How CSR Is Changing In The Post COVID World? | Listen From The Experts

The guests shared how their organizations had to put their older CSR practices on hold once the lockdown started. Ms Fatima talked about how "Phygital CSR" has become more prevalent - which came with its own sets of challenges like lack of resources, digital literacy, virtual coordination, etc. All the panellists unanimously agreed that the most important stakeholders of a CSR project are the employees and implementing partners. They are the prime movers of a project who work tirelessly - pandemic or not and an organization must be committed to supporting these people working at the grass-roots level. Mr. Kishore talked about Microsoft's four-phase strategy of "Response, Recovery, Rebuild, and Rehabilitate", which they adopted during COVID. He also added that this situation has helped organizations improve in three aspects - speed, scale, and sustainability. A key takeaway for students was that the goal of CSR is not to initiate new projects but to create solutions in such a way that it is integrated into the system for the long term and a larger scale – even after an organization steps out of it.

The second session took place in the afternoon and was moderated by Dr. Nidhi Mishra, Assistant Professor - IIM Bodh Gaya. The topic of discussion was “Social Entrepreneurship” wherein the panellists expressed their opinions on the same. The people on the panel were Mr. Sharad Sagar, CEO- Dexterity Global Group; Mr. Harshal Dhoke, Shashi Dream Foundation; Mr. Nivesh Raj, The Leadership 30 and Mr. Atchuta Rao, Chairman - National Farmathon. Mr. Raj said that “If we decide to make a change, we will see it tomorrow.” For the best interests of all the stakeholders, the right balance is needed between the welfare side and the profit side.

The discussions were rich and engaging with the inquisitive minds of the students gaining eye-opening insights. Socially responsible leaders are the need of the hour and such opportunities give them the much-needed perspectives for them to expand their horizons. The event was a success and kickstarted the trend of CSR summits among third-generation IIMs.