Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is a consumer products conglomerate. The company was founded in 1886 to manufacture sterile sutures, dressings and bandages to the health care industry. Since then, they have expanded to become a more consumer-focused company. Pharmaceuticals and other medical products were added in the Depression and WWII years. The company has had a long history of international operation, beginning with expansion into Canada in 1919. They are currently headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where they were founded.
             They manufacture and market three primary categories of goods: consumer health care, medical devices and diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. The company's brands include Johnson & Johnson, Band Aid, Neutrogena, Splenda, Visine, Listerine and Tylenol. Listerine represents an interesting component since it was a speech by Joseph Lister that inspired Robert Wood Johnson to start his company. The firm is international in scope, operating in 57 countries worldwide and selling in 175 countries. The consumer products businesses and the contact lens business in Medical Devices are marketed to the mass consumer market, as are the products of the pharmaceuticals business. Most medical devices and diagnostic tools are marketed to the health care industry.
             Johnson & Johnson employs 119,000 people. Johnson & Johnson's organizational structure is a matrix, with some 250 different companies. These represent various product lines and geographic locations. The company has recently acquired Pfizer's consumer health care division and branched out into Internet publishing as well. All told, Johnson & Johnson recorded profits of $10 billion in 2007 on revenues of $61 billion, making it one of the largest companies in the US. Johnson & Johnson's market cap is $167 billion.
             The company's businesses have grown at a stable, incremental pace over the past several years. Their margins ...