At Kohler Co., adherence to our corporate mission ..."to improve the level of gracious living in the lives of all who are touched by our products and services"...identifies a clear sense of purpose for the more than 28,000 Kohler associates around the world.

Continued success springs from a clear sense of purpose and a corporate culture which promotes:

• Living on the leading edge, meshing art and advanced technology to create new products, new markets and new niches within existing markets.
• Maintaining a single high standard of quality in all products and services to make them capable of delighting the senses and sensibility of end users consistently.
• Continually reinvesting the majority of our earnings in operational excellence. These principles have been powerful in driving the long-term success and character of the Kohler organization. Yet, a company cannot be explained in terms of mission or principles alone. Human energy is required to give life and direction to a mission.

Leaders: Taking the Long-Term Perspective

What we have accomplished can be credited, in part, to company leadership that has had the leeway to think long-term and for whom relationships matter. Our leaders have been strong, self-reliant, never wanting for original ideas, and possessing the courage to expand, diversify, and take necessary risks to achieve our objectives. That courage is evident in such unconventional decisions as:

• Moving the Kohler factory to the Wisconsin countryside in 1899 to provide an improved quality of life for employees
• Branching out into the generator business in the 1920s
• Rolling out a host of products in bold new colors and shapes, beginning in the 1960s, that forever changed the face of the American bath.
• Developing a second 50-year plan for the controlled growth of the Village of Kohler in the 1970s.