2009 India Study Tour

Corporate Social Responsibility: A Business Approach

The vastness, complexity and contradictions of India require some minimum historical background if one is to have any hope of clarity regarding the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility. 

In India, responsibility was traditionally limited to “insiders” – you looked after members of your own immediate and perhaps your extended family, you might even extend some minimum care to members of your clan, or at most to members of your caste.  In a society bound by notions of caste and fate, the idea of responsibility for the whole of society constituted a cultural revolution caused by foreign influences and Indian reformers, such as Guru Nanaka, Swaminarayana, Rammohan Roy, and Mahatma Gandhi in turn then launched reform movements which slowly began to change the values.

During the Independence struggle, Indian companies, which began to proliferate and prosper from the mid-nineteenth century, threw in their lot with Mahatma Gandhi, and the resulting concern for the nation caused many of them to be involved in providing education, health services, and even clean water. Then, the question rose, does CSR blaze a trail, or is it an alibi for a government’s declining to do what it ought?

On this 14 day study abroad tour in India we will be exploring the ideas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) while meeting with NGOs, local and multinational business, and community members.  To meet these goals, we have chosen to travel to three distinct cities of India where students can sample India’s commerce and culture as well as its fabulous cuisine–Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi.

In Mumbai, we will receive an introduction to the varying opinions of what is Corporate Social Responsibility while immersing ourselves in India’s commercial capital, visiting financial service companies, industrial conglomerates, entertainment companies, and a non-governmental project.

We will then travel to Bangalore, the software and outsourcing capital of India, to explore India’s technology center and to further define the role of the technology industry’s involvement in CSR. 

Later, we will experience Delhi, the seat of India’s government, the capital of several Indian empires and a major city along the old trade routes between northwest India and the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Here we will explore the role of community and nonprofit involvement in CSR as well as make a visit the Taj Mahal, an amazing building built for love and one of the new 7 wonders of the world.