Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

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Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Disclosure Controls and Procedures. At the end of the period covered by this Report, the Company evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of its disclosure controls and procedures. The Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Joseph J. Wolk, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, reviewed and participated in this evaluation. Based on this evaluation, Messrs. Gorsky and Wolk concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Report, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective

Reports on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. The information called for by this item is incorporated herein by reference to "Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting", and the attestation regarding internal controls over financial reporting included in the "Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm" included in Item 8 of this Report.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. During the fiscal quarter ended January 3, 2021, there were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required under Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. The Company has not experienced any material impact to its internal controls over financial reporting despite the fact that most of its employees are working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company proactively took actions to re-evaluate and refine its financial reporting process through additional monitoring controls to provide reasonable assurance that the financial results are reported accurately and timely. The Company continues to monitor and assess the effectiveness of the design and operation of its disclosure controls and procedures.

The Company is implementing a multi-year, enterprise-wide initiative to integrate, simplify and standardize processes and systems for the human resources, information technology, procurement, supply chain and finance functions. These are enhancements to support the growth of the Company’s financial shared service capabilities and standardize financial systems. This initiative is not in response to any identified deficiency or weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. In response to this initiative, the Company has and will continue to align and streamline the design and operation of its financial control environment.

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