Stories by: Kim S. Nash

Actions reveal more than words, we know, and companies are watching carefully, using business intelligence and analytics tools to figure out what's happening in their markets. But it isn't just what makes a consumer buy a product or respond to an e-mail promotion that companies want to understand. They're also putting business operations-where efficiency can make the difference between profit and loss-under the microscope.

The promise of cost savings derived from cloud computing is attractive, but concrete financial returns are not always quickly achieved. Except, perhaps, when it comes to disaster recovery.

Decreasing expenses isn't Genworth Financial CIO Scott McKay's top priority when he evaluates new IT. Rather, he says, it's how the new technology can improve Genworth's competitive position. When, in 2008, the company spent about US$500,000 on videoconferencing systems to cut down on travel, it wasn't just trying to save money. Executives wanted to make business decisions faster.

Years before she helped Franklin D. Roosevelt win four presidential campaigns and became "reluctant First Lady" in the 1930s and 1940s, Eleanor Roosevelt was an outspoken social reformer. Her legacy includes fighting for women's, civil and human rights in the U.S. and, via the fledgling United Nations, the world. J. Edgar Hoover considered her dangerous; the FBI file on Roosevelt is one of its thickest.