沃爾瑪：給員工漲薪
2013年，美國聯邦政府將最低工資從每小時7.25美元提高到了15美元，引發了一場廣泛的討論，而沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）則處于這個話題的漩渦中心。自2009年起，政府就再也沒有提高過工資下限，而許多拿著最低工資的員工發現自己已經生活在了貧困線以下。沃爾瑪是美國最大的私營雇主，雇傭了130萬名美國人，而他們當中有許多人的收入在每年2.5萬美元以下。傳統觀點也許認為，增加員工薪水會導致沃爾瑪利潤降低，不過《財富》的分析發現事實并非如此。
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| Wal-Mart: Pay workers more
In 2013, Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) found itself at the center of the debate about raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to figures as high as $15. The government has not raised the wage floor since 2009, and many full-time minimum wage workers find themselves living below the poverty threshold. As the largest private employer in the U.S., the retail chain employs 1.3 million Americans, and many of them earn less than $25,000 per year. Conventional wisdom may say that increasing worker wages would hurt Wal-Mart's bottom line, but a Fortune analysis discovered that this is simply not the case.
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A & F：管好CEO的嘴巴
由于針對體型偏大的顧客和“不夠時髦”的顧客發表了歧視性言論，邁克•杰弗里斯這一年受到了如潮的惡評，但他并沒有丟掉Abercrombie & Fitch服裝公司首席執行官的位置。鑒于公司股票表現糟糕，投資者拼命想讓他下臺，但這家面向青少年的零售商還是決定讓他留任。這意味著Abercrombie & Fitch愿意承擔這位高管滿嘴跑火車的風險。我們的建議很簡單：讓他遠離麥克風吧。
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| Abercrombie & Fitch: Keep CEO Mike Jeffries quiet
After a banner year of negative press for discriminatory comments against larger shoppers and "not-so-cool" customers, Mike Jeffries is staying on as Abercrombie & Fitch's chief executive. Investors desperately wanted him to leave given the company's tanking stock, but the teen retailer has decided to stay the course with Jeffries at the helm. This meansAbercrombie (ANF) is willing to take the risk of dealing with more outlandish comments from its chief executive. Our advice is simple: Keep him away from the microphone.
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蘋果：少說大話
如果蘋果（Apple ）能從喬布斯時代傳承下來的詞典里去掉那些過分炒作而且不符事實的吹噓之辭，那就太棒了。蘋果的產品無與倫比，性能強勁，卓爾不凡，創意十足，令人驚嘆，別具一格——這些只是從這家公司最近的產品新聞中摘出的一部分詞匯而已。蘋果，我們知道，你確實很棒，我們同意。不過目前，你把產品單純地描述一下就可以了。等你準備好發布和iPod、iPhone或iPad同一級別的產品時，再把這些形容詞搬出來用吧。——亞當•拉辛斯凱
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| Apple: Cut the hyperbole
Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) would do well to eliminate from its vocabulary all the over-hyped, non-factual puffery that has been part of its lexicon since the Steve Jobs era. Apple products are: incredible, powerful, radical, innovative, amazing, and groundbreaking, to name just a few words chosen from recent company news releases. Apple, we get it. You're awesome. We agree. Just describe your products to us for now. And when you're ready to release something that equals the iPod, iPhone, or iPad, then it will be time to trot out the adjectives again. --Adam Lashinsky
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J.C. Penney：回歸本原
《財富》的阿倫•斯隆將服裝連鎖店J.C. Penney評為2013年度運營最失敗的公司之一。它一年來幾乎沒有贏得過任何值得關注的成功。前蘋果高管羅恩•約翰遜在2012年接任了這家零售商的首席執行官，試圖徹底改變這個品牌，讓它變得時尚。可惜事與愿違，此舉最終導致公司失去了一部分忠實客戶。時間進入2014年，我們建議J.C. Penney回歸本原，試著繼續贏回去年失去的信賴。
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| J.C. Penney: Get back to basics
Named by Fortune's Allan Sloan as one of the biggest turkeys of 2013, J.C. Penney (JCP,Fortune 500) leaves 2013 with hardly any noteworthy successes. Former Apple exec Ron Johnson took over in 2012 as CEO of the retailer and tried to make it trendy by drastically changing its brand. The plan backfired, and the retailer lost some of its loyal customer base as a result. Moving into 2014, we suggest the retailer gets back to basics and continues to try to earn back the trust it lost last year.
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Twitter：減少廣告
Twitter進行了一次成功的首次公開募股后，公司的投資者急切地期待著這個社交媒體平臺獲得可觀的利潤。毫無疑問，以營銷微博的形式打廣告是微博類網站盈利戰略中的重要組成部分。不過考慮到Twitter仍然在努力把大量的非活躍用戶群轉變為活躍用戶，不要讓太多雜亂的廣告疏遠用戶也十分重要。
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| Twitter: Don't burden users with too many ads
After a largely successful initial public offering, Twitter's (TWTR) investors are anxious for the social media platform to turn a decent profit. Without question, advertising in the form of promoted tweets will be a key component of the microblogging site's monetization strategy. But with Twitter still battling to convert its large base of inactive users into active ones, it's important that the company does not isolate more users in 2014 with too many feed-cluttering ads.
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露露檸檬：別讓顧客走光
露露檸檬（Lululemon）在2013年遭遇了麻煩，令人遺憾的瑜伽褲召回風波讓顧客不僅開始質疑這家健身服裝公司的昂貴產品的質量，還質疑公司領導層的誠信。露露檸檬的創始人其普•威爾森并沒有承擔售出大量走光長褲的責任，反而說：“一些女士的身材只是不適合”公司的產品。許多顧客據此認為威爾森將產品問題歸咎于他們。前任TOMS總裁勞倫特•波德萬前來接任首席執行官，我們建議他別讓顧客再走光了——也別找“如果”、“而且”或“但是”這類的借口。
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| Lululemon: Keep your customers covered
Lululemon (LULU) was stung in 2013 by an unfortunate yoga pant recall that made customers not only question the quality of the fitness retailer's expensive products but also the integrity of its leadership team. Rather than take responsibility for selling a large quantity of see-through pants, Lululemon founder Chip Wilson said, "some women's bodies just actually don't work" with the brand's clothes. Many customers interpreted this comment as Wilson blaming them for the product issues. As former TOMS presidentLaurent Potdevin takes over as CEO, we suggest he keep his customers completely covered -- no ifs, ands, or butts about it.
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可口可樂：遠離碳酸飲料
去年，可樂的擁躉多年來害怕的事在很大程度上得到了證實：碳酸飲料（即便是無糖的）很可能不利于身體健康。一些研究員如今聲稱，人工增甜劑或許會對新陳代謝產生負面作用，同時導致體重增加。可口可樂（Coca-Cola）有大約60%的收入來自碳酸飲料，不過隨著可樂銷量在美國的暴跌，這種情況并不會持續很長時間。去年12月，可口可樂美國分公司的總裁決定離職。新的領導團隊會在2014年花大量時間研發能夠讓日益關注健康的顧客群感興趣的新產品。
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| Coca-Cola: Step away from the soda
Last year largely confirmed what Coke drinkers have feared for years: Soda (even diet soda) is most likely not good for your health. Some researchers now purport that artificial sweeteners may negatively affect the metabolism and lead people to gain weight. Roughly 60% of Coca-Cola's (KO, Fortune 500) U.S. revenue comes from soda, but that may not be the case for very long as sales continue to plunge in America. In December, the president of Coca-Cola Americas decided to leave the company. A new team of leadership should spend a large part of 2014 creating new products that will keep an increasingly health-conscious customer base interested.
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谷歌：為谷歌眼鏡的聲譽而戰
谷歌眼鏡是2013年度最令人激動的技術創新之一，粉絲們翹首期盼著今年能夠開始試用。但谷歌（Google）在教育顧客產品性能方面仍然任重道遠。許多人對這種產品依然敬而遠之，一方面是出于隱私考慮，另一方面由于谷歌眼鏡時刻都在捕捉周遭的環境，人們總感覺它在進行某種侵略式的監視。實際上，谷歌眼鏡與智能手機差不多，而科技巨頭谷歌需要確保人們能夠了解這一點。（財富中文網）
譯者：嚴匡正
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| Google: Work on Glass' reputation
Google Glass is one of the more exciting tech innovations of 2013, and fans are looking forward to testing it out next year. That said, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) is still struggling to educate consumers about the capabilities of the technology. Many people remain wary of the device because of privacy concerns and a perception that the device is aform of invasive surveillance that is always capturing the world around it. The truth is Google Glass differs very minimally from a smartphone and the tech giant needs to make sure people know that.
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