If you've ever wondered exactly what the phrase "staying the course" means and how it applies to marketing, this essay by former eBay COM Mark Linton is for you. First, the speed of wind is not constant, so the fastest boats don't necessarily win. Some companies, such as Wal-Mart and Amazon, make a calculated bet that the wind will be better on one side of the course than another. Others are better off sticking to the middle, following fast on the wake of the leader and finishing a strong second. "The worst racing strategy, for companies and for …

The rivalry between Microsoft and Google will heighten yet again this week as the former announces final plans for a "cloud" operating system designed to extend Windows to the Internet. The PC OS that Google announced recently is not due until the second half of 2010; Microsoft's cloud OS will launch this year, Richard Waters reports. Microsoft's Stephen Elop reiterated that aim was to extend the ways it offers its software to customers. Most analysts believe a stripped-down online version of Office will appeal to a relatively small market and not cannibalize its core business. Microsoft will also …

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will consider a bill this week that grants biologic drugs -- those engineered from living cells -- a total of 13½ years of intellectual-property protection, Alicia Mundy reports. The proposal was introduced by chairman Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and may prevail because it may help keep the pharmaceutical industry on board with the health-care overhaul sought by President Barack Obama. But consumer groups and some other lawmakers are attacking the provision, saying that it would hamper innovation. Separate bills propose a base of five years' exclusivity, with a possibility …

No doubt that the 77-year-old Bob Lutz is a straight-shooting Detroit legend, but can he really be the change agent that General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson says he'll be? asks Jean Halliday. And does he have the energy to lead GM's marketing efforts as the company restarts its engine? "Some believe GM needs more of an up-and-coming, digital-savvy CMO than an established Mr. Fix-It," Halliday writes. But Lutz admittedly sounds savvy as ever in an interview with Automotive News. "We're going to have design have a powerful influence on public relations and advertising and vice versa. It's really going to …

General Motors has emerged from bankruptcy. Documents creating the sale of most of the old GM's assets to a new company owned chiefly by the U.S. government were executed about 6:30 a.m. in an attorney's office in New York, reports Tim Higgins. CEO Fritz Henderson says that the new GM will focus on "customers, cars and culture," with the customer at the center of the revamped company's universe. Among GM's initiatives will be a "Tell Fritz" Web site launching next week. He also announced an e-Bay-like online auction program. Also, GM will erase the word "competitive" from its …