It is almost impossible to avoid the messages about the importance of innovation that dominate business magazines, web sites, and conferences. At a most recent Annual Meeting of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, innovation joined “Big Data” and channel disruption as the three themes cited by CEOs, CMOs, and academic experts as most critical to the future success of business-to-business manufacturing firms. That emphasis is nothing new.

The agreement to join forces and respectively reshape their businesses will also see the two firms combining their consumer health units. Novartis will acquire GSK's cancer drugs business for $16 billion and sell its vaccines division, excluding the flu unit, to GSK for $7.1 billion.

In a separate deal, Novartis has agreed to sell its animal health division to Lilly for nearly $5.4bn. The firm said the moves would help it to focus on its key businesses.

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable has his sights set on what he calls 'the darker side of capitalism'. He has announced his intention to create a new public register of company ownership that will reveal the ultimate owners of UK companies, thus making it harder for firms to evade tax or funnel corrupt funds.

Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?
Being able to predict the future more accurately.

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?
Mind of a Fox, by Clem Sunter and Chantell Illbury. Through scenario planning they predicted the 9/11 disaster. The book talks about enabling one to have vision to the point where one can predict specific future events.

Founded in 1970, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has since transformed itself from a small conventional ship operator into one of the world’s largest and best known maritime transportation groups. By providing an unparalleled service network through its various offices around the globe, and through the expansion of its fleet, MSC has successfully consolidated its position as the second largest carrier in terms of container slot capacity and the number of container vessels operated.

“I think it’s safe to say that business has changed dramatically over the last 18 months,” states Rainstorm Dust Control’s technical sales and marketing manager, Mason Trouchet, when I ask him what life has been like for the Australian company since we last featured them in September 2012.

From the outset LUCELEC's mission has been to provide an excellent service to its customers by adequately supplying a reliable and continuous electrical supply to the Saint Lucian population, at an affordable cost. Though it serves a small country of fewer than 175,000 souls, LUCELEC's approach has earned it a reputation across the Caribbean as a very well-run, world-class utility regarded as a best practice benchmark company with a strong emphasis on customer service, innovation, employee development and social and economic development.

It was at the beginning of the 1990s that the groundwork behind the foundation of EcoElectrica was first laid. Impacted by a combination of high oil prices and new legislation designed to combat the environmental impact of the fuel, the newly elected Government of Puerto Rico embarked on a plan to diversify the country’s energy portfolio, incorporating more clean, safe and cost effective alternative energy sources in order to reduce Puerto Rico’s dependency on oil, which at the time made up 99 percent of the energy used on the island.

A Canadian based, high growth mining company, Copper Mountain Mining Corporation’s focus is directed towards adding value through a combination of successful exploration, project development, efficient operations, and opportunistic acquisitions. Furthermore, the maintaining of a low risk profile through project diversification, astute financial management and operating in secure jurisdictions are key priorities for Copper Mountain's Management team.