MSD Merck Sharp & Dohme

The criteria of this section form the basis of the Sustainability Code. The Organization answers how familiar it is with the challenges, opportunities and risks that are associated with its core activities in terms of Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility and which its activity should face up to. The Organization answers if it has a plan for how it wish to handle them in the medium and long term, if it sets clear goals – derived from them – to address social and environmental challenges in a proactive way and if it is already keeping an eye on  its entire value chain – from the extraction of raw materials to disposal. By reporting in detail on the following four criteria, the Organization will be laying the foundation for satisfying the Sustainability Code and it will be preparing the ground so it will be able to handle all further topics well, too.

The following six criteria describe how the Organization efficiently and systematically manages Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility. This ranges from questions such as who is responsible and whether there are rules and processes that guide the work to whether key data exist which make any progress and developments visible. The Organization answers if there are incentives – material or non-material ones– that motivate the executives and employees to steadfastly pursue sustainable development and corporate responsibility targets, if the Organization also attends to the opinion of groups outside its activity who have identifiable interests in its development and if it is taking into consideration the demands of sustainable development and corporate responsibility when it improves products or services. 

The questions in this section focus on the environmental aspects of Sustainable Development and Corporate responsibility. The Organization has to answer if it has a good overview of what natural resources it uses and to what extent. If he has set goals to cut this consumption and how it aims to achieve them. If it you balances its greenhouse gas emissions and if it has formulated goals for their reduction targets.

The seven criteria of this section deal with the social issues of Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility that are relevant to an Organization – starting with the questions about whether the Organization respects basic employment rights; how it deals with the issues of equal opportunities, health and the work-life balance; and how it helps to make and keep the workforce employable in the face of demographic changes. Aspects that are also significant are human rights in the supply chain, the role of the Organization in the region, and whether and how it tries to influence political decisions. Finally, the Organization is asked to explain what it is doing to counter the risk of bribery.