Beer brewer Carlsberg Group has set a new goal of reducing water usage at its breweries by 50 percent by 2030, following an analysis of water risk in conjunction with WWF. Reaching the goal will require "technological breakthroughs at brewery level" - as well as collaborations with partners in high-risk catchment areas to ensure long-term water availability, says Jochem Verberne, global partnership director at WWF International.

As part of its operating philosophy, Siemens, the German conglomerate operating in more than 200 countries and regions, applies a yearly target range of 3 to 5 percent of productivity growth to each of its subsidiaries, to go along with certain cost objectives. Not unexpectedly, Siemens Brazil has had a tough time hitting those targets over the last three years or so.

More than half (51 percent) of executives do not think their current procurement model is effective, a survey has found.

Globalization, a seemingly unstoppable trend until last year, suddenly looks less inexorable as President Donald Trump moves to put "America First," and the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. These abrupt policy shifts are forcing executives to rethink strategies based on global economic integration, particularly cost-efficiency initiatives that rely on outsourcing or offshoring business processes.

India's new Goods and Services Tax (GST), its biggest tax reform since independence, will unify a $2tr economy into a single market - and demand massive changes for small businesses that will have to go online to file their taxes.

Ford Motor Co. is the second major automaker in recent weeks to make the news for focusing on sustainably sourced materials for use in manufacturing.