Wal-Mart: Pay workers more
沃尔玛：给员工涨薪
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.
2013年，美国联邦政府将最低工资从每小时7.25美元提高到了15美元，引发了一场广泛的讨论，而沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）则处于这个话题的漩涡中心。自2009年起，政府就再也没有提高过工资下限，而许多拿着最低工资的员工发现自己已经生活在了贫困线以下。沃尔玛是美国最大的私营雇主，雇佣了130万名美国人，而他们当中有许多人的收入在每年2.5万美元以下。传统观点也许认为，增加员工薪水会导致沃尔玛利润降低，不过《财富》的分析发现事实并非如此。
Abercrombie &Fitch: Keep CEO Mike Jeffries quiet
A &F：管好CEO的嘴巴
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.
由于针对体型偏大的顾客和“不够时髦”的顾客发表了歧视性言论，迈克?杰弗里斯这一年受到了如潮的恶评，但他并没有丢掉Abercrombie &Fitch服装公司首席执行官的位置。鉴于公司股票表现糟糕，投资者拼命想让他下台，但这家面向青少年的零售商还是决定让他留任。这意味着Abercrombie &Fitch愿意承担这位高管满嘴跑火车的风险。我们的建议很简单：让他远离麦克风吧。
Apple: Cut the hyperbole
苹果：少说大话
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
如果苹果（Apple ）能从乔布斯时代传承下来的词典里去掉那些过分炒作而且不符事实的吹嘘之辞，那就太棒了。苹果的产品无与伦比，性能强劲，卓尔不凡，创意十足，令人惊叹，别具一格——这些只是从这家公司最近的产品新闻中摘出的一部分词汇而已。苹果，我们知道，你确实很棒，我们同意。不过目前，你把产品单纯地描述一下就可以了。等你准备好发布和iPod、iPhone或iPad同一级别的产品时，再把这些形容词搬出来用吧。——亚当?拉辛斯凯
J.C. Penney: Get back to basics
J.C. Penney：回归本原
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.
《财富》的阿伦?斯隆将服装连锁店J.C. Penney评为2013年度运营最失败的公司之一。它一年来几乎没有赢得过任何值得关注的成功。前苹果高管罗恩?约翰逊在2012年接任了这家零售商的首席执行官，试图彻底改变这个品牌，让它变得时尚。可惜事与愿违，此举最终导致公司失去了一部分忠实客户。时间进入2014年，我们建议J.C. Penney回归本原，试着继续赢回去年失去的信赖。
Twitter: Don't burden users with too many ads
Twitter：减少广告
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.
Twitter进行了一次成功的首次公开募股后，公司的投资者急切地期待着这个社交媒体平台获得可观的利润。毫无疑问，以营销微博的形式打广告是微博类网站盈利战略中的重要组成部分。不过考虑到Twitter仍然在努力把大量的非活跃用户群转变为活跃用户，不要让太多杂乱的广告疏远用户也十分重要。
Lululemon: Keep your customers covered
露露柠檬：别让顾客走光
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.
露露柠檬（Lululemon）在2013年遭遇了麻烦，令人遗憾的瑜伽裤召回风波让顾客不仅开始质疑这家健身服装公司的昂贵产品的质量，还质疑公司领导层的诚信。露露柠檬的创始人其普?威尔森并没有承担售出大量走光长裤的责任，反而说：“一些女士的身材只是不适合”公司的产品。许多顾客据此认为威尔森将产品问题归咎于他们。前任TOMS总裁劳伦特?波德万前来接任首席执行官，我们建议他别让顾客再走光了——也别找“如果”、“而且”或“但是”这类的借口。
Coca-Cola: Step away from the soda
可口可乐：远离碳酸饮料
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.
去年，可乐的拥趸多年来害怕的事在很大程度上得到了证实：碳酸饮料（即便是无糖的）很可能不利于身体健康。一些研究员如今声称，人工增甜剂或许会对新陈代谢产生负面作用，同时导致体重增加。可口可乐（Coca-Cola）有大约60%的收入来自碳酸饮料，不过随着可乐销量在美国的暴跌，这种情况并不会持续很长时间。去年12月，可口可乐美国分公司的总裁决定离职。新的领导团队会在2014年花大量时间研发能够让日益关注健康的顾客群感兴趣的新产品。
Google: Work on Glass' reputation
谷歌：为谷歌眼镜的声誉而战
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.
谷歌眼镜是2013年度最令人激动的技术创新之一，粉丝们翘首期盼着今年能够开始试用。但谷歌（Google）在教育顾客产品性能方面仍然任重道远。许多人对这种产品依然敬而远之，一方面是出于隐私考虑，另一方面由于谷歌眼镜时刻都在捕捉周遭的环境，人们总感觉它在进行某种侵略式的监视。实际上，谷歌眼镜与智能手机差不多，而科技巨头谷歌需要确保人们能够了解这一点。