Companies looking to streamline supply chains should look no further than their storage shelves, where innovations in inventory management can increase efficiency, and reduce long-term costs.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

Various techniques have been adopted in a bid to increase efficiency in the public sector and reduce costs by transferring management control to profit-motivated private firms.

ECONOMIST: Japan

That is a recommendation you might expect from a management consultancy, but no less valid for that: part of the recent increase in efficiency in Brazil's car plants, for example, comes from introducing work teams and re-designing production lines.

ECONOMIST: Measuring productivity