They're few and far between, but female executives benefit the firms they work for

Carly Fiorina was ousted from her role as CEO of Hewlett-Packard after the merger with Compaq, but that doesn't mean that women can't hold their own in the male-dominated corporate world.

To pay or not to pay: The world of office suites opens up

The ubiquitous Microsoft Office suite claims an impressive 95 percent market share. Yet since 2000, a free suite of software that includes spreadsheet and word processing programs similar to Excel and Word has evolved.

VEBAs: Autoworkers' union shares the risk of rising health care costs

The tentative contract agreement that assigned a role to the United Auto Workers in managing the healthcare costs of its General Motors members was a turning point in the relationship between business and labor — and a sign of things to come in a global economy.

Podcast: Could construction revitalize job growth?

Last week's job growth report indicated that some 89,000 jobs were added to the economy nationally in August, and another 110,000 in September. That means the average monthly job growth for 2007 will hover around 125,000 per month — down from the 160,000 average in 2006 and 175,000 in 2005.

Podcast: A company's road to success, building trust, 'fessing up' and listening to customers

Creating a great product or service is just the first step on a company's road to success. It's also necessary for your potential customers to know about that great product or service. So how does a company go about developing a successful customer focus strategy?

Trucks across the border: Direct shipping between the U.S. and Mexico stirs heated debate

In September, the U.S. and Mexican governments took a tentative first step towards the final goal of allowing unfettered shipping between the two nations — a measure agreed upon under NAFTA but delayed since 1995.

A quiet but growing revolution: The disruptive technology of on-demand software aggregators

Google, a bellwether of online computing, recently announced OpenSocial — its next generation answer to Facebook, which had previously opened up its platform.

New Arizona Home Price Index aims for more accurate measure of housing appreciation

The most popular indices currently in use today, such as those developed by the National Association of Realtors, measure the median home prices nationally and in a given region. But is median price the best way to measure the trend in home prices?

Supply management: A changing industry in a rapidly changing world

What will a typical supply management organization look like in 10 years? It's hard to say for sure, but it likely will be complex, high-tech, supplier network-driven, and spread out across the globe.

New attitudes, technology paint a brighter future for videoconferencing

Videoconferencing has been touted as a practical, here-today technology that can save companies from having to fly employees all over. But despite its practicality, adoption of this technology has been minimal.