Leading the charge

Big solutions do not have to depend on technical innovation. Management innovation is just as important, if not more so because it can produce quick, big results. In February 2009, the GSM Association, the trade body representing the mobile communication industry worldwide, said its members - together with several major manufacturers of mobile phones - would implement a cross-industry standard for a universal, energy-efficient phone charger.

The association estimated this would result in a 50 per cent reduction in standby energy consumption and the potential elimination of up to 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers, while users would benefit because one charger would fit all phones. The savings in duplicate chargers were made based on the estimated 1.2 billion mobile phones sold in 2008, of which 50 to 80 per cent were replacement handsets where the user already owned a charger. Moreover, this initiative can reduce millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases from manufacturing and transporting replacement chargers.

Under this voluntary industry agreement, the majority of manufacturers supported a universal charging connector for all new models by next January, while the chargers would also meet much higher energy efficiency targets. The new chargers are three times more efficient than existing ones.

The European Commission decided to take up the initiative in June 2009 by pushing European mobile phone makers to introduce a universal charger for handsets sold in Europe from late 2010. Also in 2009, the commission issued new technical standards for the common charger for Europe. This means European consumers should be able to buy new phones this year without a charger, provided they already own one compatible with the revised standard. And, they will be able to use that charger with any new handsets they buy in the future.

As a result of this initiative, Hong Kong, too, will benefit. Locals tend to update their mobile phone models and change brands regularly, and a common charger would be much more convenient and enable huge savings in natural resources.

The GSM Association initiative is not well known in Hong Kong but there is much for us to reflect on.

This industry-led initiative for operators to collaborate with each other, and with their supplying manufacturers, is a good example of a win-win solution. The mobile phone makers are competing with each other on phone design and functions - not the charging device. The mobile service operators want to improve customers' experience and, by working with the manufacturers, they could reduce costs for phone producers, improve the user experience and be more eco-friendly all at the same time.

In addition, the initiative helped improve energy efficiency standards and the EU pushed further to maximise impact within its jurisdiction. The GSM Association took up the matter because its leadership identified this as an obvious step to improve the industry's environmental performance, and it had the support of its board, which is made up of the world's major operators and at the time had a chairman from Hong Kong. Many of the manufacturers were already working on more energy-efficient chargers, and this meant they could make fewer and better chargers. With everyone onside, the association announced the initiative at its annual industry conference in Barcelona to much fanfare, and was able to bask in the glow of doing something good.

The initiative is a management innovation - it did not require new technology to be invented. Indeed, new technology, such as solar-powered charging for mobile devices or wireless charging devices, are important inventions and they, too, will reduce waste and the use of natural resources. However, this type of initiative can have a massive impact in the short term and even change how management and a whole industry view what they can do. Every industry should have a similar scheme.

Christine Loh Kung-wai is chief executive of the think tank Civic Exchange