Abstract
Sanofi Aventis is a company operating in the pharmaceutical industry. Created in 2004 from the merger of two European companies, Sanofi Aventis is today the leader in Europe, and is part of the top 5 global companies in its sector.
Sanofi Aventis's self-given mission in the pharmaceutical industry consists in providing a wide portfolio of medicines, in accordance with new pathologies and the behaviors of occidental populations by (increasing age, risky behaviors such as obesity…)
-Developing innovative medicines and answering to changing human needs
-Producing and retailing those medicines.
Sanofi Aventis's product portfolio is based on 7 main therapeutic areas, and several other activities such as generic medicines.
Key information
Key-figures
In term of sales, this French company represented a 27.6 billion € turnover in 2008, and hired nearly 100.000 employees.
b.Products positioning
The activities of company are divided into 7 Strategic activities, and the firm has a strong R&D culture (Research represented more than 17% of turnover of Sanofi Aventis 2008 Budget).
•Central nervous System
•Thrombosis
•Cardio-vascular diseases
•Internal Medicine
•Oncology
•Metabolic diseases
•Vaccination
In term of positioning, Sanofi Aventis retails high added-value products. The new R&D objectives are to progress, on the one hand, for new developed countries diseases (obesity, diabetes, etc.), and on the other hand for new demographic diseases in emerging countries (malaria, Yellow Flu, etc.)
Beyond those traditional activities, the company is currently entering new markets. For example, this year, the company bought Zentiva , a Czech generic producer, with the double objective of producing its own medicine as generics, and targeting new developing countries.
2009 was also the year when Sanofi Aventis began its development on new markets: OTC “over-the-counter” markets, and animal medicines.
c.A short view of Sanofi's corporate culture
Originally, Sanofi Aventis was composed of two main cultures: French and German. However, the company also shares worldwide cultures as the company is present in more than 100 countries all over the world. Anglo-Saxon culture also remains very present in the group, as the American mentality dominates the majority of companies in this domain.
The corporate values of Sanofi Aventis are based on Human relationships, solidarity, progression of humanity, and Ethics. Generally, the staff of Sanofi Aventis is aware of that, and most of the time, it shares those values.
To conclude, the corporate culture of the firm is to offer its employees the possibilities to realize themselves within their work, and the company appears to be a leading company in term of quality of work and motivation in France.
