Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - (Page 26) 26 Last Word June 2008 Pharmaceutical Executive Europe Managing reputation Corporate reputation is a tangible asset that is, contrary to popular belief, measurable. Researching and evaluating company sales and stakeholder feedback are tangible measures of reputation and tell you where responsibility and reputation is failing. Managing corporate reputation is a genuine task that must be distant from spin and stunts. Favourable stakeholder perceptions must be earned and won on the basis of real life achievements and qualities. Further, pharma reputation is not a task that pharma companies need to handle alone. For example, the well-publicised cases of the TeGenero ‘Elephant man’ drug recalls and medicinal prices have all impacted the entire industry regardless of which company was responsible. The reputation management and crises ripples are felt across the industry, akin to a contagious infection. What one pharma company does, right or wrong, impacts the rest. Thus, reputation is built by everyone that impacts the industry and anyone the industry impacts. Changing a bad reputation into a good reputation is, therefore, not simply about being right and waiting for people to appreciate it. Good work must actively be communicated on company websites and publications so that they reach target audiences. In any case, the industry will obviously benefit from having a more prosperous reputation, regardless of its current state. As a result, reputation management should take a dominant place in the pharma corporate chain of command. References 1.TV and film: ”Dying for Drugs,” transmitted 27 April, 2003, Channel 4 (UK); “Panorma: The Secrets of Seroxat,” transmitted Sunday 13 October, 2002, BBC (UK); Sicko (2007), directed by Michael Moore. Print: Blech, J., Inventing Disease and Pushing Pills: Pharmaceutical Companies and the Medicalisation of Normal Life (Routledge 2006); Law, J., Big Pharma: How the World’s Biggest Drug Companies Control Illness (Constable 2006). 2. Mehta, K., A British Perspective on Pharmaceutical Reputation, Thames Valley University Research Paper (2008); Corporate Social Responsibility in the Pharmaceutical Sphere, report paper for ABPI and Pfizer (2004); Updating Healthcare Messages, report paper for APBI, MHRA, Pfizer, GSK and Novartis (2003). 3. Pharmaceutical chemists, analysts, drug makers, sales reps, communication staff, legal staff and healthcare PR staff. Conclusion Those pharma executives that do not focus or think through corporate reputation do not understand corporate reputation. Consequently, they underestimate it. All reputation management teams need to remember that the patient is at the heart of pharma reputation. Strong reputations raise stakeholder dedication and commitment and these matchless assets are golden gems in today’s global pharmaceuticals. Above all, be proud of working in such a great industry — pharma reputation is far from ruined. About the Author TOP 5 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL REPUTATION 1. Earn trust and maintain it by being honest with everyone. 2. Validate your CSR activities and stakeholder perceptions with research. 3. Monitor and respond to all media reports about your company. 4. Be a leader in social responsibility and sustainability. 5. Volunteer to give something back to the community. Mehta, 2008 Kunal Mehta is a lecturer in public relations and corporate communication at Thames Valley University. He lectures on the CIPR accredited MSc in Corporate Communication and is the director for the annual pharmaceutical responsibility and reputation conference. Kunal also is a healthcare public relations consultant at CCD Healthcare PR and board editor for the Prison Service Journal. Kunal now has over 30 reports on public relations and reputation within the pharmaceutical industry. Email kunal.mehta@tvu.ac.uk for more information. http://courses.tvu.ac.uk/
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 Contents From the Editor News and Analysis Calendar Brussels Report - Tell Us Something We Didn’t Know BioFutures - Friends, Acquaintances and Strangers IT Matters - The High Cost of Swimming Upstream Strategy Fundamentals - Hidden in Books Corporate Strategy - New Dimensions for New Business Models Special Report: Making the Leap Sales Force Incentives - The Goal: Setting Goals Last Word Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 (Page Cover1) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 (Page Cover2) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - From the Editor (Page 4) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - From the Editor (Page 5) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - News and Analysis (Page 6) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - News and Analysis (Page 7) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Calendar (Page 8) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Brussels Report - Tell Us Something We Didn’t Know (Page 9) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - BioFutures - Friends, Acquaintances and Strangers (Page 10) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - IT Matters - The High Cost of Swimming Upstream (Page 11) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - IT Matters - The High Cost of Swimming Upstream (Page 12) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Strategy Fundamentals - Hidden in Books (Page 13) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Corporate Strategy - New Dimensions for New Business Models (Page 14) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Corporate Strategy - New Dimensions for New Business Models (Page 15) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Corporate Strategy - New Dimensions for New Business Models (Page 16) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Corporate Strategy - New Dimensions for New Business Models (Page 17) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Special Report: Making the Leap (Page 18) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Special Report: Making the Leap (Page 19) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Special Report: Making the Leap (Page 20) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Special Report: Making the Leap (Page 21) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Sales Force Incentives - The Goal: Setting Goals (Page 22) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Sales Force Incentives - The Goal: Setting Goals (Page 23) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Sales Force Incentives - The Goal: Setting Goals (Page 24) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Last Word (Page 25) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Last Word (Page 26) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - Last Word (Page 27)
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