Industrial distributor Anixter International has been purchased by an affiliate of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for approximately $3.8 billion in cash. The deal, which would take Anixter private, gives the company "greater flexibility to focus on and accelerate our long-term strategic priorities," Anixter President and CEO Bill Galvin said.

Berlin Packaging, a supplier of rigid packaging products worldwide, has agreed to buy Netherlands-based Novio Packaging Group for an undisclosed amount. The deal, expected to close in 45 days, is Berlin's fifth European purchase this year and its 13th since 2010 as it expands its footprint in the region.

Technology distribution giant Tech Data has agreed to buy DLT Solutions for an undisclosed price, with the transaction expected to close in the quarter ending Jan. 31, 2020. DLT CEO Art Richer said the deal, in which DLT will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tech Data, "represents an opportunity to apply our unique public sector value proposition to a broader set of vendors and partners."

A growing number of online retail fulfillment centers are buying or leasing collaborative robots outfitted with sensors, lasers and cameras to help human staffers find items. Labor shortages and rising demand have fulfillment centers increasingly implementing new automation tools.

Many initiatives aimed at changing performance fail because they do not have systems to monitor progress and because employees tend to revert to old habits, write McKinsey partners Vineet Gupta, Siddarth Madhav, Nick Santhanam and Paolo Tosato. Companies can improve core performance through an accelerated approach that allows them to discern their full potential, measure progress toward absolute financial goals and create a path to better execution, they write.

The business-to-business buying landscape is facing some importance shifts, including a rise in millennial decision-makers and an increase in customers posting reviews, Ruth Stevens writes. She highlights other trends B2B marketers should be aware of, such as prospects expecting the same quality of experience they receive as consumers.

Leaders who use a moderate amount of charisma and act with authenticity and accountability while remaining curious to learn more are the most effective, writes Alaina Love. She provides an example of what this kind of leadership looks like in action by describing how a CEO took responsibility for the frustrations managers were feeling.

Cool down a heated conversation by using phrases such as "Tell me more" or "Let's take a breather" to create space for understanding and sharing, writes Lolly Daskal. "If you let people know you are with them, you can not only resolve the current situation more readily but also avoid future confrontations," Daskal writes.

Register today for the NAW 2020 Executive Summit: INNOVATE TO DOMINATE, January 28-30, 2020! Our program will provide for you a road map to innovation. You'll ignite your innovative mindset as you peer into the future of wholesale distribution, explore marketplace platforms, and examine the points of view of today's business experts and next-generation distribution entrepreneurs who are creating new business models to satisfy industry and customer needs, and create new demand. Get all the details and register today!

If you missed last week's live webinar, "Reboot the Real World: Beating Disruption through Human-Centric Innovations," sponsored by SAP, you can replay the webinar now. In it, you'll hear Mark Dancer explore how to win by being human, engage customers through shared interests and mutual advantage, and optimize benefits through intentional combinations of human and technology forces of change. He shared critical findings from NAW's upcoming Innovate to Dominate research study.

Benj Cohen says, "Data silos have always been bad for business. They limit employee performance and sow dysfunction among different teams by restricting access to information. As Big Data and AI become major forces in business, the negative effects of data silos will become even more severe. Distributors should integrate databases now and employ comprehensive AI to avoid the data silo trap." Read his blog post.