Damage to the reputation of Kimberly-Clark or to one or more of our brands could adversely affect our business.
Developing and maintaining our reputation, as well as the reputation of our brands, is a critical factor in our relationship with
consumers, customers, suppliers and others. Our inability to address adverse publicity or other issues, including concerns about
product safety, quality, efficacy or similar matters, real or perceived, could negatively impact sentiments towards us and our
products and brands, and our business and financial results could suffer. Our business and results could also be negatively impacted
by the effects of a significant product recall, product-related litigation, allegations of product tampering or contamination or the
distribution and sale of counterfeit products.
There is no guarantee that our ongoing efforts to reduce costs will be successful.
We continue to implement plans to improve our competitive position by achieving cost reductions in our operations. In addition,
we expect ongoing cost savings from our continuous improvement activities. We anticipate these cost savings will result from
reducing material costs and manufacturing waste and realizing productivity gains, distribution efficiencies and overhead reductions
in each of our business segments. See our discussion of our cost savings activities in MD&A. If we cannot successfully implement
our cost savings plans, we may not realize all anticipated benefits. Any negative impact these plans have on our relationships with
employees or customers or any failure to generate the anticipated efficiencies and savings could adversely affect our financial
results.