This means having systems in place for identifying the risks and opportunities associated with our corporate responsibility and the frameworks for managing these, monitoring progress against our objectives, and ensuring compliance with all relevant policies and standards.  

Responsibilities and accountabilities
The AstraZeneca Board owns our CR strategy and we have a Non-Executive Director with responsibility for overseeing implementation of that strategy within the Company. Our Senior Executive Team and other senior managers are accountable for CR management within their areas, based on the global framework but taking account of national, functional and site issues and priorities. Individually, everyone at AstraZeneca has a responsibility to integrate CR considerations into their day-to-day decision-making, actions and behaviours.

During 2007, we strengthened our CR leadership and governance with the establishment of a new function, Group Public Affairs, which is leading the development of our strategic approach and aligning the tactical delivery. The new group works closely with Global Compliance and with senior business and functional leaders across AstraZeneca to ensure that we have appropriate systems in place for identifying the risks and opportunities associated with our corporate responsibility, together with effective frameworks for managing them, monitoring progress against our objectives and ensuring compliance with all relevant policies and standards.

To eliminate overlapping agendas and ensure clear accountabilities, we also made a number of changes to our governance committee structure in 2007. To further promote the integration of risk management into existing business management structures, the central Risk Advisory Group was dissolved during 2007. Key risks are included in each business area’s quarterly performance report and the Senior Executive Team focus on agreeing the most significant risks affecting AstraZeneca and the industry. Each business area is required to formally review their key risks annually and both the Audit Committee and the Board review the Company’s risk profiles annually.

We also established a cross-functional, cross-territorial Issues Management Council (IMC), which monitors our external environment for new and emerging issues relating to our business that affect or concern our stakeholders. This team then works with the people who own the issues internally to agree appropriate actions, timelines and, where possible, key performance indicators. The Vice President, Public Affairs chairs the IMC and is also a member of the Global Compliance Committee to ensure that any reputational risk is fully captured at the appropriate level.

These developments during 2007 strengthened our approach to integrating CR into our business management and governance frameworks and in so doing, eliminated the need for a Global CR Committee, which was discontinued during the year. Having served as a forum for developing the frameworks we needed for integrating CR across the business, we believe that the elimination of the Committee will further enhance line manager ownership and accountability.

Integration at all levels
CR objectives are included in our Senior Executive Team Business Performance Management (BPM) framework. The targets and deliverables associated with these high level objectives are integrated into the relevant functional BPM framework and appropriately included in individual performance objectives. Progress against the objectives at all levels is reviewed throughout the year, including a quarterly review of the SET scorecard by the AstraZeneca Board.

In line with our commitment to leadership by example, we continue to integrate CR into our leadership development programmes and in 2007, some 2,364 of our leaders were involved in such programmes. The increase over 2006 (490) is due to both an increase in the number of programmes that included CR and to improved data collection mechanisms.

We have national CR governance groups and management frameworks in place in the US, the UK and Sweden, where around 50% of our employees are located. Elsewhere in the world, CR continues to be integrated into leadership team agendas and interpreted at a local level. You can read about our progress in CR integration in our markets in the local implementation section.

We are making progress, but for a company the size and scope of AstraZeneca, operating within an ever-changing business environment, there will always be work to do to ensure that we consistently and appropriately manage the CR risks and opportunities associated with our business activities.

Following the recent changes to our management and governance structures, we are reviewing the way in which we will monitor our global activity going forward. Our commitment to GRI reporting will also help to inform this process.

The content of this page was externally assured by Bureau Veritas, February 2008