The Chinese don't do things halfway, as anyone who's visited Beijing in the run-up to the Olympics can attest.

Parsimony is a little like dancing, according to marketing Professor John Lastovicka. It's something anyone can learn, but some have more talent for it than others. What's more, the truly penny-wise take pleasure in their penny pinching.

Charging for services involves an organizational shift.

"Attract more customers, retain the ones you have, and expand existing relationships." That is the magic formula for growth, according to Synovate's Chief Loyalty Architect Dr. Larry Crosby.

Steve Phillips is vice president and chief information officer for Avnet, Inc.

Social isolation in the U.S. has been on the rise for decades, according to research conducted in 2006 by sociologists.

Companies like IBM, PetSmart and Marriott have been proving that enormous success, and enormous profits, can be found in services. Yet services have always been difficult to get your arms around — difficult to understand.

"There is no arrival at customer service excellence," said Terry Cain, vice president of operational excellence at Avnet, Inc.

One-third of U.S. adults are obese, and another third are overweight, according to data recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Marketing scholars Naomi Mandel, Andrea Morales and Steve Nowlis have been investigating what influences our decisions about diet.

"Please hold — your call is important to us."If you've ever heard that sentence then you know what it's like to be "on hold" for customer service.