CSR practised by Indian companies. According to recent studies, 55 per cent of large Indian companies have established foundations working mainly in the areas of education, health and rural development. Their number has increased steadily in the last few decades and it is set to increase with the passing of the New Companies Act with its much discussed clause of 2% mandatory CSR spending.

Across the globe, there are two schools of thought in relation to foundation naming. On the one hand, there is a strong argument for keeping the name of the foundation ‘slightly separate’ from the core brand and name of the company, while others espouse the benefits of closely aligning the foundation brand with that of the company for branding and reputation benefits.

Many corporate foundations in India have been officially established with the intent to provide a more formal structure for a company’s charitable giving or to set out the founding family’s vision. Family businesses have always been an integral part of the Indian economy and they account for more than 85% of all businesses in the country. As a result naming a corporate trust or foundation after a family member allows for some sort of separation while giving increased ‘social responsibility’ recognition to the corporate counterpart.

With such a rich history of family business in India there is no better example than that of the Tata Trusts, holders of 66% of the shares of Tata Sons, the promoter holding company of one of the largest Indian conglomerates where all trusts have been named after different members of the Tata Family.

Such naming strategy has multiple advantages that go beyond the tax saving benefits, including the reputational benefits for the Tata brand which have been enormous. Throughout India, the Tata name has been synonymous with philanthropic giving for many decades, an association which has come in quite handy, particularly with the recent telecommunication graft scandals in which the group chairman was involved.

The drawback of such an approach is the fact that the majority of corporate trusts and foundations keep working at arm’s length from the company, allowing for underserved CSR co-branding, when in fact there is no formal interaction between the two entities and thus no mainstreaming of socially and environmentally responsible activities in core business processes.

Having a well-known brand as part of the charity’s name and using its logo can help to attract interest and allow for an increased amount of media exposure for the charity and its activities. However, there can be negative implications.

In sharing the parent company’s name, corporate foundations must be mindful of wider reputational risks that could arise from such close branding affiliation in the event of a corporate scandal, as in the case of the DLF company’s involvement in a much talked about controversy involving the concession of land at a very reduced price in exchange for political favour. The corporate reputational damage was so great that it also affected the DLF Foundation’s image in the eyes of many Indians. 

Cristiana Peruzzo is Head of CSR at Innovaid Advisory Services in Mumbai, India.

CSR Communication

Within the context of Corporate Social Responsibility, the area of CSR Communications with all its measurements, instruments and programs, including; sustainability reports, stakeholder dialogues, cause marketing campaigns, and product labeling, has been expanding dramatically worldwide.

Partly due to legislative requirements, the social media revolution, as well as, the creation of a global context in which companies are expected to be more open and receptive to external expectations with regards to their social and environmental impacts. It’s been a rollercoaster ten years or so for industry.

At a societal level, corporate sustainability communications has the potential to increase a company’s reputation and brand value whilst creating a platform for public debate on sustainability issues. From the internal communications point of view, communicating sustainability to internal stakeholders is critical to fostering employees’ loyalty and a satisfactory working environment. 

Businesses need to be proactively re-thinking the way they strategically develop and implement their marketing and communications plans to include social and environmental issues. Within the Indian context it will be necessary for big business to adapt the cultural context of “anonymity in doing good” and to balance the delicate equation of presenting the good sides of the sustainability story while credibly addressing any negative issues such as; continuing distrust towards the motive of CSR reporting.

Out & About with Innovaid

Cristiana Peruzzo, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Innovaid speaking at the Mega CSR Conference hosted by IndiaCSR. 

The Conference provided a forum to initiate dialogue and enlighten participants on creating a competitive advantage for their business organizations with the help of responsible management practices. Cristiana spoke regarding CSR Communications - concepts, approaches and channels. 

Setting up a Foundation

At Innovaid Advisory Services we have developed a unique approach to giving - creating ‘tailor-made’ Foundations for corporate businesses, high net worth individuals and celebrities in India. 

Innovaid streamlines the process of establishing a Foundation, and, will assist in developing a carefully thought out and well planned strategy.

With a strong strategy to forming the basis of your ‘Foundation’ it can provide the perfect vehicle to ensuring that company responsibilities are being met on the CSR front, whilst also providing positive spins-offs in terms of public relations, customer loyalty and employee engagement. As an individual, creating your own Foundation offers you a greater degree of control as to where and how your legacy is spent.

‘So many companies opt to distribute funds to NGO’s in India, this is often done sporadically, with no long term partnership or strategy behind it. The beauty of having your own Foundation is that you can further build and enhance your company brand whilst having complete control of the social initiatives you invest in.’ Says, Emily Harrison, Innovaid Advisory Services, Founder & Director.

Who is Innovaid?

Innovaid was conceptualized by Emily Harrison, a young Australian woman who wanted to revolutionize the way that celebrities, HNWI’s, Companies and international Foundations ‘made a difference’ in India.

Emily grew up on a cattle station in rural New South Wales and spent 10 years working in grassroots community development in Outback Australia, specializing in rural and remote communities. Living and working in tiny communities (population 100 – 4000) all her life, she worked in Local and State Government, helping these small communities get better access to services that their small populations could not sustain (health, education, sport & recreation, arts, disability, aged care).

She first came to India in 2007, leading a team of volunteers doing community development work in a village on the outskirts of Ooty, Tamil Nadu. Living with a local family and working on a variety of projects at the local school, with village youth and women, she soon fell in love with India and decided to make it her home.

It was during this time that the concept of Innovaid first took shape. Emily had met a celebrity talent manager in Sydney prior to her move to Ooty, who had outlined the need of some of his high profile TV and music stars, to have guidance and advice in undertaking their philanthropy in developing countries.

Encouraged and supported by a young entrepreneur from Coimbatore, Emily made the commitment to move to Mumbai and start her own business. With no business experience and having never lived in a city before in her life, Innovaid was developed in a very organic way – putting one foot in front of the other.

Emily Harrison of Innovaid Advisory Services

With the generosity and support of many Mumbaiker’s, Innovaid Advisory Services Pvt Ltd was registered in May 2009 as a private limited company to help celebrities and high net worth individuals make a significant impact with their philanthropy and to provide people with a simple and trustworthy mechanism to invest in social projects. In these early days, high profile clients such as the Rajasthan Royals and The Steve Waugh Foundation, gave Emily the faith that the service was indeed needed and the business evolved to present a range of products and services to meet their needs in this area.

With corporate social responsibility emerging as a sophisticated tool to help companies become more sustainable, Innovaid extended its reach into this area to support companies in managing their foundations and devising and implementing holistic CSR strategy, and today is sought after by many medium size enterprises in helping them to set up Foundations and strategise their CSR.

Innovaid continues to grow and aims to deliver a holistic range of services in this sphere to make a marked difference to those affected by social issues in India.