Corporations engaged in recession-driven cost-cutting are trimming or eliminating corporate responsibility initiatives. Though corporate survival is key and consumer skepticism of business CR initiatives at an all-time high, such actions are short-sighted. Now more than ever, businesses need to be saying “yes”... 

This story from the New York Times piqued my interest and has got my pondering the international transferability of a potentially profitable business idea. The brainchild in question utilises social networking and web-based communities to build consumer bargaining power in negotiating cheap deals with retailers. ... 

Today’s announcement that the two big Aussie supermarkets can no longer negotiate exclusive or restrictive tenancy agreements with shopping centres is long overdue. So many shopping centres being locked up by Woolworths or Coles has previously served as a very considerable barrier to new entrants in this market....