Corporate social responsibility has become a favourite topic of discussion for businessmen, academicians, political leaders, social reformers and management students in India. Opinion about the primary responsibility of business is sharply divided between those who believe that ‘business of business is business’ and those who believe that the business community as an affluent and capable group within an\ud
Unusually poor society has a moral obligation to consciously help the needy and under-privileged even while going about its business. From the social advertisements, and speeches of top managers of some large private industrial enterprises in India, it appears that increasingly private sector is lending support to the view that as integral part of the larger social system, business has an obligation to serve the society as a whole. Some interesting questions that the prevailing context gives rise to are: Are managers in Indian industry favourable to corporate social responsibility, irrespective of their association with a particular type of corporate ownership and a level in management hierarchy? What areas of social effort do they prefer? What problems do they find in implementation? How can their social performance be improved? Most of the views expressed by different Indian writers on these aspects are subjective in character, as they are not based on empirical studies. The present study is designed to bridge the gap by providing an objective assessment of the attitudes of managers towards these aspects