From the editor.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Editorial

There is no magic formula for business success, now or generations ago. If there was, it would be as closely guarded as The DaVinci Code. But there are some eternal verities that seem to work with all sizes of companies, public and private, and our cover story enumerates a half-dozen of them.

These aren't the thoughts of high-paid consultants, star CEOs or academics involved in years of research. They come directly from CFOs (and a former CFO) at five private companies, several of them very large. These financial executives graciously spent considerable phone time with Executive Editor Ellen M. Heffes and William Sinnett, Director of Research for Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), explaining how their companies have structured themselves for success.

A core concept of the article, sustainable growth, is underscored by the corporate histories of the likes of Cargill Inc., Koch Industries Inc. and S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., all of which have grown and prospered over generations. Cargill and Johnson are both well over a century old, Koch traces its roots to 1927, and Carey has been chauffeuring customers for 85 years. The youngest company in the article, SAS--the big maker of financial analytic software--is 30 years old this year.

It's refreshing to hear the emphasis that these CFOs say is placed on people, from finding the right people to put on the bus (in Jim Collins' phrase) to paying them well and treating them like an extended family. Cargill, for instance, probably has a lot of employees like Assistant Treasurer Dave Braden, who was profiled in the September "Balance Sheet" column. Braden has worked for the company since 1978, yet confessed that he remains "challenged and energized by the growth of Cargill." What more could a company want from a financial executive than experience, energy and commitment?

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It's definitely one of those pieces of...