Lessons for the Indian BPO Sector from the Standard Chartered and HSBC Scandals
The regulatory scandals involving HSBC and Standard Chartered (2013) have brought into focus the issue of how the outsourcing of business processes including oversight and compliance has meant that standards have been relaxed. Since both the scandals involved Indian back office operations looking the other way when they should have raised red flags, there are […]
What is Social Entrepreneurship and Why the World Needs More Social Entrepreneurs
The Dominance of Neoliberal Ideas about Capitalist Businesses and Their Responsibility By definition, businesses exist to make profits and incorporate any residual concerns about social good as part of their normal profit seeking behavior. In other words, it is the case that businesses and their owners worldwide are concerned about social good as just being […]
The Advocacy versus the Activist Functions of Nonprofits
The Advocacy versus the Activist Role Non-profits around the world typically are divided into those that undertake grassroots activism and those that advocate ideological positions and those that combine these two aspects to work for the betterment of society. This means that many nonprofits like the Red Cross and Oxfam are activist and advocacy oriented […]
Building Products and Services around Customers Business
A study of organizations that are the leaders in their particular sphere of business helps business management students learn and identify those strategies that work well for the Organizations and make them stars. Understanding practically how these leader organizations have crafted their success helps the students marry the theory to the practice and get an […]
Talent Management Process
People are, undoubtedly the best resources of an organization. Sourcing the best people from the industry has become the top most priority of the organizations today. In such a competitive scenario, talent management has become the key strategy to identify and filling the skill gap in a company by recruiting the high-worth individuals from the […]
CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives can extend to the realm of primary and secondary education. This entails close engagement and involvement of corporates in the schools, colleges, and universities where the corporates provide for funds, training, and associated programs with a view to educate the future workforce on how the corporate world works and the expectations from the future employees.
It has been found that in many developing countries, there is a disconnect between the education that the students receive during their graduate programs and the expectations from them when they join the workforce.
Indeed, it has been estimated that out of the millions of graduates in countries like China and India, only 10-20 percent are employable meaning that the rest do not have language, comprehension, verbal, and aptitude based skills to find gainful and meaningful employment.
This is the reason why many industry bodies in these countries have taken it upon themselves to reach out to the colleges and universities and impart skill based training programs so that the students upon graduation can be employed and be employable.
The other aspect about corporate outreach in schools, colleges, and universities has to do with building a brand image among the future workforce. Not only does this help the corporates in recruiting potential employees who are the best and the brightest but would help them in inculcating a sense of what it takes to succeed in the corporate world upon graduation.
Indeed, as part of the brand building exercise, the corporates can also provide for funds to the schools, colleges, and universities so that the equipment and the technology for vocational skill building can be provided for.
In other words, the corporates can combine their CSR activities with brand building and this would be a double whammy that would benefit all stakeholders in the process.
Apart from this, the corporates can also fund needy students so that they can complete their education.
Further, it has become the practice for many corporates to institute leadership awards in business schools that are targeted at women leaders, future leaders and potential leaders so that the leadership skills can be honed right from the time the students start their education. This is the case with many business schools in the west where leading companies often give out leadership awards to those whom they consider potential leaders.
The third aspect about CSR initiatives in primary and secondary education is that they help the collaboration between the industry and the academia, which would result in close alignment of what the corporates want and what the universities teach.
In other words, in many universities, there is a disconnect between the research undertaken in the universities and the emerging trends that industry and the corporates are handling. This disconnect can be remedied by close engagement and collaboration between the researchers and the faculty in the universities so that there is alignment of objectives between these stakeholders.
Further, by instituting chairs and fellowships, the corporates can benefit from increased exposure and involvement with academia. This is the case in most of the leading universities in the west that have dedicated programs that are funded by corporates.
Finally, the combination of CSR and brand building as well as funding and working closely with primary and secondary education is a win-win situation for all stakeholders. As the title of this article states, it is better to catch them young and watch them grow.
In other words, identifying future leaders, nurturing talent and incubating ideas right from school and college is a noble initiative that brings in good rewards for the students and the corporates and helps in aligning the objectives between academia and corporates.
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