AstraZeneca is a pharmaceutical company registered in the United Kingdom. It is the tenth-largest prescription drug company in the world as of 2014. AstraZeneca’s product portfolio includes drugs from such therapeutic areas as cardiology, pulmonology, oncology, neurology, gastroenterology, psychiatry, and infectious diseases (M. Hall & O’Dwyer, 2017). By the end of 2017, AstraZeneca expanded its range of manufactured medicines to include medicines against diabetes and Parkinson’s disease; in 2021, the company launched a vaccine against COVID-19. AstraZeneca’s share of the global market for cancer drugs was 6.9% (“The Evolution of the Pharma–CRO Working Relationship: AstraZeneca and Covance,” 2017). The corporation is of great interest from the point of view of analysis because, for many years, it has been a thriving company, harmoniously developing in the market of pharmacology.
From the point of view of sustainability, the company considers its main task to increase the availability of medical care to the population while maintaining the ecological environment. The idea of the corporation is to maintain the connection between healthy people, a healthy society, and a healthy future for the whole planet. While AstraZeneca supports all three of these components by developing profitable programs, it fulfills the sustainability criterion.
Of no small interest are the activities of this organization in terms of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) strategies. The company has developed a plan to invest $1 billion in a zero-carbon program (Chumenko, 2022). The “Goal: Zero Carbon” program is designed in line with environmental science and includes measures to allow AstraZeneca to double its energy efficiency by using renewable energy to heat and light its offices.
The company performs well in terms of organizational stewardship because it is a well-structured, well-oiled machine. The company is run by a group of directors who show collective responsibility for the company’s success. Many operational issues are handled by the Senior Executive Team, which includes managers in different areas of work (Our Leadership, 2022). From the perspective of the 6-box model, the organization’s goals boil down to improving the health of the community and the environment. The structure of AstraZeneca includes the founding team as well as the Executive Team, which includes the heads of the various departments as well as the branches located in Britain, the United States, Switzerland and Sweden.
This organization has an elaborate internal communication system, especially between the various branches and departments. For example, the directors responsible for the production of drugs for various diagnoses are in constant contact with both the research center in Switzerland and the production subsidiary in the United States. The latter actively cooperates with the environmental department to minimize emissions into the atmosphere. The company has developed a system within the company, which is aimed at supporting initiatives in the field of science, production optimization, and environmental protection. For example, AstraZeneca provides grants to researchers to conduct promising research in the field of pharmacology or ecology.
In terms of leadership, the company is led by a strong team of directors who organize publicly. Each employee understands the human and professional qualities that underlie the director of a particular department. The company’s Web site provides information about the background of each director. The most significant of the last few years is the implementation of an environmental program, which allows for both cheaper production and environmental protection.
All six components are inextricably linked, with a strong leadership team developing a sufficiently strong system of internal links and incentives. The developed structure of the company and its many branches in different parts of the world allow involving specialists from all over the world, who develop new useful mechanisms. The power structure in the organization is the board of directors, who make the key decisions on the company’s development and strategies in the market. The most important operational issues are handled by a team of executive directors, who are in charge of different departments. Regional managers are responsible for the activities of the subsidiaries in different countries.
References
Chumenko, N. L. (2022). Health managers: insurance representatives in medical organizations. Glavvrač, 2, 40–42. Web.
Our leadership. (2022). AstraZeneca. Web.
Hall, M., & O’Dwyer, B. (2017). Accounting, non-governmental organizations and civil society: the importance of nonprofit organizations to understanding accounting, organizations and society. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 63, 1–5. Web.
The evolution of the Pharma–CRO working relationship: AstraZeneca and Covance. (2017). Bioanalysis, 9(15), 1171–1174. Web.