ANNOUNCEMENTS
Corporate Social Responsibility has become the norm for most businesses based in India that are eligible under The Companies Act, 2013. Businesses seldom implement the Corporate Social Responsibility independently but prefer to engage through partnerships. Though there might not exist a secret formula to guarantee the success of a partnership, anecdotes suggest that partnership portfolios can be managed efficiently to improve the probability of success. Thus, it would be valuable to understand in context of Corporate Social Responsibility, how to design or expand the partner portfolio and how portfolio performance should be measured and managed. In this study, formalized data informed approach is adopted where decision making is evidence based. Mixed research methods such as secondary analysis, archival study, interviews and site visits were used to acquire inputs and gain insights. These insights resulted in the development of an onboarding tool with a comprehensive set of criteria to assess potential partners and performance evaluation framework for the existing partners, both customized to specifications outlined by the host organization. Systems thinking led to the standardizations across the project lifecycle for example tracking of the data from memorandums of understanding, development of templates for impact reporting and adoption of new indicators. The true potential of onboarding tool rests not in making the decision whether to accept or reject but to discern the strengths and weaknesses of the potential partner. Similarly, the output of performance evaluation framework must be considered from a continuous improvement perspective to ensure achievement of intended outcomes.
Keywords: Corporate Social responsibility, partnership, data informed, onboarding, performance management
