Transparency and Disclosure: Evaluating CSR Communication by India's Global Giants

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility or CSR activities are increasingly becoming important for business entities to gain legitimacy and visibility in the society in which they conduct business. At a time when mandatory CSR is the norm for companies that have a certain turnover in the last three financial years, the term and the practices of CSR have gained more emphasis in the business environment, especially in Indian context. Government The Government has also mandated the companies through the directives of the Companies Act, 2013, to communicate CSR activities in the most transparent mannerin the most transparent manner through their corporate websites. This paper aims to evaluate the communication of CSR activities by six major corporates of India both in the private and semi-government sector or commonly known as public sector undertakings through their corporate websites. The main focus of the paper is to find out how the India's six global Giants have reported about their CSR activities through their corporate websites in terms of relative grades of importance, level of transparency and disclosure.