The 8th Oxford India Business Forum was held on December 9th in Mumbai, focusing on the theme of Responsible Business – an area that is being championed across research, events, teaching and student and alumni initiatives at Saïd Business School. Representatives from various Indian professional sectors jointly explored what responsibility means, the role of business in economies and society, and how that role will be defined under the new government and recent legislation.
In his opening keynote, UK Sinha (Chairman, SEBI) explained the role regulators already play in India by insisting on explicit policies and practices covering shareholder democracy, transparency, and minority protection structures. The main role, he asserted, has to be played by corporations building a culture of responsible business from within.
This was echoed by a panel discussion moderated by Vivek Law, Senior Journalist. Dr. Subir Gokarn of Brookings India has witnessed a move away from what he called “atonement” – where businesses have built schools, hospitals and other institutions to offset sometimes dubious corporate practices – towards ‘alignment’ of business activities with public interest, the environment, community, and stakeholders.
Reflecting on the Forum, Dean Peter Tufano of Saïd Business School said: “We’ve heard that ‘responsibility’ matters but that it’s extraordinarily difficult to define. Our speakers today talked about governance, but at the same time we heard about supply chains, about investor protection, but also about volunteerism. It is important to note that responsibility is not about one solution, it is about many solutions.The issues that need to be dealt with in the world are huge, and therefore, it’s going to take a great deal of effort and probable crossing of hands across the public and private divides to get things done.”
Click here to watch video from the forum and see a full list of speakers.