Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) is the undisputed leader in flavored beverages in North America and the Caribbean, with a 40 percent dollar share of flavored CSDs. Our success is fueled by more than 50 brands that are synonymous with refreshment, fun and flavor. We have six of the top 10 non-cola soft drinks, and 11 of our 14 leading brands are No. 1 in their flavor categories.

With a brand heritage spanning more than 200 years, the DPS portfolio includes some of the most recognized beverages in the Americas. Approximately 75 percent of the company’s overall volume is from brands that are either No. 1 or No. 2 in their flavor categories. In addition to our flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, our portfolio includes Sunkist soda, 7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Crush, Mott's, Squirt, Hawaiian Punch, Peñafiel, Clamato, Schweppes, Rose's and Mr & Mrs T mixers.

When DPS was established in 2008, President and CEO Larry Young issued his Call to ACTION to our employees, outlining a series of behaviors that characterize the way we do business. These include: Accountable, Customer Centric, Transparent and Honest, Inspect What We Expect, Own Decisions and No Blame Fixing. These values remain constant, and they are driving our quest to be the best beverage business in the Americas.

DPS employs approximately 19,000 people across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Nearly 16,000 of our employees are based in the U.S., and approximately a quarter of these are covered by union collective bargaining agreements. In Mexico and the Caribbean, nearly a third of our 3,000 full-time employees are party to collective bargaining agreements.

Female employees account for more than 14 percent of the total DPS workforce in the U.S. and Canada and for approximately 16 percent of DPS’s senior management (i.e., company vice presidents and above). Minority employees account for more than 42 percent of the total DPS workforce in the U.S. and Canada and for more than 9 percent of senior management.

DPS is composed of more than 40 different businesses brought together over the past 30 years to make up a unified, independent organization. We have a rich brand heritage, an integrated business model and a broad and flexible route to market for our products.

We manufacture soft drink concentrates and finished beverages, selling 1.6 billion equivalent 288 fluid-ounce cases in 2011. This includes the sourcing and acquisition of ingredients and packaging materials, the operation of 21 manufacturing facilities and more than 120 warehouses and distribution facilities in North America, and the transportation of our finished products to our customers’ retail and foodservice outlets, distribution centers and vending machine locations.

We also sell beverage concentrate to a significant number of third-party bottlers and finished products to distributors, ranging from smaller family-owned bottlers to multibillion-dollar, multinational bottling businesses such as the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc. Approximately 40 percent of our direct store delivery (DSD) volume is manufactured, sold and distributed through third parties, and an additional 40 percent is manufactured, sold and delivered through our company-owned operations.

DPS takes a cross-functional approach to sustainability, and the link between our business strategy and corporate social responsibility grows with each passing year. In mid-2012, our CSR steering committee ramped up its activities with a renewed focus on rapid continuous improvement (RCI); new programs, policies and goals; field representation and program activation. This committee includes dozens of management- and senior-management-level participants with responsibilities for marketing, research and development, legal and regulatory affairs, sales, procurement, environmental health and safety, packaging and engineering, human resources, diversity, finance and strategy. Subcommittees have been established devoted to environment, health and wellness/philanthropy, ethical sourcing, workplace, Mexico and employee/stakeholder engagement.

Tim Gratto, vice president of sustainability, oversees our sustainability efforts and serves as chairman of our CSR steering committee. Through participation in key surveys and indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the Carbon Disclosure Project, Newsweek Green Rankings and more, we communicate our sustainability efforts to external stakeholders and benchmark ourselves against others in our industry. We reach out regularly to customers, non-governmental organizations and others to get their feedback.

At DPS, we pride ourselves on being a responsible company known for creating long-lasting relationships with our customers and consumers – and for doing the right thing. We hold transparency and honesty as one of our core behaviors.

DPS is committed to conducting our business in an ethical way, and our business practices safeguard our reputation and the trust placed in us by our stakeholders. We have systems in place for ensuring compliance with these principles. We require all salaried employees to complete training in our core business policies, administered via our online learning management systems and through our new employee orientation.

We also have a “Speaking Up” helpline, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and manned by third-party specialists, to enable employees to anonymously report concerns about criminal conduct, illegal activity, theft, fraud, environmental safety, financial reporting, conflicts of interest, regulatory compliance, harassment and discrimination. Increased awareness and training, combined with technology improvements companywide, have enabled us to better detect, swiftly respond to and minimize unethical behavior.

DPS and its subsidiaries set high standards for all employees, officers and directors. Implicit in this philosophy is the importance of sound corporate governance. It is the duty of the board of directors to oversee the management of the company’s business. To fulfill its responsibilities and to discharge its duty, our board of directors follows the procedures and standards that are set forth in its Corporate Governance Guidelines. These guidelines are subject to modification from time to time as the board of directors deems appropriate in the best interests of DPS or as required by applicable laws and regulations. In 2012, DPS’s board of directors submitted a proposal to repeal its classified board structure and establish annual elections of all directors beginning with the meeting occurring after Dec. 31, 2014, increasing the board’s accountability to shareholders. The proposal was approved by shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in May 2012.