Abstract

Among Indian companies in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, HCL Infosystems (HCL) took some pioneering steps for environmental sustainability in 2007 and 2008. After clearly identifying the need for going green, HCL brought all its environmental sustainability initiatives under one umbrella named ‘ecoSafe’. However, HCL Infosystems seemed to have lost its first-mover advantage by 2009. In the Sixth Indian version of the Guide to Green Electronics Report of Greenpeace India released in March 2009, HCL scored 4.1/10, dropping to the second place among Indian electrical and electronic equipment manufacturers assessed on several parameters to determine the ‘green’ factor. It had failed on its commitment to phase out two hazardous chemicals from its products by 2009, and had not made clear commitments on the extent and timeline for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The case discusses the evolution of environmental sustainability initiatives at HCL, and explores the need for continuous progress on this front.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Evolution of environmental sustainability initiatives in an Indian IT company.: Corporate responsibility toward stakeholders.: Green IT initiatives in internal operations as well as products and services.

Keywords

Corporate responsibility, Ecological sustainability, Information Technology, Carbon footprint, ecoSafe, Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), HCL Infosystems, Greenpeace India, Green datacenters, Consolidation and virtualization, Energy Star, Greenhouse gases (GHG), Green computing, ISO 14001, Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR), Waste of Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE), Take-back services, Disposal and recycling, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)