| | More than 500 of the
world’s top business
minds met in Orlando,
Florida recently to
discuss how to engage in
successful business
through the current
global economic
slowdown, as HCL
Technologies (HCL)
hosted its fourth-annual
global customer meet,
‘Unstructure 2008’. A
key conclusion at the
event was that the
momentum for
implementing
environmentally
sustainable business
practices should not be
lost due to the economic
crisis, as they can be
key to creating high
levels of operational
efficiency and ongoing,
long-term business
success.
The keynote address
was given by former US
Vice President, Al Gore.
During his address,
‘Thinking Green -
Economic Strategy for
the 21st Century’, Gore
told attendees that
environmentally sound
practices, once thought | |
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| | to be a draw on the
bottom line, are today
viewed not only as
economically sound but
also as a necessity for
sustainability of
businesses.
Gore noted: "In the
future, our children
will look back on the
first years of this
century and either say,
‘What were you thinking?
Why didn’t you act?’,
or, ‘How did you find
the courage to rise up
and solve the problem?’
I hope they say the
latter. We have
everything we need to
solve this problem
except political will
but political will is a
renewable resource.”
Unstructure
participants also
listened to a keynote
addresses by Xerox
Chairman and CEO Anne
Mulcahy. In her address,
‘Sustainability: A New
Business Paradigm’,
Mulcahy described how to
balance economic and
environmental
priorities, noting that | |
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| | saving our environment.”
Underscoring HCL’s
commitment to its ‘Go
Green!’ initiative,
Unstructure was a
paper-free and
carbon-neutral event.
HCL also committed to
planting 650 oak trees –
roughly one for each
guest and HCL staff
member in attendance –
on 2.8 acres of land in
the Western Himalayas to
help sustain the natural
habitat of the oak silk
worm. Silk from the
open-ended cocoons –
cocoons abandoned by the
silk worm – was used to
create the hand-crafted
silk scarves presented
to attendees as gifts.
The event also saw
world-renowned author
and management educator
Gary Hamel initiate
further debate in the
many panel discussions.
Hamel spoke about the
‘Future of Management’,
including new ways of
mobilising talent,
allocating resources,
and formulating | |
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| | strategies. "There's a
company whose entire
management model is
built on the principle
of reverse
accountability; that is
a pretty radical
thought,” he said. “HCL
CEO Vineet Nayar has
said: 'Value is created
at the interface between
employees and
customers.’ Our job as
leaders is to do
everything we can to
enable that value to be
created. To do that you
cannot have an old
command and control kind
of management system.”
The output of the
event will be the
‘Unstructure Ask Book’ –
a compendium of insight
and action ideas
collected for businesses
to use as an ‘Evolution’
manifesto. Those
interested in the
presentations,
discussions and ideas
that were generated from
the physical event can
learn more about them or
continue the discussion
by visiting
www.unstructure.org. | |
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