Soulful Corporations

In the light of multiple corporate debacles, financial crises and environmental disasters across the globe, the need for corporate goals to transition from simply maximising shareholder wealth to optimising stakeholder welfare is being echoed in various quarters. This book makes a distinct contribution by looking at Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from a values-based perspective with a focus on providinga balance between corporate success and social well-being. The book emphasizes that corporations need to redefine their purposes to co-create long-term, sustainable and win–win solutions for multiple stakeholders through mutually-fulfilling and value-adding collaborative efforts. Through the ideal of ‘A Soulful Corporation’, the book proposes a new story where corporations, as associations of individuals, can identify their ‘collective spirits’ in terms of environmentally-aware, socially-inclusive and financially-rewarding missions.

Some of the unique features of the book include:

·         A detailed study of the evolution of CSR from the ancient to contemporary times

·         Insights gained through empirical research and personal interviews with over 100 industry captains, CEOs, MDs and heads of the CSR function across companies and industries

·         Case studies on CSR practices and processes in leading Indian companies including the Tata Group, TVS Motor, HUL, Wipro, L&T, Bharat Petroleum, HDFC Bank, Birla Group, Reliance Industries and others.

·         Cases on unique social welfare projects in the areas of education, healthcare and drinking water supply

·         A ‘Society and Local Community Welfare Framework’and a ‘12-point Agenda for Affirmative Action’ that propose policy recommendations and provide corporations with a roadmap for their CSR journey in the light of the mandatory CSR spending introduced by the Government of India.

The book has relevance to multiple stakeholders: students, academics, CSR researchers, policy-makers, industry captains, business managers and entrepreneurs.

From the book reviews:

“This book extensively covers the evolution and role of CSR in society. … The book also includes quotes from spiritual leaders and philosophical books encouraging the human being to love each other and commit something for the welfare of the society. On the whole, the book is informative, interesting and worth reading.” (M. V. Tanksale and Jayasree Menon, Journal of Social and Management Sciences, Vol. 42 (4), January-March, 2014)

“Soulful corporations is a comprehensive description of CSR in general, including its global development from corporate philanthropy towards corporate citizenship, and the practical implementations of CSR in India presented through nine case studies. … present the findings of a multilayer research project in the form of a reference book for academics, researchers, policy-makers, business leaders, and CSR practitioners.” (Gábor Kovács, Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, January, 2015)

Shashank Shah is currently serving as Director-Specialist Higher Education, NITI Aayog, India. He is a stakeholder management strategist, public policy specialist, and international researcher. His research focuses on the pivotal role of corporations in economic and social value creation through visionary leadership, stakeholder-centric decision making, and inclusive business strategies. He has worked with 250+ C-suite level leaders from top Indian corporations, Fortune 500 multinationals, and globally renowned academicians to build an exhaustive knowledge base of best-in-class stakeholder-centric corporate strategies. Dr. Shah has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School and Copenhagen Business School; Fellow and Project Director at Harvard University South Asia Institute; Postdoctoral Fellow at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, India; Consulting Editor with Business India Group; and Board Research Chair at the Institute of Risk Management,Mumbai, India. He sits on the Advisory Board of institutions in India and USA. 

Dr. Shah has authored nearly 250 research papers, articles, case studies, book chapters, and technical notes on diverse topics connected with stakeholder management strategy, corporate responsibility and sustainability, governance, leadership, integral education, and humanised healthcare. He has also co-authored over 15 books, monographs, mimeos, and technical reports in these areas. Between 2013 and 2018, he authored: 'Soulful Corporations', 'Win-Win Corporations', and 'The Tata Group'. He has been research/teaching faculty for Management Development Programmes by Harvard Business School, World Bank and Govt. of India; and has been invited to present his research by institutions in USA, France, Italy, Brazil, Turkey, Malaysia, Japan, Nepal, and Mauritius. He has been Fellow, European SPES Institute; Editor-in-Chief, Harvard University Postdoctoral Editors Association; Editorial Board Member, Journal of Values-Based Leadership; and reviewer for international journals. A 'TEDx and Talks at Google' speaker, Dr. Shah has delivered keynote addresses at 250+ platforms including leading academic institutions in India like IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Bombay, ISB Hyderabad, MDI Gurgaon, and BITS Pilani; industry bodies like CII, Delhi and Madras Management Associations, National HRD Network, NASSCOM Foundation, and Young Presidents' Organization; and conglomerates like Tata Group and Larsen & Toubro.