| '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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 << Previous ExcerptsPast ControversiesIn 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 Ethics 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."... 
	
		|  | 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...  |  ExhibitsExhibit 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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