At Merck, we report on our corporate responsibility performance annually through this website.
This comprehensive report covers Merck's corporate responsibility performance during 2010, with some additional information relating to 2011. We have also published a 2010 Corporate Responsibility Overview.
We have used several external guidelines and measurement frameworks to inform the scope of our reporting. These include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Guidelines, the Access to Medicines Index, the Millennium Development Goals, and the U.N. Global Compact. We are pleased to have achieved a reporting level A on the GRI G3 Guidelines, and it has been checked by the Global Reporting Initiative.
Data in this report relate to worldwide operations for the calendar year 2010, except where stated. We plan to publish our next comprehensive corporate responsibility report in 2012.
Materiality Assessment
In 2010, Merck, after having successfully completed our merger with Schering-Plough, took the opportunity to reassess our corporate responsibility efforts and focus on a more strategic approach that is linked directly to our core business drivers. Our corporate responsibility materiality assessment was built on the foundation of prior assessments but included more precise criteria in certain areas: business relevance; satisfying stakeholder demands; areas where Merck needed to improve; as well as areas where Merck could lead.
Based on this analysis, we finalized an overall set of issues to present to the Public Policy and Responsibility Council for final materiality assessment. These issues were reviewed and the key issues were identified by using numerous sources, including:
- Merck corporate plans, objectives and strategies
- Company policies and initiatives related to company policies
- Employee surveys and other inputs from employees
- Customer feedback obtained through focus groups and other methods
- Shareholder resolutions and other feedback received through ongoing dialogue with shareholders
- Input from investors and investor groups committed to sustainable investing
- Partners, nongovernmental organizations, suppliers and other stakeholders
- Media coverage
- Stakeholder feedback on prior corporate responsibility reporting
- Industry benchmarking
- The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Access To Medicines Index, the UN Global Compact principles and other guidelines
The key issues in this report have been approved by Merck's Public Policy and Responsibility Council based on three parameters that we used to define and determine materiality for the purpose of corporate responsibility reporting:
- Impact on Merck's ability to achieve our business strategy
- Level of concern to external stakeholders
- Degree to which Merck can control and influence the topic or issue
Merck recognizes the importance of issues that may not be within the company's immediate or total control, such as climate change, global poverty and access to medicines, particularly in the developing world. In these areas, we believe that we can, however, influence how progress is made in addressing these issues, particularly through public policy and advocacy or through partnerships with others.
Merck has received positive feedback from external stakeholders on our materiality assessment process. We will continue to use this process and seek additional feedback in order to further refine our key corporate responsibility issues in future reports. We also anticipate that our process will evolve as we learn from experience and our continued dialogue with our stakeholders.
