Based on its modeling and country risk analytics, D+B predicts sluggish global growth will continue in many markets right into 2013.

You thought you did everything right"”gathered market research and consumer insights; brainstormed, prototyped, and tested a promising new idea; developed detailed financial models and a solid marketing plan. Yet your company's new product or service didn't perform as expected. What did you overlook?

Some of the biggest names in private equity are racing to set up shop in Southeast Asia, drawn by the region's rapid economic development and abundance of natural resources, according to The Boston Consulting Group's report, Private Equity in Southeast Asia: Increasing Success, Rising Competition.

In the run up to Christmas, UK retailers are frustrating shoppers with distinctly average customer service. Top UK merchants are failing to answer questions asked online or sent via email, according to the 2012 Eptica Multichannel Customer Experience Study. The research found that just 48 percent of retailers could successfully answer basic questions sent via email, while websites could answer just over half (53 percent) of questions asked online.

As the holiday buying season continues to gather steam, the Consumer Fraud Center has warned about a fast-growing trend: the sale of goods at bargain-basement prices through so-called "daily deal" sites, which can mask the sale of counterfeit or illicit goods.

A guide has been published by Sourcing Journal Online and TradeCard to help supply chain executives in the apparel industry take advantage of sourcing locales in Latin America as they pursue strategic initiatives requiring faster turnaround and more reliable delivery of goods.