Sustainability > Sustainability At Baxter

Stakeholder Engagement

As a global healthcare company, Baxter interacts with a range of stakeholders worldwide (see table), and engages them to better understand their needs, to determine opportunities for collaboration and to reach common goals. Baxter appreciates the important role that each of its stakeholders plays in its continued success, and strives to take into account their varied and sometimes conflicting needs.

Baxter engages with its stakeholders around the world. Examples of stakeholder engagement are referenced in the final column of the table and included throughout this report.

BAXTER STAKEHOLDER GROUPS
GROUP	DESCRIPTION	CHANNELS OF ENGAGEMENT
Communities	Baxter conducts business in more than 100 countries and operates more than 60 manufacturing facilities worldwide.	Interactions with local, state and national governments and agencies Participation in community organizations and schools Employee volunteer efforts Collaboration with international health and aid organizations Employee service on boards and leadership in local and national organizations
Customers	Includes hospitals/clinics, medical research centers, kidney dialysis centers, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and healthcare professionals.	Ongoing customer training and continuing education programs Participation in professional societies and advisory boards Customer service and clinical helplines Customer publications and presentations Customer advisory councils Customer satisfaction surveys Attendance at conferences, such as CleanMed, to understand customer purchasing preferences and trends
Employees	As of July 2007, approximately 45,000 employees worldwide.¹	Town hall meetings Employee surveys Baxter Intranet Webcasts Ethics and Compliance Helpline Regional Ethics and Compliance Committees Certificate of Integrity and Compliance Works Councils and facility health and safety committees
Government, regulatory, health authorities	Includes organizations such as Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products, European Medicines Valuation Agency, European Parliament, Ministries of Health and environment, health and safety agencies worldwide, U.S. Center for Medicare/Medicaid, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.	Representation on advisory committees Meetings, conferences and collaborations
Industry organizations	Includes Advamed, BIOTECanada, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Eucomed, EuropaBio, MEDEC, Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association and numerous physician organizations.	Board and committee meetings Educational campaigns Industry events Collaborative lobbying on issues of mutual concern
Investors	Eighty-four percent of Baxter’s shares are held by institutional investors and 16 percent by individual investors.	Analyst/investor presentations and meetings Socially responsible investment surveys Quarterly earnings announcements and news releases Webcasts/conference calls Annual meeting Road shows, one-on-one meetings and investor visits to headquarters
Non-governmental and other organizations	Organizations such as The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, Ceres, Chicago Climate Exchange, Climate Leaders, The Conference Board Council on Global Business Conduct, Ethics & Compliance Officer Association, Global Reporting Initiative, Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, and World Health Organization.	Baxter Chairman and CEO speech at 2007 Ceres conference
Patients and patient-advocacy groups	Patients worldwide with cancer, hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma and other conditions, as well as patient safety groups.	Sponsorships Grants Fundraising Patient websites
Suppliers	Although Baxter manufactures nearly 90 percent of its products, it works with a broad network of suppliers to provide product inputs and goods and services not used in products.	Supplier Quality Standard Supplier audits and site visits Environmental and Ethics and Compliance training Ethics and Compliance Helpline Green Suppliers Network Online ethics toolkit Supplier diversity program

¹ At the end of 2006, Baxter employed approximately 48,000 employees worldwide, but sold its Transfusion Therapies business in February 2007.

Affiliations and Memberships

Baxter has relationships with a range of organizations that focus on various aspects of sustainability. See a list and detail about each organization on the Affiliations and Memberships page.