So collaborative purchasing appears feasible for the restaurant industry. But what about other business sectors? Can different companies - even direct competitors - really band together to get better deals from their suppliers?

Analyst Insight: Sustainability is a global business megatrend with cross-functional implications that for-profit corporations cannot afford to ignore any more than IT or quality management. Sustainability means balancing environmental impacts, social welfare and profit-making activities to promote value along the so-called "triple bottom line." Given increasingly conscientious consumers and growing limits to resource availability, success in the era of climate change will be reserved for companies that have sustainable supply chains and operations. - Nada Sanders, Professor and Iacocca Chair, Lehigh University; Director of EcoNautics Sustainability Institute

International experts are meeting at International Maritime Organization headquarters this week, in the form of an Expert Workshop, to begin updating the inventory of greenhouse gases from international shipping.

Nearly three out of four leaders within the manufacturing industry have either expanded their product or service offerings in the past year, or plan to expand them in the coming year, according to a survey conducted by Travelers Companies.

Analyst Insight: Sustainability has been on consumer packaged goods executives' minds - and part of their strategic plans - for some time now. In the past, many companies have pursued sustainability because they saw it as the right thing to do. At the same time, sustainability also creates positive morale among employees, helps to meet regulations such as those for emissions, and boosts companies' reputations. But only recently has sustainability truly been connected and aligned with financial performance. - Bruce Tompkins, Executive Director, Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium