The development of new, disruptive and innovative technologies is one thing. Commercializing them and getting them flying off the shelves is another. In the current supersaturated market of innovations, from wearable technology to big data, the role of the technology evangelist can make all the difference to the business of a technology provider. But individual organizations can, and should, have such an evangelist too. Yet there can be a darker side.

Senior management executives are increasingly budgeting for information-technology purchases particular to their own functional areas or departments, beyond what's included in corporate and IT-department budgets.

"Collaboration" and "supply chain" go hand in hand, or you might think they should. But there are two kinds of collaboration with respect to supply chains. While many companies are focused on working with suppliers to arrive at more efficient and effective solutions, studies have repeatedly shown that far fewer work cross-functionally inside the organization to achieve the same result.