Polpharma once again ranks among National Champions

Announced for the second time, the National Champions Ranking featured Polpharma among the Top 10 Polish companies.

“For the average person, a national champion is someone to be proud of. It’s usually associated with a domestic brand and that’s how it’s used. As a result, national champions help strengthen the sense of cultural identity, inspire business growth, and promote the country’s image abroad. They are highly active on the international scene, enjoy oligopolistic or even monopolistic position in the industry, and are prepared to finance research and innovation,” said Adam Czerniak, author of the ranking’s methodology, in an interview for the Rzeczpospolita daily.

Polpharma took 8th place in the ranking, behind such giants as KGHM, PKN Orlen, Synthos, Asseco, PGNIG, Comarch, and Boryszew. Also in the Top 10 were Stalprodukt and Ciech. Polpharma came at a very high 2nd place in the Innovation category, behind KGHM and ahead of PGNiG, PKN Orlen, and Synthos. The following criteria were taken into account: the company’s importance for Polish economy, position in the industry, international presence, and level of innovation.

Held in Warsaw on 17 June, the official announcement gala was attended by representatives of the Top 10 companies, including Marcin Chludziński, CEO of KGHM, Piotr Lisiecki, CEO of Boryszew, and Markus Sieger, CEO of Polpharma, who received commemorative certificates. A representative of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology read out a letter from Minister Marek Niedużak. The presentation of the report was followed by a panel debate between the champions, including Izabela Żmudka, Deputy Director of NCBR, Markus Sieger, CEO of Polpharma, and Radosław Żydok, Director of Regulatory Analysis Department at KGHM. The panel addressed the question in the title of the report: “How do champions support innovation?”

“Your need to empower your employees and involve them in generating innovative ideas. They are the creators of inventions and patents. Thanks to grass-root ideas, we have also implemented more than 200 digital initiatives. When we decided to introduce the first robots at Polpharma’s financial department, we simply asked the employees who used to do mundane and repetitive work if they wanted to do something more interesting. Now these employees have new skills and supervise the robots. We also promote the culture of innovation among our business partners. We are now working to deliver a fully digital work platform for our suppliers and customers which will make our life easier by reducing costs and improving efficiency, both for Polpharma and our business partners. In both cases, it’s key to show how we can all benefit from innovation and digital transformation,” Markus Sieger, CEO of Polpharma, underlined.

The report “National Champions: How They Support Innovation” is available at  www.politykainsight.pl