In 1943, the management guru Peter Drucker, in his capital book "Concepts of a Corporation", prophetically refers to the company as a political and social institution and mentions that it is necessary to know everything about the economic chain on which a company is based., such as the market, the environment, the social environment and the world economy.
Introduction
Currently CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) or CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), deals with the new approach to strategic management of many companies worldwide, with its famous "Triple Bottom Line" or triple bottom line: Economic results, environmental results and social results, The pharmaceutical industry and its mission per se, that of granting health and preserving life, does not escape this triple account, although they are pioneers in implementing effective quality systems, and some, environmental management programs. Likewise, it is expected that they are companies concerned with ethical management and social responsibility in their actions.
Fundamental pillars of society itself, such as the environment and the individual, become incessant claimants of this new trend that promotes as a philosophy "meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"; Own definition of Sustainability, focused on this being one of the main action arguments of companies and why not, of public institutions.
From the above, it does seem clear that companies must work on the path to sustainability; pharmaceutical companies are obliged to consolidate this situation in order to survive. For most companies, sustainable management is a challenge and an incalculable opportunity for benefits. For the pharmaceutical companies it is their reason for being.
It is necessary to reflect on the new approach that has been imposed, the concept "client" has been progressively replaced by that of "stakeholders" or interested parties. This change means that companies must face very diverse challenges derived from the management of Quality, Safety, The Environment and Social Action. For this management to be effective they need a systematic and unified management methodologies. This is where the voluntary benchmarks come into play that facilitate companies to address all these management areas: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, SA 8000, which could be included as parallel systems to GMP`s concepts.
Sustainability in the company
It is true that economic activities create wealth and social well-being and, therefore, contribute to increasing people's quality of life, but it is no less true that many times the creation of wealth and well-being occurs at the cost of a negative impact on the environment, an inequality in the distribution of wealth and an economic development not sustained over time.
Companies are normally governed by financial and environmental policies, quality, etc., which constitute their framework of action in the short, medium and long term. Within this framework of actions, economic growth and profitability are undoubtedly key factors of business success and may be threatened if their achievement is carried out at the cost of a negative impact on the environment and society.
Source: www.soluziona.es
In short, business strategy, the ability to create value and one's own livelihood depend on sustainable, environmental and social development.
Global reporting initiative (GRI)
The GRI is an independent institution whose mission is to develop and disseminate at a global level a guide to prepare sustainability reports for companies, or the public communication process of CSR (Reporting). These guides are voluntary in nature and used by organizations to report the economic, environmental and social dimension of their products, activities and services. The GRI incorporates the active participation of the securities, environmental, research, human rights, and labor organizations sectors from around the world. GRI began its activities in 1997, becoming independent in 2002 and becoming an official partner of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), working in parallel with the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the global compact.
Pharmaceutical organizations using the GRI guide worldwide
| Organization | country |
| Abbott Laboratories | United States of America |
| Allergan | United States of America |
| AstraZeneca | United kingdom |
| Aventis | France |
| Baxter International Inc. | United States of America |
| Bayer AG | Germany |
| Boots Group PLC | United kingdom |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | United States of America |
| Celltech | United kingdom |
| Dr. Reddy's Laboratories | India |
| Eisai | Japan |
| Essilor International | France |
| Genencor International | United States of America |
| GlaxoSmithKline PLC | United kingdom |
| Janssen Pharmaceutical | Ireland |
| Lilly | United States of America |
| Merck KGaA | Germany |
| Novartis International AG | Switzerland |
| Novo Nordisk A / s | Denmark |
| Novozymes A / S | Denmark |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical | Japan |
| Recip AB | Sweden |
| Roche Holding AG | Switzerland |
| Shiseido | Japan |
| Smith & Nephew PLC | United kingdom |
| Wyeth | United States of America |
Source: http: //www.globalreporting.org/guidelines/reports/searchResults.asp? Name = & Country =% 3C% 3E-1 & subSector =% 3D50 & ReportType =% 3C% 3E% 27NonGRI% 27 & Submit = Search
Validation of sustainability reports
There are two ways to validate sustainability reports; The first of them is to put itself in the hands of accredited bodies for certification based on the already standardized references, which have developed their own internal regulations and regulations for the validation of sustainability reports according to the principles of the GRI. The GRI itself In its corresponding annex it includes Guidance on the validation process of these reports, to be adopted by the verifying bodies so as to provide the process with consistency, quality and credibility.
Following these guidelines, the validation processes are based solely on a documentary review of all the documented information and an on-site verification of the contents of the report and the traceability of the data included in it. Likewise, the validation report will contain the data explicitly specified in the corresponding GRI annex.
The other option is for these same accredited organizations to validate the report according to the AA1000 Standard, published in 1999 by the Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability. The AA1000 standard is a reference framework to improve corporate social responsibility and performance through learning through its Stakeholders. Better known as Accountability, this non-profit organization is dedicated to promoting the responsibility of organizations in general and, in particular, of social and ethical responsibility, as an indispensable condition for achieving sustainable development.
References:
www.globalreporting.org
www.AccountAbility.org.uk/AA1000
www.soluziona.es www.Unglobalcompact.org
