Avianca Flight 52: a Case Study on Human Error

Relevant facts/ Background Avianca Flight 52 touched the ground for a final time on January 25 1990, 16 miles from JFK airport in Cove Neck, Long Island, N. Y. , completely out of fuel. The Boeing 707-321B was carrying 158 people coming from Medellin, Columbia, in which 85 people survived. The crash of Avianca Flight 52 was the largest rescue operation in New York prior to 9/11. There was a severe blizzard on the north-east coast of the U. S. causing bad weather with a low pressure system and wind shear.JFK airport authorities had been told to keep a higher landing rate than safe at 33 planes attempting to land per hour, on one runway – the typical rate being 52 in good weather, with all runways open. The airport was experiencing a rate of 27% missed approaches, with 39 planes waiting in holding patterns for clearance to land and dozens waiting to take-off. Sequence of events The 707 had been placed in holding patterns for a total of 1 hour and 17 minutes during three separate occasions over the U. S. east coast.There were 6 different air traffic controllers that had communicated directions to Flight 52 after they entered U. S. airspace, adding confusion and un-transmitted messages, yet at the same time not providing any more crucial information such as weather conditions. The Flight Engineer failed to communicate the urgency of the low fuel situation to the pilot and co-pilot after they passed the point of no return and had to remain committed to JFK –by not having enough fuel to get to their alternate airport at Boston, 342km away from JFK.He also failed to emphasize the importance of landing in their first attempt because they would not have enough fuel to loop around and try again. Another discrepancy was how the co-pilot used the words â€Å"Low Fuel† and â€Å"Priority† rather than â€Å"MAYDAY† and â€Å"Minimum Fuel† while communicating to ATCs. There was a lot of crucial information left out or misinterpreted a nd not so important information repeated, which could have easily been avoided without the language barriers in place.In terms of the Swiss Cheese model there were many holes in the conversations between ATCs and the flight crew, similarly between the flight crew and passengers, where they weren’t even given a warning. Causes and factors During the chase to point the blame on someone, Avianca stated to investigators that the phraseology used by their pilots was correct as per their training -whether it matched the standard English phraseology used by IATA countries or not they were only following what they thought to be proper protocol.Investigation by the NTSB found many holes in the events leading up to the crash, due to both active and latent failures by the crew, ATCs, and airport management. The leading causes can be attributed to airport mismanagement, inconsistent training for pilots that should have English proficiency, and overall poor communication between ATCs and the flight crew. Repetitive flaws in a system run by human beings shows a clear link in the lack of Risk Management, causing communication gaps referred to as holes in the Swiss Cheese model for human error.CRM stipulates training crew in assertiveness, inter-personal communication, leadership and decision-making, to name a few key attributes these pilots were in need of addressing prior to the incident. There was no problem of experience as both the pilot and co-pilot had flown that route before, and the pilot had 27 years of experience flying for Avianca. The implementation of Crew Resource Management techniques in the previous years must not have been as streamlined as intended, at least not for the American ATCs and those training under Avianca in Columbia.If one lesson would be learned from this it would be that had the crew received effective and efficient CRM training on time, they could have saved 73 people from an almost completely preventable death by human error. Referenc es AskCaptainLim. com {comments}. Aviation, Air Crash. Avianca flight 52: why the pilots failed to use proper phraseology. (Last updated October 19, 2008). Retrieved from: http://www. askcaptainlim. com/-air-crash-aviation-34/830-avianca-flight-52-why-the-pilots-failed-to-use-the-proper-phraseology. html Cushman Jr. , John H.New York Times, Archives, Collections, Fuel. Avianca flight 52: the delays that ended in disaster. (February 5, 1990). Retrieved from: http://www. nytimes. com/1990/02/05/nyregion/avianca-flight-52-the-delays-that-ended-in-disaster. html? pagewanted=all&src=pm National Geographic, Cineflix Productions. Air Crash Investigation series, Episode S02E05 – Missing Over New York. Retrieved from http://natgeotv. com/ca/air-crash-investigation/videos/deadly-delay Wikipedia. org, Avianca Flight 52. (Last updated March 22, 2013). Retrieved from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Avianca_Flight_52

Audit Program Design Part Iii

Inventory and Warehousing Cycle The audit of the inventory and warehousing cycle is designed to test inventory counts, processes, and operations. The classes of transactions in this cycle include sales, value of inventory, cost of goods sold, sales returns and allowances, and estimates of allowance for slow moving inventory. Tests of Controls and Substantive Tests of TransactionsTable WK6-1 displays the interrelationships of the transaction related to audit objectives, tests of controls, and substantive tests of transactions that should be approved during the audit process of Apollo Shoes, Inc. Table WK6-1. Inventory Warehousing Cycle Tests of Controls and Substantive Tests of Transactions Audit Design (Arens, Elder, & Beasley, 2006) Inventory – Apollo Shoes, Inc.Transaction-Related Audit Objectives – Tests of Controls – Substantive Tests of Transactions| Transaction-Related Audit Objective| Tests of Controls| Substantive Tests of Transactions| Inventory as r ecorded on tags exists (existence). | * Select a random sample of tag numbers and identify the tag with that number attached to the actual inventory. | * Observe whether movement of inventory takes place during the count. | Existing inventory is counted and tagged, and tags are accounted for to make sure none are missing (completeness). * Examine inventory to make sure it is tagged. | * Observe whether movement of inventory takes place during the count. * Inquire as to inventory in other locations. | Inventory is counted accurately (accuracy). | * Recount client’s counts to make sure the recorded counts are accurate on the tags (also check descriptions and unit of count, such as dozen or gross). * Compare physical counts with perpetual inventory master file. | * Record client’s counts for subsequent testing. Inventory is classified correctly on the tags (classification). |* Examine inventory descriptions on the tags and compare with the actual inventory for raw materia l, work-in-process, and finished goods. | * Evaluate whether the percent of completion recorded on the tags for work-in-process is reasonable. | Information is obtained to make sure sales and inventory purchases are recorded in the proper period (cutoff). | * Record in the audit files for subsequent follow-up the last receiving report number used at year-end. * Make sure the inventory for the above item was included in the physical count. | The client has rights to inventory recorded on tags (rights). | * Inquire about consignment or customer inventory included on client’s premises. | * Be alert for inventory that is set aside or specially marked as indications of non-ownership. | Analytical Procedures Analytical procedures can be performed several times during an engagement: * In the planning phase to assist in determining the nature, extent, and timing of work to be performed. During the testing phase of the audit in conjunction with the audit procedures, and * During the c ompletion phase of the audit as a final review for material misstatements for financial problems and to help the auditor take a final â€Å"objective look† at the financial statements that have been audited (Arens, Elder, & Beasley, 2006, p. 208). Arens, Elder, and Beasley (2006) explain that one of the most important analytical procedures for uncovering misstatements of the Inventory and Warehousing Cycle are comparing current with prior year.Analytical procedures for the balance sheet and income statement accounts in the Inventory and Warehousing Cycle are presented in Table WK6-2. Table WK6-2. Inventory and Warehousing Cycle Analytical Procedures (Arens, Elder & Beasley, 2006) Cash Cycle The following tests of controls and substantive tests of transactions for the Cash Cycle discussed by Arens, Elder, and Beasley (2006) are designed to ensure existence, completeness, accuracy, classification, timing, and summarization.Table WK6-3 illustrates the design of test of c ontrols and substantive tests of Cash Cycle. Tests of Controls and Substantive Tests of Transactions Cash – Apollo Shoes, Inc. Transaction-Related Audit Objectives – Tests of Controls – Substantive Tests of Transactions| Transaction-Related Audit Objective| Tests of Controls| Substantive Tests of Transactions| Cash in the bank as stated on the reconciliation exists (existence)| * Receipt and tests of a bank confirmation. | * Proof account exists and balances are accurate. Existing cash in the bank is recorded (completeness). | * Receipt and tests of a cutoff bank statement. | * Tests of the bank reconciliation| Cash in the bank as stated on the reconciliation is accurate (accuracy). | * Tests of the bank reconciliation. * Extended tests of the bank reconciliation. | * Tests for kiting. * Proof of cash. | Cash in the bank is properly presented and disclosed (presentation and disclosure). |* Examine minutes, loan agreements, and obtain confirmation for restriction s on the use of cash and compensating balances. * Review financial statements to make sure (a) material savings accounts and certificates of deposit are disclosed separately from cash in the bank,(b) cash restricted to certain uses and compensating balances are adequately disclosed, and (c) bank overdrafts are included as current liabilities. | Cash receipts and cash disbursements transactions are recorded in the proper period (cutoff). | * Cash receipts:Count the cash on hand on the last day of the year and subsequently trace to deposits in transit and the cash receipts journal. Cash disbursements:Record the last check number used on the last day of the year and subsequently trace to the outstanding checks and the cash disbursements journal| * Trace deposits in transit to subsequent period bank statement (cutoff bank statement). * Trace outstanding checks to subsequent period bank statement. | Table WK6-3. Cash Cycle Tests of Controls and Substantive Tests of Transactions Audit Des ign (Arens, Elder, & Beasley, 2006) Analytical Procedures Analytical procedures for the balance sheet and income statement accounts in the Cash Cycle are presented in Table WK6-4.Table WK6-4 Cash Cycle Analytical Procedures (Arens, Elder, & Beasley, 2006) References Arens, A. A. , Elder, R. J. , & Beasley, M. S. (2006). Auditing and assurance services: an integrated approach (11th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Louwers, T. J. , & Reynolds, J. K. (2007). Apollo shoes, inc. : An audit case to accompany auditing and assurance services. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-Text]. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Retrieved from University of Phoenix,  ACC546 – Auditing website.

The Effects of Various DDT Residue Levels Found in Infants via Breast Milk

The effects of assorted DDT residue degrees found in babies via chest milk sing their overall wellness hazard and safety, for malarial bar in developing states. Malaria is known to be a dangerous disease transmitted to people via bites of septic mosquitoes, and besides really common in insanitary environments. For malarial bar, a relentless insect powder called DDT was used worldwide as a inexpensive and effectual agencies of vector control ( Walter et. Al, 2005 ) . An acceptable sum of DDT is by and large non toxic to worlds, but it was banned in 2001, chiefly for ecological grounds ( Walter et. Al, 2005 ) . Some researches have shown that exposure of DDT at needful sums for malarial control, can do pre-term birth and early ablactation in in order to cut down infant mortality from malaria ( Walter et. Al, 2005 ) . As Indoor Residual Spraying ( IRS ) of insect powders tends to be the lone feasible option to eliminate malaria in certain states, an exposure to occupants and babies which is of higher hazard, is difficult to forestall ( Bouwman et al. , 2006 ; Bouwman et al. , 2009 ) .This exposure of DDT to babies was through chest milk which in some instances found exceeds the acceptable consumption degrees, thereby potentially consequences to infant mortality ( Bouwman et. Al, 2009 ) . With appraisal and consideration of World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme ( WHOPES ) , safety and hazards of these chemicals was taken into history for tolerable and acceptable steps ( Bouwman et. Al, 2009 ) . Assorted surveies have shown that the consumptions exceed maximal acceptable degrees of consumption induces inauspicious effects on babies, which have been convincingly proven to be a menace to encephalon and endocrinal systems ( Azeredo et al. , 2008 ; Bouwamn et al. , 2009 ; Walter et al. , 2005 ) . It is during the chest eating period that any baby may be exposed to the highest lifetime concentration of insect powders, hence pregnant and/or female parents, babies and yearlings are largely prone to wellness hazard in developing states with high malarial infection rates ( Bouwman et. Al, 2009 ) .This paper will concentrate on DDT residue degrees found in human breastmilk from malaria infected countries such as South Africa and Brazil, and placental transportation of DDT in mother-infant braces from Northern Thailand. The end was to analyze the exposure and consumption of DDT residue degrees by babies in chest milk associated with hormone and neurological effects Methods Participants Harmonizing to the research survey done by Bouwman et Al. ( 2006 ) , a sum of 152 female parents successfully donated at clinics situated in Ubombo and Ngwavuma territories of the Northern parts of the Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa. However, merely around 10 female parents from Mkuze did non take part. None of them had any inadvertent exposure to pesticides, except for working on farm lands or through malarial control. Bouwman et Al. ( 2006 ) mentioned that the cognition known by these female parents sing pesticide usage and safety was limited. There were no important differences ( P & lt ; 0.05 ) for maternal age, between para I and multiparae ages in the three towns ( Bouwman et al. , 2006 ) . Besides, there were no important differences between the ages of the babies of these female parents, and degrees of milk fat between any of the groups ( Bouwman et al. , 2006 ) . In another survey made by Azeredo et Al. ( 2008 ) at Medeira River basin in Brazil, they have collected a sum of 69 different breastmilk samples. These samples were collected through broad oral cavity flasks and stored in deep-freeze for farther analysis. Similar nutrient diets were taken by these female parents, chiefly based on cassava flour, some fruits, and majorly fish ingestion ( Azeredo et al. , 2008 ) . Notably, Azeredo et Al. ( 2008 ) reported that fish ingestion was a chief beginning of DDT to worlds, due to taint and exposure of DDT on fishes. In add-on, they assessed that there were no pesticide usage in Amazonian agribusiness, and no female parent was prior exposed to DDT. Last, from the survey tested by Sapbamrer et Al. ( 2008 ) on Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane degrees through placental transportation from female parent to infant in Chiang Dao ( Thailand ) , a sum of 88 pregnant adult females who had normal bringing and full term gestation were taken as the studied topics. Hence, sum of 88 cord and maternal serum samples were examined utilizing gas chromatography-electron gaining control sensing ( GC-ECD ) . Materials and Procedure All surveies followed similar process in sample aggregation, analysis and statistical comparings. The aggregation of milk samples were put manually into glass beakers ( Azeredo et al.,2008 ; Bouwman et al. , 2005 ) . However, Sapbamrer et Al. ( 2008 ) collected 10 milliliter of maternal blood extracted by venipuncture about 2 to 5 hours prior to being sent to bringing room, and 12 milliliter of cord blood taken after bringing. The milk samples were so put under stop deading procedure and stored until analysis. After deicing the milk samples, analysis measure was assessed. Here, deproteinised was done by utilizing 30 mL propanone and extracted with n-hexane in African samples ( Bouwman et al. , 2005 ) . However in Brazil samples, homogenisation was done by hot bath at 37Â °C anterior to analysis, and deproteinization procedure occurred utilizing 10 mL propanone and extraction with 10 milliliters n-hexane ( Azeredo et al.,2008 ) . On all three surveies, DDT residues found were analyzed utilizing gas chromatography-electron gaining control sensing ( GC-ECD ) . DDT compounds were categorized in 5 constituents such asP, P-DDE ( 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis ( p-chlorophenyl ) ethene ) ,P, P-DDT ( 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis ( p-chlorophenyl ) C2H6 ) ,P, P-DDD ( 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis ( p-chlorophenyl ) C2H6 ) ,O, P-DDE ( 1,1-dichloro-2- ( o-chlorophenyl ) -2- ( p-chlorophynyl ) ethene ) , andO, P-DDT ( 1,1,1-trichloro-2- ( o-chlorophenyl ) -2- ( pchlorophynyl ) C2H6 ) ( Azeredo et al.,2008 ; Bouwman et al. , 2005 ; Sapbamrer et al. , 2008 ) . Quality control method specifically method-detection bounds was so completed for analyses on chromatograms and standard divergence between group samples to detect any significances. Finally statistical comparings were laid out between sample groups to find any significance on degrees of DDT found in breastmilk and mother-infant blood samples. Consequences Bouwman et Al. ( 2006 ) yielded consequences from samples that indicate all African female parents contain DDT residues in their breastmilk. Specifically, the metabolite nowadays in all these DDT compound found in the breastmilk samples wasP, P-DDE. All female parents had noticeable sums ofP, P-DDT, except for 2 from para I group signifier Mkuze, but non all of them had noticeable sums ofP, P-DDD. The degrees of O, P-DDT, DDE, and DDD were lower than the P, P degrees, which was expected. Overall, the entire DDT per centum obtained was highest in Jozini multiparae ( 42.65 % ) compared to Mkuze para I which had low Numberss due to really few participants accounted at that place. Azeredo et Al. ( 2008 ) found that all samples contained DDT taint, as evident from the figure below. The DDT metabolites ranged from 25.4 to 9361.9 nanograms of entire DDT/g lipoid, with a median of 369.6 nanograms of entire DDT/g of lipid and 8.7 of estimated day-to-day consumption ( EDI ) of entire DDT exceeded the acceptable day-to-day consumption by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) . The highest value of DDT observed was 9361.9 nanogram, taken from a primapara female parent of 27 old ages of age. Note. This is where the writers show that all samples collected in Madeira River ( Brazil ) contain DDT, runing from 25.4-9361.9 nanogram of entire DDT/g lipoid. Sapbamrer et Al. ( 2008 ) has besides shown that all cord and maternal blood samples extracted contain DDT compounds. This can be shown from the tabular array 1 below, majorly bespeaking thatP, P-DDE compound were found in all cord and maternal samples andP, P-DDT in about every cord and all maternal samples. Overall, there were highest degrees ofP, P-DDE, followed by 2nd and 3rd highest degrees detected wereP, P-DDD andP, P-DDT. In footings of correlativity coefficients analyses between DDT compounds in cord and maternal blood samples shown at table 2 below, important differences were observed. The ratios calculated ofP, P-DDE,P, P-DDD andP, P-DDT were less than 1, thereby meaning high correlativity coefficients. Whereas, the ratio for O, P-DDE was higher than 1, meaning low correlativity coefficients, and in conclusion the ratio forO, P-DDT was & gt ; 0.05 P rendering it non-significant for analysis. Therefore, acocording to Sapbamrer et Al. ( 2008 ) , the analysis of correlativity coefficients between DDT compounds in cord and maternal samples showed the ability of DDT chemicals to be transmitted from female parents to foetuss via placenta with respects to metabolic rate alteration, blood flow and lipid content of mother-infant. Note 1.The writers show concentrate on marked % DDT detected on DDT compounds highest to lowest such asP, P-DDE,P, P-DDD andP, P-DDT. Note 2.For the ratios ofP, P-DDE,P, P-DDD andP, P-DDT lower than 1 show high correlativity coefficients, whileO, P-DDT compound show opposite consequences andO, P-DDE as non-significant. Review/Discussion All research surveies mentioned above yielded the presence of DDT compound found in the samples. Despite the forbiddance of DDT usage in agricultural activities and malarial control plan, DDT win an ability to prevail in environments for long periods of clip, the exposure and taint of the chemical is inevitable, and notably can be transmitted through nutrient concatenation ( Sapbamrer et al. , 2008 ) . DDT degrees found in breastmilk from Brazilian female parents, indicated that the chemical was transmitted from their fish diet, as suggested by Azeredo et Al. ( 2008 ) . Consumption of fish is considered a good beginning of DDT and other pesticides. The presence of DDT in the fishes in Brazilian Amazon can be accounted due to malarial vector control used in those countries. Babies are high hazard to malarial transmittal, and there are factors that have to be considered to minimise the inauspicious effects on their wellness. The chief factor would be the usage of malaria control at chemical degrees transcending acceptable sums. As evident in the tabular array below, utilizing the appraisal and consideration of World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme ( WHOPES ) , the consumptions exceed maximal acceptable degree consumptions found in chest milk samples ( Bouwman et al. , 2006 ; Bouwman et al. , 2009 ) . Therefore these transcending degrees of DDT will bring on inauspicious effects on babies, convincingly proven a menace to encephalon and endocrinal systems ( Walter et al. , 2005 ) . Toxicological grounds shows endocrine upsets on unsafe high sums of DDT exposure, this can be shown in the drumhead chart below. Malaria remains to be a hard job to eliminate with no side effects. Although Indoor residuary crop-dusting ( IRS ) could be effectual, the method is improbable to raise the full malaria mortality in babies and kids. DDT spraying induces addition in pre-term births, early-weaning and besides chiefly affects the female parents as bearers to convey DDT to their foetus, babies via nutrient concatenation ( Sapbamrer et al. , 2008 ; Walter et al. , 2005 ) . The effects such as lessening in musculus, neurological defects, delayed pubescence, behavioral defects and generative defects possibly contributed as wellness menaces to babies when exposed to high degrees of DDT via breastmilk ( Bouwman et al. , 2009 ) . Note.The writers by and large show that entire DDT collected from breastmilk samples exceeds the acceptable consumption bound. Note.This is a sum-up of the hurtful wellness hazards contributed by DDT compounds, with relation to babies. Conclusion/ Future positions It is safe to reason that babies under malarial control conditions are however exposed to chemical combinations particularly DDT, that would hold inauspicious effects if the consumptions were high plenty, likely to be above acceptable consumptions suggested by WHO. DDT is non precisely unsafe if the usage of it follows proper wellness policies that is much below the maximal consumption, yet can still continue the bound to command malaria. Breastfeeding is a good illustration of DDT residue scrutiny from female parent to infant, to demo that transmittal is really critical and usage of DDT should be maintained at a certain bound that will decrease wellness hazards of dwellers. However, a possible note to be considered in future surveies will be the opposition to DDT chemical of septic mosquitoes, and how they can come upon happening better methods alternatively of increasing the DDT sum sprayed. An improved practical attack and effectual usage of chemicals to forestall deceases and inf ant wellness hazard should be farther implemented. The add-on of infant wellness and exposure of DDT through breastmilk to WHOPES safety consideration, IRS chemicals safety and guidelines and possible hazard decrease methods should be farther studied and improved if possible ( Bouwman et al. , 2009 ) .Plants CitedAzerado, A. , Torres, J. P. , De Freitas Fonseca, M. , Britto, J. , Bastos, W. , Silva, C. E. , . . . Malm, O. ( 2008 ) . DDT and its metabolites in chest milk from Madeira River basin in the Amazon, Brazil.Chemosphere, 73, S246-S251. Bouwman, H. , & A ; Kylin, H. ( 2009 ) .Malaria Control Insecticide Residues in Breast Milk: The Need to See Infant Health Risks.Retrieved October 1, 2014, from ProQuest: hypertext transfer protocol: //search.proquest.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/espm/docview/222658845/fulltext/698CF9ABCB774376PQ/1? accountid=14771 Bouwman, H. , Sereda, B. , & A ; Meinhardt, H. M. ( 2006 ) .Coincident presence of DDT and pyrethroid residues in human chest milk from a malaria endemic country in South Africa.Retrieved October 1, 2014, from University of Toronto Libraries: hypertext transfer protocol: //journals2.scholarsportal.info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/02697491/v144i0003/902_spodapmeaisa.xml Rogan, W. J. , & A ; Chen, A. ( 2005 ) . Health hazards and benefits of Bi ( 4-chlorophenyl ) -1,1,1-trichloroethane ( DDT ) .Environmental Sciences amd Pollution Management, 366, 763-770. Retrieved from www.thelancet.com Sapbamrer, R. , Prapamontol, T. , Prakobvitayakit, O. , Vaneesorn, Y. , Manklabruks, A. , & A ; Hock, B. ( 2008 ) . Placental transportation of DDT in mother-infant braces from Northern Thailand.Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part B, 484-489. 1

Investment Analysis and Security Valuation to a Real Life Situation Research Paper

Investment Analysis and Security Valuation to a Real Life Situation - Research Paper Example The scrip of the Almarai Company under the agriculture and food sector has been given a buy recommendation as it is a bull in the market which is also outperforming most of the other players of this sector. Almarai Company is one of the attractive stocks on the Saudi Stock Exchange Tadawul. The stock is actively traded. Eqarani (2012) has reviewed Almarai to be the largest integrated dairy company in the world, with a well recognized brand that was ranked number three in Forbes’s ‘Top-40 Arab Brands’ list. A snap shot taken out of the exchange and presented as Fig 1 depicts its active trading patterns. Fig1 The company has the authorized capital of 4000 million Saudi Arab Riyals and has issued 400 million shares of par value of 10 Riyals. The stock is trading at a level above 50 Riyals on Tadawul stock exchange. The company has a paid capital of 4000 million Riyals and its floated issued shares are 165,409,795. The company belongs to the agriculture and food secto r which is a tremendously growing sector of the economy of Saudi Arabia. The growth for this sector on the Tadawul in last one year is 29.21%. There are reasons. Saudi Arabia is the largest market in the middle-east for agricultural and food products. This sector of economy in Saudi Arabia is growing at a GDP of 8%. Agriculture products in Saudi Arabia account for more than 25% of the private sector investments. The companies not only produce for the local market but they are eying the export market also in the surrounding middle-east countries. All the more, the Saudi government has set its priority on becoming self dependent on the food front because still it is importing 70% of the food items. It is boon time for companies including multinationals for meteorically rise in this progressing economy. Almarai Company already holds a significant place in the economy. The company enjoys a robust health and is a mature company. It was established way back in 1977. The then chairman of t he company Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saudi Al Kabeer worked with a vision to transform the tiny dairy farming industry into an efficient and professional giant that should be able to cater to the growing demands of its population and that too by making its products available at affordable costs. A few graphs presented below depict the consistent good performance of the company in last few years. Graph 1 (Years range from 1 to 4 on X-axis is 2008 to 2011) The Graph 1 shows that the revenue earned by the company is rising at a consistent rate of 8 to 10 per cent each subsequent year. This is an indicator of robust market position of the company. Graph 2 (Years range from 1 to 4 on X-axis is 2008 to 2011) The scenario of operating income is comfortable. The operating income in Dec’ 2011 is 1517 million riyals incrementing by 59 million riyals in comparison to the operating income level of 1459 million riyals in Dec’2010. In contrast to this the incremental enhancemen t in the operating income in Dec’2010 was 494 million riyals in comparison to its level of 965 million riyals in Dec’ 2009. This is a point of concern but at the same time the capital investment in the expansions done by the company explains this low incremental increase in Dec’2011. It is not that heavier in comparison to

Kathryn Bigelow Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kathryn Bigelow - Movie Review Example The first film, titled â€Å"The Loveless†, was directed in 1982 proved to be a debutorial success few others have achieved in their careers. Further along her career, she continued to produce box office hits. She directed and produced blockbusters including ‘Blue Steel’, of 1989, ‘Hurt Locker’ 2008, and her most recent movie, which she produced and directed, ‘Zero Dark Thirty†, 2012. All three movies will be discussed within this paper. Sean Redmond and Deborah Jermyn in the book â€Å"The Cinema of Kathryn Bigelow Hollywood Transgressor† have mentioned that Kathryn Bigelow is an auteur, meaning she has a distinct style, which reflects in her movies. Despite the fact that some critics claim that Bigelow does not have a distinct style owing to the fact that she has produced and directed a wide range of movies. They claim that Bigelow’s expertise lies in the fact that she refuses to be categorized. However, even so, this is true about Bigelow’s movies that they are mostly feminist, supporting the women strength. For instance, in the movie Blue Steel, released in 1989, the main character is a female. Played by James Lee Curtis, the character of Megan Turner is that of a rookie cop, who kills a criminal on her first night on duty. Things don’t go as smooth after that since she gets suspended by her superiors because of lack of evidence in her favor, and is accused of murder. Later in the movi e, when she gets her badge back for a spcial case, she bravely struggles, and at last successfully brings the criminal, her own ex-boyfriend, Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver) to justice, with a lot of hard work. In this film, Bigelow shows Megan as a very strong female, a very determinant police officer, reflecting Bigelow’s own feminist views. Megan’s character defies the ordinary and takes assertive decisions that go against the traditional view of femininity. Being a strong supporter of female independence, Bigelow’s personal views do indeed come out in the movie Blue Steel. This depiction of strong females and a reversal of gender roles is not merely a coincidence restricted to Blue Steel. Kathryn Bigelow’s latest movie, Zero Dark Thirty hit the box office in 2012. Turning out to be an amazing hit, the movie not only became very popular, but also served to reflect the Feminist views of its Producer/Director – Kathryn Bigelow, to a great extent. Zero Dark Thirty is a brilliantly directed fictionalized account about the search for Osama bin Laden, that started since the fateful attack of 9/11 on the World Trade Center in New York – an event that c hanged the lives of many. The movie revolves around the very same incident. Although the film is about three Central intelligence agency officers working together, the director Bigelow only shows one character very closely, who is Maya (Jessica Chastain), a female. Putting the female character in the lead role speaks of Bigelow’s determinacy to see women in a league apart and above that of men. In the film, Maya helps carry out cruel and violent interrogations of detainees – in a manner unlike that of a lady. She is a very strong and powerful character. According to Kathryn Bigelow’s own words, â€Å"the Film is obviously about a woman†. These words were spoken in a speech that has been hailed by critics as one of an overtly feminist view,

Electronic communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Electronic communication - Essay Example It is with no doubt that the technology has lowered the cost of operation and increased profit margins and business productivity, however, its rapid growth and extensive use has brought along potentially harmful threats to the technology itself and to its users. The paper examines the potential threats related to electronic communication and recommends possible responds to such threats. Introduction Electronic communication, a form of communication involving the transfer of images, signals, data and signs through electromagnetic energy, radio, wire or photo-optical system was discovered in 1998 and its popularity has grown drastically ever since. (Kranakis, 2008) The technology has significantly improved and enhanced the speed, reliability and accuracy in communication including globalization of various business and organizations utilizing the technology. A part from the vast and evident advantages of electronic communication, there are a number of threats associated with overrelianc e on the technology. The use of loop holes in the technology by cyber criminals posses as the most critical threat among others. Malicious actors such as hackers have the habit of utilizing easily accessible tools to compromise and intercept electronic communication thus putting the user and the target infrastructure at high risk. (Kranakis, 2008) The threats associated with electronic communication presents a potential danger to a business organization’s assets including the data of the organization and the users, user authentication information and the physical infrastructures like the network and the computer systems. The assaults and severity associated with such threats as spam, viruses and network attacks have risen to the extent that it threatens the viability of electronic communication. Apart from the leakage of confidential user data, such attacks and threats causes increased and unpredictable hardware and software costs, disruption to email delivery and depletion o f IT resources. The threats associated with electronic communication can be widely categorized in to two including the following. System and Application Threats There is a possibility that data and information sent through electronic communication can be intercepted, copied and modified by unauthorized persons through such attacks as man-in-the-middle attack. This compromises privacy and exposes the user to great danger in case sensitive information such as banking details are exploited. In case of a hospital, the modification of intercepted patient information can endanger the patient’s health or worse off, life. (Melliar-Smith & Chuang, 2012) Password theft and unauthorized computer and network access by hackers or other actors with malicious intentions also posses as a dangerous threat associated with electronic communication. Hackers use special software and Trojans to attack and compromise the security of a target thus gaining unrestricted access to sensitive data and in formation which can be used against the business organization. Such security breach can do massive damage to a company’s reputation besides its competitive advantage in case sensitive and confidential information is lost in the process. In addition, intellectual property may also be lost in case of a security breach involving

Sum up the key points of these 4 reading as a presentation draft Outline

Sum up the key points of these 4 reading as a presentation draft - Outline Example Examples of clients were prostitutes and petty offenders but the CLHs were distinct from facilities for convicts. Social investigation that developed in early 1980s and involved enlightenment and perspectives facilitated development of the history of CLHs. The facilities were further filthy despite their environment that upheld cleanliness. The outcasts could be identified from their moral and physical orientations and even though they resented civilization to represent a more ancient generation, they depicted aspects of civilization. Investigations could therefore classify them as both outcasts and members of the society. The lodgings were further classified as heterotopias and membership was controlled by set of rules. Heterotopy was evident from existence of ignorance and intelligence, idleness and industry, animosity and affection, decadence and Godliness, and bodily indifference and affirmation. By laws initially governed the CLHs but acts such as the Town Improvement Clause act , Common Lodging Houses Act, and the Public Health Act were later enacted to govern the Common Lodging Houses. Despite existence of the regulations that were initially associated with success, there were rebellion and negligence in enforcing the regulations as data shows number of punished cases for breach of the regulations. Negligence among enforcement officers was also common and some offenders were caught and charged. In response to the negligence, authorities preferred dialogue instead of the legal process, an approach that could have further facilitated breach of the established status. Authorities however undertook frequent checks for promoting adherence to existing rules but diversity among the lodgers and their desired freedom limited governance initiatives such as transformation of the scope of the CLHs (Crook 2008, p. 414- 436). The study explores the scope and role of public baths in Victoria and associates the bath with power, freedom, and

Penal Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Penal Law - Essay Example First, a criminally implied act or intent has to be proven in order to be dignified as a crime. This is especially true in a case, such as the current one, when juveniles are involved (Hall & Merrill 1960, p.1). Penal theory is what defines an action of being intentionally criminal or whether it is just a horrible accident, resulting from reckless, and unabashed behavior. This type of negligent behavior though, is what normally leads to the cause of the victim getting hurt or killed, due to the other progressive factors involved (Hall & Merrill 1960, p.1). For example, according to the Criminal Law Handbook (2005), there is exploration into the view of 'Unintentional vs. Intentional Conduct'. In this debatable theory of Criminal Law, consideration is given to the possibility that perhaps the offender (which would be Ian) misperceived Fred's' intentions and reacted out of a judgment he made that was false. Therefore, because of the offenders' lack of perception, maybe he should not be charged with a crime at all because he made a mistake. Upon further theorizing, it is found this theory just might have worked for Ian except for the fact that his actions were premeditated and calculated; therefore he would not stand a chance in utilizing this cause and effect theory in a court of law. Often enough offenders' intentions in the crime are normally how they are handed down their punishment in the judici

Integrated Marketing For Hydrox Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Integrated Marketing For Hydrox - Assignment Example The checklist will be divided into two sections of which the first will focus on success definition and measurements while the second section will focus on failure definition and measurements. Success definition and measurements One of the factors that can be used as a success definition and measurement of the integrated sales and marketing campaign that is aimed at resuscitating the Hydrox brand is if there is a buzz in the market about the ongoing sales and marketing campaign (Hartley, 2006). This is to say that the campaign will be considered successful if the target audiences engage in positive talks especially in the social media in regards to the Hydrox marketing campaign as well as the brand itself. This will mean that the marketing messages and images that have been used are catchy and create a lasting impression on the target audience. The second and the most important factor that will act as a success definition and measurement will be if there will be a high demand and sales for the Hydrox chocolate sandwich cookie (Hartley, 2006). When retailers such as supermarkets start recording an increase in demand of the Hydrox chocolate cookie and the cookies quickly run out of the shelves after they are restocked, then it will mean that the integrated sales and marketing campaign has been successful. Failure definition and measurements One factor that can be used as a failure definition and measurement is if the integrated sales and marketing campaign fails to get attention from the target audience.

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business plan - Essay Example 10 Communication Plan †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Financial Projections †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 Projected Profit and Loss Statement †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 Management Plan †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 14 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 Executive summary ‘Ayur-Care’ will be a unique experience of true and natural art-of-healing that would fulfill its very fundamental goal of providing its target market with joyful environment and effective-natural treatment of Ayurveda, Yoga and Spa, and not just an alternative place to seek cure. Ayurveda, developed by ancient Indian scholars arou nd 2000 years ago (Brannon and Feist, p. 192), has emerged as one of the most successful alternative therapies of today, mainly since modern medicine faced challenges of growing concerns that most of its drugs cause severe harm on human body (Paulien, p. 60) due to the ‘toxic’ elements it contains. The major emphasis of Ayur-Care will be placed on producing high-quality Ayurveda medicines from genuine natural-leaves and tree-roots with an aim to foster holistic approach to bringing better medical care and wellness that, in fact, many other therapies failed to deliver to the community. Ayur-Care proposes to deliver valuable and rejoicing life experiences to all those who, due to the modern life-style and tightly-scheduled work contexts that made them in a different synthetic lifestyle, have become very vulnerable to major health hazards of stress, strain, cancer and chronic diseases. People from around United Kingdom are badly in need of an effective diagnostic treatment in an eco-friendly treatment and greenery environment that itself will serve greater contributions to promote public health. The Ayur-Care will be a public limited company located in Barnet, a city near to the woodland called Epping Forest in South East England. The company has chosen proximity to Epping Forest because it is rich with trees-and leaves-resources that are extremely significant for manufacturing genuine-natural and herbal medicines. This paper presents a brief business plan for the Ayur-care Ayurvedic Medical centre, to be located in Barnet, UK. This paper will elaborate needs for Ayurvedic treatment in today’s changing life-style and living-contexts. This business plan will cover the mission and vision statements of the company, the main objectives of the business, the marketing mix-elements, the marketing plan, financial projections and management plan. The Business-rationale As Leach and Melicher pointed, an effective business plan must be able to describe t he proposed venture in terms of the products and service opportunity, available resources and financial projections. A business plan is one that sells the excitement, opportunity and the rationale of the business idea to its members as well as outsiders (p. 74). More specifically, the what, where and why explanation of the business is highly important element in developing the business plan. The Ayur-Care is an Ayurvedic Medical centre, projected with main goal of providing continuous holistic and natural treatment, as developed by ancient Indian gurus, in order to create a life with pleasure, enthusiasm, perfect health and long-lasting joy. It will be located in Barnet of the South East England, because, proximity to the Epping Forest will be an advantage to

Multinational Companies Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Multinational Companies Management - Essay Example This is the same in the case of employee retention. However it is very difficult for any organisation to take the necessary steps to retain its workforce and ensure that they remain loyal and engaged, and when this has to be carried out by an organisation with many different cultural dimensions the strategies that need to be adopted become even more difficult and complex. The author believes that through this study, she will be able to gain sufficient information on the specific steps that can be taken by a transnational organisations with regard to managing and retaining employees while remaining profitable and ensuring that they remain loyal and engaged and highly productive, thus making the organisation even more profitable. THE DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE ADOPTED BY AN ORGANISATION WITH A DIVERSE WORKFORCE TO RETAIN ITS WORKFORCE, ENSURE EMPLOYEE LOYALTY AND ENGAGEMENT AND CONTINUE TO STAY PROFITABLE IN BOOM AND BUST CONDITIONS In this document the author proposes the methods and the type of research study that she will undertake in fulfillment of her degree requirement. The author is currently interested in studying how Multinational Companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Toyota, Honda, General Electric, Coke Cola, Unilevers, General Motors, Hewlett Packard and Sony can do to retain its employees, keep them engaged and loyal to the organisation, while ensuring that the organisation remains profitable through boom and bust conditions. In this proposal the author discusses the research objectives, the research topic, the methodology that she wishes to adopt, the limitations of the study, and finally the dissertation structure and the time line for the study. The author has carried out a brief literature review into the subject area and has presented it in this research to give the proposal more background and to justify the reason for the choice. Research Objectives Here the author will give a brief overview of the objectives of the research study that she will evaluate for completion at the end of the research. Gain an in-depth understanding of the importance of employee retention for a multi-national organisation. Gain an in-depth understanding of the importance of employee engagement for a multi-national organisation. Gain an understanding of the co-relationship between the profitability of the organisation, employee retention, employee engageme

Wireless Technologies Proposal Essay Example for Free

Wireless Technologies Proposal Essay Wireless technologies include both wireless devices, such as smart phones, and wireless transmission media, such as microwave, satellite, and radio. These technologies are fundamentally changing the ways organizations operate and do business. Individuals are finding it convenient and productive to use wireless devices for several reasons. First, they can make productive use of time that was formerly wasted (for example, while commuting to work on public transportation). Second, because they can take these devices with them, their work locations are becoming much more flexible. Third, wireless technology enables them to allocate their working time around personal and professional obligations. The first recommendation will be Wireless Fidelity (or Wi-Fi), which is a medium-range wireless local area network (WLAN), which is basically a wired LAN but without the cables. In a typical configuration, a transmitter with an antenna, called a wireless access point, connects to a wired LAN or to satellite dishes that provide an Internet connection. A wireless access point provides service to a number of users within a small geographical perimeter. Wi-Fi will provide fast and easy Internet or intranet broadband access from anywhere in the office offices. Users can access the Internet while walking around the office. In addition, users can access Wi-Fi with their laptops, desktops, or PDAs by adding a wireless network card. Most PC and laptop manufacturers incorporate these cards directly in their PCs. Second recommendation will be cellular telephones or smart phones, and tablets; cellular telephones use radio waves to provide two-way communication. The cell phone communicates with radio antennas placed within adjacent geographic areas called cells. A telephone message is transmitted to the local cell by the cell phone and then is passed from cell to cell until it reaches the cell of its destination. At this final cell, the message is either transmitted to the receiving cell phone or is transferred to the public switched telephon e system to be transmitted to a wireless telephone. This is why you can use a cell phone to call both other cell phones and standard wireless phones. Cell phones a great way to for your employee to communicate around the office and as well outside during business sales. Smart phones supports videos; web browsing, and instant messaging. Some disadvantage will be that some plans are relatively expensive, and most carriers’ limit how much you can download and what the service can be used for. For instance, some carriers prohibit  downloading or streaming audio or video. If you go beyond the limits, the carriers reserve the right to cut off your service. Smart phone are good for on the go. When in-between meets or at work, with a smart phone are can access emails, the internet, and just about anything else. Smart phones can have access to banking, calendars, and other app that is needed. Smart phone come in different sizes and colors. With a tablet you can have it with internet services or not. Tablet can do just about anything you want it do. There are programs that allow you to type papers, read, and recorded any video that is needed. Tablets are small and weigh just about nothing, so there easy to travel with. Tablet can range from any size on the screen to any size for memoir. We believe these two devices would work for a small company, because they are cost effective simple to work on the go. The risks that you take in wireless technologies is if you use a network that is not security enabled there is a chance of somebody else being able to access your information. It also gives the owner of the network to see what pages and different activities that have been being done on that network. There are risks like that, but that would mostly happen when using a hotspot or WiFi that has an open connection to the public.

Both Psychoanalysis And Surrealism Unconscious Mind Psychology Essay

Both Psychoanalysis And Surrealism Unconscious Mind Psychology Essay The relationship between Surrealism and psychoanalysis cannot be debated because they share similarities that are evident. The following literature review will show that both psychoanalysis and Surrealism are based on the unconscious mind. While psychoanalysis attempts to explain that the human behavior is influenced by the feelings from the past that have been stored in the unconscious mind, Surrealism attempts to influence the thinking of the human mind by evoking the feelings of the unconscious mind by the use of visual arts. It was also found out that the psychoanalytical theory by Sigmund Freud comes in handy in explaining the relationship between the works of a surrealist with psychoanalysis. In addition to that, some of the surrealists works of art will be used to show how they influence the unconscious mind. Surrealism Sigmund Freud is known to be the father of psychoanalysis and through his work, the relationship between psychoanalysis and surrealism can be seen. Surrealism is a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or non-rational significance of imagery arrived at by automatism or unexpected juxtapositions (Cherry par. 1). People who engage in surrealism are referred to as surrealists and the main activity that they are engaged in is art work, such as painting and writing of literature. The movement of Surrealists which involved writings and visual art was most prevalent in Europe and later on spread to other regions such as New York eventually having an effect on music, literature, visual arts, political thought, social theory and philosophy. Surrealism grew principally out of the earlier Dada movementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which produced works of anti-art that deliberately defied reason (Cherry par. 2). In her book, Bradley states that Dada predated Surrealism, and Surrealism survived Dada, but for a while, the two movements co-existed in a continuum of shared energy and excitement (12). The Dada movement shared a lot of similarities with Surrealism. For example, just like Surrealism, it ridiculed the way in which the way the complexities that existed in modern life were made to look secure through categorization and division. Dada artists declared everything to be in a constant and creative state of flux. They were interested more in a mental attitude than an artistic mo vement (Bradley 12). In other words, the followers of the Dada movement dwelled mostly on activity believing that it would eventually give rise to creativity. A closer look at the Dada art and creativity shows that they had the intention of provoking and arousing anger in the audience. However, Surrealism was associated with positive expressions in contrast to Dada movement which was mostly negative towards art. The members of the Surrealism movement were reacting against the destruction that was caused by a rational way of thinking especially in the European politics and culture. The spokesman of the movement, Andre Breton, stated that Surrealism was meant to be used to reunite the unconscious and conscious experiences completely so that the dream and fantasy world would unite. Through this unity, the rational world would be presented in the minds of people in such a way that there would exist not only an absolute reality -but also- surrealism (Bradley 14). Andre Breton first joined the Dada movement and engaged in the experimentation of automatic writing. This kind of literature involved spontaneous writing without the censoring of ones thoughts. As Breton continued writing, he managed to influence other writers to join him and with time they managed to make a team. It then dawned on them that automatic writing seemed to be an effective way of changing the society rather than the Dada way of attacking values, which seemed to be negative. Breton kept on referring to the works of Freud and saw that the source of imagination was the unconscious mind. He defined genius in terms of accessibility to this normally untapped realm, which, he believed, could be attained by poets and painters alike (Lusty 4). In that regard, great works of art and paintings have been produced today due to continuous thought processes and insights of the mind. In addition to that, Breton adds that the aim of Surrealism is to unite the internal reality and the external realityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and refusing to allow the preeminence of one over the other (par. 5). In order to achieve this, both realities need to be treated in a manner that is systematic in order for their reciprocal effects to be felt by individuals in an effective way. The coming together of different automatic writers formed a group that had the desire to revolutionize the experiences of humans including its political, social, personal and cultural aspects. They intended to do this by influencing people to be free from what they perceived as restrictive customs, false rationality and structures. Breton also added that the Surrealism is long live social revolution, and it alone! (Breton par.6) A few years later, the group of writers, led by Breton formed the Surrealist Manifesto. In this manifesto, Breton defined Surrealism as Pure psychic automatism, by which it is intended to express, verbally, in writing, or by other means, the real process of thought (par.13). Surrealists have come to believe that cultures from the non-Western regions of the world are a source of continuous inspiration for the activities of surrealists since they strike a balance between imagination and instrumental reason than the culture of the west. In addition, Surrealism has also had an impact on revolutionary and radical politics both indirectly and directly. The direct influence can be explained in the sense that surrealists may join or form allies with political groups, parties or movements. On the other hand, an indirect effect occurs when surrealist put an emphasis on the intimate link between freeing imagination of the mind, and liberation from repressive and archaic social structures (Lusty 3). Surrealists work, as stated earlier, was mostly about automatic writing which later on dwelled on visual arts. In fact, it seemed as if the Surrealism movement was all about a visual movement due to the many visual styles that were created by various artists in the movement. However, the movement came to find out that it can associate their visual images with ones individuality and at the same time use the images to bring out psychological truth. The artists did this by, for example, painting original objects that seemed to have a completely a function that is completely different from their intended use. This was done in order to evoke empathy from people that viewed it. An example of this process of a Surrealists work is the image of watches that sag as if they are melting (Bond 5). Such a work of art intends to reach deeply into the psychology of individuals and is made whole with ones individuality (Bond 5) Psychoanalysis explores the interconnection between the conscious and the unconscious mind. The psychoanalysis view holds that there are inner forces outside of your awareness that are directing your behavior (Cherry par.3) Sometimes individuals might act in ways that they may not be in a position to explain why they act that way and yet their actions may be explained based on unresolved feelings about the past caused by specific experiences or significant people in their lives. Such feelings can be explored or triggered with the help of psychologists and help the individual gain insight into his or her behavior or problems. In the field of psychoanalysis, it is widely known that Sigmund Freud was the person who first discovered psychoanalysis and he then came up with psychoanalytical theory. Most of his theories were considered to be shocking since he dwelt on the sexual desires of human beings and attempted to explain the human behavior based on these desires, which is why his theories raised a lot of controversies and debates. Actually, his work had a major influence on many disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, art, literature and most of all, psychology. Psychoanalysis is used to refer to many aspects of Freuds work and research; including Freudian therapy and the research methodology he used to develop his theories (Cherry par.4) Most of the theories that Freud formulated were mainly based on observations he made on his patients. Cherry agrees with this observation when she states that Freud relied heavily upon his observations and case studies of his patients when he formed his theory of pe rsonality development (par.5) When people are faced with thoughts that are immoral they engage in self reproach or some people may have paranoia towards certain images or certain people due to past experiences that are still engraved in the subconscious mind. The purpose of paranoia is thus to fend off an idea that is incompatible with the ego, by projecting its substance to the external world (Bell 13) Many of the behaviors of human beings can be linked to their past experiences and as Bell puts it, many people face a difficulty in managing intolerable ideas that eventuate in self-reproach (14).Some people manage to delete these ideas through the process of repression but for others, self-reproach becomes self-distrust and so the obsession person continues to check and recheck his own actions (Bell 14). In addition to that, the idea will always remain in the mind of the paranoia but the judgment that concerns the idea is transformed as reproach towards the individual that bears the idea. In this way, the individual will live thinking that people are judging him because of the bad ideas that are in his mind, yet in the real sense, he has become paranoid. When an individual projects such internal objects to the environment that surrounds him or her, then it psychologists refer to it as projection and one is said to be suffering from paranoia. This example is given so that the strong effect of the unconscious mind is demonstrated clearly. According to psychology, many people are unaware that the unconscious mind is very alive and the thoughts that are inscribed in this part of the brain play a significant role in shaping the general behavior of individuals. In order to clearly illustrate psychoanalysis, it is important to be in a position to differentiate the meaning of the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. These two are sections of the brain that store memory at long term or short term depending on the section. A precise definition states that the conscious mind includes everything we are aware of (Cherry par.1) When one can easily talk and think about the mental processing in his or her mind, then it is said that the individual is operating in the conscious mind. Physicians normally test the memory of their patients, especially those that have suffered a brain injury, by asking them if they can remember their names or if they can recall what happened shortly before the accident. If these patients are in a position to recall the incidents, then their memory is still intact since a section of the conscious mind includes the memory. Freud called this memory ordinary memory the preconscious (Bell 12). On the other hand, the unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness (Bell13) generally, psychologists say that the contents of this part of the mind are unpleasant or unacceptable, for instance, feelings of conflict, pain or anxiety. In addition to that, the unconscious mind will always influence our experience and behavior even though we are unaware of these underlying influences (Bradley 4) Psychoanalysis of the human mind will therefore help individuals understand why they behave in a particular way and they will also find out whether the unconscious mind is influencing their behavior. Breton was always corresponding with Freud in his works and in leading the movement of Surrealism. He especially showed a deep interest and a continuous reference on the theories that were presented by Freud. A closer look at surrealists paintings will reveal that there is an interconnection between Surrealism and psychoanalysis. As discussed previously, it can be noted that Surrealism was an artistic movement which was concerned with the nature of the unconscious and its connection with creation (Bond par.1) As the surrealists aimed to break the way of thinking that was conventional, their works attempted to highlight the the role of the unconscious in creativity in order to break new ground (Bond par.1) In addition to that, since the surrealists had an interest in the expressions and the functioning of the unconscious, and where the position of desire was in psychoanalytical theory, it was obvious that there would be attempts to associate a surrealists work with a theme that spelled out desire. In that regard, desire is treated in psychoanalytical terms. In support of this view, Bond states that The connection between surrealism and psychoanalysis cannot be understated (par.20) since psychoanalysis was seen as the means to the freedom of the mind of human beings. Since the unconscious mind is correlated with conflict, pain or anxiety, the work of surrealists, especially visual arts, attempts to evoke feelings that are associated with these three emotions. In fact, most of the work of surrealists aims to make its audience emotional and instill feelings of empathy. The main themes of Surrealism are psychoanalytic as depicted in the work of a surrealist. Lusty supports this view when she says that a series of psychoanalytic Surrealist themes, including narcissism, fantasy, masquerade, perversionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (1) From these themes, it can be said that many surrealists work depict perversion especially those that show the nudity of females. In the same light, psychoanalysis, which mainly dwells on the unconscious mind, demonstrates that this part of the brain stores up unpleasant memories some of which, according to Freud, are sexual in nature. Therefore, the way a surrealist work uses the unconscious mind for creativity in order to illustrate perversion by the use of nude paintings, may evoke associated feelings of the unconscious mind. This way, the surrealists succeeded in influencing the human mind by use of creative visual arts. Also the use of fantasy can be explained in the same way. In addition to that, the theater of Surrealists depicts the subconscious experience, moody tone and disjointed structure, sometimes imposing a unifying idea (Lusty 6) These surrealists wish to create a theatrical form that is direct and immediate, by linking the unconscious minds of performers and spectators (Bell 12) which seems to be ritualistic. In some of these theaters, feelings, emotions and metaphysical were expressed physically thus creating a vision that seems to share similarities with the realm of dreams. Thus it can be deduced that psychoanalysis has a deep interconnection with surrealists work since Surrealism depended mostly on imagination and linked it to psychoanalysis in order to produce great and creative pieces of art. Conclusion It can therefore be noted that the relationship between psychoanalysis and surrealism is real and it affects human beings since they both deal with the subconscious mind. The literature review has shown that Breton depended on the work of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, as he led the followers of Surrealism. In addition to that, Breton showed that he fully depended on psychoanalysis as he was doing automatic writing and painting. In that regard, the definition of surrealism is connected with art and the subconscious mind as they work hand in hand with the aim of expressing inner thoughts and influence the way of thinking of other human beings. Therefore, it is sufficient to state that surrealists are the people who are paint and do automatic writing, also referred to as literature. Moreover, the surrealists were known to be influential and they were very aggressive with their work of art since it was a way of expressing anger and ridicule to the peoples way of thinking. In other words, surrealism does not use the voice for expression but passes so many messages by the use of visual arts that seems so unique and creative. This kind of art helps surrealists to express emotions such as desire, love, hatred, despair, dissatisfaction and many more. It was also seen that they use abstract images in their work of art; images that one cannot expect can be used in a particular manner. An example of this was the use of a sliding wall clock on top of a table. Such are the kind of creative art that were used but with the intention of influencing the subconscious, just as psychoanalysis attempts to understand the feelings that are stored up in the subconscious. In addition, it was learnt that Surrealism grew from the Dada movement and the two movements shared some similarities. The only problem that Dada movement had is that it used its literature to attack the individuals of the society. This is what displeased Breton, who was then a member of the Dada movement and he would later turn out to be the spokesman of the Surrealism movement. Thus, the literature review has shown that Breton, together with a team of other automatic writers rebelled form the Dada movement since they were not pleased with the concept of leadership and they formed a Surrealist network that would be positive in its activities and movements instead of negative like Dada. In other words, Breton and his team chose art, a more subtle way of passing messages, as the theme of movement. This movement would later move from Paris to other parts of the world like New York. The relationship between Surrealism and Psychoanalysis was brought out clearly in the paper by showing that they both use the subconscious mind. First and foremost, the conscious mind is that part of the brain where one can easily talk about when asked what they are thinking about. On the other hand, the unconscious mind is the part of the brain that stores up feelings and emotions associated with it and this is the part of the mind that influences behavior. Moreover, psychoanalysts who try to understand why an individual is behaving in a particular manner will always explore the mind of a patient with the aim of uncovering the stored feelings in the unconscious. Psychoanalytical theory that was invented by Sigmund Freud dwells upon the unconscious mind. Sigmund Freud has stated that the feelings that result from the experiences all people go through are sometimes stored in the subconscious mind. Such feelings may, in many occasions, influence the way people interpret other situations that they go through in life without being aware that the subconscious mind is the one leading them to act and think in such a manner. The kinds of feelings that are stored in this part of the mind are normally unpleasant and Freud states that most of the time, the feelings are sexual. Freud further states that some individuals engage in self-reproach whenever they experience such feelings because they believe that they are unacceptable and wrong. This is what results in paranoia where an individual is self-obsessed with fear over issues and experiences due the influence of the feelings in the unconscious mind. The paintings of Surrealists had a connection with the unconscious. This is where the relationship between Surrealism and Psychoanalysis begins. The works of surrealist was painted in such a way that they would influence the way of thinking of human beings, which was thought to be conventional. Thus their work intended to bring out the role the unconscious mind played in creativity and thinking so that this way of expression by art, would break new ground. Moreover, it was seen that Breton kept referring to the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud in his work so that he would use the theme in the paintings. Thus this also was an indication that there exists a relationship between Surrealism and Psychoanalysis. Furthermore, it was shown that the main themes of the Surrealists work are psychoanalytic. The kinds of themes that seemed prevalent and shared a close relationship with psychoanalysis are narcissism, perversion, fantasy and masquerade. It is especially true to note that perversion seemed to be the central theme of their work especially when they did the paintings of women, this kind of paintings has raised a lot of controversy in the world today as the Surrealists were accused of being feminists. Moreover, the use of perversion may evoke associated feelings with the unconscious mind that people see as unpleasant, such as paintings of nudity. In addition, theaters that displayed surrealists work intend to make a connection with the mind of the audience and this is also a concept of psychoanalysis. This is how the surrealists used visual art to influence the human mind. In fact, it was not only the theme of perversion that was used to influence their way of thinking, but also themes t hat would ridicule politicians and other leaders in society to change their way of leadership and lead the society and its members in the right path.

Differences between Macro and Micro sociology

Differences between Macro and Micro sociology Explain the differences between Macro and Micro sociology. Identify some of the key sociological approaches in both areas. Which do you think is more useful for studying society and why? Giddens (1989) defines sociology in the following way: Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-wide social processes. Sociology is a significant subject so it is almost impossible to know all its aspect, it is only possible to learn how to apply sociological imagination , that is why all the sociological  theories may be broadly  divided into macro and  micro approaches, which will be deeper discussed and considered from each angle in this essay. Macro sociology studies social structures, communities, big social groups, layers, systems and processes that occur in them. The social community such as civilization is the main objective of macro sociology. It is not focused on detailed analysis of certain problems and situations; its target is a complex understanding of the issue. Macro sociological approach to phenomena is associated with the social world systems and its interaction with different types of culture, social institutions (complex social forms), social structures and global processes. Mainly macro sociology concentrates on the models of behavior that help to understand society as a whole. The main concepts of macro sociology are: society, culture, social institutions, social system, structure and also global social processes. Macro sociologists argue that society is in a more priority than individual as his behavior is formed by society he was born and brought up in. Macro sociology includes several important sociolo gical perspectives such as: functionalism that focuses on relationship between the parts of society and how aspects of society are functional and Conflict Theory which main focus is competition for scarce resources and how the elite control the poor and weak. Micro sociology  is one of the main branches of  sociology, examining the nature of everyday human  social interactions  and  agency  on a small scale. Micro sociology is based on interpretative analysis rather than statistical or empirical observation. It includes a theory of Symbolic interactionism that focuses on the use of symbols and face-to-face interactions. Micro sociology appeared in the late 30s of this century and had another name sociometry. This term is associated with Jacob L. Moreno, who was a  Jewish  Romanian-born  Austrian-American  leading  psychiatrist, sociologist, thinker and  educator. During his lifetime, he was recognized as one of the leading social scientists. Sociometry has got very original research methods, which are widely used as  a general scientific  tool  in  various  social  studies. For Moreno three the most important concepts of the sociometry were: socius companion, metrum measurement and drama action. Mor eno (1948) defines sociometry as the inquiry into the evolution and organization of groups and the position of individuals within them.  For  Moreno  and  other  representatives of  sociometry the main  object of  research  is an existing small  social groups and the most  important,  what  characterizes these social groups is  the peoples emotional  relationship  with each other that is  forming  an atomistic  structure of  society. Simple  observations are not  able to  capture these  relationships,  but  they can  be  identified by  using specific  measurement methods,  particularly survey  techniques  and processing of data. For example: sociometric tests, sociomatrices and sociograms. This  technique allows  detecting the  actual  situations of conflict  and  efforts  to eliminate them. The creation of sociometry has importantly contributed to the sociology and is considered to be one of the most si gnificant achievements of sociology as a science for the entire period of its existence.  The introduction of quantitative methods in sociology considerably transformed it and allowed to study with unprecedented accuracy.  One of the most significant consequences of creation of the micro sociology has become the increase of interest and opportunities for social research in the study of various problems of human existence with the use of quantative methods and modern computer technologies. Functionalists mainly  focus on the  macrostructures  of society,  but representatives  of symbolic  interactionism  are usually  more concerned about micro aspects  of social life. Also they argue that micro sociology is more useful for studying society. For instance  John  H.Mead and  H.  Blumer  studied the  social  interaction  of individuals  and  speculated  how  they manage to  coordinate their actions with each other. The Representatives of symbolic interactionism emphasize the fact that people are social beings.  However, in comparison with ants, bees, termites and other insects, that are leading a social life, people almost do not have any inherent models of behavior that connect us with each other. Consequently,  if people have essentially no inherent nature of the mechanisms of social behaviuor it is not clear how society can be created.  Representatives of symbolic interactionism find the answer in the ability of people to communicate through the symbols. Geogre Herbert Meed (1863-1931) and other representatives of symbolic interactionism state that we perform an act by conforming to the meaning we put in it. Generally Blumer states that the meaning is not something initially related to the things, on the contrary, it is characteristic which emerges from the interaction between people in their everyday life. In other  words, social  reality  is created  by people  when they  act  in this  world and  interpret  events  occurring in  it. Nietzsches 1880s notebooks repeatedly state that there are no facts, only interpretations. We  choose the  facts  from the  universal  context  by  the activity  of our  brain , and  because of that all  the facts  are the creations  of a man.  Accordingly, representatives of  symbolic  interactionism  believe  that  we perceive the world  as  constructed  reality. All  this leads  representatives  of symbolic interactionism  to the conclusion  that  if  sociologists  want to  study the  life  of society, they must first understand the  words  and actions of  members of  this society,  taking  their  point  of view.  This  theory  was largely  influenced by  Weberian  concept  of understanding  (Verstehen) or empathetic understanding. This gives an opportunity to the sociologists to mentally put themselves into the other persons shoes and thus obtain an interpretive understanding of the meanings of individuals behaviours. To conclude, the advantage  of this approach  is that  it  introduces the  people in the  panorama of  sociological research.  It  pays  attention  to  the activities  of individuals  in  their  daily  lives and  sees that the  people  are not robots that mechanically carry out the orders of social rules and institutional norms  but beings that are  living  their  lives  and have got and ability to  think. Through interaction, they operate on symbols and meanings à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹that enable them to interpret the situation, assess the advantages and disadvantages of certain actions and then choose one of them.  Thus, representatives of symbolic interactionism suggest the image of a man as an individual, actively shaping his behavior, rather than passively reacting to external dictates of structural limitations.

Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum'; and “The Masque of the Red Death';, the author uses different symbolism to illustrate the image of death. In both of these stories, death is the final result of a punishment, the end of a human’s life. However, in the first story, Poe shows us that there exists something in human ‘s life that is more terrible than death. And in the second story, Poe tells us that death is inevitable and it is useless if you try to escape it. From the beginning of “The Pit and the Pendulum';, Poe starts to show us the desperation and the terror the narrator feels in the prison. He is alone and lost, he can’t see anything and hear any voice. It makes him feel hopeless and scared. The complete dark pit where the Inquisition shuts the narrator up creates an atmosphere of death and fear. The fact that the pit is an abyss makes the readers think of death. In addition, the ceiling of the prison where a huge pendulum with a scythe hangs shows that the narrator’s life is in danger. The image of death becomes clearer when the narrator finds out that the pendulum is in motion. “But what mainly disturbed me was the idea that it had perceptibly descended. I now observed- with what horror it is needless to say- that its neither extremity was formed of a crescent…';(68). Death becomes impossible to prevent in this case. Especially when the pendulum keeps going down. As Poe describes, “Down- still unc easingly- still inevitably down! I gasped and struggled at each vibration…';(70) However, when we all wait to see the end, the narrator is saved by the rats. This unexpected change gives us a message that life is full of unexpected and we can never lose hope. But a more unimaginable thing happens right after the escape from the pendulum. The prison (the pit) becomes hot like a heated iron. Moreover, “ a richer tint of crimson diffused itself over the pictured horrors of blood'; (72) Here, we can make a connection between blood and death easily. Once again, the narrator ‘s life is in menace. Fortunately, the narrator is saved at the last minute, but the terror and the fear he feels during that period seems more terrific than death. In fact, Poe shows us compare to the affliction the narrator suffers in the pit, death becomes a relief. Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum'; and “The Masque of the Red Death';, the author uses different symbolism to illustrate the image of death. In both of these stories, death is the final result of a punishment, the end of a human’s life. However, in the first story, Poe shows us that there exists something in human ‘s life that is more terrible than death. And in the second story, Poe tells us that death is inevitable and it is useless if you try to escape it. From the beginning of “The Pit and the Pendulum';, Poe starts to show us the desperation and the terror the narrator feels in the prison. He is alone and lost, he can’t see anything and hear any voice. It makes him feel hopeless and scared. The complete dark pit where the Inquisition shuts the narrator up creates an atmosphere of death and fear. The fact that the pit is an abyss makes the readers think of death. In addition, the ceiling of the prison where a huge pendulum with a scythe hangs shows that the narrator’s life is in danger. The image of death becomes clearer when the narrator finds out that the pendulum is in motion. “But what mainly disturbed me was the idea that it had perceptibly descended. I now observed- with what horror it is needless to say- that its neither extremity was formed of a crescent…';(68). Death becomes impossible to prevent in this case. Especially when the pendulum keeps going down. As Poe describes, “Down- still unc easingly- still inevitably down! I gasped and struggled at each vibration…';(70) However, when we all wait to see the end, the narrator is saved by the rats. This unexpected change gives us a message that life is full of unexpected and we can never lose hope. But a more unimaginable thing happens right after the escape from the pendulum. The prison (the pit) becomes hot like a heated iron. Moreover, “ a richer tint of crimson diffused itself over the pictured horrors of blood'; (72) Here, we can make a connection between blood and death easily. Once again, the narrator ‘s life is in menace. Fortunately, the narrator is saved at the last minute, but the terror and the fear he feels during that period seems more terrific than death. In fact, Poe shows us compare to the affliction the narrator suffers in the pit, death becomes a relief.

Class Distinctions in World War I :: British History

Class Distinctions in World War I Pat Barker's novel Regeneration explores the effects that World War I has on the human condition and more specifically on the condition of the British people. One particular area of exploration is the detrimental presence of class distinctions within the ranks of the British military. This issue of class distinction is addressed specifically on pages 66 and 67 of the novel through a conversation between Billy Prior and Dr. Rivers. The characters' discussion reinforces Barker's theme of the injustices of these class distinctions and the harm they produce on the war front. Class distinctions were only too apparent within Britain's military entities. The Army "structured itself around class" and "in many ways . . . recreated the British class system in miniature: aristocratic generals, middle-class officers, and a working class rank and file" (Robb 84). This structure reinforced on the war front the class distinctions of the home front, and the "long-standing prejudices of the British class system ensured that enlisted men were treated almost like children." Some soldiers played the role of servant and waited on officers of high class who enjoyed luxuries unheard of to those existing in the grime of the trenches (Robb 85). In spite of the large gaps between fellow fighting men as a result of cross over social practices and of class structure within the ranks, the progression of the war caused some class boundaries to begin blurring as a need for more officers arose. The Army's initial officer class of 15, 000 men was expanded with the addition of 235, 000 individuals over the course of the war. The either permanent or temporary commissioning of these individuals gave them the title of "temporary gentlemen" ("Service"). This label of "temporary gentleman" applies to Prior in Barker's story, given his rank of Second Lieutenant. His lower class birth and provisional status place Prior in ridicule's way. During a therapy session with Rivers, Prior is asked how he "fit in" with those on the war front. In response to this question his "face shut[s] tight," and Prior asks, in order to clarify, "You mean, did I encounter any snobbery?" Prior answers his own question in the affirmative and informs Rivers that "it's made perfectly clear" who is immediately accepted at the front and who is not. He cites certain status enhancements such as having attended "the right school" or wearing shirts of "the right colour[,] [w]hich is a deep shade of khaki.

Essay --

Jakob Wenman Lab 7: Yeast Metabolism BIOL 1220 Section: 001 3/11/14 TA: Paul Williamsâ€Æ' Introduction: Yeasts are able to convert carbon sources, like sugars, into ethanol, without air. Yeasts also change sugars into carbon dioxide and water, when air is present (Leady. 2014). When cellular respiration requires oxygen, it is known as aerobic cellular respiration (Leady. 2014). Carbon counts are important because they give the number of carbons in monosaccharide molecules. Glucose has a carbon count of six. Fructose has a carbon count of six. Sucrose has a carbon count of twelve (Leady. 2014). Question: Which form of yeast will produce the highest amount of gas? Hypothesis: Yeast metabolizes simple carbohydrates than it does complex carbohydrates. Prediction: I predict that Fructose, Glucose, and Sucrose will produce more gas than Starch. Methods: The methods used for this lab came from Leady, B. (2014) Fundamentals of Life Science Lab Manual. Toledo, Ohio: University of Toledo. No changes were made. Results: At the end of the 30 minute time period, the starch solution ...

Internet Marketing Assignment Essay

E-Commerce describes any business to consumer transactions that take place partly or solely online and is not limited to the purchase of physical products from a website – although that does make up a key component of most e-commerce businesses. Some services or products are sold purely online while other companies may have physical stores or headquarters in addition to their online presence. E-Business describes any business to business transactions that take place online. For example a Web Design company often doesn’t sell products directly to consumers, but instead creates websites as a service for other companies, which will in turn be used to sell products or services to consumers. The internet has revolutionised the way companies do business. The shift in the way people shop has had a big impact on both the micro environments – the individual companies and their direct stakeholders; and the macro environment – politics, economy and society as a whole. â€Å"The death of the  high street† has been an obvious effect of these changes with many stores shutting down. Those who fail to keep up with these changes will be more likely to feel the negative consequences – as was the case with HMV and Blockbuster, who were forced into administration as competing online services took over their market share. For those who do keep up however, business is booming. iTunes, Amazon and Netflix are Blockbuster’s and HMV’s online equivalents and all three have billions of users from all around the globe. While the amount of jobs available in retail positions has been on a steady decline over recent years the demand for skilled workers in the IT sector is bigger than ever – so much so that there is a shortage of candidates and many roles go unfilled. A report issued by the government regarding the UK cyber security strategy highlighted that the â€Å"current and future ICT and cyber security skills gap† was a â€Å"key challenge† in implementing the strategy. (National Audit Office, 2013) To address this problem the education system needed to be changed, as of 2014 children as young as 5 will be learning advanced computing as part of the curriculum. Higher Education institutes will also likely have to reassess their course material to accommodate the new generation of students who will be leaving school with more in depth knowledge of computer systems and software development. Consumers gain many benefits from e-commerce, they now have the choice of shopping from an almost unlimited choice of companies from all around the world. Comparing prices and finding out what other customers thought of a product is also made much easier by the internet. The change in peoples shopping habits has changed the way companies advertise, huge marketing budgets for prime-time TV commercials are no longer the only way to get noticed and the potential audience is now global. Elements of Internet Marketing Traditional styles of advertising such as TV, newspapers, magazines, billboards etc are based on an â€Å"interruption† model. A show is interrupted by TV advert; music is interrupted by a radio advert; the flow of an article is interrupted by a magazine article, etc. This style of advertising persisted and still exists today in many places – but more and more companies are realising that demanding a customer’s attention in this way online does not yield good results. Some elements of internet marketing are examined below. Search Engines Organic search results account for a significant percentage of internet traffic. (The actual number is hard to measure for reasons discussed in the â€Å"Internet Marketing Tools† section on page 11). Regardless of the specifics it is widely accepted that organic search results are where a huge amount of a websites visitors come from. Search Engine Optimisation is therefore a vital part of a marketing strategy. Paid advertising through search engines may also be considered for extra exposure but is no substitute for a properly designed site structure and key word rich, quality content for search engine robots to crawl. Often good practices for SEO also embody good practices for UX design and accessibility; humans and robots alike prefer sites that are easy to navigate and have well-structured content that makes use of headings and sections to make it easy to read; as well as alt tags on all images that give a clear description of what that image depicts; with internal and external links within the content when the context is relevant. In the early days of search engines keywords were all that mattered, so it was easy to rank high on Google simply by stuffing as many keywords into the headers meta-tag as possible. Key word meta-tags are now obsolete and search engines have become much more sophisticated. (Google, 2011) As well as  crawling site structure and content to determine the quality of a page search-bots also judge the integrity of a page. They do this by keeping track of how many external sources link to it – at first, this encouraged â€Å"link farms† (a company would pay for a web traffic boosting service, which would churn out their site’s URL over a network of dummy sites set up purely for the purpose of creating links) – as search engines evolved this method is no longer as effective. Google now has algorithms that also measure the integrity of the sites that the links come from to provide users with more relevant results. Ranking high on Google for certain keywords is a long process, a new website has to build up a reputation, get their content shared and linked by others in an organic way – by having an article shared on social media for example – not through a link farm. Google strives for excellence by constantly improving its algorithms, they want to offer their visitors relevant search results so people continue to use their service and marketing strategies have to adapt if they want to keep up. Organic search results are a perfect example of marketing that doesn’t feel like marketing to potential customers. They are using search engines to find something specific – the hard work has been done for you, they already want to buy something or have some sort of problem solved – and if good practices for SEO have been implemented there’s no reason a website they find through Google would be irrelevant and not what they’re looking for, Google’s algorithms make sure of that and there are no shortcuts or cheats to trick them. A site filled with links and crammed with keywords for the sole purpose of getting more people to visit your website achieves nothing, if they click on it and it isn’t relevant to what they’re looking for they won’t just buy your product or service anyway, they will leave. The amount of time people spend on a website and the actions they take there (signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, et c) is all tracked by Google and used as part of the algorithms to determine the quality and integrity of a website. Banner Ads Banner Advertisements are based on the classic interruption model and the  vast majority of internet users don’t like them; and a huge percentage use software to block them completely. This has been determined multiple times over the years by a number of different researchers. One study conducted by the Norman Neilson Group, experts in Usability Heuristics, found that most users will completely ignore anything that looks like an advert – even when it’s not; and even when it provides them with the information they are looking for. In one study participants were asked to find the population of the United States using the U.S Census Bureau website – which was presented in large red numbers on the right hand side of the home page. 86% of users ignored it because it looked like an advert, it was bold and placed in the location that adverts are traditionally placed so was disregarded, despite containing the exact information they were looking for. The pie chart shows an overall representation of the behaviour exhibited by users on the site. In a different study eye tracking software and real time observation was used to measure exactly where people look on a website and how they interact with its various elements. In summary the study found that: â€Å"Users rarely look at display advertisements on websites. Of the 4 design elements that do attract a few ad fixations, one is unethical and reduces the value of advertising networks.† (Nielsen, 2007) The four design elements in question that users have been found to give their attention are: text, faces, cleavage/other body parts (â€Å"sex sells† still rings true for internet marketing) and obnoxious, intruding banner advertisements. Banners that sit and do nothing are considered a more ethical way of advertising, unfortunately studies show that ones that make sounds, pop up into the users line of sight or are animated attract more attention. However, just because a person is more likely to look at an obnoxious ad, that doesn’t mean they will click on it and be prepared to hand over payment details. I feel â€Å"Banner Blindness† should be taken more seriously than it currently is and companies need to find alternative methods of advertising, as this form has been proven to be ineffective for well over a decade now. (The same study with the same findings was first conducted by the NN group  in 1997.) Social Media Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc are no longer just the domain of a young tech-savvy audience. Data collected from a survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International found that Social Media usage has increased by 800% since 2005. In contrast, TV viewership has decreased by 50% in the same time frame. The graph below shows the findings, broken down by age  Social media marketing can connect businesses with millions of potential customers. Not only that, it can be done for free; unlike television and other traditional methods of advertising that require a substantial investment up front with virtually no guarantee of a return. Paid advertising on Social Media can also be tailored to target a specific audience. The ads can be set up to only display to those who will be the most likely to click on it. A bar advertising for fresher’s week for example could target their ads at students who were over 18 and living in the local area. Strategic Content The use of strategic content ties in with SEO and Social Media marketing; it involves creating content (as a blog for example) that is useful or interesting in some way (as well as relevant to the business) to encourage visitors to come to a website. From an SEO standpoint this will make the site rich with content, keywords and links which can result in higher rankings on search engines which means visitors are more likely to find your website. For example a company specialising in web design may have a design and technology blog providing expert information and up to date news on technology, or perhaps a section featuring tutorials and templates. Providing free content that’s similar to what you’re trying to sell can seem counter intuitive but it helps cultivate trust, it provides evidence that the company knows what it’s talking about and gives potential customers an overview of how things are done. Content can be shared around social media, and if it’s interesting or informative people may share it with their  friends which results in more exposure. Partnerships Forming mutually beneficial deals with other companies and cross promoting each other can widen the audience they both reach. Youtube and Twitch for example are used as platforms for gamers and game publishers to work together; publishers provide high influence content creators with early access to games, which they broadcast to all their fans. The content creators gain more views and in return more people get to hear about the game and see how it plays – making them more likely to buy it. This kind of promotion doesn’t cost either party any money but is beneficial and profitable for everyone involved. All of these elements (and others) tailored to fit the needs of the company combine to create what’s commonly referred to among marketing professionals as â€Å"The Marketing Mix.† The Marketing Mix The Marketing Mix: a phrase first used by Neil Borden in his paper â€Å"The Concept of the Marketing Mix† has become a well-known term for describing the strategies formulated to advertise services and products. One of the most widely used marketing mix paradigms is â€Å"The Four Ps†; proposed by E J McCarthy in 1964. The Four Ps are: Product Whether it be a tangible item or a service, first and foremost you need something to sell. What do customers want to buy? What features does your product or service need to fulfil the needs of your potential customers? Place In the past, brick and mortar stores and catalogues were the only two options  to consider, the internet has made a global market much easier to reach but has also made the market much more competitive. Companies need to consider where customers might look for their product. Is a physical location required or can the business exist solely online? The pros and cons of each would need to be considered, for example a small start-up clothing store would be competing with huge corporations such as Primark, Debenhams, etc while paying for expensive running costs of a brick store, stock storage and paying for staff wages. Online, that same start-up company would still be competing with those same corporations as on the high street, plus a huge other array of smaller or medium sized online outlets. However the running costs and risks of an online-only start-up are minimal. A company can exist solely as a part of a larger organisation such as Ebay or Etsy; many who start out this way and find success then choose to invest in their own website for selling their products without the middle man. Some then may also go on to open high-street stores, for example Simple Be existed as a purely online business at first before investing in physical stores; which have an advantage over online only clothing stores as customers can try things on and won’t have to worry about complicated returns procedures. Price Finding the right price for a product or service is a balancing act. Price too high for your target market and nobody will buy. Pricing too low not only means lower profit margins but can also label your product as â€Å"cheap† which may not be an image the company wants to convey. Apple are a perfect example of hitting the perfect price to quality ratio for their products target market. Apple products are hugely popular despite being comparable in technical specifications to other, lower priced competing devices. Ken Segall, Apples former marketing executive, said himself that â€Å"Apple doesn’t do cheap† stating in his blog that Apple â€Å"makes products for people who care about design, simplicity, quality and a great experience — and are willing to pay more for these things. For Apple to compromise in any of these areas would be a violation of the Prime Directive.† (Segall, 2014) Apple products are desirable because they’re seen by their fans as the most prestigious and high quality brand, this image would be diminished if the products were  cheaper; as was demonstrated by the relatively low sales of the iPhone 5C which was made of plastic and lower in price than other Apple devices (Though still much more expensive than competing brands). Promotion A great product won’t sell if nobody knows about it, but similarly a terrible product won’t sell well no matter how much time and money goes into advertising. The point of advertising is to convinced potential customers that your product or service will add value to their life in some way that’s relative to the price they would pay for it. This model can be applied to a wide range of services and products as it is non-specific and can easily be tailored to fit the needs of the business using it. It all boils down to putting the right product in the right place at the right price. Several alternatives and additions have been suggested by marketing experts and academics alike in the interest of creating a marketing mix that’s more relevant in an industry that has changed in ways nobody could have predicted. When the 4P’s were first introduced in the 60’s the internet as we know it today did not exist so it’s reasonable to say new strategies and updated methodologies are required. Some additions that have been suggested include â€Å"people† – encouraging good customer service and a good working environment for employees. â€Å"Process† – looking at ways to streamline and reduce costs in both producing the product and how the business is run. â€Å"Physical Evidence† – Could be in the form of endorsements, customer testimonials and feedback or any awards the company may have achieved. Another popular paradigm that evolved from the original 4P’s is the â€Å"Four C’s† model – proposed by R.F. Lauterborn in 1993. Customer/Clients The customers are the driving force behind any business, so an organisation  should ask themselves what they can do for their customers – what needs and wants to they have and how can you help? Cost How much will it cost the customers, are they getting good value? If your product is more expensive than competitors, why? Does it offer superior quality? If it’s cheaper, again customers will want to know why, will they be compromising on quality? Or does the business create lower costs by streamlining internal processes and passing the savings on to the consumer? Convenience People buy things that they believe will make their lives easier or enhance it in some way; and when they want something they want it to be easy to find and simple to purchase. For example a clean, uncluttered website that makes finding and buying products easy will tend to sell more than one with confusing navigation and a lengthy checkout process. Communication All promotion and advertising is a way of communicating with customers, a way to get your message and brand out into the world and let people know what your product is and why people should buy it. Companies who stay engaged with their customers cultivate trust and loyalty which earns them repeat business and recommendations. This model is essentially the same as the original version but is designed to encourage organisations to look at things from the customer’s point of view. There are merits to both sides of the debate over whether the 4P’s need revamping. On the one hand the original is broad enough for marketing executives to use as a very rough guide to shaping their own unique strategy. On the other hand in an ever changing industry improvements on old practices is a good thing – how can the world evolve if change is not  embraced? Doing things simply because that’s the way they have always been done may cause a company to stagnate and lose market share for not being innovative enough. I would like to propose my own take on the marketing mix, the 4E’s model: Excellence No matter the product or service, striving to be the best at what you do is a good goal to aim for. This is more easily achieved if a business focuses on one particular area rather becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none. Take for example the gaming company Mojang, who were recently purchased by Microsoft for $2.5billion. They developed one game – Minecraft – and they did it so well that it became more than just a simple browser game. It’s now an integral part of pop culture for this generations gamers with a huge diverse community that’s still growing 5 years on. Similarly, Facebook bought Instagram for $1billion after it dominated the mobile photo sharing market and WhatsApp for a staggering $19billion – a simple messaging service that took off in popularity and quickly overtook market share from the big players like Microsoft and Google. (CNN Money, 2014) Facebook itself started as a simple project and is now one of the most powerful corporations in the world – buying off any competitors is one way to keep that lead. A simple concept executed well can change the world. Engagement Social media and the internet in general have made communicating with customers easier than ever before. The best way to figure out what consumers want is to ask them. A business selling food products for example could engage with their customers by making a post on social media asking what different flavours they would like to see. This not only gives the company a firm idea of how popular a new product would be, it also generates buzz and makes the customers feel more involved in the process – making them more likely to actually buy said product when it’s released. Creating quality, relevant content for a website – perhaps in the form of a blog – gives  customers a reason to regularly visit a website. Using a food company as an example again, they could have a recipe section on their website. Maybe even a community section where others could post and share their own recipes. If these recipes are good quality it can lead to people thinking: â€Å"If the free recipes are this good, just imagine how great the food they sell will be!† – turning casual visitors into paying customers. Ease Allow potential customers to make informed decisions by providing them with information about what’s on offer in a way that’s easy to understand and easy to access – similarly ensure to make the process of handing over their money once they’ve decided to buy quick and easy. With an uncountable number of websites in existence a potential customer can be lost very easily if they can’t find what they’re looking for or find any part of the process difficult – they will simply go elsewhere. Economy Finding the right price for a product or service can still be as tricky today as it’s always been with one exception – information on competitors and target markets is readily available. Even in a niche market there are likely to be several competitors operating at varying scales of price and quality. The goal is not necessarily to undercut everybody and become the cheapest but to find the right balance of cost and quality – most people are happy to pay a little bit more for a higher quality product as long as they can justify that it will be worth the investment. Similarly there are many people who will buy the cheapest option available regardless of quality. Establishing a target market and researching purchasing habits can give a company a good idea of where to price themselves to be competitive and profitable. An expensive product can still be considered economical if its benefits are proportionate to its cost. In the end, any model is only as good as the implementation. Knowing the concepts behind a good marketing strategy isn’t the same as having the  skills to plan, implement and maintain them. Internet marketing campaigns take time. It takes time to gain enough followers on social media to start fully engaging with a target market; it takes time to create a catalogue of high quality strategic content and it takes time to build up consumer trust. Internet marketing isn’t as simple as making a Facebook page and uploading the company logo – the internet is an interactive medium. It’s not a billboard, it’s more a large ongoing focus group. Internet Marketing Tools One of the biggest advantages internet marketing has over traditional marketing is the fact the effectiveness of a campaign can be more accurately measured and analysed. Television adverts are measured in terms of how many people have viewed it; beyond that it’s mostly guesswork; it’s very difficult to measure how many people saw a television advert and then went on to perform the desired action (such as go to a store and buy a product, or make a phone call to enquire about a service). With internet marketing everything that happens as the result of a campaign can be tracked every step of the way. An email marketing campaign for example can be tracked to see how many people opened the email, how many then visited the website (known as the click through rate) – from there it can also track what the visitor did while they were on the website. How much time they spent there, which pages they visited, whether or not they purchased something – or if they abandoned their cart in the process of trying to make a purchase. Other details such as which device the customer was using, their location, age and previous browsing habits may also be tracked. Making use of tools such as Google Analytics can show at a glance the raw data related to any aspect of a visitors habits. There are many other tools on the market but Google Analytics is the most widely used and it integrates well with SEO – Google have built up a giant network of partners and billions of websites have tracking codes. Individual companies can access their own data to analyse but Google has access to everything and have built  up a database of browsing habit data they use to improve their algorithms – as well as sell to third parties (such as Facebook). This creates a constant feedback loop for everyone involved. This raw data however, is fairly useless if a company does not know how to analyse it and make use of the information. Some raw data has obvious implications – for example if a company finds that the majority of visitors are using a mobile device and their site is not fully accessible on mobile, they should look into optimising their site for mobile users to accommodate the needs of their customers. Other times the data is only the starting point, it must be analysed before it becomes useful information that can be applied in a practical way. Tracking tools can give answers to the questions â€Å"how†, â€Å"when† and â€Å"where† with a high degree of accuracy. â€Å"Who?† can be answered to a point, the approximate age of visitors can be tracked, as can their previous browsing habits which may give some insight into their likes and needs. The one question raw data cannot answer is â€Å"Why?† – Why do visitors behave the way they do? Why do some e-commerce shoppers add items to a cart and then abandon it during the checkout process? Why was the click through rate low/high for a particular campaign? Surveys and social media can be used as tools for getting answers to these questions. Once the quantitative data from tracking tools have provided a starting point, specific questions can be posed to collect qualitative data. Together they can give a company a lot of valuable information to help them improve future campaigns and the way they do business in general. Facebook has its own analytics tools called â€Å"Facebook Insights† – it works in a similar way to Google Analytics but is more focused around Facebook pages and ads. Facebook insights shows how many people saw a particular post (reach), how many responded to the post (engagement), and other information such as visitors ages and interests – based on what other pages they have â€Å"liked† on Facebook. Facebook Insights can be used to determine which posts get the most likes and  shares, which lets companies know what their audience is likely to respond to so they can tailor future posts accordingly. It can also provide information about when visitors engage with the page so future posts can be scheduled to post at a time when the highest reach is likely to be achieved. Combined with the data from Google analytics social media marketing campaigns and posts can be tracked down to the fine details. If these posts lead to strategic content tracking can be broken down into stages to measure the quality of a websites content. Many websites use this strategy, Cracked being one of them. Cracked are an entertainment website who post funny/interesting articles, columns, videos and podcasts. When a new piece of content is posted, their social media team make posts to advertise it to followers. Facebook Insights will provide the tracking information about reach, likes and engagement and Google Analytics takes over once visitors have clicked through. Cracked split up their articles into several pages – they could easily fit the content onto a single page – so why split it up? One reason is usability, pages load quicker with less content on and readers are less likely to feel overwhelmed by a huge wall of text than they are several manageable chunks. Another reason is SEO – the more pages and links robots have to crawl, the higher the site is likely to rank on search engine results. Instead of one page per article related to certain keywords – there are 2-4 pages per article. Finally, splitting articles up into several pages allows tracking analytics to be performed in stages. How many people got to the end of the first page and deemed the content interesting enough to click on the â€Å"read more† link? How many read the whole thing? How many dropped out and where did they tend to do it? This can help determine weak spots in content and the company can then  formulate a plan to improve the situation. It can also be used to further engage visitors who seem to be enjoying the content – the final page of an article could for example act as a trigger for a pop-up box that prompts to visitor to sign up for a newsletter. If a visitor has enjoyed an article it’s relatively safe to assume they would like to see more – the same is not true for a visitor who has only just landed on the home page. They haven’t read anything yet, why would they want to sign up for a newsletter? As mentioned in a previous section, tracking data does have its limitations that marketers have to be aware of to properly interpret the data their tools produce. Specifically – direct traffic can be difficult to differentiate from all other types of traffic. This makes analysing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns less straight forward than it seems. In a nutshell, whenever a referrer is not passed traffic is marked as direct. What this means is a glance at an analytics report may suggest that 50% of a sites traffic is direct, meaning the visitor typed the URL directly into their browser. The report could for example state organic search accounted for 40% and advertisements 10%. If a company is putting significant resources into advertising and seeing those kinds of numbers they may decide it isn’t worth it and seek to make changes. While in reality direct traffic may only account for 20% while ads account for 30%, making the cost per conversion rate much more favourable. There are a multitude of reasons a referrer may not be passed to the tracking software that results in traffic being incorrectly marked as direct. For example many people make use of ad blocking software – that often have clauses that allow for non-intrusive advertising. While users of this software can see and click on non-intrusive ads, the software blocks the server response required to pass the referral to the tracking software. Many browsers now offer a â€Å"do not track† option to offer additional privacy to users, turning on this setting also blocks tracking requests. Some people may perform a search for something or click on an advertisement but not make a purchase right at that moment and instead choose to come back later – by  typing in the URL directly; so their visit and subsequent purchase is marked as direct when it was really the result of a campaign. As more users become increasingly concerned with privacy tracking and tailored advertising becomes more difficult. Making use of marketing tools makes the process easier but they are still only tools – their usefulness is determined by the skill of the person utilising them. Interactive Order Processing Order processing is obviously an important part of e-commerce, an online catalogue isn’t much use if people can’t actually purchase anything. As mentioned in previous sections, the process of placing an order should be made as easy as possible for the customers. Once a customer has decided they would like to hand over some money – a company should not distract them in any way. Some companies at this point might be tempted to upsell, cross promote or place advertising on the checkout pages but in almost all situations this is a mistake. If the customer gets annoyed at the ads they will leave. If they can’t figure out how to continue with the checkout process because the design is cluttered or otherwise hard to use they will leave. If they don’t feel confident about the legitimacy of the company or doubt the security of the checkout process they will leave. Upselling attempts should be handled carefully. Bombard customers will too many options and they may get distracted by browsing, decide not to check out and instead leave it for later – they may not come back. Relevant promotions should be advertised at this point or ideally added to the cart automatically. For example if orders over a certain amount receive free shipping this should be prominently displayed within the cart and applied automatically when the threshold is reached – customers like to feel like they’re getting good value so if they see it will only take them a small amount extra to receive free shipping they may decide to add a few more items. Argos successfully uses this technique every year during the build up to Christmas – they offer a  £5 voucher for anyone spending over  £50 and  £10 for anyone spending over  £100. This promotion is prominently displayed all over their website, catalogues and physical stores. Rather than offering a discount on the current purchase, they encourage repeat business by offering money off the next purchase. This has a twofold effect – customers will buy a little more than they planned in order to get the voucher and then spend even more after that to use said voucher (not many items can be bought for under  £5 or  £10 and no change is issued – to further encourage customers to use their voucher in full and pay a little extra on top rather than waste any of it). If adding additional items can be done without the customer leaving the checkout this will further increase the success of upselling attempts. Both Domino’s and Asda integrate upselling into the checkout process. Dominos uses a sidebar next to the main checkout area displaying a selection of small items (sides, desserts, drinks) with a small discount applied – visitors can click â€Å"add to order† and the total is updated on the page without taking them elsewhere. Asda displays a selection of items that the customer has previously ordered, but are not currently in the cart with the heading â€Å"Have you forgotten anything?† This can be helpful to the customer because they may have indeed forgotten something, and Asda in return make additional sales. Businesses can track the behaviour of their customers and analytics tools can be used to determine if a checkout design is working. The tale of â€Å"The $300 Million Button† published in Luke Wroblewski’s book â€Å"Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks† contributed by Jared M. Spool is an excellent example of just how important the design of the checkout process is. The piece describes a company who decided to examine their checkout process – which featured a login and registration screen after customers clicked  Ã¢â‚¬Å"checkout†. Their designers reasoned that making registration non-optional would encourage repeat business; and customers wouldn’t mind logging in to take advantage of quicker checkouts in the future. Spool was called in to analyse the checkout design; his team put together a focus group, gave them all a budget and a shopping list and asked them to checkout from the site. Upon being presented with the login form many participants were not sure if they had used the site before; and attempted many unsuccessful logins before clicking the â€Å"Forgot Password?† button. Many times this was unsuccessful as they couldn’t remember which email address they used. Others who were sure they had not previously registered were reluctant to do so. One shopper is quoted as saying â€Å"I’m not here to enter into a relationship. I just want to buy something.† Many stated that they felt the company just wanted to use their details for spam and others were concerned about privacy. Upon examining tracking analytics for the site the team discovered that 45% of users had multiple registrations and over 160,000 â€Å"Lost Password† requests were being sent every day. 75% of these never returned to the site to complete the lost password process and ergo did not complete the checkout process. Spools team suggested the design was changed to make registration optional. The â€Å"register† button was changed to â€Å"Continue† with the message â€Å"You do not need to create an account to make purchases on our site. Simply click Continue to proceed to checkout. To make your future purchases even faster, you can create an account during checkout.† This simple change resulted in the number of customers purchasing increasing by 45%. The extra purchases resulted in an extra $15 million in the first month and $300million after the first year. Businesses also need to take into consideration security when implementing an e-commerce system. A secure payment gateway must be used to make submitting customer financial and personal information safe. Similarly this data needs  to be stored securely and kept up to date to comply with the Data Protection Act. Any company accepting card payments (not only online) must also comply with PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). If a company does not comply with PCI and DPA standards they run the risk of customer details being leaked which could lead to fraud. This is obviously bad for the customers whose details get stolen but would also damage the reputation of the company and destroy consumer trust – as well as earn them huge fines from governing bodies. For small or start-up companies the cost, time and knowledge required to set up and maintain a payment gateway may feel like too much. In that case there are 3rd party services such as PayPal and Google Checkout which can act as a middle man between the merchant and customer. The business doesn’t have to worry about keeping customer details secure if they don’t store them and instead allow PayPal or similar to handle it. There are fees involved that work on a percentage basis, the more you earn, the more you pay. Additional fees are also charged for withdrawals. PayPal in particular has become an internationally recognised brand and most shoppers are now happy to use them – so a small company won’t lose out on too many customers from not offering alternative payment options. Most third party payment processing companies offer a â€Å"free† (other than fees) service which hosts the shopping cart external to the main e-commerce site; and a premium subscription service which allows full integration of the shopping cart into the website. For minimal cost and effort a small company can use the externally hosted cart while bigger companies may choose to invest in a more seamless user experience for their customers. The web environment allows for scalability, businesses are free to start small with minimal risk and expand at their own pace. References CNN Money, 2014. Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion. [Online] Available at: http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/19/technology/social/facebook-whatsapp/ Google, 2011. Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking. [Online] Available at: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html Mojang, 2014. Yes We Were Bought By Microsoft. [Online] Available at: http://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/ National Audit Office, 2013. The UK cyber security strategy: Landscape review. [Online] Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-uk-cyber-security-strategy-landscape-review/ Nielsen, J., 2007. Banner Blindness Old and New Findings. [Online] Available at: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/banner-blindness-old-and-new-findings/ Optimize Smart, n.d. You’re doing Google Analytics all wrong, here’s why. [Online] Available at: http://www.optimizesmart.com/google-analytics-wrong-why/ Segall, K., 2014. Apple’s adventures in plastic. [Online] Available at: http://kensegall.com/2014/02/apples-adventures-in-plastic/ Figure 1: How users interacted with the Population Finder4 Available at: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/fancy-formatting-looks-like-an-ad/ Fancy Formatting, Fancy Words = Looks Like a Promotion = Ignored JAKOB NIELSEN September 4, 2007 Figure 2: Social Media Useage over time, broken down by age5 Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/08/05/72-of-online-adults-are-social-networking-site-users/ 72% of Online Adults are Social Networking Site Users OANNA BRENNER, AARON SMITH August 5, 2013