Research

Books touting ways to improve business communication skills command acres of shelf space in local bookstores, mostly in the Bargain Bin section. They're literally "a dime a dozen." Then there are the true classics that take pride of place in front of the store, year after year.

Imagine taking a dozen related but independently-run businesses, each with its own unique product, merging them into a cohesive business segment within an enormous corporation and driving up sales roughly 30 percent — all during an intense, three-and-a-half year period.

With about one billion computers currently in use, information technology rightfully owns some of the blame for the world's sustainability ills. The lifetime toll for a computer includes substantial resources for manufacture and delivery, then more energy consumed in home offices and companies.

Arizona brought its "A" game to the Super Bowl — both on the field and off — with a winning coordination of events at Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium.

Increasingly companies are viewing technology not just as a way to get things done but also as a way to move forward.

The start of 2008 in the Phoenix metropolitan area was not much different from the end of 2007, as housing prices continue to decline.

Americans concerned with the growing proportion of GDP devoted to healthcare would do well to consider the industry's supply chain. Soon the cost of drugs and medical supplies will equal the cost of labor and benefits in the U.S.

Marianne Jennings, a professor of legal and ethical studies in business at W. P. Carey School of Business, recently noted that major business scandals used to be spaced about 10 years apart. Unfortunately, the cycle now appears to be compressing.

The dramatic growth of the past half-century has led to higher living standards in much of the world, but has also resulted in urban sprawl, choking pollution and global warming.

For those of us who diet – counting our cookies, watching our calories and paying more per mouthful for chow that we perceive as "diet food" – researchers from the W. P. Carey School of Business offer a bitter insight to swallow.