CSR/Corporate social responsibility

5th Annual CSR Outlook report has come to an end

27 March 2017

The 5th Annual CSR Outlook report took place on 22 March this year. It is a review of the trends and challenges faced by responsible business in 2017. The Adamed Group, along with the CSRinfo training and consulting firm, looked at global perspectives in terms of responsible social and environmental actions and analysed the current state of the pharmaceutical industry in this regard. This is an industry that contributes to Poland’s economic growth, generating a total share of GDP of PLN 15.4 billion*.

The meeting consisted of three topic-based panels. Issues of global perspective, in the context of CSR trends and threats were explored by Liliana Anam, managing partner of CSRinfo, who analyses corporate social responsibility activities in her daily work. During the event, she looked in detail at actions of companies and a creative and modern approach to the CSR, and outlined the aspects to be taken into account when creating a strategy. One of the aspects was circular economy, i.e. a growing problem still unnoticed by many companies: not using the product fully. The solution Liliana described was based on a closed model that focused on the longest possible life of products, materials, and resources, thus reducing the amount of waste. The second model presented was based on the circular economy, the concept of planning production in such a way that for example products can be reused or made more efficient. The third aspect is sustainable development and proper management of cities. Capital cities are responsible for most of the country’s GDP and the creation of gut.jpgeconomically active and resident-friendly cities, as in 2016 54.5% of the population were such residents. According to forecasts, in 2030 this figure will be 60% and in 2050 — as much as 70%*. A significant issue mentioned was diversity in the workplace, which greatly contributes to the development and realisation of corporate objectives. The report shows that if women were involved in the economy as much as men, by 2025 GDP might increase by as much as 26%*.

In the second part of the meeting, during a discussion panel, the current situation of the pharmaceutical market was analysed by: Mirella Panek-Owsiańska, President of the Management Board, Responsible Business Forum, Szymon Chrostowski, President, Polish Cancer Patient Coalition / President, “Wygrajmy Zdrowie” Professor Grzegorz Madeja Memorial Foundation  and Krzysztof Kopeć, VP, Polish Union of Pharmaceutical Industry Employers. Mirella Panek-Owsiańska, introducing the topic, clearly stated that CSR activities vary from one industry to another, and that a leading challenge is the lack of transparency necessary in the case of an industry that has such a large direct impact on society. She highlighted the importance of working closely with patient organisations or for instance with the medical sector and how visible this trend is, and that it translates into patient education. Szymon Chrostowski presented the activities of pharmaceutical companies from a patient’s perspective, where one of the important needs was to increase the competencies of patient organisations and create social education campaigns showing that a healthy life means that someone can be an active participant in the economic system. Krzysztof Kopeć talked about the “counterfeit directive,” which would introduce executive acts requiring companies to create regulatory bodies. Their aim would be to supervise pharmacies in the context of counterfeit medications. The discussion allowed us to understand the present situation in the pharmaceutical industry and the challenges it faces. The panel was led by Jacqueline Kacprzak from the Ministry of Development, this year’s honorary partner of the event.

In the third part, Anna Kosińska, CSR Project Manager, Adamed Group, talked about how the CSR Report and the Adamed Group strategy had been developed on the basis of a thorough analysis of both internal and external needs.

“To best prepare the company’s corporate social responsibility strategy, we have organised a number of measures to analyse the situation in detail. These included interviews with management representatives, surveys among associates, and for example a dialogue session which we invited all external stakeholders working with us to attend. During the meeting we reviewed the opinion about the company and their expectations,”  Anna Kosińska said.

One very important measure taken by the Adamed Group was to build associates’ awareness so that everyone knew what corporate social responsibility was and what measures were being taken in the company in this regard.

Later Anna Kosińska talked about the ADAMED SmartUP programme, due to which young people are given the opportunity to explore exact and natural sciences. The project enables young enthusiasts to develop their skills under the guidance of eminent scientists and on the basis of their know-how and experience. The success of the programme is undoubtedly owed to: uniqueness, long-term support, early study of young people’s needs, and contact with teachers.

In this year’s Annual CSR Outlook report, a comprehensive analysis of the trends and threats facing responsible business in 2017 was carried out. The most important of these are the need to educate both the public and doctors and pharmacists, as well as the need for dialogue between pharmaceutical companies, NGOs and ministries.

Honorary patrons of the event: Ministry of Development, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, UN Global Compact Poland, Polish Union of Pharmaceutical Industry Employers

Media patrons of the event: Rzeczpospolita, Harvard Business Review, My Company, proto.pl, odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl.

Photos of the Annual CSR Outlook 2017 announcement:

https://www.facebook.com/CSRinfo

* Data taken from the Annual CSR Outlook 2017 report