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In December 2015, 196 countries will meet in Paris to reach a new global climate change agreement. This case looks at the climate negotiation process from the eyes of India's environment minister Mr Prakash Javadekar. In India's context, the energy sector has a big role to play in emission reduction as it is the largest emitter of the GHGs. When compared to US and China, India's per-capita emissions are miniscule but they are expected to rise substantially as the GoI is investing heavily in the infrastructure sector which has a substantial carbon footprint. The case discusses the mandatory emission cuts that India will announce considering the fulfillment of sustainable development goals. The case also points out, the government's promise of providing 24*7 electricity by 2019 which it feels can be an impediment in setting an aggressive emission cut target. The case questions if changes in the portfolio mix can be a part of the solution.

Because U.S. legislators are often most attentive to the issues raised by people who create jobs in their states, Bob Epstein, a local business owner, has been asked by activists to help lobby for a bill that would mandate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in California. Before deciding whether he should work to establish the business community's backing for this bill, Epstein must weigh the pros and cons of supporting measures that might put his business (and standing in the community) at risk.

Use the 4 I's framework to evaluate the nonmarket environment, assess the political impact of the potential coalitions in favor of and opposed to the bill, identify the type of politics that characterizes the situation, and describe the strategies each side will likely use in contesting the bill.

After reading and analyzing the case study, the students would be able to identify the main stakeholders and decision-makers and their importance and influence on the environment for a product, evaluate the value chain of the product and critical decision-makers, evaluate the various ways to avoid falling into the trap of greenwashing and examine the marketing strategy to market an environmentally friendly product.

LIKO-S is a Czech manufacturing and construction company. The company has been designing and creating intelligent solutions, such as green facades or vertical greenery systems, to save energy in building heating and cooling systems. The company launched green facades in the Czech market. However, the main obstacle was the need for supporting data to showcase the positive environmental impact of green facades. Under these circumstances, Libor Musil’s main objective was to overcome prevalent misconceptions about green facades and find a suitable market segment. The situation worried the company, as LIKO-S had heavily invested in developing and marketing the green walls. The management had to tackle this challenge as soon as possible to recover the substantial research and development and marketing investments. Furthermore, owing to lack of information, even genuinely sustainable products were seen as greenwashing. In addition, bad or wrong customer perceptions of these walls might spill over to other products, tarnishing the company’s image and threatening its survival in the domestic market. Under these circumstances, competitors might enter the Czech market, jeopardizing the company’s overall profits. Consequently, Libor was in a great dilemma about managing the financial and reputational risk of the company. Should Libor close the green walls unit, explore different markets/uses or help increase awareness among the general population about green walls by finding a suitable marketing strategy?

The case study was designed for graduate-level students in the strategic management (CSR and innovation module) courses. However, the case could also be an excellent addition to marketing courses dealing with customers’ perceptions of innovative products and strategies to improve the adoption of the product.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

Greenko, a renewable power generating company investing in biomass, small and medium hydro power and wind power projects, had projected to achieve 1GW (Giga Watt = 1000 Mega Watt) of installed capacity by March 2015. The company had been financing its projects with debt from Indian banks and financial institutions on a project finance basis and it had to now decide whether to refinance the project finance debt with an international bond issue of USD 550 million. The case provides an opportunity to discuss the public policy and financing aspects of renewable energy in India.

This case provides useful material for discussion on topics such as sustainability, business continuity, corporate social responsibility and green IT.

The case could be used in different areas of business management such as general management, information systems and business strategy.

The case presents the progressive evolution of Infosys Limited from its beginnings through different stages of innovation and consolidation in the IT services industry. Senior executives at Infosys believe that the sustainability initiative at Infosys is not a new movement, but a logical extension of the company's long standing commitment to society and environment. Sustainability was a key agenda at Infosys and it was deeply ingrained in the company's ethos and the way in which it operated. The case also articulates the company's commitment to sustainability as evidenced by the involvement of the top management in providing leadership. From an academic standpoint the case provides pointers to look at how the IT services industry has responded to sustainability practices and how sustainability practices are different or similar across various firms.

The case can help students to answer the following questions: How is sustainability different from corporate social responsibility? What is the context in which Infosys' attention turned towards sustainability? How is top management involved in Infosys' sustainability initiative? What are the elements of Infosys' sustainability strategy? How does it build on its core strengths? What are the structural mechanisms the company has provided to implement its sustainability strategy? What internal challenges to change while implementing green solutions were foreseen and overcome by Infosys? How competitive is Infosys' sustainability practices with respect to its competitors? How does it help the company in competing in the market?

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The learning outcomes of this paper is as follows: to review the basic differences between the two evolving bonds, i.e. green vs masala bonds in the Indian capital market; to comprehend the factors that need to be considered in deciding the type of bond to be issued; to assess complexities, such as process, timing, risk and location in relation to the issue of the green bonds; and to understanding the rudiments of bond economics, such as pricing, all-in-cost and yield-to-maturity of bonds and make a comparison of all-in-cost of the Reg-S bond and green bond to Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC).

In September 2017, IRFC, a public sector undertaking registered as a Non-Banking Finance Company with Reserve Bank of India under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, was planning to raise US$500m 10-year green bonds from investors in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The green bond proceeds were proposed to be used for low carbon transport and in this way, contribute significantly to the green initiatives of the Indian Railways. Many companies in India had issued regular bonds without labeling them as green but had used the proceeds of the bond for climate-aligned assets. Therefore, a bigger challenge before the IRFC management was the economics of green bond for getting a nod from the Board of Governors to go ahead. Some preliminary estimates on cost of green bonds were received from few bankers but to see that the terms of green bonds are met eventually, the Director (Finance) developed his own estimate of the cost of the new bonds. The Managing Director and Director (Finance) of IRFC were trying to figure out the economic advantage of green bonds besides its social benefits.

MBA Programme Executive Training.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Suitable for MBA, EMBA, and executive education programs, this case uses the complexities of the oil industry to set the stage to unfold a stakeholder analysis on BP's growth and opportunity in the renewable energy sector. This public sourced case offers a discussion about the firm's overall strategy, post Gulf Oil spill, moving forward. The case describes how within a single decade, BP had emerged as one of the largest energy companies in the world. Within that scope, BP had an odd achievement: It had been building an alternative energy business and had gained a reputation as being an oil company with a regard for the environment. Then a series of preventable accidents, in the United States in particular, started to chip away at the firm's status. In a matter of five years, BP went from celebrating its most profitable period to finding itself selling assets while industry watchers wondered whether the company would survive after being responsible for the largest oil spill in the United States. Shortly following the Gulf oil spill, Robert Dudley, a legacy Amoco executive, was appointed to replace Tony Hayward, the beleaguered BP group chief executive and director. Besides the oil spill and ongoing cleanup, Dudley had slumping revenues (even before the Deepwater tragedy) and a huge rebuilding task ahead of him. Not only did he have a multinational energy company to run, but Robert Dudley had to rehabilitate the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, compensate all who suffered loss as a result of the damage, and repair the firm's shabby reputation. Dudley needed to implement a sound long-term strategy. How would his former division—renewable energy and alternative activities—fit into his plans?

The case was devised using secondary sources of data collection from annual reports, sustainability reports and the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) website. These documents provided insights into the HPCL’s sustainability initiatives, financial performance and disclosure practices. Other data were obtained through the websites of the relevant businesses/sectors.

In March 2022, Pushp Kumar Joshi, chairman and managing director of HPCL, contemplates the oil giant’s sustainability strategy amid challenges. Despite a 38% revenue increase in financial year 2021–2022, profits dropped because of reduced refinery capacity. HPCL, a major player in India’s oil and gas industry, recognized the need to align with climate goals and changing consumer expectations. Joshi emphasized stakeholder engagement, carbon mitigation, technology adoption and transparent environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. A materiality assessment highlighted key issues like gender diversity, air quality and the low-carbon transition. Joshi grapples with balancing profitability and sustainability amid stakeholder pressure and market fluctuations, seeking advice from the sustainability team for the future.

This can potentially be a case study for a business management course, particularly focusing on sustainability, corporate social responsibility and strategic decision-making. It could be used at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in courses related to business administration, sustainability management, corporate strategy, environmental management or stakeholder engagement. The case could be analyzed to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by a company like HPCL in balancing profitability and sustainability, developing effective sustainability strategies, integrating ESG considerations and managing stakeholder expectations.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

In the summer of 2014, a large energy company was poised to begin expanding its unconventional natural gas operations in northeastern British Columbia in the hopes of capitalizing on the Canadian province's determination to build a liquid natural gas industry. The company had secured mineral rights from the province but had not simultaneously pursued surface rights from a First Nation community that historically had used the land. When a seismic exploration team appeared on the tribe's traditional territory without consulting it, as was customary (and in some cases legally required), the company unwittingly ignited a firestorm of protest from both First Nation and non First Nation local citizens. Recognizing the importance of social acceptance both to operations and profitability, the company sent senior vice president Maria Paquet to participate in fireside discussions with tribal, regional government, and environmental leaders in the hopes of finding some common ground. Could these leaders arrive at sufficient trust and agreement to allow the company to move forward with its plans? Or would the company face gridlock, community blocking, or even financial peril? In a small-group role-playing exercise, students will step into the shoes of each of these stakeholders as they try to forge a path forward that is acceptable to all.

Indian Railways (IR) has been slow in innovation. The competition from other modes of transport has posed new challenges to IR. Railways worldwide have taken help from startups to develop innovative solutions to improve railway operations. Such collaborations have helped in leveraging the technical expertise of startups in domains which are non-conventional for railways to develop in-house. These collaborations have been made possible by funding startups through various investment channels.