Global economic challenges and uncertainty will continue to contribute to subdued hiring during the second quarter of 2013, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released by ManpowerGroup. The research suggests that employers are seeking signs of a robust global economy before labor markets are likely to achieve sustainable traction.

Analyst Insight: Every year there are several surveys asking supply chain executives to rank the challenges they face. And, for as long as I can remember, supply chain visibility ranks at or near the top. This year's reincarnation of the control tower metaphor is being applied to supply chain visibility. Can you see me now? If it's so critical, why haven't we implemented it? - Rich Sherman, Supply Chain Discipline Expert at Trissential

Analyst Insight: IBM's recent Chief Supply Chain Officer Report - "The Smarter Supply Chain of the Future" - has pretty much validated our four-year informal polling premise that about 90 percent of all supply chains are not mapped out in any formal approach. IBM's respondents placed supply chain visibility among the Top 5 supply chain challenges. Seventy percent said supply chain visibility is one of their major keys to success - yet the majority of those responding have not addressed the issue! - Gregory L. Schlegel, Vice President, Business Development, SherTrack LLC, and Adjunct Professor, Supply Chain Risk Management, Lehigh University, Graduate Program

Analyst Insight: In 2013, four trends will become hot topics for transportation operations in companies large and small: transportation continuity planning, fuel efficiency and the move to alternative fuels, driver shortages, and transportation category management. - Mario Hegewald and Jim Osborne, Senior Managers in Ernst & Young LLP's Supply Chain Advisory Practice

As businesses and governments implement cost-cutting and other efficiencies to help them recover from the deep recession, now is the time to consider collaborative purchasing as both a short- and long-term strategy to cut costs.

U.S. manufacturers are targeting an aggressive 1.5-percent reduction in cost of goods sold for 2013 in an effort to drive margin growth, according to a new study from The Hackett Group. With GDP growth stabilizing in major regions of the world, manufacturers are expecting reduced sales forecast uncertainty, enabling them to plan supply requirements and manufacturing capacity with far greater confidence, the study found.