A PROJECT ON

CSR ACTIVITIES OF GOOGLE

IN THE SUBJECT

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED BY

NAME: A MAN SHETH

ROLL NO.: 52. DIVISION: M.C OM (BUSINESS MANAGEMENT)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. PRERNA SHARMA

TO

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

FOR

MASTER OF COMMERCE PROGRAM (SEMESTER - I)

YEAR: 2013-14

SVKM’S

NARSEE MONJEE COLLEGE OF COMMERCE &ECONOMICS

VILE PARLE (W), MUMBAI – 400056.

[1]
 EVALUATION CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the undersigned have assessed and

evaluated the project on ‘CSR Activities of Google’
submitted by Aman Sheth, student of M.Com. – Part - I
(Semester – I) Business Management, for the academic
year 2013-14. This project is original to the best of our
knowledge and has been accepted for Internal Assessment.

Name & Signature of Internal Examiner

Name & Signature of External Examiner

PRINCIPAL

[2]
 Shri
Sunil B.Mantri

DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT

I, Aman Sheth, student of M.Com. (Part – I) Business

Management, Roll No.: 052, hereby declare that the

project titled ‘CSR Activities of Google’ for the subject

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT submitted by me for Semester –

I of the academic year 2013-14, is based on actual work

carried out by me under the guidance and supervision of

PROF. Prerna Sharma, I further state that this work is original

and not submitted anywhere else for any examination.

Place: Mumbai

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Date: 24th February, 2014

Name & Signature of Student

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is indeed a great pleasure and proud privilege to present this project work.

I thank my project guide Prof. Prerna Sharma and my M.Com. Co-ordinator

Prof. Harish Sharma of SVKM’s Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and
Economics. Their co-operation and guidance have helped me to complete this
project.

I would sincerely like to thank the principal of our college Shri Sunil B. Mantri
for his support and guidance.

I would also like to thank the college library and staff for helping and guiding
me, the class representatives and my family and friends who supported me in
this project.

[4]
THANK YOU

CONTENT

Sr. No. PARTICULARS Page No.

Chapter I Introduction 6

Chapter II What is Corporate Social Responsibility 7

Chapter III 4 Types of CSR 10

Chapter IV Why Google is one of the best CSR companies 12

Chapter V Google’s CSR Activities 13

Chapter VI Advantage to Google 24

Chapter VII Conclusion 26

Chapter VIII Bilbliography 28

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Chapter I: Introduction
Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related
services and products. These include search, computing, software and online
advertising technologies. Most of its profits are derived from AdWords.

Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students
at Stanford University. Together they own about 16 percent of its shares. They incorporated
Google as a privately held company on September 4, 1998. An initial public
offering followed on August 19, 2004. Its mission statement from the outset was "to
organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful", and its
unofficial slogan was "Don't be evil". In 2006 Google moved to headquarters in Mountain
View, California, nicknamed the Googleplex.

Rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions and
partnerships beyond Google's core search engine.

It offers online productivity software including email (Gmail), an office suite (Google
Drive), and social networking (Google+). Desktop products include applications for web
browsing, organizing and editing photos, and instant messaging. The company leads the
development of the Android mobile operating system and the browser-only Chrome OS for
a specialized type of netbook known as a Chromebook. Google has moved increasingly into
communications hardware: it partners with major electronics manufacturers in production of
its high-end Nexus devices and acquired Motorola Mobility in May 2012. In 2012, a fiber-
optic infrastructure was installed in Kansas City to facilitate a Google Fiber broadband
service.

The corporation has been estimated to run more than one million servers in data centers
around the world and to process over one billion search requests and about 24 petabytes of
user-generated data each day. In December 2012 Alexa listed google.com as the most
visited website in the world. Numerous Google sites in other languages figure in the top one

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hundred, as do several other Google-owned sites such asYouTube and Blogger. Its market
dominance has led to criticism over issues including copyright, censorship, and privacy

Chapter II: What is CSR?

CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive
impact on society.

Take the following illustration:

Companies need to answer to two aspects of their operations:

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 1. The quality of their management - both in terms of people and processes (the inner
circle).

2. The nature of, and quantity of their impact on society in the various areas.

Outside stakeholders are taking an increasing interest in the activity of the company. Most
look to the outer circle - what the company has actually done, good or bad, in terms of its
products and services, in terms of its impact on the environment and on local communities,
or in how it treats and develops its workforce. Out of the various stakeholders, it is financial
analysts who are predominantly focused - as well as past financial performance - on quality
of management as an indicator of likely future performance.

Other definitions

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publicationMaking Good
Business Sense by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, used the following definition.

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave

ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the
workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large

The same report gave some evidence of the different perceptions of what this should mean
from a number of different societies across the world. Definitions as different as CSR is
about capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural differences and finds
the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the
government from Ghana, through to CSR is about business giving back to society from the
Philippines.

Traditionally in the United States, CSR has been defined much more in terms of a
philanthropic model. Companies make profits, unhindered except by fulfilling their duty to
pay taxes. Then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes. It is seen as
tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving.

The European model is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially
responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case
reasons. Personally, I believe this model is more sustainable because:

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Social responsibility becomes an integral part of the wealth creation process - which if
managed properly should enhance the competitiveness of business and maximise the value
of wealth creation to society.

When times get hard, there is the incentive to practice CSR more and better - if it is a
philanthropic exercise which is peripheral to the main business, it will always be the first
thing to go when push comes to shove.

But as with any process based on the collective activities of communities of human beings
(as companies are) there is no 'one size fits all'. In different countries, there will be different
priorities, and values that will shape how business act. And even the observations above are
changing over time. The US has growing numbers of people looking towards core business
issues.

For instance, the CSR definition used by Business for Social Responsibility is:

Operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and
public expectations that society has of business.

On the other hand, the European Commission hedges its bets with two definitions wrapped
into one:

A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a

cleaner environment. A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental
concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a
voluntary basis.

When you review each of these, they broadly agree that the definition now focuses on the
impact of how you manage your core business. Some go further than others in prescribing
how far companies go beyond managing their own impact into the terrain of acting
specifically outside of that focus to make a contribution to the achievement of broader
societal goals. It is a key difference, when many business leaders feel that their companies
are ill equipped to pursue broaders societal goals, and activists argue that companies have
no democratic legitimacy to take such roles.

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Chapter III: 4 types of CSR

The idea behind corporate social responsibility is that companies have multiple
responsibilities to maintain. These responsibilities can be arranged in a pyramid, with basic
responsibilities closer to the bottom. As a business meets lower-level responsibilities that
obligate it to shareholders and the law, it can move on to the higher level responsibilities
that benefit society.

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Economic Responsibilities

A company's first responsibility is its economic responsibility -- that is to say, a company

needs to be primarily concerned with turning a profit. This is for the simple fact that if a
company does not make money, it won't last, employees will lose jobs and the company
won't even be able to think about taking care of its social responsibilities. Before a company
thinks about being a good corporate citizen, it first needs to make sure that it can be
profitable.

Legal Responsibilities

A company's legal responsibilities are the requirements that are placed on it by the law. Next
to ensuring that company is profitable, ensuring that it obeys all laws is the most important
responsibility, according to the theory of corporate social responsibility. Legal
responsibilities can range from securities regulations to labor law, environmental law and
even criminal law.

Ethical Responsibilities

Economic and legal responsibilities are the two big obligations of a company. After a
company has met these basic requirements, a company can concern itself with ethical
responsibilities. Ethical responsibilities are responsibilities that a company puts on itself
because its owners believe it's the right thing to do -- not because they have an obligation to
do so. Ethical responsibilities could include being environmentally friendly, paying fair
wages or refusing to do business with oppressive countries, for example.

Philanthropic Responsibilities

If a company is able to meet all of its other responsibilities, it can begin meeting
philanthropic responsibilities. Philanthropic responsibilities are responsibilities that go
above and beyond what is simply required or what the company believes is right. They
involve making an effort to benefit society -- for example, by donating services to
community organizations, engaging in projects to aid the environment or donating money to
charitable

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Chapter IV: Why Google is one of the top CSR companies

Since its founding, Google has been firmly committed to active philanthropy and to
addressing the global challenges of climate change, education and poverty alleviation. Since
2007, Google also jump-started a series of social initiatives in China. Google has been
successful in building a perception of caring around the world. They are seen as a company
that treats their people well. It ranks number one in the world in this dimension–and that is a
great platform to stand on. The logic is, that if you treat your own people well you are open,
honest, and a caring company. And through its focus on this dimension, Google has been
able to be seen as a local company in many countries around the world.

Jacquelline Fuller, director of Google Giving, says: “At Google we are big believers in the
power of technology. Giving back is a huge part of what motivates us as a company, and as
individuals. We invest in social entrepreneurs who are using technology to crack the code on
the world’s toughest problems. Last year we invested in tech-based efforts to expand access
to clean water, stop wildlife poaching, prevent the horrible practice of human trafficking and
reduce poverty worldwide. In addition to our dollars, we provide Googlers–everyone from
engineers, marketers to business operations gurus–who help nonprofit teams carry out their
work. Googlers are intensely passionate about everything they do, and that includes rolling
up their sleeves to make their communities a better place—whether it’s responding to
natural disasters, tutoring kids in computer science or helping nonprofits collect real-time
impact data.”

In the past three years, Google has donated over $353 million in grants worldwide,
approximately $3 billion in free ads, apps and products, and Googlers have volunteered

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approximately 6,200 total days of employee time to support nonprofits (a total of 150,000
hours).

Chapter V: Google’s CSR activities

1. Google Green

Google Green is a project created by Google with its main purpose to make their products
help save energy, for the better of the environment. Google is creating a better web that's
better for the environment.They’re greening our company by using resources efficiently and
supporting renewable power. That means when you use Google products, you’re being
better to the environment.

Google Green focuses on 3 main fields to reduce its carbon footprint:

 Efficiency
 Renewable Energy
 Products

 Efficiency:

When it comes to the company, Google is constantly looking for ways to minimize its
negative impact on the environment. They try to be as efficient as possible in the way they
power their huge Data Centers & Google offices.

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Data centers

Data centers power all of the products and services. For over ten years, They’ve been
building some of the most efficient data centers in the world. In fact, Google’s data centers
use 50% less energy than the typical data center.

The Data centers are designed to use as little energy as possible

They drive down the cost and environmental impact of running the data centers by
designing and building their own facilities. Google installs smart temperature controls, use
“free-cooling” techniques like using outside air or reused water for cooling, and redesign
how power is distributed to reduce unnecessary energy loss. They calculate the performance
of each facility using comprehensive efficiency measurements.

Recycle 100% of the electronic equipment that leaves the data centers

Since 2007, Google has repurposed enough outdated servers to avoid buying over 300,000
new replacement machines. Before they buy new equipment and materials, they look for
ways to reuse what they already have. When they can’t find a new use for our equipment,
they completely erase any components that store data, and then resell them into the market
—giving the equipment a second life.

Certified

Google is the first major Internet services company to gain external certification of our high
environmental, workplace safety and energy management standards throughout their data
centers. Specifically, they received voluntary ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO
50001 certifications. In a nutshell, these standards are built around a very simple concept:
Say what you’re going to do, then do what you say—and then keep improving.

Promote green commuting

Google has built a green transportation system that includes biodiesel shuttles and the
largest corporate electric vehicle charging system in the country. Every day, the shuttles

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keep thousands of Googlers out of the driver's seat. The on-campus car-sharing program
includes the next generation of plug-in vehicles. And they reward their self-powered
commuters by donating to their favorite charities based on how often they bike or walk to
work.

Committed to sustainable food

Google is committed to offering nutritious, flavorful food to employees on all of their

campuses worldwide. They provide healthy choices, local tastes and plenty of variety in the
most responsible way possible. Social and environmental responsibility is built into every
part of the food program: from the partnerships they develop with farmers and suppliers to
the efforts to minimize waste.

Build greener, healthier workplaces

Google works hard to create the healthiest, most productive work environment possible for
Googlers around the world. They create buildings that function like living and breathing
systems by optimizing access to nature, clean air and daylight. Three of the key initiatives
as part of this effort include eliminating dangerous substances, designing energy-efficient
buildings and continually measuring and improving upon how they operate their buildings.

 Renewable Energy

At Google, they power their company with 100% renewable energy. In addition to the
environmental benefits, Google sees renewable energy as a business opportunity and
continue to invest in accelerating its development. They believe that by helping power more
of the world with renewable energy, They’re creating a better future for everyone.

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Google has been recognized for our commitment to using and investing in renewable power,
and for reducing our overall environmental impact. Google co-founded the Climate Savers
Computing Initiative in 2007 and joined The Green Grid—two global groups dedicated to
higher efficiency and sustainability standards.

Pilot new technology on our campuses

When testing new renewable energy technologies on the campuses, they evaluate them
against a few criteria: They must make good business sense, have potential for long-term
significant impact and transform the industry. For example, in 2007, Google installed the
largest corporate solar panel installation of its kind—1.7 MW—at our Mountain View
campus.They’ve grown the size of the system to 1.9 MW, and it generates enough electricity
to power 30% of the peak load of the buildings on which it sits.

Purchase green power near data centers

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Currently, very little of the world’s power is from renewables like wind and solar. Google is
working on changing that by buying renewable energy from their utility providers and wind
farms near their data centers. They get clean energy at competitive prices, the wind farm
owners get the money they need to finance new clean energy facilities, and together make
the grid a little bit greener.

 Products

Google is dedicated to make sure that all of its products provide a eco friendly option to its
consumers. It encourages consumers to use these techniques & also provides great means
for connectivity for spreading information about its Green initiatives.

Google Earth is one of the most used technological tools by activists to keep an eye of any
kind of wrong doing throughout the world. It enables them to keep a look out at places
where they might not be able to reach. They have stopped various mountain drillings &
mining activities with the help of Earth.

Google map encourages people to use their cycles or take a bus to work by providing the
latest information on both. They give times of the bus arrival & if it will be late. They also
give you the address of the nearest charging stations for an electronically powered car.

Google Cloud enables companies to make away with using physical storage systems and
reduces e-waste. Google data centers use less ta 50% of energy used by other data centers.
This enables them to make use of their resources efficiently.

Google finance gives yearly data about how other companies are striving to include the
environment in their activities. It keeps a check on which company is harming or helping
the environment & helps create change.

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 2. Google Grants

Google Grants is an in-kind donation program awarding free AdWords advertising to select
charitable organizations. Since its inception, Google has supported hundreds of
organizations in advocating and promoting their causes, from animal rights and literacy to
abandoned children and HIV education.

Room to Read, which educates children in Vietnam, Nepal, India and Cambodia, attracted
a sponsor who clicked on its AdWords ad. He has donated funds to support the education of
25 girls for the next 10 years.

The US Fund for UNICEF’s e-commerce site, Shop UNICEF, has experienced a 43 percent
increase in sales over the previous year.

CoachArt, supporting children with life-threatening illnesses through art and athletics
programs, has seen a 60 to 70 percent increase in volunteers.

Sichuan earthquake:

To support the vast and urgent need for material resources, Google and its employees raised
over 18 million RMB (USD 2.6mm) and donated over 7 million RMB (USD 1.02mm) ’s
worth of free online advertising to earthquake relief organizations. At the same time, Google
also developed a communication platform that included an information platform for
resource support, a search platform for families looking for lost relatives, and a global
platform for charitable donations. Google Maps also provided China’s State Bureau of
Surveying and Mapping with satellite images of quake-affected regions to better aid and
direct rescue efforts.

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In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake in China, Google Grants also supported the
China Red Cross, China Charity Federation, China Youth Development Foundation, China
Children and Teenager’s Fund and other organizations with free in-kind advertising of over
6 million RMB. Now, Jet Li’s One Foundation and his umbrella organizations have also
started using Google Grants to promote the cause of corporate philanthropy.

3. Google China Social Innovation Cup for College Students

"Google China Social Innovation Cup for College Students" is a nationwide competition
that aims to empower China’s youth to become agents of social change. By soliciting
project ideas from college students and funding viable proposals, they hope to instill in
China’s future leaders the values of social responsibility, the importance of community
welfare, and the spirit of self-empowerment. Among all colleges and universities that
participate in the competition, 100 of them that top in the number of proposal submission
will share 500 Google "Campus Volunteer Stars" Scholarships every year.

Social issues addressed have included education, poverty alleviation, disability aid,
healthcare, women and children, arts and culture, and community development. Through
project evaluation, mentorship and funding, Google hopes play a role in driving true social
innovation in China.

The first Social Innovation Cup in 2008 achieved resounding success, with over 6000
applications from 755 colleges and universities, among which 1245 proposals from 375
schools entered into the semi-finals. At the same time, over a thousand volunteers from
more than 500 schools were mobilized to support the effort. Of the 124 projects that entered
the final, 32 were ultimately selected for awards ranging from 10,000-80,000 RMB (USD
1,460-11,700).

The second Social Innovation Cup in 2009 continued to gain awareness among college
students with 6,252 applications from 766 colleges and universities, among which 1,181
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proposals from 377 schools entered into the semi-finals. 29 proposals were selected as the
winning projects who received Google's funds to run their projects during the summer of
2009.

In 2010, the competition has entered its third year with much bigger coverage and impact.
Among the 18,200 proposals from 1,060 schools, 1,511 proposals from 506 schools has
made to the semi-final round. 28 student teams were selected to be funded to run their
projects in 2010 summer.

In 2011 the fourth episode of the competition kicked off with an even broader coverage and
a higher nationwide recognition. Among the 20,600 proposals from 1,278 colleges and
universities, 3,326 proposals from 677 schools made their way into the semi-finals and 310
proposals from 172 schools into the finals. Winner teams, approximately 40 expected, that
stand out in the end will run their projects in 2011 summer with Google awards ranging
from 20,000 to 80,000 RMB (USD 3,050-12,200).

Dr. Eric Schmidt, Google's Executive Chairman, sent his encouragement to all participants:
"It's amazing to see the creative, meaningful solutions coming out of Google China Social
Innovation Cup. Today's students are tomorrow's innovators, and the fresh perspective you
bring is crucial to solving the world's big social issues."

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 4. Google Social Impact Challenge India:

Google’s Global Impact Awards support entrepreneurial non-profits using technology to

tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. Previous awardees have developed projects
ranging from technology that allowed under-privileged students to access maths and science
education to real-time sensors that help ensure people have better access to clean water.

Google launched the Google Impact Challenge in India, asking Indian non-profits how they
would use technology to tackle problems in India and around the world. The four
submissions judged to be the best will each receive Rs 3 crores and technical assistance
from Google to help make their project a reality.

Google is celebrating the spirit of creativity, diversity and entrepreneurship that are the
hallmarks of the world’s largest democracy, by enabling the best local non-profits that are
using technology to make the world better, faster. This is also part of Google’s ongoing
giving efforts. Every year they give away approximately $100 million in grants, $1 billion
in free and discounted apps and ads, and 50,000 employee volunteer hours around the
world. In 2012, Google launched the Global Impact Awards to support entrepreneurial non-
profits with a tech idea for how to change the world.

In addition to backing Indian social innovators, Google wants to shine a spotlight on the
many Indian non-profits working to help solve some of the world’s most pressing
challenges. This is Google’s first Challenge in India and only its second overall.

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 5. Fight against slavery:

Google donated $11.5 million to several coalitions fighting to end the modern-
day slavery of some 27 million people around the world. In what is believed to be the
largest ever corporate grant devoted to the advocacy, intervention and rescue of people
being held, forced to work or provide sex against their will, Google said it chose
organizations with proven records in combating slavery.

“Many people are surprised to learn there are more people trapped in slavery today than any
time in history,” said Jacquelline Fuller, director of charitable giving and advocacy for
Google. “The good news is that there are solutions.”

The Washington, D.C.-based International Justice Mission, a human rights organization that
works globally to rescue victims of slavery and sexual exploitation, was chosen by Google
to lead the efforts. It will partner with Polaris Project and Slavery Footprint and a handful of
smaller organizations for the multi-year effort to rescue the enslaved, push for better
infrastructure and resources for anti-slavery enforcement agencies overseas, as well as raise
awareness here in the United States and help countries draft anti-slavery legislation.

“Each year we focus some of our annual giving on meeting direct human need,” Fuller said.
“Google chose to spotlight the issue of slavery because there is nothing more fundamental
than freedom.”

Gary A. Haugen, president of the International Justice Mission, said the coalition would
focus on three initiatives: A $3.5 million intervention project to fight forced labor in India; a
$4.5 million advocacy campaign in India to educate and protect the vulnerable; and a $1.8
million plan to mobilize Americans on behalf of the millions currently at risk of slavery or
waiting for rescue around the world. The remaining $1.7 million will go to several smaller
organizations working to combat slavery.

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The trafficking of women for the sex trade is common in big American cities. Some illegal
immigrants find themselves forced to work in sweatshops, in private homes as domestic
servants or on farms without pay under the threat of deportation.

The new effort will launch initiatives that ordinary Americans can take to help abolish
modern-day slavery, such as understanding how their own clothing or smart phones might
contain fabrics or components manufactured by forced labor.
“Whether it’s by calling the national human trafficking hotline, sending a letter to their
senator, or using online advocacy tools, millions of Americans will be able to use their
voices to ensure that ending this problem becomes a top priority,” said Bradley Myles,
executive director of Polaris Project.

Google.org – the philanthropy arm of the Silicon Valley firm – announced the anti-slavery
effort as part of its $40 million in end-of-year giving that brings its charitable donations to
more than $100 million in 2011. The grants will also support science, technology,
engineering and math education; girls’ education in the developing world; and the use of
technology for social good.

Justin Dillon, the founder of Slavery Footprint, said the Google grant would allow the
movement to move from “anecdote and emotion,” to tangible action that could make a dent
in history.

“Having a company like Google recognize the value of our work marks a major turning
point for the anti-slavery movement,” said Dillon, whose nonprofit gives consumers some
tools to determine whether slaves were used in the making of their goods and teaches them
to use social media to sound off about slavery and engage with corporations about their
supply chains.

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 Chapter VI: Advantage to Google

Google isn’t investing billions into clean energy projects only to feel good and make
employees happy. The company is doing it because the bottom line results are supported by
data.

“While fossil-based prices are on a cost curve that goes up, renewable prices are on this
march downward,” said Rick Needham, director of energy and sustainability at Google,
during a presentation at the Cleantech Forum taking place in San Francisco. Even if you
factor in how fracking has reduced the cost of gas in many regions, the pricing trends
generally point toward renewables.

The reason, one could argue, centers on the energy source. The renewable industry revolves
around developing and mass manufacturing technologies—efficient turbines, solar panels—
to harvest somewhat limitless, omnipresent natural resources. The fossil industry revolves
around applying technology to tapping resources that are much harder to extract. Hence,
fossil fuels tend to be more volatile in price. (Think of it: you wake up because of the sun
every day, not because of the stench from a passing methane cloud.)

 49% of the new capacity commissioned in the U.S. in 2012 was renewable. 10GW
of that new capacity, or 40%, came from wind. More wind capacity was installed than
natural gas capacity last year in the U.S. Wind outpaced coal by 2X.

 The “capacity factor” or the percentage of time that wind turbines are active has
increased, he added. Capacity factors now hit 50 percent, thanks to better site selection and
improved turbine efficiency. In the past, capacity factor was closer to 30%. Wind farms in
optimal sites in the Midwest can produce power for 5 cents a kilowatt hour, and that’s
before federal tax credits, he said.

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 The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from solar plants in the U.S. dropped by 28%
in the past year. Solar panels have dropped in price by 80 percent over the last five years.

 Solar will soon be at cost parity in many markets in the world. Parity is already
being achieved in Italy, Spain and Australia.

 The 240 EV chargers in the parking lots support a corporate EV fleet that has logged
500,000 miles.

 Google has procured 260MW of wind power. Some wind contracts will provide
Google power at stable prices for up to 20 years.

 The company has also invested $1 billion directly into alternative power projects
that will generate over 2GW of power, or twice as much power as Google used in 2011.

 An employee frustrated with his commute inspired Google to set up its own van
pool. Now, 4,500 employees ride on the Google shuttle fleet. The custom-built coaches run
on a biodiesel blend and come equipped with WiFi so employees can work during the
commute. It has taken 3,000 cars off the road and reduces carbon emissions by 16,000 tons
annually.

 Plus, the van pool lets Google use parking spaces for more productive uses. (Real
estate actually has become one of the big hidden benefits for many companies when it
comes to efficiency incentives, so say building management companies, modular builders
and people that develop technology that reduces the amount of air conditioners and backup
systems you need for data centers.)

 Google’s data centers use half as much power as conventional ones. The company
has saved over $1 billion in energy costs through data center initiatives. (Author’s note:
you’re probably wondering about the photo of the Lego structure. That is the first Google
storage system ever. You can see it in the Gates building on the Stanford campus.)

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Chapter VII: Conclusion

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not going to solve the world’s problems. That said,
CSR is a way for companies to benefit themselves while also benefiting society. Efficient
use of CSR leads to:

Innovation – I But in the context of CSR, innovation is a huge benefit to a company and
society. Without sustainability, the company’s research and development efforts possibly
wouldn’t have led to such a product.

Cost savings – One of the easiest places for a company to start engaging in sustainability is
to use it as a way to cut costs. Whether it’s using less packaging or less energy, these
savings add up quickly.

Brand differentiation – In the past, brand differentiation was one of the primary reasons
companies embraced CSR.. However, as CSR has become more commonplace, using it to
differentiate your brand is getting harder to do.

Long-term thinking – CSR is an effort to look at the company’s long-term interest and
ensuring that the company’s future is. It is a shift from worrying about the next fiscal
quarter’s financial results to the impact business decisions today have on financial (and
social) results ten years from now.

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Customer engagement – What’s the point of doing CSR if no one knows about it? Using
CSR can help you engage with your customers in new ways. Since the message is about
something “good,” it can often be an easier way to talk to your customers. This is an
underused tool for business-to-business company communication.

Employee engagement – Along similar lines, if your own employees don’t know what’s
going on within your organization, you’re missing an opportunity. CSR motivates
employees and provides them with the feel good factor.

Hence CSR is one of the most underrated but important tool in the hands of the company to
do something good while benefiting themselves. Googles efficient use of CSR activities
should be seen as a prime example of how a company can incorporate the environment and
innovation to create a better world.

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Chapter VIII: Bibliography:

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2013/03/20/google-explains-why-the-
future-of-energy-is-green.

 http://www.google.cn/intl/en/about/company/responsibility/

 http://www.google.co.in/green/

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/10/02/the-companies-with-the-
best-csr-reputations-2/

 http://www.indiacsr.in/en/?tag=csr-of-google

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