A "V"-shaped business cycle is one that is characterized by a large market contraction, followed by a sharp and equally large expansion. Indeed, some companies during the Great Recession saw double-digit sales declines followed by commensurate increases. "It almost feels like you're on a roller coaster," says Marianne K. Gatten, director of strategic planning and business development with Emerson. "You're taking that first hill, scared of what's going to happen next." Managing the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process in such an environment can be extremely difficult.

As part of their continuing supply chain research, Penn State University, Capgemini Consulting, Panalpina and eyefortransport are seeking the participation of supply chain and logistics professionals in their in 2012/2013 Third-Party Logistics Study.

Most companies today are heavily outsourced and have suppliers spread out across the globe. Yet firms' knowledge of their suppliers and the environments they operate in is often limited and out-of-date, crippling their ability to successfully manage the dynamics of their supply base. This has introduced substantially more risk in global businesses.

Cass Information Systems, a provider of transportation, utility, telecom and waste invoice payment and information services, has launched Cass Freight Claims Services, an offering that allows shippers to effectively outsource the labor-intensive process of managing freight loss and damage claims and, in some cases, increase claims recoveries by decreasing threshold levels.

CRM challenges are still a reality in today's market. The question is: How do you overcome them? The bottom line is getting buy-in throughout the organization, from the cubicle worker to the executive suite. How you do that, though, requires an intentional strategy.

Europe's leading network carriers, represented by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), are urging U.S. regulators to fully recognise European air cargo security standards and accelerate progress towards a mutual recognition agreement.

Theft of trade secrets costs jobs and the global economy billions of dollars a year, according to a report released by the Center for Responsible Enterprise and Trade (CREATe.org) - a Washington-based non-profit industry group focused on responsible business practices.

The cloud is a viable model for a WMS, says Chuck Fuerst, director of product strategy at HighJump Software. Other things to consider are performance-based applications, labor management solutions, voice technology - and underestimating the cost of a WMS upgrade.

Mid-market companies are increasingly at risk for violating U.S. export regulations, even as U.S. export volumes continue to grow, according to a report released by Amber Road, a provider of global trade management solutions.

The National Retail Federation has urged the Federal Trade Commission to move cautiously in establishing regulations for mobile payments, and said any rules that are adopted should parallel those for the underlying form of payment and not be specific to the technology.