Alternatives with Advantages

Xylitol is a natural substance found in fruits (ex. raspberries). It only has 1/3 of the calories of sugar, but tastes similar. It is sold as a powder, approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a food additive, and harvested from birch wood or other natural substances. Items that utilize xylitol, such as sugar free gum or candy, can help one avoid sugar and therefore improve oral hygeine. Mutans streptococci is a bacteria that uses sugar to make energy. Lactic acid is released in this process, which can harm teeth by dissolving minerals. Xylitol does not feed these bacteria and can interfere with their funcitoning. The method in which this occurs is not fully understood. Jason Tanzer, a dentist and microbioligist at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Conn. suggests that the bacteria produce less lactic acid in the presence of xylitol. Other scientists believe that xylitol interferes with the bacteria's ability to adhere to teeth.

Build a stronger business by being aware of advantageous alternatives.

Buy a Movie and Load on Your Hard Drive

Sites offering movies for sale:

* Movielink (owned by Warner Brothers, a unit of Time Warner; Sony Pictures, Universal; MGM; and Paramount, a unit of Viacom)
* CinemaNow (movies from Sony, MGM and Lions Gate)

Apple, Amazon.com and other sites are working to add downloadable movies to their sites.

Though downloading movies provides easy access, the process can be cumbersome. According to Hansell in "At Last, Movies to Keep Arrive on the Internet" in The New York Times, "'a movie will need about 1 gigabyte of hard-drive space and will take an hour or two to download using a high-speed internet connection.'" Additionaly, many of the movies have limited methods by which they can be watched. Other limitations include the downloads not having some of the features offered on DVDs (deleted scenes, bonus features and filmmaker interviews). These limitations concern industry executives since chain stores and Web retailers often discount movies below wholesale costs to gain customers; these low price items are known as "loss leaders." However, even with their limitations, about 400 films can currently be send to your hard drive.

Hotels Remembering Your Preferences to Gain Loyalty

Ritz-Carlton:

* System: New database called "Mystique" catalogues employee observations about guests for all of the company's 60 hotels. Replaces an old system that couldn't share information as easily between hotels.
* Comment: Ritz doesn't ask guests to fill out a form - it instead relies on hotel staff to notice what guests like and dislike, and tailor services accordingly.

Marriott

* System: "Rewarding Welcome" system asks guests for their preferences in pillow type, bed type, room location, extra towels or refrigerator. It now shares the information with eight brands, and 2,600 hotels.
* Comment: Guests fill out a form to participate, so the system is entirely optional.

Hilton

* System: This year Hilton's guest recognition technology is being expanded to include in-room preferences, such as pillow, blanket, need for a crib or rollaway and early or late check in.
* Comment: In 2007, the hotel company hopes to roll out RFID-tagged cards for frequent guests to carry so that the hotel can track them around the property. Example: If the guest walks into the bar, the bartender can have his favorite drink ready before he has to ask. The company is also testing a way for its TVs to greet guests with a customized message when turned on.

Hyatt

* System: In April, Hyatt is rolling out an "e-concierge" system so that guests can tell the hotel in advance about their preferences for amenities life golf, spa and restaurants.
* Comment: Hyatt has a centralized guest history system that captures preferences like room type, amenity type, bed type and location near or far from an elevator. It has special codes employees can log into the system for preferences such as a guest who prefers grapefruit peeled and sliced in a certain way.

Starwood

* System: Starwood (which includes brands like W Hotels, Westin, and Sheraton) doesn't have a tracking system other than its Starwood Preferred Guest Loyalty program.
* Comment: The properties on its more luxurious end, like W, have internal guest-recognition systems. If a guest expresses a love for a certain sports team, the welcome desk will always provide that guest with a game schedule and a list of TV channels on which the team is playing. W asks guests if they want information about preferences to remain with one property, or expect it ot be honored throughout the chain.

Build a stronger business by paying attention to your customers and showing that they matter when they return.

Technology Tip: Synchronization

SugarSync.com is used to replicate and synchronize files across various computers. SugarSync can also be used to backup files by having them saved to a source outside your computer. SugarSynch offers a 35 day free trial with 10 gigabytes of file storage. After the trial, the 10 gigabytes can be maintained for $25 a year. Five other storage plans exist from $50 a year for 30 gigabytes to $250 a year for 250 gigabytes.

High Price Doesn't Always Accompany High Quality

Here's an example of someone who made a false start with e-marketing, reported in "Help With Your Business, Often Free, on the Web" in The New York Times. Jennifer Gordon, a Chicago based handbag designed attempted to promote her products through an e-mailed newsletter. However, she found that incorrect e-mail lists and outdated addresses led to undeliverable e-mail. Additionally, once a newsletter was sent out, she had not means of knowing if the document was ever opened.

Google Apps for Your Domain is a free group of web-based services. Small business owners can access tools to manage their website, as well as tool such as e-mail and instant messaging.

Numerous sites can also assist you with blogging. According to Ramon Ray, the publisher of smallbiztechnology.com, suggests that small business owners create blogs to increase Web rankings. Tools on blogger.com (owned by Google) and wordpress.com provide free assistance. Also, Typepad.com provides advanced blog features for $5/month. Another useful web tool allows numerous individuals to share and edit a document, kept on a company's server (Thinkoffice.org and zoho.com.)

Build a stronger business by using powerful tools readily available on the web.

Time is Relative

A (theoretical) timetable of events around the world, gelaned from a variety of news sources:

• Every 2 seconds someone in America requires a blood donation. (American Red Cross)
• Every 6 seconds someone dies from tobacco use. (World Health Organization)
• Every 6 seconds an Australian buys an item of clothing on eBay. (The Age)
  
• Every 6 seconds someone is killed or injured on a road somewhere in the world. (Make Roads Safe)
  
• Every 15 seconds the Large Synoptic Survey telescope in Chile photographs a section of the night sky. A complete panorama of the firmament is completed every three days. (The Guardian)
  
• Every 25 seconds someone in the United States is burned or scalded in the home. (Health News Digest)
  
• Every 26 seconds a student drops out of an American public high school. (America's Promise Alliance)
  
• Every 30 seconds someone in the world commits suicide. (W.H.O.)
  
• Every 30 seconds a child with birth defects is born in China. (China Daily)
  
• Every 30 seconds someone in the world loses a limb as a consequence of diabetes. (U.S. News & World Report)
  
• Every 35 seconds a child in the United States is reported neglected or abused. (KansasCity.com)
  
• Every 45 seconds a plane takes off or lands at Heathrow Airport, London. (The Economist)
  
• Every minute 1,000 people around the world sign up fr a cellphone. (TheStar.com)
  
• Every minute 253 children are born into the world. (U.S.Census Bureau)
  
• Every 4-8 minutes violent, profane, or sexual content appears during prime time "family hour" television programming. (Parents Television Council)
• Every 8 minutes a woman in a developing country dies of complications from an unsafe abortion. (W.H.O.)
• Every 15 minutes someone in Scotland has a heart attack. (British Heart Foundation)
• Every 38 minutes Louisiana loses a football-field-sized portion of it s wetlands. (Science Daily)
• Every hour & 44 minutes there is a case of "dowry death" in India. (The Guardian)
• Every 2 hours someone in New Zealand fractures a hip. (Osteoporosis New Zealand)
• Every 10 hours a driver with a suspended license crashes in Maine. (The Morning Sentinel)
• Every Day more than 1.6 million blog posts appear online. (Technorati)
• Everyday 6,800 are infected with H.I.V. (United Nations)
• Every fortnight a language falls out of use. (The New York Times)
• Every month 300 specialist nurses leave South Africa. (W.H.O.)
• Every month the American government adds around 20,000 names to its terrorist watch lists. (A.C.L.U.)
• Every month about 130 million rides are taken on the New York City subway. (M.T.A.)
• Every year the average American eats nearly 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish. (The New York Times)
  

Making Food Faster by Adopting High Tech Tools

In "Making Fast Food Even Faster" (The New York Times), Fitzgerald examines the technical advances in the Fast Food industry. HyperActive Technologies, which uses artificial intelligence to predict customer flow, landed their first corporate customer, Zaxby's Franchising, a chain of 400 restaurants in Athens, Ga. in January 2007. It took four years to have a restaurant chain by their product. This is just one example that exemplifies the Fast Food industry's minimal adoption of new technologies.

However, restaurant technology companies are becoming more popular as "'it's the last $100 billion industry that still makes all its products by hand,'" according to r. Coulter, co-founder and chief scientist at HyperActive. Other companies are looking for new areas to access in the food service industry, such as "speed of service" and outside call centers to manage orders. New offerings, such as a wireless tabletop hub to improve table turnover provided by ESP Systems, are being assessed by restaurants.

Additionally, increased interest in new technologies does not always translate into implementation of them. The food industry is primarily focused on food quality and restaurant image. Roger C. Matthews Jr., head of the restaurant group at the investment banking unit of the Goldman Sachs Group, sats that this market is risk-averse as no restuarant can afford a computer failure at peak time. Additionally, other low-tech and low-cost alternatives are available, according to Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a food and restaurant industry consultant. More specifically, Neal E. Sessions III, director of information technology at Zaxby's says that "'the restaurant technology environment generally lags other industries by three to five years.'"

One way to build a stronger business is to take technologies you know and apply them to new industries.