Corporate social responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry : between trend and necessity

Despite abundant references in the literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) and on the specific topic of ethics within the pharmaceutical sector, very little is provided on the general theme of Corporate Social Responsibility and the pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this thesis was therefore to investigate CSR practices and reporting within the global pharmaceutical sector. Secondary research was carried out on the top 65 global pharmaceutical companies. Their CSR activities and reporting were recorded and analyzed. Results indicated that the pharmaceutical industry's CSR practices and reporting follow trends, models and theories observed in other industries and described in the literature. Further to demonstrating that most companies within the industry practice and report on CSR, the research proved that the size of the company, its country of origin, as well as the type of products manufactured (prescription medicine, generics, biopharmaceuticals) all influence the nature of the pharmaceutical company's CSR approach.