The discussion of American manufacturing is often a muddled one, steeped in nostalgia for a bygone era and accompanied by a certain misty-eyed conviction that it is a sector in ceaseless decline. A new study from the McKinsey Global Institute adds some welcome clarity. In 184 pages, the global consulting giant presents a picture of manufacturing as among the most dynamic sectors of the U.S. and global economies, driving higher productivity and standards of living. But it also shows that what we usually think of as a traditional manufacturing job isn't coming back.

A new Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA) has been launched to accelerate the growth of urban manufacturing across the U.S. and to capitalize on the sector's ability to create stable, high-quality jobs.

Professor Yossi Sheffi, director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, describes the development of logistics clusters and their considerable economic advantages, which include the creation of steady, well paying jobs for both blue- and white-collar workers.

The strongest case Africa presents for its attractiveness to manufacturing is its GDP growth. The continent is home to six out of the top 10 countries that are experiencing economic growth, according to an analysis by the Economist. Over the past decade, it has been the second-fasting growing region in the world, averaging growth of 5.1 percent during that period.

While Gartner isn't significantly raising its global IT growth forecast - which it revised downward earlier in the year - its relatively flat forecast doesn't apply to at least one sector of information technology: the big data labor market.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has chosen Workday Financial Management and HCM to replace its legacy on-premise finance and human-resources software.

India's business-process-outsourcing companies have a problem. The $50bn industry has enjoyed phenomenal growth: The top 20 BPO companies' employee base grew 12 percent in 2011, according to Dataquest, and the domestic market is expanding. Yet BPO companies are struggling to attract the right talent.

A Chinese vocational school sent five 15-year-old boys to assemble Sony PlayStations at a Foxconn manufacturing plant in China, where the legal age to do such work is 16.

In the United States, the concept of supplier diversity is becoming more embedded in corporate culture each year. Supply management professionals seek out small- and midsized businesses owned and operated by women, African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities to round out their supply chains, and they are increasingly developing relationships and partnerships built on the foundation of mutual benefit to both parties. Such initiatives outside the U.S. often aren't quite as developed.