Retail marketers love complexity. The more variations of a product they can sell, the happier they are. How else can they command all that shelf real estate in big-box stores? How else can they promote innovation? And how else can they drive their supply-chain managers crazy?

The "Beyond BRIC markets" -- the rising automotive markets emerging behind the quartet of Brazil, India, Russia, and China -- offer the last great growth opportunity in a world in which established markets are largely characterized by stagnation or low growth and the key stakes have already been distributed in the BRIC markets.

Total Quality Management. Quality circles. Quality with a capital "Q." It all seems so...20th Century.

The UK car industry is on a global charm offensive to rebuild the shrunken supply chain behind Britain's auto business, targeting 15,000 new jobs and almost 200 fresh projects over the next three years.

Anyone who works in the automotive business can attest the industry currently is enjoying a period of robust demand. At the same time, there is an enormous amount of risk.

The country's automotive supply chain is likely to get affected due to various factors, including escalation of costs to supply chain operations and shortage of professionals, a study has revealed.

So the Chinese are gearing up to sell their branded merchandise in the U.S. But what about the other way around? Can American manufacturers capture a healthy share of China's burgeoning consumer market?