Proactive collaboration

Related information

» Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition » Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)

We take an open, collaborative and proactive approach to implementing SER in our supply chain. Our experience is that communication and collaboration often lead to innovation and rapid improvement and, along with sustained commitment, constitute a far more effective approach than policing and enforcing.

For example, HP and our suppliers operate as collaborators when working on joint assessments and improvement planning. We engage both the HP commodity manager and the supplier to ensure they understand the expectations of the SER program and to identify gaps and develop plans. Suppliers often question whether they can meet HP's SER standards and cost requirements simultaneously. We believe that our sourcing needs should not require nonconformances such as excessive working hours or violations of the law, and that higher labor and environmental standards ultimately lead to higher quality products. Systemic change requires time however, as suppliers must first build their management capability and, in some cases, challenge the prevailing culture.

Industry Collaboration

Collaboration within our industry leverages the efforts of many individual organizations and companies to raise supply chain standards. Through industry groups, participants can share knowledge and resources, standardize tools and processes, minimize duplication of effort, and develop consistent approaches to the industry’s most difficult issues. When a supplier receives a consistent message from its various corporate customers in the same sector, it is more likely to pay attention.

Two of the most significant supply chain collaborations are organized by the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI). EICC and GeSI are collaborating to develop and deploy tools and processes to monitor supply chain social and environmental responsibility performance across the information and communications technology sector. HP has contributed significant resources and leadership to both efforts over the last four years. See the Policies and Standards page for more on the EICC.

Dell, HP, Intel and Motorola are jointly hosting a multi-industry forum to help develop transparency, accountability and assurance mechanisms in the supply chain of extracted metals in the Democracy of Congo Republic. We encourage your participation in this important discussion at the BSR conference on October 20, 2009.

NGOs and other stakeholders

HP frequently collaborates with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other organizations to gain insight and expertise and to deliver capability-building initiatives to our suppliers. Capability building is at the heart of our efforts to help our suppliers continually improve their SER performance. We develop programs where audit results and stakeholder concerns highlight a need for improvement. Engaging together with our stakeholders and local training groups helps us maximize our reach, ensures our programs address key local challenges and improves our relationships. By engaging with NGOs, we have learned how to improve our suppliers’ practices and address key challenges in each region.

HP has also been recognized for our work with world-class companies in multi-industry forums, such as the Global Social Compliance Program and Beyond Monitoring, to raise standards in the supply chain.