This year’s reporting on Novo Nordisk’s performance towards
implementing the Triple Bottom Line in our business operations is structured
according to the three overall commitments: social and environmental
responsibility and economic viability. It also establishes new targets to guide
our future direction.
Under
the title ‘Dealing with dilemmas’ we aim to present our activities in a
transparent light and to share with our key stakeholders the major issues we
must address.
As in previous years, our reporting centres on Novo Nordisk’s core
values, aiming to illustrate how those values are put into action.
In the years to come, we believe the most significant
themes to be addressed will be:
- Globalisation, sustainable development and corporate governance
- Industry’s changing role and widening
responsibilities
- Stakeholders’ demands for transparency, dialogue and
accountability.
This report recounts Novo Nordisk’s response to these challenges.
Business leadership in moving towards a more sustainable future is essential and
the Triple Bottom Line can provide an appropriate framework for this type of
assessment.
A three-tiered strategic framework
The strategic
framework of our Triple Bottom Line rests on three core elements:
First,
a corporate governance structure outlining our commitment to sustainable
development and to international conventions. The pursuit of these overall
objectives translates into corporate and individual goals which are built into
the company’s Balanced Scorecard and employees’ annual
appraisals.
Second, a stakeholder engagement approach which enables us to
be attentive to new concerns emerging on the agenda.
The Novo Nordisk Learning
Curve is a way of tracking the level of integration and learning in relation to
key issues such as environment, bioethics, and social responsibility including
human rights and global health.
Third, the company has follow-up
procedures to ensure continuous improvement in the worldwide implementation of
‘the Charter for companies in the Novo Group’ and the exchange of better
practice. A team of Novo Group consultants, called facilitators, systematically
monitor and assess performance at unit level. The annual reporting on the Triple
Bottom Line then demonstrates how we hold ourselves accountable to stakeholders
for our values and actions.
Dealing with dilemmas
In the Novo
Group Environmental and Social Report 2000, we stated that "We do not
pretend to have all the answers". We still don’t. Rather, we believe in the
value of openly and honestly presenting the facts as well as the issues that
confront us.
Indeed, there is rarely an easy answer. In a global society
ruled by complexity and constantly changing roles, making the right choices
relies as much on a consistent set of values as on acknowledging that there may
be other views of equal value.
Informed decision-making is all about
allowing these opposing views the opportunity to be reconciled. That is how we
put our values into action. We often find ourselves on the horns of a
dilemma.
Our activities are in areas where values and ethics are put to
the test on a daily basis. In this report, we present some of the key issues for
Novo Nordisk as a pharmaceutical company, as a global business, as a corporate
citizen and as an employer of choice.
Representatives of views other
than our own, whom we have met in our dealings during the year, have been asked
to comment on how they see the key issues developing and how a solution might
look in an ideal scenario. It will be our challenge to choose the road that
will lead us in that direction.
