Kimberly-Clark announced its recognition as one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" according to the announcement from Ethisphere Institute, the independent center of research that promotes best practices in corporate ethics and governance.

"At Kimberly-Clark, everything we do is motivated by our vision to lead the world in essentials for a better life. This vision inspires the products we make and how we operate our business," says Jeff Melucci, Kimberly-Clark's general counsel.

"Being named to this list reflects the commitment of our employees around the world to our values of accountability and authenticity," says Kurt Drake, Kimberly-Clark's chief ethics & compliance officer.

Ethisphere Institute's recognition also reinforces the valuable link between ethics, compliance and financial performance. A comparison of the 2019 publicly traded "World's Most Ethical Companies" to the Large Cap Index found that companies on this year's list outperformed the large cap sector over five years by 14.4% and over three years by 10.5%.

The World's Most Ethical Companies assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient (EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%). All participating companies receive their scores, providing them with valuable insights into how they stack up against leading organizations.

The full list of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at: https://www.worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.