Industry leaders discuss a variety of topics touched on in The Foods That Make Billions, ranging from Branding to Marketing to Supply Chain

How do retailers decide where to locate new stores? Why do consumers behave in a particular manner? How does a frozen pea get from harvest to a supermarket freezer? How do independent and online businesses compete with high street chains? These are just some of the many questions answered throughout this collection of video material that looks in depth at the dynamic and innovative retail industry, and what the future might have in store for retailers and businesses alike. Store operations, globalisation, ethics, supply chains and retail environments are some other areas which are explored, while industry experts discuss the influence and power of the internet as a marketing and distribution tool.

This material forms part of The Open University course B122 An introduction to retail management and marketing.

Winstanton Chief Executive Eric Born tells The Open University's Leslie Budd about a huge, sophisticated business: global logistics

Concerned about your impact on the environment? Interested in learning how to shape a more sustainable future? This album shows you simple ways to adapt your lifestyle and how to think globally. Five video tracks demonstrate how to assess the ‘ecological footprint’ of your household, examine the effects of personal transport on the environment, and explore how your decisions as food consumers are part of a supply chain stretching across Europe and the rest of the world. They feature an energy efficient household in Oxford and pioneering work at the Eden Project and Mount Pleasant Eco Park in Cornwall. This material forms part of The Open University course U116, Environment: journeys through a changing world

What happens when you bring the best of two famous brands together? What sorts of innovations can emerge, and how is a brand image created for the new product? The Smart car came about as a result of a collaboration between car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz and Swatch, the Swiss watch maker. This album examines the innovations behind the Smart car, its supply chain, and its assembly line in Hambach, France, where a finished car is produced every 96 seconds. With its major suppliers situated on the same site, Smart can rapidly assemble a good value customisable car which is both pioneering and appealing. This material forms part of The Open University Course T882 Supply chain innovation, strategy and management.

Major retailers today face a major challenge to manage and distribute goods from suppliers around the world. What systems enable big business to keep in touch with latest sales information from their stores? How are Internet and Web technologies and their associated applications used in practice? This album explores how these technologies are changing the way businesses operate internally and externally. The seven video tracks examine a Tesco supply chain and present an insider's view of web services in a variety of environments - including IVIS (creators of Tesco direct), Deutsche bank and IBM. This material forms part of the course T320, Ebusiness technologies: foundations and practice.

Have you thought about the journey water makes to get to your taps? What processes has it undergone to make it safe to drink? The tracks in this album examine issues of water supply and treatment in the UK, where each of us uses approximately 150 litres a day! We hear from different parties involved in water management including the bodies representing the consumer, the environment, and the suppliers. The scope of the discussion ranges from wastage and emergency treatment to recycling and effluent control. In two bonus audio tracks, OU lecturer Dr Suresh Nesaratnam explains why the case studies were selected and gives an overview of the academic context in which water supply and treatment is studied. This material forms part of The Open University course T210 Environmental control and public health.

In the world of economics, does a person’s well-being really matter? What is more important, social objectives or profit maximisation – or are they even compatible? During a trip to Burma in 1955, Ernest Schumacher pioneered the concept of Buddhist Economics, a set of principles based on the belief that the function of business is to supply goods and services for need and true well-being. Schumacher argued that Buddhist Economics could serve as a vehicle for human development to overcome self centeredness and augment human creativity and knowledge.

Presented by Dr Mike Lucas from The Open University Business School and Alan Shipman from the Department of Economics at The Open University.

The UK recently issued a blanket ban on 'legal highs' but what does this legislation mean? Can the prohibition of selling these drugs stop their use?