Word: fruitlessness
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...only buys the software and hardware that will improve productivity, preferring to let other companies jump on faddish technology bandwagons. Case in point: Wal-Mart waited longer than just about every retailer in the country to launch its website, thereby avoiding millions of dollars in losses in a fruitless attempt to compete for miniscule sales. It’s no wonder that some of the best run companies in retailing, from Amazon.com to Costco, got where they are today by emulating Wal-Mart’s success. Wal-Mart’s economic impact may even go beyond the productivity...
...Fifty policemen came to the rescue?and then, Wang says, the dithering began. The abductor claimed to be related to a top cop, and, Wang says, "the officers spent all their time trying to figure out what kind of a relative he was." After a fruitless, 8-hr. standoff, the neighbor sliced Wang's son through the back of the neck with the machete. He died four days later...
...what was supposed to be the Senate's real business this week - debating energy policy. With Ken Lay's ghost haunting the House version and deep disagreements over everything from CAFE standards to alternative energy sources to ANWR drilling, actual legislation seems unlikely to emerge. But just as the fruitless economic stimulus fight centered on "getting America working again," every congressional debate has an agreed-upon theme. This one? "Reducing our dependence on foreign...
...Clone, a private company whose financial benefactor wanted to clone not a cat but an aging border-collie mix named Missy. Dogs, however, don't ovulate regularly, as cats do, and, for reasons not fully understood, dogs' ova don't mature well in laboratory dishes. So after almost three fruitless years, Westhusin and his colleagues turned their attention from canines to felines...
Already known as outspoken, Watkins didn't want to approach Skilling directly for fear of losing her job, Hilder says. "She thought it would be fruitless while he was there." When Skilling suddenly quit on Aug. 14, Lay called an all-employees meeting two days later and asked for comments from workers beforehand. That's when Watkins finally sat down to write a one-page anonymous letter on her computer at work. She dropped it in the box at headquarters the next...