Partnerships

Partnerships are fundamental to the way in which Novo Nordisk runs its business. They help to build trust among our key stakeholders and to reach a better understanding of a variety of important issues. Partnership also pave the way for more successful solutions to problems, concerns and challenges such as the worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes that Novo Nordisk is committed to actively address together with key partners.

Novo Nordisk’s main objectives in seeking partnerships are to:

• Earn respect as a partner that can work openly with other sectors of society
• Be more attractive as an employer
• Pursue business interests while balancing concerns for the society and local communities of which the company is a part
• Make better business decisions
• Develop successful solutions to problems

In our experience, the success of a partnership comes down to the following ingredients:

• Collaboration rather than confrontation; a two-way learning process
• Willingness from both sides to take risks and to compromise
• Willingness to make the time and commitment
• Willingness to share responsibilities
• Clear definition of rules and expectations
• Identification of mutual goals
• Agree to disagree when necessary
• Concrete actions, not just talk
• Ongoing discussions, not one-off
• Recognition of what each party has to contribute
• A commitment to change
• Trust built over time
• Mutual accountability

There are many types of partnership in which Novo Nordisk engages:

• Meetings with communities where production sites are located to reduce environmental impacts
• Evaluating suppliers’ social and environmental performance
• Meetings between Novo Nordisk employees and people with diabetes or other healthcare needs that we serve
• Partnerships with NGOs, for example on animal welfare or environmental issues such as global warming
• Membership in business organisations, including organisations that promote sustainable development
• Participation in public debate on issues such as human embryonic stem cell research
• Lobbying with other interested parties to place diabetes higher on the public agenda
• Working with local or national authorities to try to build national healthcare capacity, for example Novo Nordisk’s National Diabetes Programme initiatives
• Funding international research partnerships such as the partnership with Oxford University and the National Health Service that is behind the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM)
• Employees’ involvement with public schools and other institutions in raising public awareness and funds for diabetes on World Diabetes Day

The partnerships take many forms, including:

• Face-to-face meetings
• Participation in committees or round-table discussions
• Membership in organisations
• Ongoing dialogue and collaborations

Through partnerships, Novo Nordisk benefits by:

• Exploiting opportunities and together sharing risks and opportunities towards common goals
• Staying tuned to stakeholders’ concerns
• Improving understanding of difficult issues for all parties
• Aligning with multiple agendas
• Identifying and prioritising issues
• Managing business risks and opportunities

We believe that society benefits from these partnerships in the following ways:

• Awareness and solutions to diabetes care
• More sustainable solutions to specific problems
• Contribution to global sustainable development
• Innovative products and services
• New but useful partnerships among groups or individuals that may not have worked together before

Partnerships are likely to become even more important in the future since so many of the challenges facing society are broad and complex, requiring many different stakeholders to become engaged. The complexity and breadth of the global diabetes epidemic is just one example.

• OCDEM (Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism), a partnership with Oxford University and the UK National Health Service. It is the first diabetes centre in Europe to combine basic and clinical research with patient care and medical training under one roof. In 2005 OCDEM continued to lead a project in the European Union to look for biomarkers for diabetes: molecules in the body that reveal the development of the disease and can shape more individualised treatment.
• The Oxford Health Alliance.  This is a global alliance to confront the pandemic of diabetes and other chronic diseases that share risk factors. Members from around the world include leading academics, activists and corporate executives, patients' rights advocates, doctors, nurses and others. Founded by Novo Nordisk and the University of Oxford, the Oxford Health Alliance facilitates engagement in the development of approaches to controlling risk factors for diabetes and related chronic conditions. In November 2005 the Alliance met at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, US, for a three-day conference at which a variety of renowned speakers presented the latest research on prevention of chronic diseases, followed by smaller working-group sessions to develop the group’s plan of action further.
• WWF Climate Savers initiative.  As a member of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Climate Savers initiative, Novo Nordisk is one of 10 companies that have agreed to work to achieve an absolute reduction in the company’s CO2 emissions to combat global warming. Climate Savers is the only programme that helps businesses make and achieve voluntary commitments to reduce the impact of their corporate activities on climate change. WWF works with businesses to develop cost-effective energy strategies to demonstrate that increasing efficiency and aggressively reducing greenhouse gas emissions can benefit the environment and the economy in numerous ways.
  See also a list of memberships.

This page has been assessed by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of its assessment of Novo Nordisk’s statement that it reports ‘in accordance’ with GRI. Please refer to Audit and assurance for a full description of the nature of assurance offered.