Corporations spinning off businesses, private equity investment in retail, continued cross-border activity and expansion into e-commerce drove retail and consumer merger and acquisition activity in the third quarter of 2012, according to PwC's US retail and consumer M+A insights report.

Even as companies are relying more on technology to come up with innovative business models and fresh ideas for finding new revenue, many boards of directors don't understand enough about IT to keep up.

After a half-decade of running on the treadmill, manufacturers are once again positioning themselves to achieve growth. An Accenture survey found that 89 percent of 81 senior manufacturing executives at U.S.-based companies with global operations are expecting growth. In fact, about four in 10 companies surveyed already have successfully restored either their production or profitability levels beyond pre-recession levels of 2007.

It's an often overlooked area of the supply chain, with a woeful record of success. Josefin Aspegren, marketing director with Optilon, talks about the challenge of assessing the efficacy of trade-promotion programs.

In many companies, marketers have been first movers in social media, tapping into it for insights on how consumers think and behave. As social technologies mature and organizations become convinced of their power, they will take on a broader role: informing competitive strategy.

Global opposition has forced the European Union to conditionally freeze its emissions trading scheme for one year. EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said she is seeking to create "a positive atmosphere" for global talks concerning aircraft emissions management - an approach lauded by many in the aviation industry.

Smartphones may be among retailers' strongest allies this holiday season, according to Deloitte's annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends.

Larry Lapide, research affiliate at MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics, employs a maritime metaphor to dramatize the pressing need for companies to implement an effective sales and operations planning (S&OP) process.

Aldata has developed the Aldata Omni-Shopper Suite, an integrated set of software applications aimed at retailers and manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods.

Inventory optimization might seem like an old concept, but many companies fail to apply it properly, especially in the area of multi-echelon inventory management. Karin Bursa, vice president of marketing with Logility, details IO's key benefits and challenges.