Corporate Philanthropy The Motivations of Corporate

Question: Describe about the Corporate Philanthropy for The Motivations of Corporate. Answer: We the human beings (the most intelligent living being of the planet) live together in this world which we call as society. What all we do is for the betterment of the society which in turn gives us a quality life. For this firstly we need to have love for the mankind, which in Greek word, termed as Philanthropy. In modern concept philanthropy is to do or promote something voluntarily by an individual or by any group for the good of the society which in turn improve the quality of life of all citizens or residents(Ehrlich, 2013). So the concept of philanthropy has three (3) main points Love for Humanity / Mankind Promoting the common good Improving the quality of life. These are certainly very noble and intellectual concept for any individual or any group / organization. To materialise this grand concept, resources (especially money, manpower etc.) is required to make a significant impact. Very few individual can afford to deploy that resource. But organisations like corporate business houses have that ability to deploy that resource for common good. Corporate philanthropy now a day refers to generous use of finance, employee time, facilities etc. etc. to help others in the community for upgrading their quality life(Scott, 2012). At present many organisations / companies of several countries are doing / adopting this corporate philanthropy which in turn increases the value of the company. In recent years widespread use of social media by the businesses and consumers has created a level of transparency and consumers have become more interested in companys values and corporate responsibility. This has a tremendous impact in public relation standpoint especially in the bottom line. Even in some cases consumers are choosing their required product or service based on these company reputations(Okp, 2013). Starting from CEO to the bottom line employee of the organisation can be engaged in promoting the corporate philanthropy programme through their voluntary participation, through one time or regular donations and liability sharing with their social network. The first and foremost requirement of success of this program is to consider it as a long term phenomenon rather that of short term. To make this corporate philanthropy programme a success the company should align this programme perfectly with the companys business goal and culture(Triplepundit, 2015). Discussion: The practical aspect: So long, through the above discussion we got an idea about the Corporate Philanthropy programme. As the business entities are doing business in the society, they have certain social responsibilities to undertake for the betterment of the community. This in short, called Corporate Philanthropy (CP) or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Humanrights, 2012). Under this programme the corporate houses can take up different fields to work as per the need of the locality / Country / Humanity at large. Some of these fields are as follows Rural Development. Education Ethnicity Health Livelihoods Environment Sports Most of the leading and renowned corporate houses of the world adopt this programme generously. This work can be done directly by the company or they can get this work done by deploying some social volunteers. The following example will give an idea about how effectively this programme works for the society(Cantrell, 2005). Google China had initiated a camp to encourage social innovation for the college students from 2008, which is a nationwide competition that aims to empower the young generation of china to become agents of social change. They asked fund viable project ideas for social welfare and community development. This will impart gradually the idea in the chinas youth / future generation, about the value of social responsibility the importance of community welfare and self empowerment. The social issues addressed ware education, poverty reduction, disability aid, health care, art culture, woman children welfare, community developments etc. Through evaluation of these projects, its mentorship and funding Google made true social innovation in China(gong1chuang1, 2014). In the year 2008 this Social Innovation Cup competition started by Google. In that year they received 6000 applications from 755 colleges among them 1245 proposals of 375 colleges entered into semi-final. Of them 124 projects entered into final and finally 32 projects ware selected for award ranging from US$ 1460 to US$ 11,700. Likewise in 2009 the same competition was conducted by Google, 6252 applications from 766 colleges ware received among them 1181 proposals of 377 colleges entered into semi-final. Of them 29 projects ware selected as winning projects who received Googles fund to run their projects in summer 2009(McGann, 2014). Similarly in 2010 and 2011, 28 and 40 projects ware finally selected to run their projects with Googles fund. Another reputed company of US, Exxon Mobile Corporation also involve them in the Corporate Philanthropy programme. They took initiative in improving the education Science and Technology, helping woman of the developing country to achieve their economic goal. The company gives financial support to several institutions that conduct research on climate change and support programmes to prevent Malaria and AIDS(Exxonmobil, 2016). There are another two giant Indian multinational groups of India, Tata Group of companies and Aditya Birla group of Companies who take part extensively in this programme. Their work is really praiseworthy and through implementation of this plan they contributed towards nation building. They spend very good amount of money in the following programmes Education Known concept of formal and non-formal education for adults Scholarship for girls, merit scholarship, Technical education for boys Girl child education Computer education Rural Development Schools in villages Roads, bridges, culverts, drains, rural electrifications, Community centres Irrigation and water storage infrastructure Home for Homeless Health care and Family Welfare Health care centres and hospitals Pulse polio vaccination programme Mobile Clinics HIV / AIDS, Cancer, TB awareness and prevention camps Safe drinking water projects(Manoj, 2013). Sustainable livelihood Self help groups (microfinance for woman and farmers) Integrated agriculture development Integrated livestock development Skill development / vocational training in collaboration with ITIs Sports Organising sports tournament and coaching camps for community Promoting adventure sports Setting up and running academies and sports training centres Offering scholarships and sports equipments to deserving sportspersons Ethnicity Supporting research on anthropological and ethnic issues Preserving and promoting tribal languages, scripts and literature Preserving and promoting fine arts and performing arts of tribals Environment Promoting renewable sources of energy Undertake forestation and plantation activity Water harvesting To get an idea about the activities of the Corporate Philanthropy (CP) programmes, these are the example of only four companies who adopted the programmes. Apart from these companies, most of the other companies of every country of the world have now done some activity for the betterment for the society of their locality of operation(Tata, 2015). Contradiction As per the article narrated by Michael E. Porter and mark R. Kramer, the latest trend of corporate philanthropy is declining as the expenditure in the same head is being reduced to 14.5% in respect of real dollars in 2001. It is due to the increasing demand of allocation of funds in the same head of corporate social responsibility as the companies are finding it difficult to meet the continuous pressure from the stakeholders for generating short term profit to meet their demand of more dividends. The latest trend of corporate philanthropy is called as strategic philanthropy although it had not proved to be effective as the issues is being put in less priority zone by the companies in recent years lacking proper real strategies and effective output of the same for the society. (Kramer, 2002) Conclusion: By now we got the elaborate idea about the Corporate Philanthropy and the activity usually do by the business houses to cover this programme. The above examples of Corporate Philanthropy (CP) or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reveilles that the companies operate in different parts of the world must take up some activity for the betterment of the people for improving their quality of living. ISO 26000 is the recognised international standard for CSR, so companies may adopt this for implementation. Corporate philanthropy is a form of self regulation integrated in business model of the company. Any business can monitor and ensure its active compliance with the ethical standards, national and international norms etc through this corporate philanthropy policy. Some companies design the implementation plan of CSR in such a way that it goes beyond statutory compliance. This may be beyond the interest of the firm but making something better for the society. These firms aim for the long term profits and shareholders trust through positive public relation and high ethical standards to reduce legal risk in business. Hence we can see that the company who adopt and implement the policy of corporate philanthropy has some long term gain in the business. They also have some obligation to uplift the living quality of the inhabitants of the locality. If every business house (corporate / public sector) adopt this policy and implement in small areas in the locality where they operate will bring some changes in the society. When we see the accumulated total change in the country level then we will find some significant change in the society in the quality living standard. Reference: Cantrell, J. (2005). On the motivations of corporate giving in Australia. Retrieved October 08, 2016, from Uow: https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2095context=commpapers Ehrlich, E. (2013). What is Corporate Philanthropy? Retrieved October 01, 2016, from https://doublethedonation.com/blog/2013/09/defining-corporate-philanthropy/ Exxonmobil. (2016). ExxonMobil named best overall company in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Retrieved October 01, 2016, from https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/company/worldwide-operations/locations/nigeria/news-releases/exxonmobil-named-best-overall-company-in-csr?parentId=b10f83cf-b48c-402a-8f0b-2b4bfcac141a gong1chuang1. (2014). Google China Social Innovation. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from https://www.gong1chuang1.com/eng/homepage.php Humanrights. (2012). Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/projects/corporate-social-responsibility Kramer, P. a. (2002, 10). The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy. Retrieved 10 08, 2016, from Havard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2002/12/the-competitive-advantage-of-corporate-philanthropy Manoj, W. (2013, November 18). CSR of Aditya Birla Group of Companies. Retrieved October 08, 2016, from slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/winzi/csr-of-aditya-birla-group-of-companies McGann, D. (2014). Google's CSR. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from https://prezi.com/sa11nta7xyko/googles-csr/ Okp. (2013, March 08). A snapshot of Corporate Philanthropy in Australia. Retrieved October 08, 2016, from Okp: https://okp.com.au/corporate-philanthropy/australian-corporate-philanthropy-snapshot/ Scott, R. (2012, August 22). Corporate Philanthropy Definition - Volunteer and Fundraising Edition. Retrieved October 08, 2016, from causecast: https://www.causecast.com/blog/corporate-philanthropy-definition-volunteer-and-fundraising-edition Tata. (2015). Tata group: Committed to social responsibility. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from https://www.tata.in/video/VideoPreview/Committed-to-sustainability Triplepundit. (2015). 5 Companies Doing Corporate Philanthropy Right. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from https://www.triplepundit.com/2015/03/5-companies-corporate-philanthropy-right/