News and Trends

• Distributors facing stockpiles of devalued inventory
  Even companies with sophisticated inventory-control systems are facing stockpiles of devalued inventory as demand for products halted abruptly in the fourth quarter. "The system went from full speed ahead to stop," said Ronald DeFeo, CEO of Terex Corp. U.S. inventory levels climbed to $6.2 billion in the fourth quarter, according to U.S. Commerce Department data. Modern Distribution Management (2/11), The Wall Street Journal (2/9)     

• Grainger plans to cut up to 400 jobs after sales decline
  W.W. Grainger reported a 9% decrease in sales for January versus the year-earlier period. The industrial distributor plans to cut costs for 2009 by eliminating 300 to 400 positions, ending merit increases for executives and salaried workers, and reducing hours for part-time staff, among other measures. Industrial Distribution online (2/11)     

• Anderson News halts magazine-distribution operations
  Anderson News announced the suspension of the company's magazine-distribution business roughly a week after it began assessing publishers a 7-cent-per-copy surcharge to help offset what Anderson has described as "unsustainable costs." In a statement, company officials said they are in talks with publishers and retailers to hammer out a plan that would enable Anderson to stay in business. Times Daily (Florence, Ala.) (2/11)     

• National HVACR distributor sales down 0.3% in December
  National HVACR distributor sales dropped 0.3% in December, compared to a year earlier, per a monthly report from Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International. Modern Distribution Management (2/11)     

• Other News

• Aramark Corp. revenue declined 5.3% for quarter ended Jan. 2
  The Philadelphia Inquirer (2/11)     

• Office Depot plans to shutter distribution center in Orlando this spring
  Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) (2/11)     

Best Practices

• Model-driven leadership can spring from wide variety of experiences
  Effective leaders use a model, based on the sum of their knowledge and past experience, that guides their leadership. The CEO Strategist, Rick Johnson, explains some basic types of leadership models and how they develop. CEO Strategist (2/3)     

• Good design, strategic sending methods boost e-mail marketing success
  Key strategies can help in boosting your permission-based e-mail marketing program. They include starting out with certain segments of your list to prevent hard bounces that can hurt your reputation with the ISPs and keeping the e-mail design clean by not bogging it down with too many graphics. A good guiding principle is 60% text and 40% graphic. MarketingProfs (2/10)     

Sales

• Failures can be the building blocks of growth
  Our failures can provide critical lessons, and some tips for parlaying failures into growth experiences include objectively analyzing one's role in the failure, imaging the likely outcome had something been done differently and deciding what alternative courses to take if a similar situation arises in the future. DaveKahle.com (2/6)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NAW SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• 14 tips for keeping customers loyal during tough times (DO NOT USE Sales & Marketing Management)

• Survey: 25% of companies have frozen salaries this year (Workforce Management Online)

• Tips for employees looking to avoid a layoff (Modern Distribution Management)

• Opportunities to say "thank-you" to customers abound (Manage Smarter)

• 3 components necessary to retain customers in tough times (IndustryWeek)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Small Business Manager

• Put must-do tasks ahead of other demands
  Discerning the difference between what is urgent and what is important is a critical-thinking process that can help small-business owners become more efficient with time management. An important task is one that needs to be done, needs to be done now and will help meet an important objective. The Kansas City Star (Mo.) (2/9)     

Sponsored Content

Executive Life

• Virginia glider club celebrates "flying in its purest sense"
  Curtis Wheeler might be a commercial pilot, but he's also a committed booster of general aviation. "There's not a good understanding in America today about what general aviation is doing for people, and we'd like to try and promote that," says Wheeler, a member of the Skyline Soaring Club in Front Royal, Va., and a pilot for US Airways. As a glider pilot, Wheeler says he loves "flying around small airports, closer to the terrain than we would be in any circumstance in an airline operation." Wheeler says clubs such as his offer a chance to develop "the stick and rudder skills that can be honed in a relaxed and recreational environment for both amateur and professional pilots -- and that was a big payoff that day in New York City." Warren County Report (Front Royal, Va.) (2/11)     

• Southwest tests in-flight Internet access on one jet
  Southwest Airlines' test of in-flight Internet access will start with one jet and eventually include four aircraft. Passengers will be able to log on for free during the test period, which is expected to last a few months. Paul Flaningan, a spokesman for Southwest, said the carrier had not yet decided how much to charge passengers for the access after the test concludes. The Seattle Times/The Associated Press (2/10)     

NAW Insider

Weekly Poll

• If you had to pick one, which technology would you most like to see available for use during flights?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

	Cell phones
	Internet
	Other
	None -- I don't need to use gadgets when I fly.

Position Title Company Name Location Supply Chain Logistics Analyst PetSmart Phoenix, AZ Operations Manager Ryder Los Angeles, CA Inside Sales Representative Huttig Building Products Jackson, MS Regional Sales Manager J.J. Haines & Company, Inc. Georgia / Northern Florida

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SmartQuote

Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition." --Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president