Merck Case - Assess Merck y6t3p

1. Assess Merck’s core values and mission versus its actions; are they in congruity?

As per the “Building Your Company’s Vision” article, core values are the essential and enduring tenets of an organization. A small set of timeless guiding principles, core values require no external justification; they have intrinsic value and importance to those inside the organization. A company should not change its core values in response to market changes; rather it should change the markets, if necessary, to remain true to its core values. Merck’s core values are – a) Corporate social responsibility, b) Unequivocal excellence in all aspects of the company, c) Science-based innovation, d) Honesty and Integrity and e) Profit, but profit from work that benefits humanity Core purpose is a company’s reason for being which for Merck is to preserve and improve human life (as per the “Building Your Company’s Vision” article). Merck’s mission statement is – To provide society with superior products and services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs, and to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities, and provide investors with a superior rate of return. According to Richard Clark, Merck’s products address 60% of the top 20 global burdens of disease defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). They are committed to improving access to their products for all who can benefit, wherever they live. A company self-described as “dedicated to put patient first”, the company discovered, developed, manufactured, and marketed vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. Drug innovations developed by Merck included: Streptomycin, Cortisone, statin such as ZOCOR, antiretroviral (ARVs) and ISENTREES for HIV/AIDS, COZAAR and HYZAAR for hypertension; and SINGULAIR for Asthma and seasonal allergies. The company had developed dozens of vaccines, including vaccines to prevent measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus infection, and the human papillomavirus infection. The company had employed 60,000 employees worldwide, and operated 28 manufacturing plants and nine research sites. In 2007, Merck’s worldwide sales were $24.2 bln and its net income was $3.275 bln. The revenue for Pharmaceutical segment was $20.1 bln and $3.8 bln for vaccine segment. Nearly 60% of the company’s sales revenue came from the Unites States, 20% from the Europe and 6% from Japan. Merck consistently ranked among the top two donors in the annual ranking published by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In 2007 the value of Merck’s philanthropic contributions totaled $828 M. This included $62 M in cash, $161 M in Product donations and $605 M through medical outreach program. So, in my opinion, Merck’s mission and core values are congruent with their actions.