The shift by US manufacturers to move production closer to home "is real, and we're pumped up about it," Reliance Steel & Aluminum CEO James Hoffman said. According to a Deloitte report, supply chain disruptions, increased use of automation and other trends "are combining to create conditions for this movement to finally have legs."

Much of the current inflationary environment "is going to be long-lasting and permanent," and labor and transportation costs will remain high for the foreseeable future, Cardinal Health CEO Jason Hollar told analysts. The health care distributor reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $110 million, down from $271 million a year ago, on revenue of $49.6 billion, up from $43.97 billion.

Beacon Roofing Supply earned $148.8 million in the third quarter, up 50.6% from $98.8 million in the year-ago period. The construction materials company had quarterly revenue of $2.41 billion, up 28.9% from $1.87 billion.

Supply chain executives need to look at key business trends and identify ways to address them before they begin their strategic planning for next year, writes Steve Banker, vice president of supply chain management at ARC Advisory Group. Banker makes six recommendations, including reducing SKUs amid inflation, monitoring vendors' financial health ahead of a possible recession and improving risk management by identifying "n-tier suppliers."

Sales managers must track revenue goals, performance and leading indicators to create sales goals, Elissa Nauful of the Center for Sales Strategy writes as she explains how to home in on a "must, should, could, blue sky" model. "History can offer meaningful data and will provide checks and balances when dealing with projections and not actuals," Nauful writes.

By recognizing the potential for women to be leaders in the recovery from Ebola in Sierra Leone in 2015, Libby Hoffman, founder and president of Catalyst for Peace and co-founder of Fambul Tok, writes that they uncovered the power of "invitational leadership." Hoffman outlines four advantages of such leadership development, including how it can be embedded in an organization and reap benefits in the long term.

Taking shortcuts -- be they in ethics, relationships, health, quality or finances -- can lead to disaster for your reputation and business as well as deprive you of valuable growth opportunities, writes Gregg Vanourek. "We miss the wisdom and character-building that can come from experience and setbacks, from having to re-evaluate or push through," Vanourek writes.