Over the past few years, Hewlett-Packard has been trying to develop new ways of decreasing carbon emissions and improving the energy efficiency of their computers. Steve Hoffman, the CEO of Hewlett Packard, has been a leading advocate of this ongoing process. Since the year 2005, HP has been able to improve the energy efficiency of their personal computers by over 40%. (Heimbuch, 2009). In the year 2009, Hoffman declared that he wanted to see another 40% growth in efficiency in half the time it took to acquire the amount since the start of the project in 2005, meaning by 2011. To put it in analytical terms, accomplishing this task would achieve the gain of an energy supply that could power a town of around 90,000 people for over a year.
In order to comply with this statement, Hoffman came up with four methods to reducing personal computer energy consumption. These methods are: “designing energy-efficient hardware, improving green data center practices, working to change consumer behavior towards more efficient habits, and helping business customers improve the efficiency of HP products.” The company has also included 150 more products under their EcoHighlights label and plans on using a total of 100 million pounds of recycled plastic items in its printing products. One of the main focuses of Steve Hoffman is to try and increase awareness of the importance of recycling amongst the consumers who use Hewlett-Packard products. I believe that a psychodynamic approach to this problem is the best course of action. Utilizing the crossed transaction between an adult and another adult as described in Eric Berne’s transactional analysis, the awareness level can be thoroughly increased. Since the adult ego-state revolves around the thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that surround a person, sharing the problem with the consumer will hopefully increase the awareness of the problem and in turn invoke action to decrease the scope of the problem. Since most of the consumers who purchase computer products are adults, using an adult ego-state rather than a parent ego-state is arguably more applicable. Since Steve Hoffman is not performing an increasingly high amount of physical contact with the consumers who purchase his products, coming up with a formal letter or viral message from an adult ego-state perspective is the best method in my opinion. After all, Hoffman needs to be seen as a leader in the Greenfield in the eyes of the public if he is to go further in his going green processes.
What do you all think about this approach to Hoffman’s leadership in the green field? Do you think a different approach is more applicable? If not do you have anything to add to these statements?
-Jonathon Byrd
I feel that his intentions are in the right place but I feel he needs to find a way to truly reach out to his followers/customers. Maybe implementing a program that rewards customers for buying their eco friendly products or for recycling their old products with HP, would be an effective way to change the customers to followers. I mentioned in my post this week how I feel the most effective way to lead in "green" is to use transformational leadership. The environmental problem is too big to tackle by just a few celebrities and CEOs, we need leaders to empower and inspire society to step up and lead on their own.
ReplyDelete-Dan Salsinger
I can definitely see how Steve Hoffman shows a psychodynamic approach to leadership within his role as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. However, I also think Hoffman shows authentic leadership based on the intrapersonal definition. Hoffman exhibits genuine leadership, leads from conviction, he’s original with his ideas on sustainability, and he bases his leadership actions on his values. Hoffman is not just an effective CEO at HP, but is a great leader for the company. He is creating a change for his company by implementing this new power saving initiative.
ReplyDeleteComment by: Jerret Baker