Walmart Marketplace stands to become a bigger threat to Amazon Marketplace by opening up to international sellers, although the move raises questions about how Walmart will avoid quality issues that have plagued Amazon. "We do not plan to lower our bar or change our vetting standards, our monitoring or management of sellers," Walmart Marketplace Senior Vice President Jeff Clementz says.

Almost half of supply chain leaders responding to a survey by MHI and Deloitte say they are spending more on cloud computing, robotics and inventory/network optimization tools as a result of the pandemic. Other technologies that stand to gain wider adoption include predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and the internet of things.

Boston Dynamics' four-legged Spot robot can autonomously follow a human leader through a construction site using software from Trimble and Piaggio Fast Forward. The robot can then retrace the original route and adapt on its own as surroundings change.

Sales managers sometimes believe they don't have the time for coaching, but coaching is an invaluable method of developing a salesperson's talents and skillsets, writes David Brock. Although technology, analytics and outsourced coaching methods can help improve a salesperson's performance, they're still no substitute for quality coaching by a manager who understands their team's daily needs and challenges, Brock writes.

Marketers can rekindle trust in advertising by putting truth and integrity at the heart of marketing strategies, Joel Malkoff writes. Malkoff explains how to practice ethical advertising and how to track "return on marketing integrity."

Humble leaders ask open-ended questions such as "What do you need from me?" and "How can we come together on this?" to elicit ideas and solutions from their team, writes former CEO Sabrina Horn. This approach isn't easy, as many CEOs and executives struggle to be vulnerable and prefer a veneer of all-knowing.

Strategy is a complex endeavor that should be simpler and required to deliver some kind of value, whether that's increased customer payment, a better working environment or lower supplier operating costs, writes Felix Oberholzer-Gee of Harvard Business School. He offers examples of how Best Buy, Amazon and Apple pursued strategies that fit within this framework and created competitive advantage.

Through the NAW Certificate in Distribution Professional Management, which is completely virtual in 2021, NAW and our partner Texas A&M University offer these three comprehensive sessions to help you help your managers to strengthen their skills with the educational foundation they need to enhance their value to your company: Optimizing Distributor Profitability, May 24-27; Generating and Managing Growth, July 19-23; Distributor Capability Development, October 18-22. Register your team today!

How have distributors been innovating their business during the pandemic? Find that out and much more from 10 distributors who tell their stories and share ideas for both surviving and thriving in a drastically changed business environment. Author Mark Dancer shares up-to-the-minute ideas and insights from distributor leaders based on their experiences and lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic. Order this just-released e-chapter, "Distribution Leans In: Stories of Resiliency and Innovation During the COVID-19 Pandemic."

Designed for C-suite executives, these roundtables provide actionable strategies that will increase your company's competitive advantage. Companies belonging to this community are from distribution firms between $100 million and up to $1 billion in annual sales. You'll engage in thought-provoking conversations with your peers and hear from industry experts on topics that will ultimately increase your profits! Register today.