The U.S. has been shipping application development work offshore for years, but cloud computing may help make America a data center services exporter. Some countries may not like that.

Walmart, Nike, Target, JC Penney, Levi's and fellow members of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition have unveiled the group's index for measuring the environmental impact of apparel products across the supply chain.

As we all know, many unique and time-sensitive activities occur in all areas of business, government, or even research. Those activities, regardless of their specific nature, can be managed using the project management approach with its associated tools and techniques. This approach is generally intended for assessing the progress of projects and using the necessary and relevant resources of an organization to ensure project effectiveness and completion within planned time-frame and assigned budget.

Putting aside their big-box ways, giant retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. are going urban with a new look and a metro-oriented feel as they expand in Southern California.

When innovation comes to mind, the first thing people might think of is creativity, spontaneity or a momentary stroke of genius. But can innovation occur out of a structured, repeatable process? The answer, in short, is yes.

No organization can avoid coming to grips with the rapidly evolving behavior of consumers and business customers. They check prices at a keystroke and are increasingly selective about which brands share their lives. They form impressions from every encounter and post withering online reviews. These changes present significant organizational challenges, as well as opportunities. The biggest is that all of us have become marketers: the critical moments of interaction, or touch points, between companies and customers are increasingly spread across different parts of the organization, so customer engagement is now everyone's responsibility.