Team Building and Sustainability Building: Could CSR Communication Be the Winning Formula?

CSR consists of a commitment to the society in which a business operates. Consequently, more and more business managers seek to implement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. CSR is perceived as a tool to help secure a sustainable competitive advantage by integrating social and business goals. Above all, testing CSR measures in India is an opportunity for employees from the bottom to provide input and be proud of participating in their firm’s CSR development. CSR measures have to be enhanced by strategic communication to deliver the appropriate message.

CSR communication is a key tool for taking the pulse a healthy work environment in a business, since it provides an outlook on a company’s goodwill from within and without. It has a twofold impact. One, employees become eager to be involved in the principles of participative management and sustainable development. Two, customers are aware of these efforts, something that could have positive outcomes for the company. CSR communication in India is appreciated because more than 1,500 companies worldwide have published a CSR report. Consequently, more than a mere idea, CSR has become an actual component of strategic communication. Communicating properly involved few challenges, which are to: define the source of information, establish a coherent dialog within the company and determine who the audience is. Finally, successful CSR communication should use every channel available to broaden the reach of its message.

CSR communication has been growing rapidly, somewhat as if it had become a prerequisite for business development and competitive advantage. CSR initiatives should benefit employees at all levels and maximize internal advantages rather than enhance the company’s public image, a move that would strengthen their power of influence along with the executive managers. A Parliamentary panel has even suggested that 2% spending by corporations on CSR activities in the new Companies Bill should be made mandatory to prevent them from avoiding liability. Some challenges remain and businesses should be wary of the non-implementation of CSR initiatives merely for economic reasons.

The Path to Safer Roads

It’s a generally well-accepted fact that India’s road infrastructures and number of drivers are increasing at breakneck speeds, sadly literally as well as figuratively. In 2011 and 2012, India has been the dubious record-holder of the world’s highest number of road accidents according to the World Health Organization.

Admittedly, with such a large population, India’s statistics are bound to be dramatically high. But the numbers are appalling; in 2010 alone, 130,000 people were killed in car accidents, and numerous non-lethal injuries were sustained. The truth of the matter is that India’s road safety track record is very poor and the country has been paying dearly for it. According to one report, an average of 15 people dies every hour in automobile accidents in India. From a financial standpoint, traffic accidents have a huge economic impact, in terms of infrastructural and healthcare costs and victims’ compensation. A decade ago, a Planning Commission of India report estimated that the ignorance of the rules of the road incurred a cost amounting to 3% of the country’s GDP, or about 55 000 crore rupees at the time, a colossal amount for something that could be sharply reduced with a little road safety education.

But policies designed to tackle this growing concern have been lackluster. While the United Nations has declared 2011-2020 as the ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’, India has yet to organize anything related to this effort. The National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board Bill, which should have laid down a framework for road safety rules, has yet to be passed. Once again civil society has been more reactive than the administration. The Indian chapter of the International Road Federation, an NGO promoting road maintenance and development around the world, has submitted a proposal to the Union Finance Ministry asking for extension of tax benefits in the coming Union Budget for companies and individuals contributing to road safety. This reward-based stance could be the beginning of a positive move for road safety in India as it encourages personal initiative for road safety education and could potentially provide more efficient and tailor-made road education than a State-designed program. We can only hope this works. Until then, drive safely and feel free to share your stories and opinions in the comments below.

Laying the Foundations for a Brighter Future: New Light on Indian solar industry

There’s no denying, India is developing at a breathtaking pace. New infrastructures are sprouting up every day, ever-growing numbers of cars are driving on ever-growing numbers of roads, houses are fitted with new appliances; yet, all this comes at the cost of a tremendous amount of energy. India is ready to rise to this challenge. However, if it wants to do so sustainably on a large scale, it cannot turn it back on the solar option. Thankfully, although much is still to be done, things seem to moving along in the right direction. A recently published Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report entitled Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future provides an interesting outlook into the current state of solar energy in India. Indeed, there’s good reason to hope. For instance, Indian solar energy capacity went from 17.8 megawatts in 2010 to an impressive 506.9 megawatts in March 2012. That’s an astonishing advance over such a short time span and definite proof that there is interest in the solar market. However, the report also identifies three major hurdles on India’s road to solar sustainability. One is the technology gap between India and other countries. Two, albeit growing, the global industry is still very fragmented, mainly comprising numerous small-scale plants. Three, the industry is young and plagued by difficulties in obtaining raw materials, inverters and system components, slowing down growth in the sector and making self-sufficiency an issue for India. Obviously, there is still much to do and at many levels, ranging from component suppliers to solar energy producers, including distribution. But there’s a real interest in the burgeoning sector that materialized during the PV Manufacturing Summit on August 1and 2 in Delhi. On that occasion, key industry players met Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, to discuss solar industry issues. This can be considered as a good starting point for addressing the conclusions of the NRDC report and fuel more energy into an already vibrant sector.

CLEANTECH’s economic promise for India

As one of the fastest-growing emerging markets, India needs innovative and technology-driven solutions to boost its growth. The stakes are high, but so are the potential rewards: energy supply, environmental sustainability and rural development. Indian businesses and government are looking for innovative clean-technology applications, while entrepreneurs from the EU, US and Asia-Pacific are willing to tap into India’s tremendous potential in the cleantech sector, with a focus on solar power. Considering the current challenges of the economy, invaluable opportunities are there for both sides - just waiting to be seized.

So far, Cleantech investments have focused on bringing existing technologies to the Indian markets, rather than on developing entirely new solutions. Innovations mainly consist in modifying and aggregating multiple technologies and creating unique business models adapted to the Indian context. Rural/decentralized power is gaining momentum in cleantech investment industries. With the drop of photovoltaic prices and the vast rural and suburban markets that are underserved by grid power, global entrepreneurs are showing great interest in distributed power generation.

Aside from the opportunities found in a captive market of nearly 100,000 villages across the country, investors would also benefit from an organized move. Early this year, the Indian government set up the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to oversee the National Solar Mission (NSM), tasked with delivering 20GW of installed solar capacity by 2020 at an estimated cost of USD 20 billion. A research and development program was launched in 2010 under the NSM umbrella, to clear the way for the creation of affordable solar-energy systems through international cooperation.

Foreign entrepreneurs, especially from the UK and US, are exploring India’s rural areas and testing the markets for solar applications. They can rely on local partners offering entirely new ways of selling solar-power products. Innovative marketing, employing local villagers, and innovative pricing, such as pay-as-you-use facilities, are being tested. Startups tapping off-grid energy solutions are burgeoning, while innovative technologies applicable to the waste-to-energy and water sectors are emerging, as are other areas of interest for international partnerships. The Cleantech journey has just begun, but holds great promise for India.

ASER 2011: a Roadmap for Boosting Rural Children’s Education

What better goal than giving our rural children an opportunity to develop core skills? Unfortunately, school enrolment rates and education quality do not always go hand in hand. The Annual Status of Education Report 2011 released earlier this year by Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development, highlights mixed news for rural kids’ education.

The survey by local organizations and concerned citizens shows that extraordinary progress has been made in schooling rates: 96.7% of all 6-14 year olds in rural India are enrolled in school, a number that has held steady since 2010. However, more worrying are the reported reading and arithmetic levels in rural schools. With a few exceptions (among which is the state of Tamil Nadu), children’s ability to read and count has declined over the recent years.

Survey results clearly point to reconsidering the outcome of learning in rural areas. From this standpoint, effective school attendance, which is not the same thing as actual enrolment, should be a priority. Quality of schooling will also need to be targeted by education policies in the coming years, with a focus on enhancing pupil-teacher ratio in classrooms as well as schools infrastructure development, including libraries, bathrooms and water facilities.

Such steps are a pre-requisite for delivering quality education to rural children effectively and may provide a roadmap for all interested stakeholders in India, including private corporations and NGOs. Let’s give our children an opportunity to influence their own destiny!

The Planning Commission of India : “Help us plan India better!”

It is no easy task to strive for sustainable development and economic growth at the same time! However, the new trend of getting citizens more involved is a good indicator that the participatory approach is increasingly being viewed as the key to sustainable development.

For the first time, the Planning Commission of India has managed to set up a web-based consultation during the preparation of the Approach Paper to the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-2017). An Interactive website has been created to enable all interested stakeholders to voice their opinions. The new web-based approach has completed the on-site consultations conducted across the country by organizations representing the various groups of citizens such as women, dalits and youth. All stakeholders have been encouraged to give their comments on the Twelve Strategy Challenges that refer to some core areas for sustainable development. Twelve challenges that all stakeholders interested in building a sustainable future should address.
For more details please see the above link.

CII-ITC rewards best practices in corporate-led sustainability efforts

Sustainable development is not only a matter of consumer awareness and policy initiatives, but is also a matter involving industrial movers’ efforts. Not only because providing products compatible with a sustainable development increases their value for consumers, but also because achieving sustainability will ensure better long-term perspectives for industry.

With this in mind and for the sixth time since its creation, the CII-ITC (CII-ITC website) has handed out its Sustainability Awards for sustainable industry efforts. The grand winner of this year’s ceremony was Tata Steel, which won the Sustainability Prize in Category A for Large Business Organizations for the fourth time since the award’s creation. The prize rewards leadership and excellence for work to improve economic, environmental and social performance.

Aside from acknowledging best efforts in sustainability, the advantage of the CII-ITC Sustainability Award is that, during the process, the center conducts a thorough due-diligence, provides extensive feedback to participants, thus allowing them to improve their existing model. Not only does the center spotlight best examples of sustainable industrial developments, but it also provides a platform for sharing best practices, enabling other companies interested in sustainable development to implement the most effective processes easily. This has made the award a cutting- edge tool in promoting sustainability, raising the bar year after year while sharing key knowledge. We tip our hat to this remarkable initiative.

2nd annual intelligent transport systems India highlights tantalizing outlooks for Indian road traffic

Over 100 million vehicles are already on India’s roads. The number may seem remarkably high, yet given the population of India and its projected growth, clearly India’s roads will become increasingly clogged in the very short term. Dealing with the population growth involves numerous challenges across the board, among which managing skyrocketing traffic on Indian roads is top of the agenda. Efficient and optimized traffic is key to ensuring safer roads, faster rides and minimum environmental impact of cars. In view of this challenge, the Intelligent Transport Systems India conference (intelligence transport india link) is emerging as a leading platform for defining and discussing key issues and outlining feasible solutions.

The second conference held this year saw the meeting of key stakeholders and provided participants with the insights from many specialists at the forefront of ITS design. During the two-day event that brought together public and private stakeholders, the main upcoming challenges for road transport management were addressed, cutting edge solutions potentially benefiting everyone from consumers to commuters, including drivers and pedestrians were outlined with paths for enhancing the safety, speed and efficiency of road transport systems in India. Above all, the conference was an outstanding example of how new solutions to industrial challenges could have wide and far-reaching benefits for a country on the fast lane of economic growth.

Event highlights: the Student Energy International Case Challenge

Imagine 120 students around the world were given the opportunity to tackle a real world energy problem. That was exactly what happened when the Student Energy International Case Challenge (ICC) (ICC Programs) took place on Jan 31st and Feb 1st, 2012. Students in North America and Asia were asked to develop a Global Framework of high-potential ideas to tackle the following problem: “As a global community, how do we provide emerging/developing nations with the energy services necessary to continue their rapid growth – and thereby continue to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty – without jeopardizing the well-being of future generations?”. Definitely one of the core issues of sustainability!

The Student Energy ICC was made up of two separate but interconnected events. The main one took place in New Delhi, in conjunction with two world-class events organized by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)  (TERI Website) : the Youth United Voluntary Action (YUVA) meet (YUVA MEET) and the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) 2012 (http://dsds.teriin.org/2012/). The Youth United for Voluntary Action meet was held on 30th-31st Jan, bringing together youngsters from all over the world. Selected participants had the opportunity to take part in the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) on 2nd-4th February 2012 and the Student Energy Challenge which was held between the two TERI-sponsored events, on Feb 1st. 

A satellite event was held in Calgary, Canada on Jan 31 by ISEEESA (Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy) (http://www.iseeesa.com/) a student organization at the University of Calgary. Students in Canada tackled the same challenge as their counterpart in India. The former came up with a framework from the perspective of developed countries, while the latter came up with a framework from the perspective of developing countries. If you are interested in the Challenge results, please see: Student Challenge. We are so glad India hosted this very special event, which shows once more the high potential of the youth all over the world. The Student Energy ICC proves that sustainability can be achieved only through a multidisciplinary approach and the joint efforts of all countries. So, let’s join our efforts for a sustainable future!

Welcome to Michelin India Sustainability Forum

Dear visitors,

Thank you for visiting us.
For us, setting up this blog has been an enriching experience. As a team of Michelin employees who were among the first hired for the company’s industrial project in Chennai, India, we were aware of the importance of sustainable development, but wondered what sustainability meant.

We quickly realised that for India, achieving a sustainable development included our direct contribution and that we (as individuals and employees of Michelin) could be the cause as well as the solution to sustainability for the project as well as the communities around us.

And what is the definition of sustainability? The one we have found most useful is the following. From the 1987 Report of the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development: “Sustainable development is about meeting the needs of society while living within the planet’s ecological limits and without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable development has three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – which are interdependent; for instance, the elimination of poverty requires the promotion of social justice and economic development and the protection of the environment”.

This definition has been included in the International Standard on Social Responsibility ISO 26000 (ISO definition)to highlight the relationship between social responsibility and sustainable development

So this blog, is one way for sharing with you the stretches of adventure and spans of rich experiences this expedition is certain to grow into. We hope you find this useful and interesting and invite you to also use this “eco-friendly” medium to think constructively, act consciously, seek openly and contribute significantly.

A journey that has commenced needs to find its destination. But our predicament, at this moment, is to define the endpoint that is ever evolving. Of one thing we are confident though, that there is a long way to go and this is just the Beginning! With this spirit of enthusiasm, we invite you to join our ‘Sustainability’ mission. We are always open to your ideas and inputs, so please email us at michelinindiaforum@gmail.com