'Ecomagination' at Work: GE's Sustainability Initiative
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Case Details:
Case Code : BECG068
Case Length : 19 Pages
Period : 2005-2006
Organization : General Electric Company
Pub Date : 2006
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : The US
Industry : Diversified
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Please note:
This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.
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Excerpts
Past Controversies
In all its years of existence, GE had not been known as a
particularly environment-friendly company. In fact, as a large company with
interests in several industrial outfits, it had for long been one of the biggest
corporate polluters in the US. While the company had built up a strong
reputation for delivering outstanding returns to shareholders, it had lagged
behind on the social responsibility front...
Remedial Attempts
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Although GE had traditionally been a company that gave more importance to
profitability than to social responsibility, the business environment in the
early 2000s demanded that companies look beyond financial objectives.
This was also the time when the Kyoto Protocol was a much discussed subject, and
environmental concerns were increasingly being raised at global forums like the
G8 and WTO meetings. Besides, consumers and investors had become more
environmentally conscious than before, which made it all the more important for
companies to consider environmental interests in all their operations...
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From Imagination to Ecomagination
GE announced the Ecomagination project in May 2005. The project's name was a
play on GE's corporate slogan 'Imagination at Work'. Announcing the launch, Immelt said that business was
"no longer a zero-sum game - things that are good
for the environment are also good for business."He added that GE was embarking
on this initiative "not because it is trendy or moral, but because it will
accelerate [economic] growth."...
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Outlook
Although the results of the first year prompted GE's detractors to
concede that Ecomagination was not a publicity exercise to clean up GE's
image, but a serious project to which the company was committed, there
was still a fair amount of skepticism about its success in the long run.
For instance, industry observers were interested in finding out how GE,
which was one of the largest suppliers of coal-fired power plants,
nuclear reactors, and jet engines, would extend the Ecomagination
initiative from a few projects to a company-wide exercise... |
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Hydrogen-Powered Vehicles
Exhibit II: GE Annual Income Statement
Exhibit III: GE'S Six Core Business Units
Exhibit IV: Some Ecomagination Products
Exhibit V (A): A Screenshot of One of GE's Print Ads
Exhibit V (B): Text Extracts from the Ecomagination Ad Campaign
Exhibit VI: 2005 Ecomagination Leadership Award Winners
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