The Porter Prize 2016 was awarded to ten enterprises in nine different categories in an event organized by Institute for Competitiveness on September 30, 2016. Godrej Consumer Products Limited and Abbott India shared the Porter Prize for Creating Shared Value. Sunil Kataria, Business Head of Godrej Consumer Products for the SAARC region, and Bhasker Iyer, CEO of Abbott India, received the awards on behalf of their respective companies.
Godrej won the award for their societal contribution with the “Good and Green” range of products which aim to ensure 25% reduction in energy consumption by 2020, achieve zero waste and carbon neutrality. As a part of this initiative, the company is re-conceiving its products to achieve these goals.
One of their unique product innovations has been an effective tool to combat mosquito-borne diseases, which are a serious health issue in India. The market for mosquito repellents is largely driven by liquid vaporizer machines, which require electricity, and coils, which produce harmful smoke. Godrej introduced “Fast Card”, which produces less smoke, is environmental friendly, costs much less, and does not require electricity. With their introduction, there has been a 7% increase in the number of households using Godrej’s household insecticides with its rural penetration reaching 34%. Commenting on the achievement, Sunil Kataria said “We are proud of two things– shared value and innovation. It is heartening to see that what we have done in innovation which has led to shared value impact and award.”
Abbott was awarded the Prize in recognition of its tireless efforts on building a strong connect with patients and their caregivers. Over the years, the company has made consistent efforts towards enabling better awareness through patient engagement activities and education initiatives.
At the forefront have been its campaigns around thyroid and women’s health, which have reached a million people and 84,000 women respectively. Around 1 in 10 urban Indian suffers from thyroid and despite its prevalence, low awareness is a serious problem. So, it is no wonder that Abbott’s campaigns have catapulted the company’s thyroid drug into the top spot for the treatment of the disease. Meanwhile, Abbott’s campaigns targeting women having a threat of miscarriage with life kits carrying Duphaston have had similar results for the drug. The company also partners with healthcare professionals by providing them with critical insights about the new developments in the medical world. It has reached out to over 200,000 doctors across India through various events and training camps. This has also been done through the company’s e-learning program, Knowledge Genie. Apart from this continuous engagement with patients and doctors alike, Abbott has maintained market leadership with a comprehensive portfolio of over 480 products in 9 key therapeutic areas with its intensive focus on innovation and R&D. The pharmaceutical giant has taken a holistic approach towards the development of all stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry, which has ensured the company’s success in no small way. On receiving the award, Bhasker Iyer said, “We at Abbott are extremely proud of Shared Value Initiative. We are convinced that this will benefit all our stakeholders. We are extremely honored.”
Both companies have shown an exemplary approach towards creating shared value by redefining products and markets and creating collaborative efforts to ensure societal progress along with economic successes.
