Also:

• No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans
• No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities
• No. 8 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Global Diversity

Merck has been in the top half of the DiversityInc Top 50 since 2007 and on the list consistently since 2003. Chief Diversity Officer Deborah Dagit, a long-time national diversity leader, selects members of the executive diversity council, which is chaired by Chairman, President and CEO Kenneth Frazier.

Frazier personally signs off on diversity goals and metrics and meets with resource groups twice a year. Senior leaders see a third of their bonuses tied to diversity metrics, with factors such as cross-cultural mentoring, recruitment, promotions and retention of Blacks, Latinos, Asians and women and involvement in external organizations related to diversity.

Both resource groups and mentoring are available throughout the U.S. operations, with established metrics and accountability measures. Merck also has been a pioneer in establishing global resource groups and connecting them with the U.S. groups.

Particularly strong both for its industry and overall is the percentage of procurement spend directed toward minority- and women-owned businesses. Merck directs a combined 17 percent of its total procurement toward those businesses. These numbers, which are audited and promoted internally, reflect a considerable increase over last year and greater than 100 percent of its stated goals. Merck also has strong metrics for tracking the success of the supplier-diversity program, and it ties procurement-management compensation to results.

U.S. Headquarters: Whitehouse Station, N.J.

Global Employees: 86,000

U.S. Employees: 33,271

Last Year’s DiversityInc Top 50 Ranking: No. 15