Pharmaceuticals leader links values to growth at alumni seminar

September 2008

Managing director of Ego Pharmaceuticals Alan Oppenheim (BSc(Hons) 1981), pictured, discussed the importance of company values and product quality for growth at a recent seminar at Federation Square.

One of the key points of the Gearing for Success professional development seminar was that people make the difference at Australian-owned Ego Pharmaceuticals, which has 220 staff in 23 cities around the world.

“Our most important asset is our people, who sign up to a charter of values when they start at Ego. All employees are interviewed and chosen based on whether they match the company’s values,” said Monash alumnus Mr Oppenheim, who took the reigns of the family business in 1990.

Ego celebrates its 55th birthday this year and has seen a 140 per cent growth in revenue over the past seven years. Mr Oppenheim attributes the company’s success to its aim to continually improve product quality rather than any desire to make money.

“Profit is not the primary reason for our existence. Ego has its customers at the top of the organisation chart and is committed to achieving a good outcome for its customers worldwide,” he said.

Mr Oppenheim discussed some of the current challenges facing Ego such as introducing its values to countries with a different culture to Australia.

“At our Singapore office, for instance, we are adopting a ‘Singtralian culture’ by merging Ego’s Australian values with their culture,” he said.

Other challenges include the bureaucratic nature of international business and the barriers created by regulatory pharmaceutical agencies like Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Mr Oppenheim was responsible for revolutionising Ego in its early days; computerising the business before personal computers existed. While at Ego, the product range has expanded to 120 different skincare items including its SUNSENSE sunscreen range, QV cleansers and moisturisers, and SOOV antiseptics.

Gearing for Success seminars provide recent Monash University alumni with opportunities for professional, personal and career development. The next seminar will be held in March 2009. For more information, contact the Alumni Relations office via email or telephone on +61 3 9903 4602.

Links:

• Gearing for Success website
• Ego Pharmaceuticals website