NI Culture and Stakeholder Engagement

National Instruments’ industry leadership is built on proven technology, visionary executive management, and sustained growth. Managed for the long-term, the company balances the needs of each of its key stakeholders and is committed to innovation, continuous improvement, and customer success. The company’s long-term view, known as the 100-year plan, balances the NI vision and culture with short-term business needs.

NI aggressively invests not only in product design and development but also in maintaining its unique corporate culture that serves as a key differentiator and competitive advantage. This collaborative, entrepreneurial culture spurs innovation in every area of the business and empowers employees to create technology that helps customers and partners address the world’s greatest engineering challenges.

The following underlying NI core values are central to the company’s corporate culture and are present in day-to-day interactions and the way NI does business:

• Constant respect for people
• Uncompromising honesty and integrity
• Dedication to serving customers
• Commitment to innovation and continuous improvement

Through the various means in which NI engages with its stakeholders, the company’s management gains visibility and creates alignment with key corporate responsibility priorities and concerns, as shown in the following examples.

• Employees—One of the top concerns for employees in 2011 continued to be the rising cost of health care. As part of their open-communication policy, NI leaders held multiple town-hall-style meetings to discuss how new healthcare legislation in the US will impact NI and its employees. At these meetings, they also took questions about how the company plans to manage these expenses. Additionally, NI wants to make it easier for its employees to “get healthier.” Therefore, in 2011 NI conducted its second round of health risk assessments (HRAs) for employees. The company uses the aggregate data from the HRAs to develop health and wellness programs tailored for its employees. NI also announced that starting in 2012 all US locations will be tobacco free. To help employees prepare for this change, the company is offering free smoking cessation programs for all employees who desire to quit smoking.
• Customers—As NI continues to grow and the number of large systems sold continues to account for a greater percentage of the company’s business, a complete services and support offering becomes a greater priority for customers. Services and support is a current investment area for NI. Through a customer satisfaction survey regarding the NI services offerings, NI discovered it has the opportunity to enhance awareness of its system assurance programs and hardware services among customers.
• Suppliers—In 2010 the US Congress passed the Conflict Minerals Trade Act as part of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform legislation. The law’s aim is to curb violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and surrounding regions by restricting the use of certain minerals originating in rebel-controlled mines. These substances include the base minerals for gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten. All US companies that use these minerals in their products are required to report the origins of these materials in their 2012 filings with the SEC; therefore, determining this information has become a key concern for both NI and its suppliers. In 2011, NI included discussions on this act as part of its annual supplier conference and started working with its supply chain to understand the origin of these minerals used in NI products.
• Shareholders—This year NI investors focused on the company’s strategic investments in R&D and the field sales force, key growth drivers, and uses of cash. In 2011, NI management addressed these topics by participating in multiple events including 11 investor conferences and two nondeal road shows. The company also hosted its shareholder meeting at its headquarters, quarterly earnings calls, and its annual analyst day as part of the NIWeek global user conference. NI paid cash dividends equaling $0.40 USD per share in 2011, which was $0.05 USD more per share over 2010.