The BW 50

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Shakena Thornton

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Given our three-year measurement period, the BusinessWeek 50 each year includes a number of companies that are riding the crest of different macroeconomic or business cycles, which means this year's rankings include seven companies that are benefiting from the surge in energy prices, as well as 10 companies, such as Sherwin-Williams (SHW) (No. 40), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) (No. 30), and even Moody's Investor Services (MCO) (No. 44), that gained in different ways from the housing boom. The Class of 2008 is also among the most globalized groups of companies since we published our first rankings in 1997. In addition to the many outfits like Gilead that are dedicated to solving a worldwide problem, roughly two dozen of this year's companies are benefiting from powerful cross-border economic and management trends. That includes companies such as Cognizant Technology Solutions (No. 19), which has emerged as a leader in managing the outsourcing of back-office functions to India and elsewhere, as well as Expeditors International of Washington (No. 32), which has enjoyed a booming business in managing the supply chains for multinationals. "There's a market for suppliers that can take over a company's supply chain and run it better, cheaper, and faster, and these companies have shown how to do it," says Chris Zook, head of the global strategy practice at Bain & Co.

But for every company riding a cyclical boom, there are many others in the BusinessWeek 50 that are positioned to profit in both good times and bad. Indeed, given the speed at which global commerce now moves and market sentiment can turn, today's winners are those companies that can manage risk. That's the case with Goldman Sachs Group (GS) (No. 21), which, at the height of the mortgage boom, shifted course last year and placed well-timed bets that the subprime market was nearing collapse. In the face of soaring raw-material prices, steelmaker Nucor (No. 25) acquired scrap broker SHV North America to ensure its pipeline remains full. "Warren Buffett himself said that it's harder for companies to sustain their growth," says Adrian Slywotzky, a management consultant for Oliver Wyman Group and co-author of the book The Upside: The 7 Strategies for Turning Big Threats into Growth Breakthroughs. "But managing risk well is one way to do it."

What follows are profiles of the BusinessWeek 50 companies, highlighting what makes each of them hum.

Back to the 2008 BusinessWeek 50