BISM Case: Green IT at Wipro: A Sustainable Solution?

Q1. What is the history behind Wipros sustainability practices?

Incorporated in 1945 in Mumbai by Mohamed Premji, the company started as Western
India Vegetable Products Limited
The year 1980 marked the arrival of company Wipro Limited in 1982
In 2002, WASIT was launched for bringing systematic reforms to the education system
In 2003, Wipro Cares was formed as a community care service
In 2006, Wipro launched its e-waste disposal management
In 2008, Wipro Eco Eye was launched with a view to become carbon neutral and water
positive
By 2010-11, the net energy consumption per person at Wipro had fallen to 279kWh, a
17% drop in 4 years.
Q2. What factors lead to the success of Wipros green initiative?
Stakeholder involvement: Starting from grass root level employees till the management
level and customers looked at each initiative positively
Well defined goals: A combination of incorporating business and sustainable strategy
enabled Wipro to provide products and solutions thus helping its customers to go green
too
Education: People associated with Wipro whether as a staff or customers or suppliers
were educated on benefits of going green
Public policies: Wipro was able to influence the government policies towards the
movement to Green IT with the work it had put in with numerous NGOs
Q3. What measures/factors help make Green IT initiatives sustainable and/or successful? Are
they the same?
Structure Synergy: Having a separate department to implement these green initiatives
and considering them as a critical task in the line of business
Tracking Absolute Metrics: Updating everyone associated with the company on where
each or as a group are standing while implementing sustainable green technologies and
its performance
Incentives for continuous innovation in Green IT
Work Culture: Create a working culture where employee is educated know the
importance of going green through training, education, seminars/webinars etc.
Compliance with International Environmental Norms
Adopting environmental best practices
Q4. How sustainable are the Wipros sustainable initiatives? Do you think sustainable initiatives
should be sustainable or not?
Sustainability is about balancing without compromising. Most of the initiatives may or may not
work. It would be best to do in phases and as each initiative progress, we can observe how well

it is going about. This way we could pursue the initiative or pursue the same initiative
differently, thus saving time, money etc.
Q5. Does size of an organization matter when it comes to implementing sustainable initiatives?
How?
Yes, size does matter. Big companies will implement such initiatives either due to ethics
standards or competing with other companies or on its own (Wipro initiated on its own).
However, small companies would find it tough to sustain for a long time as the expenses and
time is always going to be short.
Q6. How can sustainable initiatives be incorporated in the companys culture?
Incorporating and imbibing from management level to grassroot levels, thus making it a culture
of the company. Fostering commitment by engaging, signaling, communicating, reinforcing is
the starting step. Then clarifying expectations, training, assessing, meeting audit levels thus
building momentum for change. Raising awareness, installing capacity for change learn and
develop all these are major factors to sustain initiatives in companys culture.
Q7. What ways can business processes be made sustainable or green?

Adopting measures to conserve energy and recycle waste as well as e-waste

Rainwater harvesting and having a mini-water treatment plant
Employee diversity
Health and safety concerns for the employees and families
Education care
Community care

Q8. How can stakeholder involvement be ensured in sustainability?

The complexity of various technologies associated with Green IT is essentially driven by the
stakeholder management rather than technology per se, thus it is important to effectively
manage the stakeholder relationships to sustain such initiatives. Sustainability is a multistakeholder game and collaboration is needed to sustain green initiatives. Wipro subscribes to
select charters and aligns with the right networks to boost their programs. Sustainable
environmental performance and consistent rankings on Green IT initiatives acts as a feedback
mechanism to boost up initiatives for achieving excellence.

Q9. Has there been any recent development in Wipros sustainability practices?
Just recently on Jan 27 2015, Wipro made a press release stating its goal to be a leader in
the Green Quadrant of companies working with Green IT
On Jan 5, 2015, Wipro partnered with IIM Bangalore, in its drive for sustainability

 In 2012, Wipro made a commitment in its Environmental Policy to work with a triple
bottom line
Q10. What are the regulatory compliance to be ensured for sustainability?
There are 3 pillars for sustainable advocacy at Wipro
o Direct policy inputs to government
o Engagement and dialog as part of industry networks
o Publications and Disclosures to advance knowledge and action
From the Governments side, one must adhere to Labor regulations, Financial regulations
and Environmental regulations
o Environmental regulations include Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and
clearance from Pollution Control Board (PCB)
Q11. Should the sustainability agenda be part of the Corporate Strategy? If so, how it was done
in the case of Wipro?
Yes, sustainability acts as a competitive advantage as well as positive reinforcement of
the communal good in terms of corporate strategy
Risk avoidance: Reducing risks due to scarcity of raw materials, regulation changes,
reputation and climate changes
Newer opportunities: Possibility of new disruptive innovation, consulting revenues, new
product development, tapping new market segment, and cost reduction