Analyst Insight: Supplier relationships and the management of them are critical to business. The strength of the relationship is two vs. one, transparency, collaboration and innovation. Real value is extracted when buyers and suppliers work together. Not surprisingly, businesses focused on supplier relationship management (SRM) lead their peers five to one in terms of value derived from their supply base. - Mickey North Rizza, VP of Strategic Services, BravoSolution

Surging growth in emerging markets and constantly changing international trade regulations are testing the ability of aviation and defense companies to manage compliance on a global scale.

Inventory information sharing is time-consuming and often results in visibility levels between "average" and "none," according to a report from Gatepoint Research.

Analyst Insight: No matter what "expert" you ask – all will point to the fact that SRM is on the rise. This growing realization that buyers and suppliers must work together to achieve success in today's complex and volatile economic climate is a welcome sea change in thinking that only will continue. A key to getting SRM right? Make sure you are putting in mechanisms to manage the business with the supplier – not just to manage the supplier. – Kate Vitasek, Faculty for the University of Tennessee's Center for Graduate Executive Education programs.

Analyst Insight: A major reason the majority of start-ups and mergers are destined to fail is that companies are not aligned when it comes to determining the nature of their business, what they want to achieve and how they will achieve it. Misalignment can happen both internally and externally and almost always translates into frustration and failure. – Kate Vitasek, Faculty, University of Tennessee's Center for Graduate Executive Education programs.