It's a curiosity of how the internet works that a shopper using a search engine to find a flat-screen TV probably will not turn up Costco Wholesale, a major television vendor and the country's largest retailer after Walmart.

Executives certainly know what social media is. After all, if Facebook users constituted a country, it would be the world's third-largest, behind China and India. Executives can even claim to know what makes social media so potent: its ability to amplify word-of-mouth effects. Yet the vast majority of executives have no idea how to harness social media's power.

When Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine opened its new 1.6 million-square-foot facility with two 12-story towers this year, the building featured a real-time location system (RTLS) that enables the hospital to monitor the locations of hundreds of nurses, as well as thousands of pumps, wheelchairs and other high-value moving equipment.

In addition to technical and functional skills, supply chain managers need to hone their "soft" skills in areas like project management and change management, says Bill Seliger of R.R. Donnelly Logistics Services.

Unsustainable water use is threatening agriculture, other business and populations in China, India and the U.S., according to a study by risk analysis company Maplecroft.

As a tier one automotive supplier, Active Tools International knows the importance of avoiding and mitigating supply chain disruptions. Bill Keller, president of global operations, says the company has developed written risk mitigation plans that emphasize the use of dual sourcing of parts.

One of the often overlooked and undervalued components of supplier selection is trying to determine the supplier's long-term potential. Simply stated, it is not very difficult to identify the lowest price option during an RFP process. The key for long-term success is based on analyzing each supplier's potential for the long haul, encompassing areas such as strategic alignment, cultural fit, common delivery centers, industry outlook and social responsibility efforts. The best overall strategic value is not necessarily the lowest cost.

Is Wal-Mart's alleged bribery in Mexico an anomaly, or is it more typical of multinational behavior than many corporate executives would like to admit? Is the practice of bribing public officials ever justifiable from an economic or ethical point of view? And apart from collapsing share prices and shareholder lawsuits, what are some of the other possible consequences of bribing foreign officials?