OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Philadelphia -- Wal-Mart Stores and McDonald’s were the only retailers to crack the Hay Group’s eighth annual Best Companies for Leadership Study Top 20 list.

The study surveyed nearly 18,000 individuals at more than 2,200 organizations worldwide to examine how companies develop their leaders and foster cultures of innovation. This year, Procter & Gamble led the Top 20. Wal-Mart ranked No. 7, and McDonald’s came in at No. 8.

New York -- Retail is the No. 1 category utilizing location-powered advertising, with big box, consumer electronics and department store retailers being the most frequent users, according to a new report by location-based mobile advertising firm Verve Mobile.

The "State of the Market: Location Powered Mobile Advertising, Deep Dive on Retail" study reveals that geo-fencing, which includes geo-conquesting, is the most utilized location targeting strategy deployed by retailers.  I

In other findings:

Costa Mesa, Calif. – Almost half of holiday marketing campaigns will start before Halloween, according to a survey of 200 marketers by Experian Marketing Services.

In addition, the study shows that the first 15 days of November are the most popular time to launch a holiday-themed campaign.

Other results include:

New York -- For the second consecutive month, Jcrew.com ranked No. 1 overall in customer service performance in the Stella Monthly Benchmarks, a ranking of the best online customer service performance in the United States. Rounding out the top five, were the e-commerce sites of Ralph Lauren, L.L.Bean, Kate Spade and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Atlanta – The Home Depot, Inc. is reportedly going to stop providing health care benefits to part-time employees working less than 30 hours per week. According to Bloomberg, starting next month the retailer will send about 20,000 part-time employees to purchase their own insurance on government-sponsored healthcare exchanges that will be created under the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores said it plans on hiring more than 50,000 associates nationwide this holiday season to support seasonal business in stores and growth on its online platform.

Kohl’s anticipates hiring an average of 40 associates per store to provide shoppers with excellent customer service throughout the holiday season at its 1,158 stores in 49 states.

West Chester, Pa. – QVC has promoted John Cowan to the position of senior VP, information technology global services. Cowan was most recently VP global systems & initiatives.

Since joining in QVC in 1994, Cowan has held positions of increasing responsibility, including VP, business strategy and technology integration, and VP of business technology. He also played a key role in the start-up of QVC in Germany and Japan, and recently assisted QVC Italy in deploying a new systems release in September 2012.

New York -- Macy’s announced that it is an exclusive launch partner for Apple’s new iAd-supported streaming radio service, iTunes Radio. In line with the retailer’s omnichannel strategy, Macy’s said the new service will allow it to reach a broad cross-section of consumers with compelling digital, visual and audio engagement experiences on their iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, Mac or PC.