High-tech companies expect robust growth in their industry, and they're preparing for it by weighing a broader range of factors when building their manufacturing supply chain networks, according to the fifth annual UPS Change in the (Supply) Chain (CITC) survey.

Many mid-sized U.S. cities and other areas now make attractive alternatives to India and other offshore locations for companies considering consolidating finance, IT and other business services operations for shared service or global business services centers, according to new research from The Hackett Group.

Those of you grew up with Sesame Street may recall that each episode was brought to you by a different letter of the alphabet. I experienced my own version of this phenomenon three years ago, when much of my job suddenly became all about the letter "S" - or more accurately five of them.

If any company has a proven formula for success, it's Walmart. The Bentonville, Ark.-based behemoth is the world's largest retailer, with nearly half a trillion dollars in annual sales and 2.2 million employees conducting business in 27 countries. Through its more than 11,000 stores and Sam's Club warehouses, Walmart rakes in more revenue than Costco, Kroger, Amazon, Home Depot, and Target - combined.

Before he became a billionaire in e-commerce, Richard Liu was a failure. As a student, Liu started a restaurant in Beijing but went bankrupt. When he took a second stab at business by opening an electronics store in 1998, Liu insisted on honesty. After seeing other shops overcharge customers and pass off counterfeit goods, he says he sold only genuine merchandise.

Among the many factors that have been identified as undermining a firm's success - unstable leadership and project setbacks, for example - there's one that has received remarkably little scrutiny from researchers: success itself.

Is vertical integration a thing of the past? On the contrary, it seems to be making a comeback, particularly in Silicon Valley, where it's been given a new label (just to remind us that everything that emanates from there is innovative!): the "full stack" business model.

Its name suggests a narrow focus on office supplies, but United Stationers Inc. is far more than a wholesale distributor of copy paper, notebooks, pens and staplers. The $5bn-plus company also supplies janitorial and breakroom supplies, provides industrial equipment to the welding, oil field and building construction industries, and has a major - and increasing - focus on helping thousands of resellers sell online to their business end-customers.