Pros
Covance leads the CRO world in professionalism. It's like selling the Rolls Royce of contract research services. Management is well trained, services are quality, and the growth is invigorating. Blow out your sales numbers and you can retire earlier than you had planned.
Cons
I was always amused by the 6-Sigma initiative. Seems like a lot of work to get people to analyze and solve problems. Anyone with a science background could make most of these changes using their background. However, it does make you a more valuable employee to other companies after you've gone through the training. The downside is that it slows down needed change in process. Another downside that isn't limited to just Covance is the review process. You can be in working group of five. All five workers cannot exceed expectations. Nor can all five not meet expectations. One usually "exceeds", one usually "needs improvement", and the rest "meet expectations". Therefore, your best bet is to not let your coworkers in on your success strategies. Sounds silly, but if you get a "needs improvement", you're put on a structured program to help you. Get a "needs improvement" twice and you're probably out of a job. Then again, like most sales jobs, it's all about your relationship with your superior. If your boss doesn't like you, you'll be gone sooner or later. Covance has a structured program for letting folks go, but that can be worked a number of different ways. It just takes a few months. If your boss thinks you're golden, things will happen for you. I've seen folks with more experience get passed by folks with a better relationship with their boss many times.