PHL biopharmaceutical leaders advance cultural diversity for better health, innovation, and people advancement – BusinessMirror

The United Nations goals on good health and well-being, poverty reduction, gender equality, and economic growth can be best achieved by harnessing the potential of the world’s diverse cultures.

Each year, the UN celebrates the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development to emphasize the importance of cultural diversity and its important role in coming closer to the global political ambition of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The UN said that cultural diversity is an asset and a driving force for development. The global organization of nations therefore integrates and supports sustainable systems of governance for culture.

Recognizing the value of people and culture in attaining development on various fronts, the global biopharmaceutical industry is also leading the establishment of mechanisms to promote and celebrate diversity. Biopharmaceutical leaders, who are also trustees of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) and its corporate social responsibility arm, the PHAPCares Foundation, fully appreciate the crucial contributions of cultural diversity to realize better health for the people and the advancement of Filipinos employed in the biopharmaceutical sector.

Merck Managing Director Henry Wilson experienced and lived cultural diversity when his company, with headquarters in Germany, assigned him to work in countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Singapore, and now the Philippines.

“Diversity of any kind is no longer negotiable for any company. The data around this is clear that decisions taken using diverse views and opinions are better and this will make companies more effective,” said Wilson.

As evidence of the company’s commitment to diversity, Merck has named Belen Garijo as Chair of the Executive Board and CEO. Wilson said that the CEO is the first woman to solely lead a Deutscher Aktien Index (DAX) 30-listed company, and she continues to be a huge driving force behind Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives. The DAX 30 Index, is a stock market index that consists of the 30 largest German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Takeda Country Manager Loreann Villanueva explained that the company culture encourages and appreciates the differences of their people. With headquarters in culturally-rich Japan, she said that Takeda continues to thrive because of people’s diversity.

“As a values-based organization, we strive to have a workforce as diverse as the communities and patients we serve. We believe that every employee should have equitable opportunities to develop and grow based on merit,” she said.

Villanueva explained that Takeda continues to embrace and celebrate their differences, respecting and valuing each other’s race, ethnicity, age, gender, gender identity, nationality, social origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, and other individual characteristics.

Meanwhile, Otsuka President and General Manager Ken Saito said that diversity and creativity will be important for medical innovation to thrive, and for the organization to effectively respond to the jungle of uncertainties that may lie ahead.

Saito, whose company’s corporate philosophy is “Otsuka-people creating new products for better health worldwide”, said that a plantation business model characterized by uniformity would only work in times of certainties but where innovation will never happen.

“We need innovation to address unmet medical needs, where cultural diversity is necessary to think outside the conventional framework.  During uncertainties, we are not sure what will change and what will happen. We have to think differently to survive uncertainties,” said Saito.

Building cultural diversity to drive inclusion, innovation, and better health

Villanueva took pride in being with Takeda which now has a greater global reach spanning 80 countries and regions and where over 30 languages and dialects are spoken. She said that this expanded global presence allowed for broader diversity in their organization while being guided by their core values of integrity, fairness, honesty, and perseverance to create the best possible workplace for all. 

“In addition to training and encouraging employees to demonstrate inclusive behaviors – and hold others accountable to do the same – we are focused on how we can each have the confidence, the language, and a toolkit of actions to disrupt bias in our systems and processes, including how we hire, develop, evaluate and promote,” Villanueva said.

She also said that their company’s commitment to diversity is embedded in their corporate culture and reflected in key initiatives like the Takeda Leadership Program, a program that aims to empower and elevate their people by offering transformative opportunities for professional and personal growth.

“Takeda’s north star in DE&I efforts is health equity. Every action we take to grow DE&I internally drives a health equity outcome. This is a very important organizational mindset as we collectively aim to cater to underserved patients and to address the unequal access to medicines and healthcare services in countries like the Philippines,” said Villanueva.

Saito, for his part, said that Otsuka encourages creativity through the exchange of ideas within the company. It is not surprising for Otsuka to employ such a culture since the mission of its Human Resource Development Institute is to foster the development of creative people who can break the mold of conventional thinking and contribute to the company’s ongoing success. The said Institute houses three monuments that embody the Otsuka value of creativity, which is at the heart of its corporate philosophy. One of these monuments is the giant tomato tree grown through the use of hydroponics, making it a symbol of employing unconventional new ideas to draw out potential.

“The first thing is to have a culture that allows differences in ideas within the company. Next is the ability to execute organizationally. I feel that it is not easy to understand each other amid conflicting opinions within the company. However, I came to think that it was necessary for organizational execution to talk about Otsuka Pharmaceutical products with enthusiasm, create new value and share it with others,”  Saito said.

He also believed that differences due to diversity make it possible to recognize each other as business partners through communication and shared goals.

Merck’s diversity commitment, meanwhile, is evidenced by its many initiatives such as women in leadership, their Rainbow network, and the promotion of diverse talent pools, especially leaders from Asia.

Wilson shared that these initiatives adopt a tone from the top where leaders are expected to lead from the front when it comes to diversity. He said that Merck Philippines, for example,  had an opportunity to make its policies more inclusive, taking concrete steps to ensure that its internal policy promotes equity.

In keeping with its campaign for DE&I, Merck is an active member of the Healthcare Business Women’s Association and has worked on an initiative called Healthy Women, Healthy Economies. Within this initiative, Merck has engaged in a number of global efforts like “Embracing Carers” which recognizes that caregivers are a critical element of the healthcare continuum.

“At Merck, we see the enduring obstacles that women must overcome to achieve their full potential and the impact that it has on societies around the world,” Mr. Wilson said  referring to their several initiatives which include Embracing Carers and Merck More than a Mother Campaign as enablers.

Bringing out the best in cultural diversity to tackle the impact of the pandemic

Cultural diversity is one which promotes appreciation about other countries. Mr. Saito said that through the exchange of information and communication, he could learn more about the Philippine culture through his Filipino colleagues and vice versa.

Asked about Japanese traits that are helpful during the pandemic, he responded by saying that it was the discipline of finding unity in action.

“Japanese people have been taught how to act collectively since kindergarten, and I think it was good that they were prepared to follow the rules even during the pandemic,” said Mr. Saito.

While the pandemic has magnified the challenges in the country’s healthcare system, Villanueva said that it had brought to life the Filipino characteristics of resilience, perseverance, and Bayanihan. One of the reasons for adopting these Filipino traits during the pandemic is due to the company’s strong commitment to bringing medicines to patients in their time of need.

“We doubled our efforts to bring awareness to our access programs and allow patients to continue and complete their treatment during the pandemic. For these, I am very honored to have led a team who demonstrated innovative ways to provide education to healthcare practitioners and address gaps in screening, diagnostics, and patient care support, at a time when challenges seemed insurmountable,” said Villanueva.

Wilson, on the hand, said British and Filipinos share some common characteristics namely being family-oriented and finding reasons to laugh even during difficult times.

“We love to laugh and I feel it is important that I don’t take myself too seriously. We do very serious work and support many patients here in the Philippines and all across the world, but it is important that we love what we do and have fun while we do it. This has also helped to have some stress relief during the pandemic as well as face changes to the way we work, and sometimes we come across funny situations or can also have an opportunity to bring our home life closer to our work life,” said Wilson.

He even shared that his four-year-old son has accidentally joined many of his work-related video calls.

Diversity in advocacy towards better leadership and people advancement

Wilson said that he will continue to champion DE&I in his organization and encourages everyone to also do the same.

“We often hear about big initiatives that happen, but we should remember that sometimes the most important things we do to promote DE&I are in the small everyday things. It can be about the choice of words we use when we speak to people, in how we observe interactions and decide to act if we see an opportunity to do something positive, or in how we develop talent. I feel that often these small things can be more powerful and more authentic,” he said.

Saito, for his part, recognized the value of setting a leadership by example to guide their people and realize their corporate philosophy and mission. 

“In order to achieve the goals of the company, I would like to learn every day so that I can set an example for employees as one of the role models in management,” Saito said.

Villanueva said that in her role, she will persist to find opportunities for their people to grow and advance in their careers.

“The Filipino talent is well positioned to take opportunities outside the local operating company, and we should aim to aggressively promote our capabilities that cater to innovation, leadership, and performance delivery.  We are working towards this in by putting in place accelerated talent development programs and opportunities to explore other roles and/or assignments to expand their learning and growth,” said Villanueva.

Image credits: PHAP