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Johnson & Johnson is celebrating a critical part of its historic legacy this December, marking the 80th anniversary of “Our Credo” – the mission statement that guides the iconic New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant.

Our Credo was drafted in 1943 by Gen. Robert Wood Johnson – a member of the company’s founding family who led J&J from 1932 to 1963 – just before the company went public in 1944.

“When Our Credo was written, it was novel for its emphasis on the ethical values that guide the company and the obligation to put the needs and wellbeing of the people we serve first,” Margaret Gurowitz, Johnson & Johnson‘s historian, told NJBIZ. “It is one of the earliest written statements of corporate responsibility. It has stood the test of time. And it has been more than just our moral compass for the past 80 years. Everyone at Johnson & Johnson believes it is also a recipe for business success.”

Gurowitz, who has been with the company since 1988, handles a number of responsibilities in her role, sharing J&J’s stories and legacies as well as overseeing a museum at the New Brunswick campus, managing the company archives and more.

She said the credo represents the values that have guided Johnson & Johnson since it was founded in 1886 and through all of the growth and challenges it faced over the years – with a most recent example, of course, during the pandemic in which J&J found itself on the frontlines.

“And those values have helped multiple generations of employees and leaders at Johnson & Johnson navigate the company through times of change and will continue to guide us in the future,” she explained. “It provides a framework for decision-making and a reminder of our commitment to the multiple stakeholders that the company serves, including patients, doctors, nurses, everyone who uses our products as well as our employees, communities – both the local New Brunswick community and the New Jersey community, and the communities we serve around the world, and shareholders. That really helps differentiate Johnson & Johnson. And it remains our guiding philosophy – behind everything the company does.”

Our Credo is a four-paragraph mission statement that lays out these principles in a clear, concise and straightforward manner.

“We believe our first responsibility is to the patients, doctors and nurses, to the mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. In meeting their needs everything we do must constantly strive to provide value, reduce our costs and maintain reasonable prices,” Our Credo reads. “Customers’ orders must be serviced promptly and accurately. Our business partners must have an opportunity to make a fair profit.”

The mission statement continues through the themes noted by Gurowitz, such as the company’s responsibility to its employees, communities and shareholders. Read Our Credo here.

Gurowitz pointed out that Our Credo is studied by business schools, so many prospective employees are familiar with it, and it is ingrained into the company’s day-to-day culture right off the bat.

“During the recruiting and onboarding process, it is one of the first things that prospective employees or people who are interested in being perspective employees learn about the company,” Gurowitz explained. “And when somebody gets to Johnson & Johnson, it is the first thing they learn about the company. In fact, when you come into the door at Johnson & Johnson – in any of our workplaces – it is literally the first thing you see when you come into the lobby. And it is in more than 35 languages around the world – depending on where that Johnson & Johnson facility is. So, it is front-and-center.”

Since it was originally drafted, Our Credo has been updated several times – about once a generation, according to Gurowitz – to modernize the language and to add more responsibilities, but never taking one out.

Among those modernizations, in 1979 wording was added to include the company’s responsibility to protecting the environment and natural resources; in 1987, fathers were added to the first paragraph to accompany mothers as well as a responsibility about helping employees balance their work and family obligations added to the second paragraph; in 2018, patients was moved to first in the first paragraph and the responsibilities around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) were enhanced.

Despite some of the evolutions of the language, the spirit, sentiment, mission and the company’s commitment to Our Credo remains unchanged.

[Our Credo] has been more than just our moral compass for the past 80 years. Everyone at Johnson & Johnson believes it is also a recipe for business success.
– Margaret Gurowitz, Johnson & Johnson historian

“Our Credo is a living document so when it has been updated, it is to reflect changes in society,” said Gurowitz. “I expect that would continue to hold true in the future – that, when needed, language will continue to be modernized and the responsibilities in Our Credo will continue to be enhanced as they have done throughout the history of the document.”

And Gurowitz said that while 25th or 75th or 100th anniversaries tend to get more celebrated, this 80th is particularly notable and meaningful because of how it timed with the scaling up of J&J into a global company.

“When Gen. Robert Wood Johnson wrote Our Credo and presented it to the board of directors at their December 13, 1943, meeting, it was because he also announced at that meeting that Johnson & Johnson in 1944 was going to become a publicly traded company,” she explained. “And the reason the company was doing that was to fuel its future growth and expansion around the world by becoming publicly traded – so that we could meet the needs of more patients around the world. So, Johnson & Johnson in 1943 was at the cusp of a big change to ensure that the company would grow and innovate to meet more needs in the future.”

Just as J&J 80 years later, here in 2023, is again at one of those big change points, Gurowitz said.

“This 80th Anniversary is an especially meaningful anniversary, because just like in 1943, it is a pivotal time for the company,” Gurowitz explained. “So, 80 years later, Johnson & Johnson is at the same kind of inflection point – where we are poised to continue to grow and innovate, to meet more needs in the future.”

Gurowitz stressed that this next chapter of J&J’s storied history will, as always, be guided by the values instilled from Our Credo.

The company is marking the anniversary by sharing the history and story of Our Credo in a number of ways, and even recently, rang the Opening Bell on the New York Stock Exchange in a ceremony that included J&J CEO Joaquin Duato and 13 employees chosen to represent various Our Credo stakeholders.

“It is very important to tell people about Our Credo and the values of Our Credo – and what it means for the company,” said Gurowitz. “The best way to understand Johnson & Johnson and the company’s mission – is to understand Our Credo. So, I think it’s very important to tell the story.”