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DALLAS, March 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) has repeated its ranking among the "World's Most Ethical Companies" for the third straight year in 2014, according to today's announcement from The Ethisphere Institute, the independent center of research that promotes best practices in corporate ethics and governance.

"Building a culture of integrity is a continuing journey, measured by our actions every day. We always strive to reach that goal and continue to improve," said Tom Falk, chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark. "This recognition from Ethisphere acknowledges the priority we place on accountability. I'm proud of our K-C teams around the world, and know they will continue to work hard to live up to the expectations of this award in the years ahead."

Kimberly-Clark received multiple distinctions for its sustainability and citizenship practices over the past year, which further support today's Ethisphere ranking:

• Sector leader for assessing and minimizing deforestation risks in the global supply chain, according to CDP Global Forests Report 2013.
• Named to the first "Natural Capital Leaders Index" of global companies that have successfully reported growing revenues in recent years while reducing environmental impacts.
• Winner of U.S. EPA SmartWay Environmental Excellence Award for energy efficiency in transportation.
• Named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and the new UN Global Compact 100, tracking financial performance of sustainability leaders.
• No. 18 among "100 Best Corporate Citizens 2013" by Corporate Responsibility Magazine, the Company's fifth straight year in the top 20.

"The entire community of World's Most Ethical Companies believe that customers, employees, investors and regulators place a high premium on trust and that ethics and good governance are key in earning it," said Timothy Erblich, chief executive officer for Ethisphere, based in New York. "Kimberly-Clark joins an exclusive community committed to driving performance through leading business practices. We congratulate everyone at Kimberly-Clark for this extraordinary achievement."

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based on scores generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (25%); reputation, leadership and innovation (20%); governance (10%); corporate citizenship and responsibility (25%); and culture of ethics (20%). Ethisphere generates these scores through its proprietary evaluation framework developed  by experts and thought leaders over years of research, providing a means to assess the organization's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria in core competencies, rather than all aspects in every category. Read the full list of the 2014 World's Most Ethical Companies here.

About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust K-C's brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, HUGGIES, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds No. 1 or No. 2 share positions in more than 80 countries. To keep up with the latest K-C news and to learn more about the Company's 142-year history of innovation, visit www.kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

About Ethisphere Institute
The Ethisphere Institute is an independent center of research, best practices and thought leadership that promotes best practices in corporate ethics and governance and enables organizations to improve compliance, mitigate risk, and enhance relationships with employees, business partners, investors and the broad regulatory community. Ethisphere evaluates and benchmarks compliance and governance programs, honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs that include: Ethics Inside Certification, Compliance Leader Verification and Anti-Corruption Program Verification. More information about Ethisphere can be found at www.ethisphere.com.

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SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation