What is Electronic Commerce? :: essays research papers

What is Electronic Commerce? â€Å"E-commerce has the potential to unleash enormous savings and business efficiencies, but the practicalities remain elusive. How will e-commerce change the global planning and purchasing of transport and logistics in the supply chain? Logistics has been described as the key enabler for e-business – but how can individual logistics and transport companies ensure that they benefit from, rather than perish in, the e-commerce revolution?† Alan Waller, partner, PRICEWATERHOUSE COOPERS, EMEA. Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) is electronic business. It's using the power of computers, the Internet and shared software to send and receive product specifications and drawings; bids, purchase orders and invoices; and any other type of data that needs to be communicated to customers, suppliers, employees or the public. E-commerce is the new, profitable way to conduct business which goes beyond the simple movement of information and expands electronic transactions from point-of-sale requirements, determination and production scheduling, right through to invoicing, payment and receipt. E-commerce uses key standards and technologies including Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Technical Data Interchange (TDI), Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML), eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML), and the Standard for Exchange of Product model data (STEP). E-commerce is made possible through the expanded technologies of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and Value-Added Networks. The Internet is a world wide collection of computer networks, co-operating with each other to exchange data using a common software standard. Through telephone wires and satellite links, Internet users can share information in a variety of forms. The size, scope and design of the Internet allows users to connect easily through ordinary personal computers and local phone numbers, exchange electronic mail (E-mail) with friends and colleagues with accounts on the Internet, post information for others to access, and update it frequently, access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and even video, and access diverse perspectives from around the world. An additional attribute of the Internet is that it lacks a central authority—in other words, there is no "Internet, Inc." that controls the Internet. Beyond the various governing boards that work to establish policies and standards, few rules and answers to no single organisation bind the Internet. The History of the Internet Many people think that the Internet is a recent innovation, when in fact the essence of it has been around for over a quarter century. The Internet began as ARPAnet, a U.S. Department of Defence project to create a nation-wide computer network that would continue to function even if a large portion of it were destroyed in a nuclear war or natural disaster.

Narrative Poetry Essay

Narrative Poems are poems that tell stories. There is a beginning, which introduces the background to the story, a middle, which tells the action of the event, and an end, which concludes and summarizes the story. What are the origins of Narrative Poetry? Narratives are the oldest form of poetry. Long before there was paper to write on or ink to write with, long before the invention of the printing press, people often shared stories as a form of entertainment. These stories were also often used to relate historical events. In the same way that we spread news through newspapers today, oral stories were used to spread news of historical events long ago. In order to help recall details of the events, people began to use rhyme and rhythm to give their stories a musical quality that would allow the story to be remembered and recalled much more easily. Think about how much easier it is to remember the words to a song than it is to recall all of the words of a short story. That is exactly how narrative poems were originally created. In what ways are narrative poems similar to short stories? Narrative poems have many similarities to short stories. For example, short stories have characters, a setting, a conflict, and a clear beginning, middle and end. Narrative poems have all of these elements as well. Sometimes there may only be one character, or there may be many characters. At times, the setting may be implied rather than obvious, and the conflict may be an internal conflict rather than external. How can we analyze narrative poems? In order to analyze a narrative poem, first read through it with the following questions in mind: Who are the characters in the poem?  What are the characters doing, or what is happening?  Why are these events happening?  How are the characters affected by the action or events?  What can be learned from the poem? Where can we find narrative poetry in our daily lives?  Although narrative poetry is one of the oldest forms of literature, this does not mean it is no longer prevalent in today’s world. In fact, any time you turn on a radio, you can hear narrative poetry on nearly any radio station. The best place to see or hear narrative poetry today would be in songs. Songs are simply poems set to music, and the songs that tell stories are narrative poems set to music.

White Collar Crimes essays

White Collar Crimes essays Many people ask what is a white-collar crime. Well in sociology its definition is any crime committed by respectable and high-status people. These crimes are basically committed in the course of one occupation. Crimes, which are considered white-collar, include embezzling, price-fixing, insider buying, fraud, falsification of expense accounts, and theft of materials. These crimes are extremely harmful to society. So if these crimes are so dangerous why are these perpetrators treated more leniently than other criminals. There are many theories behind the dramatic difference in how society responds to white-collar crimes and regular crimes. These theories range from money, the type of perpetrator, and most of all how the court of law looks at the criminal when the sentencing process takes place. When one thinks of white-collar crimes, money is the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, money is actually one of the reasons that white-collar criminals are treated more leniently. I say this because usually upper-class criminals have money and can afford the best legal advice. They also have more stable employment records, are better educated, and have important property. This is quite different compared to the common criminal, with several crimes under his or her belt. White-collar criminals are even said to suffer more than common criminals from simply undergoing prosecution. On the hand, the common criminals are more likely to lose jobs or to suffer a loss in social standing. The white-collar criminals can just pay their way back into society like nothing even happen. The next situation that is put into mind is the type of perpetrators commits these crimes. For some white-collar crime is not viewed as a crime at all, because of its non-violent nature. Violent crimes has an immediate and observable impact on its victim which raises rage of the public ...

The Evolution of Western Intel essays

The Evolution of Western Intel essays Throughout the ages, man has believed himself to be self sufficient. Starting in the Homeric Age, a gradual change in the intellectual thought of mankind began to occur. From the way they viewed God to the way they reasoned, mans search for knowledge received an ever changing role throughout the periods between the Age of Myth and the Enlightenment. The Age of Myth occurred around 600 B.C. It was a time when everybody believed in the supernatural. Gods and humans were considered to be equal. In fact, man and the gods would interact on a daily basis. The age is referred to as a pre-scientific era because of the popular belief in the supernatural. When Greece started developing philosophies about ethics and morality, a connection to the Age of Classical Philosophy was made. Socrates, a member of the Classical Philosophy Age, was the first philosopher to focus mainly on ethics and morality. (Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers) Also, in both ages, polytheism was practiced, which was later challenged by Thales in the Age of Classical Philosophy. (Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers) Yet, there was a difference between the ages. In the Age of Myth, people didnt question the existence of the gods, but in the Age of Classical Philosophy they did. The Age of Classical Mythology occurred between 600 and 1 B.C. God and man werent considered to be equal anymore because science replaced the supernatural. People believed there was a god that took care of creation and that there was an undefined force watching over them. This led to the practice of deism and animism. In the Age of Classical Philosophy, philosophers began to become more religious than philosophical, like in the Patristic Age. The afterlife was suddenly considered to be heaven and hell, not the atheistic views they had before. The focus on new beliefs and values united the people in the Patristic Age. (http://iep.utm.edu/p/pa ...

The future of a business and why it depends on sustainable approaches Essay

The future of a business and why it depends on sustainable approaches that it adopts - Essay Example Survival of a company largely, depends on strategies that it develops. Sustainable business approach does not only address how the firm will increase its profit margin, but also addresses planet and people. The only viable future for business is to become a sustainable business in a sustainable society. The future of a business depends on sustainable approaches that it adopts. This concept is quite broad thereby necessitating critical structures that would handle the business towards achieving its goals. This paper will address the following core concepts. The first section will address economic viability of a business that focuses on modalities of creating profit. Ethical viability will focus on the business and its influence in the environment. Social viability will address manageability, system viability, and sustainability. The second section of the paper will address the concept of business sustainability. Sustainability has broad concept that include resource consumption, socia l mandate, political support, environmental impact, and image. Analysts contend that the definition of viability with respect to business is the ability to survive (Sarkis, et.al. 2010:104). Many entrepreneurs peg viability to profit margin. The projection within the working environment should indicate that the organization would be able to make some profit. Entrepreneur’s expectation is that their businesses will be able to pick up and justify their investment by generating profit. When the business projects its viability into the future the situation would create sustainability. Sustainability means the ability of the business to remain viable into the future. Sustainable activities of the business would not only look at economic viability, but also the environment. Economic viability A business that intends to be viable in the future has to operate within ethical and socially acceptable manner. The idea behind such operations looks at the interest of the consumer with resp ect to company products. Consumer behaviors influence the profit margin of a firm. It means that the business must produce products that address needs of the consumers without harm or exploitation. When a form engages in a business that depletes the resources with the environment, the survival of the business would be at stake because it would not be able to generate products in the market (Richards, 2009:175). A firm that does not demonstrate sustainable methods of operation does not respect the ethical measures within the society. For instance, business operation has to create a room for the consumers to buy similar product in the future. What would be the condition of the market condition in an event of product depletion? The outcome of the market condition would be economically dead. Thus, economic viability of the business addresses the issues of continuity. Business, which gets huge profit margin for a short term, would not be economically viable because it does not have the c apacity to survive in the future. Entrepreneurs evaluate conditions of market or the environment where they intend to create their enterprises. Economic viability as a consideration would address the following factors accessibility of raw materials, costs associated with business operation, government policies, effects to the environment and future development among other factors (Richards, 2009:174). Practices, which influence the

Comparison of food-labelling laws of products containing GMOs in the Research Paper

Comparison of food-labelling laws of products containing GMOs in the European Union and the United States - Research Paper Example There has been a debate in whether manufacturers of GMOs should be forced to label their produce as GMO products. In the USA, many manufacturers of GMOs have argued against this idea saying that it would only cause unnecessary fear and speculation from the consumers. In light of this, the European Union and the United States of America have been in the front line in ensuring that these organisms have been regulated in both countries especially the foods to certify them for human consumptions (Albert 2). In European Union, Genetically Modified Organisms are mostly combined with irradiated foods which further categorize them as the type of foods that require evaluation from the food safety in the country such as the European Food Safety Authority(EFSA) (Princen 215). However, the EFSA must seek authorization from the European Commission , who have the mandate of writing down the proposal in reference to denying or granting the authorisation of the GMOs in their market. Of importance to note is that the European Commission may take a substantial period of time depending on the type of GMOs that have been put under scrutiny. According to the country’s regulation, the European Commission ensures that cases revolving GMOs are thoroughly investigated and confirmed especially those that need Safeguard clauses and temporary restriction. Similarly, the United States have taken the initiative of ensuring that Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) are identified through labelling to provide a clear understanding of the organisms especially foods that are mostly used by human beings. In essence, the effects of the GMOs brought concern to product that were said to have ingredients that genetically modified. Apparently, people in the United States of America have constituently pushed for the initiation of food labelling laws due to the assumption that most GMOs are argued to cause cancer and other chronic diseases. Nevertheless, food labelling law in the country have co ntinually reduced fear among the people as it ensures that it is easy to differentiate between organisms that genetically modified and those that are not (Elderidge 133). However, laws regarding food labelling in the United States have met constant opposition usually fuelled by manufacturers of GMOs and junk food. For instance, in a state wide election in California in the 6th of November last year, a law called the proposition 36 was rejected in California. It is believed that the manufacturers of junk food and GMOs spend over $46 million to defeat the proposition. In Europe, the issue of labelling seems to be taken more seriously than in USA. For instance, in Europe, any food product that has a little as 0.9 percent of GM material has by law be labelled. This is not the same in USA. Of importance is that the senate in the United States of America have continually debated on this issue with the Vermont House argues to have passed a controversial bill that was said to require labell ing of foods with GMOs. Fortunately, the bill gained enormous support from twenty seven other states. Although, a tag of war was witnessed when three of the senate disputed the labelling of the product, a group of advocates affirmed that consumers have the right to know the kind of foods that they were using in terms of whether they were

Hospital Case Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hospital Case Management - Essay Example Hospital case management is a process to meet patient needs with the best use of resources to provide the best quality treatment at the right cost. Case management is used to ensure the right clinical and financial outcome. The data used for statistical quality analysis is the medical expense, clinical workload and utilization. The care request is allotted the required services. The medical information for comparison is available. The referral of the case to the correct physician is a part of case management. The communication involved is also a part of case management. The case management program at this hospital is simple and effective. A model hospital follows the well defined procedures of continuous quality improvement. The quality program is based on delivering the best services to the patient. The risk management department at the naval hospital performs all the functions of a model facility. It monitors patient satisfaction and tracks patient outcomes. Other important aspects of quality are team based. The sub-divisions of the quality management department include performance improvement, risk management, credentials and infection control. The excellent working of the quality management department shows that the naval hospital fares well as compared to the model hospitals. The case management standards involve co-ordination, control of environment and funding. Case management is also used to buy equipment and supplies required for the services. Information is provided to the patients and their families. Case management facilitates professional rapport in the team. Changes are made as required depending on the condition of the patient. The care plan should be coordinated with the disease source. The standards also specify support to the family. The standards used here are USNHGUAMINST 6320.19 series, BUMEDINST 6010.13 series and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards. The quality management department of the hospital has divisions for implementation of the work. The performance improvement division ensures continuous improvement. It also implements the total quality leadership. The quality procedures are included in the daily work in a systematic manner. The risk management division measures the quality of care and patient satisfaction. The credentials division evaluates the providers. It trains the health care providers and support staff. The infection control division identifies and reduces the risk of infection according to the established standards. The hospital has an educational program to promote health awareness. The utilization management division allocates the services and the resources. The case management division combines population health, managed care, quality improvement and preventive healthcare. The hospital applies disease state management. This is a process that encompasses the entire course of the disease from prevention to the completely healed patient. Thus we see that the hospital adheres to the best standards. A comparison with the model facility shows that the naval hospital exceeds