Altering the Paradigms – Examining Corporate Perception towards Environmental Accountability

The relationship between business and society has emerged as a major topic of discussion from academicians to common man (Salzmann, O., et. al., 2005, Moir, L. 2001). The reason is that unsustainable business activities are said to not only hurt present generations but also unborn future generations (Des Jardins, J. 1998). Today the society is increasingly becoming aware of pollution related issues affecting them and considers that pollution is a reflection on business morality and any lapse is confronted. Looking back, our social leaders also propagated that Commerce (conducting business) without morality is amongst the seven deadly sins (Mahatma Gandhi). We can visualize, the mythological bull supporting the earth on his horns and is suffocated with toxic air, stinking with horrible water, and burned with acid rains and ozone holes. Corporates are of special concern in this context. They spill loads of pollution into the atmosphere (particularly after 1990s, Bendell, J. 2004). The special concern also arises from the fact that they are the wheels of change also. From the initial years of existence, they were also a major contributor to public welfare in the form of charity or donations. But the lacuna highlighted is that the inside-out approach misses the mark where the direction of efforts should be targeted to, what philosophy of existence would lead to public welfare. It calls for a paradigm shift (Garrod and Chadwick 1996, Valor, C. 2005), an outside-in approach, in the working of corporates - from mere givers of charity to becoming accountable and adoption of proactive involvement in societal issues. The societal issue of concern is major depletion of environment crying for sole attention. The present paper attempts to understand the perception of Indian Managers as representative of corporate through questionnaire survey. The context premises that the business action of charitable giving cannot remedy environmental harm but the observation of accountability for their actions can justify their intention of pursuing an ecological benign existence; and empirical analysis supported by t-test suggests a positive transition in the perception of Indian Managers towards the concept of environmental accountability.