CSR LINKS

http://www.academia.edu/1555635/Ethical_and_Legal_Asp
ects_of_CSR_issue_of_MNCs_and_sustainable_developm
ent__cases_of_Enron_North_America_USA_MacDonalds_UK
_Europe_and_Shell_Nigeria_Africa_
www.nestle.com/assetlibrary/documents/library/documents/corporate_social_resp
onsibility/nestle-csv-full-report-2012-en.pdf
social responsibility
Law[edit]
Under the Companies Act, 2013, any company having a net worth of rupees 500 crore or more or a
turnover of rupees 1,000 crore or more or a net profit of rupees 5 crore or more should mandatorily
spend 2% of their net profits per fiscal on CSR activities.[9] The rules came into effect from 1 April
2014.[10]

Entrepreneurial Skills
The Skills You Need to Build a Great Business

What skills do you need as an entrepreneur?

 iStockphoto/leventince

What makes someone a successful entrepreneur?

It certainly helps to have strong technology skills or expertise in a key area, but these are not defining characteristics of
entrepreneurship.
Instead, the key qualities are traits such as creativity, the ability to keep going in the face of hardship, and the social skills needed
to build great teams.
If you want to start a business, it's essential to learn the specific skills that underpin these qualities. It's also important to develop
entrepreneurial skills if you're in a job role where you're expected to develop a business, or "take things forward" more generally.
In this article, we'll look at the skills you need to be a successful entrepreneur, and we'll explore resources that you can use to
develop the traits needed for success.

Defining Entrepreneurship
Some experts think of entrepreneurs as people who are willing to take risks that other people are not. Others define them as
people who start and build successful businesses.
Thinking about the first of these definitions, entrepreneurship doesn't necessarily involve starting your own business. Many
people who don't work for themselves are recognized as entrepreneurs within their organizations.
Regardless of how you define an "entrepreneur," one thing is certain: becoming a successful entrepreneur isn't easy.
So, how does one person successfully take advantage of an opportunity, while another, equally knowledgeable person does not?
Do entrepreneurs have a different genetic makeup? Or do they operate from a different vantage point, that somehow directs their
decisions for them?
Though many researchers have studied the subject, there are no definitive answers. What we do know is that successful
entrepreneurs seem to have certain traits in common.
We've gathered these traits into four categories:

Personal characteristics.

Interpersonal skills.

Critical and creative thinking skills.

Practical skills.

We'll now examine each category in more detail, and look at some of the questions you will need to ask yourself if you want to
become a successful entrepreneur.

Personal Characteristics
First, examine your personal characteristics, values, and beliefs. Do you have the mindset that's typical of successful
entrepreneurs?

Optimism: Are you an optimistic thinker? Optimism is truly an asset, and it will help get you through the tough
times that many entrepreneurs experience as they find a business model that works for them.
Vision: Can you easily see where things can be improved? Can you quickly grasp the "big picture," and explain this
to others? And can you create a compelling vision of the future, and then inspire other people to engage with that
vision?
Initiative: Do you have initiative , and instinctively start problem-solving or business improvement projects?
Desire for Control: Do you enjoy being in charge and making decisions? Are you motivated to lead others?
Drive and Persistence: Are you self-motivated and energetic? And are you prepared to work hard, for a very long
time, to realize your goals?
Risk Tolerance: Are you able to take risks, and make decisions when facts are uncertain?
Resilience: Are you resilient , so that you can pick yourself up when things don't go as planned? And do you learn
and grow from your mistakes and failures? (If you avoid taking action because you're afraid of failing, our article
on Overcoming Fear of Failure can help you face your fears and move forward.)

Interpersonal Skills
As a successful entrepreneur, you'll have to work closely with people this is where it is critical to be able to build great
relationships with your team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, investors, and more.
Some people are more gifted in this area than others, but, fortunately, you can learn and improve these skills. The types of
interpersonal skills you'll need include:

Leadership and Motivation: Can you lead and motivate others to follow you and deliver your vision? And are
you able to delegate work to others? As a successful entrepreneur, you'll have to depend on others to get beyond a
very early stage in your business there's just too much to do all on your own!
Communication Skills: Are you competent with all types of communication ? You need to be able to
communicate well to sell your vision of the future to investors, potential clients, team members, and more.
Listening: Do you hear what others are telling you? Your ability to listen can make or break you as an entrepreneur.
Make sure that you're skilled at active listening and empathetic listening .
Personal Relations: Are you emotionally intelligent ? The higher your EI, the easier it will be for you to work
with others. The good news is that you can improve your emotional intelligence!
Negotiation: Are you a good negotiator ? Not only do you need to negotiate keen prices, you also need to be able
to resolve differences between people in a positive, mutually beneficial way.
Ethics: Do you deal with people based on respect, integrity , fairness, and truthfulness? Can you lead ethically ?
You'll find it hard to build a happy, committed team if you deal with people staff, customers or suppliers in a
shabby way.

Tip:
You can improve your people skills further by taking our How Good Are Your People Skills? self-test.

Critical and Creative Thinking Skills

As an entrepreneur, you also need to come up with fresh ideas, and make good decisions about opportunities and potential
projects.
Many people think that you're either born creative or you're not. However, creativity is a skill that you can develop if you invest
the time and effort.

Creative Thinking: Are you able to see situations from a variety of perspectives and come up with original ideas?
(There are many creativity tools that will help you do this.)
Problem Solving: How good are you at coming up with sound solutions to the problems you're facing? Tools such
as Cause & Effect Analysis , the 5 Whys Technique, and CATWOE are just some of the problem-solving
tools that you'll need to be familiar with.
Recognizing Opportunities: Do you recognize opportunities when they present themselves? Can you spot a
trend ? And are you able to create a plan to take advantage of the opportunities you identify?

Practical Skills
You also need the practical skills and knowledge needed to produce goods or services effectively, and run a company.

Goal Setting: Do you regularly set goals , create a plan to achieve them, and then carry out that plan?
Planning and Organizing: Do you have the talents, skills, and abilities necessary to achieve your goals? Can you
coordinate people to achieve these efficiently and effectively? (Here, effective project management skills are
important, as are basic organization skills .) And do you know how to develop a coherent, well thoughtthrough business plan , including developing and learning from appropriate financial forecasts ?
Decision Making: How good are you at making decisions? Do you make them based on relevant information and
by weighing the potential consequences? And are you confident in the decisions that you make?
Core decision-making tools include Decision Tree Analysis , Grid
Analysis , and Six Thinking Hats .
You need knowledge in several areas when starting or running a business. For instance:
Business knowledge: Do you have a good general knowledge of the main functional areas of a business
(sales, marketing, finance, and operations), and are you able to operate or manage others in these areas with
a reasonable degree of competence?

Entrepreneurial knowledge: Do you understand how entrepreneurs raise capital? And do you understand
the sheer amount of experimentation and hard work that may be needed to find a business model that works
for you?
Opportunity-specific knowledge: Do you understand the market you're attempting to enter, and do you
know what you need to do to bring your product or service to market?
Venture-specific knowledge: Do you know what you need to do to make this type of business successful?
And do you understand the specifics of the business that you want to start? (This is where it's often useful to
work for a short time in a similar business.)

Most Important Entrepreneurial

Skills Not Taught In Business School
Posted: 08/19/2014 9:00 am EDT Updated: 08/19/2014 9:00 am EDT

Business school is ideal for building the strong foundation that a career in entrepreneurship
needs in order to succeed in the long run. However, many successful entrepreneurs know
that there are several essential skills an entrepreneur needs in order to develop their
business that are not taught in the classroom. These four keys to successful
entrepreneurship will not be learned in a classroom but can mean the difference between
succeeding and failing.
Raising money
Though an entrepreneur needs to develop an array of skills, raising money is the number
one skill required of an entrepreneur or a would-be entrepreneur. If you cannot raise
money, unless you are personally wealthy, there is no way for you to establish and capitalize
your business opportunity. While it is also good for entrepreneurs to have a stake in their
own venture, it is smart to use investors too, to avoid tying up all your capital in one project.
Becoming skilled at raising capital, especially in the early stages of entrepreneurship, is vital
in order to have a 'nest' of money available as expenses arise most frequently during this
stage. This also frees up the entrepreneur to attend to the many other 'hats' that he/she
must wear in order to succeed in business.
Selling
This is effectively first on the table of entrepreneurial skills, since it is a fact that if you
cannot sell you are highly unlikely to succeed. You can, and should, read and study books
written by entrepreneurial experts about the art of sale. However, like many other skills in
business, sales skills are learned and mastered with regular, consistent practice. It is wise
and in your best interest as an entrepreneur to seek out and find a mentor in order to gain
skills before setting out on the entrepreneurial path. Before you even begin your initial
entrepreneurial project, make this critical investment in your business and yourself.
Other Peoples' Time
You cannot do everything yourself although many entrepreneurs try to do so. Remember the
old adage 'There is no 'I' in team" and the oft quoted "It takes a village." This cannot be
emphasized enough. Entrepreneurs that attempt to do it all themselves often finding

themselves simply self-employed. Going back to the first key in this article, the
entrepreneur's first job is raise financing. After that the entrepreneur's job is grow the
business. Employees should be used for run-of-the-mill, routine or repetitive tasks. It's
unwise for the entrepreneur to use up their energy completing tasks such as these that can
easily be farmed out. And should be.
Teams/Support Structure
After raising funds, the entrepreneur needs to establish their support team very early on -this includes an accountant, bookkeeper, lawyer and other support professionals needed on
a regular basis. These professionals have the skills and knowledge to complete their jobs at a
level of expertise that the entrepreneur cannot. And they will do so in less time than the
entrepreneur might end up expending. At all times the entrepreneur needs to remain
focused on their business, keeping their mission statement and goals in the forefront at all
times.
The entrepreneur who strives for success and longevity in their business must be
continuously learning. Expanding your knowledge on these four critical keys to successful
entrepreneurship can come through extensive reading of a variety of business books and
networking with other successful entrepreneurs. The value of talking to and learning from
other successful entrepreneurs is priceless and as worthy an investment of your time as an
education that is the beginning, but not final, step in building the foundation of a strong,
successful career.

The Top Skills Every

Entrepreneur Needs
Comment Now
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What does it take to be

successful starting your own small business? Here are

the 8 skills every successful entrepreneur has in

common:
1. Resiliency. The ability to weather the ups and downs of any
business since it never goes exactly the way the business plan
described it. This skill enables the entrepreneur to keep going
when the outlook is bleak.
2. Focus. After setting a long term vision, knowing how to laser
focus on the very next step to get closer to the ultimate goal.
There are so many distracting forces when trying to build a
business that this skill is not easy to master.
3. Invest for the long-term. Most entrepreneurs are not patient
and focus only on what comes next, rather than where the
company needs to go. Overnight success may take 7 to 10 years.
Entrepreneurs need to stop, pause and plan on a quarterly basis.
4. Find and manage people. Only by learning to leverage
employees, vendors and other resources will an entrepreneur
build a scalable company. They need to learn to network to meet
the right people. Entrepreneurs strive to guarantee they will get
honest and timely feedback from all these sources.
5. Sell. Every entrepreneur is a sales person whether they want to
be or not. They are either selling their ideas, products or services
to customers, investors or employees. They work to be there
when customers are ready to buy. Alternately, they know how to
let go and move on when they are not.
6. Learn. Successful entrepreneurs realize they dont know
everything and the market is constantly changing. They stay up
to date on new systems, technology, and industry trends.
7. Self-reflection. Allow downtime to reflect on the past and plan
for the future. Always working only leads to burnout physically
and emotionally.
8. Self-reliance: While there is a lot of help for the entrepreneur,
in the end, they need to be resourceful enough to depend on
themselves.

What do you think it takes to be a successful

entrepreneur.