The final objective of a business has always been profit. The very informal definition of business demands profit which answers all mechanical and basic demands of the organization and of the society. Be it under the veil of CSR or for publicity, the ultimate motive of business has been to generate income and improve efficiency. Society can be helped only if the business is flourishing and generating currency. People get social when they have time apart from business but the ultimate help of the society can be by good business. The recent mandatory nature of CSR for companies can be analysed and we understand that only the companies which have prospered very much in capital and business can only help the society, not the ones which have failed. Companies like Reliance and Tata give 2% of the CSR to the budget of government and this helps the society in sectors like health and education. So, generating more foreign currency and by developing markets, business can grow and give back to society. After the initial requirements of business are met, societal demands can be fulfilled.

Business has its existence from time immemorial. It’s definition and aspects have changed with time and it has bore the brunt of society for being capitalist in nature and not philanthropic in outlook. This view has changed a lot and apart from the government’s mandatory CSR demand, business also tries to connect to the society and benefit it in any way possible. After all the new success mantra seems to be ‘giving back to the society from which everything has been taken-be it raw materials, human resource, market demand etc’. So business tries to cross the mechanical mundane limits and express to the stakeholders possible. An example can be cited of Tata conglomerate. Right from developing Jamshedpur city infrastructure wise from developing institutions related to the upliftment of the society like TISS, TIFR, the organization has shown its intent to make the society a better place to live in.

Bhartrihari Pandiya
Research Scholar, Dept of Management
IIIT Allahabad

Despite Amazon announcing its intention to invest $2 billion in the Indian market, the portal has a tough fight on its hands, given how well entrenched some of the domestic players are.It would be extremely difficult to displace a behemoth like LIC in the Indian market. Similarly, as an airline,IndiGo has managed to build fantastic brand equity for itself. Or even for that matter, Dabur’s Real Juices taking on a Tropicana in the Indian market, refreshing its portfolio with new variants quite often. Parle Agro with its flagship brands Frooti and Appy has become nearly irreplaceable.Indians have discovered self-respect. This is a fertile soil for Indian brands. The younger generation no longer carries the burden of an inferiority complex. For example, when Hero MotoCorp took the bold step of breaking away from Honda, the brand campaigns thereafter, helped immensely in portraying the company as a national brand-working on the premise of being part of the nation building process. Another pertinent example is that of Voltas AC. When there was a significant brand re-positioning exercise in Voltas during 2005-06, it ran a multi-media campaign with the theme,India ka dil, India ka AC, but this failed to generate any meaningful traction when it came to sales.However, it did touch a chord with consumers.Interestingly,while foreign MNCs have thrived in the Indian market, home-grown companies seem to have a better hold of market dynamics when it comes to their rural strategy. Pricing is an important factor here. While small town India is on a spending binge and consumers are eagerly moving from unbranded to branded products, it doesn’t necessarily translate into quick sales. A number of foreign companies have followed a market skimming strategy, which doesn’t work after a point of time. Besides, the foreign tag is no longer aspirational.As Kiran Khalap,co-founder, Chlorophyll puts it, “Will Flipkart survive Amazon? IndiGo survive Air Asia? Or will Indian brands survive attacks from foreign brands? The answer is not just about muscle, it is about flexibility. A brand is only as vibrant as the product or service it offered this morning, not yesterday, not the day before and certainly not last year.”For now, though, move over MNCs. Indian companies are here to stay.

Reference:
Business India

Jaya
MBA-IT
IIIT Allahabad