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An R&D giant Pouring almost $1 million a day into research and development, Baxter is the world's largest maker of hospital and healthcare products. The company's more than 200,000 products include heart valves, blood collection and processing machines and cardiac catheters. In 1996 the company spun-off Allegiance Corporation, its cost-management services unit. Allegiance has expanded its line of surgical and respiratory-care products and management services, while Baxter has refocused on its core technologies like intravenous therapy, renal therapy, blood-related products and cardiovascular. Baxter spun off its cardiovascular branch in summer 1999 to form Edwards Lifesciences. The spinoff made the company an effective player in the CV industry. Baxter's history of high-tech health care innovations began in 1931 when Donald Baxter, a California physician, founded the company to distribute the intravenous products he had developed. One of Baxter's partners, Ralph Falk, bought him out in 1935 and began spearheading the research and development efforts that would establish the company's reputation. In 1962, Baxter introduced the first disposable total-bypass blood-oxygenator, which made open heart surgery possible. The company has benefited from such deals as a 1994 distribution agreement with health care giant Columbia/HCA. Looking foreign Baxter has positioned its stake in the future on twin poles: foreign expansion and research and development. In 1996, the company earned over half of its revenues from overseas markets, with Europe constituting half of the company's international business. Additionally, Baxter is the largest foreign health care organization in Japan, where sales there top $500 million. The firm now operates 50 manufacturing plants in 20 countries. Amidst pressures from the Clinton Administration to reform its prescription drug pricing practices, Baxter has continued to expand. It has acquired Sweden-based Althin Medical A.B.; Canada-based Althin Biopharm Inc.; and Maryland-based North American Vaccine. Further, in April 2000, Baxter teamed with four other large hospital suppliers to create an electronic exchange that will facilitate product ordering and offer transaction processing over the Internet.
Baxter Healthcare, recently split-off from Baxter International, offers a variety of career opportunities in both science-related and business fields. The most frequently available positions, however, are related to technology and engineering. Baxter lists openings at baxcat.baxter.com/job_seekers/index.taf. The company accepts resumes by regular mail only and asks that applicants send a "scannable" version. One employee described the hiring process as a "long, drawn out process" involving a day-long series of interviews, and adds "follow-up letters after your interviews to everyone you interview are a must," although another employee states "I've never heard of anyone finding the process too stressful." Since Baxter operates in highly specialized medical fields, "having a technical background is always a bonus" for white collar applicants. Nonetheless, "Baxter has a history of hiring a good mix of business and technical backgrounds."
Baxter fosters a "relaxed" environment that one long-time employee called "increasingly casual" with "an open door policy." Dress code is now "business casual." Since pay is tied to performance, employees emphasize productivity. "Politics plays a diminished role" in this "results-oriented" company, "but there is politics still, and we need to improve on that," says one employee. The company's international presence means increased opportunities abroad and diversity at home. "Baxter is a global company, and if you are bilingual, I think you should definitely put that on your resume," one employee says. "There's always a need for multi-lingual managers," adds another. Although one employee said "since this company is based in the Midwest, the culture is a little conservative for some," another employee said "even here in Deerfield, IL, the global corporate headquarters, there are many nations and cultures represented here." The vastness of Baxter's operations can be frustrating sometimes, though. "Baxter can prove frustrating for those with a more entrepreneurial bent," says one employee. Despite Baxter's drive to the technological avant-garde, employees said the company still "retained many of the niceties which corporate America has lost in the past 20 years." For many employees, "family comes first - this is still just a 40-hour a week job." Flexible work schedules make Baxter "one of the best corporations around for working mothers," according to another. New scheduling options such as job sharing and telecommuting will enable employees to be even more flexible in the future.
Human Resources
Tissue Heart Vlaves;Blood Tranfusion Systems;Hemophilia Treatment;Dialysis Sysytems;Heart Surgey Equipment;Intravenous Prioducts More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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