The more merchandise a department store carries, the better. Broad inventory filled with brand names boosts a retailer's chances of "giving the lady what she wants"- the key to success, according to none other than Marshall Field. So it can't be a good sign that Converse Inc. has stopped selling shoes to Sears Holdings Corp.

The Coca-Cola Company and its African bottling partners announced a new investment of $5bn during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. The investment, to be made over the next six years, increases its total announced investment in Africa to $17bn from 2010 to 2020. The Company and its bottling partners anticipate that this investment will fund new manufacturing lines, cooling and distribution equipment and production; create additional jobs and opportunities across Coca-Cola's African supply chain; and support key sustainability initiatives and programs focused on safe water access, sustainable sourcing, women’s economic empowerment, community well-being and operational efficiency improvements.

Evergreen Line has enhanced its ocean container services to and from Dublin, Ireland and Liverpool, England. From its hub in Rotterdam, the line will offer a twice-weekly service to Dublin, and dedicated slots on a weekly basis to Liverpool.

Already China's biggest restaurant operator with 4,600 outlets, KFC is pursuing Chinese consumers so avidly it opens two more every day. That dramatic growth comes with a big catch: KFC's quality control is struggling to keep up.

Trevor Schick, senior vice president for the global supply chain enterprise group at Hewlett-Packard, explains the importance and challenges involved in eliminating "conflict minerals" from the supply chain and HP's commitment to this goal.

Chief financial officers of corporations that have already set up captive insurance companies or are thinking about setting one up should ponder the benefits of self-insuring cyber perils and supply chain business-interruption risks via a captive to supplement commercial insurance coverage.