The chief supply chain officer has emerged as a vital partner in the most strategic aspects of managing complex, global companies. In years past, the procurement function (the sourcing of essential products and services on the best possible terms) occupied center stage. But more recently, the relentless focus on driving out costs has taken a backseat to such issues as supply market risk, revenue enhancement and managing complex supplier relationships.

A newly-designed Office Depot store in Portland, Ore., will be the country's first to offer products bearing the EcoSense label for electronic merchandise.

Manufacturing in July expanded at its slowest pace since late 2010, hobbled by weak overseas demand for American goods, though a rise in domestic orders helped cushion the blow.

Walmart was sued July 25 by a California advocacy group for the disabled, who complained that the retail giant isn't meeting federal or state laws because its PIN pads are too high for customers in wheelchairs to use.

High-seas piracy has not changed much in the last 3,000 years and you can bet a keg of rum, a colorful parrot and some buried treasure that pirates will continue to be successful in the 21st Century and beyond, says a Texas A&M University at Galveston professor who has taught a course about pirates covering all time periods and locations in the world.