封面文章：商業(yè)周刊年度五十強(qiáng)特輯
文章導(dǎo)讀：本期是商業(yè)周刊一年一度的五十強(qiáng)特輯。商業(yè)周刊評出了去年在商業(yè)界最為杰出的五十家企業(yè)。其中，已經(jīng)更新五代iPod制造者蘋果公司，占取了頭名。由于石油價(jià)格不斷增長，能源企業(yè)也紛紛在榜上位居前列。在這些天天出現(xiàn)在報(bào)紙前三版的公司中，本期文章卻將重點(diǎn)放在了排名靠后的CVS連鎖藥店公司。CVS公司依靠其經(jīng)營理念，以固定的客戶群，穩(wěn)健贏得利潤和名譽(yù)，是比分析那些大石油企業(yè)更有實(shí)際意義的。
Cover Story:The Best Performers 2006
With oil prices high, energy's strength comes as no surprise. But many other companies have scored by building intense customer loyalty.
The last place you might expect to find creativity would be the corner drugstore. But just take a look at CVS Corp. First, it focused on the pharmacy, creating a sophisticated system that allows customers to phone in, and then pick up, prescriptions at preset times. And after an exhaustive survey of shoppers, the chain, based in Woonsocket, R.I., embarked on a sweeping makeover of the rest of its 5,400 stores, focusing on its core female shoppers. Shelves that previously stood six to seven feet high were lowered to five feet, putting every item within view of the average woman （who, CVS found, is 5 feet 4 inches tall）. Stores were repainted in vivid designer colors.
Not least, CVS made a major upgrade of its beauty sections. It hired several hundred beauty advisers, who help shoppers select just the right shade of foundation and then recommend other cosmetics. And the company added exclusive brands such as hair-care products by Beverly Hills stylist Christophe as well as Lumene, a Finnish skin-care and cosmetics brand that is the top-selling beauty line in Europe. The new ranges "have created energy and momentum for us," says Helena Foulkes, CVS's senior vice-president for marketing and advertising. "Our beauty business is outperforming our overall store." The innovations have paid off for CVS. Same-store sales rose 6.5% last year, helping fuel an overall 33% increase in earnings. Investors are raving as well, with CVS shares up 132% over the past three years —— a performance that helped earn CVS the No. 39 slot in this year's BusinessWeek 50, our 10th annual effort to identify the best-performing companies in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.
Some powerful economic and demographic forces favored certain sectors this year. With oil at $60 a barrel, energy-related companies are at the fore. Among them are a number of service providers, including Baker Hughes（No. 21）, National Oilwell Varco （No. 27）, and Weatherford International （No. 36）. That's further evidence for investors that the biggest winners aren't always the companies digging for gold but sometimes the companies selling the picks and shovels. And the list was populated, once again, with a number of health-care companies, including Amgen （No. 9） and Aetna （No. 10）, a reflection of the aging of baby boomers.
Pull out energy and health care, however, and you'll find a lot of successful companies on this year's BW50 that, like CVS, earned their stripes the hard wy, by thriving in industries where stiff competition and cutthroat pricing have wiped out lesser companies. These companies have used innovation —— be it through technology, or clever design and marketing —— to win the hearts and wallets of consumers. And with more and more businesses seeing their competitive edge whittled away by the Internet and globalization, experts say it's imperative for companies always to look for new ways to build, and then maintain, intense customer
文章導(dǎo)讀：本期是商業(yè)周刊一年一度的五十強(qiáng)特輯。商業(yè)周刊評出了去年在商業(yè)界最為杰出的五十家企業(yè)。其中，已經(jīng)更新五代iPod制造者蘋果公司，占取了頭名。由于石油價(jià)格不斷增長，能源企業(yè)也紛紛在榜上位居前列。在這些天天出現(xiàn)在報(bào)紙前三版的公司中，本期文章卻將重點(diǎn)放在了排名靠后的CVS連鎖藥店公司。CVS公司依靠其經(jīng)營理念，以固定的客戶群，穩(wěn)健贏得利潤和名譽(yù)，是比分析那些大石油企業(yè)更有實(shí)際意義的。
Cover Story:The Best Performers 2006
With oil prices high, energy's strength comes as no surprise. But many other companies have scored by building intense customer loyalty.
The last place you might expect to find creativity would be the corner drugstore. But just take a look at CVS Corp. First, it focused on the pharmacy, creating a sophisticated system that allows customers to phone in, and then pick up, prescriptions at preset times. And after an exhaustive survey of shoppers, the chain, based in Woonsocket, R.I., embarked on a sweeping makeover of the rest of its 5,400 stores, focusing on its core female shoppers. Shelves that previously stood six to seven feet high were lowered to five feet, putting every item within view of the average woman （who, CVS found, is 5 feet 4 inches tall）. Stores were repainted in vivid designer colors.
Not least, CVS made a major upgrade of its beauty sections. It hired several hundred beauty advisers, who help shoppers select just the right shade of foundation and then recommend other cosmetics. And the company added exclusive brands such as hair-care products by Beverly Hills stylist Christophe as well as Lumene, a Finnish skin-care and cosmetics brand that is the top-selling beauty line in Europe. The new ranges "have created energy and momentum for us," says Helena Foulkes, CVS's senior vice-president for marketing and advertising. "Our beauty business is outperforming our overall store." The innovations have paid off for CVS. Same-store sales rose 6.5% last year, helping fuel an overall 33% increase in earnings. Investors are raving as well, with CVS shares up 132% over the past three years —— a performance that helped earn CVS the No. 39 slot in this year's BusinessWeek 50, our 10th annual effort to identify the best-performing companies in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.
Some powerful economic and demographic forces favored certain sectors this year. With oil at $60 a barrel, energy-related companies are at the fore. Among them are a number of service providers, including Baker Hughes（No. 21）, National Oilwell Varco （No. 27）, and Weatherford International （No. 36）. That's further evidence for investors that the biggest winners aren't always the companies digging for gold but sometimes the companies selling the picks and shovels. And the list was populated, once again, with a number of health-care companies, including Amgen （No. 9） and Aetna （No. 10）, a reflection of the aging of baby boomers.
Pull out energy and health care, however, and you'll find a lot of successful companies on this year's BW50 that, like CVS, earned their stripes the hard wy, by thriving in industries where stiff competition and cutthroat pricing have wiped out lesser companies. These companies have used innovation —— be it through technology, or clever design and marketing —— to win the hearts and wallets of consumers. And with more and more businesses seeing their competitive edge whittled away by the Internet and globalization, experts say it's imperative for companies always to look for new ways to build, and then maintain, intense customer