Corporate Citizen of Passion and Purpose

Great things originate from great ideas! Corporate Citizen started as an idea conceived by late Prof. Dr. (Col.) A. Balasubramanian, the founder President of Sri Balaji Society and Chancellor of Sri Balaji University, Pune (SBUP). With Corporate Citizen celebrating its 10th anniversary, it’s time to look back at its origin and progress, in view of what its founding father conceived and wanted it to be

Corporate Citizen celebrates its 10th anniversary on 11th December, 2024. Greetings to all its readers. Their association has paved the way for its success. It was born in the educational hub of Sri Balaji Society, which runs institutions of management studies of national eminence since 1998, in Pune. Many other colleges dealing in different subjects have also come up, and since 2019, SBUP was created with a Government of Maharashtra notification in this respect. More than 2000 students come to the two campuses of the Group and amidst the young energy of students and in this academic environment, Corporate Citizen breathes. This makes it different from other commercial magazines or news related tabloids.

Passion to write

Great things originate from great ideas. Corporate Citizen started with the idea conceived in the mind of Late. Prof. Dr. (Col.) A. Balasubramanian who was the Founder President of Sri Balaji Society and later became the Chancellor of SBUP. He also worked as Editor-in-Chief of this magazine until his sad demise in 2021. (Col.) Bala had a passion for writing in addition to being an academician, and earlier, he was also a defence officer. He has written several books and short stories. His love for creativity and writing was the trigger for starting this magazine.

The vision of (Col.) Bala behind this magazine is summed up by the very name he chose for it. He clubbed ‘Corporate’ with ‘Citizen’ to name the magazine ‘Corporate Citizen’. Students passing out from management studies and joining companies enter the corporate sector and they have to work for the profitability of the employer companies. But (Col.) Bala believed that they should not get lost in the rat race of corporate competitiveness, only earning money for the shareholders, and that their duties and responsibilities as citizens of the country should remain intact. If the employer company is important, then so is the mother nation. He believed in the maxim, ‘country-first’. The soldier in him coupled with his later innings as a teacher and an academician, and finally an author, gave rise to the Corporate Citizen. Literally interpreting the meaning of ‘corporate citizen’ can lead us to Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Citizenship is how a company exercises its rights, obligations, privileges, and overall corporate responsibility within our local and global environments. (Col.) Bala believed in it and the same was evident from the high level of discipline and curriculum followed in the campus.

Bridge to continue learning

Another vision behind Corporate Citizen was that it should work as a bridge between the alumni and the college. Students moving out of the campus have to keep connect with their alma–mater and it serves this purpose. This is why this magazine goes to alumni along with various other persons. The content of the magazine has been visualised so as to be a constant teacher to all students and ex-students and also for persons in whom the desire for learning about management continues.

Torch-bearers for others

Corporate Citizen includes interviews of people who have reached senior positions in the corporate world. They serve as torch-bearers for others who want to climb up in the highly competitive corporate world. Interviews practically work as teachers for on-job training.

(Col.) Bala also believed that the magazine should not remain restricted to students of management studies and those working in the corporate world, but also be readable by their families. With this vision, he started with an interview of a couple, who had already achieved a decent height in their careers. A composite husband-wife interview used to be inspiring and pleasant reading for families.

If the employer company is important, then so is the mother nation. (Col.) Bala believed in the maxim, ‘country-first’. The soldier in him coupled with his later innings as a teacher and an academician, and finally as an author, gave rise to the Corporate Citizen

Brand ambassador

(Col.) Bala believed that Corporate Citizen would play the role of brand ambassador for the management institutions of Sri Balaji Group and help the students. The USP of this group has been the campus placements of almost all its students. This requires that the big recruiters should know more about the Group and studies the curriculum here. Corporate Citizen goes to many big companies and to their executives for free, and they are kept informed about these great institutions. This proves as facilitator for recruiters.

Since the magazine is not considered commercial and the quality of good paper and printing are not compromised, there is a consistent working loss in running this magazine. But this issue has never dampened the motivation of the management in running the publication, and they keep on improving it, despite the cost implications. The wide and consistently increasing circulation of Corporate Citizen indicates its success. Feedback from readers too point to its popularity. The contents of Corporate Citizen have been appreciated, as they are enlightening and inspirational.

Personal experience

It has been personally satisfying for me as I am one of the columnists of Corporate Citizen, almost since its inception. When I look back, I feel that I am an accidental columnist, but with a very satisfying instinct. I did my masters in Physics and I was teaching this subject in a university until I joined the Income Tax department after passing the civil service examination in 1976. I had a chance friendship with (Col.) Bala. After my retirement, I started coming to Sri Balaji campus to give lectures as a guest lecturer on taxation. Corporate Citizen was born around this time, and as per the request of my late friend, I started writing a column for this magazine.

Many stories to tell

For quite some time, I kept writing about income tax stories, as that was convenient and easy for me. For six years, in two stints in Mumbai, I had worked in the investigation wing there, and I had many stories to tell about income tax raids and investigations. I changed my subject when I started getting bored with too much of writing on tax and taxation, and started writing on contemporary issues, which were non-political. My column used to be an odd man out in the magazine, as other columns used to be mainly related to management subjects. (Col.) Bala used to joke that I am different but good.

I feel good about narrating one personal in-cident. My wife had gone out to buy vegetables and she met a lady there. There was some brief social interaction between them. On being asked about me, my wife told her that I am a columnist. On being asked about the name of the publication, my wife told her about Corporate Citizen. She replied back saying she was a regular reader of this magazine, as her husband was a high ranking official of a big company that gets this magazine. Then on knowing my name, she said, she always reads my column and liked it. She praised me as a columnist without knowing my background. This incident made me feel that an accidental columnist had become a real columnist. I must say I was thrilled.

First milestone, more to come

The 10th anniversary is the first milestone of Corporate Citizen and it will travel a much longer path. It is linked with an expanding university and so it will keep growing with further expansions of SBUP. There can be periodical makeovers, but its goal will remain intact. Recently from being a fortnightly magazine, it became a monthly magazine but with increased number of pages.

I have a personal suggestion for SBUP alumni readers. It will be extremely good for this magazine if at least a few of the alumni start contributing. They can write about their journey from the campus to their present position in the corporate hierarchy. This will have a double benefit. First, the column writers will get a boost to their hidden creativity and second, the students in the campus can get inspiration.

Campus imprint, forever

Corporate Citizen should always retain the imprint of the campus and students, as it was born and bred there. The goal of late (Col.) Bala to constantly help the students should never be lost. The present management is mulling over considering Corporate Citizen as a tool in the proposed management studies in the field of media. If this happens, then Corporate Citizen can be used for on-the-job training for media students.

Today, the founder of Sri Balaji Society is not there with us. But, his creation of great institutions and the magazine, Corporate Citizen, are doing very well. I can say with full responsibility that his vision will remain alive with every issue of this magazine and with every new batch of students passing out from the campus. Happy 10th anniversary Corporate Citizen...!