However, if consumers start to move from stores to online shopping and expect some form of free shipping, we could see some gross margin pressure in the medium term.

FORBES: Web Shopping Gambit Could Bite Wal-Mart

That kind of offer can put pressure on small and medium-size business owners depending on their business model.

FORBES: How To Offer Free Shipping And Still Make A Profit

First, Amazon must escape the commodity-pricing pressure zone brought on by the very medium, the Web, that made Amazon possible.

FORBES: The Web'S Fog Of War

"The new school will help provide progression for teachers in Gaelic medium education by extending their prospects in the city and alleviate the pressure on the Woodside campus, " he said.

BBC: Glasgow & West Scotland

Banks are also under increased government pressure to lend more to support growth and increase lending to small and medium-size businesses, which could further crimp profitability if bad loans start rising.

WSJ: Foreign Banks in China Rev Profit Engines

Under intense pressure from the EU and international market participants, the government adopted a medium-term austerity program that includes cutting government spending, decreasing tax evasion, reworking the health-care and pension systems, and reforming the labor and product markets.

FORBES: Greece

The end result was that foreign firms felt more pressure from the law than their domestic counterparts, while many Chinese companies, especially small-to-medium-sized firms, ignored the law completely.

FORBES: Chinese Labor's New Muscle