Tesco PLC's ambitious U.S. experiment - 5-year-old grocery chain Fresh & Easy - has failed after costing its British parent billions of dollars, the company said.

By now, the functional model has become the conceptual core of nearly all organizational structures, public and private. It is so ingrained in the daily activities of most companies that it is rarely questioned. But it is obsolete.

As the debate over immigration reform heats up in Congress, The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), an advocacy group for the self-employed and micro-businesses, says its members wants Congress to bring simplification to verifying immigration status of employees.

United Airlines has set a goal to save 85 million gallons of fuel in 2013. The airline says this savings will equal 828,750 metric tons of CO2 or about $275m at current fuel prices.

This month, the Supply Chain Insights team will announce the Supply Chain Index, a formulaic representation of supply chain excellence based on market valuations. It will be launched during a webinar on April 25, 2013, and through a series of reports that will run in our May newsletter and throughout the summer. Here, I would like to share some background information on the Index and how I intend to use it in developing a higher level of research.