Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Reflection - Essay Example They are basically essential in communicating effectively and efficiently. For example, directives coming from the headquarters can be cascaded faster and clearly with the use of emails, texts fax and telephone calls. This is possible even if the receiving parties are located overseas at real time and costs almost nothing. Emails for example vitually shrunk the world into a small village because organizations can interact regardless of distance. The synergy betweent effective communication and information technology is inseparable. Communication is the content while information technology is the medium to dispense the information (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). These information are critical to the organization because it affects not only on how the organization should act or react, but also on how it should create and place its products and services in the market which is essential in running a business. The interaction between the two is aimed towards a highly effective operations management that actually delivers the product or service to the customers that will satisfy the customer and make the organization more competitive in the

The structure (the form) of a family changed over time and The purpose Essay

The structure (the form) of a family changed over time and The purpose (the function) of a family changed over time - Essay Example Improved health standards that have reduced mortality rates have changed the families’ perspective of having many children. Over time, the family has become more complex because of the increased rates of cohabitation, reconstituted families, divorce and births to unmarried mothers. The main reason for the breakdowns and complex networks is the increased need for romanticism surrounding marriage (Drucker 12). The purpose of a family has also changed over time. Research shows that only sixty percent of American families can fulfil their purposes. These failures have been due to the rise in cases of divorce, need for self-reliance in women, immoral behaviors in children among others. Today, some parents even disown their children due to conflicts arising between them. Technological advancements such as test-tube babies have destroyed the role of procreation in a family (Magnusson 3). The need for independence in women has made them concentrate in their careers. The reduced parental guidance from parents has led to the deterioration of moral values in

Impact of Negative Externalities in Economics

Impact of Negative Externalities in Economics Externalities are outsider impacts emerging from generation and utilization of products and administrations for which no proper remuneration is paid. Externalities happen outside of the business sector i.e. they influence individuals not straightforwardly included in the creation and/or utilization of a merchandises or administration. They are otherwise called overflow impacts. Economical movements makes overflow profits and overflow costs – with negative externalities. A negative externality happens when an individual or firm settling on a choice does not need to pay the full cost of the choice. In the event that a product has a negative externality, then the expense to society is more prominent than the expense customer is paying for it. Since purchasers settle on a choice focused around where their peripheral expense squares with their minimal profit, and since they dont consider the expense of the negative externality, negative externalities bring about business sector inefficiencies unless legitimate move is made. Negative externalities emerge when the private expenses of products are lower than the social expenses (private expense + external espenses) prompting a lower value level (as just private expenses are perceived by the business sector) and in this way to overproduction of a terrible which prompts wastefulness and diminishment out in the open welfare (does damage to society or lessens the general great to society of having autos). Pollution illustrates negative externalities clearly. Case in point, a steel creating firm may pump contaminations into the air. While the firm need to pay for power, materials, and so forth, the people living around the processing plant will pay for the contamination since it will make them have higher medicinal costs, poorer personal satisfaction, diminished aesthetic request of the air, and so on. Hence the creation of steel by the firm has an adverse expense to the individuals encompassing the manufacturing plant -a cost that the steel firm doesnt need to pay (Economics.fundamentalfinance.com, 2014) Sources equipped to economically shorten their negative externalities would definitely decrease, offering their licenses to less adaptable polluters (Blinder 1987) Some more noticeable examples from externalities include: Smokers overlook the destructive effect of harmful detached smoking on non-smokers Air contamination from street utilize and movement blockage and the effect of street exhaust on lungs Outside expenses of scratching the seabed for supplies of rock The outside expense of nourishment waste The outside expenses of cleaning up from litter and the dropping of mulling over gum The outside expenses of the miles that nourishment goes from maker to the last purchaser The externalities joined to the oil sands extend in the Canadian wild Ronald Coase points out solution to negative externalities as; Under immaculate rivalry, once government has appointed unmistakably characterized property rights in challenged capitals and till transactions expenses are insignificant, private gatherings that produce or are influenced by externalities will arrange deliberate proclamations that prompt the socially ideal asset distribution and yield blend paying little mind to how the property rights are allocated. (Coase, 1960) For instance, if the steel factory possesses the rights, then the people that live around the plant will be ready to pay the steel process not to deliver -up to the cost that they are acquiring from health services, diminished aesthetic request of the air, and so on. This sum that they are eager to pay turns into an opportunity cost for the steel factory in the event that they deliver. In this manner they will slice creation to the ideal level. Then again, if the individuals possess the air, then the steel factory would need to pay them that same sum for the right to deliver. Accordingly the negative externality is specifically added to the steel plants minimal expense. An alternate approach to take care of the negative externality issue is to just expense the maker the measure of the negative externality. This adds to the makers peripheral cost and will make them lessen yield. (Economics.fundamentalfinance.com, 2014). Externalities are likely the contention for government intercession that economists generally regard. Externalities are often used to advocate the legislatures responsibility for with positive externalities and disallowance of items with negative externalities. Monetarily talking, notwithstanding, this is pointless excess. In the event that free enterprise that is, no legislature intercession gives excessively little training, the clear result is some type of subsidy to educating, not government generation of instruction. Additionally, if free enterprise gives an excessive amount of cocaine, a measured reaction is to expense it, not boycott it totally. (Caplan, 2014) Taxation Also government can decrement externalities would be to increase the private expenses of the products to meet the social expenses so that the new market balance is at the point where social expenses approaches social profits (socially ideal point). This is possible by the administration taxation on products with externalities which will aid reducing adverse effects of products, scarcity of goods and will increase government revenue too. Yet it will draw some negative actions too such as, impact and product causing externalities measurement would be difficult, in case of inelastic demand hefty taxes won’t change demand, evasion can occur more (e.g. dumping trash illegally) and in some cases inequality can also be the resultant. Forcing laws and regulations- This is the place for administration forces law to totally deny purchasers captivating transactions with negative externalities. As an illustration, few years prior numerous nations banned use of supplies discharging CFC gas which diminished the outflow of greenhouse gasses bringing about no externality circumstance. Tradable recompenses- This is the place the legislature forces a limit up to which a certain transaction can result in negative externalities. As case, government awards authorization for a firm to take part in exercises which can result in air contamination however it is dependent upon 15% of aggregate contamination level. This will restrict the contamination level of the economy. Rather than rectifying negative externalities positive externalities are supported by government gifts/subsidies, charge reliefs for positive externalities inventors and procurement from government costs, for example, barrier costs and wellbeing costs. To study negative externalities, agriculture market of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis – soil bacteria) cotton is analyzed. China has been reported as most exhaustive pesticide using country in the globe. The countrys ranchers apply more synthetic pesticides on their products than makers in practically any nation in the world (Huang et al., 2000a). Their yearly application has expanded lately, climbing from 211,000 metric tons (mt) of dynamic fixings in 1985 to 340,000 mt in 1996. While pesticides have assumed a part in expanding Chinas farming yield, their utilization has made numerous negative externalities. The utilization, abuse and exploitation of pesticides in China have prompted poisonings of ranchers, corruption of area and water, and expanded levels of risky chemicals in Chinas sustenance supply (MOA, 1983; Peng, 1998; Lei et al., 1998; Huang et al., 2000c). In addition, the rate of increment of pesticides rose quicker than different inputs, prompting an ascent in it does impart of aggregate expenses. It was assessed that by late 1990s Chinas agriculturists will buy and apply almost US$ 5 billion of pesticides for every year, making China one of the biggest pesticide clients. Cotton makers are among the biggest pesticide clients in China regarding both total and for every hectare use. For every hectare pesticide expense arrived at US$ 101 in 1995 for cotton, much higher than that for rice, wheat or maize. Only tomato and cucumber producers apply all the more on a for every hectare premise. The terrible measure of pesticides utilized within rice generation in China is more prominent than the sum utilized for cotton generation simply because five times more land is planted to rice than to cotton and its production expends approximately US$ 500 million per annum. Pesticide use has a few potential downsides. For instance, the application of pesticides may represent a genuine peril to the agro-biological system. Pingali et al. (1994) has created confirmation of the antagonistic impact that pesticide use has on human wellbeing. Their results showed that the wellbeing and different expenses could surpass the private expenses of buying the item. Truth be told, pe sticide use in cultivating in China have even been interfaced to genuine diseases and demise. Crosswise over China, poisonings of agriculturists and their workers have brought about 45,000 instances of genuine disease and more than 500 passing every year from 1987 to 1996 (Huang et al., 2000c). Liu et al. (1995) directed study in China of pesticide residuals in nourishment in 1992. The study focused on the nourishment security impacts of ranch level utilization of chlorinated hydrocarbons (CH pesticides), the group of pesticides that incorporates DDT. The most tireless of pesticides, officials banned the utilization of CH pesticides in 1983. Despite the fact that the utilization of CH pesticides have dropped forcefully since the mid-1980s, the study exposed planters still were utilizing them as a part of the early 1990s and Chinas nourishment stock uncovered hints of pollution. Other late studies have confirmed the finding that pesticide tainting in Chinas nourishment markets is sti ll an issue for vegetables, tree grown foods, and sustenance grains. Perceiving the presence of negative externalities, Chinas pioneers started various steps to control probably the most hurtful parts of pesticide utilization. Chinas plant reproducers have effectively created a huge number of mixed bags with host-plant imperviousness to creepy crawlies and sicknesses. Just about all recently discharged assortments in China in the previous 20 years have large amounts of host-plant safety. At any rate in the instance of rice, the utilization of these mixtures has prompted decreases in pesticides. Biotechnology seems to offer a item that can drastically lessen pesticide—Bt also other GE crop mixed bags. Indeed with generally constrained speculations of government cash in exploration, augmentation and seed generation, Bt cotton assortments are spreading quickly. These mixed bags were created and advanced by a few remote and household organizations and examination foundations. Ranchers have embraced them in light of the fact that they decreased the expenses of generation without lessening aggregate incomes and on the grounds that they lessen their introduction to hazardous chemical To encounter problems with pesticides, china has contributed majorly to genetically engineered crops. Chinas farming examination framework has endeavored to enhance assortments of numerous harvests utilizing biotechnology and has moved a percentage of the new transgenic mixed bags into business use by ranchers (Huang et al., 2001). Grain, cotton and tobacco rearing projects have most nearly composed their biotechnology and ordinary examination programs. Lately, specialists have controlled a greater amount of their work towards enhancing vegetables and oil seeds employing biotechnology. Researchers have made most prominent progress in utilizing biotechnology to enhance insecticides safety of products, albeit respectable work is likewise being carried out to enhance malady safety. Interestingly, this concentrate on insect resistance and sickness safety is particular to Chinas biotechnology program. The countrys open overwhelmed examination framework has given Chinas analysts a solid mo tivation to create Genetically Modified edits that expand yields and anticipate bother flare-ups. In China, more than 90% of field trials target insects and ailment safety. Conversely, in industrialized nations, where a great part of the plant biotechnology is secretly finance, 45% of field trials are for herbicide tolerance and enhancing item quality; just 19% are for pest resistance. The advancement of bug safe harvest assortments containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) quality has been a positive case of the application of farming biotechnology. This gene produces protein that is poisonous to some insects and can make crops pink bollworm resistant, tobacco budworm, armyworms and leaf worm resistant. China gives an interesting chance to contemplating the long haul profits of Bt innovation. Early studies demonstrated that Bt assortments expanded yield harvests and decreased insect poison utilization. Cotton gets most transgenic attention in China and in 2000, 400,000–500,000 ha Bt cotton was planted. It has been accounted for that the bugs of cotton like tobacco budworms and the American bollworm, started to develop safety in under 40 eras. In China bollworms imitate, as a rule, four times each year. Given that Bt mixtures have now been planted for more than 10 years in a few territories, it is an appropriates time to assess the long haul profits (and expens es, if any) of Bt cotton. An investigation of these issues likewise may give understanding into the long haul viability of Bt innovation in creating nations as a rule. It was demonstrated that bollworm populaces in China have advanced in a manner in which Bt cotton may have the capacity to be utilized on a long haul premise. Based on a dataset based on data gathered amid more than 10 years of checking in trial cotton fields in provincial regions of northern China, their exploration found that the quantity of bollworms fell fundamentally with time. Numerous territorial populaces given way as Bt mixed bags extended. It shows up that the Bt poisons not just smothered the bug populaces in the fields with Bt mixtures, additionally populaces on other crops which serve as hosts for bollworms. They finished up that following 10 years of utilization of Bt cotton mixtures, safety of bollworms to the Bt poison had not yet developed. Work regarding Bt cotton use in China summarizes that Bt cotton has massive significance over non-Bt one as it uses less insecticides to control bollworms. This is because non-Bt cotton could not grow resistance against pest and were infected times more than Bt one. To it, it also decreases cost on pesticides and increases cotton yeild. Hence it is experimentally proved is clear that Bt cotton lessens pesticide use, in any event in the short run. Anyhow the effect of lessening pesticide use on human wellbeing and natures turf depends to some degree on which pesticides were lessened because of the appropriation of Bt cotton. On the off chance that the diminishment s the manifestation of generally sheltered pesticides likes the manufactured pyrethroids or malathion, we would not expect much effect on human wellbeing. On the off chance that the decrease occurs as more risky pesticides, for example, any of the CH pesticides or organophosphate parathion, we would expect that poisonings of ranchers would decay and that the effect on natures domain to be more noteworthy in light of the fact that a significant number of the chemicals are relentless in the earth. The findings propose that the administration may need to contribute the cash important to spread Bt to other cotton locales and to different harvests. The paramount proviso is that legislature interests in regulation of biotech will must be expanded to guarantee that broad utilization of Bt does not prompt the quick improvement of bollworms that are impervious to crops. The second ramifications of these findings are that the government plant assurance framework is not meeting the objective of lessening pesticide utilization. Plant insurance individuals regularly propose that agriculturists not utilize Bt cotton or at most suggest more pesticide applications than the seed organizations. The administration needs to separate Integrated Pest Management exercises and staff of the plant assurance framework from the pesticide deals exercises. The legislature additionally must give the augmentation administration impetuses to push IPM and other non-pesticide-related manifestations of bug con trol. One alternative would be to considerably in pleat the compensations of the IPM staff to adjust for the loss of pay from pesticide deals and give them with rewards for lessening chemical exploitation. Government ought to minimize pesticides use for crops as they happen to play critical role in human health. Accountability of products in form of taxes, surveys on its environmental and public impact needs to be calculated every time in order to minimize negative externalities because soon or later it will be significant mark on state’s economy. References: Blinder, Alan.Hard Heads, Soft Hearts: Tough-Minded Economics for a Just Society.New York: Addison-Wesley, 1987. Bryan Caplan. Externalities.The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved August 27, 2014 Huang, J.K., Hu, R.F., Zhang, L.X., Rozelle, S., 2000a. The Economy of Agricultural RD Investment in China. Agricultural ST Press, Beijing Huang, J.K., Qiao, F.B., Zhang, L.X., Rozelle, S., 2000c. Farm pesticide, rice production, and human health. EEPSEA Working Paper, Singapore. Huang, J.K., Wang, Q.F., Zhang, Y.D., 2001. Agricultural biotechnology development and Research capacity. Working Paper, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Haung, J., Hu, R., Pray, C., Qiao, F., Rozelle, S. (2003). Biotechnology as an alternative to chemical pesticides: a case study of Bt cotton in China.Agricultural Economics,29. Lei, H., Dai, L.C., Liu, L., Gu, W., Xu, Y.D., 1998. The relationship between poison and à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡esh blood protein Peng, Y., 1998. Eight poisoning cases made by chlorothalonil.Occup Med. 25 (1), 31. Pingali, P.L., Marquez, C.B., Palis, F.G., 1994. Pesticides and Philippine rice farmer health: a medical and economic analysis

Comparing Shakespeares Sonnet 18 with To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Ma

Comparing Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 with To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell I will be comparing two poems, ‘Shall I Compare Thee†¦?’ with ‘To His Coy Mistress’, I will examine the purposes of each poem and the techniques used by the two poets to convey ideas and to achieve purposes. Sonnet 18 was written by William’s Shakespeare between 1564 and 1616. The poem ‘To his Coy Mistress’ was written by Andrew Marvell. The Purposes of the two poems are different, the purpose of Sonnet 18 is for Shakespeare to write this poem for a girl or woman he likes, to praise her by comparing her to wonderful things in life, such a Summer, also to grant her immortality through lines of the poem; meaning as long as the poem will exist and be read, the girl (who the poem is to) will continue to exist. Shakespeare therefore does not want anything from the girl in the poem. The purpose and central message of ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is about a man wanting to have sex with a woman he likes and trying to persuade the woman to loose her virginity to him because time is running out. Therefore we recognise that Marvell wants something from the woman in the poem this makes the poem more argumentative. The titles of the two poems, gives an insight of what the poem is about, ‘Shall I Compare Thee†¦?’, this tells the reader that the poem is addressed to someone, this may make the poem more interesting to read and ‘To His Coy Mistress’ meaning ‘To His Girl’, this tells us that Marvell has addressed the poem to a specific girl or woman. Throughout the poem ‘To His Coy Mistress’, Marvell uses time and space to persuade the girl to have sex with him. Marvell also relates death to having sex, he uses words such as ‘Grave’, ‘ashes’, ‘du... ...he poem ‘To his Coy Mistress’ there are Rhyming couplets, but there are few syllable Patterns, for example the first four lines; line one has eight syllables; line two has seven syllables; line three has eight syllables and line four has seven syllables. The sound and Rhythm of the two poems contrast. Sonnet 18 sound and rhythm is slow, calm, and soothing, whilst THCM is speedy, aggressive and frantic. There is repetition used in Sonnet 18 in line two; ‘Thou art more lovely and more temperate’ , the repetition emphasises on how much better a Summer’s day is. I think that Sonnet 18, has many persuasive techniques and tactics to add effect to the purpose of the poem, however I think that the poem ‘To his Coy Mistress’ has more techniques, tactics, themes, Imagery, Symbolism and better Structure, it was therefore easier to achieve it’s purposes.

Lethal Injection: A study of influenza vaccines

Every fall season we hear the question; did you get your flu shot yet? It is supposed to protect you from that nasty flu virus that circulates our communities during the fall and winter months. But, did you know that in 2011 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Adverse Event Reporting Systems Website (AERS) reported 51 deaths caused by the flu vaccine in the United States (U. S. ) (CDC,2012).According to National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), as of July 2012 there have been more than 84,000 reports of adverse reactions, 1000 vaccine related deaths and over 1600 cases of Guillain- Barre syndrome, a acute form of paralysis, triggered by the vaccine (NVIC. ORG). A problem exists in the fact that according to the ( NVIC) fewer than 1% of all adverse vaccine reactions are ever reported, this fact is substantiated by the problem of â€Å"underreporting† vaccine injuries according to the joint operated site by the CDC and Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) (VAERS, 2011).Resear ch claims that receiving the flu vaccine exposes people to a number of dangerous chemicals that have been known to cause multiple side effects, disease conditions, and deaths. The U. S. Government’s public health agency, the CDC, pledges â€Å"to base all public health decisions on the highest quality scientific data openly and objectively derived† (Doshi, 2013, Marketing vaccines, Para 1). Peter Doshi, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of medicine, argues that in the case of influenza vaccines and their marketing this is not the case.He believes that the vaccine might be less beneficial and less safe than has been claimed and the threat of influenza appears overstated. Doshi goes on to further question the CDC’s recommendation that the influenza vaccine can only do good, pointing to serious reactions to influenza vaccines in Australia, Finland and Sweden. (British Medical Journal, 2013) Every year scientists travel to Asia and have to gue ss which specific viruses are active and circulating that season and have to chose 3 strains of flu out of the 300+ known documented strains of influenza (flu) viruses.These 3 viruses are then attenuated or weakened and added to the mix of a number of other ingredients, which we will review, to make a flu vaccine. The ingredients listed in influenza vaccines are available in the inserts provided by the vaccine manufacturers and also posted on the CDC’s vaccine Pinkbook website. A few of the ingredients include Thimerosol, 2 Phenoxyethanol, Aluminum, Beta Propiolactone, Ammonium Sulfate, Formaldehyde, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Gentamycin Sulfate, Polymixin B and more. The ingredient Thimerosol is used as a preservative in the vaccine.It is 49. 6% mercury by weight and is a powerful neurotoxin. It has been implicated in many heath conditions such as cardiovascular collapse, autism, seizures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, dyslexia and many other central nervous system (CN S) disorders. ( CDC, Pinkbook). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says it best: â€Å"Mercury in all of its forms is toxic to the fetus and children and efforts should be made to reduce exposure to the extent possible to pregnant women and children as well as the general population† (AAP.Pediatrics- para 8, 2001).2 Phenoxyethanol is an anti bacterial agent being used as a replacement for the preservative Thimerosal. This industrial ingredient is used in perfumes, insect repellents, antiseptics, germicides and dyes. According to the Material safety data sheet( MSDS) 2 Phenoxyethanol is harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed thru the skin. It may cause reproductive defects. EPA data sheets show chromosomal changes and genetic mutation effects in testing (Dunkin, 2008). Aluminum is added to vaccines in many forms.It works as an adjuvant to stimulate your immune system’s response to the virus in the vaccine. Aluminum has been found to be a dangerous neurotoxin th at has the ability to slip past the blood brain barrier (BBB) causing brain damage, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), convulsions and coma. Human and animal studies have shown that Aluminum can cause nerve death (Mercola, 2011) Beta Propiolactone is an ingredient to assist with sterilizing the vaccine. It ranks high as a hazardous chemical on at least 5 federal regulatory lists.It has caused lymphomas and hepatomas after being injected into lab mice but its true effects on humans is not known. Due to animal study results the international Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified beta-Propiolactone as a possible carcinogen. MSDS sheet states toxic to liver and kidneys (Spectrum Laboratory Products). Ammonium Sulfate is a substance added to pesticides. It is unknown at this time as a carcinogen but it’s been suspected in gastrointestinal, liver, central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory system toxi city.On its MSDS sheet all hazards identification on carcinogen, mutatagenic (cellular mutations), teratogenic (fetal development) and developmental toxicity are listed as â€Å"not available†. (ScienceLab, MSDS) Formaldehyde is used as a preservative to stabilize the vaccine. It is used as a chemical to embalm dead bodies and preserve laboratory specimens. It has been classified as a known human carcinogen (cancer causing substance) and has been ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds on at least 8 federal regulatory lists.Formaldehyde is suspected of weakening the immune system and causing neurological system damage, genetic damage, metabolic acidosis, circulatory shock, respiratory failure, and acute renal failure (ARF) (Kendon, MSDS. 2004). Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is used in vaccines as a stabilizer to prevent the vaccine from breaking down. MSG is also found in processed foods. MSG has been linked to mental retardation, autistic disorders, learning disorders, be havioral disorders, reproductive disorders, retinal damage and lesions on the brains of lab animals (Hoernlein,2012).Gentamycin Sulfate is an antibiotic added to protect the vaccine from bacteria during storage. Gentamycin sulfate has been linked to deafness, nervous system disorders, and kidney damage (Sciencelab. MSDS). Polymixin B, an antibiotic that is added to protect the vaccine from gram negative bacteria during storage, has side effects that include: targeting the central nervous system (neurotoxic) and causing kidney failure from acute tubular necrosis (Luther,2013). Any one of the above ingredients can have negative effects on the human body especially the very young , very old, pregnant, and the immunocompromised population.But the effects of all of these ingredients in one vaccine, that’s certainly toxic and at times can be lethal. A normal response to an influenza vaccine is localized redness, soreness, fatigue, mild fever, malaise for 1-3 days following a flu sh ot. Consider these adverse reactions listed by MClawers, a vaccine injury law firm The numbers of injuries resulting from the these vaccines were so undeniable that in October, 1988 Congress created the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, creating the National Vaccine Compensation Program(VICP).The VICP is a no fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims and provides compensation to people found to be injured by certain vaccines (all Influenza vaccines are covered). Every vaccine is taxed and the monies go into a compensation fund that is managed by US Court of Federal Claim, complete with vaccine courts, vaccine judges and attorneys who specialize in vaccine cases only. Monies are awarded to patients/families who have suffered from vaccine related injuries or deaths. In 2011, 200 million dollars were paid out in compensation for vaccine injuries.In 2012, there was 300 billion dollars available in the vaccine injury compensation trust fund . Overwhelming evidence of the numbers of people hurt by the toxic ingredients in the influenza vaccines and the incidence of adverse reactions, permanent injuries and deaths due to the toxic ingredients in the influenza vaccines continue to climb. Research has well documented these injuries and exposed the cause and effect of hazardous chemicals on our human population. A little knowledge can be frightening, meanwhile a lack of knowledge can be lethal. Be informed.

A needs assess Gap Analysis on Kaiser Permanente Essay

Kaiser Permanente refers to healthcare consortium that offers prepaid Medicare services. Rising from humble beginnings in 1945, the non profit has flourished from a privately centered medical care to accommodate even the public. It was founded by physician R. Garfied and industrialist Henry Kaiser (Lawler, Boudreau, Mohrman, Mark, Neilson, & Osganian, 2006). The hospital has ridden over a hostile environment to become a leading non profit health institution providing services to over 9.1 million members. The institution has its headquarters in Oakland, California in the United States. Kaiser Permanente constitutes a trio of the Permanente Medical Groups, the Kaiser Foundation Hospitals as well as subsidiaries and the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Incorporation. Overall, the Kaiser Permanente Health Foundation had 7654 beds as at 31st December 2012 scattered over the District of Columbia and nine states in the U.S.A. The health plan membership totals to over 8.3 million. Still, the hospital maintains a sizeable labor force of about 11,000 physicians scattered in 415 medical offices and 30 medical centers. As at last year, the hospital’s operating revenues grossed $22.5 billion. The Kaiser Permanente Foundation operates on four major premises, namely: A physician team practice to realize maximum abilities to nurse and care for patients Prepaid health plans structured along spreading of costs to ensure affordability across the social classes Concentration on prevention of illness relative to caring for the patients A formally structured delivery system to hold as many services as it can hold under one roof (Lawler, Boudreau, Mohrman, Mark, Neilson, & Osganian, 2006). The following tabulation presents the membership of the foundation by region as at 31st December 2012 (Abelson, 2013). Region Membership Southern California 3,594,848 Northern California 3,403,871 Colorado 540,442 Northwest (Oregon /Washington) 484,349 Mid Atlantic States (MD, VA, DC) 481,755 Hawaii 224,591 The following tabulation showcases Kaiser Permanente Foundation local markets by each of eight regions (Abelson, 2013). Northern California Southern California Georgia Hawaii Mid Atlantic States Oregon/ Washington Central Valley Coachella Valley Atlanta Oahu Washington D.C Portland Diablo Kern Valley Athens Kauai Northern Virginia Salem East Bay Orange Valley Hawaii Suburban Maryland Vancouver, Wash Fresno Inland Empire Maui Baltimore Longview/ Kelso, Wash Greater Southern Alameda Metro Los Angeles/ West Los Angeles Marin/ Sonoma San Diego County Napa/ Solano Tri-Central Area Colorado Roseville Denver Sacramento Colorado Springs San Francisco Boulder San Jose Pueblo San Mateo Santa Clara South Sacramento It is evident from the above tabulation that Kaiser Permanente has a stronger presence in the urban areas in each of the nine states as compared to rural presence. Nonetheless, it is commendable on the foundation’s expansion to cover regions outside its core geographic markets (Lawler, Boudreau, Mohrman, Mark, Neilson, & Osganian, 2006). However, it is evident that the expansion trajectory seeks to serve the proximate markets. The Foundation has 38 hospitals, 611 medical offices and outpatient facilities, 16,942 physicians compri9sing of a blend of different specialties and 48,701 differently blended mixes of specialist nurses. Therefore, the foundation employs a total of 174,259 employees comprising of administrative, technical and clerical care givers and laborers as at 31st December 2013 (Abelson, 2013). The hospital maintains an online presence with a platform in which clients and employers manage their accounts. Online customer account services are offered freely meaning that the foundation does not charge. Member terminations as well as demographic changes are updated immediately. This gives the institution a competitive advantage over its rivals. Part II Needs Assessment/ Gap Analysis on Kaiser Permanente                      At present, Kaiser Permanente is criticized for failing to have facilities, resources or policies to conduct a number of services. Additionally, where critical services are offered, the facility features as lazy to act exposing the patients to delay in diagnosis. The hospital is often accused of prolonged diagnosis period preferring available formal diagnosis rather than recommending specialized and expensive diagnosis so as to contain costs. Furthermore, the institution prefers cheaper dispute resolution mechanism such as arbitration. This process may take prolonged time and has often sparkled criticism. For instance, Wilfredo Engalla succumbed to lung cancer five months after submitting an arbitration demand. Consequently, the Supreme Court of California awarded his spouse $500,000 as damages from Kaiser Permanente (Abelson, 2013). Still, The Huffington Post accuses the institution of overburdening its staff resulting to sloppy work (Lawler, Boudreau, Mohrman, Mark, Neilson, & Osganian, 2006). This occurs even when the company rackets billions of dollars in profits. Sadly, mental health patients contend with a prolonged wait for appointment at the institution’s California facility. Upon meeting the doctor, the meeting lasts briefly, therefore, receiving brief consultations. Finally, the patient ends up in a group therapy set up comprising of 20 members under the astute of a single clinician, in spite of a one on one clinician session (Eichler, 2011). The report concluded by showing the cuts in mental health funding. California led the pack by cutting the mental health budget by $177.4 million out of the $1.7 billion mental health budget cuts. Moreover, Kaiser is accused of understaffing its various departments in spite of an inflationary membership. For instance, mental health patients are sloppily rushed through the treatment and rehabilitation process resulting to dire implications. Rushing is necessary in order to serve the over 6.6 million members (Eichler, 2011). Cases of misdiagnosis as well as wrong diagnosis and treatment cases have been reported in which some were catastrophic resulting to deaths. Kaiser’s violations of rules and regulations in kidney transplant regulations led to closure of the program (Lawler, Boudreau, Mohrman, Mark, Neilson, & Osganian, 2006). An investigative report by the Los Angeles Times revealed Kaiser Permanente’s mismanagement across the board on 3rd May 2006 (Eichler, 2011). Apparently, the facility had operated 56 transplants the previous with an alarming death of 112 patients while waiting for the operation. Kaiser Permanente realized financial savings through the delays in transplants. Consequently, the institution announced discontinuation of the practice on 13th May 2006 (Eichler, 2011). Most of the employees at Kaiser Permanente are members of various labor unions although the Medicine Doctors as well as the Osteopathic Medicine Doctors share in the for profit profits of the institution (Lawler, Boudreau, Mohrman, Mark, Neilson, & Osganian, 2006). Surprisingly, the California facilities witnessed 4 major strikes between 2011 and 2012. There were over 20,000 participants drawn from the institution’s mental health providers, nurses and other specialists (Eichler, 2011). Labor Unions constantly accused Kaiser Permanente for stalling negations deliberately in spite of the huge profits and a hefty pay to the C.E.O. The workers grievances included delayed care, poor staffing, and loss of medical insurance, pensions as well as other benefits. Based on the above criticism, it is indeed true that a gap subsists between Kaiser’s current performance and the projected. This part addresses solutions to the criticism based on social, legal and culture. Firstly, the modern world is fast paced and Kaiser must accommodate fast pacing in service delivery (Lawler, Boudreau, Mohrman, Mark, Neilson, & Osganian, 2006). Employee staffing, training, recruitment, retention, job function redesign will help address friction with labor unions (Kochan, 2009). Besides, competitive and equitably pegged remuneration will motivate employees to offer quality services. Recruiting more employees will help address the ballooning membership. Besides, training of employees on cultural accommodations of different patients will enhance positive reviews to Kaiser Permanente. Finally, Kaiser must embrace a law abiding organizational culture. This will reduce arbitrative litigations. Moreover, taking up a less materialistic approach to delivering serv ices is a crucial social factor that will enhance closing of the performance gap. Implementation of these policies involves three pertinent stakeholders in Kaiser Permanente. These include the patient, the caregiver and the ownership of Kaiser. The patient is the key stakeholder as s/he identifies helps identifies areas of improvement. For instance, the patient directs services to be offered based on the common illnesses and ailments. The caregiver professional is a crucial link in implementing the services and building on a solid reputation of Kaiser Permanente. The motivation and remuneration of caregivers determine their delivery of medical services to the client. Adequate staffing ensures that clients do not feel rushed, delayed or misdiagnosed (Kochan, 2009). Finally, the ownership of the institution is crucial because it will spearhead implementation of the policies. It is pivotal because it will approve, reject or hold implementation of these recommendations. Besides, the ownership will provide resources to steer through the implementation process. Communic ation will be crucial to achieving the set objectives. Besides, it will fine tune synergy and course of direction. Communication to the stakeholders will involve internal and external communication channels. Periodic meetings will appraise the owners and caregivers on the progress of the implementation. Brochures will be distributed from time to time to the patients sensitizing and informing them of the progress. An evaluation process will then follow to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. Questionnaires will be administered to each of the three groups of stakeholders. The questionnaires will be structured to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention as well as requesting proposal for achieving further progresses. The intervention will deemed successful through satisfied and happy patient positive reviews from happily served, satisfied and recovered patients (Kochan, 2009). Besides, motivated, inspired and friendly caregiver labor force will signify a successful intervention. Higher earnings, more trophies and recognition of the institution in the public glare will foster a successful intervention to the owners. References Abelson, R. (2013, March 20). The Face of Future Health Care. Kaiser Permanente is seen as the future of healthcare. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/business/kaiser-permanente-is-seen-as-face-of-future-health-care.html?_r=0 Eichler, A. (2011, November 14). Kaiser Permanente Makes Billions In Profits While Overburdening Staff: Report. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/kaiser-permanente-overburden_n_1092694.html Kochan, T. A. (2009). Healing together the labor-management partnership at Kaiser Permanente. Ithaca: ILR Press/Cornell University Press. Lawler, E. E., Boudreau, J. W., Mohrman, S. A., Mark, A. Y., Neilson, B., & Osganian, N. (2006). Achieving strategic excellence: an assessment of human resource organizations. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Business Books, an imprint of Stanford University Press. Source document

Love Your Servitude essays

Love Your Servitude essays Pharmacologists are producing a great many wonder drugs where the cure is almost worse than the disease. Every year a new edition of medical text books contains a longer and longer chapter on what are called iatrogenic diseases, that is to say, diseases caused by doctors. Aldous Huxley, from his speech, "The Ultimate Revolution," 1962 The headline and epigraph are gleaned from both the printed and spoken words of Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World. While Huxley's novel was a seminal work within the futuristic genre (all the more startling because it was written in 1932), his comment about the downsides of the coming pharmacological deluge may have had a double edge given he was also a proponent of population control. In the speech he gave at Berkeley 40 years ago, Huxley also warned: Many of the wonder drugs are extremely dangerous. They can produce extraordinary effects in critical conditions-they should certainly be used-but they should be used with the utmost caution. Therefore, today, shouldn't we be asking ourselves: Have pharmaceuticals been used with the utmost caution? Have they been used too often? Are they safe? Are you aware, for instance, that the monetary and driving force behind Bayer, the maker of aspirin, Cipro (the supposed anthrax silver bullet), the infamous Baycol, and so much more has been the Rockefellers, who also are deep into population control, as in depopulation? Rockefeller's Standard Oil was half owner of Bayer, a subdivision of I.G. Farben-the most nefarious corporation in Hitler's war machine. So vital was the industrial giant to the Nazi cause that General Eisenhower's post-war investigative committee concluded: Without I.G.s immense productive facilities, its far-reaching research, varied technical experience and overall concentration of economic power, Germany would not have been in the position to start its aggressive war in September 1939. I.G. ...

Employee Benefit and Service Impact on Performances and Satisfaction

Employee Benefit and Service Impact on Performances and Satisfaction Performance and Satisfaction Job satisfaction is the attitude or the feeling of accomplishment within an employee in a quantitative and qualitative manner. Compensation holds a great significance in the lifestyle and self esteem of employees. The amount of money an employee earns will determine his/her level of their job satisfaction.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Employee Benefit and Service Impact on Performances and Satisfaction specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand, performance is the desire, ability, capacity and motivation that an individual has to carry out a specific task. The performance of an employee depends on the work setting, the tools provided, and information required to carry out the job at hand. The benefits that an employee enjoys can only be reflected in their performance in the form of a certain level of result-based services. Impacts of Benefits and Service on Job Performance and Satisfaction In the contemporary world, people not only look for jobs that are in line with their profession or careers but also the jobs that will provide them with benefits. Such benefits motivate employees, hence increasing their productivity and their levels of job satisfaction. In most corporate organizations, the benefits and service compensation of employees highly depends on job satisfaction. Thus, enlightened managers receive equal levels of satisfaction from their employees due to the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits they reward them with. Furthermore, the employees of a given organization can have a sense of pride with their employer in an event where they work under a conducive working environment. Skill based compensation is usually linked to various risks especially when employees becomes discontented with their work or when they do not have the opportunity apply their expertise at work. Therefore, positive performance is equitably rewarded through a benefit structure. Consequently, the key aspect of employee job satisfaction comprises compensations, promotions, the level of supervision, and work conditions. It is evident that the form of rewards and benefits arrangements under which employees perform powerfully influences their level of satisfaction. Therefore, the increased satisfaction arising from benefits helps to boost the expectations of employees in terms of presentation. As a result of job satisfaction and contentment, employees usually put in more effort to their work hence meeting the goals and objectives of the organizations that they are working for. Benefits are effective incentives that play a critical role in the attainment of job satisfaction since the employees develop additional commitments and they become more satisfied. This makes them to kindle a sequence of positive actions (Gaurav, 2012).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Lea rn More Benefits enable employees to initiate diverse strategies that will enable them to enhance the performance of their organizations. Notably, desirable benefits will ultimately satisfy the esteem of employees by enhancing their strength and competence making them to be critical to the organizational performance. Employee satisfaction is as a result of how reasonably they are treated because satisfaction arises from individual perception regarding work outcomes and the relative inputs as compared to others. On the other hand, employee dissatisfaction can arise even with similar outcomes in turnover under enhanced benefits for the work environment can fail to offer flexibility and desirable basis of amusement especially when the organizational tone becomes demanding and tedious (Gaurav, 2012). Therefore, benefits should also provide employees opportunities to grow within an organization. This can be attained through performance reviews that accommodate diverse perspective s that help in correcting pessimistic behaviors in addition to rewarding productivity. Therefore, since employee satisfaction affects the bottom-line, it is crucial to have good leadership structures that appreciate the link between organizational performance and employee fulfillment (Kuballa, 2007). References Gaurav, K. (2012). Drivers of Employee Satisfaction and Attrition: A Quantitative Investigation. Chicago: GRIN Verlag. Kuballa, J. (2007). Employee Satisfaction: A Precondition for Economical Success of Service Companies. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Amazon.Com Case Studies

Kannan Submission Date: 07. March. 2009 [pic] TABLE OF CONTENTS ChapterTitlePage 1. 0Executive Summary 2. 0Problem Statement1 3. 0Analysis of Causes 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt 2-3 3. 2 Competition3-4 3. 3 Expansion4-6 4. 0Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management7 in supply chain 4. Presenting a competitive edge to competitors7 4. 3 Expansionto Asia8 5. Recommended Solutions 5. 1 Technology Integration and RD9 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis9 5. 3 Differentiation9 5. 4 Inventory10 5. 5 Visionary Informative10-11 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything11 5. 7 Shipping Delivery11 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region11-12 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement12 6. 0 Expand the product lines13 6. 0Appendices14-16 7. 0References17 Executive Summary The study comprises of Amazon. om which started its history by selling books and now one of the online market leaders globally not only for books but products from various categories. Compa ny started with a mission to be Earth’s most customer centric company. In order to become the largest and convenience online store for all, there are major problems or threat being faced by Amazon. com in succeeding its mission. The major problems are Amazon facing high amount of debt, it’s less initiative in not expanding to other developed countries, and also competition from other online retailers and one tough opponent is Barnes Nobles. Many plans of actions can be taken and some of it is; Amazon. com should decrease long–term debt by increasing expenditure on research and development, increasing word-to-mouth advertisement and good customer service. Amazon. com should also expand the five most common languages in Asian region. Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy and willing to spend on. Strategize new plan on improving sites to be informative and attractive as much as possible so Amazon. com should also adapt to the best technology where it can sustain as a strong innovator in ever increasing retailer market. Amazon. com also must strive to give customers the best service in shipping and delivery as it’s an important aspect in online business to out beat its entire competitors on this online industry. Problem Statement The main problem faced by Amazon. com now being an online retailer can be divided to three in overall. Amazon. com is in confronting huge debt behind their successful screen. Amazon. com is lack of expansion to other regions or Asia which be said as another big market for a huge online bookseller as Amazon. com. Another problem is the competition being faced by them with one of the tough opponent as BarnesNobles. Analysis of the Problem Amazon. com’s in Debt 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt One of major causes of Amazon’s huge debt is its large expenditure. In order to keep its advantageous position, Amazon has no choice but to continue to spend astronomical amounts of money on sales marketing, research development and general administrative costs. (Table 1 Table 2) â€Å"One misstep, and its love affair withy investors and sources of capital could be over. (Kimberly Weisul, 1999) †¢ Competitors Although Amazon won the battle soon after entering the online cd and music market, there are some competitions in other product lines that may be too immensely strong to beat. For example, in March of 1999, Amazon introduced an auction service. After a few months effort, its auction business performed slightly, indicating how difficult it is to challenge the giant’s eBay and Y ahoo! Auctions. |Auction Sites |27-Sep-99 |Multiplier needed to equal eBay listings | |Amazon Auctions |4. 0% |15. 3 | |eBay |73. 60% |   | |Yahoo! Auctions |21. 60% |3. 4 | Source: Auction Web sites and C. E Unterberg Towbin †¢ Consumer Behavior Amazon. com is widely regarded as having one of the best management team of any internet company. However, there are some outside forces that are not easy to manipulate. Security; as the number of Internet crimes increases, customers are becoming aware of the possible danger involved in the process of on-line shopping. This security problem may not be difficult to improve since security technology is innovated quickly, but to convince customer of this is not as easy ? Etailers vs. retailers Another factor is hard to manage customer purchasing habits. Most consumers still prefer the capability of seeing a product before buying it. Additionally, the number of people buying personal computers and that of the Internet population will dir ectly affect Amazon’s sale. . 2 Competition †¢ Michael Porter’s Model ? Supplier ; Amazon started to build its own distribution centers in different locations and moving the products directly form the factory rather than from other distributors such that Amazon can lower its marginal costs. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Consumers ; Amazon. com continues to spend a lot of money in advertisement to reach customers as well as to increase customer awareness of eCommerce in general and brand name in particular. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Substitutes; The Substitute of eCommerce, the traditional retailers, is still more attractive than the Etailers. For example, we as consumers more than likely would rather go to the bookstore and browse through a book before we buy it. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 ) 3. 3 Expansion †¢ Lack of Spanish website version (Latino and Hispanic Americans are the fastest-growing online ethnic group) †¢ Amazon. com is very less popular or it can said there are people without knowing the existence of Amazon. om †¢ Website is not more expanded with more languages options where currently there are options only for Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China (www. amazon. com) Competition with Barnes Nobles Amazon. com Weakness ? Difficulties of handling large number of customers ? Limited operating history ? Security awareness ? Low margins in the sector ? Risk of introduction of wrong new categories which could damage company’s bran d ? Company’s offered free shipping might affect future financial outcome ? Certain products (high volume/weight) have high shipping costs which could confront with local offline retailers Threats ? eBay, Barnes Nobles, and Wal-Mart ? Population segment not targeted to on-line sales due to their lack of internet access ? Weak economic performance of Germany and France in the last year ? Competition will increase due to the low barriers to entry in the market: offline companies are coming online ? Heavy investments in Partnerships (Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006) Barnes and Nobles and Amazon. com are competing, but both stores and other online stores recognize what works and are studying one another – often duplicating one another’s business strategies. This has resulted in them having more similarities than differences and it helps the consumers find similarities across the Web such as; †¢ When a description of an item is given, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles both place the shopping cart option prominently displayed to the upper, right portion of the screen. This makes it very efficient and useable for the viewer and they do not have to search around the page for this button. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ In pricing, both Amazon. com and Barnesandnobles. com display the average price or their items above their own discounted rates so that the users feel as though they are saving money. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites are â€Å"Flexible†, there is an option of buying things at a later date and placing them in the shopping cart temporarily. This option is called the wish list and it is displayed just beneath the â€Å"Add to Cart† button. Users can access this saved information and acce ss it on their next visit. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites offer â€Å"Security† that provides safe shopping, privacy and efficiency by requiring customers to join as members at a certain point during a transaction. Membership is free and requires an email address, full name, home address and phone number. It allowing customers to maintain an order status and helps provide a history of what they bought. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢   Both sites are very â€Å"Scalable†, allowing for a huge selection of items to be added to the product catalog or taken away. A Field size is accommodated in the database. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) 4. 0 Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management in supply chain ? Use increased income to pay down long-term debt ? Keep operating costs low (efficiencies of scales) ? Increase expenditure on Research Development arena ? Strategic cost analysis ( WOU , MIS notes) ? Determining Differentiation ( WOU , MIS notes) 4. 2 Presenting a competitive edge to competitors †¢ Create more expertise in marketing and more product launches compared to competitors; †¢ Do a more through research on the customers needs and come up with something new that has its own brand and establishes as only Amazon. om could have the product. (Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007) †¢ A new Strategy on only books should be brought up in order to outcome one tough opponent as Barnes Nobles. For example, Amazon. com’s booth’s can be set up in country sides where there is no access for Internet and give knowledge to country people that there also business through online. This is because; giving more exposure and awareness to people might be a business opportunit y as well. †¢ Product review information; Customers would have n a clear description, synopsis and other customer’s review on the book as it gives a clear rating of the book and there won’t be any sort of disappointments for them after purchase. 4. 3 Expansion to Asia †¢ Create different website versions based on the five most common language in Asian region †¢ Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy. †¢ Word of mouth advertisement (Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003) †¢ Continue expanding its product lines 5. 0 Recommended Solution Implementation 5. Technology Integration and RD Amazon. com should increase expenditure in the research and development arena. We believe that Amazon should prepare itself for additional telecommunications implementations such as high speed internet and network security. These types of implementation, though representative of considerable RD costs, are pro bably most significant factors that etailers must prepare for near future. As users, connections increase in speed, any delays on the part of the etailer they are connecting to will become obvious and less tolerable. Amazon can stay ahead of the pack by preparing a unique and comfortable interface for the users. 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis Amazon. com should also use Strategic cost analysis process where identify the firm’s value chain, diagnose the key elements that drive the costs of each value activity, identify competitors value chains, develop a strategy to lower relative costs by controlling cost drivers, ensure that any cost reduction does not erode differentiation in service and test the cost reductions if its sustainable in the end of the analysis. . 3 Differentiation They should also consider by costs by determining Differentiation where the process goes as determine who the real buyer is, identify buyer’s value chain and put in rank order the buyer’s reason to purchase, asses the current potential sources of diffentiation, identify the cost of these resources, design a value chain to maximize value relative costs, test for sustainiablity and reduce costs in activi ties that do not affect the chosen forms of differentiation. 5. Inventory; There are programs built to be extremely user-friendly, and most offer great support along the way of usage for online businesses to maintain the book database. Amazon should invest in software to best highlight and maintain the data on the site and importantly back up systems. Keep inventory accurate and up to date; This is also an important aspect that Amazon can out beat its competitors with as this is first step towards building a long-term relationship with that customer. Inventory of the books stock-out and sold out will be kept up to date on the site. 5. 5 Visionary Informative A picture is worth a thousand words; Uploading pictures by decreasing explanations or descriptions could attract customer’s attraction and curiosity in exploring the book. Somehow it boosts up sales compared to other online booksellers who give attention in words. Product Review Information; In case of books, editorial reviews are provided by the company and it applies for all books. Customers can also rate each other’s review. A rating is placed against each review so that customers can decide whether to read or not based on that. Most online booksellers do not include this but they display the customer’s satisfaction on the delivery service provided by them which is less important to boost up sales. People out there want to pay you for your books; Amazon should use own merchant service account or a service offered by a listing site, make sure that customers can buy books quickly and painlessly with a credit card while you have them on the brink of finalizing said purchase. Don’t judge a book by its cover; First impressions are lasting impressions. When a customer receives the book they’ve ordered, make sure the first thing they see is a product and package that you are proud to have supplied by using use clean, new boxes without writing (or envelopes for low-cost paperbacks) for shipments. Customers will be expecting an excellent service but if its vice versa then they are chances for them to switch to other online retailers. 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything; Amazon should update the status of order to customers on the order made and also keep them in loop by e-mail the listing service directly with questions about their orders and keep updating the latest events and new stocks of books through emails. 5. 7 Shipping Delivery Follow-up; After shipping out an item to the customer, Amazon should send them an e-mail a day or two after expecting that they’ll receive their package, asking them if they’ve received it and are satisfied, and reminding them that there customer rep are there to help should they have any questions about their order. This is also a great time to remind them that you have similar items in stock or to offer them a coupon towards future purchases. 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region Amazon should strive to expand its expertise to Asia region as well as high potentials are there which huge population. Education is becoming one important aspect in Asia and lack of important reference books are always a problem in many parts of Asia. It should diversify its marketing capability in Asia too to capture the market. Amazon is very less popular in Asia regions. Amazon. om should take Asia to consider for its business expansion. Amazon could also diversify its marketing and research ability to expand mostly to the developed countries of other territory. In order to grow big and always sustain in the market and competition, Amazon should takes this sort of steps to expand. International Sites; Amazon. com has got an added advantage of international sites on Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China. All about what the customers have to do to browse the site with their language is by clicking to their national site. For example, if you clink Japan, immediately the whole website will change its descriptions and instructions into Japanese language. This is not at all applicable for a customer in Malaysia or any other regions of Asia. It should expand and add more languages options in its site to accumulate its customers. Giving customers what they want is also one strategy not all online business can do but if this can be proven in Amazon’s case then it have all the potential to be the one. 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement Amazon also should increase its word-of mouth advertisement. This might seem odd for an industry leader to rely upon such a quaint tactics as this, but we truly believe that in the world of Internet this is a powerful tool. We are quick to visit sites that our friends identify as being fabulous, and Amazon might capitalize on this by rewarding its customers who can reel in a new prospects. 6. 0 Expand the product lines Amazon should expand its product lines. Given’s Amazon’s vision and its unique position in the etailer industry, the cost associated with entering new markets is significantly lower than that of its competitors. There is no reasons to let this advantage slip away unused. Conclusion In order to stay focus on business Amazon. com has various ways and strategies that can be implemented with proper organizations communication networks. Financial reports should be reviewed annually and quarterly if necessary to come up with decisions whether to boost up sales or to maintain on a certain criteria for the wellness of business. Amazon. com also should have a frequent customer feedback program where they could exchange view on the services and products most desired to be acquired online by customers. Top level management meetings should be initiated to assure goals are achieved. A proper corrective action should be determined after the first year if annual objectives weren’t accomplished. However there are difficulties and competitions to overcome, and how companies attack these difficulties will separate the winners form the losers. Appendix |AMAZON. COM, INC. HISTORICAL INCOME STATEMENTS | |(in millions, except per share data)(quarterly information unaudited) | |Amazon. com Investor Relations | | | | | | | |Calendar Years Ended – December 31, | | |2008 |2007 |2006 |2005 |2004 |2003 |2002 | |Media |   | $ 5,350 | $ 4,630 | $ 3,582 | $ 3,046 | $ 2,589 | $ | | | | | | | | |2,270 | |Other |   | 448 | 326 | 263 | 222 | 130 | | | | | | | | | |110 | |International |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 5,734 | 4,612 | 3,485 | 2,885 | 2,513 | | | | | | | | | |1,780 | |Other |   | 94| 57| 20| | | | | | | | | |8 |2 |- | |Consolidated |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 11,084 | 9,242 | 7,067 | 5,931 | 5,102 | | | | | | | | | |4,050 | |Other |   | 542 | 383 | 283 | 230 | 132 | | | | | | | | | |110 | Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) |Total U. S. Home, Work and University Locations, Unique Visitors (000) | |Source: comScore Media Metrix | |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors | | | |(000) | | |  (000) | |   |Total Internet : Total Audience |191,863 |   |   |   | |1 |Google Sites |151,010 |26 |Target Corporation |28,628 | |2 |Yahoo! Sites |146,131 |27 |Time Warner – Excluding AOL |27,209 | |3 |Microsoft Sites |125,568 |28 |Weatherbug Property |26,944 | |4 |AOL LLC |108,441 |29 |Bank of America |26,322 | |5 |Fox Interactive Media |90,510 |30 |United Online, Inc |26,048 | |6 |Ask Network |74,742 |31 |Gorilla Nation |25,585 | |7 |eBay |72,160 |32 |ATT, Inc. 25,574 | |8 |Amazon Sites |64,768 |33 |Answers. com Sites |25,563 | |9 |Wikipedia Foundation Sites |62,737 |34 |Demand Media |25,447 | |10 |FACEBOOK. COM |57,232 |35 |CareerBuilder LLC |24,750 | |11 |Glam Media |55,293 |36 |Everyday Health |24,717 | |12 |Turner Network |54,877 |37 |Shopzilla. com Sites |24,097 | |13 |Apple Inc. 54,194 |38 |Photobucket. com LLC |23,928 | |14 |CBS Corporation |53,539 |39 |WordPress |23,730 | |15 |New York Times Digital |49,110 |40 |Real. com Network |23,359 | |16 |Viacom Digital |46,510 |41 |Expedia Inc |22,703 | |17 |Weather Channel, The |40,056 |42 |JPMorgan Chase Property |22,399 | |18 |craigslist, inc. 39,437 |43 |Monst er Worldwide |22,244 | |19 |ATT Interactive Network |38,184 |44 |Gannett Sites |21,829 | |20 |Adobe Sites |35,315 |45 |WorldNow – ABC Owned Sites |21,586 | |21 |Comcast Corporation |33,940 |46 |WebMD Health |21,185 | |22 |Wal-Mart |33,513 |47 |iVillage. com: The Womens Network |21,002 | |23 |Superpages. com Network |32,558 |48 |NBC Universal |20,974 | |24 |Verizon Communications Corporation |32,412 |49 |WhitePages |19,351 | |25 |Disney Online |30,345 |50 |ESPN |19,266 | Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com References 1] Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 http://www. rhsmith. umd. du/faculty/jbailey/ents630/amazon. pdf 2] Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006- Amazon. Com Inc 2004. (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 3] Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001 – E-Transaction: Shopping Carts Comparison (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 4] Paul Larson. February 14, Amazon. com – Motley Fool Research, Stock Report http://www. fool. com/search/index. aspx? go=1site=USMFq=am azon. com (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 5] Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003 – Informat? on Management (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 6] Strategic Analysis of Amazon. com (Accessed Feb 19, 2009) 7] www. wikinvest. com/wiki/E-Commerce, (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 8] www. ikinvest. com/stock/Amazon. com_(AMZN), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 9] www. wikinvest. com/stock/Barnes_%26_Noble_(BKS), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 10] Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007 – Amazon vs. Barnes Noble: www. santarosa. edu/~ssarkar/cs66sp07/fprj/abn. htm (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 11] Table 1- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 12] Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 13] Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) ———————– AMAZON Supplier New Entrance Substitute Consumers Amazon.Com Case Studies Kannan Submission Date: 07. March. 2009 [pic] TABLE OF CONTENTS ChapterTitlePage 1. 0Executive Summary 2. 0Problem Statement1 3. 0Analysis of Causes 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt 2-3 3. 2 Competition3-4 3. 3 Expansion4-6 4. 0Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management7 in supply chain 4. Presenting a competitive edge to competitors7 4. 3 Expansionto Asia8 5. Recommended Solutions 5. 1 Technology Integration and RD9 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis9 5. 3 Differentiation9 5. 4 Inventory10 5. 5 Visionary Informative10-11 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything11 5. 7 Shipping Delivery11 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region11-12 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement12 6. 0 Expand the product lines13 6. 0Appendices14-16 7. 0References17 Executive Summary The study comprises of Amazon. om which started its history by selling books and now one of the online market leaders globally not only for books but products from various categories. Compa ny started with a mission to be Earth’s most customer centric company. In order to become the largest and convenience online store for all, there are major problems or threat being faced by Amazon. com in succeeding its mission. The major problems are Amazon facing high amount of debt, it’s less initiative in not expanding to other developed countries, and also competition from other online retailers and one tough opponent is Barnes Nobles. Many plans of actions can be taken and some of it is; Amazon. com should decrease long–term debt by increasing expenditure on research and development, increasing word-to-mouth advertisement and good customer service. Amazon. com should also expand the five most common languages in Asian region. Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy and willing to spend on. Strategize new plan on improving sites to be informative and attractive as much as possible so Amazon. com should also adapt to the best technology where it can sustain as a strong innovator in ever increasing retailer market. Amazon. com also must strive to give customers the best service in shipping and delivery as it’s an important aspect in online business to out beat its entire competitors on this online industry. Problem Statement The main problem faced by Amazon. com now being an online retailer can be divided to three in overall. Amazon. com is in confronting huge debt behind their successful screen. Amazon. com is lack of expansion to other regions or Asia which be said as another big market for a huge online bookseller as Amazon. com. Another problem is the competition being faced by them with one of the tough opponent as BarnesNobles. Analysis of the Problem Amazon. com’s in Debt 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt One of major causes of Amazon’s huge debt is its large expenditure. In order to keep its advantageous position, Amazon has no choice but to continue to spend astronomical amounts of money on sales marketing, research development and general administrative costs. (Table 1 Table 2) â€Å"One misstep, and its love affair withy investors and sources of capital could be over. (Kimberly Weisul, 1999) †¢ Competitors Although Amazon won the battle soon after entering the online cd and music market, there are some competitions in other product lines that may be too immensely strong to beat. For example, in March of 1999, Amazon introduced an auction service. After a few months effort, its auction business performed slightly, indicating how difficult it is to challenge the giant’s eBay and Y ahoo! Auctions. |Auction Sites |27-Sep-99 |Multiplier needed to equal eBay listings | |Amazon Auctions |4. 0% |15. 3 | |eBay |73. 60% |   | |Yahoo! Auctions |21. 60% |3. 4 | Source: Auction Web sites and C. E Unterberg Towbin †¢ Consumer Behavior Amazon. com is widely regarded as having one of the best management team of any internet company. However, there are some outside forces that are not easy to manipulate. Security; as the number of Internet crimes increases, customers are becoming aware of the possible danger involved in the process of on-line shopping. This security problem may not be difficult to improve since security technology is innovated quickly, but to convince customer of this is not as easy ? Etailers vs. retailers Another factor is hard to manage customer purchasing habits. Most consumers still prefer the capability of seeing a product before buying it. Additionally, the number of people buying personal computers and that of the Internet population will dir ectly affect Amazon’s sale. . 2 Competition †¢ Michael Porter’s Model ? Supplier ; Amazon started to build its own distribution centers in different locations and moving the products directly form the factory rather than from other distributors such that Amazon can lower its marginal costs. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Consumers ; Amazon. com continues to spend a lot of money in advertisement to reach customers as well as to increase customer awareness of eCommerce in general and brand name in particular. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Substitutes; The Substitute of eCommerce, the traditional retailers, is still more attractive than the Etailers. For example, we as consumers more than likely would rather go to the bookstore and browse through a book before we buy it. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 ) 3. 3 Expansion †¢ Lack of Spanish website version (Latino and Hispanic Americans are the fastest-growing online ethnic group) †¢ Amazon. com is very less popular or it can said there are people without knowing the existence of Amazon. om †¢ Website is not more expanded with more languages options where currently there are options only for Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China (www. amazon. com) Competition with Barnes Nobles Amazon. com Weakness ? Difficulties of handling large number of customers ? Limited operating history ? Security awareness ? Low margins in the sector ? Risk of introduction of wrong new categories which could damage company’s bran d ? Company’s offered free shipping might affect future financial outcome ? Certain products (high volume/weight) have high shipping costs which could confront with local offline retailers Threats ? eBay, Barnes Nobles, and Wal-Mart ? Population segment not targeted to on-line sales due to their lack of internet access ? Weak economic performance of Germany and France in the last year ? Competition will increase due to the low barriers to entry in the market: offline companies are coming online ? Heavy investments in Partnerships (Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006) Barnes and Nobles and Amazon. com are competing, but both stores and other online stores recognize what works and are studying one another – often duplicating one another’s business strategies. This has resulted in them having more similarities than differences and it helps the consumers find similarities across the Web such as; †¢ When a description of an item is given, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles both place the shopping cart option prominently displayed to the upper, right portion of the screen. This makes it very efficient and useable for the viewer and they do not have to search around the page for this button. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ In pricing, both Amazon. com and Barnesandnobles. com display the average price or their items above their own discounted rates so that the users feel as though they are saving money. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites are â€Å"Flexible†, there is an option of buying things at a later date and placing them in the shopping cart temporarily. This option is called the wish list and it is displayed just beneath the â€Å"Add to Cart† button. Users can access this saved information and acce ss it on their next visit. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites offer â€Å"Security† that provides safe shopping, privacy and efficiency by requiring customers to join as members at a certain point during a transaction. Membership is free and requires an email address, full name, home address and phone number. It allowing customers to maintain an order status and helps provide a history of what they bought. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢   Both sites are very â€Å"Scalable†, allowing for a huge selection of items to be added to the product catalog or taken away. A Field size is accommodated in the database. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) 4. 0 Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management in supply chain ? Use increased income to pay down long-term debt ? Keep operating costs low (efficiencies of scales) ? Increase expenditure on Research Development arena ? Strategic cost analysis ( WOU , MIS notes) ? Determining Differentiation ( WOU , MIS notes) 4. 2 Presenting a competitive edge to competitors †¢ Create more expertise in marketing and more product launches compared to competitors; †¢ Do a more through research on the customers needs and come up with something new that has its own brand and establishes as only Amazon. om could have the product. (Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007) †¢ A new Strategy on only books should be brought up in order to outcome one tough opponent as Barnes Nobles. For example, Amazon. com’s booth’s can be set up in country sides where there is no access for Internet and give knowledge to country people that there also business through online. This is because; giving more exposure and awareness to people might be a business opportunit y as well. †¢ Product review information; Customers would have n a clear description, synopsis and other customer’s review on the book as it gives a clear rating of the book and there won’t be any sort of disappointments for them after purchase. 4. 3 Expansion to Asia †¢ Create different website versions based on the five most common language in Asian region †¢ Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy. †¢ Word of mouth advertisement (Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003) †¢ Continue expanding its product lines 5. 0 Recommended Solution Implementation 5. Technology Integration and RD Amazon. com should increase expenditure in the research and development arena. We believe that Amazon should prepare itself for additional telecommunications implementations such as high speed internet and network security. These types of implementation, though representative of considerable RD costs, are pro bably most significant factors that etailers must prepare for near future. As users, connections increase in speed, any delays on the part of the etailer they are connecting to will become obvious and less tolerable. Amazon can stay ahead of the pack by preparing a unique and comfortable interface for the users. 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis Amazon. com should also use Strategic cost analysis process where identify the firm’s value chain, diagnose the key elements that drive the costs of each value activity, identify competitors value chains, develop a strategy to lower relative costs by controlling cost drivers, ensure that any cost reduction does not erode differentiation in service and test the cost reductions if its sustainable in the end of the analysis. . 3 Differentiation They should also consider by costs by determining Differentiation where the process goes as determine who the real buyer is, identify buyer’s value chain and put in rank order the buyer’s reason to purchase, asses the current potential sources of diffentiation, identify the cost of these resources, design a value chain to maximize value relative costs, test for sustainiablity and reduce costs in activi ties that do not affect the chosen forms of differentiation. 5. Inventory; There are programs built to be extremely user-friendly, and most offer great support along the way of usage for online businesses to maintain the book database. Amazon should invest in software to best highlight and maintain the data on the site and importantly back up systems. Keep inventory accurate and up to date; This is also an important aspect that Amazon can out beat its competitors with as this is first step towards building a long-term relationship with that customer. Inventory of the books stock-out and sold out will be kept up to date on the site. 5. 5 Visionary Informative A picture is worth a thousand words; Uploading pictures by decreasing explanations or descriptions could attract customer’s attraction and curiosity in exploring the book. Somehow it boosts up sales compared to other online booksellers who give attention in words. Product Review Information; In case of books, editorial reviews are provided by the company and it applies for all books. Customers can also rate each other’s review. A rating is placed against each review so that customers can decide whether to read or not based on that. Most online booksellers do not include this but they display the customer’s satisfaction on the delivery service provided by them which is less important to boost up sales. People out there want to pay you for your books; Amazon should use own merchant service account or a service offered by a listing site, make sure that customers can buy books quickly and painlessly with a credit card while you have them on the brink of finalizing said purchase. Don’t judge a book by its cover; First impressions are lasting impressions. When a customer receives the book they’ve ordered, make sure the first thing they see is a product and package that you are proud to have supplied by using use clean, new boxes without writing (or envelopes for low-cost paperbacks) for shipments. Customers will be expecting an excellent service but if its vice versa then they are chances for them to switch to other online retailers. 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything; Amazon should update the status of order to customers on the order made and also keep them in loop by e-mail the listing service directly with questions about their orders and keep updating the latest events and new stocks of books through emails. 5. 7 Shipping Delivery Follow-up; After shipping out an item to the customer, Amazon should send them an e-mail a day or two after expecting that they’ll receive their package, asking them if they’ve received it and are satisfied, and reminding them that there customer rep are there to help should they have any questions about their order. This is also a great time to remind them that you have similar items in stock or to offer them a coupon towards future purchases. 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region Amazon should strive to expand its expertise to Asia region as well as high potentials are there which huge population. Education is becoming one important aspect in Asia and lack of important reference books are always a problem in many parts of Asia. It should diversify its marketing capability in Asia too to capture the market. Amazon is very less popular in Asia regions. Amazon. om should take Asia to consider for its business expansion. Amazon could also diversify its marketing and research ability to expand mostly to the developed countries of other territory. In order to grow big and always sustain in the market and competition, Amazon should takes this sort of steps to expand. International Sites; Amazon. com has got an added advantage of international sites on Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China. All about what the customers have to do to browse the site with their language is by clicking to their national site. For example, if you clink Japan, immediately the whole website will change its descriptions and instructions into Japanese language. This is not at all applicable for a customer in Malaysia or any other regions of Asia. It should expand and add more languages options in its site to accumulate its customers. Giving customers what they want is also one strategy not all online business can do but if this can be proven in Amazon’s case then it have all the potential to be the one. 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement Amazon also should increase its word-of mouth advertisement. This might seem odd for an industry leader to rely upon such a quaint tactics as this, but we truly believe that in the world of Internet this is a powerful tool. We are quick to visit sites that our friends identify as being fabulous, and Amazon might capitalize on this by rewarding its customers who can reel in a new prospects. 6. 0 Expand the product lines Amazon should expand its product lines. Given’s Amazon’s vision and its unique position in the etailer industry, the cost associated with entering new markets is significantly lower than that of its competitors. There is no reasons to let this advantage slip away unused. Conclusion In order to stay focus on business Amazon. com has various ways and strategies that can be implemented with proper organizations communication networks. Financial reports should be reviewed annually and quarterly if necessary to come up with decisions whether to boost up sales or to maintain on a certain criteria for the wellness of business. Amazon. com also should have a frequent customer feedback program where they could exchange view on the services and products most desired to be acquired online by customers. Top level management meetings should be initiated to assure goals are achieved. A proper corrective action should be determined after the first year if annual objectives weren’t accomplished. However there are difficulties and competitions to overcome, and how companies attack these difficulties will separate the winners form the losers. Appendix |AMAZON. COM, INC. HISTORICAL INCOME STATEMENTS | |(in millions, except per share data)(quarterly information unaudited) | |Amazon. com Investor Relations | | | | | | | |Calendar Years Ended – December 31, | | |2008 |2007 |2006 |2005 |2004 |2003 |2002 | |Media |   | $ 5,350 | $ 4,630 | $ 3,582 | $ 3,046 | $ 2,589 | $ | | | | | | | | |2,270 | |Other |   | 448 | 326 | 263 | 222 | 130 | | | | | | | | | |110 | |International |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 5,734 | 4,612 | 3,485 | 2,885 | 2,513 | | | | | | | | | |1,780 | |Other |   | 94| 57| 20| | | | | | | | | |8 |2 |- | |Consolidated |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 11,084 | 9,242 | 7,067 | 5,931 | 5,102 | | | | | | | | | |4,050 | |Other |   | 542 | 383 | 283 | 230 | 132 | | | | | | | | | |110 | Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) |Total U. S. Home, Work and University Locations, Unique Visitors (000) | |Source: comScore Media Metrix | |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors | | | |(000) | | |  (000) | |   |Total Internet : Total Audience |191,863 |   |   |   | |1 |Google Sites |151,010 |26 |Target Corporation |28,628 | |2 |Yahoo! Sites |146,131 |27 |Time Warner – Excluding AOL |27,209 | |3 |Microsoft Sites |125,568 |28 |Weatherbug Property |26,944 | |4 |AOL LLC |108,441 |29 |Bank of America |26,322 | |5 |Fox Interactive Media |90,510 |30 |United Online, Inc |26,048 | |6 |Ask Network |74,742 |31 |Gorilla Nation |25,585 | |7 |eBay |72,160 |32 |ATT, Inc. 25,574 | |8 |Amazon Sites |64,768 |33 |Answers. com Sites |25,563 | |9 |Wikipedia Foundation Sites |62,737 |34 |Demand Media |25,447 | |10 |FACEBOOK. COM |57,232 |35 |CareerBuilder LLC |24,750 | |11 |Glam Media |55,293 |36 |Everyday Health |24,717 | |12 |Turner Network |54,877 |37 |Shopzilla. com Sites |24,097 | |13 |Apple Inc. 54,194 |38 |Photobucket. com LLC |23,928 | |14 |CBS Corporation |53,539 |39 |WordPress |23,730 | |15 |New York Times Digital |49,110 |40 |Real. com Network |23,359 | |16 |Viacom Digital |46,510 |41 |Expedia Inc |22,703 | |17 |Weather Channel, The |40,056 |42 |JPMorgan Chase Property |22,399 | |18 |craigslist, inc. 39,437 |43 |Monst er Worldwide |22,244 | |19 |ATT Interactive Network |38,184 |44 |Gannett Sites |21,829 | |20 |Adobe Sites |35,315 |45 |WorldNow – ABC Owned Sites |21,586 | |21 |Comcast Corporation |33,940 |46 |WebMD Health |21,185 | |22 |Wal-Mart |33,513 |47 |iVillage. com: The Womens Network |21,002 | |23 |Superpages. com Network |32,558 |48 |NBC Universal |20,974 | |24 |Verizon Communications Corporation |32,412 |49 |WhitePages |19,351 | |25 |Disney Online |30,345 |50 |ESPN |19,266 | Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com References 1] Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 http://www. rhsmith. umd. du/faculty/jbailey/ents630/amazon. pdf 2] Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006- Amazon. Com Inc 2004. (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 3] Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001 – E-Transaction: Shopping Carts Comparison (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 4] Paul Larson. February 14, Amazon. com – Motley Fool Research, Stock Report http://www. fool. com/search/index. aspx? go=1site=USMFq=am azon. com (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 5] Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003 – Informat? on Management (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 6] Strategic Analysis of Amazon. com (Accessed Feb 19, 2009) 7] www. wikinvest. com/wiki/E-Commerce, (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 8] www. ikinvest. com/stock/Amazon. com_(AMZN), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 9] www. wikinvest. com/stock/Barnes_%26_Noble_(BKS), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 10] Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007 – Amazon vs. Barnes Noble: www. santarosa. edu/~ssarkar/cs66sp07/fprj/abn. htm (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 11] Table 1- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 12] Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 13] Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) ———————– AMAZON Supplier New Entrance Substitute Consumers

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