Mr. Sandeep Uppal, a commerce graduate from Delhi University and a certified Chartered Accountant, is a seasoned entrepreneur and Founder & Managing Partner of Acuvon Consulting, with two decades of expertise in Strategy, Operations, Corporate Turnaround, and Business Performance Improvement. His visionary leadership has significantly impacted the Retail sector across the Middle East.
Before co-founding Acuvon, Sandeep led McKinsey & Co.'s Analytics team, scaling it to a 100-strong workforce. He actively mentors and invests in early-stage companies, fueling their growth journey. His vast experience spans start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and Government organizations.
Beyond business, he is dedicated to social impact as the founding director of i-Saksham, empowering underprivileged communities through education and self-reliance initiatives. His pursuit of excellence and transformative contributions have garnered recognition and respect across various domains.
In this captivating article, Mr. Uppal delves into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, unveiling their transformative potential in driving business growth and fostering positive social impact. He emphasizes the significance of creating shared value by integrating social development with a company's core objectives. He also shares success stories of companies like Amul, HUL, Titan, and ITC, illustrating how strategic CSR enhances brand reputation and engagement.
With a focus on sustainability and collaboration among stakeholders, Mr. Uppal envisions a harmonious business landscape, where businesses thrive while making a meaningful social impact.
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Hooked on their smartphones, when it comes to spending, Millennials and Gen Zs would prioritise experiences over possessions. Their social network has a bigger influence on their buying behaviour than just the power of a brand. While the new trend in their buying behaviour keeps emerging every other day, one trend is consistent. Both groups have high expectations of companies to address environmental and social issues. An astonishing 87 percent of millennials and 94 percent of Generation Z expect businesses to address urgent social and environmental challenges.
According to a Nielsen poll, over 55% of Indian consumers are willing to pay more for products and services provided by socially responsible businesses. Also, the Towers Watson survey shared that organisations with effective CSR activities had 72% employee engagement, compared to 31% in companies without such programs. It means that businesses with a capitalist mindset are under serious threat in the long term. Having said that, if social development can be combined with business growth, it can be a winning proposition for both. Companies must put 'Shared value' at the centre and reimagine customers, products and the market. It could be crucial in enabling the next generation of enterprise innovation and growth.
CSR Initiatives Shape India's Business Landscape and Social Development
The first step in this direction could be where companies do not consider CSR as charity or donation but mean a gradual shift in mindset to combine social development with the company's growth. The CSR initiatives themselves can drive business growth while achieving social impact. These social development areas could be closely linked to the company's objective and work areas ranging from education, workforce skills, health, worker safety, reduction in carbon emission, water conservation, economic development of the community, affordable housing and many more. Innumerable success stories demonstrate how companies have achieved social development as a means of business growth.
Amul: Amul, India's leading dairy cooperative, has actively empowered dairy farmers through its cooperative model. Amul has uplifted millions of farmers and improved their livelihood by providing training, resources, and fair pricing. This approach has created a loyal customer base and strengthened the company's market position and growth in the dairy industry. During this journey, Amul has planted over 733 lakh trees. Amul intends to provide digital training to at least a lakh students and over 20,000 adults, including at least one-fourth of the women, across 70 villages in Anand and six districts in Gujarat.
HUL's Project Shakti: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) launched Project Shakti, a rural women's empowerment initiative. It trains and empowers women entrepreneurs, Shakti Ammas, to distribute HUL products in rural areas. They have around 160,000 Shakti entrepreneurs distributed over 18 states. This initiative has improved access to essential products in remote regions and contributed to the company's sales growth and expansion in untapped markets.
Titan Company: Titan, a leading watch and jewellery brand, launched the "Tanishq - Mia" initiative, which supports and empowers female artisans in rural India. By providing them with training and market access, the initiative promotes traditional craftsmanship and drives growth in the jewellery segment by offering unique and ethically-made products. Titan Kanya is a pan-India program that ensures that every girl child completes her primary schooling up to class X. This program has aided around 5000 girls.
ITC Limited: ITC, an Indian conglomerate, has been actively involved in various social development initiatives like e-Choupal - empowering rural farmers, social and farm forestry - afforestation and reforestation efforts, promoting sustainable agriculture practices, livelihood creation and several other social initiatives around education, healthcare, sanitation and women empowerment. ITC has empowered 4 million farmers and installed 6,500 e-choupals. These initiatives have positively impacted society, enhanced its brand reputation, and garnered consumer trust. By integrating sustainability and corporate social responsibility into its core values, ITC has experienced continued business growth and success in India.
CSR Initiatives Drive Business Growth with Social Impact through Creating Shared Value
The examples above demonstrate how companies have effectively used social development initiatives to drive business growth while positively impacting society. By aligning their business objectives with social impact, these companies have built stronger relationships with consumers, employees, and communities, ultimately contributing to their long-term success.
Imagine when this picks up steam, the work that the government and NGOs are doing around social development will no longer be in isolation but in partnership with businesses. It will be an era of creating shared value in the true sense!
