Sustainable business success depends on making quality products that people value through sound financial stewardship and responsible governance to ensure we meet customers needs ethically and transparently. George W. Merck, our founder's son, believed that placing patients before profits was both good medicine and good business. His values live on in our Company today through our commitment to innovative drug research and discovery, ethical business practices and working to ensure access to medicines for those who need them.

Globalization and the expanding reach of firms during the past decades have escalated expectations for multinational enterprises to create more social value, moving beyond compliance with regulations, philanthropy and the normal economic activities of firms. Corporate responsibility (CR) has emerged as an important element of the private sector’s response to these expectations and demands. While CR can be seen as a way to improve reputation, or simply as a response to a moral imperative to do good, at Merck we believe that CR is inherent in our business and can provide us with new opportunities to create shared value.

The content on this page was last modified on September 15, 2009..