Our Services : Industry Domain 1 : Social Sector
In last few decades, India has shown progress on key social parameters. For example, in education, India has achieved 100% enrolment of children at the primary level. Similarly in health, infant mortality rates declined from 64.9 for every 1,000 births in 2000 to 46.1 in 2012. Maternal mortality rates too have dropped significantly during this time. However, challenges are far from over. For example, less than 35% of class III students can read a class I text. India lags far behind in terms of per capita hospital beds (13) as compared to developed countries (US and UK ~30).
Given the magnitude of challenges in the social sectors, the state cannot address these issues all alone. Private sector philanthropy is essential for India’s dream of achieving ‘developed country’ status. India has large number of corporations, foundations, NGOs, trusts etc. who are actively involved in the development of social sectors. Tata Strategic works with such private sector, public sector (government bodies) and multilateral agencies on a variety of social issues of great importance.
NMG has assisted multiple social sector organizations in improving their focus, delivery and impact creation abilities. Tata Strategic supports various organizations like foundations, trusts, NGOs in:
With the increasing awareness on corporates social responsibility, most of the large and even many mid-sized corporates are revisiting the purpose of their CSR. Tata Strategic has closely worked with multiple such corporates to assist them in –
Social Sector Practice at NMGhas expertise in various social sectors like Nutrition, Drinking Water, Education, Healthcare, Vocational Training etc. Few of the significant clients of Tata Strategic in this sector include UNICEF, British Council, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Safe Water Network and ACC.
“CSR is a company's commitment to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner, while recognizing the interests of its stakeholders”
The strategic imperative for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) continues to build as both the social need and the business case for corporate giving grow over time. From the early beginnings in the 1950’s with the proposal that corporations should focus on more than just profit, CSR has developed into an integrated approach of social involvement. The initial attempts at philanthropy in the form of charitable donations for the sake of positive publicity have become programs that reach to the core business of corporations and involve all levels of employees.
This exponential growth in CSR has come in response to increased accountability and heightened expectations from employees, customers and shareholders for corporations to start giving back to the community. Globalisation of the media has also meant that social issues all over the world are at the forefront of consciousness and environmental concerns have reached fever pitch with global warming awareness.
In a survey of corporate executives from around the world, The McKinsey Quarterly found that 84 percent of CEOs believe that society now expects businesses to take a much more active role in environmental, social, and political issues than it did five years ago.
As corporations take on more ambitious CSR programs, the relationships they build within the community are becoming more meaningful, particularly with the charities they contribute to. However these relationships have also placed added pressure on charities to be more transparent in their accounting and feedback processes. In many cases they have failed to do this and it has led many large corporations to form their own corporate foundations to channel their CSR contributions. The challenge is now before charities to address these issues
Winston Churchill, a leader of outstanding qualities, once said,
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."