Business ethics

Global Citizenship

Business ethics home

At HP we want to be a company that is known for its leadership in corporate ethics and responsibility. A company where employees are proud to work, and customers, partners and suppliers want to do business with.

HP understands that earning the trust and respect of those we serve is a cultural hallmark, and depends on ensuring the highest standards of honesty and integrity. The values that Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard established nearly 70 years ago are as relevant today as they've ever been:

Our ethical standards and shared values form the cornerstone of our culture of uncompromising integrity. Our culture of integrity and accountability, and our performance culture go hand-in-hand. We win, both as individuals and as a company, by doing the right thing.

We foster an environment that is open and transparent. We encourage employees to report things that don't seem right without fear of retaliation, and continue to develop world-class tools to help employees ask questions and raise values-based, ethical or compliance concerns.

Audit Committee

The board has ten members, with Mark Hurd serving as chairman, chief executive officer and president. The other nine members are “independent directors.” The board’s Audit Committee guides HP’s ethics and compliance program and is a direct resource for the chief ethics and compliance officer. Robert Ryan is the lead independent director. Additionally, G. Kennedy Thompson serves as the independent director responsible for reviewing and reporting to the board on HP’s compliance with legal and ethical requirements related to the conduct of investigations.

Appointment of Independent Directors

Richard Hackborn was announced in September 2006 as the new lead independent Director. In November 2006, G. Kennedy Thompson became the new independent director to HP's board responsible to review and report to the Board on HP's compliance with legal and ethical requirements related to the conduct of investigations. John Joyce and Joel Hyatt were elected to HP's Board in May 2007.

Ethics and Compliance Office enhancements

In 2008, we created two new senior positions—vice presidents for compliance and ethics. The new vice president of the Ethics Office is continuing to strengthen its connection and cooperation with other compliance functions on all ethical issues; one focus area is working to further reduce the time it takes to close an investigation. Under its new vice president, the Compliance Office is reinforcing our compliance infrastructure and developing processes, procedures, and standards to ensure effective compliance functions companywide. The Compliance Office is a central hub for compliance activity and partners with the Enterprise Compliance Group, Internal Audit, and Enterprise Risk Management teams to provide a holistic, cross-functional view of governance, risk, and compliance to senior management.

Communication and training

Our ethics and compliance program emphasizes that every person at HP can be an ethical leader, regardless of title or job responsibilities. We conduct scenario-based training for employees on the SBC every year, including new employees and those of newly acquired companies. We also provided specialized training for country managers, suppliers of contingent workers and employees in selected countries, plus courses on key topics such as competitive confidential information and anti-corruption. In 2008, we extended circulation of our quarterly ethics bulletin to all employees. The bulletins present real-life case studies to further promote understanding and awareness of ethical issues confronting employees in the workplace.

For backup you can check the page:
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/ethics/index.html

HP Standards of Business Conduct