Companies typically try to acquire the kind of customers that are immediately profitable, or show the most potential for long term value.

Telecom giant Sprint-Nextel recently decided about a thousand of its customers were just a little bit too demanding, so it went ahead and fired them. The remarkable move made headlines nationwide and since has left business analysts to ponder two questions. First, was Sprint justified?

From its origin as an economical means of preserving dried fish to its current ubiquitous presence in supermarkets and five-star restaurants, sushi presents a fascinating glimpse of the rise and fall (and rise again) of Japan's modern economy and the similarly wild ride of sushi's culinary center

With consumers increasingly comfortable with interactive technologies such as online social networks, high-speed connections and new media tools, it's now easier than ever for marketers to connect with their customers. It is also easier than ever for consumers to ignore brand messages.

Media titan Rupert Murdoch has finally succeeded in buying the company that owns the venerable Wall Street Journal. Now media experts are wondering what's next, not only for the Journal, but also for newspapers in general.

Mark Barratt wants to see Tesco succeed in America. The British expatriate and assistant professor of supply chain management at the W. P. Carey School and his wife have lived in the U.S. for five years, and they still haven't found a one-store replacement for the U.K.'s monster chain.

People who work in service positions — police officers, hair stylists, dentists, real estate agents &mdahs; are aware that they are on stage, playing a role, while on the job.

The supermarket sample is a familiar ploy, but those tasty bites appear to have more impact than marketers imagined.

The Internet has revolutionized ticket scalping, turning it into an electronic extension of the box office, driven by sleek advances in computer hardware and software and by a spate of clever, aggressive online ticketing companies.

Soon, innovation in China will take the form of a move from a primarily manufacturing economy to a more service-oriented one, according to experts gathered at the Fourth Annual Executive Forum in Shanghai.