General Business Principles

General Business Principles


Patient safety, Quality and Integrity always is at the heart of our culture, and is part and parcel of our company’s mission and vision. While pursuing our business objectives, we aim to be a responsible partner in society, acting with integrity towards our, customers, employees, business partners and shareholders, as well as the wider community in which we operate.

 

The General Business Principles set the standard for acting with integrity at Philips. They govern all our decisions and actions throughout the world and apply equally to our group actions and to our conduct as individuals. The General Business Principles are an integral part of Philips’ labor contracts and are available in 30 languages. You can find the English version of our General Business Principles below.

In order to ensure constant awareness – throughout the company – of the need to act with integrity, a worldwide communication and training program, including mandatory sign-off on the General Business Principles, is in place. Our training program on ethical standards targets all employees (including part-time) and contractors, and includes virtual and face-to-face trainings. In 2023, almost 60,000 (94%) of our employees completed the annual General Business Principles e-training.

 

On an annual basis, global internal communications programs are rolled out with the participation of the Executive Committee and the respective Business, Function and Market management. A web-based GBP training tool is available to all employees with online access in 11 different languages. This tool is regularly updated. Also, dedicated training courses – both web and classroom-based – are offered to specific audiences and functional areas.

 

GBP Compliance Officers are regularly enrolled in dedicated training programs that include complaint-handling procedures and dilemma training.

Resources

 

The following standards served, amongst others, as reference in the preparation of the Philips General Business Principles and may be a useful source of additional information: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, The eight fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organization, nos. 87, 98, 29, 105, 138, 182, 100 and 111, UN Global Compact, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Code of Advertising and Marketing Communication Practice, OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data, OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, United Nations Council Resolutions on export controls.

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