December 2018
Responsibility (CSR) has become an integral
part of the public discourse with academicians,
practitioners, policy-makers and media laying
stress on equitable outcomes through businesssociety
interactions. While there was a general
agreement that businesses needed to do more
to be socially and environmentally responsible, a
far-ranging debate has ensued amongst various
stakeholders to determine the exact nature of these
obligations. In this backdrop, the Government
of India passed a prescriptive law under the
Companies Act of 2013 making CSR mandatory
for certain class of companies from the financial
year (FY) 2014-15.
The Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family
Enterprise at the Indian School of Business
has conducted this study, for the three-year
period between FY 2015-2017, to understand
heterogeneity in behaviors across different
categories of firms based on ownership structures.
Apart from the quantum of spends, we have
looked at the nature of spends covering the
areas of development selected by the different
categories of firms while also throwing light on the
implementation modes chosen to spend their CSR
monies. Our results show that Family Firms have a greater
pre-disposition to meet the CSR compliance under
the law and we find that the historical context
and theoretical frameworks are aligned with these
findings. In wanting to create lasting organizations,
family firms institutionalize enduring values that reflect
in the engagement in social welfare activities across
generations. However, family firms undertake these
activities directly either through in-house teams or
company-owned foundations which are also known
to be controlled by family members. It leads to the
argument that this would expropriate any benefits for
minority shareholders in building a positive legacy for
the family. Therefore, it is argued that family-owned
firms professionalize their social pursuits and build
transparent and strong governance mechanisms in the interest of their firms.
Kavil Ramachandran is a Professor of Entrepreneurship (Practice) at the Indian School of Business (ISB). A founding faculty member, Professor Ramachandran established the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the Indian School of Business in 2001. He later served as the Associate Dean (Academic Programmes), before becoming the Thomas Schmidheiny Chair Professor of Family Business and Wealth Management, and subsequently the Executive Director of the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at ISB.
He specialises in family business, entrepreneurship, and strategy, with 36 years of combined academic experience at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and the Indian School of Business.
Professor Ramachandran holds a PhD from Cranfield University, UK. His research focuses on family business, entrepreneurship, and strategy. He has authored and edited seven books and published extensively in reputed Indian and international journals.
His consulting experience includes areas such as family business governance, professionalisation, succession planning, strategic planning, identification of new opportunities for growth, corporate entrepreneurship and turnaround strategies in family and non-family business environments. His special expertise lies in managing the challenges at the interface of governance, professionalisation, and strategy, particularly in rapidly growing mid-size, multi-generational family businesses.
Professor Ramachandran has demonstrated special interest in mentoring young members of business families. He spearheaded the initiative in ISB offering a new MBA-level programme for the next generation of family business leaders (PGP MFAB), and was adjudged the “Faculty of the Year” by students in both 2018 and 2019. He has consistently been listed among the top 100 global influencers (academics) in the field of Family Business by the Family Capital magazine.
He has authored several case studies, worked with several well-known family business leaders and global experts, and consulted on transformation of family businesses. A frequent speaker at family business forums in India and abroad, he also contributes regularly to popular media. He has conducted numerous training programmes for family businesses on governance, professionalisation, strategic management, and entrepreneurship.
Professor Ramachandran has served on various advisory committees for the Government of India, the World Bank, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). His book, The 10 Commandments for Family Business, is widely regarded as a leading publication in the field.
He is recognised as a pioneer academic entrepreneur, dedicated to advancing the cause of strengthening family businesses in India and internationally. In 2022, he was conferred with the Bharat Asmita Acharya Shreshta Award for Best Teacher in Management by MIT World Peace University, Pune (MIT-WPU)
