Responsible business practice

Business integrity and values are key drivers of success for Novartis. As a leading healthcare company, we strive for achieving high performance with high integrity. Our commitment to ethical business conduct is derived from our company values and our desire to do the right thing. We are aware, however, that our associates may encounter ethical dilemmas and conflicts in their daily business activities.

Our values, Code of Conduct, business conduct policies and standards guide our associates in deciding which activities to undertake and how to perform them. High standards of integrity are thus central to achieving responsible research, sourcing, production, distribution, marketing and sales activities. It is our firm conviction that responsible business results in better business.

We ensure that our principles are put into practice through our Integrity & Compliance program. The program establishes high standards of integrity, promotes our values through leadership, performance appraisals and training, and enforces these standards through decision-making, complaints handling, monitoring and reporting.

In 2007, Novartis was named a sustainability leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, with particular focus on the management of our Code of Conduct and our programs to combat corruption. In addition, we were the top-ranked major pharmaceutical company in a survey of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere magazine.