Globalisation and Corporate Social Responsibility in Pharma Industry

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on the implications of globalisation. It begins by defining CSR and its historical context, emphasizing its significance in addressing social and environmental well-being. The report then delves into specific CSR issues faced by the pharmaceutical sector, such as ethical concerns, pricing strategies, public perception, and poor scientific production, all of which can damage the industry's image. The implications of these issues, including business risks and reputational damage, are discussed, using examples like the case of Martin Shkreli. The report concludes with recommendations for pharmaceutical companies, suggesting strategies to enhance CSR practices, increase community involvement, and align commercial objectives with social responsibilities. The report stresses the importance of transparency and ethical conduct for the long-term sustainability of the industry. It also highlights the significance of stakeholder engagement in decision-making processes to achieve both commercial and social objectives effectively.

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GLOBALISATION AND CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY

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Table of Contents
Corporate Social Responsibility, Background.................................................................................3
CSR issues in pharmaceutical industry............................................................................................3
Implication of CSR issues...............................................................................................................4
Solution............................................................................................................................................5
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................5
Works Cited.....................................................................................................................................6

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Corporate Social Responsibility, Background
Corporate social responsibility is an initiative of a business organisation to examine and
take responsibility for the effects made by the firm on the social and environmental wellbeing. It
is also known as corporate citizenship. It involves experiencing short-term costs, which do not
offer an instant economic benefit to the firm. However, it makes positive change to the
environment and the society (Tai & Chuang, 2014). There is a long history behind the concept of
corporate social responsibility that is linked with the way it affects organisational behaviour. The
history of CSR highlights how the scholars and business leaders have struggled to outline and
theorise CSR (Suliman, Al-Khatib, & Thomas, 2016). After the World War II, the concern
related to business and future of the economic system increased (Cebcglobal.org, 2017).
The fundamental theme of the CSR concept is that the social accountabilities are social
forces functioning in all society-making businesses to perform in a positive way. This is true
irrespective of whether it is an industrial or a communalist society because the social forces are
always present there. Based on the on-going environmental and social problems, CSR has been
encouraged by the national and global bodies to obtain values of sustainable development at the
organisational level (Turker, 2015).
CSR issues in pharmaceutical industry
The features of pharmaceutical industry imply a greater risk of dishonesty with a notable
mutilation for the industry, the society, and the healthcare system. The pharmaceutical sector has
a vital role for a comprehensive salvage of efficiency in the healthcare sector. A number of
international institutions interfered with models of moral code that denote the minimum ethical
values the companies should reverence to reach decent ethical goals. At present, most of the

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pharmaceutical firms have a well-managed ethical code of conduct. However, it often seems not
to indulge in corporate actions ethically or precisely sharing urgencies in the triple bottom
line(Salvioni & Gennari, 2015). CSR of the pharmaceutical industry is quite distinct from the
CSR in other sectors, as the main product, medicine and drugs are important for the welfare of
the society. With the increasing pressure of the civil society, it has become essential for the
pharmaceutical firms to act responsibly in the rapidly changing globalised world. Therefore,
many of the firms are expanding or reforming their CSR strategies to avoid ethical issues
(Droppert, 2015).
Like any other major businesses, the pharmaceutical business is also in continuous
inspection of the method it deploys to conduct its activities. Most of the companies face the issue
of not meeting the ethical standards set by the law. Medicines manufactured by the
pharmaceutical companies are an important part of the effective healthcare service delivery
system. Media often reveals the negative or ineffective activities of the industry that ruins their
public image and trust. Unfair and unfavourable headlines have become unavoidable for the
pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, its efforts to counter the problems must be a higher
importance for the industry. The industry faces issue in ignoring the perception of the public, as
good healthcare is an important obligation the government and the pharmaceutical industries owe
the society and judgment of people directly affect the policies of the government. For instance,
the US pensioners team AARP suspected certain pharmaceutical firms of exploiting front
groups, which supposed to show the aging and released posts that preferred the viewpoint
of the diligence on issues like pricing. Such kind of rights often receives foremost attention in
the media. Thus, it leads to damaging the image of the pharmaceutical industry highly among the
public (Chan, Cheah, & Montanheiro, 2016). It is often alleged that the pharmaceutical industry

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is using CSR for popularizing their products, brand, and increase their profits, which is also an
important issue faced by the company (Pharmiweb.com, 2017).
Pricing is one of the major issues faced by the pharmaceutical industry. In Australia,
71% pharmaceutical companies think that the price disclosure calculation of the government has
become more transparent than 2012. However, there is a need of self-governing corroboration of
calculations. Some firms believe that no more price reduction can be maintained and their market
share will be battered under the simplified price disclosure (Pwc.com.au, 2017).
Poor scientific production is another important CSR issue that has an impact on the health
of the service users. The industry has persisted at the same level for the past years. Utilisation of
the same discovering and progress processes has made it growth and productivity slower (PwC.,
2017).
Implication of CSR issues
The damaged image of the pharmaceutical industry in the media often overshadows the
vital role played by the industry in research and development for discovering new medicines.
Many of the chronic diseases that had a devastating impact on the society previously, are now
controlled well. Here, the credit goes to the pharmaceutical industry’s effort. This effort is being
taken for granted because of the CSR issues faced by the industry (Pharmiweb.com, 2017). One
of the greatest condemnations beside CSR is pharmaceutical firms are only concerned with CSR
for enhancing their marketing image. Issues related to CSR create notable business risks.
Customers and firms tend to avoid companies that grow an unscrupulous reputation. Moreover,
firms that are not concerned with their moral duties are more expected to submit into ethical
problems like, accounting outrages, mass exploitation and so on (Business.time.com, 2017).

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An example of the CSR issue faced by the pharmaceutical industry is the issues faced by
Martin Shkreli, who is known for Turing Pharmaceuticals, Retrophin. Martin Shkreli was
accused for several number of guilt and fraud related to securities. One of the CSR issues he
faced in 2015, when he increased the price of lifesaving drugs by above 5000%. He had to give
$5million bail for avoiding 20years of imprisonment (Mangan, 2017).
Recommendation
In a pharmaceutical firm, staffs are also consumers on the outside of the company and
they seek for medicines that are available at an affordable price. Therefore, they are interested in
the global issues related to CSR in the pharmaceutical industry. They have their own point of
view on operational process of the firm in a global context. It provides greater opportunity to the
people who are involved in making CSR strategies for the pharmaceutical companies to identify
the important CSR issues. In order to increase the visibility of a firm, it is important to involve in
social works, fulfil the responsibilities toward the society by improving access to life-saving
medicines, and providing training to the communities regarding the precautions of some diseases
like HIV, Dengue, and others (Brewer, 2014).
Pharmaceutical companies must take a more noticeable development on global issues.
The companies can join with the non-profit and charitable health and social care organisations
for supporting their actions related to the welfare of the community. At present day, companies
cannot avoid their CSR responsibilities and therefore, they must implement effective CSR
strategies that fulfil both the commercial and social objectives. It can be done by increasing
involvement of the community and the stakeholders in organisational decision-making. They

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must demonstrate that the pharmaceutical companies are an important part of the health care
system and they play a vital role in the welfare and development of the global healthcare system.

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Works Cited
Brewer, K. M. (2014). Corporate social responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry–Why it
matters from business, bioethical and social perspectives. North Carolina: Wake Forest
University.
Business.time.com. (2017). Retrieved September 13 , 2017, from Why Companies Can No
Longer Afford to Ignore Their Social Responsibilities | TIME.com.:
http://business.time.com/2012/05/28/why-companies-can-no-longer-afford-to-ignore-
their-social-responsibilities/
Cebcglobal.org. (2017). Retrieved September 13, 2017, from Cebcglobal.org:
http://www.cebcglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CSR-
The_Shape_of_a_History.pdf
Droppert, H. &. (2015). Corporate social responsibility in global health: An exploratory study of
multinational pharmaceutical firms. Globalization and health, 11 (1), 15.
Mangan, D. (2017). Cnbc.com. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from Pharma bro' Martin Shkreli
found guilty of 3 of 8 charges, including securities fraud. CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/04/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-convicted-in-federal-
fraud-case.html
Pharmiweb.com. (2017). Retrieved September 13, 2017, from Why corporate social
responsibility is healthy for pharma - Feature | PharmiWeb.com.:
http://www.pharmiweb.com/features/feature.asp?ROW_ID=630#.WbmBEciGPIU

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Salvioni, D. M., & Gennari, F. &. (2015). Corporate responsibility and ethical culture in
pharmaceutical industry.
Turker, D. (2015). An analysis of corporate social responsibility in the Turkish business context.
In Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe . Switzerland: Springer International
Publishing.