Managing

Good karma is good for business...(And it's not too hard)

Illustration By Shigil N  

Last year Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO of People Group, that runs India’s leading matrimonial website Shaadi.com, finally found himself a perfect partner to carry out a much pending task—implementing a strategic corporate social responsibility programme. Mittal had wanted to do this for a while, he says, but didn’t want to limit CSR to scattered donations and random charities.

“CSR should be sustainable, differentiated and good for business,” Mittal explains. “Unless we align things together, there really is limited benefit.” Innovaid, a Mumbai-based consultancy run by Emily Harrison, helped Mittal do that. They began by brainstorming ways in which Shaadi.com could make a difference, considering only opportunities and initiatives that fell within the company’s area of expertise. “Evaluating CSR from a business perspective is at the heart of what Innovaid does,” says Harrison.

Even before meeting Harrison, Mittal had realised that there was no.one working in the anti-dowry space. “This was an area where we could design a programme to help out, and also promote our brand,” he says. Innovaid helped him flesh that idea out. And, Shaadi.com launched Angry Brides, a parody of the popular game Angry Birds. In Angry Brides, players amass points by throwing red stilettos, rolling pins and baked goods at those propogating the dowry culture.

Within days of its launch in January this year, the game earned 2,70,000 “likes” on Facebook. (At the time of writing, the game had just over 4,90,000 “likes”). “The results were tremendous,” says Mittal. “It got everyone thinking about anti-dowry causes, and positioned us as the facilitator. We got great press and prompted people to think about ways they can help,” he says of the “virtuous cycle.”

Innoviad’s Harrison says Shaadi.com’s example perfectly demonstrates what she calls “embedded CSR”—a key management Swansondecision that is strategic, focused and aligned to corporate goals. It’s this model of corporate philanthropy that she and Prrashar Kamra, Innovaid’s co-founder, want to help more and more Indian companies with.

Shaadi.com’s mission was to position its brand in a certain way. But well thought-out programmes can help in a myriad of other ways, says Harrison. Conserving resources is a commonly-overlooked component to CSR, she explains, even though it can lead to huge cost and efficiency savings. “People don’t realise that minimising resources is also CSR.” She cites recycling programmes, switching to CFL bulbs, saving paper and a commitment to public transportation are simple ways companies can help their employees cut back.

Recently, at Bajaj Auto’s plant in Pune, a worker introduced a tweak that enables motorcycles to save the tiniest amount of fuel. “It wasn’t a huge change but when that change was implemented corporation-wise, it made a big difference, cost-wise and to the environment.” Plus, it gels with the company’s line of business.

Both in Bajaj Auto’s and Shaadi.com’s case, their initiatives are part of a long-term business strategy that does more than appease individual conscience. It has multiple benefits—better bottom lines, and an impact on the issue tackled.

Similarly, Deccan Healthcare, a Hyderabad-based vitamin and supplement group, recently launched a foundation to eradicate malnutrition; and Thwack, a Mumbai-based sports lifestyle brand has started laying the groundwork for a foundation that will foster public awareness about the benefits of exercise and healthy living in India through community campaigns and new opportunities for disadvantaged youth to play sports for the first time. “There’s a lot of room to take a leadership role in promoting the benefits of sports and exercise in India,” says Reji Matthew, founder and CEO of Thwack. Because this campaign falls under the business expertise of his brand, it gives him an opportunity to play a thought leadership role.

Shaadi.com’s Mittal wants to occupy that space as well. The next step for him will be to find ways to harness the company’s clout to encourage customers, vendors and even the government to take a similar stance against dowry. “Companies have a huge sphere of influence, as do celebs,” Harrison says, offering that there are plenty of ways to encourage stakeholders—by choosing suppliers with shared values, or by simply applying some good old social pressure.

Yet, this version of “embedded CSR”, marrying social and environmental responsibility with sustainable business practices, remains a relatively new notion in India, where charitable giving was till recently the primary way for giving back. But, Harrison sees a “modern karma revolution” underway. Four years ago, she had to hard-sell the idea of CSR and its potential to clients, she recalls. But today, several smaller companies have dedicated resources for CSR, and consultancies similar to Innovaid—like Bengaluru-based Four-D, the Indian arm of a Swiss CSR company—have emerged on the business landscape. Four-D was founded in 1999 to implement safety and other business efficiencies in clothing factories, and has now branched out to other sectors as well.

Likewise, Mumbai-based Greenden Consultancy and Ozg CSR work with companies like IBM, UBS and Indian Oil to craft programmes that embed business practices with do-good belief. These consultancies can be a lifeboat for mid-sized companies like Shaadi.com that want to implement a CSR programme but don’t have the time or resources to dedicate an entire team. “With so many other things going on, CSR always gets pushed to the backburner,” Mittal says.

Plus, these consultants also become a valuable bridge between companies and not-for-profits, most of who would benefit from a partnership but often speak an entirely different language. “NGOs can be very good at their specific jobs but few are strong in business terms,” says Harrison. Understanding the needs of both sides is the first step to inking a fruitful partnership—identifying an NGO that a corporate can use to facilitate its CSR objectives, and helping NGOs get access to corporate expertise. “Business skills and expertise is often more useful than simply cutting a cheque. A company can help an NGO review its working processes, cut back on inefficiencies and become more effective.”

—Jen Swanson

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