Monday, September 30, 2019

Romeo and Juliet 5 Paragraph Essay

In many literary works, there are methods that authors use to make a story better. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, dramatic irony is the driving method. Dramatic irony is something in which characters do not know something, but the reader or audience knows what the true reality is. According to some researchers, â€Å"A staple of Elizabethan and Shakespearean drama was dramatic irony† (Halio 25). Furthermore some researchers also belive that dramatic irony is very prominent in the play, â€Å" One of the more prominent literary devices in the play is irony† (Sauer 673).Romeo and Juliet, and also their friends and families face a lot of instances of dramatic irony in the story. Dramatic irony creates suspense and adds to the conflict that exists between the Capulets and the Montagues in Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet occurs when Juliet and Romeo fall in love with each other at first sig ht, when Romeo’s friends don’t know that Romeo and Juliet have fallen in love with each other, and when Lady Capulet thinks that Juliet is crying about Paris, not Romeo. Romeo in the beginning of the play had been crying about how he could not get Rosaline, a Capulet.After all of the crying and weeping, Benvolio and Mercutio try to get Romeo to go to a party at the Capulet house. Romeo only agrees so that he might be able to catch a glimpse of Rosaline. When he goes to the party, rather than falling for Rosaline, he sees another beautiful girl that he instantly falls in love with. This girl is Juliet, the cousin of Rosaline, and she also falls in love with Romeo at first sight as well. Romeo and Juliet meet, they dance, but still do not know who each other are. Romeo before leaving the party asks the nurse who that girl (Juliet) is and she replies by saying that Juliet is the daughter of Lady Capulet.Romeo is taken away completely by this and says, â€Å"O dear accoun t! My life is my foe’s debt† (Romeo and Juliet 1. 5. 118). Juliet also asks the nurse and the nurse responds by saying that Romeo is a Montague, and like just like Romeo, she is also taken away. The dramatic irony of this is the fact that Romeo’s (Montague) and Juliet (Capulet) families are very high profile enemies to each other. The fact that they have fallen in love with each other is a very ironic, as now if they continue their love to one another, they are sure to face major problems down the line.After both Romeo and Juliet have fallen in love with each other, nobody in all of Verona and beyond knows about it, not a single person except Romeo and Juliet. Many people still believe that Romeo is still falling for Rosaline. In fact, at one point Mercutio exclaimed, â€Å"Why that same pale hearted wench, that Rosaline torments him, so that he will sure run mad† (Romeo and Juliet 2. 4. 4-5). Even until after their marriage, both Romeo and Juliet are pret ty secretive about the love or the marriage, except for Juliet expressing her feeling to the nurse.Juliet only told the nurse because she loves the nurse and trusted her as well, and needed the help of the nurse to get married to Romeo. The first time that the majority of people would know about the marriage or love would be when Friar Lawrence would publicly announce it to Verona. The dramatic irony in all of this is the fact that after all of the major events (fights, family brawls, and the murder of Mercutio and Tybalt), no one knows that one of the Capulets is married to one of the Montagues. Something like this at the time period would be extremely unacceptable, and even in the time period would be ironic.After news of the murder of Tybalt and Mercutio is delivered to Juliet through the Nurse, Juliet is devastated. Due to the nurse being so unclear, Juliet thinks that both Romeo and Tybalt both have died. Once things clear up, Juliet figures out that Romeo has killed Tybalt, an d her first reaction to this is anger toward Romeo. After things cool down, she feels bad that she has said this, and she takes her words back. Once Juliet learns about the punishment Romeo gets she feels the worst she has ever felt. Romeo was given the sentence of exile, which in the time period meant no connection to people, whatsoever.Due to this Juliet knows that she might never ever see the love of her life, at all. To Juliet this meant that there would be no more Romeo, â€Å"Juliet feels that Romeo is no longer her lover, and she can’t have him again† (Moffat 139). She started crying a lot after this, so much that her parents had to come to her room and see what was going on. When Lady Capulet inquired as to why Juliet was crying, Juliet right away said that she was crying about the horrible death of Tybalt. Lady Capulet responds to this by saying, â€Å"Well, girl thou weep’st not so much for his death, as that the villain lives which slaughtered himâ⠂¬  (Romeo and Juliet 3. . 65-66). Juliet had just tricked her mother into thinking that she wasn't crying for Romeo, but rather Tybalt. The dramatic irony in this case is that the reader knows that Juliet is lying to her mother, but Lady Capulet actually believes this, and goes along with it. Dramatic irony was a driving method of keeping things fresh in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. One of the most prominent instances of dramatic irony in the play was when Romeo and Juliet fall in love with each other, causing for great irony in the fact that they did not know.Another instance of dramatic irony is when nobody but Romeo and Juliet know about the love that they share, making great irony because a lot of events occur after their marriage. And finally another instance of dramatic irony is when Juliet tricks her mother into thinking that she is crying to Tybalt rather than Romeo. If in any of these examples, Romeo and Juliet were to know what was going to happe n, there really would be no story. It was important that Shakespeare implemented dramatic irony into the play, as without it, the story would be quite plain and boring.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

After a Careful Examination of the Arch Communication Inc.

After a careful examination of the Arch Communications Inc. case and the valuation done by the Analyst, we believe that there are following issues with valuation which should be examined very closely – 1) Technicality Error in the preparation of the Free Cash Flow: In the FCF prepared by John Adams: Tax and Change in Net Working Capital items cannot be observed. We may assume that, this was done on purpose since both of these values were accepted as â€Å"0† throughout the forecast period. In the absence of knowledge about the details for tax implications in US and the effect of the expected Westlink Holdings acquisition on existing tax base, we accepted the tax assumption made by John Adams as correct. In normal conditions we need to investigate thoroughly the tax issue and the permitted number of years that loss can be carried forward in US. * We think that accepting the â€Å"Change in Net Working Capital† as â€Å"0† throughout the forecast period is a strong assumption.The negative Net Working Capital (for 2005 Current Assets-Current Liabilities = 33,671-49,172 = 15,501 ) structure may change within forecasted period against to company due to increasing competition. But we still continue with the â€Å"0† ? Net Working Capital assumption of John Adams. 2) WACC Estimate: John Adams used the following parameters/assumptions in his WACC calculations: Rf: 7% Market Risk Premium (â€Å"MRM†): 7% Beta Arch: 1. 6 Borrowing Rate: 11% Eqity/Debt Ratio: 40% / 60% And based on these: Re= Rf+ ? Arch x MRP = 7% + 1. 6 x 7% = 18. 2 % WACC = 0. x Re + 0. 6 x Rd and accepted tax shield from cost of debt as â€Å"0† due to the â€Å"0† tax cost of the company during the forecasted period. WACC = 0. 4 x 18. 2% + 0. 6 x 11. 0% = 13. 88% =>13. 9% * In the absence of details about the ? Arch calculation of John Adams we accepted this assumption as accurate. [ Dear All: Please feel free to comment on Beta and cost of debt assumptions, also on 0 tax assumption in WACC calculation] 3) Terminal Value Calculation: John Adams calculated Terminal Value of the company at year 2005 as $3,568m with 10x EBITDA multiple. Although 10xEBITDA multiple seems close to the existing average EV/EBITDA multiple (the average is 10. 6 for the above 6 companies), this multiple reflects the existing company growth/market expectations. A multiple of 10-12 multiple can used for corporations with high growth expectations but it is unusual and flawed to accept the same multiple for Arch Communication even after 10-years. Normally for mature companies using EV/EBITDA multiple in the range of 6-7 times can be more acceptable. * When $854. m PV of Terminal Value is double checked with the calculation method by Perpetual Growth Rate at the 10th Year Free Cash Flow: 3,568=277. 3(13. 9%-g) => g=6. 118%. Assumption of 6. 12% perpetual growth is both unusual and irrational. * It seems that the discounting formula used for calculating t he PV of Terminal Value seems false. It is discounting 1 more year than the actual 9 years. Hence for discounting the PV of Terminal Value at the Year 2005, it is needed to use the discount rate of 0. 3099. * When a usual market practice was used for the growth in perpetuity (for the calculation of TV) i. . 2. 0% => TV=277. 3(13. 9%-2. 0%) x (0. 3099) =>$722m. instead of $854. 1m. 4) Cash Flow Assumptions: When we check the reliability of the assumptions and the cash flows we observe that: * EBITDA margin is increasing from 36. 2% to 46. 9%. We believe that 46. 9% at a maturing market seems very aggressive. * The book value of Fixed Assets (PP&E and Intangible Assets) decreases to $ 52. 2 m. levels at $ 760. 7 m sales figure. We believe that this seems some problematic for us. a. Whether EV/EBITDA is the right method for calculating the terminal value of Arch Communications Inc.? . If at all EV/EBITDA is the right multiple, is it justified to use a multiple of 10x for valuing the te rminal value when it is assumed that the business has achieved a stable perpetual growth rate? c. Is it valid to use FCF and EBITDA simultaneously in calculating the full enterprise value? The valuation at hand calculates the terminal value using EBITDA multiple and value generated over next ten years using FCF d. Even if the business is not generating any profit at all currently, is it valid to assume no taxes even for the rest of the forecasting period? . Is it efficacious to use a WACC of 13. 9%? Problem: Whether EV/EBITDA is the right method for calculating the terminal value of Arch Communications Inc.? Argument: Since the company is highly leveraged, it may be more prudent to value equity just by using Flow to Equity or levered cash flows. The unlevered cash flows and EBITDA may not †¦(CHOON TO ADD) Problem: If at all EV/EBITDA is the right multiple, is it justified to use a multiple of 10x for valuing the terminal value when it is assumed that the business has achieved a stable perpetual growth rate?Argument: The companies who have achieved a stable growth rate do have EV/EBITDA of 10x by any industry standard. A multiple of 10-12x is used for growing organizations but it is not guaranteed that Arch Communication would be a rapidly growing organization even after 10-years. Even if the valuation using EV/EBITDA is validated – it could only be in the range of 6-7x. Currently, the industry standard is of 10x multiple of EV/EBITDA but that is not guaranteed after 10-years Problem: Is it valid to use FCF and EBITDA simultaneously in calculating the full enterprise value?The valuation at hand calculates the terminal value using EBITDA multiple and value generated over next ten years using FCF Argument: We would also prefer to calculate the terminal value using FCF rather than using EBITDA since the value generated in the next 10-years is also calculated using FCF. We believe that FCF would provide with a better approximation of the terminal value. Problem: Even if the business is not generating any profit at all currently, is it valid to assume no taxes even for the rest of the forecasting period? Argument: FCF is calculated as Problem: Is it efficacious to use a WACC of 13. 9%? Argument:

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Roles that International Non-governmental Organizations Play in Global Essay

Roles that International Non-governmental Organizations Play in Global Issues and the Role that Transnational Civil Society Play in Global Governance - Essay Example However, many international non-governmental organizations were seen to emerge few decades ago that aimed at working towards the same goals on voluntary basis. They have always played a critical part in this regard by participating in agenda setting, devising of policies and incorporation of rules, guidelines and regulatory frameworks (Held and Hervey 96). As a matter of fact, in recent years, communities have begun to rely on them heavily for various social movements and fighting for humanitarian causes. With increasing expectations, these bodies have also enhanced their focus on formulating solutions for overcoming global obstacles and promoting global governance. However, many of these organizations have worked less and advertised their efforts more in order to create better reputation, attract more charitable donations and acknowledgment and restricting their flow to entitled beneficiaries (Holmen and Jirstrom 442-443). Nevertheless, most of such entities have strong ideologies a nd do not publicize their activities or notions; instead they play their part in resolving global issues and bringing peace to world. Many of them claim to be given official status and be legitimized in order to work more effectively towards their causes but considering the nature of their activities, there is not much substance in the question whether they need to be authorized or not. These operations need commitment and genuine concern for abolishment of some social or environmental evil. These organizations have worked hard to achieve many of their targets generating social benefits for masses but still need to show more dedication and work on their mandate, which becomes public image of such ventures. Role of Transnational Civil Society Apart from private and public society... This essay stresses that national governments have always had the primary responsibility of devising solutions for problems faced on global level. However, many international non-governmental organizations were seen to emerge few decades ago that aimed at working towards the same goals on voluntary basis. They have always played a critical part in this regard by participating in agenda setting, devising of policies and incorporation of rules, guidelines and regulatory frameworks. This article makes a conclusion that Kaldor in her book raises the question whether new age of globalization can manage to restore authenticity at national and international levels, while mitigating violence at transnational level through such multinational institutions. According to her, the connection between global governance and organizations’ legitimate authorities is very complicated. Therefore, the effort put by such entities must be backed up with their authoritative structures and must be aimed at enhancing global governance. It is essential to accept that these enterprises have always played significant role in finding solutions to global crisis. Therefore, it is high time that non-governmental and transnational organizations join hands and work on building stronger relationships and coordination amongst them to create synergetic effects and consequently resolve the mentioned global issues on permanent basis, making this global village a better place to live in.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Ask week 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ask week 4 - Essay Example How would they win back their customers? It is obvious that, after indentifying the question to address, the management could have been able to work out on issues to address the question, rather than defining what the answer entailed (Hackman and Wageman 1995). For example, addressing the question of what could have been done to meet customer needs would have instigated on answers that would address the concern. Besides communication and knowledge management as a key factor in building awareness, â€Å"The Company presented a faà §ade of smugness with their name and overconfidence in their products† (Janis 1973). Critically discuss this statement. An organization should not limit its borders in assessing information to build knowledge management. In fact outsourcing would be ideal for any organization that wants to build up its knowledge management. Any organization must create a model of learning by establishing relationships with the industry monitors to avoid making similar mistakes that have been done by Ford. What issues should be put into consideration? Evaluation of past and current business environment can be argued to help an organization build up a model of learning (Floyd and Woolridge 1999). This is arguably true because if this is something to go by, the organization is able to evaluate the situation of their competitors and measure its current abilities according to the current climate of the industry. The lack of knowledge development at both personal and organizational level was evident at that particular time, but the idea of rubbing off the discussion was more critical to handle (Janis 1973). Why were similar companies going through the same issue? According to Bazerman and Moore (2008), effective decision making could be hampered by two situations that are squarely associated with decision makers. What are these

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Digital Firm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Digital Firm - Assignment Example core purpose of the technological platforms in the digital firm involves the integration and exchange of information within the organization’s major key players. In the global scale, changes in working location, business agility and automation of business processes have led to the reconfiguration of the working culture within an organization and hence the proliferation of digital firms. The evolving trend in information and communication technology have devalued the need of an established location such as an office and instead advocated for direct contact with employees, suppliers and customers for effective business undertakings. The electronic collaboration and online teamwork have enabled digital firms to carryout international projects, which were extremely expensive and time consuming in the traditional fixed locations. Such stances enable employees and other key players to work from their convenient locations using telecommunication channels. The use of technology has enabled the contemporary digital firms to acquire the necessary expertise to conduct their business regardless of their business size. The notion is compounded by the fact that cheap telecommunication channels are easily accessible. The traditional big organization were considered less agile as compared to the small firms but using technology the big firms are able to act small in order to reap maximum benefits. The digital firm makes use of information systems to carry out its activity, which lead to the automation of all the business processes. In order to enhance the automation of business processes, digital firms engages in the reengineering of working processes and procedures before a new technological infrastructure is introduced. In a digital firm, the required efficiency is attained through redefining, redesigning and refining workflow within the various structures of the organization. Coca-Cola firm, which is an international food processing organization that employs information

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Functional languages vs. imperative languages Essay

Functional languages vs. imperative languages - Essay Example Imperative languages are greatly influenced by the von Neumann architecture due to their high dependency on an instruction counter and a store. They have control structures, like for loops and while loops, which make incremental changes to the memory while iterating over instructions. Programs written in imperative languages are statement oriented, and their principle operation is the assignment of values to variables; in other words, computation is performed with side-effects (Lee 118). Unlike imperative languages, functional languages do not rely on the Von-Neumann architecture as they do not have any concern with variables but only data objects and values. The principle operation of functional languages is function application, and they treat functions as first-class objects that may be stored in data structures, passed as parameters, and returned as function results. Programs written in functional languages contain no variables, loop statements, and assignment statements, and use parameters and return values to communicate values; in other words, computation is performed with no side-effects (Lee 119). Imperative languages heavily rely on side-effects to implement their state and perform their operations. On the other hand, functional languages lack side-effects which allow them to always produce the same result when given with the same parameters. This characteristic of functional languages is called ‘referential transparency’ which makes the semantics of these languages far simpler than the semantics of imperative languages (Kedar and Thakare 6-4). In functional languages, the return value of the function can be of any data type including function type. But this is not possible in imperative languages; functions defined in imperative languages are restricted to return values of specific data types (Kedar and Thakare 6-4). Programs written

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Crime Scene Photography Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crime Scene Photography - Research Paper Example Photography is one of the four major tasks of crime scene documentation, the other three of which include note taking, sketching and videography. All four of these tasks are necessary and cannot be used as substitutes for one another. As Miller (2003) asserts, the purpose of documentation using still photography is to "provide a true and accurate pictorial record of the crime scene and physical evidence present" (p. 122). Still photography is used to document the initial condition of a crime scene. Photographs not only serve as a permanent record but also help investigators in analyzing and examining the crime scene away from the actual location of the crime. The number of photographs taken cannot be predetermined. All photographs taken should be preserved in a photo log, along with an accurate documentation of the time, date, roll number, camera settings such as shutter speed, exposure number, and distance from the object. The basic equipment required for crime scene photography inc ludes a 35-millimeter camera, wide-angle lens (28-35 mm), normal lens (50-60 mm), tripod, electronic flash, close-up lens, flashlight, batteries and photo log sheets. In case of close-up photographs, document placards should be used and the flash must be detached from the camera. The side lighting effects used must be proper and the photos should be taken both with and without scales. The exteriors and interiors of the crime scene must also be thoroughly photographed and documented. 2. Photography – mai.mercyhurst.edu (2011) There have been innumerable instances where cases have been successfully solved through the use of "accurate and complete" photographs (mai.mercyhurst.edu, 2011, p. 61). For an investigator, analyst, jurist, and anyone else not present at a crime scene, photographs serve as the only means of accurately observing the crime scene by examining the remains and the environmental factors that affect the state of the victim. A still image of the original positio n of the remains of a crime can prove invaluable to forensic experts and anthropologists. There have been great technological advancements in digital photography and it is possible to take detailed and clear pictures affordably and conveniently. It is thus "inexcusable for investigators to leave a crime scene without a good photographic record (mai.mercyhurst.edu, 2011, p. 61). Good photography combined with appropriate mapping/diagramming and note taking is essential for the accurate reconstruction of a crime scene. These three activities not only supplement one another but also overcome each other's shortcomings. Crime scenes are temporary with regards to both space and time, and the concerted utility of these three tasks is essential for crime scene investigation. The utility of photographs is limited by the fact that they record only a certain perspective and are affected by parallax errors. On the other hand, diagrams and maps are merely schematic and notes are limited by their lack of "visual depiction" (mai.mercyhurst.edu, 2011, p. 61). Thus, the shortcomings of each of the three methods are overcome as they supplement one another. 3. Crime Scene Investigation: The Foundation Stone of Crime Detection, Investigation and Prosecution – Dr. B.P. Maithil and Rajesh Mishra (2007) A crime-scene investigation unit must always include a photographer and a videographer. Photographs taken at a crime

Monday, September 23, 2019

Organizational Development Consulting Skills Assignment

Organizational Development Consulting Skills - Assignment Example On the contrary, change management is responding to changes that take place suddenly and they need to be incorporated into organization’s business. OD professionals are commonly referred to as consultants as they are the change managers who are either hired externally or internally to help an organization which is their client in achieving its goals. In most of the cases, OD practitioners act as a catalyst to bridge the gap that exists between what the organizations are presently doing and what it wants to achieve in the long-run. OD practitioners have to work in collaboration with organization’s management team so that they can successfully implement the plan designed for bringing changes in the organization (McLean, 2009; Schein, 2009). OD practitioners have to develop their consulting skills so that they can direct team members in achieving desired goals; they have to work in collaboration because their main aim is to help their clients in bringing effective changes in the organizations. OD consultants need to provide guidance to their clients by designing consultation process and ensure that they own complete process so that they can manage it independently and monitor the outcomes desired; they work at all levels in the organizational hierarchy (Scott, 2008). OD consultants working approach is entirely dependent on Action Research Model (ARM) that has been developed to guide practitioners in providing their clients best solutions for improving organization’s effectiveness. A brief representation of the model is shown in the following figure to give a snapshot of its important steps: From the figure, it is evident that the complete team that is involved in OD implementation should be taken on board.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Cerebral Palsey Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cerebral Palsey - Term Paper Example In addition to motor dysfunction, cerebral palsy may include learning difficulties, psychological problems, sensory defects, convulsive and behavioral disorders of organic origin’ (cited in Chauhan,1989; p.249). In short, cerebral palsy is a congenital defect and is of non progressive type caused due to developmental defects in the brain that occur immediately after birth, during birth, or before the birth. Usually, children presenting with cerebral palsy are normal but have special needs related to motor, cognitive, social, and psychological functions. Children with the cerebral palsy present with a variety of symptoms or manifestations. However, few symptoms are most common. Like, abnormal muscle tone makes the movement of muscles either extreme or nil. Reflex and postural abnormalities cause the child to have abnormal positions at rest. Delayed motor development causes a delay in the child’s ability to sit or stand on its own. Atypical motor performance such as abnormal gait, asymmetrical hand use, uncoordinated actions, difficulty in chewing, swallowing etc may also be experienced (Yamamoto, 2007). Based on these symptoms, cerebral palsy is classified into three types: spastic type which includes symptoms related to muscle tone; athetoid or dyskinetic that includes symptoms presenting involuntary or uncontrolled movements; and ataxia which includes symptoms related to balancing activities. Immense research and study have been carried out to identify possible risk factors and causes of cerebral palsy. These risk factors and causes have been identified at various stages before, after and during pregnancy. Some risk factors include delayed pregnancy, serial abortions, thyroid problems, seizures, difficult and/or troubled labor etc; infections and injuries during and after pregnancy period; and postnatal issues such as hypotension, sepsis, hyponatremia, nutrition, seizures, etc (Styer-Acevedo, 2008).  

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Post Modern Directors Essay Example for Free

Post Modern Directors Essay Jim Jarmusch, with his striking hairstyle and rock star persona or aura, and Wong Kar-wai, with his martial artist or gangster looks, can be considered post modern directors with high caliber works in the film industry. These post modern directors are impressionistic in their respective work and point of view. They are also able to dream or pursue a higher level of quality in their expositions of time, memory and space. For other critics, they are different and simultaneously â€Å"strange†. Jim Jarmusch and Wong Kar-wai seem tend to have different themes, tone and styles. However, by looking at the analysis of other critics and auteurs in the films created by these post modern directors as well as the interviews on the Jarmusch and Kaw-wai, it can be noted that there are deep correspondences between them. In the press release notes for â€Å"Stranger Than Paradise†, the film that first provided him significant attention, Kim Jarmusch half-mockingly explained his film as â€Å"a semi-neorealist black-comedy in the style of an imaginary Eastern-European film director preoccupied with Ozu, and recognizable with the 1950s American television show ‘The Honeymooners†. In a lot of ways, the statement is distinguishing of Jarmusch, conceivably the most talented and revitalizing of the post modern or American independent directors of the last two decades. The interviews also expose that he has always been captivated with combining culturally very unusual features or materials to create something new which cannot be ordinarily categorized. In addition to this, this goes beyond the boundaries between high and low and offers a new point of view at American and the familiar. Jarmusch successfully does this by incorporating the perspective or point of view of a stranger. This is further done by keeping a sense of humor in and about his craft (Hertzberg, vii). Filmmaking for Jim Jarmusch has never had much to do with how it is traditionally imagined or visualized, either in terms of production or aesthetics. As an alternative, he has taken a road less traveled. Consequently this indeed, has made all the differences. From the time of his first feature-length movie, â€Å"Permanent Vacation†, which he completed while still in film school, to the newly released â€Å"Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai†, spectators and interviewers have been inquisitive or interested about the Way, as it were, accountable for the innovative, deadpan quality which sets this film apart. Determinedly, Jarmusch articulates of how he visualizes his films â€Å"from the inside out,† how he begins with an actor in mind, how he represents from the collection of random notes that he is continuously writing down, and how he allows the story and mood of the film develop or advance from that. In addition to this, he is always enthusiastic to acknowledge or recognize his debt to filmmakers and artists in other areas whom he has been influenced by or has borrowed from, just as he never fails to stress the significant responsibility played by the cast and crew in determining and co-creating the films he directs. Every time, he is asked to speculate about the style, themes or philosophy of his films, conversely, Jarmusch’s answers are much more reserved; â€Å"I’m the worst person to analyze (my) stuff and I hate looking back at it†, he told Rosenbaum two years later. Likewise, in a recent conversation with Chris Campion, Jarmusch says of the sense that there is a deeper connection between â€Å"Dead Man† and â€Å"Ghost Dog† that he would rather not attempt to analyze it himself: â€Å"Better to leave that up to someone smarter than myself who can explain it to me sometime†, he says, only half in jest. He insists that he does not remember his earlier films very well, as he has a hard time watching them once he is done with them. And furthermore, he often points out that he is not very fond of sharing his views on his films because he regards other people’s different interpretations of them to be at least valuable as his own and is afraid that his own reflections would only impose (Hertzberg, viii). In his film â€Å"Down by the Law† (1986), Jim Jarmusch refined his humorous and ironic wit by incorporating black and white photography. He also used elegant tracking shots in his film which adds to a unique laconic style. Somehow, the film has a resemblance to Robert Bresson’s â€Å"A Man Escapes† (1956) as well as to other films with themes about prison. This is due to the fact that the story of â€Å"Down by the Law† is drawn from both the life of an ebullient Italian tourist, played by Roberto Benigni, as well as the life of two petty hooligans, played by Tom Waits and John Lurie. However, because of the post modern skills of Jarmusch, he is able to make innovations and come up with a humorous, fresh and unusually moving film. In â€Å"Mystery Train† (1989) and â€Å"Night on Earth† (1991), Jim Jarmusch was highly regarded or commended for the charm and cleverness. Though still, there are some critics or spectators say that these two films are quite similar from his previous works. The criticisms he obtained from these two films show a correspondence to other directors such as David Lynch in his film â€Å"Twin Peaks† (1990), particularly to Wong Kar-wai in his film â€Å"Happy Together†. Wong Kar-wai and Jim Jarmusch in their respective work shows how these two directors risked repetition, as well as self-parody, in order to bring out something (in their point of view) innovative, fresh and revitalizing. Jarmusch’s film â€Å"Dead Man† (1995) can be considered a comeback or response to these criticisms and a strong evidence of how he tried to be innovative and fresh in his perspective. Internationally, this film was acclaimed to be a work of genius. It also deviated from his usual mannered style or hip irony which can be observed in his other films, such as in â€Å"Night on Earth†. Jim Jarmusch successfully uses lyrical depiction of death presented in a bold manner and rendered harsh and brutal. On the other hand, nearly a decade later after his film â€Å"Fallen Angels† was shown in the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival, Wong Kar-Wai’s signature visual pyrotechnics don’t wield quite as much power over spectators as they once did, but this is only to be expected. The best news is that Wong Kar-Wai has matured as a filmmaker, and where sheer visual and aural audacity was once enough to thrill a viewer, these ephemeral techniques have in more recent films like â€Å"Happy Together† and â€Å"In the Mood for Love†, been supplemented by a powerful artistic vision and a new depth of feeling (Tambling, 1) In May 1997, just before Hong Kong passed from British colonial rule to the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong director Wong Kai-wai released the film â€Å"Happy Together:. Wong Kar-wai was born in Shanghai in 1958 but he was brought up in Hongkong and began film-making (if a beginning can be located at this point without being arbitrary about his previous work on films) with â€Å"As Tears Go By† (1988). This was a fast-paced gangland movie set in Kowloon which is frequently compared in plot with Martin Scorsese’s â€Å"Mean Streets† (1973). It portrayed a gangster (played by Andy Lau), caught between the demands of his partner, Fly (played by Jacky Cheung), and his girlfriend (Maggie Cheung). As such, it can be seen as remaking a Hollywood formula, where the focus is on a male character proving his masculinity (Tambling, 1). Often compared with the young Jean-Luc Godard, Wong Kar-wai is celebrated as one of he leading auteurs of new wave Asian cinema. â€Å"Wong may be said to have brought the Hong Kong new wave into the 90s†, wrote Stephen Teo, â€Å"by combining post-modern themes with new wave stylistics† (2008). In â€Å"Chungking Express† (1994), California Dreamin by the Mamas and Papas functions not just as a replacement for dialogue but as the core message of the film. â€Å"In Chungking Express,† writes Larry Gross, Calfornia Dreamin is played some nine or ten times almost in its entirety. But only towards the end do you grasp that dancing casually to that song and letting its lyric play across your mind is almost literally what the movie is about. His world is very much the world with a soundtrack, where objects, perishable but still emotionally resonant, flit in and out of our hands and minds (Lannin and Caley, 173). In Stephen Teo’s analysis on Wong Kar-wai, it can be noted that his work is magisterial and is highly persuading in terms of the proofs and supports for his arguments towards Wong Kar-wai’s work. There is also a remarkable scope and depth in his analysis where comprehensive surveys of Chinese commentary are provided. Stephen Teo, being a genre analyst, particularly on Hong Kong cinema, carefully shows a thorough study of the works of Wong Kar-wai. Aside from Stephen Teo, though this may scandalize some, other spectators admit immediately that they don’t care for most Hong Kong cinema, especially that of the martial arts which sometimes seems to be most of it. Spectators however, acknowledge its worldwide success and appreciate its unbounded energy. Others understand the arguments made by David Bordwell and others for the wonderful balletic kinesthesia and the fecund and often extremely clever recycling of generic motifs from pop culture that can be found in Hong Kong cinema. Spectators and critics respect the tremendous influence that Hong Kong genre films have had on Wong’s filmmaking. Some believes that his greatest triumphs have come when he has transcended generic conventions (Brunette, xviii). In the absence of an outer voice, the song articulates the obsession with the time common to all characters in a Wong Kar-wai film. A telling scene in â€Å"Fallen Angels† shows one of the main characters shooting video of his father. They have little verbal communication despite living in the same small hotel room (the son is mute and the father rarely talks since the death of his wife). The son’s persistence with his video camera becomes so unbearable that his father shuts him out of their room. Later, he is filmed asleep. In private moments, he watches these videos with pleasure and after his death, his son watches one sequence over and over, relishing the pleasure of a rare smile from his father. The task of electronic media in memory, when one-to-one communication is complicated or hard, is a theme that persists or happen again throughout Wong Kar-wai’s films. When Kar-wai’s characters are mute, speechless, or emotionally withdrawn, songs animate their silence. â€Å"Fallen Angels† (1995) starts with a long sequence in which voices are heard only as peripheral chatter or voiceover. Preceding the main titles is a scene shot in black and white (similar to Jarmusch’s use of black and white photography). The hit man, Wong Chi-Ming, which is played by Leon Lai, and his agent, played by Michele Reis, are discussing their professional and personal relationship. Their particular conversation, can be classified as neorotic, internalized, and literally colorless fragment that is swept aside by a tour de force of camerawork, set design, sound and conceptualization, sustained without dialogue or exposition for nearly ten minutes (Lannin and Caley, 173). The difference in style, theme and tone subsequently results to a similarity in the determination of presenting new and deviant works from their previous masterpieces in the film industry makes Jim Jarmusch and Wong Kar-wai stand out to be post modern directors acclaimed by critics and spectators worldwide.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Googles Competitive Strategy: Analysis

Googles Competitive Strategy: Analysis a) Cost Leadership Strategy-Any organization achieves competitive advantages by able to produce goods or services at a low cost. It lowers the operating costs in order to achieve this strategy. Cost advantage is the main objective of this strategy. Costs are tried to be marginalised in every step of the production of goods or services. But low cost of production of goods or services does not mean that pricing would be low as there can be a high promotional cost for the goods or services. Products can be priced competitively so as to achieve bigger margin than the competitors. b) Differentiation Strategy-Organization adopting this strategy attains competitive advantage through satisfying customer needs. This results in competitive pricing of the differentiated product or services and higher margins for the organization. The organization adapting to the differentiated strategy will incur more cost than before for creating the competitive advantage of the product or service. This cost can be compensated by increase in sales of that particular product or services. c) Focus Differentiation/ Cost Leadership Strategy- Focus strategy is focusing differential or cost leadership strategy on a particular segment of the market. The source of Googles competitive advantage comes from the infrastructure of database Google has created over the years, relevance of search results, cost of executing the search speed of the search, product offering from AD words to social networking site to mobile application platform. Distinctive competency of an organization can be defined as how the company differentiate its product and services from the competitors, how to segment the market, price their products and what is the range of the products available with the company. Google scores over its competitors over relevance of search results, cost of executing the search and the speed of the search. This is the differentiation advantage Google is having over their competitors. Googles competitive advantage comes from the infrastructure they have built over the years. Continuous innovations, ease of use, relevancy in results are some Googles distinctive competencies. Googles ability to connect with the internet users, advertisers, website owners differentiates it from the competitors. Google has technological advantage over its competitors as they use high performance system which can take workload more than the general systems. Because of this capability they have a cost advantage over their competitors. 2) What value does Google create for customers and advertisers? Googles customers are advertisers ranging from a SME to large scale enterprises to the end users like the common man. The sites are ranked according to the key words and the key words have got some price tags. The advertisers put their advertisements of products and services in Google and they pay to the company when someone clicks the advertisements. Googles Ad word is the latest addition to this foray. Google also pay the other companies to display Googles advertisements. Google is continuously reinventing itself to be miles ahead of other companies. So with the addition of millions of internet users every year worldwide internet has became the latest buzzword. Whichever organization wants to be ahead of the competition they have to be present in the cyber space and who else than the search engine giant Google to show the way. The relevance of search results cost of executing the search and the speed of the search and continuous innovations makes Google the ultimate destination for advertisers as well as the end users. Let us take an example of Google Ad words. The benefits advertisers can get are The customer can easily set up the Google Ad word within 30 minutes. Advertisements will be displayed at the right hand side of the website. Customer does not need a website. They can be an affiliate marketer to promote their products. Customer can market any type of product using Ad words. Customer can sell their own products like eBooks, music etc. Customer can test market their product before the original launch. They can specify the budget they want to spend on each day. Advertisements can be country specific, city or town specific. Customer can split test their Advertisements to see which is working and then can put their best Advertisements. Google cannot afford to lose the customers attention and trust. Some years ago average search time was 3 seconds and they have bought it down to .2 seconds and now they are working towards reducing the time further. Also the relevancy of search result has to be maintained to retain the customers if it means losing in revenue for the company. So we can have an idea about the value Google wants to create for the advertisers and the customers. These are the intangible values Google is creating towards their customers. 3) Apply the four building blocks of competitive advantage to Google. Analyse each factor by providing detailed examples from the case. Ans- For any organization efficiency, quality, innovation and customer responsiveness are the four building blocks of competitive advantages for their products and services. a) Efficiency- In order to achieve efficiency a company needs to have economics of scale, learning, experience, good marketing, Research and development, optimum use of Human resources and infrastructure. (Jones, 2007) From a mere 10000 search in a day to 75% of search made using it has came a long way. The revolution in hardware technology coupled with innovation it has considerably reduced its unit cost. Googles optimal use of Human resources can be seen as only 650 employees are there in Google worldwide. They claim that their employees are 50 to 100 percent more productive than their competitors. b) Quality-Quality of goods or services can differentiate one organization from the other. Maintaining quality will lower the defects and operating cost increasing the profitability of any organization. (Jones, 2007) Google has maintained the relevancy of search result to retain the customers if it means losing revenue for the company. c) Innovation-Google believes in continuously reinventing itself by innovative products. At the start Google found a way to generate revenue from the corporate by keywords bidding and advertisements. Some years ago average search time was 3 seconds and they have bought it down to .2 seconds and now they are working towards reducing the time further. So Google is continuously trying to innovate and upgrade its technology as well as strategy to be ahead of the competition. d) Customer Responsiveness-Customer responsiveness can be defined as giving products or services to customer at their price what, when, where they want. Google has worked in the same way. It has given its advertisers and end users the ease of search, speed, reliability and deliverability at a cheaper price. As their business is customer centric they do not hesitate to test market a product or services before the actual launch and seeks feedback from the user to improve it. The RD division of Google invites its users to their lab and includes them in the development process of the new products as well as enhancement of the existing one so by seeking their feedback. 4) What business-level strategy is Google pursuing? (Identify the strategy and justify your answer) Ans -According to the Google CEO they never made any strategy but what they have made is what the customer wants. In my opinion they are pursuing cost leadership strategy as well as differentiation strategy. Google has technological advantage over its competitors as they use high performance system which can take workload more than the general systems. Because of this capability they have a cost advantage over their competitors. Google scores over other competitors on the technology advancement.It scores over its competitors over relevance of search results, cost of executing the search and the speed of the search. The value it has already created in the mind of consumer if the product or service is differentiated customer will not be price sensitive. 5) What corporate-level strategy and international strategy has Google implemented? (Identify the relevant strategies and justify your answer). Ans-Corporate level strategy decides which business and which market the organization should look to enter. An organization needs corporate-level strategy to a) penetrate the existing market, b) Wants to enter new market with existing product, c) develops new product for existing market, d)develops new product for the new market. The business options are wether to work in the same business or diversify, wether to cater the home or national market or to go international. Google saw China as a fast growing competitive market. They entered in to an agreement in 2006 and Google is known as google.cn. This was a market development strategy followed by Google. From the year 1999 Google has presence in China but due to censorship issues Google was losing its market to Chinese origin search engine Baidu. From the year 2002 to 2007 Baidus market share went up from 3% to 58%.This promoted the search engine giant to enter in to an agreement with China and to operate its office from China abidin g the laws of censorships. In 2006 there were over 105 millions of online users only in china and that was only 8% of the Chinese populations. So Google sensed the opportunity in that market and entered in to an agreement with them. In the year 2003 Google took over Pyra Labs, a blog company to strengthen the speed and relevance of articles searching in its search engine. In the years Google has acquired YouTube (Video Streaming Company), JotSpot, Gap minders Trendalyzer, Adscape Media, Peak Stream Technologies. Google has enter new market with the existing product, new market with new product as well as tried to penetrate the existing market with new product. It has also diversified form their main business of internet advertisement and has gone to acquire a radio advertising company dMarc.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Changing Family Structure in Modern Society Essay -- Family

This essay will identify how modern day society is changing with regards to family structure in particular marriage, cohabitation, step families and lone parenting explaining how this may or may not impact on parenting practices in turn influencing the outcome of children and the formation of their identities. It will also discuss the Governments role in aiding families and protecting children with regard to current policies and procedures. Also the current perception of childhood and the increasing role media play in portraying child delinquency. Almost every minute of every hour of every day of the year, a baby is born in Britain (Thomas, B and Dorling, D 2007). For young children the initial awareness of behaviour and morals are learned from the home they are born into, children watch, learn and can imitate the conduct of others. Adult’s perceptions of good behaviour will be heavily influenced by their own cultural, religious, social and moral beliefs (Dowling 2005). However the main role of any parent is to contribute to the social development of their child this is supported through teaching social rules and expectations for behaviour. (McCartney & Phillips 2008) Modernity is related to the rise of capitalism, a society that encourages change and diversity. (Haralambos et al 2004) The 1960’s and 1970’s was a turning point throughout Western Europe and the perception of societal standards altered, attitudes towards family structures with regards to childbearing, marriage cohabitation and divorce changed.(Hunt 2009) Within today’s society there are many variations of family units, there are lone parents, blended families, mixed race families, unmarried co-habiting parents, married parents and same sex parents. Many diff... ...://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/PO/releases/2004/june/stepfamilies Haralambos, M Holborn,M Heald,R.(2004) Haralambos and Holborn: Sociology Themes and Perspectives Hunt, S A. (2009) Family Trends: British Families since the 1950’s, Suffolk: The Lavenham Press Ltd Hill, M Tisdall, K.(1997) Children and Society, Essex: Addison Wesley Longman Ltd Lee, N. (2001) Childhood and Society: Growing up in an Age of Uncertainty, Buckingham: Open University Press McCartney, K. Phillips, D (2008) Early Childhood Development, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Stones, C. (1994) Focus on Families: Family Centres in Action, Hampshire: The MacMillan Press Thomas ,B Dorling,D (2007) Identity in Britain: A Cradle to Grave Atlas, Bristol: The Policy Press Wyness ,M. (2006) Childhood and Society: An Introduction to the sociology of Childhood, Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

breif explination of characters and themes of catcher in the rye :: essays research papers

Catcher in the rye Vocabulary 1. Fencing - The art or sport of using a foil, epà ©e, or saber in attack and defense. 2. Grippe - an acute febrile highly contagious viral disease. 3. Phonies - Something not genuine; a fake. 4. Ashamed - Feeling shame or guilt. 5. Compulsory - Obligatory; required: a compulsory examination 6. Peculiar - Unusual or eccentric; odd. 7. Descriptive - Involving or characterized by description; serving to describe. 8. Conceited - Holding or characterized by an unduly high opinion of oneself; vain. 9. Psychoanalyzed - To analyze and treat by psychoanalysis. 10. Halitosis - The condition of having stale or foul-smelling breath. 11. Moron - A stupid person; a dolt. 12. Suave - Smoothly agreeable and courteous. 13. Ostracized - To banish from society; to put under the ban; to cast out from social, political, or private favor; as, he was ostracized by his former friends. 14. Bourgeois - A person whose attitudes and behavior are marked by conformity to the standards and conventions of the middle class. Questions 1. Why is Holden expelled from Pency? He flunks all of his classes, except English. 2. Identify the following characters and tell about Holden’s attitude toward them: Spencer: Holden's history teacher at Pencey Prep. Holden seems to dismiss his opinions because he is older and sick at the time. Ackley: Holden's next-door neighbor in his dorm at Pencey Prep. Holden feels that Ackley is a phony because he lies about his sexual experiences. Stradlater: Holden’s roommate at Pencey Prep. Holden calls him a â€Å"secret slob† because his one razor is very dirty. Holden also calls him a â€Å"sexy bastard† because he is well liked and experienced with girls. Sally Hayes: A girl who Holden has dated and known for a long time. He thinks she is â€Å"stupid† even though he says she is well read. He also calls her a phony quite a bit. Mr. Antonlini: Holden’s former English teacher at the Elkton Hills School. Holden seems to respect him and find him to be clever. 3. Which people in the novel does Holden like? Why does he like these characters and dislike others? Holden’s main distinction for liking or not -liking someone is whether or not he thinks they are phonies. Some of the characters he likes are his sister and brothers, Mr. Antolini, Jane and Carl Luce. 4. Holden has trouble communicating with adults. Pick three adults in the novel and show how Holden â€Å"miss-communicates† with them. Spencer: Holden doesn’t respond to his concern and lecture the way an average student would by listening, instead he starts thinking of how he’s in a robe and how he doesn’t’ like to see old men’s chests or having to be around someone with grippe.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Mark Twain, the Classic American Writer Essay -- Biography Biographies

Mark Twain, the Classic American Writer Christened as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in the small river town of Florida, Missouri. He was the sixth child to John Marshall Clemens Jane Lampton, Twain grew up amid small-town life in Florida until the age of four, when his family relocated to Hannibal in hopes of an improved living situation. He is considered to be one of the major authors of American fiction. Twain’s varied works include novels, travel narratives, short stories, sketches, and essays. His writings about the Mississippi River, such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, have been especially popular among modern readers (Gribben: Boyhood and Travels). Twain’s formal schooling ended after the age of 12, when his father passed away. First learning as an apprentice in a printer’s shop, and then working under his brother, Orion, Twain quickly became familiar with the newspaper trade. Twain indulged in the frontier humor that flourished in journalism at the time: tall tales, satirical pranks, and jokes. However, Twain was restless due to his inability to save his wages, and ultimately switched professions after realizing an old boyhood dream of becoming a river pilot. The profession of riverboat piloting paid well and brought Twain much attention, which he enjoyed. His piloting experiences also allowed him to observe the many kinds of people who traveled aboard the steamboats. He later reported that "in that brief, sharp schooling, I got personally and familiarly acquainted with about all the different types of human nature that are to be found in fiction, biography, or history." He first began publishing under his p... ...ber of the literati, honored by Yale, the University of Missouri, and Oxford with literary degrees. Perhaps more than any other classic American writer, Mark Twain is seen not only as an author, but also as a personality that defined an era (Encarta Mark Twain). Works Cited Anonymous. â€Å"Twain, Mark," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Anonymous. â€Å"Mark Twain.† Monkeyshines on America April 1996: 32. Gribben, Alan, "Twain, Mark: Boyhood and Travels, Newspaper Work in the West," World Book Online Americas Edition, http://www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/571880, September 28, 2001. Cooper, Robert. Around The World With Mark Twain. ed. Lewis Leary. New York: Arcade, 2000. Emerson, Everett. Mark Twain: A Literary Life. Philadelphia: U of P Press, 1999. Tenney, Thomas A. Mark Twain: A Reference Guide. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1977.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Compare the Rights and Responsibilities of Employers and Employees

When I spoke to the employer of the local paper shop, he told me that he shares many different rights and responsibilities with his employee's and they are the Health and Safety act and the Conditions of Employment. The Health and Safety act sets out rules that both the employer and employee should obey to run the business effectively, the employer has a right to provide safe equipment that won't put the employees in danger, however, the employee also has to obey any rule to the employer puts forward.The employer also has to carry out regular tests on all of the equipment in the work place to ensure that it is a safe environment for both him and the employees. Employers are expected to give the employees a copy of the terms and conditions of their contract, for the local paper shop, this isn't a great deal, however if it was a larger business such as New Look, the employee has a right to a documentation of their contract.There are also rules against sexual, racial and disability disc rimination which the employer can't ever breach, however, employees also need to stick to this law too, for example, if a new person got employed and he was a different race, it is going against the discrimination and racial act if you take hate upon this person because of the way they look, what colour they are, etc. Both employers and employees should act in a controlled way around the workplace and not put any other employee in danger.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Swot Analyss

Strengths Comar chemicals is regarded as a leader in the tyre and paint industry. This phenomenon is ascribed to the following strengths: †¢Contracts in place with Goodyear, Continental, Plascon, Bridgestone, Dunlop, and Michelin. †¢Product quality of the highest standard. Automated plant control systems in place, constant in-production quality control tests controlled by chemical director, Vernon Redding. Compliant raw materials with specifications are being utilised. †¢Succession planning in place since the appointment of Stefan as operational manager. This person is ear marked to substitute Vernon Redding, in the event of his departure.Buy and sell agreement entered into by directors, Udo Eric Eichrodt and Dieter Roland. †¢Management team is experienced and highly qualified. †¢Udo Eric Eichrodt: 30 years – BComm Marketing Management †¢Dieter Roland: 29 years – Bcomm Investment Management †¢Vernon Redding: 45 years – PhD Chemi stry †¢Stefan: 12 years – BScHons Chemistry †¢May Rossouw: 24 years – BCommHons (Management Accounting) †¢Nicki de Villiers: 15 years – MComm (Transport Economics) †¢Low staff turnover. The company invests in staff morale as it understands it to be its biggest asset. †¢BEE Status 20% black owned, Vernon Redding, Indian.Promotes business in South Africa and abroad. †¢ISO 9001:2008 Certified (International Organization for Standardization. ) Little trouble has been encountered in the past to comply with minimum standards required by this certification. †¢Unqualified annual audited financial statements. This is testament to good governance practiced. Low gearing, although non-current assets are shown at R4m. Market value of plant and property exceeds R20m. Company is liquid, considering current assets to current liabilities ratio of 4:1. †¢Comar chemicals operates from totally owned premises. European Safety & Reliability Ass ociation (ESRA) certified. Toxic waste is dealt with in a responsible and reliable manner. Contamination of ground is highly unlikely as the company places a high premium on â€Å"going green. † †¢Flexibility and research development ensures ongoing sustainability. †¢Product reliability. Order tracking procedure and commitment of staff ensures a good reputation of the company. †¢Absolute advantage, ability to produce specific product more efficiently than any other nation. Factors of production are relatively cheaper than any other country. †¢Zero tolerance for human error.The company has strict rules and procedures that need to be followed to ensure the mainstay of the business. Disciplinary actions are taken against culprits, which could lead to dismissal. Weaknesses The following weaknesses have been identified: †¢Comar Chemicals is faced with multiple taxes due to the fact that it is a multinational enterprise that runs in various different contri es. Operating in various different countries leads to multiple tax jurisdictions. Multiple tax jurisdictions may lead to the overlapping of taxes and the company may end up with a double taxation. (1) †¢The economic model introduces some weaknesses to the company.There are various factors that affect the economic activity of Comar Chemicals. These include the resource limitations placed on the company’s ability to obtain certain chemicals or the availability of chemicals needed in the factors of production. Environmental or geographical constraints can increase their expenses due to extra transportation costs for raw materials and finished goods. The factory could be situated in an area which is prone to seasonal bad weather (Cape Town). This could slow down the process of moving materials and Comar Chemicals will bear the economic impact of a loss of potential revenue and increased costs.Theirs will also be certain institutional and legal requirements that Comar Chemica ls will have to follow and they will vary in the three different countries that they operate in, South Africa, Switzerland and Germany. Comar Chemicals may have to adhere to different legal levels of Co2 production that they create during their production process and will have to regulate these levels in compliance with the legal levels set by the government. †¢Comar Chemicals has no buy and sell agreement supported by life insurance.A buy and sell agreement is a binding legal document that governs the conditions if a co-owner dies or is otherwise forced to leave the business. The fact that there is no buy and sell agreement supported by life cover means that if owner of the company passes way or is forced to leave the business then all the debt or liabilities incurred by the business will be left to the closest relative of the owner. This could lead to a liquidation of the business if there is no insurance cover. Therefore the business is not completely safe in the case of a p ersonal crisis within the business. 2) †¢Promotion for staff is limited due the low staff turnover that Comar Chemicals has. Comar Chemicals has a total of 38 employees that includes two scientists, one accountant and one logistics manager. This can also be seen as a strength however the fact that there are so few employees, there are few promotions to employees. This can cause employees to become less motivated towards their job and company and in turn this could decrease the total production and the total efficiency of production. †¢Employee empowerment is the act of giving more responsibility to workers in the work place. 3) The empowerment of staff can lead to a weakness within Comar Chemicals due to the fact that firstly, the business has a relatively small number of employees. This can lead to an increase in conflict between the employees as to why one employee has been empowered more than another. This can cause bad interpersonal relationships between employees. Emp owerment can also be a weakness if the wrong employee has been empowered to take on a certain task or manage a project that he or she has not been specifically trained for. This could create problems within the managerial and operational sectors of Comar Chemicals.If empowerment of employees is going to be an on-going activity at Comar Chemicals then it has to be carried out in a way that makes sure that the right employees are being empowered for the right reasons. †¢Comar Chemicals has no key man insurance. This is very similar to the absence of a buy and sells agreement, supported by life cover that was previously mentioned. Key man insurance is an insurance policy that is takes out by the business to compensate for financial losses that would arise from the death or extended incapacity of an important member of the business.Key man insurance can cover many insurable losses that include, losses related to the period when the key person was unable to work and insurance to pro tect profits, insurance to protect shareholders and partnership agreements. Without key man insurance, Comar Chemicals is vulnerable to the chance that something happens to the owner and there is no protection or financial security for the business in the future. (4) Opportunities There are many opportunities for Comar Chemicals to utilise to maximise their business productivity and profitability. There are two types of opportunities, external and internal.External opportunities affect the organisation due to independent factors. Internal opportunities exist within the firm. Opportunities, when realised, can have enormous rewards for the business if the opportunities are exploited correctly. An opportunity is indication of positive potential that can help a business increase its success. Possible sources of business opportunities in most industries and markets include: Potential Business Opportunities Technological innovation New demand Market growth Demographic change Social or lif estyle change Government spending programmesHigher economic growthTrade liberalisation EU enlargement Diversification opportunity Deregulation of the market The opportunities that Comar can use to their advantage are: import quotas, developing markets, revising job descriptions/digressions, improving competitive levels, forward exchange cover, Solar power, life policies, association with universities and joint development with customers. An Import Quota is like a form of protection. It fixes the amount of products a foreign producing firm is allowed to bring into a country over a specific time period, which is usually a year.The objective of an import quota is to limit imports into a country therefore encouraging the use of domestic products and services, as the amount of the good being imported is limited the price of the specific good increases therefore domestic firms benefit. Comar, being situated in South Africa, Switzerland and Germany, can use this as an opportunity by increa sing domestic employment. There will be a larger demand for Comar Chemicals because import quotas will make it more expensive to import these goods from international competitors.This will encourage Comar to employ more citizens that are qualified for the job because of the expanding demand of their product and the need for increased labour and skills in the organisation. Comar is a small business, with 38 employees including two scientists, an accountant and a logistics specialist. Comar is 14 years old, which is relatively young compared to it competitors therefore it can be considered an â€Å"infant industry† which is still developing and is not big enough to compete fairly.Import quotas allow Comar to mature onto a same competitive level as international organisations. South Africa is a developing country and the market for metal carboxylates is expanding with the increase of paint and coatings, printing inks and chemical industry, polyester industry, grease and gear oil s industry and PolyButadiene, Isoperene Butadine and Copolymers industry. With the increase of construction and manufacturing in South Africa, these industries are in higher demand than ever before. Comar can improve their competing levels through product quality.Quality relates to ‘appropriate use': how well a product does what it is intended to do. This can include a compliance of raw materials with specifications, detailed manufacturing and quality control test procedures, in-production tests of final products, introduction of automated plant control systems. These quality control methods leave little room for error, positioning the product on a high level of quality which will lead to a smart modern working environment and a reflection of the quality of the business as a whole.Comar’s leading product is COMCAT, which inclueds a rare earth catalyst which is used in the synthetic rubber industry to manufacture advanced rubber tyres – making tyres softer but mor e durable which in turn lowers the level of CO2 emissions from vehicles. This gives Comar a competitive advantage as their products are also helping the environment and decreasing the level of harm through innovative products, which will draw the attraction of buyers.There can often be discrepancies about the actual responsibilities, tasks and duties of a certain position within the organization; this can be managed by revising job descriptions. There must be an accurate reflection of the true functions and responsibilities for a job description to be effective. A comprehensive job description can be used in management to measure employee performance and employees can use the job description as a guideline to comprehend the expectations of the position. This can lead to improved productivity and ohesiveness within the organization to help realize the organizations objectives and goals. Comar can use the opportunity to become involved with universities to further their research and p rovide university departments with their expertise of the product to evolve students into potential employees of their firm or for that specific industry. For example, Comar could give bursaries to deserved students to pay for their studies in a BSC, specializing in COMCAT (PolyButadiene, Isoperene Butadine and Copolymers industry).They could provide all the necessary tools (research, expertise, information) in order to establish awareness of this specific product and market the need for this specific scientist in this field. Joint development with customers involves a good relationship between the manufacturer and the customer. The manufacturer must be enthusiastic and prepared to open up its daily practices and activities to its customers, this will give the customer the opportunity to carefully scrutinize and evaluate the ways in which the manufacturer operates, during the production process, and the quality of the finished products.An important issue when dealing with joint deve lopment with customers is communication. When there is a healthy line of communication between the manufacturer and the customer, there can be am exchange of ideas between parties leading to effective production and customer satisfaction. Threats Threats are conditions in the business environment that are uncontrollable and have the potential to harm business profitability. One of the most common threats is competitors. There are a number of threats that Comar may face, including: future trends in the specific field, social issues, the economy, funding, demographics and the physical environment.When observing the potential threats that Comar may face, the following needs to be determined: the obstacles Comar may face, competitor’s activity, quality standards and changing technology. Threats can be divided into two categories namely, industry threats, an increase in competition or a decrease in the market size, and macro threats, threats that affect all industries in Comarâ₠¬â„¢s area. Possible sources of business threats include Potential Business Threats New market entrants Change in customer tastes or needs Demographic change Consolidation among buyersNew regulationsEconomic downturn Rise of low cost production abroad Higher input prices New substitute products Competitive price pressure A potential threat Comar may face is the diversity. Diversity is often defined as a positive term for a business, but it also comes with threats that have the potential to ruin productivity. Comar has a diverse workforce, co-workers each have different experiences and perceptions as they have all come from different backgrounds. This could cause cultural clashes which can decrease productivity and cohesiveness of the business as a whole.Comar could also experience divisions in staff members due to the formation of cliques and other groups, this can create competition between employees rather than teamwork, a lack of respect amongst one another and this could lead to costly diversity training to resolve diversity issues within the organisation. Comar has a diverse client base as their company is also situated in Switzerland and Germany. It is therefore crucial for Comar have a bi-lingual customer service, if they do not they will lose a massive amount of clientele as there needs to be effective communication between the two parties in order for the business to be successful.Social issues in the business environment may be a threat to Comar. A social system is a pooling of ideas, attitudes and behaviour which are involved in human relations and interactions. Comar is influenced by its customers attitudes and behaviour, if they are negative relationships within the organisation this could dampen productivity and decrease business profitability and if there are social issues external to the organisation, such as political unrest, could affect consumer behaviour negatively and affect the success of the business.The political; and legal system can a lso pose as a threat to Comar, as business have to follow the specific regulations as set out for them by the government, it creates a set of rules and guidelines that business are expected to adhere by, if a business does not there could be serious consequences that could lead to decreased profitability and even as far as a business being banned. The monetary system facilitates business exchange. Monetary activity has distinct basic functions, namely saving, borrowing, spending and earning, which are all linked to business profitability.Comar has to pay careful attention to all these activities because each of these factors can easily turn into a threat for the business. There are many different parties involved when dealing with money, they are financial institutions, debtors, creditors, customers and suppliers. The interest rate is very important when Comar is dealing with its monetary activities, when an interest rate is high, it increases Comar’s costs and will limit the amount of spending that Comar can participate in.Exchange rates are the value of one nation’s currency in comparison to another. It is very important when determining a business’s effectiveness and whether it will serve as an opportunity or a threat. Comar is a company that does business in South Africa and globally, therefore exchange rates will have an enormous effect on the profitability. When Comar exchanges its products over national borders causing another currency to become involve, fluctuations in exchange rates can lead to profits or losses for Comar.Comar is at an advantage when the rand is relatively strong compared to the currency that the organisation is trading with. When the rand is weak compared to the business it is doing the exchange with, Comar is at a disadvantage as it will be more costly to exchange products across borders. A massive threat that Comar faces is import duty, which is a tax on goods imported into a country. This causes prices to be higher because of the tax cost involved. This cost is passed onto consumers at higher prices, which in turn can lead to consumer dissatisfaction and a loss in clients.Trade restrictions were introduced to restrict importing for many reasons, mainly to protect domestic industries. There are two types of restrictions, tariffs and non-tariffs. Non-tariffs include, methods such as embargo, import quota – which is a limitation on the amount of goods a business is allowed to import, foreign exchange control and currency devaluation. These trade restrictions pose a massive threat to Comar because the organisation is continuously trading over borders and having to deal with trade restrictions, which will inevitably hinder profitability.

The Law of E-Commerce

English law has long been recognized as respecting freedom of contract. In other words, the state has not, generally, laid down legislation which has interfered with the freedom of parties to agree the terms of their contracts. In more recent years, there have been a number of inroads into the principle of freedom of contract, particularly with respect to consumer protection. It very much remains the case that English law does provide parties with considerable flexibility both as how they conclude contracts and the terms that they include. Offer and acceptance In order for a contract to be binding under English law it requires an offer, acceptance, intention to create legal relations, consideration and capacity. With regard to electronic commerce, the contractual requirements need careful consideration. Offer A supplier offers an unconditional offer which could be accepted by any potential customer. If the customer informs the supplier that he or she accepts the offer ,there will be a binding contract. On the other hand, the supplier could provide to the customer what is known in legal terms as an â€Å"invitation to treat†. This is not a binding offer, but an â€Å"invitation† for the customer to make an offer, which the supplier can then accept. It is very important for suppliers wanting to sell goods through on line to ensure that their websites and other on line advertisements are interpreted as invitations to treat. If a supplier's website constituted a formal offer to provide certain services or goods, the supplier may be in breach of the local laws (both civil and criminal) if there are certain kind of customers who would not ordinarily be entitled to make the purchases which are being offered. For instances, the sale of alcoholic products to minors and guns or other weapons into all countries, when some countries restrict more carefully the circumstances in which guns or other weapon can be purchased. Acceptance English law is generally very flexible about how an offer can be accepted. Acceptance could be communicated by an acknowledgement (e.g. email) or by physical act such as the shipping of the goods. What is more uncertain under English law is when acceptance takes place – particularly in an Internet contract. The general rule is that an offer is not accepted until acceptance is communicated to the offeror. So far there is no case relating to this rule which applies to contracts made over the internet. But however, there is case law which applies to other instantaneous forms of communication, such as telexes and facsimiles, provided that such communications are sent during the business hours. With the global use of electronic trade, the question of when each business day begins may be difficult to determine – particularly when the customer cannot easily work out where the server accessed is based. The major exception to the general rule on acceptance concerns acceptance by post. In the majority of cases, acceptance takes place when the acceptance is posted and not when it is received by the offeror. The â€Å"postal† rule means that the contract will already have been made and the offeror will be bound to complete his obligations, provided that the other party can prove that the acceptance letter has been posted. In some ways, notwithstanding its instantaneous nature, acceptance by electronic means does have similarities to postal acceptance. A common carrier will assume the responsibility in transmitting the message (in this instance the carrier is the Internet Provider). With this kind of communication, it is not easy to determine the receipt with respect to email sent over the internet. What this means is that the sending party will not know when or if the acceptance has been received. Given the fact that it is not clear when acceptance of an offer will occur, any supplier should take care to consider how and when acceptance will take place. This has long been the principle adopted in EDI contracts, and those doing business on the Internet have to ensure that they do not leave anything out for questioning later in the contract. Any supplier should have no difficulty in exercising control over the manner in which the only contracting process is conducted. Unlike the Internet most real world contracts are formed on a person to person basis, either by a face to face conversation or verbally over the phone. By contrast, most Internet contracts are remotely made, impersonal and above all automated. If there is any ambiguity or uncertainty over the transaction but a more likely issue to whether there was a contract at all. Contract terms and liability English law gives the contracting parties the freedom to set many of the terms upon which they will contract the business. But this will be subjected to two areas where the law will imply terms. First, certain terms will be implied by statute. Secondly, the law will imply terms just to give â€Å"business efficiency† to a contract. This happens where either parties have forgotten to deal with an issue expressly in circumstances where they would have done so had they thought about the issue at the time f the contract was finalized. The main terms implied by statute in contracts to sell goods is the Sale of Goods Act 1979. This terms will imply to any contract that: * the goods will be of satisfactory quality; * where expressly or impliedly known by the supplier, the goods will be reasonably fit for the buyer's purposes; * where goods are sold by reference to a description, the goods will correspond to that description. This term is particularly important for internet sales where a buyer may make a purchase of certain goods having visited a supplier's website. If a supplier provides services, the implied term for the services will be that they will be dealt with â€Å"reasonable skill care†, and within a reasonable time frame (Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982). Under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, these terms cannot be exempted in any circumstances with respect to consumers. Sometimes in the contract for a business, a supplier can exclude liability for breach of these implied terms where it is â€Å"reasonable† to do so. Not only the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 in which the implied terms under the Sale of Goods Act can be exempted, but the Act also imply other liability can be limited as far as the services concerned. The main provisions deal with: * liability for death and personal injury – this cannot be exempt under any circumstances; * liability in negligence other than for death and personal injury – this can be exempt where reasonable; * liability to a consumer – this can be exempt only where reasonable (except in the case of liability for breach of the terms implied under the Sale of Goods Act; * liability when dealing on the supplier's standard terms and conditions – a supplier can only be exempt liability to his customers where it is reasonable to do so; There are a number of matters with regard to the reasonableness that the court will take into account when questioning each case individually. The questions are undoubtedly related to the insurance carried by both parties; what other sources were open to customers; and whether the buyer knows or ought to know the exclusions and limitations clauses incorporated into the contract. If there are any ambiguities in the terms of the contract, the court will be in favour of the customer. And the supplier will be left to prove that his exclusions are to be reasonable with respect to doing the business. No doubt that many online contracts will incorporate standard terms and many sales will be directly to consumers, the Unfair Contract Terms Act will play a role in determining the exposure a supplier may face in providing the services or goods using the Internet as a communication mechanism. The UCTA will only be using the English law system for a contract of consumers if they are based in the UK and for a contract where there is a choice of law other than English law, when it is selected for the purposes (mainly or wholly) of trying to avoid the effect of UCTA. Apart from the Unfair Contract Terms Act, there is one exception with regard to the contracts conducted over the Internet. It concerns the international supply contracts where the offer and acceptance of the sale of goods take place in different countries or the goods are physically shipped from one jurisdiction to another. Many companies wishing to sell goods through the Internet could use this exception whereby the purchaser accesses the server to order goods from other location which is outside of the English jurisdiction. It should be realized that this exception can be applied even where the English law is governing law of contract. When a contract is considered to be an international one, the Unfair Contract Terms Act will not intervene and a supplier is free to limit or exclude his liability without having to look at the UCTA to see whether if it is reasonable to do so. Although it is likely to apply to sales to businesses only in the light of certain parallel consumer legislation – the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1994. In addition to UCTA, any supplier considering doing businesses over the Internet must also bear in mind the impact of the Regulations when dealing with the consumers. These Regulations incorporate into English law of the European Community Directive on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts, which provides the entire states of the European Union cases in which it is unfair to limit or to exclude certain rights of consumers by contract terms. If the terms of the contract is considered to be unfair, then it will be declared as void. Furthermore, the Regulations could assist the consumers if the consumers are asked to pay a penalty in the event they fail to complete their contractual obligations and when the supplier restrict the consumers' legal recourse in the event of a breach (for instance, by making the consumer go to arbitration). It is for this reason that it was suggested that the international supply contract with the exception in UCTA will only be of real benefit to those selling goods to businesses. Furthermore, there are also other helpful pieces of legislation which a consumer can depend on: * The Consumer Credit Act 1974 – if a customer has paid for the goods by credit card and the value of each item is à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 or more then the credit card company assumes the same responsibilities as the supplier does and a consumer can make a complain to them. * The Misrepresentation Act 1967 – may give a customer the right to return goods and have his money back if he/she has been told something factual about them that made him/her decide to buy but which turns out to be untrue. * The Trades Description Act 1968 – if a seller makes a particularly gross misrepresentation about an article or if he or she is regularly misrepresenting the qualities of any goods then this may warrant a complaint to and investigation by Trading Standards who have the power to prosecute. * Misleading Prices Regulations – the law does not control prices as such but does requires that prices are accurately displayed or advertised. If a seller has incorrectly displayed a price a customer cannot force a sale at that price but it may warrant a complain to Trading Standards. So how can businesses conducting sales over the Internet protect themselves from the inevitability of pricing errors? Hence thousand of orders can be placed with online retailers before they can detect the problem. When the prices are incorrectly displayed and contracts are formed, the sellers are forced to choose between accepting that price as a financial loss in goodwill or trying to consider the contracts under the doctrine of unilateral mistake. Otherwise to avoid the contracts to be binding with customers with the incorrectly pricing, the sellers should employ protective methods of contract formation that assist them to prevent loss. The risks and costs of pricing errors Many online errors result from the fact of proofreading mistakes and software problems, but a lot of mistakes keep increasing because many sellers online tend to change their prices more often than normal and convenience high street stores [1]. Furthermore, online businesses execute sales automatically and therefore lose the added safety of having the human eye confirm the price. The Internet, with all the richness of information resources, can cause some harm. Many of the online shopping combine with chat rooms, emails and bulletin board which in turn can result in a flood of orders and thousands of sales being processed before the sellers is able to pinpoint and correct the mistake. For instance, in 2001, Kodak offered a à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½329 digital camera for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 [2]. At the time the case was decided that Kodak's automatic confirmation email formed legally binding contracts [3], and in the end, the company was forced to honour the sales. The incident caused the company substantial losses of more than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2 million [4]. Kodak argued that, if there was a contract formed, that contract could be void by reason of â€Å"mistake† (i.e. the price of the goods offered was so low that there was obviously a mistake). Kodak's refusal to fulfill orders was widely reported. The common law view was that Kodak would lose any actions brought against it because 1) its standard terms were unfair to the consumer; 2) a camera worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300 being sold as a special offer for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 was not an obvious mistake; and 3) Kodak's reply not only to acknowledge the sale, but used the words â€Å"this contract†, Kodak forced to accept the orders. In another example involving Argos, a catalogue online retailer, who advertised a TV on its website for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2.99, one one-hundredth of its normal price. Argos received orders worth over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1 millions, none of which were acknowledged. Argos argued that there was no contract between the customers and itself, because Argos did not confirm any orders as far as the product concerned. The case was decided confidentially and it is believed that Argos did not fulfill the majority of those orders. The equitable doctrine of unilateral mistake When the online seller make honest and honourable mistake on pricing which result in big losses, their mistake could be considered based on the doctrine of unilateral mistake. What this means is that one party's mistake could make the contract voidable when the mistake concerns a basic assumption on which the contract was formed and has a material effect on the agreement that is adverse to that party [5]. Furthermore, the effected party must prove that: a) the mistake is such that enforcement would be unconscionable, or b) the other party had reason to know the mistake or should have known that the price was a mistake [6]. An unconscionable contract is defined as â€Å"no man in his senses, not under delusion, would make†¦.and which no fair and honest man would accept†¦.† [7]. The contract, if was formed, must cause hardship to the effected party [8]. In addition to this, the court would look to see whether the sale would cause the seller a big loss and not merely a diminished profit [9]. Alternatively, the online seller could also prove that the customers had reason to know or ought to know that the price was wrong [10]. â€Å"Reason to know† means that a person â€Å"has a duty to another† and â€Å"he would not be acting adequately in the protection of his own interests were he not acting with reference to the facts which he has reason to know† [11]. Rescinding the contract is the only remedy option under the unilateral mistake; it is not a basis for reformation [12]. It means that the seller cannot ask the customer to go ahead with the sale at the actual price. But instead, the seller must cancel all customer's order and re-offer the good at the actual price. However, after the re-offering the good the customer might not show any more interest in purchasing it. In some instances, the court might refuse to order rescission. The court will consider whether one party has so detrimentally relied on the contract it would be inequitable to order rescission [13], will be prejudiced by rescission [14], or cannot be returned to the status quo [15]. Furthermore, the court might refuse to rescind the contract when the mistake resulted from the seller's negligence or lack of due care [16]. Case of an e-seller policy Amazon.com provides an example of an online seller who has incorporated a policy into its website to deal with potential pricing mistakes. It provides a direct link to its pricing policy from its term of use. In its term, Amazon states that the price of any products is not confirmed till the customer completes the order. Additionally, Amazon further states that the items in the catalogue may be mispriced and the price will be verified before it's sent out. If the actual price is lower than the stated price, Amazon will charge the lower price and ship the good. On the other hand, if the actual price is higher, Amazon will either contact the customer or cancel the order and notify the customer of its cancellation. Despite all these precautions, however, Amazon has been involved in a number of argument concerning the incorrect pricing. Recently, in the UK Amazon made a mistake in advertising iPaq handheld computers priced at less than one fiftieth of the retail price. But fortunately, Amazon has managed to avoid big losses because its conditions of sale explicitly stated that the contract is not formed till the good was dispatched, giving Amazon the right to cancel most of the orders it has received. The contents of its conditions' statement were the same throughout. On the same token, in America, Amazon mistakenly put on sale a memory module priced at 10% less than the actual price and DVD's priced at 75% of their list price. Amazon in America emailed notices to customers, in according to their pricing policy, requesting if they could pay for the actual price of the products or cancel their order completely. Several customers filed complaints to the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau. But it is not clear how these complaints have been resolved. Conclusion In short, to avoid losses caused by pricing errors, online seller can employ a few measures ensuring that his business is protected. One of the thing the seller should do is he should include the terms and conditions in the contract stating that he reserves the right to cancel orders and an explanation that the customer's order only constitutes an offer, which the seller can accept by charging the customer's credit card or by dispatching the good. In addition, the customer should be required to assent to those terms and conditions by clicking â€Å"I accept† during the checkout process. The English cases indicate that the terms of a contract are binding if a seller has made sufficient efforts to bring the terms to the attention of the buyer and if the parties agree to the terms. It is very important that the buyer who buy things online ought to see and accept the terms before an order is placed. However, the terms should allow the sellers to reject orders at any stage before dispatch. Any automatic response to an order ought to let the buyer know that a binding contract has not been entered into and the price is subject to change until it is shipped. Although these precautions has taken place, a seller online may still face potential litigation and consumer complaints, concerning any incorrect prices confirmed by auto-reply emails. The Internet is undoubtedly will grow in importance and it is no more than a tool of communication just like the telephone, telex or fax. Furthermore, electronic contract is becoming more common and right now a substantial percentage of both commerce and consumer contracts is concluded in cyberspace. Although e-commerce contracts suffer some problem, but they can be overcome by applying the three basic questions, when was the contract concluded? What are the terms of the contract? and where is the contract governed? These questions would help us to deal with any contract whether it is formed electronically or by more traditional means. â€Å"It is the moral equivalent of being given too much change in a supermarket and pocketing the money instead of handing it back† ( Bill Thompson, technology analyst).