Sustainability
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Company and its subsidiaries have recognized the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Believing that CSR will lead to sustainable development, the Management has formulated business policies that honor responsibility towards society, the environment and stakeholders based on eight following principles:
The Company’s and its subsidiaries’ business ethics prescribe legal compliance, rule out conflict of interest, uphold confidentiality, and protect inside information. These ethics also govern treatments of customers, consumers, competitors, suppliers and employees; procurement; responsibility to society and community; internal control and internal audit; the acceptance and giving of assets or other benefits; safety, health and environment; intellectual property; and computer-system usage. The Company and its subsidiaries have required all its new employees to receive training during their orientation and all its current employees to take refresher courses so as to ensure that they are always aware of and understand the ethics. The Company and its subsidiaries have also applied ethics to their system evaluations so as to constantly improve their systems. In addition, the Company and its subsidiaries have promoted ethics across their organizations via various media and activities to ensure employees can efficiently apply ethics to business operations and work.
The Company and its subsidiaries have a policy to conduct their businesses in line with laws and in a way that delivers benefits to the public. They therefore have supported their employees in working ethically and being good citizens. Suppliers are also encouraged to embrace transparency. To promote peaceful society, the Company and its subsidiaries have issued a key policy to combat corruption and bribery. As assurances of tangible and adequate implementation of the anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies, the Company’s Board of Directors at its meeting No. 5/2020 on 13 November 2020 approved the following “anti-corruption guideline”:
- Directors, executives and employees shall refrain from corrupt actions, direct or otherwise. Such actions may be related but not restricted to making an offer/promise, asking or demanding benefits, accepting benefits, giving benefits, soliciting illegal activities, destroying trust, and engaging in corrupt behaviors for their own or others’ benefits.
- Directors, executives, and employees shall comply with anti-corruption policies/measures as well as Thailand’s anti-corruption laws. Those violating the policies shall face disciplinary and legal actions, depending on the nature of their offences.
- Directors, executives and employees shall have the duty to monitor and prevent corruption at the Company and its subsidiaries. In events that they detect corruption or actions that may lead to corruption, they must immediately report the incidents to their supervisors or submit information via channels prepared by the Company and its subsidiaries.
- The Company and its subsidiaries shall keep confidential the information on whistleblowers. Also, the Company and its subsidiaries shall protect whistleblowers who have a good intention as well as those refusing to engage in corrupt practices. They shall not face adverse impacts from their whistleblowing.
- The Company and its subsidiaries shall prepare policies and guidelines against all forms of corruption that may possibly materialize in the forms of political favors, donations, sponsorships, gifts and reception expenses. In addition, the Company and its subsidiaries shall implement mechanisms to supervise such activities to ensure transparency and compliance with laws and prevent unjust or inappropriate nepotism.
- The Company and its subsidiaries shall prepare adequate and appropriate internal control to guard against corruption and operations that are not in line with good corporate governance.
- The Company and its subsidiaries shall ensure appropriate corruption-risk assessments and anti-corruption measures.
- The Company and its subsidiaries shall prepare channels to communicate with employees and stakeholders about anti-corruption policies, and designate channels to accept tip-off, complaints, and feedback so that the Company and its subsidiaries can launch investigations or make improvements.
- The Company and its subsidiaries shall develop human resource management system, and promote anti-corruption value and culture through communications and promotion of knowledge and awareness of their anti-corruption policies and business-ethics guideline.
- The Company and its subsidiaries shall make procurements transparently in compliance with laws, regulations, and their own guidelines. Furthermore, the Company and its subsidiaries shall always keep procurements in check.
The Company and its subsidiaries have a policy to comply with applicable laws and regulations related to employees, and to uphold international human-rights principles. Therefore, they shall not discriminate employees on the basis of place of birth, race, sex, age, complexion, religion, disabilities, financial status, family background, alma mater, or any status that is not directly to work. The Company and its subsidiaries, moreover, honor individualism and human dignity.
The Company and its subsidiaries are aware that every employee is their most valuable resource and their success factor during their pursuit of their goals. Guided by such awareness, the Company and its subsidiaries have ensured fair labor practices via the followings
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Remuneration Management
The Company and its subsidiaries have awarded remuneration and welfare with aim to motivate employees to work to the fullest of their abilities. Also, the Company and its subsidiaries have ensured fairness, complied with laws, and set the same standard across their operations. Assessments and analyses are conducted with up-to-date indicators so that employees’ remuneration is commensurate with their job responsibilities and appropriate in the industry. Their pay and welfare are at the industry level – in other words equal to or competitive enough when compared with what other companies in the same industry have offered.
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Employee Development
The Company and its subsidiaries have accorded importance to the development of knowledge, abilities, and management skills among their employees. Guided by such focus, they have arranged training, seminars, and educational trips for employees. Moreover, they are committed to formulating human-resource-development framework to increase the capabilities of employees at all levels on a continued basis.
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Employment, Work and Career Advancement
The Company and its subsidiaries have formulated clear guidelines to set standard practices and to fully comply with laws. Opportunities are offered to all without discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, hometown, age, disabilities, economic or social status, or educational qualifications.
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Safety, Health and Environment
With caring attention to the lives and health of all employees, the Company and its subsidiaries have accorded importance to safety and work-environment management.
The Company and its subsidiaries have attached importance to responsibility to customers. They therefore have embraced the following guideline:
- Delivering quality products/services that meet customers’ expectations at a fair price.
- Giving accurate, adequate and timely product information to customers, without any exaggeration that could mislead customers about the quality of products/services.
- Communicating with customers politely, efficiently and trustworthily with systems laid down to address (if any) complaint.
- Safeguarding customer information, which shall not be used illegitimately by the Company or its subsidiaries or any related party.
The Company and its subsidiaries have paid serious attention to not just social responsibility but also environmental care. They therefore have ensured that their operations strictly comply with environmental laws. For the purpose of protecting the environment, the Company and its subsidiaries have embraced the following guideline:
- Curbing plastic-bag usage by refraining from giving free plastic bags to customers.
- Curbing paper-box usage by delivering products to branches in reusable boxes.
- Curbing paper usage by electronically preparing documents on ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and sending emails in stead of letters.
- Curbing petrol consumption related to meetings by arranging Zoom meetings instead.
- Curbing electricity consumption by turning off lights and air conditioners at offices during lunch breaks.
Currently, the Company and its subsidiaries have not yet compiled information on greenhouse-gas emissions because not only that their operations have no significant emissions but they also embrace aforementioned guidelines. The Company’s Board of Directors, however, assigned the chief executive officer to consider any review of carbon-footprint assessments of the Company and its subsidiaries. In an event that business operations the Company and its subsidiaries have any significant change in regard to greenhouse-gas emissions, a review may be ordered where appropriate.
The Company and its subsidiaries are aware that a community or society with sustainable development is crucial to their businesses and presents a favorable factor. The Company and its subsidiaries have therefore conducted the following activities
Public Health : Company and its subsidiaries have donated medicines to hospitals and foundations in support of their operations as follows:
- The Company and its subsidiaries have donated medicines to Krob Krua Kao 3 Foundation’s "Leftover Medicines Can Extend Lives" project so that they can be forwarded to Tak-based Umphang Hospital for the care of impoverished patients.
- The Company and its subsidiaries have donated medicine boxes to the Pharmaceutical System Research and Development Foundation for distribution to schools in three southern border provinces under the "Medicine Boxes for Kids in Three Southernmost Provinces" in support of treatments for children and people in the Deep South.
- During COVID-19 outbreak, the Company and its subsidiaries have extended help to society by joining the “Help!” project that was initiated by Doctor A to Z Company Limited, which operates its business via telemedicine application ‘Doctor A to Z’. Under this initiative, more than 400 doctors and over 20 leading companies from various industries have monitored and provided healthcare to patients. Three meals have been provided to patients each day throughout their 14-day monitoring period, with one set of necessary medicines and medical supplies provided for the whole period per patient. If patients are classified as having high risks of developing severe and even fatal symptoms, they shall be registered in 1422 system for hospitalization priority. The initiative has also provided ambulances for necessary patient transportation. In all, the Company and its subsidiaries have donated 1,000 bottles of Besuto Mouth Spray that were parts of necessary medicine-and-medical-supplies sets.
Education : The Company and its subsidiaries have provided educational support and financial donations to the country’s educational sector as follows
- The Company and its subsidiaries have provided internship places to pharmaceutical-sciences students in support of the development of human resources in pharmaceutical field. Even though students cannot physically intern at the branches of the Company and its subsidiaries during COVID-19 situation, they are offered case studies for online internships. Pharmaceutical-sciences students have conducted researches on the case studies, made presentations and exchanged opinions with pharmaceutical staff of the Group of Companies via Zoom meetings;
- The Company and its subsidiaries have collaborated with the Education for Development Fund in placing donation boxes at all their pharmacies so as to raise fund for Under the Same Sky scholarships, which are granted to children orphaned by Deep-South unrest.
- The Company and its subsidiaries have implemented projects dispatching pharmacists to educational institutes where they provide knowledge of how to use medicines properly.
Buddhism : The Company and its subsidiaries have donated money to temples in support of Buddhism.
The Company and its subsidiaries have supported the development innovations both internally and externally, with many collaborations with other organizations. The development hereby refers to new ways of getting things done or changes in regard to ideas and manufacturing for added value. The ultimate goal of developing innovations is to perpetuate positive changes or better changes and increased productivity for optimal public benefits.