Social Cause Marketing : The CSR Responsibility of B-Schools

EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE SEPT.2009

SOCIAL CAUSE MARKETING

Social Cause Marketing : The CSR Responsibility of B-Schools

-- Dr. Mercia Selva Malar

Social Cause Marketing being a part of CSR can be an acceptable and relevant area for B-Schools to contribute to and experiment with. The involvement of B-Schools would enrich the experience of students in learning the concept, leading to lasting impact on their career. Above all, the world would be a better place to live in with SCM in place and B-Schools showing keen and genuine interest in it.

Charity begins at home. Corpo- rate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Social-Cause Marketing (SCM) begin at B-Schools, as part of theoretical learning. The future role of B-Schools in CSR should involve offering training sessions to budding managers in the form of practice activities of SCM. If the future executives are to involve themselves in CSR activities, they must as well be trained for the same. At B-Schools young graduates are moulded, mentored, trained, tutored and developed over a period of time to be executives. During this period they gurgle a bunch of concepts, learn a series of theories, read piles of books, discuss on hundreds of cases, memorize thousands of powerpoint slides for the examinations, and debate over a millions of issues. Yet the practical learning they gather through internships, other exposures to various institutions and the project method of learning leaves lasting impressions on their minds.

The future managers who are trained to be effective and efficient, put to practice most of the managerial learning picked up from the B-Schools. The focus and thrust of the executives' future career is initiated at the B-School. Thus, the role of a B-School in inspiring, motivating and nurturing young and powerful minds to commit themselves to social causes cannot be underestimated. B-Schools in India have been successful in training young managers to develop qualities the right attitude, excellent decision-making ability effective rational thinking, meticulous organizing capability and the like. B-schools generally strive to provide education on whatever is considered as important for business graduates to succeed and excel.

This is the era of organized business. Business executives have a greater say on how a society can be improved or made better. Executives have all necessary resources at their disposal to impact the society positively and coupled with their strengths, need to initiate and involve themselves in social development programs. Business executives must contribute their mite to the social causes of the society.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Social- Cause Marketing

CSR is about giving back to the society a part of what you have gained from it. businesses would take responsibility for the impact of their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, and stakeholders. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication, Making Good Business Sense by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, defines CSR as the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to the economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. CSR is all about capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. Early CSR models were initiated in the 1960s. It showed the `social' aspect of CSR as responsibilities referring directly above and beyond economic and legal obligations. Philip Kotler in his work Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause does a terrific job of describing the range of corporate social initiatives and suggests best practices for choosing, implementing and evaluating them.

SCM can be considered as part of CSR as it is wider in scope and includes Social Marketing (SM), Cause Marketing (CM) and other related activities. SM is viewed as the marketing of a particular issue of significant social importance using traditional marketing techniques such as advertising, public relations, event marketing and direct marketing. Usually Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) undertake SM by themselves or through professional communication firms. Cause marketing involves pairing of corporates and NGOs where the coporate provides the financial resources to promote a particular cause and hopes to benefit from the favorable association with the cause. The cause marketing efforts of corporates are often referred to as image enhancement initiatives. The NGO gains heightened exposure and/or financial support for its cause.

SCM is different from CSR, SM and CM as CSR is a wider concept and SM and CM have two different contexts to work from. While CSR is inclusive of SM, CM and SCM, SM and CM are exclusive of each other. SCM is an intersection of SM and CM, where the marketing initiatives are for a social cause and needn't necessarily be from a NGO or Non-Profit Organization (NPO). CSR is purely society-oriented and is for the betterment of the society which is carried out beyond legal and economic obligations of businesses. The corporate that involves in CSR is expected to carry it out with no derivative benefit in return from CSR. SM is an effort of an NGO or NPO to promote a social cause. CM involves in paired efforts of a corporate and NGO/NPO where both of them are involved expecting certain benefits. SCM is part of CSR, as SCM is only an element of CSR initiatives. CSR involves HR, finance, marketing, systems and operations, information system, and related activities whereas SCM involves only marketing activities focused on social causes. Today corporates establish CSR units, arms, or bodies to extend their support to the society as responsible citizens of the society they belong to. SCM can be carried out by the CSR unit/arm/body of the corporate or it can be an exclusive subunit of the marketing department. CSR involves a wide range of activities that benefit employees and their families, the immediate neighborhood and the world with tangible outcomes while SCM activities may benefit all the target groups of CSR, but the results may not be tangible and measurable.

SCM and Affinity Marketing

Affinity marketing is a marketing strategy adopted by corporates to improve sales by enhancing their brand image. Corporates identify causes or events popularly supported by their consumers and create a link with the cause or event, by sponsoring or generating publicity for the cause. In affinity marketing the cause need not be a social one, it is a cause very popular and appealing to the target group. SCM differs from affinity marketing in the fact that unlike the latter, SCM is around a cause that is of serious concern to the society and not necessarily popular with the target market.

Role of B-Schools

B-Schools have been established to provide the necessary education for managing the corporates that are involved in catering to the needs and comforts of the society. These schools train graduates who can allocate scarce resources in equitable fashion on the most productive activities. B-Schools in the initial times had recognized the value of holistic approach of business management and the importance of society to the realm of management. There is a wide range of activities which business schools can involve themselves in, in order to propagate social causes and market them. It is the responsibility of a B-School to create an environment for learning, training and practicing SCM. In order to provide the environment and climate for conducive nurturing of CSM, there must be generous resource availability for the students and the faculty to practice and experiment on SCM. The B-School management has the responsibility of being a role model in involving itself in SCM.

Potential SCM Issues

There is no dearth of the issues B-Schools can champion to take up through SCM. The world at large and the immediate society are struggling to cope up with the issues that are causing pain and trouble to individuals and society. B-Schools may focus on global issues with local presence. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for which India is a signatory is a serious cause demanding the attention of all responsible citizens. B-Schools should take necessary efforts and use the faculty and student teams to put into place SCM for MDG. India is a signatory to the international agreement on ending corruption. B-Schools can work on a corruption-free Indian society involving the faculty and students.

Climate change is a pressing issue for all nations of the world. Indian B-Schools can involve students and faculty in practicing Social Cause Marketing. Environment conservation and protection awareness is another important issue B-Schools should put a stake in.

Dr. Mercia Selva Malar is Professor, Banking and Finance, at SCMS-COCHIN, Kerala. Her areas of interest include CSR, Microfinance, Banking and Insurance. She has about 17 years of experience in teaching and has published several articles in various journals and magazines.

How Can B-Schools Engage in SCM

B-Schools have a responsibility towards the immediate society and the world at large. They know the issues they can address through SCM but may wonder how they can execute SCM through the faculty and students. There are a few methods which would work out effectively with active student contributions in terms of creative ideas, and volunteering for participation. Students can organize rallies, marathons, walkathons, etc., on the chosen issues. Organizing contests for school children to promote awareness on the said issues, or conducting awareness workshops also would help. Forums like Young Indians, OISCA-International, Junior Chamber International, etc., being organized at the B-School level exclusively for the students will also provide an opportunity for students to involve themselves in SCM.

SCM being a part of CSR can be an acceptable and relevant area for B-Schools to contribute and experiment with. The involvement of B-Schools would enrich the experience of students in learning the concept, leading to lasting impact on their career. Above all, the world would be a better place to live in with SCM in place and B-Schools showing keen and genuine interest in it.