Opinion

If you could be a superhero for one day, what special powers do you think you would choose for yourself? Would it be the power of flight? How about invisibility? Or invincibility?

What if I told you none of that gets you anywhere in Washington? If you really want to be a hero in Washington, you need a set of super powers that on the surface might seem pretty ordinary, like the power of utter visibility, the power of seamless communication or the power to persuade and convince.

Are you, as vendors, creating the future with your top customers? The rules of engagement are changing right before our eyes. Limited loyalty, scarce capital and a dramatic reduction in consumer spending have created a new business landscape. These trends provide a unique opportunity for agile, innovative and insightful companies to improve their customer alignment, sales growth and the quality of their client relations.

As the editor of the publication, I have both the blessing and the curse of deciding which stories make it into the magazine each issue. It is a curse because these can be very difficult decisions to make; beyond which stories make the lineup, there is always the issue of how much of the story we choose to run. After all, a page only holds so many lines of copy.

“I’m not willing to say it was a great move at this point.”—BusinessWeek Feb. 12, 2009.

That’s what Morningstar analyst Mitchell Corwin had to say about the 2007 merger that created the $76 billion healthcare goliath now known as CVS Caremark. He’s entitled to his opinion, but you have to believe there was probably a whole lot of people waiting to greet Columbus upon his return to remind him that despite his killer suntan, the world most definitely was still flat. And no amount of corn or cocoa would make them think otherwise.

Dear Mr. President,

In my first letter to you (see Drug Store News, Dec. 9, 2008, “Dear Mr. President-Elect,” page 12), I implored you to make fixing the U.S. healthcare system the enduring legacy of your presidency.