AstraZeneca Annual Report and Form 20-F Information 2008

Key committees and councils

Our quarterly business review process serves as the primary mechanism for monitoring the effectiveness of business performance and risk management and is embedded into existing management team meetings. In addition to this we operate a number of management committees and councils to monitor Group-wide compliance and reputation risks including the Global Compliance Committee (GCC) (further details of which can be found in the Compliance and Group Internal Audit section) and the Issues Management Council (IMC).

The IMC monitors our external environment for new and emerging issues relating to our business that affect or concern our stakeholders and works with the people who are responsible for managing the issues internally to agree appropriate actions, timelines and, where possible, key performance indicators. The Vice-President, Group Public Affairs chairs the IMC and is also a member of the GCC to ensure that any reputational risk is fully captured at the appropriate level.