Title: CSR disclosures and transparency among top Indian companies

Authors: Sushil Kumar; Anab Kidwai

Addresses: Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Prabandh Nagar, Off. Sitapur Lucknow-226013, Uttar Pradesh, India ' Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Prabandh Nagar, Off. Sitapur Lucknow-226013, Uttar Pradesh, India; Symbiosis Centre for Research and Innovation (SCRI), Symbiosis International University, Lavale, Mulshi, Pune – 412115, Maharashtra, India

Abstract: Corporate social responsibility initiatives help firms balance their economic, social, and environmental imperatives. These initiatives strengthen stakeholder-firm relationship and enhance corporate image. Transparency in disclosure of CSR policies and programs is an important aspect if firms have to fully benefit from such initiatives. By analysing the extent of CSR disclosure on websites of top 100 ET2014 companies in India, CSR disclosure score and transparency categories are created. Of the 100 companies analysed, only eight companies show very high transparency in their CSR disclosure. Comparison across four industry sectors has been done using these two indices. The findings have implications for practitioners as well as academicians in standardising CSR reporting, in turn helping the stakeholders.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; CSR; disclosures; CSR disclosures; transparency; disclosure index; transparency index; CSR reporting; India; Indian companies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2018.088596

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2018 Vol.16 No.1, pp.57 - 70

Received: 07 Mar 2016
Accepted: 21 Jan 2017
Published online: 12 Dec 2017 *

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