Ecommerce Essays - E-commerce, Internet, Online Shopping

Ecommerce E-Commerce With the astonishing growth of the Internet, many companies are finding new and exciting ways to expand upon their business opportunities. There are very few successful companies that do not use computers in their everyday business activities, which also means there are few companies that do not use e-commerce. To emphasize the point that the effect of the Internet is so widespread in todays business communities, one online article stated that more than 100000 companies have Internet addresses, and 20000 companies have home pages on the Internet as of February 1999 (DataQuest, 1999). These numbers have more than tripled since 1995, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. But what exactly is e-commerce? To most casual Internet surfers, e-commerce means online shopping and workaholics pointing their web browser to Amazon.com to order an emergency present because they forgot someones birthday again (Weiss, 1999). As we will soon find out, this is far from the case. Simply put, e-commerce is the exchange of business information between two or more organizations. An example of this would be buying and selling products or services over the Internet. E-commerce became very popular, soon after it proved to be an efficient means to conduct long distance transactions. The purpose of this report is to discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages e-commerce, as well as examining its potential for the future of business. Electronic commerce, or e-commerce has developed very rapidly in the last few years and has left some people wondering what it is all about. Most people think e-commerce is just about buying and selling things over the Internet, said Wareham (Wareham, 2000). E-commerce is a broad term describing the electronic exchange of business data between two or more organizations computers. Some examples might be the electronic filing of your income tax return, on-line services like Prodigy, and on-line billing for services or products received. E-commerce also includes buying and selling any item over the Internet, electronic fund transfer, smart cards, and all other methods of conducting business over digital networks. The primary technological goal of e-commerce is to integrate businesses, government agencies, and contractors into a single community with the ability to communicate with one another across any computer platform (Edwards, 1998). Electronic commerce was built on a foundation that was started more than 125 years ago with Western Union's money transfer as an example of telegraph technology. In the early 1900s the advent of credit cards as a payment system revolutionised the process of automated commerce functions. In the mid 1980s the introduction of the ATM card was the latest improvement to electronic commerce. The Internet was conceived in 1969 when the Department of Defence began funding the research of computer networking. The Internet, as a means for commerce, did not become reality until the 1990s. Before this time, it was mainly a tool for the army, and a research device for some American universities. Its popularity grew when it proved to become a fast and efficient means to conduct long distance transactions, as well as an effective way to distribute information. Economic impact clearly, E-commerce will change the face of business forever. Companies that are thousands of miles away can complete business transactions in a matter of seconds as well as exchange information. As one online article explained: Dell Computers sells more than $14 million worth of computer equipment a day from its web site. By taking their customer service department to the web Federal Express began saving $10,000 a day. The Internet provides businesses with the opportunity to sell their products to millions of people, in 24 hours a day (Baxton, 1999). Figure #1 shows the amount of revenues generated by the on the Internet dating back to 1996 as well as estimating possible revenues through the year 2002. With 1998, revenue equaling almost 74 billion dollars and experts predicting that it will climb to as much as 1,234 billion dollars by the year 2002, anyone can see that e-commerce is the wave of the future. Figure #1- Internet generated revenues in US dollars. Source: NUA Internet Surveys Without a doubt, the Internet is ushering in an era of sweeping change that will leave no business or industry untouched. In just three years,

Apocalypse

The element of sound is very important throughout the entire film Apocalypse Now. It contributes to the greatness of the film. I believe sound itself could tell the story. The movie starts out with the sound of one helicopter from the action of the scene flying over the jungle. We then hear the quiet beginning of the song The End by The Doors, which was layered on to the scene. The music increases with time as Jim Morrison starts singing and we hear the sounds of more helicopters going by, though the sounds of the song do not seem to relate rhythmically to whats happening in the scene. All sounds, at this point, are getting louder and more complex, giving us a feeling of excitement and realism, witnessing this in front of us. At the most intense point of this sound montage, Morrisons voice stops and we are subjected to just the sound of the drums from the song and the loudening helicopters from the scene. The helicopters fade out and the drums seem to have a solo. All the sounds, the song, the helicopters, now slowly come to end by the whop sound of an overhead ceiling fan, which we see in the scene. For me, Willard in his room was the most intense and complex sound montage. It also affected me more as a viewer because it lead me more in depth to the life of Willard and the personal struggles he was having with the war. At the moment when all we hear is the ceiling fan, Willard looks out the window. He was bored in the room and wanted a mission so he wouldnt continue to go crazy. We can hear the sounds of a city outside his window. Then the sounds of a jungle were then added to the scene. These noises, birds, crickets and other wildlife, bring the viewer into his world from our world of reality. This scene parallels Willard to Kurtz in many ways. They both are going mad from the war. They both are alone and fighting with the thoughts in their heads. Fi...

Quiz on Plant Biotechnology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quiz on Plant Biotechnology - Assignment Example In the gene gun (biolistics) method for plant transformation, the DNA is coated specifically on gold particles, so that the gold particles can impact on the Petri-dish, to introduce an interruption of the gel and the callus, so that they are eventually separated from the main DNA components that are within the DNA particle suspension. This disruption is then followed by the migration of the DNA into a plant chromosome derived from the leave, and gets integrated to establish newly genetically modified plant cells, which are then incubated at the right cell growth chambers, to allow the transgenic cells to grow (Clark, n.p.). A reporter gene is the gene that is used to replace the coding region of a DNA sequence, so that it can prevent the normal protein component that is normally fixed in that spot within the gene sequence from attaching at the spot (Plant transformation methods, n.p.). This prevention creates an opportunity for the intended gene to take the spot of the original prote in that needs to be replaced in the gene sequence, eventually producing a new sequence that has the reporter gene as part of the new sequence. ... he ease of introducing a foreign DNA component into an existing plant cell, without the complexity of the process to be followed, which would then introduce more errors, and hinder the successful completion of the process (Clark, n.p.). Secondly, the delivery system should be efficient, meaning that it should consume the least time possible to complete the whole process, considering that the delayed and prolonged process of introducing the foreign gene into an existing plant cell might result to ineffective transformation (Plant transformation methods, n.p.). Finally, the delivery system should be economical both in terms of time and resources consumed, considering that the plant transformation process is a timed process, where there are stipulated time schedules which the process should consume in different stages, being economical in time and resources is key to ensuring that the process is completed within the scheduled time and resource frame. The difference between stable and tr ansient plant transformation is that; in stable plant transformation, the foreign DNA that is introduced is integrated into the plant genome. However, in transient transformation, the foreign DNA that is introduced into the plant is not integrated into the plant genome, and thus the transgenic construct is eventually diluted, and then it is completely lost over time (Plant transformation methods, n.p.). Stable transformation is suitable for application in a situation where there is need to increase the DNA quantity and competence, considering that stable transformation entails the introduction of naked DNA to allow for exogenous uptake of DNA from the environment (Clark, n.p.). On the other hand, transient transformation can be applied where there is no great need for high quantity DNA, and

Effects of Media Reporting War, Terrorism and Dissent Essay

Effects of Media Reporting War, Terrorism and Dissent - Essay Example An undeniable truth on modern media influences is our unconscionable act of media outlets delivering stories in such a fashion as to downplaying three important aspects of our attitudes: "importance of things, value of things and reality of things" (McKee, 2005:18) The public sphere is metaphorically speaking "a domain of our social life, where such a thing as public opinion can be formed [where] citizens deal with matters of general interest without being subjected to coercion [to] express and publicize their views. (Habermas, 1997:103)" (McKee, 2005:9). This is particularly resonant in how modern society has progressed from dealing with conflicts through attrition and war with its citizens and in fact wherein "cultures that are structured by values of equality, freedom, justice and comfort." (McKee, 2005:9) As we are continually inundated with social inequalities and conflicts, our opinion and objections are often subjective through the efforts of the media outlets that will garner our astonishment, atonement or impaired judgment with respect to the true situation that we are not privy to. One of the many problems with the media influence as it is today tends to emasculate public culture through making it "too spectacular, too trivialized, too commercialized and too apathetic". (McKee, 2005:3) Many of our sources of information, be it small, large, sensationalized or derived, the general public is left with accepting the knowledge on its merits or questioning the entire relevance. Unfortunately, our ability to succumb to the reporting of the story as factual in its entirety or a flight of fancy, the power of the media will be forever at the forefront of modern culture and there is a necessity to have these stories or events properly recorded and researched prior to being accepted as truthful in nature. Values of Reporting War, Terrorism and Dissent An important function of this paper is to take away an objective viewpoint of both the values perceived or real from what is derived by reporters and book authors. Basically, anyone who has any influence over public opinion. In the article by R. Manne Introduction in Do Not Disturb: Is the Media Failing Australia (pgs 1 - 13) it discusses how an author is capable of destroying years of reputable research, discussion and public empathy toward a native people's entire culture and existence by publishing an entirely fabricated story. The author of such injustices toward the Aboriginal people's historical suffering and massacre in Australia and what the public had come to understand about its tawdry and shameful acts by the British settlers toward the Aboriginal people, sparked outcry by many scholars. This type of misrepresentation of information within a single novel proved how much of an influence that reporters or authors have with respect to delivering truths or falsehoods. As the general public is, as it seems, susceptible to being accepted by their piers and do not want to go against mass opinion be it negative or positive, these types of authors thrive on public acceptance even if what they write is entirely unproven or fabricated in telling of the facts. Reporting Dissent As many viewers of media representation for

UK Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

UK Employment Law - Essay Example Under UK employment laws , an employee is one who is working under a contract of employment and the contract may be in writing, or it may be implicit subject to terms and conditions mentioned under the employment contract . Before the enactment of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 and the Employment Protection (consolidation) Act 1978, an employer had unlimited rights to dismiss an employee for any reason or for no reason with few exceptions . However , scenarios have changed a lot after introduction of the abovementioned legislations. Now, if an employer has terminated an employment contract of an employee either under unfair dismissal or under wrongful dismissal, an employee can seek relief under any of the following processes ; a claim can be made under common law for wrongful dismissal , or a claim can be made under ERA (Employment Rights Act) 1996 for unfair dismissal or a claim can be mader under Pt XI for redundancy or Pt II under ERA,1996 . Though , under UK law , an employer is legally entitled to dismiss an employee whenever he wishes and for whatever reasons, provided that he gives due notice in this regard but this right has to be used judiciously and without ulterior intention . If an employer has not conducted an intenral enquiry or not followed correct disciplinary procedures , then , an affected employee may approach the employment tribunal or courts in UK against his unfair or wrongful dismissal. If a person is dismissed unfairly due to his age on the allegation that he is very slow in his work, then, an affected employee may seek protection under s 4 of Equalities Act 2010. Any unfair dismissal due to direct discrimination by an employer will be held illegal under section 13 of the Equalities Act 2010.... o demonstrate incapability of the employee ,i.e., not able to perform the duty as anticipated under section 98(2) (a) of the ERA ; or if there is a misconduct on the part of the employee i.e., like declining to accomplish lawful commands of the employer or availing unauthorised leave without prior permission from the employer under section 98(2) (b) of the ERA; or if the employer is able to demonstrate that dismissal is due to redundancy under section 98(2) (c) of the ERA; or if there is a statutory illegality under section 98(2) (a) of the ERA; or on some other substantial reason under section 98(1) (B) of the ERA5 If a person is dismissed unfairly due to his age on the allegation that he is very slow in his work, then, an affected employee may seek protection under s 4 of Equalities Act 2010. Any unfair dismissal due to direct discrimination by an employer will be held illegal under section 13 of the Equalities Act 2010. Instances of direct discrimination include unfair dismissal o n the basis of the religion (being a Muslim, unfit to work in a bar), gender (being a woman not fit to work for certain types of jobs), and dismissal of an employee due to his old age. The following are the illustrations of unfair dismissal of an employee by an employer. Dismissing an employee as he asked for flexible working time; declining to acknowledge the working time rights by an employee and insisting to avail rest breaks ; dismissing an employee for his involvement in the trade union activity; making an employee to resign by offering the exact notice period ; dimissing an employee for his participation in legal industrial action for more than three months or less ; for providing jury service , requesting time off by an employee ; dismissing an employee for availing adoption leave ,

Cold War Causes and Effects

Cold War Causes and Effects The timing of the Cold War was crucial and one of the most diverse in the recent world history. Not only was it a war of diversity, but a war of great length that lasted about fifty years. What made this time so significant was that the whole world was involved in this war in some way. The world was split into two opposite teams and one minor mistake could have easily resulted in another world war. The Cold War is different from most wars for the simple reason of it was a war that was never actually fought. The Cold War started because Europe lost power at the end of World War II. This left the Soviet Union and the United States competing for economic and military rule. Both countries believed their policies were the best and ultimately wanted all others to follow. George Kennan coined the term containment to describe the appropriate American response to dealing with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Ojserkis, 2003: 53). Containment was a way for the United States to stall the spread of communism and they used this as their main strategy. The United States used both economic and military tactics to ensure their security and influence policies against communism. The Cold War had relatively calm periods but also had periods of high tension. Despite many conflicts, there was never any military force directly between the Socialist and Capitalist. U.S. President Harry S. Truman developed the Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947. The policy stated that the U.S. would support Turkey and Gr eece to prevent their fall to communism. Several circumstances produced this unexpected presidential success in foreign affairs: the appointment of a new Secretary of State; Trumans own leadership-often erratic, but tough in responding to the large issues of foreign policy and national security; and an economic crisis in Europe (Hammond, 1969: 19). The Marshall Plan was a program developed by the United States to help aid European Countries after World War II. George C. Marshall was the man with the plan and his efforts for world peace would later be honored by the Nobel Peace Prize. The Marshall plan was also offered to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, but they did not accept it. The United Nations had the role of stopping wars between different countries. The Marshall Plan helped better the lives of many people. As soon as Congress had authorized the Marshall Plan expenditures for the first year, the Administration, with the cooperation of the Republic leadership in the House and Senate foreign relations committees, began to lay the legislative groundwork for the North Atlantic Treaty (Hammond, 1969: 26). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, was created as a result of the Cold War and was designed as a defense mechanism against communism. Doubtless the Warsaw Pact, multilateral military alliance with a combin ed command structure, was largely what it appeared to be-a mirror image of NATO (Hammond, 1969: 57). Russia formed the Warsaw Pact as a comeback to the establishment of NATO. Our membership in NATO today is still necessary for peace among the nations. After World War II, the Soviet Union strengthened its military power enough that it felt able to challenge the United States in Europe. One major crisis of the Cold War involved the Soviet Union blocking grounds to Berlin in attempt to allow Communist to start supplying fuel and food. The Soviet Union wanted control over the city of Berlin and they thought by cutting off all ground supplies they could do so. Little did they know, the United Kingdom and United States would respond with the Berlin Airlift to reach the people of West Berlin with the supplies they needed. Flights were continued daily for about a year and then the block finally ended. How the United States and their allies overcame the block and helped the people of Berlin would determine their destinies for many years to come. Although the Berlin blockade undoubtedly increased Cold War tensions and helped foster the environment in which the American arms build-up would later develop, it did not, in itself, lead to any la rge and long-term strengthening of the U.S. military (Ojserkis, 2003: 23). The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. As a result of the collapse of the Communist, the Cold War ended. This is what finally gave the United States major military powers. A war without a fight is difficult to explain. That is what makes the Cold War so unique. This was an expensive war; both sides took hard hits financially and it lasted over four decades. The Cold War probably could not have been avoided since there were too many differences between the United States and Russia. With so many controversies between the leaders it is hard to believe that anything could have been done to have made them see eye to eye.

Fishing for Words Essay -- Essays Papers

Fishing for Words â€Å"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; you have fed him for a lifetime† (http://www.amatecon.com/fish.html). This quote can be applied to illiteracy in America; basically someone illiterate cannot live on their own until they have been taught the basics, reading and writing. According to Kozol’s essay The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society the government, administration, and people of high power live by the beginning of the quote (Kozol, The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society). They help someone illiterate make a living until the person is out of their control. Yet the government, administrations, and society maintain control through illiteracy. Illiteracy is spreading like a plague through modern society. It affects part of our lives in one way or another. The illiteracy rate per capita is alarming especially to see that the numbers are on the rise. Thirteen percent of Colorado adults are illiterate (www.nces.ed.gov). Approximately 4,420,000 people live in Colorado, and if thirteen percent are illiterate, then 54,600 people are illiterate (www.census.gov). Almost one out of every 85 people is illiterate. An illiterate is stereotypically defined as a middle-aged adult who wears scruffy clothes. Yet in reality most illiterate look like every other person wearing jeans and a t-shirt walking down the street. The hardest roadblock for an illiterate is the ability to read. Since an illiterate cannot read or write then the person cannot work. In order to compensate our government has it in their heads that if they give welfare money to someone who is illiterate then they will go and try to learn to read and write. Why is the government’s head on backwards? The only thing that... ...enerations. As it stands, people who are literate in America live by Darwin’s theory of â€Å"Survival of the Fittest.† The strong prey on the weak, just as someone who is literate preys on the illiterate. With the proposed solutions there will be a greater chance of equality amongst the American society. So if America just took one moment to teach the man to fish, there would be an end to illiteracy in America. Works Cited - Give a Man a Fish†¦.Ross Nordeen. June 3, 1999 http://www.amatecon.com/fish.html> - Kozol, Jonathan. â€Å"The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society.† Reading Critically, Writing Well: A Reader and Guide. Axelrod and Cooper. 6th ed. Bedford/ St. Martin’s. 2002. 346-352. - National Center for Educational Statistics. www.nces.ed.gov> - United States Census Bureau. < www.census.gov>