Name: Fortune Global 500 Summit: A conversation with Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky
Uploaded: 2021-10-18
Duration: 9 min 44 s
Description: Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky sits down with Fortune CEO Alan Murray at the Fortune Global 500 Summit.

Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky sits down with Fortune CEO Alan Murray at the Fortune Global 500 Summit.

Fortune Global 500 Summit: A conversation with Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky

International

A conversation with Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky

I'm joined now by Alex Gorsky, the Ceo of johnson and johnson Alex, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. Alan it's great to be here and it's always a pleasure to speak with you. So the pandemic changed everything changed every company. I haven't talked to a company that wasn't profoundly changed by the experience of the last 18 months, but you were at the center of it, it had to change Johnson and Johnson in bigger, more profound ways. How is the company different because of the experience? Well, alan, never could I have imagined nearly a decade ago and I first stepped into this role that We at Johnson and Johnson or me personally would be going through this kind of an experience with COVID-19. Uh, and I couldn't be more proud of the way that the organizations responded and made it a major difference. But look, I I think there are so many aspects of our organization, of our business that have changed. I think first and foremost, it really reinforced getting involved with something you really care about. Uh, I mean, uh, the number one commitment in our credo is for patients and consumers that make sure we're taking care of him and to watch the organization come alive around that Cause very early on in this pandemic, uh, was quite remarkable. I think that's also changed the speed, the agility that we were able to demonstrate. Even a large, complex organizations like ours, secondly, the amount of partnering I saw partnering with the FDA with competitors that we would normally be competing with in the marketplace is changing information real time all in an effort to accelerate the discovery the development the production of the vaccines And being able to do this all in a virtual environment where people were working remotely, yet literally 24/7 to bring all that together. And I think those are things that are going to uh, characterize us for really decades to come. Really, you think the changes will last in some form for decades to come. Absolutely. We're never going to be the same. Alan. And it's certainly my hope that the way we've seen science accelerated that again, the way that we've been able to accelerate some of the development opportunities, the way that we work that were more effective and more efficient. I think these are very fundamental. And I might even say secular that could have a dramatic impact in the future. Yeah. Well, the vaccine development was really extraordinary. But you know, we, as you know better than I do. Uh, more than half the world still hasn't been vaccinated. What what's your prognosis are we going to get there over the course of the next year, year and a half. I am. I'm optimistic. Uh, you know, I always call myself a realistic optimist and in this case we knew from the very beginning that while the science, the chemistry, uh, the engineering was going to be challenging in discovering and developing these vaccines that actually getting those shots and arms was also going to be daunting think about never in world history, and we try to vaccinate more than seven billion people in this kind of a time frame, but I'm really pleased to see the progress. I I think if you add up the total number of vaccines that we produced by the manufacturers in the coming year, we'll be approaching enough vaccines to get the world vaccinated. But it's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take international collaboration, cooperation. It's going to take health care systems, you know, working across boundaries with industry, you know, all to make that happen. But again, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be making a big difference in a big dent in that in 2022 Alex before the pandemic. And it seems like such a long time ago, it's almost amazing to say those words, but before the pandemic, you led the effort at the business roundtable to change the statement of corporate purpose. And it's gotten a lot of attention since then, a movement to what people now refer to as stakeholder capitalism in your mind. How important was that? And what was the change that it heralded? Well, I wish I could take credit for the what I would say, pressure and timing of that, and, you know, I couldn't be more proud of working with my colleagues across the business roundtable, uh leading the 200 largest companies, certainly in the United States, let alone around the world. Uh in in evolving our statement of purpose to really reflect what I think Ceos uh the way that they really think about their business, especially if you consider operating in a sustainable long term manner to be successful. And um and when we made that statement, of course, there were some critics on one side that would say, well you haven't gone far enough, we had others on the other side that would say oh my gosh, you've gone too far. Uh And and I think what we tried to do was demonstrate that yes, there are multiple stakeholders that we have to think about. Uh again, if we're truly going to be successful in the long term and in doing that just before the pandemic, I think really provided us a platform when facing this kind of a circumstance to demonstrate. Hey, what are we going to do for our customers? The patients and consumers are part who are depending on our employees. We all learn that if we weren't keeping our employees safe and giving them the right environment, we just couldn't fulfill our missions. How are we thinking about the broader communities, We saw that and so many different ways. So I think it really provided a great opportunities for companies to lean in and to demonstrate exactly what we were talking about with the change in the purpose of a corporation. One of the themes of this event in Hangzhou is how do you build companies that last for a century, 100 year, cos I was struck by the fact that most of the ceos who were part of that effort that you engaged in at the business roundtable. Uh We're from 100 year old companies, uh Ginny Rometty from IBM, Jamie Diamond from jp morgan mary Barra, from GM And of course, johnson and johnson has been around 100 and 35 years now. What in your view, uh you obviously weren't ceo the entire time, but but you've you've seen the history and the culture, what in your view enables a company to last for over 100 years. Look, I've been incredibly fortunate to, For the better part of the majority of my career to be right here at Johnson and Johnson with a long history in our credo, uh that's existed from almost 80 years of having a very explicit commitment to these multiple stakeholders and I think by far the most important is creating a sense of purpose and what we're doing at work. You know, when people feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves as individuals, but again, they're making a difference for customers, for their colleagues, for the communities where they work and their shareholders. I think that's what truly builds that long term pathway and really enables a company to be successful over decades. Yeah, So the two things are closely related in your view, how you view stakeholders and how you build a company for the long term. Absolutely. You know, if if you create a transactional environment, you might get a short bump or, you know, be able to do something that's good for the next month, the next quarter, or maybe even the next year. But if you're going to do that for years for decades, uh I think that only comes about when you have a very holistic approach to managing these various stakeholders in a thoughtful and as I like to say in and and way it's not an either or, but it's an and and Alex, we're here in in Hangzhou uh china and as you know, as well as anyone, there's a fair amount of tension between the US and china these days, when it comes to business relationships and commercial relationships, how do you see the future of the U. S. And china? Well, look, it's my hope that business actually provides a platform to demonstrate how, how countries, how different systems can collaborate and work together in the best interests of everyone. You know, we all know that there's a there's a there's a there's a pool of the politics de jure uh that, you know, our natural phenomena that we deal with each and every day, but I think when when all of us around those kind of principles that I just talked about and this is between the United States and china and we really think about the billions of people that customers that we represent when we think about our employees working uh you know, not only across the ocean, but transferring knowledge and capabilities. When we think about all the different communities that depend on us and let alone the value that's being created. I'd like to think that that could inspire others, be again governments and other groups to be able to uh collaborate and partner in the same way. A final quick question or a quick piece of advice from you, I guess you you're speaking to an audience filled with executives who want to do what johnson and johnson has done build 100 year companies. What's your biggest piece of advice to them? Well, my biggest piece of advice conditions and things that uh I mentioned earlier is you know, don't don't ever underestimate the impact you as a leader can have. You know, it's frequently it's not the big accomplishments uh that you have necessarily been able to do, but it's those simple, everyday uh moments when you recognize your employee when you, when you're curious when you ask a question, when you demonstrate empathy and that you can care when you make sure that you're approachable and authentic and what you're trying to do. I think that's frankly where leaders can make the biggest difference for their organizations. Well, thanks so much for that wisdom and for taking the time to be with us today. Alan it's always a pleasure and thank you very much for including me today.