Stakeholder engagement

Our integration of corporate citizenship into daily business activities acts as an 'inner moral compass' when we market pharmaceuticals, negotiate with insurance companies, speak to financial analysts, partner with patient advocates, update legislators, collaborate on contracts, or mentor employees.

Our stakeholders are diverse, sometimes with complex and contradictory expectations. We interact with them in a variety of ways. For example, we use community panels, focus groups and collaborations with patient-advocacy organizations to engage in an active dialogue with these diverse stakeholder groups.

When differences arise, dialogue and compromise are used to reach trust and common understanding.

Stakeholder management at Novartis helps us to:

• Participate actively in civil society
• Learn and gain relevant knowledge regarding our business and expectations of our stakeholders
• Correct misperceptions and voice our arguments in the social debate
• Make strategic adjustments in corporate practice in order to optimize our business success

We find this approach to be beneficial in many ways. It serves as an early warning system, supplies us with knowledge of stakeholders and their opinion leaders, and provides an opportunity to influence the development of a debate through sound arguments.

To learn more about our interactions with patients and patient groups, click here. For a discussion on the 'moral obligation inherent in stakeholder demands', click here.

Read our position on Patient group interaction and support.