Global manufacturers are putting their supply chains at the center of their business strategies to serve as the foundation for operational efficiency and collaborative innovation, according to KPMG's fourth annual Global Manufacturing Outlook. The report, entitled "Competitive Advantage - Enhancing Supply Chain Networks for Efficiency and Innovation", surveyed 335 C-level executives globally - including 95 in the U.S.

More retailers today are looking at the way they manage their non-merchandising indirect spends, and procurement transformation is increasingly coming into the conversation.

An unstable economy and the growing volume of global regulations are the biggest business threats, according to a recent poll of in-house legal counsel.

Despite increased business investment in innovation, only 18 percent of executives believe their company's innovation efforts deliver a competitive advantage, according to an Accenture study that also revealed a risk-averse approach to product and service development.

In Guangdong province, where nearly 30 percent of China's exports are made, women usually far outnumber men on labour-intensive production lines. Rural women are hired for their supposed docility, nimble fingers and attention to mind-numbing detail. But in recent years Guangdong's workforce has changed.

What if you weren't just delivering meat to stores for sale but doing something more disruptive - like selling 40-pound packages of raw meat out of the back of refrigerated trucks? What kind of bureaucratic fat would you have to cut through then?