Few readers of The Wall Street Journal were surprised when a recent article about Wal-Mart noted that the discount retail behemoth generates 2 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Just about every urban neighborhood, small town and rural area seems to have its own Wal-Mart, yet the company’s sales continue to climb ever higher. Can the mighty retailer continue to grow at the current pace? Absolutely, according to a group of supply chain experts at the W. P. Carey School of Business. Overseas expansion is one avenue of expansion. Another is technology, which is already key to Wal-Mart’s success. To gain even more control over its supply chain, the company is pushing various initiatives designed to cut costs even more, increase efficiency and improve purchasing decisions.

Building deep supplier relationships is a key facet of success for Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota. Through a supplier-partnering hierarchy, the two companies work with suppliers to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and maximize market share. One ASU professor has spent his career studying the auto giants, and reveals what’s behind their revolutionary practices. He found that the Japanese take care to cultivate relationships with their suppliers, integrating a "tough love" approach of high standards and demanding requirements. Driving this philosophy is their belief that the suppliers’ success is absolutely crucial to their own.