Corporate strategy, Governance and Ethics in the Global Environment
A case study of AstraZeneca

Introduction:
The topic chosen for the assignment is ‘critical appraisal of the corporate strategy, governance and ethics of AstraZeneca within the global environment’. This assignment will be divided in four main parts. The first part will discuss the general background and reasons for choosing the topic. The second part will be the main body which is subdivided into following headings: * Critical consideration of the products, markets, divisions and subdivisions of AstraZeneca * Critical examination of AstraZeneca’s environment * Critical evaluation of how the organisation relates its competences to its environment via its strategy * Critical review of the impact of social, environmental, ethical, legal and governance issues on AstraZeneca * Critical assessment of how the organisation is currently enclosing these issues in its strategy and operations * Assess the extent to which the organisation is managing tensions between corporate responsibility and maximising shareholder value

The third part will discuss the conclusions of the study. Finally, the bibliography and appendices will be included.

Reasons for choosing the topic:
I chose AstraZeneca to study the corporate strategy, governance and ethics for the assignment because it is one of the biggest biopharmaceutical companies in the whole world which develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical and biotechnology to treat disorders in various areas. Being a biochemical company it has many ethical issues to deal with and also it had many corporate problems in the past such as the sexual harassment allegations published in 13 may 1996, business week cover story. So, I wanted to study in