Customer demand for fast and cheap delivery is forcing the marketplace to step up performance.

Availability of industrial space in the U.S. declined in the first quarter of 2016 to the lowest level since 2001 and rents remain on an upward trajectory, though new construction is poised to limit both trends over the next two years, according to CBRE Group, Inc.

Emerging markets have driven growth for many multinational corporations (MNCs) for years, and they will continue to do so. But these are turbulent times as commodity prices plunge, currencies are devalued, and equity markets gyrate. The profitability of many MNCs' operations is already under attack, and future performance will be challenged by slower macroeconomic growth, increasing costs, and heightened competition from local companies, which are rapidly gaining scale, experience, and capability. To reduce these pressures, companies will have to focus much more on improving their competitiveness through constant productivity gains.