A Q&A With Christi Shaw, U.S. Country Head, President of Novartis Corporation & President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Luke Visconti: How did Novartis’ diversity effort change the culture of the company?
Christi Shaw: You know, diversity and inclusion are really ingrained in the culture of our U.S. business. When I came on board four-and-a-half years ago, I was hired to lead the North America Oncology Business for Novartis—and the company’s commitment to D&I was one of the things that compelled me to join. And, if you fast forward—and look at where we started and where we’ve come during that time—it’s really been a great journey. We’ve accomplished a lot pretty quickly.
Elements of D&I have always been connected to our Values and Behaviors, which play a role in how we measure performance. This direct link is unique among our industry peers. We believe that how we do things is as important as what we do—so things like integrity, mutual respect, even innovation drive our business performance. Recently, we’ve taken things even further and made a big shift—so that D&I is linked not only to our Values and Behaviors, but is also part of our performance objectives. As a result, D&I is helping to move the needle on key aspects of our business—from new-product development, to clinical-trial diversity, to commercialization and marketing efforts.
