Physical products Essay Example for Free

Physical products Essay The dot-com era is now fast receding into the past. But, throughout the world, managers are still grappling with turning the e-business concept into a business reality. Companies in some sectors have demonstrated success. In Europe, the low cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair have succeeded in migrating the majority of their customers to online booking in the space of a few years, while acquiring many new customers. Other companies have used the internet to gain competitive advantage. For example, the supermarket Tesco has launched a market-leading e-commerce service for customers and also uses the internet extensively for purchasing (Tesco Information Exchange). Although many start-up companies which adopted innovative business models, have now failed, some are now achieving profitability. For example, now operating profitability across many countries in Europe include lastminute (main focus travel: www. lastminute. com), Kelkoo (consumer retail: www. kelkoo. com) and Wanadoo (Internet Service Provider: www. wanadoo. com). In some traditional industries, the impact of the internet has been immense. Banking, for example, shows that in a seven and half year period (May 1995 December 2002), the number of households using online banking worldwide increased to 100 million as around 6,000 different financial institutions offered web based banking. (Source: Online Banking Report, Number 89, 10 December 2002). Meanwhile, many business-business companies and governments have found encouraging their customers to use their online services to be much more challenging. In this post-dot-com era, managers are looking to learn from the experiences of the early adopters, identifying success factors and incorporating best practices while trying to avoid the costly mistakes made by others. Most introductions to e-business open with a history of the growth of the Internet, and the predictions of the growth of e-commerce and e-business. E-Commerce is implemented using three technologies: Electronic Data interchange (EDI), Internet Commerce and Electronic Markets. We limit our approach to covering commercial activities conducted on the Internet. E-commerce offers opportunities to dramatically improve the way that businesses interact with both their customers and their suppliers, that is, to make business negotiations faster, cheaper, more personalized, and more agile. The number of web users who shop or buy products online is continuously increasing. However, searching and buying products via on-line can be frustrating due to the lack of help or decision support given to the user. Nowadays e-commerce applications are being improved from a first generation stage where buyers are humans who browse through a catalogue of commodities (e. g. books, computer components, films) and make purchases, often by means of a credit card transaction, to a second generation with a greater degree of automation on both the buyers and the sellers side. The aim of this work was to develop a technology for facilitating Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) processes. Although the growth in Internet retailing has not turned out to be as strong as predicted in the late 1990s, it is clear that some e-tailers offer distinctive value propositions to certain customers. At the core of any business strategy is the ability to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. Current market leaders, such as Amazon, enhance the shopping experience by providing reviews and making suggestions based on past purchases. However products such as apparel can be difficult for customers to purchase over the Internet because of the need to touch, feel and try on products. Market leaders, like The Gap and cataloguer Lands End, can be successful because of their prior customer base, strong brand identity, consistent quality and fit and outstanding service and guarantees. Convenience shopping online is becoming increasingly popular with both adults and young people. Internet may be a good source for bargain hunting. The simplicity of online shopping can lure consumers into making purchases that may not qualify as a good deal. It is therefore imperative to know when a deal is really a deal!

Sports In The Law :: essays research papers

May 6, 2001 -- He was surrounded by his teammates, but yet Larry Johnson felt alone. Not part of the group. Not part of the struggle to advance deeper into the playoffs. And now, with the season over and done with, Johnson is extremely worried that he may never be a part of it ever again. "Man, I just don't know," Johnson said yesterday on his way out the door of Purchase College. Johnson's career might be finished. He missed the final six games of the regular season and the entire five-game playoff series loss to the Raptors. The only way Johnson was able to dull the pain in his back was with medication, which he stopped taking during the season because he feared possible side effects would be damaging to his health later in life. Next week, Johnson says he will meet with doctors to discuss his options. There is a real chance he will be forced to retire at the age of 32. "Having the ability to play? I'm concerned about it all," Johnson admitted. "This was the playoffs, and I didn't play one minute." In his 10th NBA season and completing his fifth with the Knicks, Johnson averaged a career-low 9.9 points a game, shot a career-worst .411 and played in only 65 games. He continued to operate out of position as an undersized power forward and despite his diminished production, his big-shot potential was missed by the Knicks in their playoff ouster at the hands of the Raptors. "I'm really worried about LJ," said Kurt Thomas, who filled in admirably for Johnson. "Obviously Larry's health is a huge issue," added Jeff Van Gundy. "Larry over time has really meant a lot to this team. I'm just hopeful he's able to resume his career and be healthy, but for me to guess about that would be irresponsible. We have to wait and see and let time take its natural course.

The liberalization of the international financial system Essay

The age of globalization has ensured that businesses are focusing more and more on international trade as the primary means of enhancing their competitiveness. For example businesses en masse are moving their operations offshore to China and India to take advantage of the low cost of operation in those countries. The liberalization of the international financial system has also facilitated the growth of this trend for foreign direct investment. However this investment takes place in more than one form. It can be in the form of money or it can also be in the form of employees. When it comes to relocating employees, the human resource department of the company which is sending its employees abroad must take into account as to how they are going to determine the international compensation system. The scenario under analysis is of that an US national going to Japan to work there as an expatriate. In order to determine what the compensation of the US national should be, the parent company based in the US must take several issues into account. Of course there are some cost categories that will have go into the calculations such as allowances for goods and services, housing, income taxes and reserve. Under the heading of goods and services are the basic needs such as food, clothing, transportation, furniture, recreation etc. An important part of the calculations is also the cost category associated with housing in the host country. There are differences between the income taxes in the parent country and those in the host country and these differences the international pay system will have to take into account. Last but not the least, the parent company has to make significant contributions in the form of reserve such as pension funds, benefits schemes, education taxes, social security taxes etc. So these are the four major elements that will have to go into determining the pay for Robert Lords in Japan. The human resource department of Riordan Manufacturing does not have problems determining what the components of the international pay system will be as they are all specified in the company policy. Usually companies sending their employees abroad in the form of expatriates have to decide between the going rate approach and the balance sheet approach (http://www. rocw. raifoundation. org/management/bba/IHRM/lecture-notes/lecture-21. pdf). According to the going rate approach, the parent company conducts a survey in the host country and develops a grasp of the cost of living in the host country. The approach is basically to match the pay of the parent country national to the host country national. If Riordan Manufacturing were to follow the going rate approach, then it would probably have to hire an international consulting firm to conduct a survey in Japan that would determine what the salary of a Japanese national would be. This is a Japanese national working in the same position with similar duties and responsibilities to those addressed by Robert Lords. However Riordan Manufacturing does not follow the going rate approach. The going rate approach has several disadvantages. For example, managerial salaries in the US are the highest in the world. Therefore, according to the going rate approach, expatriates to China from the US would be given a much lower level of compensation. The nature of the assignment also varies from one country to another. The going rate approach would not take those differences into account but the employees are very sensitive to these differences. In such cases, the application of the going rate approach in structuring an international pay system can result in loss of employee morale. In fact, if the management of Riordan Manufacturing were to follow the going rate approach, it would have a hard time persuading any of its employees to take off to China because Chinese managerial salaries are much lower than they are in the US. The approach followed is the balance sheet approach. The result therefore is one of equity in the international pay system at Riordan. However this equity exists from the perspective of the employees of the company and not from the perspective of the host country nationals. As a result Robert Lords’ pay would not be equitable with the pay of a Japanese national. The balance sheet approach is the exact opposite of the going rate approach in that the company does not have to undertake surveys in the host country to determine what the pay of nationals in that country in similar positions is. Under this system the pay that Lords is going to receive in Japan is going to be exactly the one that he was receiving in the US. Of course there would be a few adjustments to take into account the differences of living in the host country. For example, if the cost of housing in the host country is higher than it is in the parent country, then Riordan Manufacturing would pay for the difference in the compensation to the parent country national. Under this approach therefore, the pay that Lords is going to receive will not be equitable with that of a Japanese national in a similar position. However when Lords comes back to the states, his salary will be readjusted back to its former level and the element of equity will be maintained. What determines equitable pay is a valid question in this respect. Maintaining purchasing power of the expatriate is one measure of maintaining equity. The purchasing power that the expatriate used to enjoy in the parent country remains the same when he moves to the host country. Therefore, the employee enjoys the same level of compensation regardless of the national compensation system of the country he moves to. Managerial salaries in Japan are lower than they are in the US. As a result, Japanese nationals working in a position with duties and responsibilities similar to those relevant to Lords’ position will have lower pay. Previously businesses used to perform within the confines of their own national boundaries. But now, because of globalization, they are operating across national borders. For example, Riordan Manufacturing performs production activities in China. However strategic flexibility still remains the most important concept in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. In fact it has grown in importance inasmuch as different marketplaces internationally have different factors driving supply and demand. Therefore, the organizational culture of a multinational company must develop passion for strategic flexibility. This is the duty of the human resource department. The human resource department is responsible for motivating employees to behave in a way that will contribute to overall organizational effectiveness. The most effective means of doing that is to design a compensation system that values employee behavior that values strategic flexibility (http://digitalcommons. ilr. cornell. edu/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1164&context=cahrswp). As mentioned before, strategic human resource management has the two options of the going rate approach and the balance sheet approach in designing an international pay system. However none of these approaches are appropriate for promoting strategic flexibility or, in other words, for promoting business practices tailored to the cultural and economic values of the country it is operating in. On the one hand, there is the going rate approach which in Lords’ case would simply calculate the pay of a Japanese national in a similar position and on the other hand there is the balance sheet approach which would simply calculate pay based on what Lords would earn in a similar position in his home country. Both follow national characteristics. The going rate approach follows the Japanese national system while the balance sheet approach follows the US national system. As a result neither of these approaches is geared towards promoting strategic flexibility. If the objective of the management is to develop the kind of compensation system that would emphasize certain characteristics of the national culture that are better aligned with the organizational strategic map, then it would have to develop different compensation systems for different countries. In this respect, the management of Riordan Manufacturing must study the social contract in the Japanese national system and design the international compensation system in a way that stimulates aspects of Japanese culture in employee behavior most suitable for organizational effectiveness. The age of globalization means that a multinational company like Riordan Manufacturing must take into account the different cultural attributes of the country it is operating in. This is because demand is greatly influenced by cultural expectations. Therefore the product that the multinational company is producing must conform to the cultural expectations of the country in which it is selling the product. If it is important for product development to conform to cultural expectations around the world, then it is vital for the compensation system to conform in the same manner. The compensation system lies at the core of the employee motivation system. Previously, compensation consisted of solely financial gains. However financial gain can be easily matched by other companies. In a globalized system of free trade where money can flow from one country to another without friction, merely financial gains are no longer sufficient to motivate the employees to stay with the company. As a result, modern compensation systems emphasize the development of relationship between the employer and the employees. If Riordan Manufacturing is going to move to Japan with its operations, then it must develop that relationship between the employer and the employee and developing that relationship means that the management must carefully study the social contract that governs the organizational culture in Japan. International compensation systems have multiplied in complexities precisely because the measures of organizational effectiveness must inevitably vary from one country to another. The measures of organizational effectiveness have changed. In today’s business world, availability of information is the most important competitive advantage that a company might have. An example of the value of information in enhancing organizational competitiveness is the process of internal benchmarking that has recently been gaining popular support. Internal benchmarking compares the different organizational procedures across operations around the world and prepares a lit of best practices which might be applicable organization wide. A critical aspect in successfully performing internal benchmarking is the tacit knowledge that lies hidden in employees. This is valuable intellectual capital that an organization would lose if the compensation system were to emphasize solely financial gains. In the interests of organizational effectiveness, the management of that organization must make sure that practices are undertaken so that there is minimal turnover in the company. As a result, particularly in developing an international pay system, the management in multinational companies has been introducing an element of choice in their compensation systems. The international pay systems have three levels of pay: one is core which includes cash and basic benefits. Then there are crafted choices such as training, flexible scheduling, base/bonus mix and stock options and finally there are the choices given employees such as assignments, tax deferrals, stock purchases etc. It is in the aspect of crafted choices that we must consider the role that the social contract plays in the Japanese national compensation system. Designing a compensation system in the US and in Japan must necessarily include differing challenges because the cultures in the US and in Japan are greatly different. The Japanese system values the collectivist approach more. Therefore the performance-based or the ability-based approach followed in the US emphasizing individual risk-taking is not very effective in Japan. Group based policies have greater value in Japan. Status is an important aspect of the social contract in Japan. Therefore if the element of strategic flexibility means motivating employees to think and act in the best interests of organizational effectiveness as applicable to the host country, then an American company must design the compensation system applicable to its operations in Japan in a way that maintains employees’ group status. This is an example of the role that the social contract in Japan plays in designing international pay systems. From the above it will be clear enough that designing an international pay system is no longer so simple as selecting between the going rate approach or the balance sheet approach. If Riordan Manufacturing is moving to Japan with its operations then blindly following the balance sheet approach is no longer a feasible approach. The management of the company must do the additional homework of studying the social contract in Japan. An important feature of the social contract in Japan is the lifetime employment contract in Japan where the management ensures job security for the employees. Any American company attempting to design a pay system that is in alignment with the strategic map in Japan must necessarily take the lifetime employment guarantee into consideration. The Japanese management system follows this system because it is an effective means of developing company loyalty. Both the employees and the management have a sense of ownership in the long term performance of the company. As a result, the Japanese compensation system emphasizes the long term rather than the short term in offering bonuses. Rewarding systems in Japan are tied to the long term maximization of market share. The Japanese system also values bonuses more because they are not taxed to the same extent that regular salary is. Trade unions have always had a strong effect on employee benefits. In the US, unionized workers enjoy a greater level of employee benefits than non-unionized workers. However the trade union system in Japan is different because unlike the US, trade unions are formed not industry-wide but on the basis of organizations that the workers are tied to (http://japanhop. com/prosper/070-japanese-labor-unions. html). For example, Toyota employees will form a corporate trade union that is specific to the company itself. In the US, the employees from the auto manufacturers would form a trade union that represents the entire industry. In that respect the social contract in Japan is different. Because trade unions in Japan are company specific, there is a greater level of cooperation between the employees represented by the trade union and the management of that organization. Trade union strikes are rare in Japan and when they do occur, the management and the union cooperate on finding a solution that minimizes negative consequences to the company. Therefore pay systems are not adversely affected by the presence of trade unions formed along corporate lines. There is a minimum wage regulation in Japan that must be taken into account in structuring the international pay system. Mostly importantly, the management of an organization and the trade union of that organization collaborate in designing the salary system of that organization. Such a salary system emphasizes the role of overtime pay which in Japan represents a large percentage of the annual pay. Allowances also are a strong feature of the Japanese national compensation system. These are some of the example of the differences between the American compensation system and the Japanese compensation system that have arisen as a result of the different social contract prevalent in Japan. BIBILIOGRAPHY Workforce (Jan, 2001). Three ways to design international pay: Headquarters, Home country, host country – human resources employment abroad strategies. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m0FXS/is_1_80/ai_69294699. Executive Resources Limited (2002). Compensation, employee benefit, and organizational consultancy. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://www. erlimited. com/expatriate_services. php Rethinking International Compensation. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://instruct1. cit. cornell. edu/courses/ilrhr769/97_24. pdf Winston J.Brill & Associates (2006). Fundamentals of International Compensation. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://www. winstonbrill. com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/551-600/article557_body. html Tokyo Electron (2006). Review of the Dividend Policy and Executive Compensation System. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://www. tel. com/eng/news/2005/0419_001. htm Labor Unions in Japan. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://japanhop. com/prosper/070-japanese-labor-unions. html Japanese salary systems. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://japanhop. com/prosper/080-japanese-salary-systems.html Various approaches to international compensation. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://www. rocw. raifoundation. org/management/bba/IHRM/lecture-notes/lecture-21. pdf How Canadian companies are paying expatriates. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://www. orcinc. com/ics/download/orc_ics_molnar_cn_05q2. pdf Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies. Rethinking International Compensation: From Expatriates and National Cultures to Strategic Flexibility. Retrieved January 12, 2008 from http://digitalcommons. ilr. cornell. edu/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1164&context=cahrswp.

Character Analysis Of Elizabeth Lavenza s Frankenstein

Shelby Guffey English 251 October 2, 2017 Character Analysis of Elizabeth Lavenza in Frankenstein In Mary Shelley’s 1831 novel, Frankenstein, there are several smaller characters that help to move the plot forward. Perhaps the most influential character to Victor Frankenstein’s life is Elizabeth Lavenza, his doomed fiancà ©. By the end of the novel, her character serves as the final tool for Victor Frankenstein to be able to understand his creature. Parallel to the time-period, Elizabeth seems to exist by and through Victor’s perception of her. She is his property, and he takes her in as gift. He looked at Elizabeth as, â€Å"mine- mine to protect, love, and cherish,† (Shelley, 18). It is also interesting to note that her presence in the house†¦show more content†¦Elizabeth is consistently the glue that holds the Frankenstein family together in hard times, specifically after the death of Victor’s mother. When she passed, Elizabeth, â€Å"veiled her own grief, and†¦ forgot ev en her own regret in her endeavors to make us forget,† (Shelley, 24). What followed after Elizabeth taking over the household, was a life full of sacrifice for Victor that inevitably led her to becoming the sacrifice herself. Elizabeth frequently makes sacrifices for the Frankenstein family from early childhood all the way until her death. She assumes the role of womanhood at a young age after Caroline s death. Rather than living out her days of childhood, she comes almost a mother figure to Victor and his younger brothers. While Victor is allowed to seize opportunities to travel and further his education, Elizabeth instead stays in Geneva (Shelley, 23). During the family’s hardest times, Elizabeth tends to take the blame and then internalize her feelings so she won’t cause more stress to the family. When they first discover the death of William, she immediately exclaimed, â€Å"Oh, God! I have murdered my darling child!† (Shelley, 47). She blames herself although she never laid a hand on the toddler. Elizabeth thinks that the trinket she allowed William to play with was the motive for the murderer to kill William (Shelley, 47). Unknown to the family, it was actually Victor’s creature’s first play against his creator. The Creature then plants the trinket givenShow MoreRelatedReview Of Frankenstein By Mary Shelley2689 Words   |  11 PagesLiterature Preparing for the Test Name: Jerry Ennolikara Literature Template Title: Frankenstein Author: Mary Shelley Era (written and setting): Written in 1816, primarily in the North Pole, then the story itself goes from England to all over Europe to the Middle East, etc. Story takes place in early 1800s. Characters (with key details): Victor Frankenstein- the creator of the monster; engaged to Elizabeth for a long time; educated; obsessive; has regret after creating the monster; takesRead MoreFrankenstein Major Works Data Sheet Essay1125 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Title of Work: Frankenstein Author: Mary Shelley Date of Publication: January 1, 1818 Genre: Gothic Biographical information about the author: Born as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin to William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft on August 30, 1789, Mary was the only child of her father and mother. Hardly more than a week after having Mary, Wollstonecraft died, leaving William to raise Mary and her half-sister, Fanny, whom William chose to adopt. 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He writes to his sister who lives in England the dangers of the mission. Suddenly the mission is interrupted by impervious ice. While trapped in the ice Walton and his crew spot a strange figure in a dog-drawn-sledge. The following day they encounter another figureRead MoreThe Representation Of The Mother2278 Words   |  10 PagesThe Representation of the Mother in Frankenstein â€Å"Through the blur, I wondered if I was alone or if other parents felt the same way I did - that everything involving our children was painful in some way. The emotions, whether they were joy, sorrow, love or pride, were so deep and sharp that in the end they left you raw, exposed and yes, in pain. The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that - a parent s heart bared, beating forever outside