Research

The 'Great Recession' may be over, but like a hurricane that has battered a coastal city, the wreckage left behind will take years to fix.

By the time you reach your office every day you have already tapped into numbers of service systems.

Thirty-seven years ago Roy Vallee was stocking shelves at a small electronics distribution company in Los Angeles. That small firm has grown up to become Avnet, Inc., a Fortune 500 firm located in Phoenix, Arizona.

At the 20th Annual Compete Through Service Symposium, hosted by the Center for Services Leadership at the W. P. CareySchool of Business, business leaders from all industries gathered to discuss (in part) how technology can help companies differentiate themselves in the market.

Real estate experts are watching for signs that the Phoenix market is returning to normal. Activity slowed a bit in November — a hopeful sign because it is consistent with seasonal norms. But the market is still feverish.

The Phoenix real estate market began to turn around in 2009, but the improvement was driven by foreclosures and by investors drawn to the resulting low prices, according to the latest ASU Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI) report.

James Champy is the author of "Outsmart! How to Do What Your Competitors Can't." Champy profiles eight highly-successful firms as he develops his thesis that the key to outsmarting the competition is to focus on the external environment — including the customers.

As expected, the third quarter rise in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was revised downward by the U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis, from 3.5 percent growth to 2.8 percent in late November. And it is likely that the next look (on December 22) will bring yet another downward revision.

A comprehensive discussion of health care reform would include three issues, according to Stephen Shortell, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California-Berkeley.

Analysts were pleased with the February 26 revision showing that inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product had increased at an annualized rate of 5.9 percent in fourth quarter of 2009.