BOOK REVIEW
Santhosh Jayaram
In the past few years, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) has catapulted to vogue, and with it, there is immense interest to know about the subject. I get several calls asking me for suggestions for ESG reading, and I recommend the book Outlast authored by Dr Mukund Rajan and Dr. (Col.) Rajeev Kumar without batting an eyelid. The book on how ESG can benefit business is a real welcome for all those who want to understand ESG, especially in the context of the Indian environment.
Quite like how we, as individuals, are focused on improving our immunity to the external virus threat during the pandemic; the book urges businesses to look inwards to its purpose and responsibility and strengthen the systems that will help it “outlast” the externalities that will come in the future. Rooting on numerous example cases from the past, the authors create a convincing narrative that it is now and urgent. The global positioning of India in measures of pollution, corruption, living conditions, governance is a measure that we are no way near to that moral pedestal that many narratives talk about. The book is a reflection on our times. Reading through, you feel that the Indian businesses have to change, else the changes will be done to them.
While highlighting the evolution of the age of responsibility, the book also creates the necessary fear, primarily through the section on shareholder activism. It brings out how money has started chasing ESG, which is the tipping point. The view presented in the book is like a bifocal lens that combines risk and responsibility as the two lenses through which business has to view ESG.
Many books on this subject space tend to focus more on the E&S narrative, but it is refreshing to see the balance the book presents between the dimensions of E, S & G. Couple that with the boldness to talk about the involvement of business in election funding and the ownership of media, you have the spice of the Indian dish.
Although I started stating that I will recommend this book as a definite read to anyone who has started exploring the space of ESG, I will also suggest the book as an excellent read to professionals already working in this space mainly because of some new dimensions and perspectives it offers. The book should also find a good audience among professionals in finance, investor relations, governance, risk & compliance and strategy because of the narrative and the numerous business cases that are peppered throughout—a good Indian ESG book.
Recent Comments