Novo Nordisk Gives a Real-life Perspective to Graduates

Novo Nordisk goes the extra mile to instil a sense of social responsibility in its employees. It runs a two-year graduate program that underscores the fact that working for a socially responsible pharmaceutical company is a lot more than just selling medicine.

Eleven people from Novo Nordisk recently completed its graduate program by spending one week on a "Learning Journey" to Kenya. It helped them better understand diabetes and the challenges involved in the accessibility and affordability of treatment.

Lise Munch-Hansen, a Novo Nordisk graduate says: "It has given me a completely different perspective on what it is I'm doing for a living."

The journey involved visits to various hospitals, diabetes patients associations and the Ministry of Health. The graduates also met other Novo Nordisk colleagues in Kenya where they learned about the company's "Base of the Pyramid" project, which aims at making insulin more accessible and affordable in Kenya.

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Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.