Ben Ruddell, director and professor in the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University, offers a perspective on whether we can expect another wave of shortages of essential products on store shelves this year.

U.S. importers and exporters are bracing themselves for the possibility of a strike — or, at the very least, a damaging worker slowdown — by dockworkers at West Coast ports, as management and labor seek accord on a new longshore contract.

We’ve yet to attain the nirvana of supply always matching the demand. In attempting to do so, retailers strive to carry extra buffer at every outlet.

The way in which climate-risk disclosures are currently made leads to inaccurate and misleading reports, with non-actionable metrics that are impossible to compare between companies.