As everyone who has not been hiding in a cave the last four years knows, Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Sarbox) stipulates that public companies must demonstrate proper controls over financial transactions and internal processes. Every internal system and process is subject to intense scrutiny, and the documentation that must be provided is just this side of what was used to send the Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon.

In the arena of global trade, nothing is more important than compliance. Failure to adhere to the many rules and regulations governing imports and exports could lead, at best, to costly supply chain delays and, at worst, to steep fines and even the loss of trading privileges.

While the primary objective of a negotiation may be to purchase a quantity of a certain part at a particular price, other issues should be examined carefully. For example, you might find a supplier who offers a very low price but, on further investigation, turns out to be employing illegal labor or using potentially harmful materials in its product. Those unintended consequences of a seemingly simple transaction can be extremely damaging to a company's reputation and its bottom line.

There's no doubt about it: counterfeiters are becoming more and more sophisticated, and as a result, their products are penetrating supply chains deeper than ever before. In fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that counterfeiting cost the U.S. economy about $10 billion in 2008 -and as remarkable as it sounds, that's just for fake semiconductors alone.

If so, then you need to keep an eye on a new series of articles, penned by David Bent, that will be published over the next few weeks at GreenBiz.com .

Bent, who is head of Business Strategies at Forum for the Future, a nonprofit sustainable development organization based in the UK, kicked off the series yesterday with "Six Key Lessons on Mapping Out a Business case for Sustainability Initiatives."

Not familiar with the Climate Corp? Let me fill you in: The Climate Corps sends talented MBA students from top-ranking business schools to Fortune 500 and other leading companies where they make the business case for energy efficiency investments in office buildings and data centers.

You're Only As Good As Your Data

I recently ran across a blog post citing critical reasons why eProcurement systems have failed to attract suppliers, and the list basically boiled down to the following: