As the operator of the IT industry’s largest and most complex supply chain, Hewlett-Packard spends $50 billion annually to procure materials, components, manufacturing, and distribution services for its products. Therefore, its actions have global implications, says Tony Prophet, HP senior vice president.

In 2002, HP became the first electronics company to establish a supply chain social and environmental policy. In 2004, the company also spearheaded the development of an electronic industry code of conduct, which encourages responsible management and operational practices in labor, human rights, health and safety, the environment, and ethics across the industry’s global supply chain.

Hewlett-Packard is working to reduce its environmental footprint throughout the product life cycle. Partnering with the World Wildlife Fund, HP has committed to cutting its own emissions 20 percent by the year 2012. To accomplish this, Prophet says, design, manufacturing, logistics, and recycling initiatives are under way.

Such efforts create triple-win situations for the environment, the company, and consumers. “For us, corporate social responsibility is a point of competitive differentiation,” Prophet says. “It’s really a business imperative. Things that are right for the environment are proving right for the bottom line of our company and our clients.”

Prophet was talking to more than 200 corporate and academic supply chain management experts gathered to exchange ideas and best practices aimed at making the global supply chain more sustainable. The April 3, 2007, conference “Socially and Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains: Making the Business Case” was cosponsored by the Global Supply Chain Management Forum and the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.