Which issues – in terms of our corporate responsibility – are of particular significance to our long-term business success? And what expectations do stakeholders have of our company? In an effort to answer these questions, we regularly conduct materiality assessments that aim to rate sustainability topics according to their importance to our company and external stakeholders. This method allows us to align our business activities with the requirements of our stakeholders. In applying this approach, we fulfill the requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines. In 2016, we refined our materiality analysis to further enhance the quality of the results.
Selecting topics
We first determined whether the CR issues of relevance to us had changed at all, basing our assessment on a comprehensive document analysis that included inquiries from investors, (sustainability) ratings, social media, and press releases. From the results, we identified 43 issues, 38 of which were covered by the materiality assessment in 2014. New topics included issues such as health awareness and digitalization.
Ranking and weighting the issues
These 43 topics were evaluated by our most important stakeholders. This involved a total of 300 employees, scientists, customers, sales associates, and business partners ranking the relevance of these issues through an online survey. In addition, we conducted five interviews with select experts whose responses were key in determining the final ranking of our main CR topics.
We weighted the results of the materiality assessment according to the importance of the stakeholder groups to our company and their influence on the five value drivers of sales, reputation, employee satisfaction, cost reduction, and innovation.
Results: Product responsibility most important
The process and results of the materiality assessment were reviewed by internal specialists as well as our CR Committee. Our stakeholders continue to rate issues regarding product responsibility as most important, above all product quality, the safety of chemical products, innovation, and research & development. Topics rated as material form the focus of this CR Report. Since our stakeholders also expect information and transparency from us regarding less significant issues, we also report on these, albeit in less detail.
Material topics
Material issues in our value chain
The following table shows where our main issues fall within the value chain: upstream in our supply chain, in the course of our own activities, or downstream with customers and patients. Moreover, we have listed the issues to show the breakdown of materiality by business sector and stakeholder group. These topics are linked to the respective chapters in this report.
Product safety and quality
Material for:
Customers, Merck family Shareholders, Government agencies, NGOs, Commercial and business associates
Material for:
Merck family, Shareholders, Government agencies, NGOs, Health systems, Patients
Material for:
Customers, Merck family, Shareholders, Federations and policy makers, Government agencies, NGOs, Commercial and business associates, Health systems, Patients
Material for:
Customers, Government agencies, Suppliers, Commercial and business associates, Communities
Material for:
Customers, Federations and policy makers, Government agencies, NGOs, Media, Suppliers, Scientists, Commercial and business associates, Health systems, Communities, Competitors
Material for:
Federations and policy makers, Government agencies, NGOs, Communities
Ethical conduct
Material for:
Customers, Federations and policy makers, Government agencies, NGOs, Scientists
Material for:
Merck family, Shareholders, Federations and policy makers, Government agencies, NGOs, Media, Suppliers, Scientists, Patients
Material for:
Government agencies, NGOs, Media, Suppliers, Scientists
Good business practice
Material for:
Employees, Merck family, Shareholders, Government agencies, NGOs, Suppliers, Commercial and business associates, Health systems, Competitors
Material for:
Customers, Federations and policy makers, Media, Commercial and business associates, Health systems, Patients
Material for:
Merck family, NGOs, Media, Communities
Material for:
Federations and policy makers, Government agencies, NGOs, Health systems, Patients
Material for:
Employees, Employee representatives, Merck family, Shareholders, Government agencies
Health for everyone
Material for:
NGOs, Media, Suppliers, Commercial and business associates, Health systems, Patients
Material for:
Merck family, Shareholders, Government agencies, NGOs, Media, Commercial and business associates, Health systems, Patients
Material for:
NGOs, Scientists, Health systems, Patients
Material for:
NGOs, Media, Scientists, Commercial and business associates, Health systems, Patients, Communities, Competitors
Supply chain standards
Material for:
Customers, Merck family, Shareholders, Federations and policy makers, NGOs, Media, Suppliers, Competitors
Human rights
Material for:
Customers, Federations and policy makers, NGOs, Media, Suppliers, Communities
Sustainable products
Material for:
Customers, Scientists
Material for:
Customers
Attractive employer
Material for:
Employees, Employee representatives, Merck family, Media
Material for:
Employees, Employee representatives, Shareholders, Competitors
Material for:
Employees, Employee representatives
Material for:
Employees, Employee representatives
Material for:
Employees, Employee representatives
Material for:
Employees, Employee representatives, Government agencies
Technology
Material for:
Customers, Merck family, Shareholders, Scientists, Health systems, Patients
Resource efficiency
Material for:
Government agencies, NGOs, Communities
Material for:
Government agencies, NGOs, Communities
Climate change
Material for:
Federations and policy makers, NGOs
Material for:
Customers, Federations and policy makers, Government agencies, NGOs, Media, Suppliers