What do most successful businesses have in common?

What do most successful businesses have in common?
Using available resources to effectively execute business strategies, maintaining a strong focus on the customer and structuring the organization in order to support company objectives are the three basic building blocks that high-performing organizations, regardless of industry or geography, have in common.

That finding comes from new research by The Conference Board, an independent business membership and research association.

To better understand what traits link the best businesses, researchers identified 56 companies that rank highly in leadership, financial performance and people management.

Those companies include FedEx, Coca-Cola, Target and American Express. The study's authors then surveyed 76 executives at 27 of those companies to learn how their businesses are run.