Leadership Colloquium in Honor and Memory of Late Padma Shri Professor (Dr.) Pritam Singh

LEADERSHIP COLLOQUIUM in honour and memory of Late Padma Shri Professor (Dr.) Pritam Singh on the theme: “Understanding the Social Responsibility of Business” held on Thursday, 1st October, 2020.

Introduction & Abstract of the Colloquium

In a world where organizations can often get too constrained by the need to be profitable and sustain their financial commitments to their shareholders, social responsibility of a business is an important means to ensure that the success of an organization is defined by parameters beyond the financial success. Businesses which are driven by the very environment and society we live in have a duty towards them to give back and create a positive impact on their surroundings. While it is important to create monetary backing for social causes, social responsibility of a business also needs to evolve to create a larger impact for their employees, consumers, and the society at large. The drive of an organization to create social impact not only has a positive effect on its operations to positively impact the economy of the nation, and that of the world, but also ensures that this is accomplished within the realm of ethics, and with conformance to the law. More importantly, it builds the moral conscience of the business to drive environmental and social impact within, and outside of the organization.

Today, in India, an organization’s social responsibility is often measured by its required contribution of 2% of its net profit towards acts of social impact for the applicable companies. This indeed does help in backing various important causes such as eradication of poverty, protection of the environment, promotion of education and health care, animal welfare, and so many other important causes that are at the very heart of a nation. However, we need to dig deeper to ingrain social responsibility within the very ethos of businesses. From creating diversity-driven and inclusive workspaces to fostering an innate sense of sustainable living in their employee’s lifestyles to integrating environment-conscious practices within their product life cycle, organizations today need to evolve to find innovative ways to create holistic social impact within the organization and for their consumers. Therefore, businesses can play a very instrumental role in not only leveraging acts of philanthropy but also the social conscience of organizations to drive tangible and sustainable changes in our society.

Dr. Pritam Singh, who not only held key positions in leading educational institutions of India, but also mentored and coached the top leadership of organizations, drove social impact in our nation in multiple ways through academia and through his many outstanding and inspiring contributions to institution building. The colloquium, therefore, presented an opportunity to pay respect to the legacy he left behind by discussing the very importance of social impact through social responsibility of businesses.

Distinguished Speakers

Professor (Dr.) Jyoti Gupta
Emeritus Professor of Finance
ESCP Business School, France

Ms. Shubhalakshmi Panse
Former Chairperson & Managing Director
Allahabad Bank, India

Professor (Dr.) Shyam Sunder
James l. Frank Professor of Accounting, Economics & Finance
Yale School of Management, USA

Mr. Suresh Tripathi
Vice president - Human Resource Management)
Tata Steel Ltd., India

The session was moderated by Professor (Dr.) C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU).