CVS is still growing sales and profits based on the inertia of past success and by exploiting their best people
Pros
CVS has the assets, locations, and market presence to leverage the human resource potential they possess and have access to, to create even greater current and future growth, profitability, and shareholder value. The company still has access to a large number of front line managers and associates that still retain the corporate "memory" needed to bring CVS to the next level of success. At the top of the company are a number of "visionaries" who see that the paradigm of success for the Pharmacy Retailer/Pharmacy Benefits Manager is constantly changing and has shown creativity in anticipating and capitalizing on that change.
Cons
The fuel that fired CVS's past growth was a favorable health/prescription insurance model and a cadre of seasoned front line managers and supervision who took the CVS brand nationwide. While evolving, enhancing, and creating customer loyalty to that "Brand" by acting as "merchants" and capitalizing on the unique aspects of their local marketing area. Tip O'Neil said "all politics is local" and any retailer with enduring success knows that while strong Branding must be national (even global) in scope "all retail success is local". Well the world has changed. The government/private health/prescription model has and will continue to change to achieve the parallel goals of cost containment and the movement toward universal coverage. This will put massive pressures on the Rx revenues and profits of CVS. In the recent past (the last 8 to 10 years) CVS has done what most American companies are doing. They have cut costs, identified and implemented effeciencies, and streamlined operations to relieve the pressures on profits and the creation of share holder value. They have worked hard to enhance the "Brand" by adding new product lines and services in the retail Pharmacies and the Stores. They have however sacrificed their greatest "human resource" assets in the front lines to "cost containment". The most capable people that have the most to offer CVS to drive sales and gross profit are devoting almost all their time to doing the work of associates they can no longer afford to schedule and still meet financial goals.In the noble effort to control the huge organization that CVS has become has created a blizzard of policies, procedures, and rules that monopolize the rest of the time of front line management has available to them (so they can stay in compliance).