Mission & Core Competencies
For 60 years, Alcon has focused on helping people worldwide see better through our core competencies – research and development, manufacturing and sales. We know our customers – health care professionals, patients and their families – rely on us to produce the very best. As such, we seek the most promising outside partnerships as well as passionate employees to join the Alcon team, all in an effort to support our mission.
Mission & Values
Alcon has one mission: To discover and develop innovative eye care products that improve the quality of life by helping people see better. We accomplish this by partnering with eye care professionals around the world to advance the treatment of eye disease and help people experience the best vision possible. We are guided by a core set of values that have changed little over Alcon's history. We are committed to conducting all of our business activities to the highest ethical and legal standards and are committed to quality and continuous improvement in everything we do – from exceeding regulatory standards for sterilization in manufacturing environments to surpassing government expectations for safety and efficacy of our products. There isn't an Alcon employee anywhere in the world who isn't willing to go one more step to make each product that much better.
Core Competencies
Research & Development
Our financial commitment to research and development surpasses all others in the eye care industry. Annually we invest up to 17 percent of our pharmaceutical revenue and nearly 10 percent of our overall revenue back into research efforts totaling US$3 billion over the last five years. This investment will grow to exceed US$3 billion over the next five years. To put this in perspective, we invest more in research and development than any other eye care company worldwide.
Our R&D organization is driven by nearly 1500 dedicated researchers, scientists, engineers and support staff located in five state-of-the-art facilities in the United States and Europe. Alcon's R&D organization includes more than 300 individuals who are either M.D.s, doctors of optometry or Ph.D.s and have extensive experience in the fields of ophthalmologic and optometric science.
Manufacturing
Alcon employs approximately 4,500 individuals to manufacture our products at 16 plants around the world. We organize our manufacturing facilities along product categories, with most plants primarily dedicated to manufacturing either surgical equipment and devices or pharmaceutical and contact lens care products. Our functional division of plants reflects the unique technical skills required of employees in these two manufacturing environments as well as the differences in regulatory requirements governing the production of surgical devices and pharmaceuticals.
We operate a continuous improvement program that involves activities such as quality improvements and cycle-time reductions. Alcon also makes sure to maintain Good Manufacturing Practices through year-round training of our direct labor manufacturing staff. Our professional employees are trained in various aspects of management, regulatory and technical issues through a combination of in-house seminars, local university classes and trade meetings.
Sales
Alcon is deeply committed to developing strong relationships with customers. We are not successful unless physicians and patients are successful in achieving the best possible outcomes. Our relationship philosophy is a direct result of this realization. This philosophy begins with identifying and meeting customer needs, and develops into coaching health care providers in the use of our products and providing additional educational resources so they can provide their patients with the best care.
As a result, Alcon is present in every significant market in the world where ophthalmology is practiced and, currently, our products are sold in more than 180 countries. We conduct our sales and marketing activities through more than 75 offices around the world. We have a sales force of approximately 2,700 sales representatives, all of whom are encouraged to partner with our customers and build lasting relationships.
Every member of our global sales team undergoes rigorous training on all major eye conditions and treatments with special attention on surgical systems and devices or pharmaceutical and consumer vision care products. Additionally, our sales force provides Alcon's customers with access to clinical education programs, technical service assistance, practice management programs and surgical training sites located around the world.
