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.

Shifting from diesel fuel to natural gas to power the nation's heavy-duty commercial trucking sector would achieve widely promised climate benefits only if widespread emissions of heat-trapping methane across the natural gas value chain are reduced, according to a new study coauthored by researchers from Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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.

Tim Brown, managing director of the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech, describes how supply chain education has evolved over the past two decades and highlights how the Institute is employing internet and hybrid classes to expand its continuing education program.

Tammy Bliss recently left a career with Fortune 500 companies to become an entrepreneur. These two worlds share many challenges, including finding and keeping talented employees, she says. Bliss also discusses her new company, ConversionR, which promotes reuse of cardboard cartons.