After Steve and Lori Dockendorf's two oldest children left their dairy farm to go to college, the husband-and-wife owners of a 100-cow farm in Watkins, Minn., had to figure out how to replace the labor they'd lost. The traditional solution would have been to hire a couple of extra hands. Instead, the Dockendorfs went with robots: robots to help feed the cows, robots to help clean the barn, even robots that can milk the cows.

Every business needs to "go digital." Data about customers, competitors, suppliers and employees are exploding. Ninety percent of all data were created in the past two years. By 2016, there will be 3 billion internet users globally, and the internet economy will reach $4.2tr in the G-20 nations. No company or country can afford to ignore this phenomenon.

IBM has been recognized for the second consecutive year as the greenest company in the U.S., according to the Newsweek 2012 Green Rankings survey. A panel of independent judges ranked major companies based on numerous criteria, including their environmental impact, environmental management and sustainability disclosure. The survey is regarded as one of the most comprehensive analyses of environmental leadership, and IBM was one of 500 large U.S. organizations evaluated.

Merging of channels is a hot topic, catapulted by the suddenness of mobile popularity. But beyond the buzz, companies need to provide the right mix of services, messages and pricing. So often that isn't the case.

Is ignorance bliss when it comes to sourcing? A recent poll of buyers in the retail, grocery and restaurant chain industries found that 75 percent of those not using e-sourcing methods are confident that they're getting the best value from their suppliers. But they're wrong, according to a report from Intesource. A suppliers' true rock-bottom price is almost always far lower than a buyer suspects. And it's even more likely another qualified source may be hungrier for new business. Buyers just need to know how to shift the tables.

Many large U.S. companies continue to try and "game the system" at year's end, artificially improving their balance sheets by manipulating receivables, payables and inventory, according to a study from REL, a division of The Hackett Group. Their efforts, which can range from deep discounting and extended payment terms on sales to simply "losing" supplier bills, do have a positive impact in Q4, the study found. But these companies pay a harsh price in Q1, when working capital performance bounces back to even worse levels than before.

The primary business of a port is serving as a hub for water-borne commerce and all of the logistics that entails, with each port competing for the business of shippers and container operators. Every investment made by a port authority, from a crane to a dredge to a security checkpoint, must be based on how this activity will not only position the port to current customers, but how it will affect the attraction of future customers.

The food and beverage industry has made some major moves in recent days in the struggle over super-sweet products. Major cereal-makers Nestle and General Mills pledged to cut sugar and salt content in children's breakfast cereals abroad, while soda and restaurant trade groups sued to stop a New York City ban on sales of large sugary drinks.

Early in-house studies conducted by Shands at the University of Florida, a health system operated by the school, indicates that an asset-tracking solution installed at its three facilities in Gainesville has reduced the number of hours that its emergency department staff spends searching for missing equipment by 98 percent.