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Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad Trusteeship, Corporate Social Responsibility & Peace
R.N.Prasad (Registration No. 108654) Page 6
Chapter: 2Chapter: 2Chapter: 2Chapter: 2
Literature Review
Introduction
Literature Review is an important step in any research study. In the
present research work, three key aspects – Trusteeship, Corporate Social
Responsibility and Peace – and their interrelationship are to be studied in
depth. In this chapter, these aspects have been discussed and deliberated
upon based on various literatures on the subject and information available
on websites. The chapter also deals with evolution of the concepts of
Trusteeship and Corporate Social Responsibility in India and abroad.
These study materials have helped in deciding the road map for the
research
Trusteeship
Regarding Trusteeship, MAHATMA GANDHI1 once said - The act of
renunciation of everything is not a mere physical renunciation, but
represents a second or new birth. It is a deliberate act, not done in
ignorance. It is, therefore, a regeneration. Mahatma Gandhi believed
that all human beings are implicitly responsible to God, their family and
to themselves for their use and treatment of all goods, gifts and talents
that fall within their domain. There is a divine element in all of us. We
incarnate our divinity when we deliberately and joyously nurture our
abilities and assets for the sake of the larger good. In this sense, the finest
exemplars of trusteeship are those who treat all possessions as though
they were sacred or deeply precious beyond any worldly scale of
1 1M.K. Gandhi, "The Golden Key", Harijan, January 30, 1937
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valuation. Thus, it is only through daily moral choice and the meritorious
use of resources that we sustain our inherited or acquired entitlements.
For this reason, the very idea of ownership is misleading and, at root, a
form of violence. It implies rights and privileges over Man and Nature
that go beyond the bounds of human need–although not necessarily
beyond the limits of human law and social custom. It obscures the
generous bounty of Nature, which provides enough for all if each holds in
trust only what he needs, without excess or exploitation.
Gandhi sensed that all our resources and possessions, at any level, are not
merely fragments of the Divine but are also inherently mortal. The Divine
in its active aspect is ceaselessly creative and ever fluid in form. By
analogy, human needs and material circumstances alter even while
cultural patterns and social customs purport to maintain temporal
continuity through established traditions. Ownership, from this
standpoint, is truly a costly and illusory attempt to ensure permanency
and succession. It gives birth to unwarranted attachments and
insupportable expectations. The selfish grasping for possessions of any
kind not only violates the deeper purposes of our human odyssey but
eventually breeds possessiveness and greed, exploitation and revenge.
This appalling moral malaise leads to inordinate self-assertion and self-
projection which can only yield distrust, sorrow and "loss of all". But
when we attain the sacred mental posture of the trustee who regards all
possessions as held in trust for the good of all, we can progressively
approach the high spiritual state of mental renunciation. We can, in the
Upanishadic phrase, "renounce and enjoy". It is only when we voluntarily
relinquish our unnatural claims and consecrate ourselves to a higher
purpose that we can freely enjoy what we have. Thus, self-satisfaction is
a natural outcome of a generous perspective and a greater purity of heart.
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It is truly a function of the harmonious cultivation of our spiritual, mental
and material resources. In Gandhian terms, guilt-free enjoyment is
inseparable from ethical probity. The real issue, then, is not how much or
how little we possess in the way of property or talent, but the reasons and
motives behind their allocations and uses.
Gandhi approached the concept of trusteeship at four different levels.
First of all, trusteeship, as the sole universalizable means of continuously
redistributing wealth, could be seen as a corollary of the principle of non-
violence and simultaneously assure the generation and intelligent use of
wealth.
No other theory is compatible with non-violence. In the non-violent
method the wrongdoer compasses his own end, if he does not undo the
wrong. For, either through Non-violent Non-co-operation he is made to
see his error, or he finds himself completely isolated2.
Even if wealth could be coercively redistributed, the resulting greed and
inexperience on the part of many and the resentment on the part of the
dispossessed would lead to economic instability and rapid decline. More
likely than not, it would lead to class war, anomic violence and
widespread self-alienation. Trusteeship, however, encourages owners to
see themselves as vigilant trustees of their accumulated wealth for the
larger community without threatening them.
Secondly, Gandhi's practical psychological intuition allowed him to see
that fear would prevent other means of economic distribution from
succeeding in the long run. A fundamental change in the concepts of
activity and courage is needed to overcome passivity and cowardice. The
fearful man tyrannizes others: forced redistribution would bring fearful
2 M.K. Gandhi, "Theory of 'Trusteeship'", Harijan, December 16, 1939
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responses from owners, who would see their lives and futures threatened,
and fearful masses would deal with excess wealth incompetently. For
Gandhi, the ever-present possibility of social change must be approached
from a position of truth and courage, whereas fear is weakness which
leads to violence. Strength should not be mistaken for the modalities of
violence, which are instruments of fear and always lead to varying
degrees of self-destruction. Since strength rests on human dignity and
respect, workers must approach exploitative capitalists from a position of
self-respect based on the capital of labour, for "labour is as much capital
as metal". To abolish fear and even failure itself requires a fundamental
change in the social structure. The feasibility of this social transformation
does not lie in denying the judgements of others, but rather in regarding
them as partially relevant though in no sense compelling.
Therefore, workers, instead of regarding themselves as enemies of the
rich, or regarding the rich as their natural enemies, should hold their
labour in trust for those who are in need of it. This they can do only
when, instead of feeling so utterly helpless as they do, they realize
their importance in human economy and shed their fear or distrust of
the rich. Fear and distrust are twin sisters born of weakness. When
labour realizes its strength it won't need to use any force against
moneyed people. It will simply command their attention and respect3.
Gandhi discerned the critical role acceptability plays in legitimating a
social order, and distinguished between a people's tacit acceptance and
active dislike of an economic regime. So long as any society finds its
socio-economic system acceptable, that system will stand even if a
militant minority detests it. But should a significant number of
3 M.K. Gandhi, "Letter to B. Srirangasayi", The Hindu, October 11, 1934
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individuals find it unacceptable, it is shaken to its foundations, regardless
of the complacency of privileged elities.
Thirdly, Gandhi contended that the idea of trusteeship could be put into
practice non-violently, because it could be instituted by degrees. When
asked if such 'trustees'–individuals who possessed wealth and yet saw
themselves as stewards for society–could be found in India in his day, he
rejected the question as strictly irrelevant to the theory, which can only be
evaluated by extensive testing over time.
Gandhi once told - At this point I may be asked as to how many
trustees of this type one can really find. As a matter of fact, such a
question should not arise at all. It is not directly related to our theory.
There may be just one such trustee or there may be none at all. Why
should we worry about it? We should have faith that we can, without
violence or with so little violence that it can hardly be called violence,
create such a feeling among the rich. We should act in that faith.
That is sufficient for us. We should demonstrate through our
endeavour that we can end economic disparity with the help of non-
violence. Only those who have no faith in non-violence can ask how
many trustees of this kind can be found4. Gandhi knew that he sought
the widespread realization of a forgotten ideal, but he repudiated the
conventional notion that an experiment is unworthy to be tried simply
because it stems from an exacting ideal. Even if one argued that
trusteeship was doomed to failure, it ran no greater risk than the
conventional social proposals of the day. Committed to principles but
flexible in policies, Gandhi saw no reason to neglect ideals and to
4 M.K. Gandhi, "Answers to Questions at Gandhi Seva Sangh Meeting, Brindaban–II", Gandhi Seva Sanghke Panchama Varshik Adhiveshan (Brindaban, Bihar) ka Vivaran, pp. 50-9. Cf. "Gandhi Seva Sangh –IV: More Communings", by M.D., Harijan, June 3, 1939
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institute social reforms from a defeatist standpoint. Such an approach
only guaranteed that structural faults would be built into the new social
order. Rather, he emphasized, it is better to move towards the ideal and
make appropriate adjustments necessitated by the specific failures
encountered in attempting to reach it. In doing so, principles would
remain uncompromised and the possibility of improvement would
always remain, whereas in a system which assumes cupidity and
corruption in human nature, nothing encourages their eradication.
Gandhi not only had faith that it was possible for human beings to
become trustees of their resources for the sake of all, but also that many
in fact were already and had always been trustees. They are the
preservers of culture and tradition, who show their ethical stance
through countless daily acts of graciousness and concern for others. To
treat man as man requires not so much the acceptance of the equal
potentialities of all men, let alone the infinite potentialities of all men,
but rather the acceptance of the unknown potentialities of all human
beings. Given scarce resources and the limits of productivity and of
taxable income, there are definitely limits to what the State can do, but
is there any reason why voluntary associations should not be entrusted
with the task of extending the avenues of opportunity available to the
disinherited? The socialist could argue that by an indefinite extension
of opportunities (not always requiring State action) and by changing
not only the structure but the entire ethos and moral tone of society,
new social values could slowly emerge and usher in an era in which
men show mutual respect which is not based on skills and promotions,
rank and status.
The minimal goal of basic economic equity is easily stated, yet it is the
fundamental first stage for the uplift of the whole. In words of Gandhi,
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Everybody should be able to get sufficient work to make the two ends
meet. And, this ideal can be universally realized only if the means of
production of elementary necessaries of life remain under the control
of the masses. These should be freely available to all as God's air and
water are, or ought to be; they should not be made a vehicle of traffic
for the exploitation of others. Their monopolization by any country,
nation or groups of persons would be unjust. The neglect of this
simple principle is the cause of the destitution that we witness to-day,
not only in this unhappy land, but other parts of the world, too5.
The principle of trusteeship in its application to the equitable distribution
of wealth, as well as to the non-violent socialist reformation it underpins,
is practicable because it does not require everyone to undertake it all at
once. Unlike most socialists who reason that they must seize the power of
the State before instituting effective reforms, Gandhi held that
enlightened individuals could initiate the process of divesting themselves
of what is unnecessary while becoming true trustees of their own
possessions.
Gandhi said - It is perfectly possible for an individual to adopt this
way of life without having to wait for others to do so. And if an
individual can observe a certain rule of conduct, it follows that a
group of individuals can do likewise. It is necessary for me to
emphasize the fact that no one need wait for anyone else in order to
adopt a right course. Men generally hesitate to make a beginning, if
they feel that the objective cannot be had in its entirety. Such an
attitude of mind is in reality a bar to progress6.
5 M.K. Gandhi, "Economic Constitution of India", Young India, November 15, 1928 6 M.K. Gandhi, "Equal Distribution", Harijan, August 25, 1940.
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Once the barrier in consciousness is broken, the principle of trusteeship
can be made to work by letting go of the demand for a mechanically
equal distribution, something Gandhi doubted could ever be realized.
Instead, he held to the revolutionary ideal of equitable distribution, which
would not only be possible but necessary in the non-violent socialist
State.
Gandhi said - If the trusteeship idea catches, philanthropy, as we
know it, will disappear.... A trustee has no heir but the public7.
Gradually, statutory trusteeship could be introduced in which the duties
of the trustee and the public could be formalized. The trustee may serve
so long as the people find his services beneficial. He may even
designate his successor, but the people must confirm it. Should the
State become involved, the trustee's power of appointment and the
State's power of review will strike a balance in which the welfare of the
people will be safeguarded.
Fourthly and finally, Gandhi believed that social conditions were ripe for
imaginative applications of the principle of trusteeship. The collapse of
Western imperialsim, the spiritual and social poverty of fascism and
totalitarianism, the psychological failure of capitalism, the moral
bankruptcy of state socialism and the ideological inflexibility of
communism all indicate an ineluctable if gradual movement towards a
reconstitution of the social order which will compel some form of
redistribution.
The limits to growth make themselves felt through the undermining of
social virtues like trust and truthfulness, restraint and mutual acceptance,
as well as a sense of fraternal obligation, all of which are essential to
7 M.K. Gandhi, "A Question", Harijan April 12, 1942.
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individual initiative in a contractual economic system. If such virtues are
treated as public goods necessary to universal welfare, then unrestricted
individualism faces noticeable limits, lest the social justification and
viability of the whole system be destroyed. C.B. MacPherson went so far
as to predict that the time will come when it will no longer be feasible to
put acquisition ahead of spiritual values, and that national power will
become a function not of market power but of moral stature.
According to Gandhi, the rich should ponder well as to what is their
duty today. They who employ mercenaries to guard their wealth may
find those very guardians turning on them. The moneyed classes have
got to learn how to fight either with arms or with the weapons of non-
violence.... I see coming the day of the rule of the poor, whether that
rule be through force of arms or of non-violence8.
Even though the war against poverty will take a long time to win, it is
necessary for the State to adopt various measures to reduce the sharp
economic inequalities that undermine the working of mass democracy,
and to strengthen the organizing power of peasants, artisans, and
industrial and clerical workers. In addition to fiscal and monetary
measures to reduce income ceilings, it would be desirable to assist
wealthy landlords and industrialists in parting with portions of their
wealth, property and earnings as public contributions towards specific
local schemes and plans. The more the redistributive process can be
extended beyond legal compulsion and political action, the more
democracy is strengthened at the social level. The more the State can
bring together representatives of richer and poorer groups, stronger and
8 M.K. Gandhi, "Advice to the Rich", Harijan, February 1, 1942
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weaker sections of society, in planning local programs, the better it will
be for all.
Owing to his unshakeable conviction that violence can never produce
permanent results, only Gandhi's modesty prevented him from asserting
that his ethical solution would come to be seen as the only feasible
alternative to wholesale misery and destruction, if not now, then in the
foreseeable future. He deliberately avoided elaborating a complete system
of statutory or voluntary trusteeship out of the conviction that structural
and organizational details necessarily varied with the social and political
context and with the personnel, whilst the essential core of the ideal was
universally applicable. Thus he could gain a serious hearing from those
who would be most affected by the implementation of his proposals
without threatening them.
To conclude with, Gandhi was very optimistic about implementation of
Trusteeship as is evident from his following quote: I am not ashamed
to own that many capitalists are friendly towards me and do not fear
me. They know that I desire to end capitalism almost, if not quite, as
much as the most advanced Socialist or even Communist. But our
methods differ, our languages differ. My theory of 'trusteeship' is no
make-shift, certainly no camouflage. I am confident that it will
survive all theories9.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has permeated management
practice and theory up to a point where CSR can be referred to as the
latest management fad (Guthey, Langer, & Morsing, 2006). However, so
far CSR integration into business processes has been very uneven.
9 M.K. Gandhi, "Theory of 'Trusteeship'", loc. Cit
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Hockerts (2008), for example, finds that most firms conceptualize CSR
primarily as a tool to reduce risks and operational cost.
CSR BETWEEN LEGITIMACY, ETHICS, STAKEHOLDER, DIALOGUE,
AND SUSTAINABILE DEVELOPMENT : In recent years the business
strategy field has experienced the renaissance of corporate social
responsibility (CSR) as a major topic of interest. The concept has not
surfaced for the first time. CSR had already known considerable interest
in the 1960s and 70s, spawning a broad range of scholarly contributions
(Cheit, 1964; Heald, 1970; Ackermann & Bauer, 1976; Carroll, 1979),
and a veritable industry of social auditors and consultants. However, the
topic all but vanished from most managers' minds in the 1980s (Dierkes
& Antal, 1986; Vogel, 1986). Having blossomed in the 1970s, CSR all
but vanished and only re-emerged in recent years.
CSR resurfaced forcefully over the past ten years in response to mounting
public concern about globalization. Firms find themselves held
responsible for human rights abuses by their suppliers in developing
countries; interest groups demand corporate governance to be transparent
and accountable; rioters from Seattle to Genoa protest violently against
the cost of free trade and other perceived negative consequences of
globalization. However, nearly two decades of neglect have helped to
undo much of the past achievements of corporate social responsibility. It
is thus no surprise that both practitioners and scholars are struggling once
again to answer the question what the strategic implications of CSR are.
The literature on CSR draws on a number of different theoretical
traditions, which often are in contradiction to each other. Wood (1991)
describes three levels of analysis: institutional, individual, and
organizational. A fourth level which may be added as ‘global’ one.
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INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL: CSR AS ORGANIZATIONAL LEGITIMACY :
Davis (1973) describes the iron law of responsibility, as the fact that
firms exercising power will eventually be held accountable by society. At
this level CSR can be best understood as a quest for organizational
legitimacy. Firms are under the obligation not to abuse the power
invested on them by society or they risk losing society’s implicit
endorsement. More recently this view point has resurfaced as a firm’s
need to retain its “license to operate” (Post, Preston, & Sachs, 2002: 21).
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL: CSR AS MORAL CHOICES OF MANAGERS:At
the individual level, CSR has been constructed by Ackermann (1976) as
managerial discretion. According to this view managerial actions are not
fully defined by corporate policies and procedures. So although managers
are constrained by their work environment they nonetheless have to
weigh the moral consequences of the choices they make. The view of
CSR is strongly anchored in the business ethics literature (Jones,
1991;Donaldson & Dunfee, 1994; Crane & Matten, 2003).
ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL: CSR AS STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT:
With Freeman’s (1984) seminal book the focus moved from legitimacy
and morals towards a new theory of the firm. Social considerations are
thus no longer outside an organization but are part of its purpose of being.
CSR thus becomes a question of stakeholder identification, involvement,
and communication (Mitchell, Agle, & Wood, 1997; Morsing &
Beckmann, 2006; Morsing & Schultz, 2006). “The purpose of stakeholder
management was to devise a framework to manage strategically the
myriad groups that influenced, directly and indirectly, the ability of a firm
to achieve its objectives.” (Freeman & Velamuri, 2006). The aim of
stakeholder management is thus to analyze how a company can serve its
customers and be lucrative while also serving its other stakeholders such
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as suppliers, employees, and communities. Recently the stakeholder
perspective has dominated the reinterpretation of CSR pushing the
question of the legitimacy of corporate power as well as the moral
dimension of managerial decisions more into the background.
GLOBAL LEVEL: CSR AS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT :The latest
understanding of corporate social responsibility is that of sustainable
development. It was the Brundtland Commission (1987) that for the first
time systematically emphasized the link between poverty, environmental
degradation, and economic development. Its definition of sustainable
development, as meeting the needs of the present, without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet theirs, extends the responsibility
of firms both inter- and intra-generationally. Thus firms are expected to
also consider traditionally unrepresented stakeholders such as the
environment and as well as future generations. Although many CSR
authors have taken up the notion of a “triple bottom line” (Elkington,
1997) there remain important tensions between the CSR and the
sustainable development debate (i.e.Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002).
Now, hereunder follows few examples of CSR, which are inspiring:
ABN AMRO: ABN AMRO is a Dutch corporation working in the
financial service industry. It was acquired in 2007 by a consortium of
three European banks, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Fortis, and Banco
Santander. Before this take over, ABN AMRO had initiated a large scale
acquisition scheme in Brazil in 1998. The take over of several major
Brazilian banks resulted in the establishment of Banco ABN AMRO
Real. This new consortium took some pioneering initiatives like the
establishment of a new social-environmental policy when making
decisions on loans, the creation of the Real MicroCrédito, which provided
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financing for small business and entrepreneurs, and the implementation of
the Ethical Fund, which was the first Social Responsible Investment fund
in Brazil. These initiatives were primarily led as a first mover within the
Brazilian market, and introduced in a market context with little previous
experience in social banking practices.
ELECTRICITÉ DE FRANCE : The French electricity company
focuses on electricity access in developing parts of the world. The
initiative, Energy Access Programme through Rural Electricity and
Services Companies, has helped bringing electricity to rural areas of
Mali, Morocco and South Africa, which would have been otherwise ‘off
the grid.’ EDF has brought electricity to 800,000 people and the 2010
goal is one million people. EDF considers this ‘a drop in the ocean’ but
emphasizes the difference they make in these specific countries. Around
8-10 per cent of electricity is provided through this initiative, affecting a
lot of people and businesses within the region. One of the projects in
Morocco is called Temasol and has provided solar energy for more than
20,000 households in rural areas. Temasol has undertaken a pilot project
of delivering drinking water to the same households, while at the same
time extending operations to other parts of the country. The initiatives are
innovating both in terms of social capacity building, while at the same
time having a low environmental impact. It is an important first step, and
a basis for other people to further develop infrastructure in these
communities. The presence in these markets has allowed the company to
innovate social schemes further in areas of housing, employment and
education.
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ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL : Social innovation in the French
company is realized through value-led innovation systems and Base of
the pyramid activities. Essilor International has developed both
manufacturing and distribution systems in rural India for optical lenses.
The initiative was undertaken in the absence of adequate eye care
facilities, which resulted in very low usage of spectacles. Uncorrected
refractive error is one of the major causes of blindness, which if detected
and corrected, would give a fresh lease of life to individuals. In 2004,
Essilor India established a Rural Marketing Division. Access was even
more important than costs so innovation within both manufacturing and
distribution was urgent. After an initial study of the situation, Essilor
realized that the lack of consumption of spectacles was connected to a
lack of product access. Essilor has now developed a system of mobile low
cost testing in rural areas as a means to reach the remote, rural population
of India and manufacture cheap, affordable products through a steep
learning curve and immense scale in production.
NOVO NORDISK : Stakeholder-driven innovation is at the core of
social innovation in Novo Nordisk. Several programmes have been
initiated during the past decade, all with global perspectives and growth
potential. Novo Nordisk has undertaken a shift from an internal focus to a
reflective view through a corporate history and culture that lays the
foundation for its values-based and holistic approach to doing business.
By establishing the link between health as a driver of wealth, it has been
possible to pursue Triple Bottom Line strategies in a way that
increasingly gets at the heart of core business processes – in the markets,
as well as in the corporate functions and governance mechanisms. The
approach is shaped through extensive stakeholder engagement embedded
in organisational behaviour and business operations. An example of these
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stakeholder-driven initiatives is the DAWN programme, the largest-ever,
global survey to uncover diabetes attitudes, wishes and needs. The study
focuses on the person behind the disease and is aimed to uncover the
psychosocial aspects of diabetes. The DAWN programme taught all
parties involved, that the patients also need mental encouragement and
positive guidance empowering them to take charge of their own health.
Such innovation in public health promotion activities help effectively
reduce the burden of diseases such as diabetes. Furthermore, Novo
Nordisk is driving National Diabetes Programmes to educate stakeholders
as well as actively supporting the growing international advocacy
platform to put chronic disease prevention on the political agenda. One
such initiative is the Oxford Health Alliance.
PHILIPS : The Green Flagships project at Philips is a gathering and
quantitative measuring of the best lighting products. To be considered a
Green Flagship, a product must first undergo a ivisional EcoDesign
procedure. Next, the product or product family is investigated in at least
three of the six Green Focal Areas. These Green Focal Areas consist of
Energy Efficiency, Recyclability, Lifetime Reliability, Packaging,
Hazardous Substances and Weight. Based on this analysis, the product or
product family must be proven to offer at least 10% improved
environmental performance in at least one Green Focal Area compared to
a predecessor or competitive product, and the overall lifecycle score must
be equal or better. So while many products may be “green”, only the top
Eco-designed products achieve Green Flagship status. A Philips Green
Flagship product is a best environmental choice and a product that either
has the best environmental performance in the market, is the most
innovative environmental friendly product in its portfolio, or is the best
environmental solution in its application area. The development of Green
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Energy has experienced a major boom within the last decade. The
labelling of green energy “cleantech” is increasingly attracting finance
from both venture capital and MNCs. The Green Flagship label is an
example of this environmental progress.
PROCTER & GAMBLE : Proctor & Gamble provides an example of a
social innovative product that failed to be marketed for profit. The case is
a water purification system called PUR, which P&G developed in
collaboration with the US Centre for Disease Control for commercial
markets, targeting low income consumers. The product had clear social
benefits, providing clean drinking water for households in places where
the health risks of untreated drinking water are high, especially for
children. After three years of market tests though, PUR was looking like a
commercial failure. Many other firms would have closed down the
project, but P&G instead moved PUR to its corporate sustainability
department, where focus no longer relied solely on making a profit. Since
2003, P&G has sold the product at cost and worked in partnership with
non-profit organisations, who distribute the product through their
development and humanitarian relief networks. However, by using the
marketplace P&G felt they could relieve people at a global level whereas
philanthropic activity would not be as effective. Using social marketing
models by collaborating with NGOs created greater impact than
commercial marketing.
TELENOR : In 1997 Telenor initiated a joint venture between Telenor
and Grameen Bank. The partnership led to the formation of two separate
organizations, GrameenPhone and GrameenTelecom. It was operated by
experienced Telenor managers with a strategic objective to maximize
financial returns; Grameen- Telecom was set up as the administrative
interface to the existing Grameen Bank. This development bank, founded
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by Muhammad Yunus in 1976, provides microfinance for millions of
poor people in the more than 60,000 rural villages throughout
Bangladesh. As such, Telenor could benefit from market access and
distribution systems and Grameen could introduce new types of product
utilization into their business model. Furthermore, it provided Telenor
with effective selection methods of phone owners and payment methods
by using the experience of the Grameen Bank. The business model is
build around a high degree of social interactivity in rural villages, where
people use the new systems both to enrich their private communication
facility and enhance business capabilities. (The Academy of
Management Perspectives, vol. 21, number 4 (2007) pp 49-63)
TRYGVESTA : TrygVesta strives to create innovations that make a
difference for individuals and society in general using people with
backgrounds in humanistic disciplines such as philosophy, theatre
science, music and design in addition to the classical economical and
technological disciplines. With the creation of their Business Lab
focusing on Corporate Social Innovation, TrygVesta is launching
incubator programmes; among these the Corporate Venturing project,
which helps the creation of new ventures that build on socially innovative
ideas. The natural interest in Social Innovation by TrygVesta is created
through the risk sharing between the company and customers in the
insurance industry. It is a social contract that connects the actors, where
socially innovative schemes are generating value for both TrygVesta and
customers. This process is fundamental to success since it requires
acceptance and support from all parties involved.
UNILEVER : Unilever defines their social innovation as utilizing
consumer concerns about social and environmental issues. These provide
opportunities for brands to connect with their consumers at a deeper level
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and, in doing so, gain competitive and sales advantage through cross-
sector partnerships. This allows Unilever to do business and tackle social
problems at the same time. Unilever focuses on the emerging markets. To
achieve optimal results for both the company and local societal
development, local markets must teach and change Unilever, not the other
way around. Exploiting local strengths instead of trying to overcome
local weaknesses is at the core of business activities. An example of the
social innovation initiatives at Unilever is the Lifebuoy soap to help
reduce child mortality of diarrhoea. Obstacles faced especially in India
are illiteracy, rural masses not reached by mass-media, and perceptions
that if hands look clean they are clean. To overcome these obstacles,
Unilever has initiated the largest rural health and hygiene education
programme ever undertaken in India. Education teams are visiting
communities and schools to reach the broad masses. In order to help low
income households the soap is sold in 18-gram bars, enough for one
person to wash their hands once a day for 10 weeks. Another project is
the “Shakri”, which deals with reaching small Indian villages with less
than 2,000 people. Lack of retail distribution networks to reach the
500,000 smaller villages brought innovative thinking at the core of
strategy. The solution was recruiting women from these small villages to
act as freelance direct sales operators. Cooperation between Unilever and
many women’s self-help groups (Indian NGOs) provided training and
education to these women and made them local
entrepreneurs. The women typically doubled the household income
tending to use the money on education for their children. Since 2000,
Unilever has extended Shakri to cover 80,000 villages. There are many
more product examples for instance in India, Indonesia and Brazil.
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Peace
Both Galtung and Dasgupta discard the traditional meaning of peace and
develop a new concept of peace. The old idea of peace is a synonym for
harmony. Secondly there is the idea of peace as the absence of organized
collective violence. Galtung refers to harmony as a state of equilibrium
between opposed forces within or between actors i.e human beings, both
at the individual or single level (micro level) and national or multigroup
level (macro level). Usually this equilibrium is not dynamic but static and
in this sense, says Galtung, peace means absence of violence, and
harmony becomes a necessary or sufficient condition for peace. He
therefore names absence of manifest violence as negative peace and
develops a concept of positive peace. Dasgupta holds that peace and war
are interrelated, one negating the other. In the Western hemishere, peace
and war are incompatible phenomenon and therefore, war and
peacelessness are also interrelated concepts. According to Dasgupta,
absence of war, violence, tension and exploitation constitute only the
negative concept of peace. Its positive aspects are processes of human
and social development and fostering of a dynamics of constant societal
change in a planned and man -oriented direction. Even while trying to
maintain negative peace the absence of direct or manifest violence and
exploitation is not enough, the absence of latent or structural violence is
equally important. Violence lies deep in the micro-segments of the
society and in the minds of the men. The new concept of peace therefore
stands for peace with development and is linked with all manifestations
of peace, peacelessness, maldevelopment, violence and social change. In
formulating a new concept of peace, Dasgupta elaborates the concept of
the peace as enunciated by Gandhi. To define 'Peace' Gandhi starts other
way round. He first defines its antonym 'Violence'. However, by violence
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Gandhi did not mean only 'force', 'coercion' or 'bloodshed'. Violence
according to him, includes exploitation - economic, social and political,
of nations by nations, of individuals by individuals, of women by men, of
individuals and systems by individuals and systems, of men and society
by machines and systems, and vice versa. Its antonym is Non-violence.
This is the other name of Peace. So, Peace is thus not a static concept but
a dynamic positive entity.
Dasgupta states that if the study of a problem is so handled that it leads to
an understanding of elements responsible for ‘peacelessness’ or helps in
predicting steps for fighting violence – both manifest and latent – and
promoting social development and change in national and supernatural
contexts, then only a piece of work could be as classified as Peace
Research. Viewed from this perspective, there are indeed many problems
which do not have to do anything, in one sense or other, with peace and
therefore with Peace Research. Quoting Gunnar Myrdal, Dasgupta define
Peace Research as a systematic study in the diverse fields of the social
sciences as a result of which our understanding of conflicts, tensions and
wars improves, and that it is as old as the social science research itself.
Peace Research has till now been mainly concerned with the problems of
peace and war, with horizontal political conflicts between the ruling elites
of different nations. According to the new definition of peace, wars are to
be viewed along a continuum between the national and international
conflict. A close link between maldevelopment, poverty, internal violence
and war is thus easily discernible. Anti-war campaigns and non-violent
actions are then essentially vertical struggles. These actions, say
Dasgupta, aim not only at ending wars or violence but the elimination of
all sorts of violence and exploitation from all levels of society. It is a
movement for total and fundamental change. Non-violence according to
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this theory is not an antidote to violence but an alternate force for social
change and is help to the ‘underdog’ - the Daridranarayan as Gandhi
called them. So, as per this thought, Peace Action intends for
establishment of a new society and theories of peace are to be projected
as theories of struggle and change. Thus the concept of peace research
needs to be viewed in the context of new concept of peace. Any plan for
development of a curriculum for study as well as for research in the area
should keep this fundamental conceptual situation in mind. This would
help, says Dasgupta, to offer a reorientation to the entire discipline and
bring its focus upon ‘Peace and Non-violence’ for intra-societal as well
as international change and conflict resolutions. This new discipline
needs to be developed, therefore, as an integrated unit of research,
education and practice. The concept and method of Peace Research
should be interdisciplinary in the sense that Peace Research should draw
from various sciences which have bearing on the new theme of social
change and international relations.
Gultang is of the view that Peace Research does not belong to any
particular existing discipline. It is free to develop in any direction
researchers might take it, as long as goals are kept in mind. In that sense,
it is interdisciplinary. Peace research will, in no sense, be incompatible
with seeing world problems from the angle of the nation in which the
researcher lives. In fact, its perspective is global. Researcher has to act
like a transnational researcher.
Peace Research in India is in embryonic stage. Gandhian Institute of
Studies at Varanasi, Peace Foundation at New Delhi, Department of
Sociology, University of Rajasthan at Jaipur, Peace Mission in Nagaland
and Gujarat Vidyapith at Ahmedabad have carried out studies or held
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conferences on Peace Research. So, Peace Research is in a formative
research in India.
One encouraging feature of Peace Research in India unlike in the West is
emphasis on structural violence as well as on direct violence and on
positive aspects of Peace. While most of Peace Research in the West
relates to problems of international relations, nuclear disarmament,
superpowers and UNO. Dasgupta says that very little (in West) has been
done in field of intra-societal tensions and conflicts, on problems of
structural violence, systems of land tenure, production activities,
industrial scenario, Role of corporate sector in reducing tension in the
society, educational systems and social organizations working for peace
or moral values.
Galtung is of the opinion that India is in a very strong position to take
initiative in Peace Research and there are four very strong points in the
Indian tradition that would enrich further the world peace research
movement. These points are a) general Indian philosophical tradition
about Man, Society and the World, b) the Gandhian tradition, particularly
Satyagraha as a theory and practice of conflict, c) India’s peculiar
structure (which is in many ways a remarkably successful international
system) and d) India’s role today in World System.
So, Peace Research should follow the non-violent social change to be
brought into being by conscious, deliberate and planned efforts of a given
community – national or international. Thus Peace Research, in and
outside India should be functional, normative, prescriptive, operational
and future oriented.
In Indian context, the problems of communal tensions, relationship
between worker and management in corporate sector, Impact of
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Corporate Social Responsibilities in promotion of peace, Agrarian
relations, group conflicts etc. may be subject of research. Also, systematic
efforts will have to made to identify the sources of violence in our
thought and conduct, the reasons for conflict and the motivation for
violence and recommend steps to reduce them. Peace research must
address the problem of poverty, violence and peacelessness. The principle
of Trusteeship, too, needs to be examined for reduction of economic
inequality in the society. Overall purpose should be establishment of non-
exploitative and peaceful human society. So, Peace Research would have
to focus on system building
Peace research cannot be conducted in isolation and apart from peace
action. There has to be unity of theory and practice. Researcher’s
participation in some programme/areas of peace (including
developmental projects) should be insisted upon. The concept of
‘Diachronic’ personality (the same person engaged in research as well as
in action at intervals), seems worthy to be adopted.
Conclusion
The study of original Literature of Trusteeship authored by Gandhiji is a
spiritual concept and is not easy for all to digest. Its practice is even more
difficult. Trustee (one who practices Trusteeship) in true sense of the
term will have no extra possessions than is required to fulfil his basic
needs. In fact , Trusteeship requires purification of soul and should be
practiced on individual level first. Unless the individual soul is purified,
Trusteeship at Group level will be next to impossible. A group is made of
individuals. If the individual forming the group is not pure, the group,
too, cannot claim purity. Trusteeship in its true form will exist only when
an individual intending to practice it attains self realization which in turn
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means understanding his relation with God. The great souls like Mahatma
Buddha, Mahavir, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohhammad, practiced the
principle of Trusteeship in their lives. They are said to be incarceration of
God. They minimized their materialistic needs and lived lives for others.
The people who do not know the purpose of their being on this earth and
live a life in pursuit of materialistic aspirations only, cannot understand
and appreciate the principle of Trusteeship. Earth has been full of such
people and hence adoption and practice of Trusteeship is a rare
phenomenon as it requires fundamental change in thought and action
which is possible only when the soul is awakened from deep slumber.
However, it does not mean that the Principle of Trusteeship should be
discarded. It may not be adopted fully but process must commence.
Efforts must be initiated to know the true self and its relation to various
components of the nature. Such an effort will bear fruit and process of
purity of soul will commence. If sincere efforts are put into, soul will be
more purer day by day and the principle of Trusteeship will percolate
down into his life effortlessly. ‘Trusteeship’ will become is a way of life
for pure soul.
Corporate Social responsibility is a western management concept. CSR
for them is a business concept. Since they get their resources from the
society and nature and hence, it was deemed fit that they must give back
their due to the society, too. Trusteeship Principle is not yet understood
by West as the West is outward looking. One has to do inward journey to
understand the concept of Trusteeship. If the concept of trusteeship is
amalgamated with good CSR practices, there would be no harm to the
employees working with a company, their customers, society in general
and environment. However, it is an ideal situation which cannot be
achieved. But sincere efforts need to be made to move in the direction.
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Peace as described above is a dynamic phenomenon. It is to be linked
with developmental activities. A company following good CSR practices
based on the principle of Trusteeship would take care of its people,
customers, society and environment and would do no damage to anyone
and hence, it would receive co-operation from all and there would be
peace all around.
Trusteeship is like a mother which could give birth to a healthy baby
called CSR and both together could work for making this earth becoming
free from conflict and tensions and hence bring peace and harmony on
this planet. However, it is worth mentioning here that Trusteeship must
be way of life for all if lasting peace is to be ensured on this earth.