Can Roche stay ahead of the competition in the next 125 years?
Pharma giant Roche believes, its ability to reinvent itself through innovation was behind its success. Business Standard's Sohini Das and Nivedita Mookerji spoke to the members of its founding family
Sohini DasNivedita Mookerji New Delhi
 "André Hoffmann (right), vice-chairman, Roche Holding, and Jo?rg Duschmale?, member of the board")
André Hoffmann (right), vice-chairman, Roche Holding, and Jörg Duschmalé, member of the board
Q: How would you describe the 125-year journey of Roche in terms of the learning and mistakes?
[Hoffman]
>Roche Holding AG is one of the oldest healthcare companies in the world
>Made more goods than mistakes in the past 125 years
Q: What do the next 125 years look like?
[Hoffman]
>The next 125 years look more challenging than the past 125 years
>Front winds are stronger than they were in the past
[Duschmale]
>Look back at 125 years to see how the company re-invented itself and stayed relevant, while the world around it changed dramatically
Q: How do you think you are able to separate ownership and executing business efficiently?
[Hoffman]
>Fourth and fifth generation are in the business now
>The idea that ownership is an active role takes a while to demonstrate and put into practice
>Role of an owner is not the same as that of a manager
>A manager needs to go into the detail of the presentation of strategy
>Owner, in a family ownership, needs to be able to dispose and organise things in the long term
>Owner needs to have an understanding of the business, to be able to take the big strategy direction for the company
Q: What kind of strategic changes have you initiated after the pandemic, and what do they mean for India?
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[Hoffman]
>Strategies didn’t change only because the outside conditions changed
>Working on a strategy with one side on diagnostics, and the other side on pharmaceuticals
>Diagnostics has demonstrated its value in dealing with public health during the pandemic
>Operating principal of the company: Go where science takes you
>Strategic vision is important, but at times we need to do a reality check
Q: What are your thoughts on the role of India during Covid19?
[Duschmalé]
>Vaccination programme that India managed to put together is stunning
[Hoffmann]
>Want to see what a country of 1.4 billion people is spectacularly managing the vaccination programme
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First Published: Sep 22 2022 | 7:00 AM IST
