The Tata Group: Integrating Social Responsibility with Corporate Strategy

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JRD Tata, the son of RD Tata, who was a business partner and relative of JN Tata, strongly believed that the CSR initiatives of the Tata group should be institutionalized and it should not be left to individuals to carry them forward. Therefore, suitable amendments were made to the Articles of Association of the major Tata group companies in the 1970s.

Newly included was an article stating that the "company shall be mindful of its social and moral responsibilities to consumers, employees, shareholders, society and the local community." In another bid to institutionalize the CSR charter, a clause on this was put into the group's 'Code of Conduct.' This clause stated that group companies had to actively assist in improving the quality of life in the communities in which they operated. All the group companies were signatories to this code. CSR was included as one of the key business processes in TISCO. CSR was one of the eight key business processes identified by TISCO's management and considered critical to the success of the company...

To ensure that Tata group companies achieved high levels of business excellence, Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS - a division of Tata Sons) has been entrusted with the task of institutionalizing the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM).

The role of TQMS includes setting up of standards of business excellence using the TBEM framework (Refer Figure III) and assisting group companies in achieving those established standards. The TBEM provides each company with an outline to help it improve business performance and attain higher levels of efficiency. The TBEM is a tool based on the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. It aims to facilitate the understanding of business performance imperatives, manage planning activities and organizational learning, enhance organizational performance capabilities and the delivery of results, recognize excellent performance and identifying and sharing best practices...

The dedicated CSR efforts by various Tata group companies have been globally recognized. The different group companies have received several awards for their fulfillment of social responsibility. For instance, TISCO was awarded 'The Energy Research Institute (TERI) award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)' for the fiscal year 2002-03 in recognition of its corporate citizenship and sustainability initiatives. As the only Indian company trying to put into practice the Global Compact principles on human rights, labor and environment, TISCO was also conferred the Global Business Coalition Award in 2003 for its efforts in spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS...

Exhibit I: Tata Group - Financial Figures
Exhibit II: Core Values of Tata Group
Exhibit III: Tata Trusts and Their Activities
Exhibit IV: Tata Group - Partnerships for Benchmarking
Exhibit V: Tata Group - Four Models of CSR
Exhibit VI: Tata Group - Leadership with Trust

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