Analyzing Capacity Development Approaches in CSR Implementation and Their Societal Impact: A Case Study of ITC’s E-Choupal

This paper examines capacity development for collective action and institutional change through implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Indian context. Capacity development for collective action focuses on creating and strengthening capacities that represent the potential for collaborative response to social problems. Framework developed by Rama et al. (2009) has been used to study Collective Action Model (CAM) integrated with capacity development approaches to study CSR implementation and its impact in the context of ITC’s e-chaupal (India). ITC’s e-chaupal has been instrumental in development of individual and organizational capacity, collaborative capacity in enabling environment. This case is pertinent to CSR initiatives in rural development projects. The case shows a good fit to the framework and highlights multi-stakeholder collaborations for an enabling environment and development at grassroots. Framework based analysis is useful, as it enables practitioners and researchers to develop an integrated view of CSR implementation.