• HP: printing power failure?

HP: printingpower failure? Cash cow droop threatens future as users shift to digital   By Ben Worthen, Wall Street Journal 14 Feb’12 (Complete) New CEO Meg Whitman pledged to rebuild HP’s depleted balance sheet. Maybe her priorities should lie with the[…]

• Will Staples save desperate Depot?

Will Staples save desperate Depot? FTC blocked merger in 1997. Analyst's speculation sparks new possibilities.   13 Feb’12 (Completed) Fifteen years ago the FTC blocked the merger of the giant OP bigbox players Staples and Office Depot for competitive reasons. Fast[…]

• Paperless path to productivity

Dealer alert! Paperless path to productivity Paper + ink increase costs. Technology cuts costs 12 Feb’12 (Complete) Over 50% of OP dealers’ sales are threatened by the slowdown in demand for paper and ink. This trend will accelerate as OPS[…]

• OPS resellers multimedia marketing moves muted

OP Dealer Alert! Multimediamoves muted Progressive marketing initiatives lack personalization & follow up   12 Feb’12 Independent resellers are starting to use a mix of Facebook, Twitter and emarketing, but a new study says they lag in strategy and effective[…]

• Tomorrow's office: Brave new workplace

Tomorrow’s office Brave newworkplace Fortune magazine studytakes a look at the future   11 Feb’12 We have been advocating that the workplace of the future will be ‘lighter, brighter and whiter’. Here is another study that reinforces the view…

• HP: high pay for poor performance

HP: high pay forpoor performance All change, but no change under lame Lane’s leadership   11 Feb’12 It is a new year at HP with a new CEO. But while the board has changed at the tech giant, it continues to[…]

• BPGI broken and bruised. What now?

BIGPIG: broken, bruised and bereft Will the redundant buying groupmodel be disbanded?   9 Feb’12 Last week, the global buying group BPGI, confirmed that CEO Jim Preston was retiring. Could this be the catalyst for a change of agenda or closure?

• Wal-Mart put marketing under merchandising?

Marketingmatters more Wal-Mart put marketingunder merchandising?   6 Feb’12 (Complete) Many resellers organize merchandising as part of marketing; others as separate silos; few put marketing below merchandising. What’s best?

• Manufacturers mess with press over Spicers

Manufacturersmess with press Cohort OPI wrongly publishesSpicers’ buying terms request   6 Feb’12 (Complete) Whatever Spicers’ demands were at their recent supplier presentation day, manufacturers were unwise to publicise details with the puppet press…

• Original brands overpower private labels

Original brandso v e r p o w e r private labels Manufacturer’s innovation and marketing outsmart copycats 1 Feb’12 (Complete) Q4’11 financial results are flooding in for original brand manufacturers and confirm the continuing positive growth trends that emerged[…]