Hewlett-Packard Company

The Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), founded in 1939 by Stanford University classmates Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, "provides products, technologies, solutions, and services to individual consumers, small and medium sized businesses, and large enterprises worldwide." PCs and printers are two familiar consumer products.

Hewlett-Packard Company is the world's largest information technology corporation and is known worldwide for its printers, personal computers, high-end servers, and network management software.

Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States, it has a global presence in the fields of computing, printing, and digital imaging, and also provides software and services. The company, which once catered primarily to engineering and medical markets—a line of business it spun off as Agilent Technologies in 1999—now markets to households and small business products such as printers, cameras and ink cartridges found in grocery and department stores.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
Until 2012, HP was a corporate member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). HP was a "Director" level sponsor of 2011 American Legislative Exchange Council Annual Conference, which in 2010, equated to $10,000. HP was also a sponsor of the Louisiana Welcome Reception at the 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting. It was a member of ALEC's Communications and Technology Task Force in 2011.

HP told ColorOfChange.org in July 2012 that it is not currently an ALEC member.

For other ALEC corporations, please see the list here. For other corporations which have cut ties to ALEC, please see that list here.

Company History
HP was founded in 1939. Its first product was an audio oscillator, a piece of audio engineering equipment, which is sold to, among others, Walt Disney Studios. The company expanded significantly during World War II due to a large quantity of government orders for electronics. It was during this same period that the "open door policy" and "management by walking around" practices of HP were implemented, management styles characterized by the encouragement of exchange between employees and management, as well as a high degree of work flexibility. In the 1950s HP expanded its operations to Europe and began a stock options program for employees. By the 1960s, HP had begun producing not only test-and-measurement instruments but also medical electronics and analytical instrumentation as well as its first computers, as well as expanding its operations to Asia. From 1969 through 1971, founder Packard served as US Deputy Secretary of Defense. In 1973, HP became the first US electronics company to be invited to China to engage in trade discussions. The Hewlett Packard Foundation was established in 1979. In the 1980s, HP began extensively producing computers and printers.

Historical Financial Information
2004 Fortune 500 Ranking: 11 2006 Fortune 500 Ranking: 14 2007 Fortune 500 Ranking: 14

2006 Revenue: 91.6 billion USD 2006 Employees: 156,000

Public Relations Companies

 * Burson-Marsteller
 * Hill & Knowlton
 * Porter Novelli

Ad boycott against Air America Radio
Hewlett-Packard refused to advertise on the progressive Air America Radio. In October 2006, around 90 companies, including Hewlett-Packard, told ABC Radio Networks that they did not want their ads to play on radio stations that carried Air America Radio.

Political Contributions
The Hewlett-Packard political action committee (PAC) gave $254,050 to federal candidates in the 05/06 election cycle - 37% to Democrats, 60% to Republicans, and 3% ($9,000) to independent Joseph Lieberman (I-CT).

Lobbying
The company spent $780,000 for lobbying in 2006. $360,000 of this total went to three outside lobbying firms, including Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti and Hobbs Group, with the remainder being spent using in-house lobbyists.

Corporate Accountability
HP was surrounded by controversy in 2006 when it became public that the people it had hired to investigate leaks of confidential information to the press beginning in 2005 had engaged in unethical means of acquiring information. The case was settled in 2008.

Labor
HP is one of the major purchasers of electronics produced at the Lite-On Computer Technology production facility in Shijie Town, Dongguan Province, China (founded 1997). By early 2008, the facility employed about 5000 people who enter the company by paying agencies based in Shijie town, Dongguan, 500-600 yuan (for men) or 200 yuan (for women). While Lite-On production schedules follow a normal 8-hour workday, breaks consist of only 10 minutes twice a day and are unpaid – further, overtime work in the evenings, on weekends, and especially during busy seasons, is mandatory and can reach up to 100 hours a month, in violation of both Chinese Labor Law and the [EICC] standard. Basic wages at Lite-On complied with Chinese minimum wage laws (690 yuan/month in 2007), but until mid-to-late 2007 when overtime began being paid at twice the standard weekend rate (8.24 yuan/hour) the company violated overtime wage laws by paying over 2 yuan less per hour. A fire in the factory in February of 2008 has caused workers to be extremely concerned about their safety, and as of May 2008 production had not yet fully resumed at full capacity due to the damage the fire had caused. Workers are charged up to one quarter of their wages on food, electricity, and water for eating and living in the factory dormitories, which house up to 16 people per room. Research conducted by [SACOM] and [Bread for All] in early 2008 concluded that workers at Lite-On were unaware of their rights under either [EICC] standards or any of the codes of conduct of Lite-On’s customers, including HP.

Lite-On Xuji Electronics Co., Ltd. Is a keyboard manufacturer based in Dongguan, China. The factory was founded in 1995, and while Dell is its major buyer, Lite-On Xuji sells keyboards to Acer, Apple, Foxconn, Gateway, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Logitech, Microsoft, NEC, Sony, and Toshiba. According to a 2008 report conducted by SACOM and Bread for All, the factory employed 3000 workers who work between 10 and 12 hours a day. The factory began paying workers legal wages and overtime wages in 2008, while they had been paying illegally low wages in 2006 and 2007. However, workers continue to work more than 100 overtime hours per month, well about the legal limit of 36 overtime hours monthly. Due to long hours standing, repetitive tasks, and high work speed, workers suffer from swollen legs, back pain, and other repetitive motion injuries, as well as irritation from paint and paint thinner fumes name="high tech 31-2"> Jenny Chan, the Research Team of SACOM, and Bread for All. May 2008. “High Tech – No Rights? A One Year Follow-up Report on Working Conditions in China’s Electronic Hardware Sector.” P. 31-2. . Despite these problems, Xuji factory has no program in place to “identify, evaluate, and control the hazards that arise from physically demanding work.”  Management threatens workers who make mistakes with the possibility of the withdrawal of factory client orders. name="high tech 31"> Jenny Chan, the Research Team of SACOM, and Bread for All. May 2008. “High Tech – No Rights? A One Year Follow-up Report on Working Conditions in China’s Electronic Hardware Sector.” P. 31. Worker dormitories are very crowded and noisy, housing 16 workers per room, who must share all facilities in common and often have trouble sleeping due to noise. name="high tech 32"> Jenny Chan, the Research Team of SACOM, and Bread for All. May 2008. “High Tech – No Rights? A One Year Follow-up Report on Working Conditions in China’s Electronic Hardware Sector.” P. 32. While workers were not aware of their labor rights under the EICC, they still “expressed the urgent need” for safety training as well as shortened standing work hours or at least longer breaks and rest periods. name="high tech 32"> Jenny Chan, the Research Team of SACOM, and Bread for All. May 2008. “High Tech – No Rights? A One Year Follow-up Report on Working Conditions in China’s Electronic Hardware Sector.” P. 32.

After the rape and murder of one of its employees, HP faced prosecution in India in 2008 for not providing sufficient protection for its women employees who are only permitted to work night shifts for IT and communications services companies under a Bangalore law.

Asian factories supplying HP and other computer manufacturers have been accused by the Centre for Research on Multnational Corporations (SOMO) of exposing their workers to dangerous conditions, mandatory overtime, low wages, forced labor, relocation, and anti-union practices.

Environment
"In recent years, SVTC [Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition] has also been looking at another environmental problem caused by high tech: the growing volume of e-waste generated when obsolete computers and other devices -- with toxic material inside -- are thrown away. SVTC's Computer Take Back Campaign has been pressuring the major tech companies to take responsibility for recycling. While Dell and Hewlett-Packard have responded positively to the pressure, the campaign faults companies such as Apple (No. 25 on the Business Ethics list) for resisting."

In 2006, HP won 3rd place in an toxic-free electronics ranking generated by Greenpeace.

Social Responsibility Initiatives
From a 2008 SACOM Report: "HEWLETT PACKARD: SETTING THE PACE Commitment: High Transparency: High Hewlett Packard is setting the pace for social responsibility in China. First, the company has devoted significant human and financial resources to implementing its code of conduct. It also has an on-site coordinator for the local inspection teams. According to Hewlett Packard, in China alone the company provided code of conduct training for factory management staff (but not workers) in 45 suppliers. It also audited 80 factories, including Primax, Tyco Electronics, and Volex in 2007. Second, the American company is the only one that has agreed to make its list of suppliers public and comment on specific cases at the factories. This is a new attitude: up to now, computer companies have cited economic competition and anti-trust laws as reasons for refusing to divulge or even confirm the names of their suppliers. Third, Hewlett Packard has made important efforts to continue a multi-party dialogue. In China, the company staff has agreed to undertake a worker-training pilot project in cooperation with community-based labor rights organizations and academics. This project is a concrete response to the requests made by the “High Tech – No Rights?” campaign."


 * HP Global Citizenship Report


 * Supply Chain Responsbility

In the 1950s, '60s, '70s, HP instituted insurance, pension, stock options, and flextime for its employees.

Business Scope
Lines of Business
 * IT infrastructure
 * personal computing and access devices
 * global services
 * imaging and printing

Products and Services
 * destops and workstations
 * notesbooks and tablet personal computers
 * printing and multifunction
 * handheld devices
 * monitors and projectors
 * fax, copiers, and scanners
 * digital photogrpahy
 * entertainment
 * storage
 * services
 * IT suppliers and accessories
 * networking
 * software products

Subsidiaries
 * Hewlett-Packard Financial Services Company (NJ, USA)
 * Snapfish (San Francisco, USA)
 * Synstar plc (UK)

Headquarters
 * Hewlett-Packard Canada Co (Ontario, Canada)
 * Hewlett-Packard Latin American (Florida, USA)
 * Hewlett-Packard USA (Texas, USA)
 * Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific Ltd. (Singapore)
 * Hewlett-Packard Japan (Toyko)
 * Hewlett-Packard (Geneva, Switzerland)

HP Suppliers

HP Major Competitors
 * Canon
 * Dell
 * IBM

Financial Information (2008)
Ticker Symbol: HPQ Main Exchanges:NYSE Investor Website:http://h30261.www3.hp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71087&p=irol-irhome

Largest Shareholders

Geographic scope paragraph

Governance
Executive team with bios

Board of Directors:
 * Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr., Former Vice Chairman and President of Verizon Communications
 * Sari M. Baldauf
 * Richard A. Hackborn: "served as HP's chairman of the board of directors from January 2000 to September 2000. Prior to retiring from HP in 1993 after 33 years of service, he held several top management positions at the company."
 * John H. Hammergren
 * Mark V. Hurd: "became chief executive officer and president of HP, and joined HP’s board of directors, effective April 1, 2005."
 * Joel Z. Hyatt
 * John R. Joyce
 * Robert L. Ryan, Also is a director of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, General Mills, Inc., The Black and Decker Corporation and Citigroup, Inc.
 * Lucille S. Salhany, Former Chairman of Fox Broadcasting Company
 * G. Kennedy Thompson, Also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wachovia Corporation

Contact Information
3000 Hanover Street Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA Phone: (650) 857-1501 Fax: (650) 857-5518 Web: http://www.hp.com

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Lewis E. Platt - former chief executive (1992-9)

External Resources

 * Hewlett-Packard in the Wikipedia.


 * Hewlett-Packard Annual Report 2006


 * "Procurement Risk Management (PRM) at Hewlett-Packard Company"

External Articles

 * News Release: "HP Appoints Global Public Relations Firms," HP, January 3, 2003.


 * "Maquiladoras at a Glance" Corpwatch June 30th, 1999.