The bottomline doesn’t stop at the balance sheet. It spills over to the intangibles: the environs, people and what’s broadly referred to as ‘mindshare.’

Says Subhash Rustagi, executive VP (corporate environment, health and safety), ITC: “For us, there is a triple bottomline: financial, social and environmental. What we do for society is woven into the economics of the company. Also, ITC doesn’t call it corporate social responsibility but sustainability.”

For instance, ITC’s e-choupal initiative, under which it has over 5,500 kiosks in seven states, helps farmers access information on prevalent market rates of farm produce and new farming techniques. For ITC, this network helps in its procurement effort.

The company also has plantations spread around 42,000 hectares in its campus in Bhadrachalam, aimed not only at sourcing wood for the paper industry but also at supporting local communities. Farmers grow trees with a guarantee that ITC will buy the wood. The company also supports the farmers by providing plants and know-how on better plantation techniques.

ITC is not alone in taking up corporate social responsibility initiatives. The Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Lupin Labs, Ranbaxy, Godrej, Gujarat Ambuja, Wipro and others work beyond business interests to help society and reap rich dividends in terms of good corporate governance and improved financial performance.

Even a company like Infosys, the bulk of whose business comes from overseas markets, has set aside 1% of profits for social initiatives undertaken by the Infosys Foundation. It was set up in 1997 to undertake projects for the underprivileged. The foundation conducts training programmes and computer education in village schools.

Employees donate money and time to various causes in places where Infosys has a presence and even in other remote villages. Says Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty, “We undertake projects in rural schools and reach out to communities around them.

At times, the senior management is voluntarily involved in a lot of activities, donating their time, money and effort to various causes.” The work of the foundation is independent of the company but overall, such initiatives do help improve competitiveness and efficiency, both for the company and the economy.

For Intel, it’s a mix of both. The $30-bn US-based chipmaker has about 3,000 people in India and gives top priority to education. It has helped train 500,000 teachers in computer literacy since early ‘00.

Says Sindhu Cauveriappa, manager (community relations), Intel Technology India, “CSR programmes are one of the top 10 objectives of Intel in India. The idea is not only to give back to the community that we are part of, but CSR is also a part of our business.” Intel also works alongside CII and Assocham for initiatives in helping society.

Talking about education, Wipro chairman Azim Premji, said at a ‘Wipro, Applying Thought in Schools’ graduation seminar for teachers in Bangalore, “While the quantity issue is taken care by the work done by numerous other corporates and NGOs, there is little concerted effort which has gone into addressing the quality issue. The programme ‘Wipro Applying Thought in Schools’ has been designed to address the quality issues.”

Tech companies see merit in encouraging educational programmes and spreading computer literacy. It not only helps bridge the digital divide but also expands the market for IT products and services.

Companies at the forefront benefit by building brand awareness. Like what global corporations including BP, Shell, HSBC, Standard Chartered have done. However, despite the fact that CSR helps in building a better ‘triple bottomline’ (enhance profitability, increase shareholder value while combating environmental and social issues), there’s still a long road to cover.

For several companies, CSR is restricted to one-time payments in the form of donations. Surveys carried out by some NGOs show that while the top brass seems dedicated to make a difference, the level of enthusiasm begins to fall at the middle- and senior-management levels. For instance, according to Partners in Change, an NGO focused on CSR initiatives, corporate involvement in development seems to be ad hoc and CEO-driven. According to their survey, only around 11% of companies had a written policy on CSR, despite the fact that over 85% agreed that they have a responsibility towards society.

However, companies that work with communities do not distinguish between the privileged and the underprivileged, with the overall approach is still driven by philanthropy rather than integrating it with business.

A recent poll by the American Society for Quality, the appointee for creating and administering the US Technical Advisory Group for the ISO 26000 Social Responsibility standards, shows a rising interest in CSR among organisations.

While 96% of business leaders think their company’s CSR behaviour will greatly impact the nation’s economic future, over 40% still do not have any policy in place to guide their company’s actions.

Not surprisingly, there’s a lot to be achieved. As more companies see the merit of a ‘triple bottomline’, it could make a lot of difference to society, and more importantly, to businesses.