I am spending more and more of my time speaking with retailers and manufacturers about product development models as currently being utilized around the world. In fact, I am heading out to Shanghai this week to do just that.

Yes, 2013 is the year of Quinoa.

It is 10 years since I started writing these columns. Never has the title “Thinking Inside the Box” been more apt than it is this month.

So we all (or most of us) ate too much. We certainly celebrated too much if Christmas is a holiday we do celebrate.

I am in Seoul, South Korea, this month and my thoughts are with small and medium-sized manufacturers around the world all looking for opportunities to expand their business horizons.

I am writing this month’s column while in Europe and thinking about the volcanic eruptions taking place around the world.

I am writing this article on the day of the expected and highly anticipated launch of the new Apple Inc. innovation, the iPhone 5. 

The first and last link before a customer checks out of the store is the person they see in the aisle or behind the counter.