News and Trends

• Avnet to acquire Japanese electric components distributor
  Avnet has announced plans to acquire Japan's Nippon Denso Industry Co. Ltd. for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is being made through its subsidiary Avnet Japan Co. Ltd., and the deal is expected to close by Dec. 29. RTT News (11/30)

• Henry Schein opts out of wholesale ultrasound distribution
  Henry Schein has announced its exit from the wholesale ultrasound business, which represented sales of roughly $13 million for the company's medical group during 2008. The distributor of medical, dental and veterinary supplies has been trying to eliminate certain lower-margin pharmaceutical items from its product lines. Multichannel Merchant (11/25)

• Other News

• Florida's Source Interlink lays off more than 80 employees
  FolioMag.com (11/26)

• Ingram Micro to move call centers to the Philippines
  Manila Standard Today (Philippines) (11/28)

Best Practices

• Breakthrough leaders innovate -- not replicate
  Most directors of leading global companies agree that innovation is critical for their long-term success, and pressing questions include how to sustain innovation and how to develop future leaders to move the company toward its goals. An extensive review of 25 organizations in multiple industries shows that instead of remaining innovative, most companies develop leaders who only replicate past strategies -- for a variety of reasons. Harvard Business Review (12/2008)

• Study examines gender roles in global work force
  A study that examined how men and women around the world respond to work-force challenges found big differences in how the genders feel about their place in the global business world. The study found that 68% of businesswomen in India, 63% in South Africa, 61% in China and 52% in Brazil felt confident about their ability to succeed in the global business world. Only 48% of U.S. women and men felt the same. Bloomberg Businessweek (11/25)

Sales

• Don't let overlooked details undermine the sale
  As illustrated in the story of a company that truly dropped the ball and lost a potentially important customer, it's important to assess your sales process and make sure there is nothing that should be addressed earlier in the process. Furthermore, responses such as, "We're not set up to do that," can additionally undermine a good sale. Manage Smarter (11/28)

Hot Topics

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

• Observers say stimulus package could help revive construction industry (The Wall Street Journal (free content))

• Grainger to consolidate Lab Safety and Industrial Supply businesses (Modern Distribution Management)

• Tips for handling angry customers (American City Business Journals)

• BlackBerry gets touchy with new Storm (Reuters)

• Act boldly in times of crisis (Bloomberg Businessweek)

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

Small Business Manager

• Virus, power outage can cause emergency for small firms
  Many small-business owners think of tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes when they consider whether they need to worry about disaster planning. But disasters can come in the form of computer viruses, microburst storms and power outages, says David Hall, a section manager for State Farm's Innovations and Small Business Solutions. Tulsa World (Okla.) (11/26)

Executive Life

• Mutual fund assets down as investors cash out
  Mutual fund assets have dropped 21% in the five months ended Oct. 31, according to data from research firm Lipper. The data does not include losses from November, when the Dow Jones industrial average had fallen 9%. "Funds are still going to have difficult periods to go through" before things turn around, said Tom Roseen, senior analyst at Lipper. MarketWatch (11/25)

• Report: Rates of new cancer diagnoses falling in U.S.
  New cancer diagnosis rates fell about 0.8% per year from 1999 to 2005, researchers found, and death rates continued a 15-year decline. The declines came mainly from common cancers, including prostate, breast, lung and colorectal cancer, according to the report from the National Cancer Institute and other groups, which attributed the improvements to lifestyle changes and better screening and treatment. NYTimes.com (11/25)

NAW Insider

Weekly Poll

• When do you think the financial crisis will subside?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

	First half of 2009.
	Second half of 2009.
	First half of 2010.
	Second half of 2010.
	2011 or beyond.

Customer service representative/Export division Summit Electric Supply Houston, TX Vice President of Distribution Uline Waukegan, IL Supply Chain Manager Piedmont Plastics, Inc. Charlotte, NC Corporate Procurement Manager Gas and Supply Baton Rouge, Louisiana

SmartQuote

Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success." --Thomas Edison, inventor and industrialist