Sustainability Report 2010-11 the IMPERATIVE of HOPE
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The Imperative of Hope Wipro Sustainability Report 2010-11 THE IMPERATIVE OF HOPE The theme of our sustainability report for 2010-11 “The imperative of hope” get involved but must lead and take charge on issues of sustainability– ranging from symbolizes the pressing need for seeking answers to the intractable social and the logic of ‘doing well by doing good’ to the fundamental notion that business enjoys environmental problems that the world faces in a spirit of optimism and courage. great power today which vests it with equally great responsibility. Further, it is an The challenges are so many and so deep rooted that many view them with a sense almost axiomatic truth that the survival and well being of business is inextricably of resignation as part of an existential dilemma that we can only hope to cope with linked to the survival of the society and planet that it is a part of. and not ever resolve. Over the last four years, we have set up the momentum for a corporation wide For the business sector meanwhile, these problems have brought center stage the sustainability program at Wipro that involves employees, customers, suppliers, crucial questions of being responsible and being sustainable, answers to which investors, the government, communities and the education system. As part of this are not very clear even to the best minds. The notion of a ‘responsible business’ charter, we have defined some very aspirational goals on dimensions like GHG has gained currency rapidly in recent years and is broadly equated to good emission reduction, Water, Waste, Biodiversity, People Diversity and the Supply corporate citizenship – ‘Comply with all regulations’, ‘Reduce one’s environmental Chain. Like everyone else, we face many of the dilemmas and conundrums that exist impact’ and ‘Engage on community initiatives’. In comparison,the idea of around sustainability and progress is not always as fast we would like. But, to our ‘sustainability in business’ is much more complex and nuanced, related as it is to minds, the apt analogy to view such situations is that of mountaineer battling every day larger ecological and social issues. Two such big challenges – Climate Change and towards the peak where during difficult conditions just staying alive is progress. Universal health – illustrate the complexity involved This is the underlying spirit that this report’s theme embodies : the imperative for l“Where will solutions for Climate Change come from Ø From big disruptive organizations to stay the course and journey forward. however slowly, with a sense technology innovations ? or from several small efficiency levers? or from a of determination, the imperative of hope. radical structural shift to a society that de-emphasizes energy intensive lifestyles? or from continuing with the status quo and shift the focus to adaptation to the possible negative effects of climate change” For this report, we invited some of the best minds to pen their thoughts on l“How do we progress on the war against disease and malnutrition Ø From some of the core sustainability issues. What we have is a bouquet of increased government spending on public health and nutrition? or from independent, informed and insightful essays. Why and What next for grassroots innovation that provide affordable healthcare solutions? or from corporate sustainability? Why report ? Universal Electrification, is it a radical financial disincentive programs that discourage consumption of foods possibility? What the natural world means to us ? What is quality education? that are known to cause lifestyle diseases “ Cities and are they places for Biodiversity? These perspectives come with the richness of experience, the feel for things and the underlying What is immediately apparent in both the above examples is that it is not any indomitable spirit of hope against odds. one single approach that will work, rather a multitude of perspectives and approaches will be necessary. What is perhaps not clear to many is the role of the business sector in combating such challenges and the raison d’etre for its involvement. At Wipro, we believe that there are multiple reasons why business must not only CONTENTS 1. LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN 3 5c. ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY AT WIPRO 90 Universal Electrification: a Possible Solution 112 2. REPORT PROFILE AND ASSURANCE APPROACH 7 - Shuba V. Raghavan a. Report Profile 8 b. Materiality Determination 10 5d. CUSTOMER STEWARDSHIP 114 c Note on Data Metrics in this Report 11 5e. SUSTAINABILITY AND THE RESPONSIBLE INVESTOR 124 d. Wipro’s Approach to Report Assurance 12 Corporate Sustainability: Why did it Start? Where can it go? 132 - Shankar Jaganathan 3. AN ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE 14 a. Spirit of Wipro, our foundation of values 16 5f. ETHICAL SUPPLY CHAIN 136 b. Our Business Profile 19 What the Natural World Means to us 141 c. Good governance and management practices 21 - Suhel Quader The Triple Bottom Line: Not a Zero Sum Game 28 5g. EDUCATION & COMMUNITY CARE 144 - C B Bhattacharya Quality Education, Good Schools and Holistic School Assessment 160 4. WIPRO’S STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE 32 - Sridhar Rajagopalan a. The Sustainability Mobius 34 5h. ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC POLICY 162 b. Business and The Sustainability Megaforces 34 6a. FEEDBACK AND COMMUNICATION 168 c. Sustainability Strategy and Governance At Wipro 38 d. The Wipro Sustainability Dashboard for 2010-11 39 6b. INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE STATEMENT 169 e. Aligning with Sustainability Charters and Networks 44 7a. GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS 172 Biodiversity and the City: Challenges for Bengaluru 46 - Dr. Harini Nagendra 7b. INDEX OF GRI INDICATORS 184 5. WIPRO AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS 50 5b. EMPLOYEES AND SUSTAINABILITY AT THE WORKPLACE 56 Spirit of Wipro Run is a living example of how Wipro as an organization believes in the spirit of inclusivity. It was started with the intention of bringing the run loving community at Wipro together and also to celebrate the essence of Spirit of Wipro as a community. The annual, global run has become a recent tradition at Wipro and is really about people who love to run. The run’s most recent 6th edition was held on 15th October 2011. Images from the Spirit of Wipro Run 2011 run through this report. “Miles with the Sun” as it was called, the run was held in over 56 cities across the world and relayed across countries with the dawn at Philippines and ended in Vancouver 24 hours later. The Run is a time when diverse cultures, races and 24,000 people come together to celebrate the Spirit of Wipro in all its magnificence. What made it richer, vibrant and more exciting this year was the fact that each of the 56 locations decided to add a cultural feature to the run. Each location began the celebration with a local culture piece of that region – for example India had performances like the Chenda, Dollu Kunitha and Bhangra to kick off the run, China had the dragon dance, Canada a drum circle and there were flash mobs in Romania! 15th October 2011 was truly one of the longest days in the history of Wipro as an organization, where Wiproites from around the world embarked on a unique journey to keep the sun from setting. LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN roles. 20% of our employees are from nationalities besides India, this is a three-fold increase over a two year period. 253 people with disability are now part of the Wipro team. As we focus on increasing these numbers, we are striving hard to make Dear fellow Stakeholders, sure that our facilities meet and exceed the access norms for people with disability. Welcome to our fourth sustainability report. Our programs on education and community engagement continue to get stronger We started publishing our sustainability report in 2008. However, every year, as does our environmental stewardship of the Wipro range of green our sustainability journey has been much longer. I refer here to our decade old desktops and laptops. We are starting new initiative on sustainability in the supply program in education, the even longer term engagement with our local communities chain which we will strengthen in the coming years. You will find details of these and the continuing initiatives on water & energy conservation. I also refer to our core initiatives and more inside this report. values, beliefs and principles of conduct, which have always served as our bedrock. While doing all of this is important, it is even more important to do it on a bedrock of Let me present a brief overview of our sustainability program. integrity and transparency. Resource efficiency is central to how smartly the world manages its depleting Our commitment to transparency is reflected in several actions, including a report resources. At Wipro, we have a long history of efficiency driven actions, both with like this and in other sustainability disclosures. I am happy to share that we are now respect to resources and to our business processes. For example, over the last a part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for two years in succession, are decade, we have realized an improvement of more than 30% on our electricity ranked # 1 in India in the Asian CSR Index, ranked No. 1 in the Morgan Stanley consumption on a per employee basis. Our initiatives on energy efficiency span a wide Capital International Emerging Markets Index and are a part of the Nasdaq Global range: from strategic initiatives like our green building program (with LEED Sustainability 100 Index. certifications) to smart projects like the server virtualization program and to In the World Economic Forum at Davos, a few weeks back, I had the opportunity to employee-led actions on saving paper, transportation fuel and electricity. Our interact with several leaders from business and government. The overriding sentiment thrust on water efficiency encompasses the three dimensions of recycling, rain was that a new world order needs to be constructed on the building blocks of the water harvesting and conservation with recycling accounting for 32% of our total three Es – Economic growth, Equitable society and Ecological sustainability.