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HP's goal is to be the information technology company that stakeholders most trust and respect for fulfilling its social and environmental responsibilities. To meet this goal, we must build strong relationships with customers, employees, investors and suppliers, as well as communities, industry analysts, media, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), legislators and regulators. Engaging effectively with these groups offers a range of important benefits to HP:
- Deeper understanding of global citizenship trends, issues and opportunities
- Greater insight into stakeholder expectations of our operations, products and services
- Stronger trust of HP among groups that previously may have been wary of working with large corporations
- More opportunities to educate customers and other stakeholders about the need to respond to global citizenship issues
- Valuable inputs into our strategic planning processes
- Increased value of our brand
We focus our engagements on our global citizenship priorities to ensure we receive input where it is most valuable. Our strategy has been to develop a companywide stakeholder plan that moves beyond ad hoc engagement toward strategic alliances with key groups. We identify appropriate stakeholders by assessing their expertise, their willingness to collaborate, their reputation, their location and their sphere of influence.
HP's Stakeholder Advisory Council (SAC) and our climate collaboration with the environmental organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) demonstrate how we applied this approach in 2007. HP also belongs to several membership organizations that address global citizenship issues. We are committed to transparency and to reporting the activities and outcomes of our stakeholder alliances, both within HP and externally.
HP uses knowledge management systems to record our stakeholder engagement activities and share the results internally. For example, members of our Environmental Strategies Network use GreenBase, an online database, to communicate their engagement activities. Using the same tool, HP employees worldwide share information on the latest environmental trends, product information, policies and legislation.
Highlights of our stakeholder engagements in 2007 include:
- Completed a successful first year of our climate change joint initiative with WWF (see Energy efficiency-Collaboration)
- Commissioned an independent survey to gather systematic feedback on our FY06 Global Citizenship Report from external stakeholders in Asia, Europe and the United States (see About this report)
- Held the first two meetings of our newly formed SAC
- Engaged with numerous NGOs on social and environmental issues pertaining to our supply chain
These and other engagements confirmed that HP's environmental impacts and supply chain responsibilities remain our stakeholders' chief concerns.
For example, the network of NGOs called the GoodElectronics Network (GEN) launched a campaign focused on working conditions in the supply chain for information technology products. Of the many IT manufacturers targeted by the campaign, HP received the most favorable rating for the working conditions of its suppliers by the GEN member NGO Bread for All. The feedback we received from GEN helped us strengthen our supply chain responsibility programs. The following are examples of our engagement with stakeholders dedicated to this area:
- Convened stakeholder forums in Asia attended by NGOs and HP suppliers
- Attended public events in March 2007 run by the GoodElectronics Network NGOs
- Invited NGOs to tour supplier factories in southern China
- Provided the NGO SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations) with feedback on reports they produced
In early 2007, we also collaborated with CSR Asia, a provider of information, training, research and consultancy services on sustainable business practices in Asia, to gather feedback on HP's global citizenship efforts from stakeholders in China. Twenty-eight representatives from environmental, labor rights, community investment and employee welfare groups were interviewed, and 11 of these later took part in focus groups. Recommendations based on the feedback include producing China-specific global citizenship communications in the Chinese language and training HP's Chinese employees in global citizenship.
The following table lists our main stakeholder groups and how we engage with each about global citizenship issues. Feedback from key stakeholders is included on the Perspectives pages throughout this report. Sometimes it acknowledges our progress, and sometimes it challenges us to reach for even higher goals. We respond to some of the perspectives included in last year's Global Citizenship Report below.
| Group |
How we engage |
Benefits to HP
of engagement |
Example from 2007 |
| Communities |
- Employee volunteering
- Philanthropy
- Tours of facilities
|
- Enhanced reputation
- Improved relationships with neighboring communities
- Better understanding of community concerns
|
Through our volunteering program, HP employees worldwide engaged with local organizations and communities. |
| Customers |
- Product information on hp.com
- Periodic customer loyalty surveys
- Call centers and other support
- Inquiries and responses regarding customer requests for proposals
- Customer education
|
- Better understanding of customer requirements
- Increased competitive advantage
|
HP communicated with customers at major events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the United States and HP Technology@Work in Berlin, Germany. |
| Employees |
- @hp web portal
- Annual employee surveys
- Networking groups
- Open Door policy
- Regular briefings, meetings and annual performance reviews
|
- Higher levels of employee education and engagement on global citizenship
- Improved employee performance
|
In 2007, more than 132,000 employees (81 percent of the total workforce) participated in our Voice of the Workforce survey. 1 This was available online in 25 languages and confidentiality of individual results is strictly protected. |
| Investors |
- Statutory and other disclosures and reporting
- Annual meeting of stockholders
- Regular meetings and briefings
|
- Increased understanding of our strategy and global citizenship activities among investors
- Positive impact on HP’s performance in ratings
- Increased investment
|
HP held four live audio webcasts to announce its quarterly earnings. The webcasts were hosted by Mark Hurd, Chairman and CEO, and Cathie Lesjak, executive vice president and CFO. |
| Legislators and regulators |
- Public engagement program
- Regular meetings and briefings
- Membership in trade associations and business organizations
|
- Influence on public policy issues
- Ability to cooperate with regulators to resolve issues
|
We continued to work with governments and industry to support the implementation of suitable regulations, policies and standards for managing electronic waste. |
| Industry analysts/media |
- Direct engagement on topics of interest
- Interviews, meetings and briefings regarding global citizenship
- Partnership on articles and books regarding global citizenship
|
- Increased understanding of how global citizenship issues are perceived by customers
- Analysts more able to advise their clients on the environmental benefits of HP products
|
HP facilitated sessions on the environmental features of our products at an industry analyst conference in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region. |
| Non-governmental organizations |
- Meetings and conferences
- Alliances
- Direct engagement on topics of interest
- Stakeholder Advisory Council
|
- Ability to form alliances, learn from NGOs and better address issues
- Increased understanding among NGOs of HP’s strategy and programs
- Enhanced reputation
|
HP provided feedback to the GoodElectronics Network on their report on working conditions in the IT supply chain and attended a public event run by the organization. |
| Suppliers |
- Supply Chain Social and Environmental Responsibility Program
- Procurement Management Process
|
- Improved supply chain performance
- Reduced risks
- Enhanced reputation
|
Through the Focused Improvement Supplier Initiative (FISI), we provided monthly social and environmental management training sessions for 30 of our Chinese suppliers. |
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Building on the progress we made last year, in 2008 we will convene two daylong, face-to-face meetings with HP's Stakeholder Advisory Council, which includes five NGOs, to gather feedback and engage in productive dialogue about our global citizenship priority areas. The first, scheduled for April, will focus on product reuse and recycling. We will also continue our efforts with GoodElectronics NGOs to improve working conditions throughout our supply chain and extend our work with the WWF on our joint climate initiative.
1This percentage is based on active employees at the time of survey administration.
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