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. Partnerships also pave the way for more successful solutions to problems, concerns and challenges. Two examples of global challenges that Novo Nordisk is actively addressing together with key partners are the epidemic growth of type 2 diabetes and climate change.
Objectives of partnerships
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.
What makes successful partnerships?
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
Examples of partnerships for Novo Nordisk
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 of 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, for example the Unite for Diabetes campaign.
- 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 UK National Health Service that is behind the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM).
- Employees’ involvement with 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 of organisations
- Ongoing dialogue and collaborations
Benefits of partnerships
Novo Nordisk benefits through partnerships by:
- Exploiting opportunities and 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 of 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 diabetes pandemic is just one example.
Highlights of partnerships in 2007
- Access to health: Novo Nordisk co-operates with governments, healthcare providers, NGOs, universities, healthcare professionals and diabetes associations worldwide to establish data, build evidence and pilot new intervention approaches. The new global access programme builds on the experience gained during the past five years of work through several initiatives. Programmes such as the pioneering World Partnership programme in eight developing countries; the National Changing Diabetes programmes with an accumulated 406 activities in 66 countries; the pricing policy focused on offering affordable insulin to the world’s 50 least developed countries; and the projects funded by the World Diabetes Foundation have one common denominator: they offer a partnership approach to filling gaps in under-resourced and unsustainable healthcare systems.
- World Diabetes Day: 14th November 2007 marked the first UN observed World Diabetes Day following the adoption of the UN Resolution on Diabetes in December 2006. The day was marked by Novo Nordisk together with the International Diabetes Foundation and its partners with activities all over the world. In 50 countries worldwide, 278,764 people joined Novo Nordisk in a global advocacy effort to promote awareness and action on diabetes.
- The Oxford Health Alliance (OxHA): This is a global alliance to confront the pandemic of diabetes and other chronic diseases that share risk factors. According to the World Health Organization, chronic diseases account for 60% of deaths globally. Founded by Novo Nordisk and the University of Oxford, OxHA facilitates engagement in the development of approaches to controlling risk factors for diabetes and related chronic conditions. Members from around the world include leading academics, activists and corporate executives, patients' rights advocates, doctors, nurses, and others. In 2007, the OxHA was among a global alliance of public health experts that published the Grand Challenges in Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases—an authoritative list of the 20 most important challenges today to restraining and reversing the toll of these debilitating and costly diseases. OxHA co-funded the report, published in Nature in November 2007.
- WWF Climate Savers initiative: As a member of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Climate Savers initiative, Novo Nordisk is one of 12 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.
- DONG Energy agreement: In 2007, Novo Nordisk entered into a pioneering agreement with DONG Energy, Denmark’s largest energy company: DONG Energy assists Novo Nordisk in identifying energy savings options and in return Novo Nordisk will purchase corresponding quantities of energy from a new offshore wind farm off the west coast of Denmark. With this agreement Novo Nordisk has devised a unique cost-neutral way to significantly achieve reductions in CO2 emissions and at the same time help build the market for renewable energy in Denmark. The partnership extends till 2020.
- Changing Diabetes Barometer: In November 2007, Novo Nordisk and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) launched the global Changing Diabetes Barometer. It identifies diabetes indicators such as the HbA1c test of blood sugar level, using published data. The barometer aims to provide a scorecard for tracking change and pinpointing areas in need of improvement so that healthcare providers, governments and patient associations are better able to measure progress and set priorities for national diabetes action plans.
- DAWN Youth: Novo Nordisk together with the IDF and the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) launched the DAWN Youth programme at the ISPAD Congress in September 2007. This programme will facilitate advocacy, research and action to improve the lives of young people with diabetes and their families. DAWN (Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs) is Novo Nordisk’s global study on the psychosocial barriers to diabetes care.
