CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND
PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDIA
GANGA SASIDHARAN
(B.A., M.B.A.)


little gem will be passed on to future generations, Millie!
Most doctoral dissertations thank the family at the end of the
acknowledgements section. If I did that, I would be doing a huge injustice. For
just as Millie inspired and mentored me, Dhanesh never let me slack. There
were so many moments when I just wanted to throw in the towel. I had had
enough. I wanted to spend more time with my kids. I was sick of shooing them
away from the study. For the life of me, I couldn‘t understand what the heck
were ontology and epistemology. That‘s when Dhanesh got into action; took
the kids out for soccer so that I could study; spent more time with them so that
they wouldn‘t miss me much; and told me if anyone could do it, it was I. And
ii

finally, I got my head around ontology and epistemology! Without you, this
wouldn‘t have happened, Dhanesh.
Then, of course members of my amazing dissertation committee, Dr.
Linda M Perry and Dr. Mohan J Dutta. Linda has always amazed me as a
teacher and will continue to be my role model. When I joined NUS, the first
lecture I attended was Linda‘s and her performance left me in no doubt as to
whose teaching style I should follow. Whenever I wanted to clear my thinking,
I knew who to go to. Her clarity of thought and ruthless red pen have
transformed two of my term papers to published pieces! I have thoroughly
enjoyed my conversations with her that have greatly enriched my research,
teaching and more importantly, my perspectives on life. Thanks a ton, Linda,
for your support and encouragement.
Mohan had come to NUS for a semester during his sabbatical from
Purdue University. His class on advanced theories in public relations took the
students on a trek across functionalist, interpretive and critical landscapes;
each one delivered with equal passion and conviction. The lectures shook me
out of my predominantly functionalist comfort zone and the conversations we
have had gave me ample food for thought and set me off on a journey

four years at NUS, I must also thank all my teachers who inspired me and
opened up such fascinating avenues for research and teaching.
Dr. Tim Marsh introduced me to the intriguing world of computer
mediated communication that I am sure I‘ll explore one day. Whenever I felt
iv

down and thought that I couldn‘t pull it off, Dr. Sun Sun Lim‘s smiling face,
while managing research, teaching and family, always reassured me and
boosted my dipping confidence levels. Dr. Ingrid Hoofd‘s classes on advanced
theories in communication challenged the students and made me start reading
a paper behind the lines, under the lines, through the lines, above the lines…
I must also thank three wonderful professors from other departments
who generously gave of their time and were kind enough to discuss my
research and offer immensely helpful suggestions. I must thank the ever-
smiling Dr. Ho Kong Chong from the Department of Sociology, who explored
every minute detail and nuance of survey management that none of his
students could go wrong in administering surveys! Yet another Sociology
module I thoroughly enjoyed was Dr. Maribeth Erb‘s class on qualitative data
analysis where she taught us to appreciate the essence of qualitative inquiry,
without slipping into a quantitative style. In a class where the students thought
and spoke in math, Dr. Klaus Boehnke was kind enough to reply in English so
that the scared-looking doctoral student from Communications and New
Media could follow the lecture on multivariate statistics in psychology. Thank
you so much professors! Each one of you in your own way helped me to
complete this dissertation.
Towards the end of the dissertation experience, when you are trying to
wring some sense out of your data, the most important gift you can get is time
and peace of mind. In my last semester I was assigned as a research assistant
to Dr. Seow Ting Lee. I am grateful to Seow Ting for letting me focus on my
work in the first part of the semester so that I could complete my dissertation.

sleepovers at their places so that I could work in peace. Thanks to my
wonderful helpers, Maricel and later, Christy who completely managed the
house while I was lost to the world. And finally, thanks to my constant
companion who curled up at my feet and kept me company through endless
hours of tears and joy, my dear little puppy, Bubbles. Without each one of you
and the blessings of many more well-wishers, this dissertation would not have
happened. Thank you!
The Economic Approach……………………………………… 32
viii

The Stakeholder Approach……………………………………. 34
CSR in Public Relations and Organizational Communication…… 35
Corporate Social Responsibility and Internal Stakeholders……… 41
Definition of Stakeholders…………………………………… 41
Importance of Employee Stakeholders……………………… 42
CSR and Employee Stakeholders…………………………… 43
CSR in Asia………………………………………………………… 45
CSR in India…………………………………………………………. 49
The Concept of Dharma and an Ethos of Giving………………… 50
History of CSR in India………………………………………… 54
Current Research on CSR in India……………………………… 59
Postmodern Theories in Public Relations…………………………… 65
Rationale for a Postmodern Approach to Public Relations………. 67
Key Tenets of Postmodernism Applied to Public Relations…… 68
Postmodern Public Relations and CSR…………………………… 71
Appropriateness of a Postmodern Lens to the Study of CSR
in India…………………………………………………………… 72
Dialecticism in Communication Theory…………………………… 74
Common Assumptions in Dialecticism………………………… 76
Research Questions 1-5……………………………………………… 79
Relationship Management Perspective in Public Relations…………. 80
Definitions of Organization-Public Relationships……………… 82
Models of Organization-Public Relationships……………………. 83
Antecedents of Relationships………………………………… 84
Relationship Concept/Maintenance Strategies…………………84
ix


Sampling Strategies…………………………………………… 127
Pre-tests and Preliminary Survey……………………………… 133
Data Collection Procedures…………………………………… 134
Measures……………………………………………………….135
Data Analysis…………………………………………………… 137
Ethical Considerations……………………………………………. 138
4. FINDINGS …………………………………………………………… 141
Answers to Research Questions 1 to 5………………………………. 144
RQ 1: Meanings of Corporate Social Responsibility……………. 145
Summary of Answers to Research Question 1……………… 152
RQ 2: Key Motives, Norms and Beliefs………………………… 154
Summary of Answers to Research Question 2…………………160
Other Findings………………………………………………… 161
Summary of Other Findings……………………………………163
RQ 3: Tensions in the Corporate Discourse on CSR…………… 164
Roles of Business, Government and Civil Society……………. 164
Summary of Answers: Business, Government, Civil Society… 167
The Link Between CSR and Core Business Strategy…………. 168
Summary of Answers: CSR and Core Business Strategy…… 173
RQ 4: Perceived Key Enablers and Benefits…………………… 174
Enablers that Facilitate Adoption and Implementation of
CSR Programmes……………………………………………… 174
xi

Perceived Benefits of Being Socially Responsible……………. 181
Summary of Answers to Research Question 4…………… 181
RQ 5: Key Stakeholders and CSR Communication……………… 182
Key Stakeholders in the CSR Space and Stakeholder
Communication……………………………………………… 182
Attitude Towards CSR Publicity……………………………… 183

Analytic category 6: CSR and Internal Relationships…………… 238
A Synthesis of the Six Analytic Categories…………………………. 240
The Dharma-based Driver of CSR in India……………………… 241
The Concept of Symbiotic CSR………………………………… 242
CSR as Shared Social Responsibility…………………………… 243
CSR Practitioner as the Postmodern Public Relations Practitioner. 244
Managers‘ and Employees‘ Perceptions of Relational Influence
of CSR……………………………………………………………. 245

6. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………… 247
Implications for theory………………………………………………. 248
The Role of Public Relations Practitioner as Organizational
Activist…………………………………………………………… 249
Concept of Symbiotic CSR Problematizes Dualistic Notions of
Strategic and Altruistic CSR……………………………………… 250
Notion of Shared Social Responsibility Shifts Attention to
Interconnectedness of Multiple Social Actors……………………. 250
Expand CSR Theorizing to Include Symbolic and Behavioral
Relationships………………………………………………………251
Focus on Relational Influence of Separate Dimensions of CSR
Practice…………………………………………………………… 252
Implications for Practice…………………………………………… 252
Choice of a Suitable CSR Practitioner……………………………. 253
Shared Social Responsibility and the Need to Adopt a
Collaborative Stance………………………… ………………. 254

xiii

Practices in CSR Communication……………………………… 254



xiv

SUMMARY

This study aimed to create a holistic understanding of the phenomenon
of CSR as constructed in non-Euro/American contexts, specifically in an
emerging Asian nation, India through (a) a macro focus that aimed to
understand and critique corporate discourse on the conceptualizations,
perceptions, practices and communication of CSR and (b) a micro focus that
aimed to examine whether the business-case-for-CSR holds true in a non-
Western context as well; specifically by exploring associations between
awareness of CSR practices and employee relations.
In addition to mainstream CSR theories, the study employed an
interpretive dialectical approach and a postmodern perspective in public
relations to highlight dialectical tensions in corporate discourse on CSR in
India based on 19 in-depth qualitative conversations with senior managers and
leaders of corporations in India that are known to be socially responsible.
Based on the insights from these conversations, the study further administered
an online survey to employees of two organizations in the information
technology industry in India to explore linkages between awareness of CSR

satisfaction. Specifically, the results fore-grounded the importance of ethical
and legal dimensions of CSR practice over societal/discretionary and
economic dimensions in engendering stronger relationships between
employees and their organizations. Finally, implications and recommendations
for research and practice are also discussed in the thesis.

LIST OF TABLES
3.1. Description of Sample………………………………………………132
4.1. Dominant Themes in the Conceptual Construction of CSR in India 154
4.2. Key Drivers of Social Responsibility in India…………………… 161
4.3. Beliefs on Recent Spate of Activity in the CSR Space in India…… 164
4.4. Exploring Tensions: Roles of Business, Government and NGOs…. 168
4.5. Exploring Tensions: Linkage between CSR and Core
Business strategy…………………………………………………… 173
4.6. Perceived Enablers and Benefits of CSR………………………… 181
4.7. Key Stakeholders and Stakeholder Communication with
Respect to CSR…………………………………………………… 183
4.8. Attitude towards CSR and Publicity……………………………… 189
4.9. Means, Standard Deviations and Cronbach Alphas of the
Constructs of CSR and Relationship Outcomes…………………….191
4.10. Means, Standard Deviations and Correlations for the CSR and
Relationship Constructs……………………………………………. 193
4.11. Regression Results for Trust……………………………………… 195
4.12. Regression Results for Control Mutuality…………………………. 198
4.13. Regression Results for Commitment………………………………. 200
4.14. Regression Results for Satisfaction……………………………… 202



1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background and Context
The notion that businesses should be socially responsible can be traced
far back for many centuries and over multiple cultures and societies (Carroll,
1999). However, it was only in the last 60 years or so that the concept of
corporate social responsibility (CSR) transformed into a topic for serious
debate in both academia and business. Since then, and increasingly so from the
turn of the millennium, there has been a sharp spike in the number of cases
worldwide involving instances of corporate social irresponsibility, with
debilitating effects on society, which has thrust the notion of CSR into public,
corporate and academic limelight.
The debacles of fatally tainted milk in China, the poisonous gas cloud
that snuffed out over 3000 lives in Bhopal and continues to cripple many more
lives and, most recently, the financial meltdown in the United States of

that characterizes current public relations practice and research (Sriramesh,
2008; Pal & Dutta, 2008). This ethnocentricity extends to research on CSR
also, which continues to be ensconced within the Euro-American intellectual
traditions of scholarship (Mohan, 2001). This enclave of CSR theorizing does
not capture the broader gamut of the global phenomenon of CSR and thus
presents an incomplete and unbalanced view of CSR. This study is a modest
attempt to correct this imbalance in CSR research by situating this research in
3

a non-Euro-American context and by offering a richly textured, contextual,
inside-out understanding of CSR.
Further, it is imperative to study processes of CSR practice and
communication in the global south not only because it is important to correct
the Euro-American slant of CSR theorizing, but also because increasingly,
corporations‘ economic power and fixation on maximizing profits have had a
greater impact on developing economies with more fragile socio-economic-
political systems than on developed economies (Bhushan, 2005; Prieto-
Carron, Lund-Thomsen, Chan, Muro, & Bhushan, 2006). This factor served as
the rationale for the researcher to study the phenomenon of CSR in one of the
world‘s largest and fastest growing developing nations.
CSR Theorizing in Developing Nations
The budding scholarship on CSR in developing nations has highlighted
the often fiercely competing perspectives in the realm of CSR and socio-
economic development. On the one hand, scholars believe that corporations
can contribute positively to social development (Swift & Zadek, 2002). On the
other hand, critical scholarship argues that corporations, constituted as profit-
maximizing entities, are the root cause for generating multiple social ills.
Further, a lack of expertise and accountability make it dangerous to allow
corporations to continue to tread on spaces of social development (Bhushan,
2005; Frynas, 2005).

5

Ng, Soh, and Lou (2006) have called for more research on CSR from Asia.
This study is a response to that call.
However, scholars have argued that Asia is not a homogenous entity. On
the contrary, it is characterized by remarkable cultural, political, economic,
social and geographic diversity and, therefore, research must be carried out
within specific national contexts (Whelan, 2007). Although scholars have
responded to this call, a review of literature on CSR in Asia revealed that
emergent research has focused mostly on East and Southeast Asian
economies, economies that are primarily driven by principles of
Confucianism. Sparse research has been conducted on CSR in India despite
compelling reasons that stem from India‘s specific social, economic, political
and cultural contexts.
First, India is one of the fastest growing and important emerging
economies in both Asia and the world. Second, after economic liberalization
in the early 1990s, India has had dramatic rates of national economic growth
led largely by corporations. However, the impressive national economic gains
have been rather unevenly distributed, further worsening existing social
disparities (www.eiu.com, India country forecast, 2010). Third, India has had
a long, unbroken history of trade and commerce characterized by notions of
social responsibility and a cultural ethos and tradition of dharma, karma and
giving (Mitra, 2007; Sundar, 2000). Fourth, since the later part of the twentieth
and early part of the twenty-first centuries, Indian corporations have been
making their mark on the global arena across industries ranging from steel to
software; and that calls for the examination of attitudes, norms and beliefs that
shape the conceptual construction of CSR within Indian corporations. These
6

factors justified the choice of India as a fertile context to situate this study

of purchasing power parity exchange rates, and is projected to be one of the
world's fastest-growing economies from 2010 to 2014. Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) per head is forecast to grow by 5.1% a year, the second-fastest
rate in the world, just behind that of China (www.eiu.com, India country
forecast, 2010).
The service sector, which is the main driver of economic growth, is both
the largest component of the economy and the best-performing. The service
sector accounts for 55% of GDP and is expected to continue to be the main
engine of economic growth (www.eiu.com, India country forecast, 2010).
However, India is a two-tier economy, with an internationally competitive
knowledge-driven services sector that employs the brightest of the middle
classes on the one hand, and a sprawling, largely rain-fed agricultural sector
that employs the majority of the vast and poorly educated labor force on the
other (www.eiu.com, India country profile, 2008). Although it accounts for
just over 17% of GDP, the agricultural sector employs two-thirds of the labor
force and, unlike in East Asian countries, the shift of the labor force from
agriculture to non-agriculture in India has been particularly slow
(www.eiu.com, India country profile, 2008).
Social scenario. The tremendous economic growth powered by
corporations after economic liberalization in 1991 has not been evenly
distributed. As the popular refrain goes, national economic growth has led to