30 minutes is the maximum length of meetings at Eli Lilly in an effort to combat worker fatigue.

Formal telecommuting arrangements allow parents who work for this pharmaceutical firm to spend more time at home with their children, while company laptops make it easier for all employees to work offsite—and one third did so last year. But for professionals in and around the Indianapolis headquarters, frequent 20-minute commutes between area offices for meetings have always cut into work hours and depleted personal time back home. To remedy this, the firm last year introduced the Integrated Workplace initiative, which stocks entire floors with lockers and docking stations and distributes BlackBerrys to encourage employees to work wherever is most convenient. The rollout involved just 6% of area workers but was so successful that new teams have been adopting the arrangement on a regular basis.

Chairman, President & CEO: John Lechleiter

VP, Global Diversity: Patricia Martin

Women managers/execs: 32%

Women among top earners: 27%

Women on board of directors: 15%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 25%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 43%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: 25%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: Yes