The chief supply chain officer has emerged as a vital partner in the most strategic aspects of managing complex, global companies. In years past, the procurement function (the sourcing of essential products and services on the best possible terms) occupied center stage. But more recently, the relentless focus on driving out costs has taken a backseat to such issues as supply market risk, revenue enhancement and managing complex supplier relationships.

Manufacturing in July expanded at its slowest pace since late 2010, hobbled by weak overseas demand for American goods, though a rise in domestic orders helped cushion the blow.

High-seas piracy has not changed much in the last 3,000 years and you can bet a keg of rum, a colorful parrot and some buried treasure that pirates will continue to be successful in the 21st Century and beyond, says a Texas A&M University at Galveston professor who has taught a course about pirates covering all time periods and locations in the world.

C.H. Robinson Europe has opened an office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, specializing in temperature-controlled logistics services.

The majority of consumers in the world's richest markets say they are feeling insecure and anxious and are struggling to save. They have tightened their belts and are buckled in for a sustained period of low or no income growth - a world that feels like the 1930s or the Lost Decade in Japan.

At the end of this month, 211 million Ikea catalogs will be sent off into the world. If one lands on your doorstep, you'll want to have your smartphone handy.

On July 17, a wide range of third-party products on Amazon showed special pricing: one cent. The pricing glitch was, yet again, caused by some third-party integration and a coding error.

In releasing its first mid-year global outlook, D+B suggests that the second half of the yer will be challenging, but there will be an overall climate of improving U.S. and global business health.

The worldwide market for warehouse management systems grew by more than 10 percent in 2011. Growth was broad-based, occurring in both emerging markets and mature market segments. The high growth in the mature market segments implies that the post-recession market rebound is still active. "Going forward, we expect longer-term user adoption and technology trends to drive growth within the WMS market, as the effects from pent-up demand from the preceding global economic recession diminish. Emerging markets, add-on functionality, and numerous end-user industries are expected to lead the charge," says Clint Reiser, enterprise software analyst and the principal author of ARC's "Warehouse Management Systems Worldwide Outlook."

In 2011, the business analytics market extended its post-2009 recovery with another stellar performance by growing worldwide revenues 14.1 percent year over year. International Data Corporation forecasts that it will continue to grow at a 9.8 percent compound annual growth rate through 2016 to reach $50.7bn. Helping to drive this growth is media attention focused on Big Data, putting broader business analytics on the agenda of more senior executives.