Globalisierung mit menschlichem Antlitz: die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des United Nations Global Compact bei Novartis

Abstract

"Die Novartis AG, der achtgrößte Pharmakonzern der Welt, zählt zu den Erstunterzeichnern des Global Compact der Vereinten Nationen. Auch mit dem entwicklungspolitischen Engagement der Novartis Stiftung für Nachhaltige Entwicklung signalisiert das in Basel ansässige Unternehmen, dass es seiner globalen, gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung als corporate citizen nachkommen möchte. Dieser Artikel beschreibt, wie Novartis den Global Compact im Konzern umsetzt, welche Erfahrungen dabei bislang gemacht wurden und welchen Herausforderungen das Unternehmen gegenübersteht." (Autorenreferat)

"In recent years, changing expectations about the role of business in society have pushed the concept of good corporate citizenship into mainstream business thinking. There is a growing body of evidence linking corporate citizenship activities to positive business performance. Increasingly, leading companies recognize that they now have a broad range of stakeholders - including investors, employees, non-governmental organizations and the communities in which they operate. While corporate citizenship was emerging as a business trend, there existed no international framework to assist companies in the development and promotion of global, values-based management. By introducing the United Nations Global Compact and rooting it in internationally accepted principles, companies could feel confident that their actions were being guided by values that are universally supported and endorsed. Novartis, Inc., the world's eighth largest pharmaceutical company, was among the first signatories of the Global Compact. With the commitment to development policy shown by the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, the Basle-based company is also signaling its intention to meet its global social responsibilities as a corporate citizen. This article describes how Novartis approached the implementation of the Global Compact, the company's experiences and challenges." (author's abstract)