Today in Tech: Wipro - Green Electronics; Cognizant - Men behind its growth & Planet of Apps

Wipro - Green Electronics

Wipro topped the ranking in Greenpeace International’s 18th version of the Guide to Greener Electronics in its maiden appearance in the list. Greenpeace ranked 16 electronics companies based on three criteria: energy and climate, greener products and sustainable operations. Higher the commitment and progress, the higher the rank. This wouldn't have come entirely as a surprise to Forbes India readers. Here's the list. Here's Wipro's scores in detail, and this is how the rankings look like

Cognizant - men behind its growth

One of the paradoxes in Cognizant, one of the fastest growing IT Services companies, is the freedom its top managers say they have in running the business, and their near invisibility to the media. Part of the reason could be that Cognizant doesn't organize press conferences - which typically give journalists a chance to interact with the top 10 or 15 business leaders. In the last ten years, it organised just one press meet, and it had to do something with cricket. Part of the reason could be that it's not listed in India - and it's interesting only to the extent of how India-listed companies perform relative to Cognizant. But, as Cognizant grows bigger, the attention is turning to the layers below the top management. Today's Economic Times throws some light on five senior managers behind its growth.

Who is rich in the planet of apps

During the Forbes India Leadership Awards, TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran spoke about how the future will remember these years when everyone's concerned about economic turbulence. He said: What I believe is that when history judges these four years, it's not going to remember this period as the period of economic turbulence. But instead it's going to remember these four years to be a period of great digital transformation and how technologies have transformed all our lives forever.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7STxzg9DXk[/youtube]

In the speech, he talks about the unprecedented success of Instagram and Angry Birds, and in our story we tried capturing what he is doing inside his organisation to bring it up to digital transformation. But how good has it been for app developers in general.

New York Times took a hard look at that economy, and this is what it found: Yet with the American economy yielding few good opportunities in recent years, there is debate about how real, and lasting, the rise in app employment might be. Despite the rumors of hordes of hip programmers starting million-dollar businesses from their kitchen tables, only a small minority of developers actually make a living by creating their own apps, according to surveys and experts. More here.

Also of interest

• The Internet has made it easier for people to exchange views and information. But since it lets everyone seek out just the media they want, Lampel says, the Internet has actually made it harder for people from different niches to get on the same page. - Planet TEDx - Wired

• The reason we have been successful is because it’s one of the top agenda items for our CEO and he appreciates that consulting organizations have different compensation and structures. I frankly would not have joined Cognizant if I were not convinced that he got that.
  - Mark G. Livingston, Cognizant’s consulting business head on reasons behind its good run: Mint

• Not only can employees learn about companies using Pinterest, but companies can gain some perspective on the interests of possible candidates. Organizations can look at what people have pinned and what they’re interested in. It also allows them to see who else shares their interests — further expanding their talent pipelines.
  - How to Use Pinterest to Recruit - Mashable

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.