Leading Media Inc. meets Leading NGO

Leading Media Inc. meets Leading NGO

Indian media: 

• One good thing : Freedom to correspondents
• One bad thing   : Poor transparency  said Mr. Peter Horrocks,Global Head BBC

this extract if from a BBC-ENACTUS interaction held on 10th of January 2014 at Mayfair Banquets, Worli.

BBC, a market leader in Media industry had been toying with the idea of extending their Corporate social activities in rural India. Recently, they decided to come and have a real-time idea of the prevailing situations in some of the most backward areas in Bihar. 

Now, India is way too different than UK,US in many factors, so before starting out something big BBC decided to analyse the already operating NGOs in India and understand their Modus Operandi. Enactus India is a leading NGO that operates through many of their associates from various colleges and institutions.

Around 70 members from various branches of ENACTUS participated in the interaction with BBC top-notches. Also, present was Ms Preet Dhupar, COO,BBC India who also is associated with ENACTUS from a long time.

Event started with the presentations of two of the best ENACTUS teams from Mumbai. First team was from K J Somaiya institute and they presented their projects Kruti and Mogra to the audience followed by team from H.R. College presented on their project Aasha. Mr. Peter was curious enough to listen to both presentations very carefully and generous enough to come on the stage and appreciate us in an openhearted manner. From his experience in media he shared some of the story-telling techniques which were amazing.

This was followed by many questions from the ENACTUS members regarding diverse issues such as Indian media, Cultural differences, best way to reach people etc. 

After answering all the doubts and winding up his talk he discussed a very important thing about CSR.

He said : 

'We are dreaming a long time if we are doing CSR just to earn some media brownie points and think that we are morally correct!'

After Mr. Peter, Ms Preet commented on reforms in Indian media and improvements in governance of media which revived hope in the ambiance.
Now the learning from this session is just that: If we really want to 'help' someone we have to do away with the habit of materializing every thing and sometimes think from the heart.
The meet ended with delicious snacks and coffee.

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Corporate Social Responsibility- Need or Burden?

What is the business of business? Should businesses attempt to solve societal ills? Or should businesses merely maximize shareholder wealth? The debate on the Corporate Social Responsibility rages on! Today, CSR is entering a new era in India as companies comply with new legislations and respond to the expectations of society.

To give students an enlightened perspective on this hot topic, Enactus Somaiya Social Cell organized a panel discussion on “Impact of CSR in Economic Downturn” in the recently concluded Samavesh, 2013.

Today, in these tough economic times, will companies continue to act in a socially responsible manner? Or will the CSR activities be the first one to face the axe? Can the companies turn CSR expenses into strategic opportunities? These were some of the important questions discussed by the eminent panellists who were Mr. Pradeep Talpade- Ex CEO, L&T charitable trust, Mr. Murali G – CIO of Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance and Mr. Kaushal Mehta- Director, Protoninfosolutions Ltd.

The discussion opened on a lively note with the panellists defining CSR in a radical manner, drawing from their own professional experiences. The students were exposed to a whole new perspective as the panellists discussed CSR from the point of view of corporates. They were refreshingly upfront in saying the companies will always want to gain a strategic advantage through their social investments. This justifies the expenditure of the company and encourages them to take up more initiatives.

The panellists significantly emphasized on CSR simply being a profitable and responsible way of doing business. When looked at from this perspective, then the CSR activities would simply be unaffected by the economic upheavals. The highly debated new Companies bill which makes CSR mandatory for corporates was also discussed with fervour. The panellists were of the opinion that the bill can be an advantage to both the company and the society, if taken in the right spirit.

One of the points that the students lapped up with pleasure was regarding the growing plethora of opportunities in the field of CSR. The idea being that corporate social responsibility will soon be a job market in itself! The enlightening panel discussion ended with the panellists urging all the young and budding managers to be socially responsible entrepreneurs by making social responsibility a part of their daily life and everyday decisions.

Enactus Leadership Training – A day spent well!

In 1962, on the thirtieth anniversary of the first flight of Air India, JRD Tata re-enacted the original Bombay – Karachi flight in a vintage Airplane. He had taken this flight, he said, “… to remind his employees that the great airline we serve today was built from the smallest of beginnings, with little more to sustain it than the Love, the Sweat and the Devotion of those who worked for it.”

Tata’s have always been known in our country for their strong morals and humility. These values are still instilled in the current leadership of this global conglomerate. At the Enactus Leadership Training, we had the fortune to meet Mr. Mukund Rajan, who is in every way an embodiment of the values that Tata’s stand for. He is the Brand Custodian, Group Spokesperson and Chief Ethics officer of Tata Sons Ltd. He is also a great orator and listening to him has empowered us in many ways.

 

Later we did a case study discussion on a visual impairment case, moderated by Ms. Shruti Sharma, GM – Enactus India. She explained the Enactus model and Ideology with the help of this case with admirable ease. The case was in fact a real project implemented by Technical University of Munich, Germany, who were Enactus World Cup 2013 winners. Just a glimpse of the world winners gave us great insights into entrepreneurial possibilities and motivated us to work harder for our own projects. More details of their extraordinary project can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiD42NFXBUQ

Following this was Charulata R K, who enlightened us on Branding and Leadership. It was fun when she handed out books to people who answered her questions on analogies of Brands and Celebrities. Like elsewhere, SIMSR was on the forefront in winning books.

The session ended with an impromptu talk by Dr. Arup Basu who is the president – New Businesses and Innovation at Tata Chemicals Limited. It was interesting to know some facts about products such as Tata Salt which are ingrained in our daily lives in ways that we don’t even realize their existence.

All in all this training was an amazing experience that each of us Enactus members would treasure for life!