Case Study:
Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world’s largest information technology (IT) company, was founded in 1939 and makes its headquarters in Palo Alto, California. Ranking among the top 10 of the Fortune 500, HP operates in more than 170 countries and earned annual revenues of more than $115 billion. Its products range from small, handheld devices to giant supercomputers and fall into three main business groups: Personal Systems, which includes PCs, workstations, and mobile computing devices; Enterprise Business, including storage devices, servers, and business software; and Imaging and Printing, encompassing inkjet and laser printers, commercial printing services, and printing supplies. For its leadership role in reporting and reducing its greenhousegas emissions, HP was recently named the “Greenest Big Company in America” by Newsweek magazine. It has long been focused on contributing to each country and community in which it operates by reducing waste, raising standards among its global suppliers, and easing access to information technology around the world. Seeing itself as a “global steward,” the firm recycles HP ink cartridges for free and accepts any brand of computer hardware and rechargeable batteries for recycling in the United States and Canada. In partnership with the National Cristina Foundation, HP also accepts used computer equipment for donation in the United States, as well as accepting equipment for trade-in and resale to reduce electronic waste. “Recycling technology equipment is a win–win situation for everybody,” HP believes. “It is good for the planet and good for business.” In one recent year, the firm recycled more than 74,000 tons of hardware and print cartridges around the world, and it hopes soon to have recycled more than 900,000 tons of electronic products and supplies. HP’s scientists estimate that businesses’ use of technology consumes more than 400 million tons of coal each year, emitting more than twice that amount in the form of carbon dioxide waste. “We cannot continue to consume energy at our current rates,” the company’s website says. As part of its Design for the Environment strategy, HP’s corporate phones and laptops use less energy thanks to displays that use ambient light, and soon the firm hopes to reduce the energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions of all its operations and products to 40 percent below their 2005 levels. It has already met its 2010 goal to reduce them to 25 percent below 2005 levels, and it is moving forward with plans to invest in renewable energy sources and to make it even easier to recycle every one of its products. But HP isn’t only cleaning up its own act; it’s helping its customers too. It recently announced that its newest ProBook laptop models include a dedicated hardware circuit and “Power Assistant” software that can estimate and display the computers’ energy use over time. With this feature, users can check bar charts or pie charts of energy use and reduce it, by customizing their power settings to reduce screen brightness, turn off certain networking features, run the processor at a lower speed, or squeeze out longer battery life. IT administrators can even manage a whole network of computers with Power Assistant, customizing the machines to go into energysaving hibernate mode sooner, for instance. Future laptops and desktops from HP will boast the same innovative feature. “The way we see it,” says HP, “environmental responsibility and business success go hand in hand.”
Q1. What kind(s) of marketing utility do you think HewlettPackard’s sustainability efforts provide for its customers? Are there any downsides to these programs?
Q2. HP has entered a partnership with the National Cristina Foundation to accept used computer equipment for donation. What other partners, or types of partners, might help the company achieve its sustainability goals in the future?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format and also include references.