GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) is an acknowledged international pharmaceutical brand that helps people around the world stay healthy. GSK focuses on R&D in pharmaceutics and healthcare to improve the quality of human life. In terms of strategy and organizational structure, the company deploys the unified standards compulsory for all business units regardless of geographic location (GSK, 2016).
GSK has been present in Malaysia for five decades so far with more than 600 employees. In Malaysia, GSK operates a wide product range including healthcare products, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, namely ‘Horlicks’, ‘Panadol,’ ‘Eno,’ and Scott’s. In Malaysia, GSK leads a responsible business by adapting a corporate business model to the standards of sustainable performance through expansion and innovation. The company’s forward-looking commitments are its strategic priorities that address local and global health needs. The first priority is ‘Health for all’ that assumes the development of innovative products and ensuring improved access to healthcare resources. The second priority is ‘Behavior’ through which GSK embeds its values and promotes its R&D and business practices. The third priority is ‘People’ while the company sustains an inspiring and cooperative work environment to motivate employees and encourage them to do their best (GSK, 2016).
The corporate mission is clear while the company prioritizes its business on three strategic goals aiming to enhance growth, eliminate risk and advance long-term performance. The company achieves these goals by maintaining balanced internationalization approach to global markets, providing more products of value, and simplifying its operating model.
While developing a balanced international business in Malaysia and Thailand, GSK aims at generating a more balanced business and product portfolio and rendering sustainable sales and earnings growth, as well as ensuring advanced returns to shareholders. At that, the company strategically emphasizes at consumer healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines. While delivering more products of value, GSK aims at generating R&D to sustain valuable products that promise treatment advancements. Thus, the company concentrates on improved productivity and return rates in R&D. The simplification of the operating model assumes operational transformations that enable less complex operations and the ones that are more efficient. This way, GSK gains more resources for reinvestment and shareholder returns (GSK, 2016).
Reputable international agencies like Dow Jones praise GSK for responsible business and sustainability in economic, environmental and social performance. On a global scale, the company deploys a unified commercial model that assumes the highest standards of corporate governance. The corporate governance structure highlights GSK’s capacity to deliver its strategy, expand business diversification, simplify the operating model, and provide customers with more products of value (GSK, 2016).
The corporate robust structure headed by the Board-level Corporate Responsibility Committee ensures sound corporate responsibility and commitments. A clear organizational structure ensures overall accountability:
Internationally, the company applies the ‘Global Compliance function’ that helps it develop and implement the best HR practices. At that, GSK does its best to ensure full compliance of ethical behavior and corporate responsibility in line with company’s values and due diligence to prevent any instances of misconduct or illegal behavior. The Global Compliance function involves ‘Global Compliance Business Partners’ who closely collaborate with senior leaders to synergize corporate values with applicable management practices and risk identification. Further, GSK centrally manages its compliance activities (reporting, analytics, communications, project and HR management) through ‘Global Compliance Operations.’ With that, the company prioritizes on continuous improvement, consistency, and efficiency. Finally, ‘Global Compliance Investigations’ is GSK’s international body that coordinates and ensures consistency of investigations across business units (GSK, 2014). Overall, due to the sound corporate strategy and organizational structure, GSK maintains lead marketing positions in Malaysia and explores new opportunities of growth.
- GSK 2014, “Annual Impact Report,” retrieved June 14 2016 from http://www.gsk.com/media/748481/pulse-annual-impact-report-2014.pdf
- GSK 2016, “Our mission and strategy,’ retrieved June 14 2016 from http://www.gsk.com/en-gb/about-us/our-mission-and-strategy/
- GSK 2016, “Responsibility,” retrieved June 14 2016 from http://www.gsk.com/en-gb/responsibility/
