The New Nature of Business

Chapter 4Roche Today: The Road to Sustainability

For a company to thrive in the long run, it cannot just take. It needs to contribute to the societies it is part of and regenerate the planet it lives and depends on. That is perhaps the most straightforward definition of sustainability in a corporate context: that you give and take to such a degree, that you end up having a “net positive” impact on society and the planet (to use a term coined by former Unilever CEO Paul Polman). Entrepreneurs who start out today can use this as a design principle for their business from the start (though they will find that a lot of laws, regulations, and customs still prevent them from attaining true corporate sustainability; more on that later). But for the economy at large to become sustainable and inclusive, large, legacy businesses must change their practices, too.

How did Roche get ready for this new era? How is it positioning itself to be around for much longer, doing its share for a sustainable future for all? Those are the questions we'll attempt to answer in this chapter. The agenda André's family-controlled business followed in recent years was based on three areas: finding the right people and empowering them, fine-tuning the company's purpose and business model, and focusing on sustainability in all aspects of the organization.

Finding the Right People and Empowering Them

Every company, at its very core, is made up of people. All the money and the patents in the world are worthless ...