Hewlett Packard- Hiding There Light Under a Bushel

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Word Count Hewlett Packard – “Hiding Their Light Under a Bushel” Word Count -1192 Page 1 Introduction Hewlett-Packard (HP) is one of the world’s leading producers of computers and peripheral equipment. At (HP), says the company, “we believe that corporate sustainable development is not an option, it is an imperative.”1 Hewlett Packard has evolved over the past two decades through three distinct phases of corporate sustainability. In the 1980’s, the focus was on pollution control and prevention. In the 1990’s the focus shifted to product stewardship. Today, HP’s sustainability priorities reflect their commitment to balancing corporate values and business goals with the company’s impact on society and the environment. Summary HP has been working on environmental and sustainability initiatives for a very long time, well before such issues were of mainstream interest. Mark Hurd, HP’s CEO, in his 2009 letter to his stakeholders, 2 understates HP’s sustainability activities. Shelley Zimmer, HP Executive, responsible for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seems to agree that Hurd takes a conservative approach when she says “we are only now beginning to understand how to communicate the details to our stakeholders and right now we are reflecting a somewhat modest approach to talking about our CSR achievements.”3 In his 2009 letter to his Shareholders, Hurd, mentions in an understated way many of HP’s CSR activities and says HP is helping to “Build a Better World”. Hurd does note, without mentioning specifics, that HP’s 2009 sustainability measurements were recognized by Newsweek and ranked # 1 among the 500 largest corporations in the United States. 1 http://h20430.www2.hp.com/program/globalcitizenship/ap/en/ 2

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