Hewlett Packard and Social Performance - Report Example

Hewlett Packard (HP) and Social Performance Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the integration of a form of self regulation into a business model according to Porter (2006). The corporate CSR policy functions as an internal self-regulating mechanism that monitors the business and ensures it supports ethical standards, the law and international norms. Consequently, the business takes responsibility for the impact its activities has on the environment, local communities, customers, employees, stakeholders and other members of the public sphere. A CSR-focused company deliberately and actively promotes public interest by encouraging community development and growth and voluntarily eliminates practices that are harmful to the public, regardless of legality (Porter, 2006). Corporate Social Performance is inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making, and honoring the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit (Kaul, 2004). The founders and current leadership of Hewlett Packard (HP) recognize that people are their greatest asset and the ultimate source of their competitive advantage (Collin and Porras 1994). HP fosters great creativity and innovation of its employees through a company culture that embrace diversity and puts people first. The HP labor policies and practices are made so as to attract, motivate and retain top talent and to this end, the policies are focused at making HP the employer of choice with passionate, innovative and a highly motivated workforce (Gibson and Smilor, 1992). HP encourages a healthy balance of work and family life by supporting various communities where they operate. Positive Social Performance at HP Putting People First and Valuing Diversity: Creating Shared Values With a culture based on the core values of respect for people, integrity, and responsibility, HP fosters creativity and innovation by encouraging its staff to feel free to think, act, collaborate, and solve problems in new and different ways. HP believes that business success is created by attracting, recruiting, developing and maintaining a highly talented and educated workforce and rewarding them for their generous contributions (Preston 2001). Just as HP’s technology represents a combination of varying design principles, their workforce comprises of minds drawn from all corners of the world. HP acknowledges that diversity and cultural differences are qualities that enhance creativity and innovation. Professional growth and talent management increases chances that top performers will stay at HP and by allowing them to continuously build the breadth and depth of knowledge, HP becomes more productive and more innovative. HP provides opportunities for personal and professional development thereby enhancing their workforce as well as the companys appeal for experienced workers and the retention of valuable employees (Libertella & Natale1996). HP has put in place a robust process to investigate and address any complaints in regard to workplace discrimination, and offers its employees various open communication channels (including the HP Alert line, a toll-free, 24-hour hotline that accepts anonymous reports) (Chandler & Wather 2006)). HP is fully committed to ensuring equal opportunity and values cultural diversity, respect, integrity, initiative, accountability, and innovation in support of our customers’ success within its workforce (Lynch 2005). Ensuring a Safe and Healthy Workplace  HP’s goal is to reduce occupational injury and illness case rates continually (Kumar, 1998). To accomplish this, HP employs experienced safety professionals who strive to identify, manage and address potential hazards. They collect a variety of health and safety performance indicators and utilize them to monitor trends and focus on prevention of injuries. They have established various programs and processes based on industry performance standards, regularly review the effectiveness of these programs and processes, and the commitment of the employees. HP reduced its occupational injury and illness case rate globally by 14% in 2009 compared to 2008 and had a zero lost work day case due to occupational injury or illness in 2009 (Preston 2009). HP’s comprehensive EHS standards include: employee well-being, Injury and illness prevention, Emergency preparedness and response, Electrical safety, Equipment safety, Chemical safety and Ergonomics. Each HP site develops and maintains programs to implement these standards. The corporate safety team assists staff at HP sites around the world comply with local and regional EHS regulations as well safety standards, which in some cases result in a more stringent than local regulations. The HP corporate safety team conducts random and regular audits to review the EHS programs and assist with improvements at various sites. HP conducts periodic regulatory compliance audits at their various sites using third-party auditors and corrective action measures are well documented and tracked through completion by corporate and site EHS management teams according to Preston (2009). All HP sites maintain an Emergency Response Team as well as first responder capabilities for site emergencies such as medical, fire, chemical, etc. The teams comprise of employees who volunteer to receive training and respond to emergencies as required. In addition to reducing safety hazards at the workplace, HP focuses on helping their employees improve their overall health and wellness. To ensure a productive and fulfilling life, emotional, physical, and mental health is essential. HP provides a variety of resources for its employees to help improve their overall health and wellness. Aspects of our health and wellness program include the following: regularly provide information on topics such as nutrition, cholesterol, breast cancer awareness, flu prevention, and other disease education information. HP and the Community HP is built on the value of putting people first—its employees, customers, shareholders, and neighboring communities where they live and work. At HP, Education is the major focus for community support and philanthropy. By opening doors for the youth, HP not only changes lives though education, but helps improve the social and economic fabric of the community for future generations (Preston 2009). HP strategically funds all levels of education — basic (primary), intermediary (secondary), and university—to support development of science, engineering, technology, and math’s which are skills needed to be innovative in this increasingly technology driven world. HP Foundation and Corporate Contributions was launched with a key mission to connect and empower individuals with knowledge and help open doors for opportunity. Negative Social Performance at HP Reduced Workforce Due to the global economic slowdown, HP has dealt with a challenging business condition in the past two years (2008 and 2009) and a new business strategy led to the workforce restructuring and staff reduction. Realizing the disruption this caused the employees, HP took action to reduce the impacts and offered severance packages in line with industry standards and made reasonable effort to reduce the stress and hardships on impacted employees such as providing continued healthcare (for a predetermined period of time) and carrier transition services. Environmental Sustainability  The process of manufacturing information technology equipments requires significant use of resources and toxic materials. The disposal of these products, which have very short life spans, is choking landfills and thereby creating environmental burdens. Studies show that the growth of information technology may in fact be encouraging resource and energy consumption rather than reducing it. In the last two decades, Hewlett-Packard has evolved through three different phases of environmental sustainability. In the 1980s, pollution control and prevention were the primary environmental concerns of HP and focus was on reduction of emissions from the manufacturing processes (Preston 3). Business sustainability is the development of technologies that contribute positively to environmental challenges. Preventing Pollution and product stewardship are baseline market expectations according to Soin (2009). HP has made great strides in pollution control and prevention, risk management, and facility improvements such as reducing toxic materials and emissions. Sustainability should now be the focus and business driver for HP. As HP moves beyond product stewardship, it needs to redefine its core business using the principles of both environmental and social sustainability. As these challenges continue to escalate, information technology companies are being forced to confront development needs of the today without compromising the ability of future generations meet their needs these issues and redesign their business strategies so as to recognize the natural limits and HP is no exception. HP needs to institutionalize a culture of environmental conservation and innovation while involving employees more with climate change outcomes and developing an eco-responsibility initiative so as to internalize the most significant negative impacts associated with their business, including embedded and usage emissions throughout the organization. A Stakeholder Approach to Corporate Social Performance Porter (2006) argues that ‘in a stakeholders approach, there is a human rights case against CSR, in that top management deprives shareholders of their rightful property and that ordinary honesty, decency and fairness is expected of any corporation.’ The assumption is that, through CSR, corporations simply "give away" money which belongs to other people (shareholders). If CSR is viewed as a process by which business manages its relationships with a variety of influential stakeholders who can have a real influence on its licence to operate, the business case becomes immediately apparent. Conclusion To succeed, HP has not only nurtured a strong, talented and well educated workforce, but has ensured they employ an efficient and clear communication system for the staff and their customers. Their is continuous improvement in organizational performance due to increased employee engagement and rising performance standards through clear expectations, feedback, and a focus on employee development. The HP labor policies and practices attract, motivate and retain top talent and make HP the employer of choice. The open-door communication policy ensures that the right messages are passed, via the right channels and using the most appropriate media to the intended receivers. Professional growth ensures that top performers stay at HP and they are allowed to continuously build the breadth and depth of knowledge making HP more productive and more innovative. HP’s goal to reduce occupational injury and illness case rates is bearing fruit and continues to register reduced its occupational injury and illness case rate globally. By opening doors for the youth, HP not only changes lives though education, but helps improve the social and economic fabric of the community for future generations. In order to be an environmental leader, HP needs to incorporate environmental sustainability in its fundamental business strategy. This ensures that HP is able to distinguish their services and compete against other providers in a competitive market. HP is indeed a great place to work. Corporate social performance involves building relationships with customers, attracting and retaining talented staff, managing risk, and assuring reputation. References Kaul, Asha. Effective Business Communication. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. 2004. Chandler David & Werther William. Strategic corporate social responsibility: stakeholders in a global environment Sage Publishers. 2006. Gibson David & Smilor Raymond. Technology Transfer in Consortia and Strategic Alliances, USA, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1992. Soin Singh. Total Quality Essentials: Using Quality Tools and Systems to Improve and Manage your Business. McGraw-Hill Professional. 1999. Lynch Frederick. The Diversity Machine: The Drive to Change the "White Male Workplace". Transaction Publishers, New Jersey. 2005. Preston Lynelle. Sustainability at Hewlett-Packard: From Theory To Practice California Management Review 43, 3 Spring. 2001. Porter Michael. Strategy & Society: The Link between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Harvard Business Review. 2006. Lynch Frederick. The Diversity Machine: The Drive to Change the "White Male Workplace" (2nd ed.) Transaction Publishers, 2001. Libertella Anthony & Natale Samuel. Business Education and Training: A Value-Laden Process, USA. University Press of America. 2003. Read More