At Novo Nordisk we believe that strong corporate governance is essential in providing guiding vision of how the company should managed in an increasingly complex and globalised world.

Good corporate governance expressed through explicit corporate values that guide decision-making within the company and provide the basis for a set of policies and systems which translate those values action.

Corporate governance
Transforming our Vision, the Charter and our Policies into action is the job of every employee. However, building on this foundation to develop a corporate governance model attuned to the demands from society is the task of the Chief Executive Officer, our Executive Committee, and our committees related to sustainable development.

The Environment and Bioethics Committee, the Health Policy Committee, and the Social and Industrial Relations Committee play a central role in identifying issues,

establishing policies and devising strategies, targets and action plans. Each is chaired by a member of the Executive Committee and ensures management back-up and funding for agreed activities.

The Novo Nordisk Board of Directors has adopted the recommendations for ‘good corporate governance’ as published in the recent Nørby Committee’s report on Corporate Governance in Denmark. It covers areas such as the relation between shareholders and management, the role of stakeholders, openness and transparency, tasks and responsibilities of boards and their composition, remuneration to directors and managers, and risk management.

Balanced Scorecard links strategy with action
We have also built social and environmental goals into the Balanced Scorecard, a management system which balances focus on financial measures with a focus on ‘non-financial’ measures and drivers of future performance. The Balanced Scorecard is an important part of our governance model, ensuring consistency between the strategic focus of Novo Nordisk and operational behaviour throughout the organisation.

These objectives are integrated in each manager’s individual performance goals, which are subject to annual appraisal. Depending on the nature of the job, more focus, as appropriate, may be put on environmental or social issues, linked to the specific impacts of the manager’s unit.

Facilitations
To provide insight into the performance of the company, regular evaluations, called facilitations, are undertaken. The facilitator function was established five years ago as one of the follow-up methodologies to the Charter. The team of facilitators work in pairs and interview employees at all levels in the organisation in order to ensure that each and every unit lives up to Novo Nordisk standards. Each unit is facilitated every three to four years. Facilitators are also requested to track processes or projects, to identify problem areas and to make recommendations for improvements or resolve identified problems. Thus, their work contributes to sharing better management practices.

A strategy of reaching out
Stakeholder Relations is a strategic unit reporting directly to the CEO and represented in the above three committees. Its mission is to drive, challenge and monitor the Triple Bottom Line strategy at Novo Nordisk and help line implementation of new activities. A key task is to keep the organisation alert to new sustainable development trends and to help senior management understand and manage the complex new business agenda. Interaction with relevant stakeholder groups and annual reporting and communications on Triple Bottom Line issues are also part of the unit’s activities.

Novo Academy: a learning environment
To help the company’s top-level executives and committees perform their responsibilities, we established the Novo Group Academy in 2001, an informal forum where top-level management and the Boards of Directors from all Novo Group companies have the opportunity to meet, learn and develop networks. The Academy has three main purposes. It provides a global business and societal perspective for the very top levels of the Novo Group; it introduces relevant, forefront trends in markets, culture,

politics and knowledge; and it provides a space for top management to reflect on societal issues and a networking opportunity. The Novo Group Academy held three symposia in 2001, all centred around globalisation and corporate governance.

Trendspotting
The Academy symposia are backed by the ‘Trendspotter’ newsletter, which addresses issues related to the overall themes. As part of this, a network of ‘trendspotters’ has been established outside and inside the Group. They provide us with their input on major global trends as reflected in ‘Trendspotter’.