Manufacturers have learned to work closely with their suppliers to decrease costs and reduce time to market, but focusing on buyer-supplier relationships may no longer be enough to achieve competitive advantage.

How do you know which hospitals are doing the best job? Patients, insurers and employers all have a stake in the answer to this question, but up until now factual information on hospital and nursing home performance has been scanty, and what is out there is based on differing criteria.

American consumers pay top dollar for medications they assume are pure and unadulturated. But we don't always get what we pay for, according to researchers who are sounding the alarm about the growing presence of counterfeit drugs in the marketplace.

The CANAMEX Corridor of Innovation initiative has been working in recent years to plan improvements to public and private shipping, rail, highway and inspection facilities through a multistate cooperative of Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Idaho.

U.S. sales of notebook PCs outpaced desktop computers for the first time in 2005, garnering 53.3 percent of the total PC retail market, according to research firm Current Analysis.

Good projects frequently fail — even when experienced managers are at the helm.

The health-care industry is beginning to adopt the principles of sustainable procurement — a "green" approach to purchasing which takes into account the efficient use of nonrenewable resources and the potential for recycling.

The marketplace has come a long way since Henry Ford's all-black Model T, mass produced at a price "everyman" could afford. Today's consumers want products designed the way they like, at the right price and with quick availability.

How efficiently hospitals keep track of health-care supplies can make the difference not only in cost but also the quality of patient care.

Building deep supplier relationships is a key facet of success for Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota. Through a supplier-partnering hierarchy, the two companies work with suppliers to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and maximize market share.