Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) is one of the world’s largest aluminum companies while Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) predominantly digs silver and gold out of the ground. They are very different businesses for investors to analyze. But there’s an overlap: They are both making important business improvements that have big implications for their respective futures. Here’s the question: Do you want a company that’s getting smaller to get better or one that’s getting bigger to get better?