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January 31, 2008

Manufacturers Bet Big On Super Bowl Sunday

With nearly 95 million people set to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, many major manufacturers are looking to capitalize by plunking down some $2.7 million for a 30-second TV spot. Will this expensive gamble pay dividends for businesses wanting to re-invent their brand or bump up supply?

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January 30, 2008

Put a Little Finance into Your Supply Chain

For every financial transaction in the global supply chain, the upstream supplier must receive payment on time to keep the whole system functioning optimally so products flow on time to the buyer. Here are some ways to integrate finance within the supply chain.

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January 29, 2008

State of the Union '08: The Biz Perspective

In last night's State of the Union address, President Bush called for swift passage of a $150 billion program intended to counter slowing economic growth. Here's what it means for businesses and the whole of the economy.

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January 28, 2008

Weekly Industry Crib Sheet

A lot can happen in a week. Unfortunately, most of us have limited time in our daily schedule to research all the developments affecting industries and jobs today. So we've scoured the Internet for last week's top news and analysis in business and manufacturing to bring you an easy-to-swallow recap -- our own weekly working crib sheet.

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January 25, 2008

Light Friday: Head in the Sand, Rich Roaming, Productivity-Enhancing Snacking...

... The Dirt on Dirt, Kite Rider, New Study on World's Oldest Profession and MORE.

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January 24, 2008

New Design Unveiled: See Earth from 68 Miles Above

Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson along with the creator of SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed craft to carry a human into space, this week unveiled detailed models of the bigger SpaceShipTwo and its carrier airplane, WhiteKnightTwo.

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January 23, 2008

Trade & Politics: Revisiting (and Reworking) NAFTA

As presidential candidates jockey for position in the primaries, free trade has taken a more prominent role than anyone expected. And with the nation grappling with the threat of recession, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been coming under fire. A recently introduced bill would require improving NAFTA -- or withdrawing from it.

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January 22, 2008

Global Rankings: Who's On Top?

How do today's countries stack up against each other? Examining key factors -- education, market size and efficiency, infrastructure and innovation -- we look at the latest global rankings.

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Superpower Tug-of-War

As China continues its meteoric rise in manufacturing and engineering, the country faces profound new challenges. In sight of this rising force, where does the U.S. stand?

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Is SOX Compliance Undermining Your Edge?

Many entrepreneurs argue that IPOs are going overseas because Sarbanes-Oxley compliance costs are too high in the U.S., thus undermining the nation's economic competitiveness. Yet a first-of-its-kind report offers surprising results of the actual cost of compliance.

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Burning Question

Which country do you think offers the best quality of life?

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If Water is the Next Oil...

The rapid rise in energy costs has been catching much of the media spotlight these days. But there is major concern over the global shortage of another critical resource: water.

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How to Win the Competition for Top Talent

Companies can spout rhetoric about employees creating competitive advantage, or they can act on it by embedding a robust talent strategy in the overall business strategy.

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Last-Minute Party Favors

With less than 10 months to go until the U.S. presidential election, business lobbyists are pressing their agendas before the '08 vote in nervous anticipation of Democratic gains.

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Future Job Candidates: Man or Manmade?

High-tech machines have already replaced some labor on assembly lines, and they are only increasing in sophistication. What are the chances we will one day be competing with robots for jobs?

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Workplace Accidents Falling

Despite a rise in violations, tougher enforcement of workplace regulations has reduced the number of on-the-job accidents in recent years, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

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Recommended Reading

Will China really be the next global superpower? Is it as solid and as powerful as it looks from the outside? NPR reporter Rob Gifford poses these and other questions in China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power.

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January 21, 2008

Jobs and Salaries Up the Competitive Ante -- Anywhere But Here

The United States has lost millions of high-paying manufacturing jobs to China, and salaries for the profession are primed and ready for retention in India. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is sliding toward a possible recession, and the jobless rate last month spiked to 5 percent.

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January 18, 2008

Light Friday: Bill Gates' Life After Microsoft, Blackest Black, Bionic Eye...

... Your Boss is Still Big Brother, Diapers as Decoration, Telecommuting Hurts Office Morale and MORE.

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January 17, 2008

New Orleans Redevelopment Moving Forward

It may not get nearly the attention it deserves, but New Orleans is still grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, there are some signs that 2008 could be the year that real progress will be made.

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January 16, 2008

Design Error in Fatal Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

The fatal collapse of the Interstate-35W bridge into the Mississippi River last year was one of the biggest stories of 2007. Its investigation is ongoing, but preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board show the original design process of the bridge led to a serious error in sizing some of the steel support plates of the bridge's main skeletal structure.

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January 15, 2008

Global Expansion at 55-Month Low in December

In separate reports, JP Morgan notes that global manufacturing production and new orders expanded at the slowest rates for four-and-a-half years in December, and the slowdown of the global service sector continued during the same period with growth of activity at its lowest since May 2003.

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January 14, 2008

Board of Collaboration: The Itakona Board Method

These days, collaboration during product development is becoming even easier. It's a matter of getting as much qualitative input as possible. One way to do it is an Itakona Board, a method Matsushita Electric's manufacturing-oriented Innovation Division will adopt for analyzing costs in detail.

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January 11, 2008

Light Friday: Driverless Cars, Puckish Blue Hue and 5 Signs You're Working Too Much. . .

You betcha, there's more!

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January 10, 2008

When in Rome: Cross-Cultural Communication

When working with customers, colleagues and other partners abroad, not knowing the correct cultural business methods limits your effectiveness. At best, you can inadvertently create a wall of misunderstanding; worse, you may lose a major opportunity. Here are a few things to consider.

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January 9, 2008

How to Tailor Production to Demand

In tweaking production to optimize demand-driven manufacturing, you minimize suffering from excessive inventory costs. When you're responding to the market demands as accurately and precisely as possible, you'll worry less about potential disruptions that could be heading our way.

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January 8, 2008

The 12 Big Stories of 2007

From the rise of the global middle class to poisoned pets to a real-world material described by Scotty in Star Trek IV, here is IMT's rundown of some of the most notable developments of 2007.

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Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?

How far will the housing-triggered credit mess go? Will it push the U.S. into recession? Or can exports buoy the economy? If 2007 was a year of questions without resolution, perhaps 2008 will be a year of answers.

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Burning Question

Will China be the next global superpower?

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The Futurist Forecast: Beyond 2008

The Dept. of Homeland Security taps in to science-fiction writers' creativity to conjure possible methods of attack and wild ideas for high-tech prevention. For imaginative long-term forecasts, there is the business of futurology.

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Top Tech Trends You Should Know

Technology can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. Here we look at some emerging (or ongoing) tech trends that are creating competitive advantages, new business models and a sea change in markets.

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Potholes and Gear Shifts in Global Automotive

Labor strikes, changing consumer expectations, chronic sales anemia and a brand-new No. 2 automaker -- the global automotive industry is evolving. Can the used-to-be-Big Three avoid ruts in the road?

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Do You Have Enough 'Me' Time?

Recent findings indicate that the growing number of employees seeking the right work/life balance is not only changing the rules of job engagement, but of employee productivity, as well.

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U.S. Dominance in R&D Faltering

Globally, spending on research and development plays a large part in improving nations' competitiveness. Exactly how would the U.S. economy be affected if R&D spending were treated as investment rather than as an expense?

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See You at the Show: 2008 Tradeshow Roundup

Discover the latest developments in your industry or market; mingle with experts; and see what your peers are doing first-hand. There are plenty of industry tradeshows this year. Here's a small sampling.

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January 7, 2008

The Global Dispersion of R&D

Teams of scientists who spent their days in well-equipped laboratories in the United States formerly brought to market much of the world's innovations. Now cash-rich countries throughout Asia and much of the Middle East, which hold vast amounts of money from products or oil purchases, are equipping labs and offering to pay scientists well for their efforts. Will the U.S. cease being the principal origin of research and development (R&D)?

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January 4, 2008

Light Friday: Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year (and Now Do)...

... Office Voodoo, Christmas Continues for CEOs, The World's Most Effective Speed Bump and MORE!

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January 3, 2008

Great Gadgets of the Greener Kind

These days, everyone seems to want in on the action of sustainable products and socially responsible supply chain practices. "So why is the $150 billion consumer electronics industry lagging so far behind?" ask those behind an upcoming conference and design competition.

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January 2, 2008

A New Job for a New Year: 2008 Hiring Trends

After a brief respite with Fireplace Lounge and The Happy Holiday Hearth DVDs playing on continual restful loop, the IMT blog is back to resume normal activity. Hoping you had a fantastic break and wishing you a productive new year, let's dive right in with 2008 hiring trends...

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8 Recruitment Trends for '08

CareerBuilder.com has released the results of its latest survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, tracking projected hiring trends for 2008. The 2008 Job Forecast survey, based on the responses of 3,016 hiring managers and human resource professionals in private-sector companies, identified the following eight recruitment and retention trends for 2008:

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