Pfizers miljö- och ansvarsblogg

Social Media - More Examples Of Usage Within Health Care

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The Swedish news magazine Dagens Medicin, in collaboration with K-Street Advisors, arranged a social media seminar today (see comments from the seminar on twitter, #medsm12). We discussed the usage of social media within healthcare. I have participated in similar seminars previously, see for instance my comments from Dagens Medicin’s seminar in Malmö in August last year or Pharma Online’s seminar a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, a very interesting and fun day. In a field with such a rapid development, you learn new things pretty much every day!

Carl Thalen

Carl Thalén from K-Street Advisors gave us first a general introduction to social media, and he really managed to cleraly show that “it is hot!”. 92% of all Swedes have access to Internet, and more than 4 millions are using facebook. In average we update our status on facebook 3 times a day… No wounder, huge “digital footprints” could be created. Search your own digital footprint on 123people.com. Both fascinating and scary…

Theo Martins

Theo Martins, also from K-Street Advisors, discussed how much of a paradigm shift social media actually is, or whether or not it is only a new communication channel (although extremely much faster and powerful). he pretty much came to the conclusion that it is really “only” a new powerful communication channel, but he pointed clearly out that power has been transferred from companies and organizations to “the people”. In traditional communication channels, being one-way communication mostly, the sender has all the power. In social media it is all about interactivity, and hence the balance of power shifts.

After Theo we got the opportunity to listen to Sara Natt och Dag, counselor and author.

Sara Natt och Dag

She gave several very touchy examples of patient blogs. Extremely strong stories about people describing, often in great detail, their entire situation suffering from for instance lethal cancer. You can read some of these stories in Sara’s books (e.g. Sabina och Draken, built upon Sabina’s blog) or follow directly in the blogosphere, e.g. “Jenny Marklunds tankar” and “Lars - resten av livet“. Hearth breaking stories. Some of the discussions today in relation to these patient blogs were on the topic “how should health care professionals act and react to these blogs”. especially interesting question perhaps if it is your patient…

AnnaSara Carnahan from Smittskyddsinstitutet (Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control) gave us an example of their use of social media: Influensakoll.se. A new, rapid and hopefully more powerful way to follow the spread of the flu in Sweden. Read more about the joint EU initiative at epiwork.eu.

Jens Larsson, attorney from the Uppsala County Council gave us several legal perspectives on the use of social media. One of my take-aways from his presentation is that “all the same old laws apply to social media as to all other types of information/communication”. Hence, yet another sign that social media is not a paradigm shift, rather a new set of communication platforms (however faster, more powerful and so on and so forth).

I then talked about some of Pfizer’s initiatives in social media. I gave examples from the Can You Feel My Pain Initiative, from Dizza Tobak and from Ansvarsblogg.se. You know all of these from my previous discussions about socila media here on the blog.

One of the great contributions to the Dizza Tobak initiatrive that I shared with the audience was the “Love this way to die?”. Watch it, you’ll love it! I also took the liberty to show the drop-dead flash-mob initiative from Stockholm Central Station, where we showed that 18 people die from tobacco every single day in Sweden…

Pretty cool to image that the uploaded Dizza Tobak contributions have been viewed almost 380 thousand times altogether! Social media has an impressive reach!

We then listened to Jessica W Sandberg describing the How hetero initiative from Stockholm Pride. The campaign has won several awards, and that is not surprising! Strong and effectful! If you have not seen it, you just have to do the tests! Go to stockholmpride.org/howhetero. Based on my tweets I am apparently 77% hetero, which turns out to be roughly 15% more hetero than my gay brother. How hetero is a beautiful example how you can make your point effectfully using social media!

Theo then gave us some examples on how to handle crisis arising on social media platforms, and of course using social media in the crisis management, and Carl concluded the day by giving some recommendations on “how to get started”. No rocket science really: Think first, then act. Begin with a pilot project, and secure that you have your strategy, your messages, and all of those things that are necessary for all other types of communication activities, ready before starting!

It is not a paradigm shift - it is however some really powerful new communication platforms!

Globe Forum, April 26, at Grand Hotel, Stockholm

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Several exemples lately show that “Pharmaceuticals and the Environment” have become a topic of interest not only for the pharmaceutical industry and the health care sector, but for society as such. I have discussed several times here at the blog the Swedish All Party Committee on Environmental Objectives, and the work on pharmaceuticals in relation to the goal “A Non-Toxic Environment” (see e.g. the blog post from Jan 24). You are also well aware about the environmental initiatives taken in the Swedish National Pharmaceutical Strategy (see e.g Dec 6, 2011). I would presume that you also have heard and read about the MistraPharma-project, a large research investment in the pharmaceutical and environmental field from Mistra, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research. And of course, no one following this field of research and debate missed last year’s series of discussions on “Ekot” on Swedish Radio regarding releases of pharmaceutical substances from manufacturing operations in India (see for instance my blog post from Feb 18, 2011).

Yet another example coming now is that Globe Forum has initiated a “challenge” in the field of pharmaceuticals as part of their process towards the event on April 26 at Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden:

“Hur kan vi använda antibiotika och hormoner klokare, och minska deras påverkan på vattenmiljön?” (in English roughly “How can we use antibiotics and hormones wiser, and reduce their impact on the aquatic environment?”)

Globe Forum looks for new ideas and techniques that can help to decrease the amount of sex hormones and/or antibiotics entering into our waterways. A reduced environmental impact can be the result from changes in consumption patterns or manufacturing operations, better management of unused medicines or more effective waste water treatment. The most exciting innovations will be presented at the Globe Forum 2012, an all-day conference in Stockholm 26 april.

Looks like it could be an interesting discussion on April 26! I hope the challenge will receive a lot of attention and good participation from innovators across different scientific fields. Stay tuned - more to come!

A strong CSR profile could be worth a lot of money…

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A very common discussion topic is whether or not CSR and sustainbility initiatives actually creates value for companies, and in the end of day for shareholders. I have participated in several such discussions and sometimes tried to present arguments (often however pretty week to be honest…) claiming the correlation of good CSR performance and better business performance. But I have also, perhaps not being very consistent, sometimes claimed that perhaps implementation of strong CSR programs do not have to be justified perfectly with better earnings since it is “the right thing to do”. Our colleagues want us to have strong programs, our stakeholders have the same wish. Hence, it feels to be the right choice. Nevertheless, to find reliable financial data supporting the opinion that implementation of CSR and sustainability initiatives creates value (including money) would of course make every CSR manager (and the shareholders of responsible companies) happy!

It is therefore with great appreciation I read Love Lönnroth’s article in Miljöaktuellt online today: “Företag kan tjäna miljarder på starkt social profil” (in English roughly: Companies could make billions on strong social profiles). The article is unfortunately in Swedish which make it difficult for some of you to read it. However, the article builds upon reserach and data presented by Dylan B Minor in his article “The Value of Corporate Citizenship: Saving Shareholders” so you could of course go directly to the source.

It is a very interesting read, and it makes me more convinced in my opinion that CSR initiatives “is the right thing to do”. And bear in mind, these data actually only talks about the money “being saved” by companies with strong CSR profiles in the case of a crises. We may also agree that strong CSR profiles could actually create value by increase earnings, due to e.g. colleague engagement, stronger brands, and green type of incentives on the market. Longing for such data, scientifically robust and sound, to be presented as well!

Discussions on CSR and Social Innovation at Volvo Trucks

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Yesterday was an interesting day! By invitation from Eva Engquist and Hanna Sigsjö from “Mötesplatsen för Social Innovation och Samhällsentreprenörskap“, CSR and sustainability managers from 5 companies, coming from very different industries, gathered at Volvo Trucks in Gothenburg. The topic to discuss was “social innovation” - what it is, the connection to CSR and sustainability initiatives, and how to integrate it successfully in business development strategies. Participating companies were Volvo, IBM, Skanska, pwc, and Pfizer of course. So very interesting to see that regardless of industry branch, similar challenges and opportunities are identified. There are definitely a lot to learn from colleagues in other industries.

I started the presentation of industry cases by discussing social innovation in the pharmaceutical sector. Not surprising to anyone of you who follows my blog, the case included discussions upon wellness and prevention initiatives, such as the ”more-than-medication” initiative. The pharmaceutical industry has a great possibility to not only provide medication for different illnesses but also be a partner to society when it comes to prevent illnesses and create wellness. And I am convinced that this presents a great business opportunity as well. I have discussed this in several blog posts previosuly, so if you want more details please read these posts for instance: October 4, 2011, April 8, 2011, and February 8, 2011.

After my presentation we listened to Andreas Lundgren from IBM. Extremely interesting, and fascinating, to see IBM’s ideas around intelligent information systems and “IT-logistics”. There are so many interesting uses of more intelligent IT-solutions in a sustainable society. Just think of areas such as public transportation and logistics and information to citizens, including patients and carers. And of course the use of such systems in buildings and houses to optimize energy use etc. Which brings us over to the presentation from Skanska, given to us by Eva-Lena Carlén-Johansson and Ulrika Nordeborg. Eva-Lena had the corporate Skanska focus, and Ulrika had the “BoKlok“-fokus. The BoKlok-experience on residential houses, is a perfect example of social innovation in construction industry, but of course similar examples can be found when it comes to roads, bridges, and all other infrastructure solutions in society. We were all in agreement that the concept of “a sustainable society” (including all aspects from “sustainable cities”) is crucial to continue working upon. It is also a perfect example upon issues where the collaboration between industry and public and governmental organizations, such as County Councils and municipalities, is very important for success!

From “infrastructure”, the step is not very far to transports, and hence trucks. Martin Bramsved and Lars Mårtensson from Volvo Trucks gave their views upon sustainable transport and logistics solutions. We had good discussions upon issues such as alternative fuels and upon enhanced transport effeciency. Especially in the latter case, there are of course several interesting connections to “intelligent IT-solutions”. It is clear from discussions such as these, that companies gain a lot from sharing challenges and opportunities with one another!

Yet another area where both intelligent IT-solutions are important, and collaboration between private and public actors are crucial for success, is energy supply. Well functioning energy networks are crucial for today’s society. We got several interesting views upon what can be done, and things that have been done, when it comes to social innovations in the energy area. Katarina Skalare from pwc, has a lot of experiences from E.ON. One obvious area is of course increased energy efficiency in sustainable cities.

Discussions were good, and I am convinced that future discussions within this small network, will help to develop the area of “social innovation and entrepreneurship” and create new collaborations across industry branches. This will build new business opportunities for us, on the same time as we are “doing good for society”.

Many thanks to Eva and Hanna for taking the initiative, and to Martin for hosting the meeting!

CSR - the Responsibility of Enterprises for their Societal Impacts

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I have briefly discussed the European Commission’s new CSR Strategy (which was finally launched on Oct 25 last year) here at the blog previously. See for instance the blog post from Aug 23, 2011 about an Enterprise 2020 Company.

The objectives of European Commission CSR the strategy is:

- To support the European 2020 Strategy for Smart, Sustainable, Inclusive Growth

- To reaffirm the EU’s global influence in CSR

- To guide and coordinate EU Member State policies on CSR and so reduce the risk of divergent approaches that could create additional costs for enterprises operating in more than one Member State.

The Commission gives us a new definition of CSR:

“CSR - The responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”
CSR is a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical and human rights concerns into the operations and core strategy of an enterprise, in close collaboration with their stakeholders.

I have to say that I really like the new definition: “CSR - the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society” and that the process has to be managed in close collaboration with stakeholders. If you have followed my blog over the years you know that I strongly beleive in the great value of a stakeholder dialogue. Some examples of blog posts discussing the value of stakeholder engagement are Nov 24, 2010, Dec 17, 2010, May 24, 2011, and Aug 17, 2011. Whereas the first three examples include the stakeholder perspectives “patients” and “students” among others, the latter example focus our own employees or colleagues. The “internal perspective”, i.e. your own colleagues, is sometimes forgotten in stakeholder dialogues. And that’s a shame. It is extremely important to listen to your colleagues, they usually have a lot of valuable comments to share about the “CSR initiatives”. Both what is found to be good and what is not… And it is important to remember that in the end of the day, a more important ambassador for your CSR program and your core values than an employee is hard to find. Hence, from both the perspective of developing your CSR initiatives as well as from  the “employer branding” perspective you need to work closely with your colleagues.

Perhaps not very surprising to anyone of you I think Pfizer is a very good employer. Pfizer always pays great attention to colleagues’ perspectives, well aligned with the commitment expressed in our so called Blue Book about “Our Colleagues”: Colleagues are Pfizer’s greatest asset, and Pfizer is committed to treating all employees and applicants with fairness and respect. We believe in cooperation, teamwork, and trust.

And let me take the opportunity to say thanks for the support from Pfizer and from all great colleagues through the tough times I have experienced since my mother passed away in January. It has been tough from time to time, and then it is extremely important that you have a supporting and understanding employer. Thanks! My mom’s funeral was yesterday and if you want, you could see and listen to me and my older brother Anders playing “Min levnadsafton” and “Prästpolska” at the funeral on YouTube (uploaded by my younger brother Christer).