Quid pro quo

There is a deep seated sense of mistrust on either side of the fence that separates non profits from profit making entities. Non profits in India are largely and not inaccurately viewed as anti - capitalist organizations who, while working to remedy a social ill, also go about denouncing those making perfectly legal money off society. "Unprofessional" is a word often ascribed to non profits in this country, again not without reason.

Corporations are perceived as large, sinister behemoths; looking at global domination and promoting conformity consumerism (read greed) and sloth, whilst also claiming to care about the community in which they operate. My interactions over the last year in circles of activists young and old, non profit trustees and policy workshops bears out that this view of corporations is widely held to be true.

There is of course no black and white here. Both the opinions are true and false and yet having dealt with and in the corporate world for several years, I found that companies are more malleable when it comes to subscribing to views of non profits or understanding why a certain social problem occurs or even why non profits display some of the idiosyncrasies they do. This display of intellectual honesty is not something I've often encountered in the non profit world, with an almost militant anti capitalist attitude at most times.

In recent times, there is a strong push toward the mantra of public - private - non profit partnerships. While there is enough doubt for the very existence of this kind of partnership, it is one of the solutions that seems to be working, especially in countries with an apathetic political machinery. Companies and non profits are working together more than ever before and yet the feeling from the smaller non profits is still unilateral, "companies are here to fulfil their agenda, pay lip service to scoreboard items decided in far away board rooms and eventually, screw us over and leave"

Not far from the truth honestly. The small non profit I've been involved with for the last year experienced this recently. Although our "loss" in actual terms was almost negligible, the hit that our belief system took has been colossal. We conducted a couple of small activities with SAP Labs, a supposedly reputed multi national corporation with a significant presence in India. These activities were outings and workshops conducted with SAP employees and a group of disadvantaged children we work with and were conducted in December 2006 or early 2007. Obviously these cost money and we paid for them with the explicit understanding that SAP would reimburse to the full. The amount was embarrassingly paltry: a meagre $300 USD. Through 10 months of follow ups and email reminders we were told there were "vendor" related payment complications and finally SAP asked us today to write off this amount citing reasons that can best and most succinctly be described as bullshit.

I really don't care about the money here. What is excruciatingly painful about this situation is that my organization will never recommend this company to any other non profit to work with, will always view any genuine programs of this company with distrust and worst of all may become even more stand-offish when working with corporations. Personally, I'm quite appalled that something like this has happened but it only goes to show that if companies pay mere lip service to community engagement and hold "volunteer week" once a year, you'll be found out pretty soon for what you really are.

Taking what you get

I am no guru but I have spent a fair amount of time in my professional life talking to companies in India & Western Europe on issues of corporate responsibility, sustainability and their perception on what a company's role can & should be when it comes to engaging with the community in which they operate.

I've come across varying opinions; some inspiring, some practical & some appalling. One common thread across all these meetings & conversations has been the fact that the companies that are serious about sustainability have the right frameworks, talented & passionate people heading these initiatives and most importantly the complete backing of management & resources to carry out engagement programs.

The Tata Group & Godrej Industries made a huge impression on me very early on. As an 18 year old AIESEC member, one would hear stories of how Ratan Tata knew more about AIESEC than we ourselves did or how Adi Godrej's door was always open for AIESEC to meet for assistance or consultation. Usually, these stories rarely bear themselves out but 3 years later, meeting these two gents and seeing for myself repeatedly that the tales were actually true made me a believer that it was possible to be ethical, socially conscious, philantrophic & still do enough to keep your shareholders happy. Indeed the characteristics I just mentioned became as important to these shareholders as profit did. Astounding. This was my first interaction & exposure to how a company viewed the now threadbare acronym that is CSR.

Just as well because I always revert to those experiences when cynicism takes over in the present day. Having interacted with several companies recently its equally astounding to see the callousness with which engaging with the community is viewed. At best, engagement is sought but on terms that would be unacceptable in a commercial agreement; at worst it is a completely public relations driven effort, short term and without any overall strategic objective. I have always believed that engaging with the community in which any company operates should be one of the most important strategic goals. Creating an ethical & socially aware brand only leads to brighter people wanting to join or stay longer with the organization. This is the basic premise on which many of AIESEC's corporate partners work, which is why they are so successful in hiring & retaining AIESEC's brightest.

It will take many years before Corporate India & indeed global corporations reach this stage of thought and until then we'll just have to grin & bear it because the reality that money does grow on trees requires a leap of imagination we aren't yet ready to make.

$3 there, $15 here

I love wine. Especially a good Red. And unfortunately a combination of socialism, Gandhi, Nehru, Communist morons, protectionist practices & vote grabbing holier-than-thou pretences by politicians combine in a mind bogglingly malicious manner to make all but the cheapest (in terms of taste) Indian wine completely inaccessible to me.

While Indian wine makers try hard and churn out barely respectable stuff costing a ludicrous Rs.1100 or $25 USD a bottle, the grapes grown in Nashik simply aren't good enough. And the prices are unacceptable. A similar wine in the Netherlands would cost me no more than $10 USD. I still remember buying cheap Port for $8 USD which was still pretty decent.

The bottomline is India imposes unreasonable tarrifs and import taxes on Wines that increase the cost of all foreign wines (be it from Napa or Bordeaux or Chile) by an incredible 550 % ! The US and the EU have both filed infringement law suits against India at the WTO and there is a strong lobby at work in India too, to reduce these unreasonable tarrifs.

And I follow these developments with a thirst that will not be quenched until I can pick up that Greek or California Red at a nearby supermarket....*sigh*