Cormac McCarthy The Crossing Essay -- Essays Papers

Cormac McCarthy The Crossing This story contains an almost equal balance of good and evil, though it also raises questions of what is truly good. It blurs the line between good and selfish or thoughtless. Characters’ actions sometimes appear impure, but in the long run, are good. In this story Billy is faced with a wide range of undeserved punishments, but shows good through all of them with his strong will and determination. He accepts the things that happen to him in a levelheaded manner, which works to keep the story from becoming a tragedy. The first instance of undeserved punishment is the death of Billy’s family. Not only was he unable to help them in any way, there was no good reason for it to happen. While Billy could lose all hope, become depressed, and angry at the world or at God for this injustice, he instead sets out to right the wrong. To begin his venture to right the wrong, Billy goes to get Boyd, who’s been staying at another home after his family’s death. Before they leave, Billy takes a shotgun, blanket, money, and other supplies from the house. Boyd comments, â€Å"Even a outlaw don’t rob them that’s took him in and befriended him.† In this instance it could be said that Billy’s actions are morally wrong. In this case however, the ends justify the means. Billy is committing a small wrong to serve the greater good, which reflects a higher prompting on Billy’s behalf. Billy’s patience is also tried when he learns of his heart murmur. He is attempti...

Educational Research Essay

The research study explores the influence of technological developments to student motivation and positive learning outcomes. Educational institutions have started to incorporate the use of technology as an instructional tool to facilitate teaching and learning. One of the most recent additions to instructional tools used for classroom instruction is the employment of mobile technology. These technologies include the use of SMS or Short Message Service, e-mail, online forums and discussion boards. The purpose of the research is to probe deeper on the effects of these technologies to motivational learning, pressure within the learning environment, and the outcomes of performance. The result of the study proved that the use of internet and mobile communications lessens the pressure that students feel within the learning environment. Therefore, motivating the students to learn and feel comfortable during classroom instruction. Moreover, mobile communications opens up other alternatives for students to communicate with their teachers without any hesitations at all. Although the research acknowledged the benefits of employing mobile communication combined with internet tools, it still suggests that further studies be conducted on the topic. Critical Evaluation The research study is yet again one of the many proofs on how technology is becoming an integral part of education and is influential in producing positive learning outcomes. With the addition of mobile communication still it remains to be a motivational factor for students to learn and reflect that they actually have been learning by coming up with high grades during evaluation and assessment. This means that with the employment of mobile communications, students are able to produce desirable learning outcomes. Perhaps one of the things that make technology a motivational tool is because of its widespread use in almost every aspect of life. People, especially the younger generation, regard technology as a trend. Incorporating the technologies that students are familiar of makes it a powerful instructional tool to arouse the interest of the learners. Learning is not limited to the confines of the educational institution because mobile communication allows learning to extend beyond the four walls of the classroom. Moreover, communication is best facilitated, especially with students who are not good oral communicators, through online communication. These observations allow educational institutions to consider the employment of mobile technology to their curriculum and their instructional tools, perhaps, also considering the emergence of globalization.

Prometheus Unbound

In examining Asia’s speech, appearing in Act 2 of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Prometheus Unbound,’ it is evident that Shelley utilised a vast range of themes to create such a unique piece. Overall, the play draws chiefly from areas such as Philosophy, Romanticism, Mythology, Music and Religion (Rossetti). However, the play itself could not have been created without Shelley’s reading of Aeschylus’s play, â€Å"Prometheus Bound† (McDonald). In this sense, the play is very much an appropriation of and sequel to the original.With the above matters combined, Shelley created a work that is conceptually complex, providing the foundations for a challenging yet dramatic play that â€Å"paradoxically performs itself inside the mind of the reader† (Quillin). Asia’s speech in Act 2 reveals Prometheus as fundamentally, the first humanitarian. As such, Prometheus is known as the liberator of humanity and referred to as the â€Å"culture br inger† (Greenblatt 821). Symbolically, Rossetti affirms, â€Å"The unbinding of Prometheus is the unbinding of the human mind† (28).In addition, Rossetti suggests the cave that retains Prometheus â€Å"†¦is the cavern of the human mind- the recesses of creative and contemplative thought, vocal with human sympathy, fertile of human enlightenment and elevation† (31). Therefore, Shelley's ideas signify Romanticism, as his writing insinuates when individuals attain freedom, the power of their imagination is unlocked (Quillin). This can be seen in the â€Å"Prometheus saw, and waked the legioned hopes Which sleep within folded Elysian flowers, Nepenthe, Moly, Amaranth, fadeless blooms; That they might hide with thin and rainbow wings The shape of death; and Love he sent to bindThe disunited tendrils of that vine† â€Å"Prometheus saw, and waked the legioned hopes Which sleep within folded Elysian flowers, Nepenthe, Moly, Amaranth, fadeless blooms; That th ey might hide with thin and rainbow wings The shape of death; and Love he sent to bind The disunited tendrils of that vine† subsequent fragments of Asia’s speech. First and foremost, Asia’s speech is one of unrhymed rhythm and abundant of religious connotations depicting parallels between Greek mythology and Christianity (Quillin). The word ‘Elysian’ refers to Greek mythology and the paradise to which heroes on whom the gods deliberated immortality were sent (Encyclop? ia Britannica). The word ‘hope’ is personified as it is ‘woken’. The awakening of ‘legioned hopes’ may also signify the mass of humanity, in the sense they have been transitorily paralysed by Jupiter’s wrath. It also provides parallels to purgatory, as the forced temporary suffering upon human kind occurs for an unspecified period of time (Padgett). The heavenly flowers act as strength to Prometheus. With Prometheus’ epiphany that lo ve is the answer, the ‘binding’ of the ‘disunited tendrils’ symbolises Prometheus’ realisation that he can be reunited with his wife.The ‘vine’ may also symbolise the chains that bound Prometheus to the cliff. In addition, metaphorically, the vine could represent the almighty strength of a vine in comparison to Prometheus and Asia’s undying love. Rossetti expands this notion, by stating Prometheus and Asia may be regarded as the â€Å"union of the mind and body, or mind and â€Å"Which bears the wine of life, the human heart; And he tamed fire which, like some beast of prey, Most terrible, but lovely, played beneath The frown of man, and tortured to his will Iron and gold, the slaves and signs of power, And gems and poisons, and all subtlest forms,Hidden beneath the mountains and the waves. † â€Å"Which bears the wine of life, the human heart; And he tamed fire which, like some beast of prey, Most terrible, but lovely, p layed beneath The frown of man, and tortured to his will Iron and gold, the slaves and signs of power, And gems and poisons, and all subtlest forms, Hidden beneath the mountains and the waves. † beauty, or intellectual and emotional/loving elements in the human soul† (32). The first line alludes to the greatest gift in life and predominant theme in Prometheus Unbound; love. Love aids the strength and power in Prometheus’ defeat of Jupiter.Evidently, ‘The frown of man’ refers to Jupiter, the chief of Gods who initiated the binding of Prometheus (Magill). After the annulment of Jupiter’s curse upon Prometheus, the play suggests if human kind decides to embrace love, freedom and reject all evil, then the reforming of humanity should occur (Padgett). Thus, the poem is contradictory to Shelley’s statement in the preface stating that â€Å"Didactic poetry is my abhorrence† (Greenblatt 797) as it essentially teaches morality. Once more, the play provides a parallel to Christianity, in the sense that the characters ‘Prometheus’ can be compared to Christ and ‘Jupiter’ to Satan (Padgett).As pointed out, Shelley’s philosophical roots are strongly embedded throughout the play. With this is mind, it is clear that Shelley utilised Aristotle’s theory of the four basic constituents of matter; earth, water, air and fire as a thematic element within the play (Fowler). Thus, words such as ‘fire’ and ‘forms’, refer to Shelley’s cosmic approach to symbols represented throughout the play (Padgett). This distinctive style of imagery enabled Shelley to thoroughly capture the readers’ imagination, as his writing suggests imagery â€Å"He gave man speech, and speech created thought, Which is the measure of the Universe;And Science struck the thrones of Earth and Heaven Which shook, but fell not; and the harmonious mind Poured itself forth in all-propheti c song, And music lifted up the listening spirit Until it walked, exempt from mortal care, Godlike, o’er the clear billows of sweet sound; And human hands first mimicked and then mocked With moulded limbs more lovely than its own The human form, till marble grew divine, And mothers, gazing, drank the love men see Reflected in their race, behold, and perish. † â€Å"He gave man speech, and speech created thought, Which is the measure of the Universe; And Science struck the thrones of Earth and HeavenWhich shook, but fell not; and the harmonious mind Poured itself forth in all-prophetic song, And music lifted up the listening spirit Until it walked, exempt from mortal care, Godlike, o’er the clear billows of sweet sound; And human hands first mimicked and then mocked With moulded limbs more lovely than its own The human form, till marble grew divine, And mothers, gazing, drank the love men see Reflected in their race, behold, and perish. † that can be concei ved various ways simultaneously (Padgett). The final section of Asia’s speech further glorifies Prometheus and the birth of liberation for human kind.It also typifies the premise of the entire drama; Prometheus is acknowledged as â€Å"the culture bringer† (Greenblatt 821). Meaning, he has given human kind the power of intellectual ability, made up of the creative arts and sciences, thus, liberating human kind. This is evident as â€Å"He gave man speech, and speech created thought, which is the measure of the universe†. This line highlights what Prometheus has achieved for the human race. Proving his suffering was not in vain, Rossetti states it has provided intellectual freedom for the rest of society (31).Furthermore, the line; â€Å"music lifted up the listening spirit† reiterates Prometheus’ liberation of human kind. From this, it is clear that Shelley adopts musical themes in his poetry when language no longer proves to be an effective mode o f aestheticism (Quillin). Overall, Shelley produces a dramatic piece addressing his revolutionary ideals by combining music and dialogue, which ironically performs itself in the mind of the reader (Quillin). In Conclusion, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Prometheus Unbound’ was conceptually inspired by a plethora of key factors.Throughout ‘Prometheus Unbound’, it is evident that Shelley’s approach to imagery stems profoundly from his interest in Philosophy, Romanticism, Mythology, Music, Religion and most importantly, the appropriation of and sequel to Aeschylus’s play, â€Å"Prometheus Bound† (McDonald). These key elements have enabled a multifaceted approach to Shelley’s’ writing, formulating the dramatic shape of the play as a whole. Works Cited â€Å"Elysium†. Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclop? dia Britannica Online. Encyclop? dia Britannica Inc. , 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. ;http://www. britannica. om/EBchecked/t opic/185418/Elysium; Fowler, Micahel. â€Å"Aristotle. †Ã‚  Beginnings of Science and Philosophy in Athens. N. p. , 9  Feb. 2008. Web. 11  Mar. 2013. ;http://galileoandeinstein. physics. virginia. edu/lectures/aristot2. html;. Greenblatt, Stephen, Ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th  Ed. New York, United States: W. W Norton ; Company, Inc. ,  2012. Print. Magill, Frank. â€Å"Prometheus Unbound. † Magill Book Reviews,  2011. Web. 10  Mar. 2013. ;http://www. enotes. com/prometheus-unbound-salem/prometheus-unbound-0089900364;. McDonald, Marianne. â€Å"Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound.   Osher Lifelong Learning Institute – UC San Diego Extension. N. p. ,  2008. Web. 10  Mar. 2013. . Padgett, John B. â€Å"The Imaginary Ideal: Prometheus Unbound. †Ã‚  Shelley, Dante, and Romantic Irony. N. p. ,  1995. Web. 11  Mar. 2013. . Quillin, Jessica K. â€Å"An assiduous frequenter of the Italian opera: Shelley’s Promet heus Unbound and the opera buffa. †Ã‚  Romantic Circles. University of Maryland, 15  Mar. 2005. Web. 10  Mar. 2013. .

Health and Nutrition Essay

Health and Nutrition Essay One of the most common and popular assignments these days is an essay on health and nutrition. Every day a new company is born, and it offers new products, to add to your food allowance. Every company boasts and brags about the healthy and nutritious ingredients they offer in the product, and promise to increase health, if you use their products. But should you really trust all of them? Can you be sure that the food and various products you are consuming are really healthy and nutritious? – Absolutely not. You have to do your own research to find out what is really healthy for you, and what is just poison for you, veiled under a good mask. That is exactly why professors ask students to do a little research on some major products they consume, and find out if they are really healthy and helpful. This helps a student to understand how to eat and what to consume in future in order to not run a risk of getting sick from eating something bad. Anyway, if you need to write a health and nutrition paper, or a health and nutrition essay, health and nutrition research paper, or health and nutrition term paper – you will need to apply some efforts. When writing a health and nutrition essay – all the data in it has to be exact, specific and 100% accurate. If something in your paper is false – you put your whole health and nutrition essay paper under a big question mark. Make sure that all the data you use in absolutely plagiarism free, authentic, and referenced and cited. The least you want to have is a plagiarized paper. So when using some outside sources – make sure you site them all, according to the writing style you are asked to write your health and nutrition paper in. This is one of the most common mistakes among student writers. The most popular writing styles are APA, MLA, Harvard and Chicago. Be sure to read about those styles before even starting to do the research on the health and nutrition essay. CustomWritings.com can easily assist you with any of your assignments. We have a lot of professional writers ready to help you with your health and nutrition paper. If you need a health and nutrition expert to write your paper – be sure to contact CustomWritings.com right a way, and we will make sure you are delivered the best possible health and nutrition paper on any topic. Here is a list of the most popular health and nutrition essay topics: 1. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 2. Health Care Dynamics in Australia 3. Community Health Nursing 4. Italian Health Care Practices 5. Can health status improve without economic development in populations? 6. Rights to Health In Developing Countries 7. The effects of alternative health care on scientific medicine 8. Physical Health in the USA 9. Why do people respond differently to illness and why is health so hard to define? 10. Compare and contrast the quality of health provision in an MEDC and an LEDC of your choice. 11. Can better nutrition decrease criminal activity? 12. The Importance of Nutrition and Fitness in Our Lifes 13. Health Starts With Nutritional Foods 14. Protein Energy Malnutrition 15. Nutrition In A Nutshell 16. Healthy Nutrition Has Changed Me

Overstock.com E-Business Essay Example

Overstock.com E Overstock.com E-Business Essay Overstock.com E-Business Essay The e-commerce system chosen is the Overstock. com. Overstock. com is an online retailer offering a broad variety of high-quality, branded name goods at discount prices, including bedding, home decor, appliances, watches, jewellery, electronics, sporting goods, clothing and shoes. At the beginning, Overstock. com sold surplus and returned merchandise on an online E-commerce marketplace and liquidating the inventories of the failed dot-com companies at below-wholesale prices (Drummond, 2006). Recently, it has expanded to sell new merchandise and also offering manufacturers, distributors and other retailers an alternative sales channel for liquidating their inventory. In addition to its direct retail sales, Overstock. com has also offered online auctions on its website. The company’s major competitors are eBay and Amazon. com (Mann, 2005). b. The e-Marketplace. Overstock. com is considered as a private e-marketplace that is owned by a single company. In a sell-side e-marketplace, such as Overstock. om will sell either standard or customised products to individuals (B2C) or to business (B2B), this type of selling is considered to be one-to-many (Turban, King, Lee, Liang amp; Turban, 2010). Overstock. com uses the Internet to create a more efficient market for liquidation, closeout and other discount merchandise by providing consumers and businesses with quick and convenient access to high-quality, brand-name merchandise at discount prices. Besides that, Overstock. om operates the part of their website as an online auctions business, a marketplace for the buying and selling of goods and services-as well as online sites for listing cars and real estate for sale (Mann, 2005). Overstock. com is an example of virtual e-tailers that sell directly to consumers over the Internet without maintaining a physical sales channel. Virtual e-tailers have the advantage of low overhead costs and streamlined process (Turban et al. , 2010). General e-tailers, such as Overstock. om, selling a vast range of goods and services online, capitalize on the internet to offer such variety to a diverse group of customers geographically without the need to maintain a large physical storefront network (Mincedmedia, 2008). 2. Research into the e-business components. a. Organization. i. Possible internal organization functions involved the system. The internal organization of the Overstock. com is formed by few different departments. The sales and marketing department will find and retain customers by building effective customers relationships to increase the sales of the firm. Marketers of the Overstock. com uses several types of online advertising methods such as banner ads, e-mail advertising and video ads (Turban et al. , 2010). The engineering department will be in charge of the firm’s e-commerce system, online security, payment systems, IT compliance, application software, website design and maintenances and also data management. The firm’s IT engineer will be responsible to use technology expertise such as the defence and e-commerce security strategy, e-commerce payment systems, application of software and the knowledge in the web 2. to facilitate the online business of Overstock. com (Kelly, 2005). The accounting and finance department will be responsible in partnering with other county departments to leverage resources that are essential toward achieving related objectives and also ensuring that quality financial services and information is provided. In addition, the operations department does the day to day operation of the business. The operations department of the Overstock. com consist of the merchandise operational coordinator, co-op manager and system administrative. They handle all the clerical functions having to do with clearance, settlement, and execution of trades (Mincedmedia, 2008). This department keeps customer records and handles the day-to-day monitoring of margin positions. ii. Possible firms, suppliers and business partners. Part of Overstock. coms merchandise is purchased by or manufactured specifically for Overstock. com. Merchandise is obtained either by buying excess inventory, referred to as the companys direct business, or by selling the merchandise of other retailers, catalogue companies, and manufacturers on a commission basis (Mann, 2005). Among their products are handmade goods produced for Overstock by workers in developing nations. The shopping business of the Overstock. com includes both a direct business and a fulfilment partner business. Products from the fulfilment partner segment are from various industry verticals, such as florist supplies, restaurant supplies, and office supplies (Wang, Liu Koong amp; Bai, 2009). Overstock. com form partnerships with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Kenneth Cole, Simon amp; Schuster, Samsonite, and Cuisinart. These fulfillment partners, constituting the former commission side of Overstock. coms business, drove the companys revenue growth high and following its IPO. iii. Possible business process associated with the system. The shopping business of the Overstock. com includes both a direct business and a fulfilment partner business (Overstock. com). The fulfilment partner business is one of the business process associated with the system, Overstock. com sell merchandise of other retailers, cataloguers or manufacturers ) through their Website. Overstock. om currently has fulfilment partner relationships with approximately 1,250 third parties on their website (Ferguson amp; Hlavinkha, 2007). Overstock. com also provides an online auction service on the Website. The Auctions business allows sellers to list items for sale, buyers to bid on items of interest, and users to browse through listed items online. The revenue for the merchandise returned to the Company that we sell at auction is recor ded on a gross basis. Revenue from the auctions business will be included in the fulfilment partner segment. Besides that, an online site for listing cars for sale was provided as a part of the Website. The cars listing service allows dealers to list vehicles for sale and allows buyers to review vehicle descriptions, and allows purchasers to contact sellers for further information and negotiations on the purchase of an advertised vehicle. Revenue from the cars listing business is recorded net and is included in the fulfilment partner segment. In addition, an online site for listing real estate for sale was provided as a part of the Website. The real estate listing service allows customers to search for active listings across the country. Listing categories include foreclosures, live and on-line auctions, for sale by owner listings and also broker or agent listings. Revenue from the real estate listing business is recorded net and is included in the fulfilment partner segment (PR Newswire, 2010). b. Possible technologies. i. Hardware, Software and Network telecommunications technology. Overstock. com needed equipment that would perform consistently and handle the traffic peaks that occur in the fourth quarter of the year without service degradation therefore, they chosen Foundry’s BigIron MG8 high-performance 10-Gigabit switches to power the backbones at its headquarters. Foundry is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions and also an application service provider for Overstock. com, Inc. Foundry has helped them achieve the level of performance with a solution that will accommodate future growth and the payoff can be enormous in terms of customer experience and cost savings (Foundry Network, n. d. ). Overstock. com is using the OptiMine Software, a provider of intelligence software for advertising optimization. Their flagship product, OptiMine Paid Search Bid Management Application, forecasts the performance of each paid search ad placement each day and automatically sets optimal bids. Overstock. com also uses many other software such as Breach Security’s web defend and VPNs for website security purpose. Besides that, software like EDIs are used for online data interchange via emails and chat rooms; EFTs are used for the purpose of e-payment systems (â€Å"Breach†, 2009). Overstock. om uses the internet and extranet, private network that uses Internet protocols and network connectivity (VeriSign, 2008). Overstock. com uses these network and telecommunications technology to operate the online shopping, online auctions and online listing cars and real estates. It has been described as a state of mind in which the Internet is perceived as a way to do business with a selected set of other companies, the fulfillment partner companies to sell their products online (â€Å"Success St ory†, 2009). ii. Payment systems and security technologies. The payment system used by Overstock. com is majorly based on online credit card payment. In the United States, credit card holders of the American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard and Visa card are able to purchase goods online directly from Overstock. com website. ‘Bill Me Later’ is a payment method offered on the websites of many well-known merchants, including Overstock. com. The site offers credit through CIT Bank, allows purchases to be made online without using a credit card. Besides that, the payment systems of Overstock. om also have many special features, such as secure ordering/Payment system, on-line ordering shopping cart system, on-line order tracking system, customers info is confidential, gift services available and also live customer representative (Steiner, 2006). Lately, Overstock. com has integrated Auction Checkouts payment service into its auction platform. Third-party sellers on Overstock. com Auctions can now accept credit card payments for auct ion sales without having a credit-card merchant account (McDonald amp; Dunbar, 1998). One of the most important issues for a desirable e-payment system is the system should be based on well-established security principles (Turban et al. , 2010). Overstock. com uses the methods of address verification, manual review and fraud screens and automated decision models in preventing financial frauds in the payment system. For securing the networks of Overstock. com, the company uses firewalls, VPNs and IDSs and also teaming with some leading provider of application security assessment to optimize their Web security systems (Overstock. com, 2010). For example, Overstock. om chose Breach Security’s WebDefend web application firewall (WAF) to provide immediate compliance with the latest Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) (VeriSign, 2008). The system ensures that all web-facing application be protected against known attacks via web application firewall vulnerability scans or code review. c. Value of the e-business system. i. Tangible benefits. The ef fect of e-business in Overstock. com has brought several tangible benefits to the firm itself. The sales of Overstock. com have increased due to the some of the factors. Revenue has increased by having new customers from new markets, from existing customers due to the repeat-selling and also cross-selling (Turban et al. , 2010). By using the e-business technology, costs can be reduced as the efficiency of search and transaction costs have been improved. Marketing cost also can be reduced as we reduce time for customer service, reduce printing and distribution costs of marketing communications. Besides that, Overstock. com’s supply chain cost also can be reduced by reducing the levels of inventory and having a shorter cycle time in ordering. In addition, administrative cost also can be reduced from more efficient routine business processes such as recruitment, invoice payment and holiday authorization (Schwartz, 2002). E-commerce system allows Overstock. com to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or distance and therefore people can save time and cost. Customers can log on to the Internet at any point of time, be it day or night and purchase or sell anything one desires at a single click of the mouse. The relationship between the customers and Overstock. om also can be improved because the website also includes a support home page where the customer support, customer care contacts and also some frequently asked questions. Overstock. com also provides personalization services whereby the firm will notify customers by e-mail when there are new products, according to the specific user’s preferences (Deeter-Schmelz, amp; Kennedy, 2004). ii. Intangible benefits. The use of e-business system by the Oversto ck. com also brings a lot of intangible benefits to the organizations, individual customers and society. One of the benefits is the enhancement of products, with the e-business system Overstock. om get to expand its business by selling their own product and also selling some ‘fulfilment partnership’ products, and further on manages an online auction site and provides car and real estate listings. Besides that, the e-business system brings more rapid, more responsive marketing communications including public relations to the firm (Turban et al. , 2010). A faster product development lifecycle will also enabling faster response to market needs (Ferguson amp; Hlavinkha, 2007). A better customer service will be served as well because of the customer service home page on the Overstock. com web page. Customers can solve their problems quickly by searching the web page. The firm can also easily collect feedback from customers on products. This can assist the firm in meeting customer’s expectations (Drummond, 2006). The strategic position of the company can be improved as the Overstock. com includes value propositions such as complementarities and novelty. Overstock. com provides complementarities such as the bundling of products and services, for example, the website offers a wide variety of products and after purchasing these products, shipping services from will be also included by the company. The novelty of what Overstock. om introducing is about using innovative ways for structuring, connecting partners and fostering new market. For example, Overstock. com helps some firms to liquidate their inventories and also sell their products on the website under the â€Å"fulfilment partner† category. Besides that, Overstock. com also provides online auction, listing car and real estate for sale which encourages the fostering of new market. Overstock. com also can make out new partners and supporting existing partners more efficiently and effectively with a better management of marketing information, customer information and business partners’ information (Schwartz, 2002). ii. Alignment with company vision, mission and objectives. By using the e-business system, Overstock. com has significantly cut down the cost associated with marketing, customer care, processing and information storage. It also reduces the time period involved with business process re-engineering and customization of products to meet the demand of particular customers, increasing productivity and customer care services. Electronic commerce reduces the burden of transportation to conduct businesses and thereby raises the amount of funds available for profitable investment. It also enables efficient customer care services. Alternatively, it collects and manages information related to customer behaviour, which in turn helps develop and adopt an efficient marketing and promotional strategy (Deeter-Schmelz, amp; Kennedy, 2004). In fact all these benefits will help out Overstock. com to achieve their vision, missions and objectives. Overstock. com’s vision is to provide online shoppers with the best price and a superior customer experience with the values of honest, helpful, efficient, accountable, and trustworthy, and committed to profitability and service. The value and benefits of e-business systems in Overstock. om can help to reach its vision as the cost reduction of firms and the improved customer service and relationship will allow customers to buy products with a cheaper price and enjoy a superior customer experience (Wang, Liu Koong amp; Bai, 2009). Overstock. com’s main mission is to save consumers’ money (Overstock. com). With the e-business system in the Overstock. com, con sumers can compare and shop online for the lowest prices and also get information easily with details and demos. The standard of living of the consumers also can be improved as consumer can afford to buy cheaper goods and services. The e-business system also helps Overstock. com to achieve its mission. The objective of the Overstock. com is to become the dominant internet-based closeout solution for holders of brand-name merchandise, allowing them to dispose of that merchandise discreetly and with high recovery values, and to ultimately become a one-stop Internet-based discount shopping destination. 3. Possible e-business issues a. Security and privacy issues The lack of trust in Internet commerce applications may result in cautious business operators and clients to abstain from using the Internet for now and revert back to traditional ways of doing business. This eradication of trust being fuelled by continued stories of hacker attacks on e-commerce sites and intrusion of consumer data privacy (Marchany amp; Tront, 2002). There are two major threats faced by Overstock. com: Denial of Service (DOS) and financial fraud. DOS is still an attack in which many major e-commerce sites suffer whereby hackers rely on software and zombie PCs to launch the attacks. DOS attacks can be difficult to stop; a series of steps could be costly to combat these attacks. Overstock. com consumers use credit cards for online purchases where security and fraud are the major issues in making e-payments. Due to this issue, wide variety of tools such as address verification and other authentication services are employed to reduce the problems while considering the ease of use and the fit within the overall business context. However, it is impossible to totally overcome security and fraud issues as the victimized industries, users, and organizations are still vulnerable due to the failure of taking necessary precautions to avoid becoming a victim (Turban et al. , 2010). Consumer privacy is becoming the most common security issue following theft and fraud as top concerns in e-commerce. For example, selling consumer data without the customer knowledge or permission is the major internal threat to consumer privacy. This type of issue will be a resistance for people to participate in certain types of e-commerce transactions if the assurance of privacy is low or non-existent. If the majority of businesses are not considered to be secure, the confidentiality and integrity of the customer information will be in doubt (â€Å"Breach†, 2009). Hence, e-commerce security needs to be addressed not only at the business site with its servers/network ut also on the client side, which includes direct connected home computers. Despite of all the security and privacy issues flooding the society, security architecture of e-commerce sites has to be tailored to ensure consumer data privacy and company resources are not used to attack other Internet sites. There are guidelines for securing systems and networks to educate the consumer on these e-commerce security issues. Consumers playing their part in solving these issues are the most critical element of the e-commerce security architecture (Turban et al. , 2010). Besides that, training and orientation programs are critical to increase the general public awareness of security on the Internet. IT and financial control groups within the e-commerce site should form an alliance to overcome the general resistance to implementing security practices at the business level while industry self-regulation of consumer privacy should make recommendations to congress in order to introduce legislation on privacy issues. b. Marketing issues. One of the marketing issues faced by Overstock. com is competition. Two major competitors of Overstock. com are eBay and Amazon. om (Overstock. com, 2010). These two competitors are well known e-marketplace for the internet surfers (Mann, 2005). Overstock. com has an oligopoly market structure in which a small number of firms supply most of the market. There are only a few firms dominating the market such as big firms with large share of market sales. Firms in an oligopoly market structure are interdependent whereby they watch each other closely because of the competitive strategy. Oligopoly firms such as the Overstock. com normally use non-price competition accrue greater revenue and market share. It has a high barrier to enter the market and large existing firms enjoy economies of scale. However, new entrants tend to face higher production and set up costs. Overstock. com has to spend enormous amount of money on advertising to win and retain their customers and brand loyalty. Consumer behaviour is also one of the marketing issues faced by Overstock. com. It is difficult to create customer loyalty as it is very fast and easy for consumers to switch loyalty online. Hence, enhancing loyalty through methods such as e-loyalty programs is a must. Besides that, building trust is very difficult since people do not know or see each other. Amazon. com is using one-to-one marketing which can increase the degree of loyalty. This one-to-one marketing strategy is not exercised by Overstock. com which leaves them in the losing end if compared to its competitors (Mincedmedia, 2008). In order for Overstock. com to survive in this competitive market, their possible market strategy and segmentation is to set up their e-business system as their storefront and gain new market target and new market opportunities on online selling sites of car and real estate listing (Overstock. com, 2010).

Ban Chiang Culture And Dong Son Culture History Essay

Ban Chiang Culture And Dong Son Culture History Essay For the origin of the metalwork in Southeast Asia, there were many different opinions of the scholars. Some scholars support that the metalwork in Southeast Asia was origin locally and some of them support that it was from India and China. But unluckily, there is not enough evidence to prove which of them would be the truth. Therefore, the origin of the metalwork in Southeast Asia is not clear and uncertain. Compare with the Ban Chiang culture, the Dong son culture was appeared later in Southeast Asia. The Dong son was also one of the flourishing cultures during Bronze and Iron Age period in Southeast Asia. In geography, the center of the Dong son culture was located in the Red river valley at the North Vietnam. It was named by the village where the archeologists had found. The Dong son culture was not form independently and it was probably developed from the local Neolithic cultures at Vietnam such as the Dong dau. Different to the Ban Chiang, there was the monarch kingdom (VÄà †â€™n Lang and Au Lac) appeared in Vietnam. The Dong son people did trade in Southeast Asia and also China and India by sea, it made the Dong son culture was influenced and transformed by the Indian and the Chinese. In 43 AD., the Dong son was occupied and rude by the Han dynasty in China. The characteristic of the Dong son culture was the bronze object with the high level craftsmanship. Till the Dong son period, the people mastered the technology and skill of the bronze making, they used the metals to make many different kind of metal tools. The metallurgy and the bronze making was in a very high level, and they developed their own sophisticated metallurgy techniques based on the special quality of the bamboo and they were able to use the bamboo to fashion a fire-piston that produced the heat required to liquefy metal.   [ 1 ]    The Dong son people used the metal tools in their life, especially the bronze. They used the bronze in making the agricultural tools such as the ploug hshare, axe, spade, sickles and hoe etc, (few of them were made by iron) it reflected that the agriculture was high developed in Dong son and the ploughshare was the typical agricultural bronze tools in this culture, it showed and proved that the Dong son people had already domesticated and used the water buffalos’ strength in their agricultural activities. Besides the agricultural tools, many weapons were found in the relics of the Dong son culture. It might reflect that there were wars happened in this region. There were various of weapons were found and it included the arrows, axe, daggers, spears, swords and breastplates etc., different kind of these weapons showed that the military technology of the Dong son people was quite completed. On the other hands, the weapons were rich of decorative patterns, those patterns were vividly and detailed. The weapons were made in many different shape and the patterns was usually animals and human figures, it represented that the metal lurgic technology of the Dong son people was very sophisticated and we can also see what the Dong son people looked like from the patterns.

The Ok Tedi Mine Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Ok Tedi Mine Case Study - Essay Example Moreover, the mine contributes to costs such as environmental pollution and degradation of land which is risk for the human and animal population. I do think the benefits brought to PNG by the OK Tedi Mine override the costs to the society and environment. This is because the mine is one of the most controversial mining projects where a huge tonnage of wastes are released to the Ok Tedi River which has great effect on the local community living along the river, on the biological structure of the mine and the continuous siltation causes flooding and death of aquatic life (Harding, 1998; p. 308). This is more costly than the benefits. The different stakeholders groups include the owners of land around the Ok Tedi River, the government of PNG, employees in the mine, the indigenous people around the area and the firms contracting the mining projects. The contracting firms contributes to employment opportunities for local people hence raising their living standards, the local community contributes to the labor force in the mines while the land owners give up their land for the benefit of the citizens of PNG. There are some critical problems of the EIA process noted in the DVD. The escalating bank flooding and the transformation from the tropical lands to wet lands of which it contributes to more aquatic vegetation in the area which causes loss of arid land for farming along the Ok Tedi River. This limits the diversification of exports and subsistence farming by the indigenous people of PNG hence low living standards. The dual role of the PNG government in the Ok Tedi Mine as both the owner of the mine and the regulator has some specific positive and negative impact. The positive side is that it reduces the3 exploitation of the local employees and subsequent repatriation of profits by the mining company. The negative side is that it limits the standard of investment through excessive regulation. The best