It's a classic chicken-and-egg dilemma. Small and medium-sized companies can't get access to the trade financing they need in order to grow - because they're small.

There are countless ways in which a supply chain can go wrong. And most of the time, the culprit is poor risk management.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has proposed 10 policy actions to boost U.S. manufacturing that the retailer says could help recapture $300bn of the $650bn worth of consumer goods that are currently imported.

A recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit has revealed a significant shortfall in the ethical performance of major corporations in supply chain management.

Apple Inc. likes to say it supports two million U.S. jobs. Plans by the company's main manufacturing partner for a $10bn factory in Wisconsin will add at least 10,000 more, helping Apple fend off the threat of import tariffs on its most important product, the iPhone.