Word: swiss
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...been organized by Greenpeace to protest an old industrial dump near Basel that was said to be leaking chemical waste into the groundwater. The barrel carried water from a source by the dump in which, protesters said, they had found traces of drugs made by Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant that Vasella leads as chairman...
...Four years of psychoanalysis, Vasella says, helped free him "from the rules and obligations one imposes on oneself" and give him the courage to leap into a new career. In 1987 he sought the advice of Max Link, the well-connected and accessible head of the drug business for Swiss conglomerate Sandoz. Vasella was offered a job and sent to learn the ropes at the company's headquarters in East Hanover...
...project teams, Vasella set about knocking heads together. By the time he was done, 12,500 people had been laid off; an $80 million venture fund helped ex-employees with good ideas start businesses. He got the unions to accept performance-based compensation, a concept new to Swiss industry at the time. "Ex-Sandoz people say there is more freedom," says Novartis' elected employee representative Kathrin Amacker. "Ex-Ciba people say there is more drive and deadline consciousness...
...stake in Roche last year, startling the firm's managers and prompting speculation about an impending acquisition. But Vasella is biding his time now that he has, in the words of WestLB Panmure analyst Michael King, "parked the tanks on Roche's lawn." Vasella says when he heard that Swiss financier Martin Ebner would be selling his $2.8 billion stake in Roche, he realized the continuing consolidation of the industry might leave a major competitor in his backyard if he didn't act fast. "You don't want to wait to dance until you're stuck with the last girl...
...been a long day on the 11th floor of the Swiss Center on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Novartis' board of directors has listened to presentations on CIBA Vision's competitive challenges, purchasing and Gerber. Vasella slumps back comfortably in his chair, asking crisp questions. He's the picture of Swiss cool--until he learns that a New York City attorney is "assessing the claims of 300 to 400 possible plaintiffs" who say Novartis' athlete's-foot medicine Lamisil caused them injury. "This is outrageous!" he cries. "It has absolutely nothing to do with right or wrong, just with...