Sandoz - Fondation de Famille: News
Sandoz Foundation endows chair at leading business school
Lausanne, September 26, 2001 - The Sandoz Family Foundation today announced that it has endowed a professorial chair at a business school, selecting IMD, the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne. The main objectives of the Sandoz Family Foundation Chair in Management, established in September 2001, are to intensify research in key aspects of "industry breakpoints and strategic change management", generating new teaching material and publications in an area which concerns the majority of publicly quoted and privately-owned companies. The Foundation and the school have jointly appointed IMD Professor Paul Strebel as Chair Holder. Professor Strebel sees this newly created Chair as "an opportunity to focus research on helping business leaders to anticipate and manage major shifts in their environment".
Set up in 1964 by Edouard Marcel Sandoz, son of the founder of the pharmaceutical group Sandoz SA (today Novartis SA), the Foundation aims to promote a spirit of entrepreneurship and initiative. Its investment philosophy focuses on long-term engagements in selected sectors of activity whose contribution to quality of life and preservation of essential values is high. Pierre Landolt, Chairman of the Sandoz Family Foundation stated: "Based on traditional entrepreneurial values, entrepreneurship today depends more than ever on open minds and the readiness to accept and anticipate changes. The new chair at IMD will be a source of inspiration for us all."
Entrepreneurship and leadership are the hallmarks of the post-graduate, international management education provided by IMD to managers and executives who attend its programs in Lausanne, coming from most parts of the world. An important dimension of IMD's mission is to help develop responsible executives whose professional success will include having a positive impact on society. Endowed Chairs play a significant part in helping IMD attract high capability Faculty, in continuously increasing its research output, and enabling it to offer a management education that meets current and anticipated needs of companies in an ever more complex world. The Sandoz Family Foundation Chair in Management will prove a highly valuable asset in the further development of the school.
For further information, please contact either:
Jörg Denzler | Pascale Luck |
Le Monde buys into Le Temps
Geneva, September 25, 2001 - The publishing company of the Le Monde newspaper (Paris) is taking a share in the Geneva daily newspaper Le Temps. This constitutes a strategic alliance of the two publications. After the administrative board has given its approval, Le Monde will purchase the 20% stake hitherto held by the Sandoz Family Foundation. Le Monde will consequently replace the Sandoz Family Foundation in the group of Geneva shareholders (formerly the shareholders of the Journal de Genève). This group holds 47% of the shares - as do the owners of the former Nouveau Quotidien. The remaining 6% of Le Temps shares are held by employees.
The Sandoz Family Foundation is convinced that the sale of its share to Le Monde will secure the long-term future of Le Temps. The performance and competence of this top French-speaking newspaper is suitable for promoting the Sandoz Family Foundation's longstanding strive for quality journalism. The Management of Le Temps thanks the Sandoz Family Foundation for playing such an important part in developing Le Temps. The Board of Le Temps explicitly welcomes this sale to a partner which is as renowned as it is well-known.
By selling its share, the Sandoz Family Foundation is also complying with a requirement imposed by the competition authorities in conjunction with the election of Stéphane Garelli as the President of Le Temps. Stéphane Garelli will consequently be able to take on his responsibilities in late September as intended.
The editorial offices of Le Monde and Le Temps have already cooperated in the past. This collaboration will be intensified significantly in the new situation.
The competition authorities have been informed of this transaction, which has not yet been approved.
For further information, please contact:
Gilbert Couteau, President of the administrative board of Le Temps: 022 329 28 45
Jörg Denzler, press spokesman of the Sandoz Family Foundation: 021 721 13 36
Eric Hoesli, editor-in-chief of Le Temps: 022 799 58 53