As a supplier, you're constantly looking for ways to reduce costs in the payment cycle. While many suppliers think that corporate cards result in higher costs to them, in reality, card acceptance can actually positively impact the bottom line through a combination of cost savings, reduced bad debts and increased revenue.

After years of historically low interest rates, the Federal Reserve has started to execute on its strategy to raise rates. As a result, procurement teams will need to scrub their policies and plans to find interest rate sensitivities in a way they haven't in almost a decade.

Analyst Insight: Cost cutting by itself is not fun for most employees and does not inspire them. But getting lean and cost cutting in some areas to make the company "Fit for Growth" is motivational because the goal is to reallocate resources and invest in capabilities that will help the company win. Once supply chain professionals embrace that the purpose of the cost cutting is smarter investment to become more competitive, they will rally around the cause. - Rodger Howell, Principal, PwC's Strategy&; John Plansky, Principal, PwC's Strategy&

The manufacturing world is being shaped by technological, demographic, and market megatrends and how companies respond will define their future performance.

Intellectual property is generally the most valuable asset held by technology companies and many other businesses across all sectors of the economy. Generally speaking, if sales attributable to IP will be used only in the United States, it's likely to be more tax efficient for such rights to remain here.

Twenty years after the launch of the commercial internet, most merchants still fail to optimize the online checkout experience for the customers who visit their virtual storefronts. The result is that they stand to lose as much as 36 percent of sales due to the frictions that remain from discovery through checkout. Merchants could lose additional sales during payment processing.

Sixty percent of Americans created or used an online account with a retailer in the last 12 months, which suggests convenience ranks top-of-mind for U.S. shoppers, according to Worldpay, a global payments company. In fact, 47 percent said they create online accounts because it is quicker and easier to shop.