Coursework Writing Help

Coursework Writing Help Coursework Writing Help Whether or not your lecturer sets an English courseworktopic, you will need to generate a context or background for it. However, this is not necessarily your starting point for coursework writing. But without knowing the context in which you want to set your coursework writing it is even harder to write the opening paragraph. You may delve into books and papers to set the coursework writing context, gather research data and look for government reports to build up a background picture. Sometimes, this is a matter of defining the limitations of your college coursework topic or defining the key terms. English college coursework needs to be set within certain understandable parameters and taking into account the previous coursework writing on the subject, if there is any. You will find it a good idea to compare conflicting views. You cannot make your points ignoring research or literature in the field if it is relevant. That is why data gathering is necessary for college coursework writi ng: The context may be discovered in the result of asking questions like these: Does the context have a history to it? Does the context contain a particular problem? Does the context, for example, concern a law, principle or policy? What is essential for the reader to understand my purpose? What reading do I need to do to build the context? If I'm looking for evidence to set the context, where can it be found? When does the background material become irrelevant? Who has expressed conflicting views? What issues might be included to set the context? One of the most frequently reported effects of reading and researching forwriting courseworkis the stage when students are totally confused by random and conflicting material they have read. They might be able to set the context for their further coursework writing, but where do they go from there? Do they write six major points down and expand on them while writing English coursework? Coursework Help Is it hard to write a religious coursework? The main source of difficulty in setting a context is that you are likely to describe the context rather than weave it in with your coursework introductory issues. Description written in the coursework can be dismally boring to read unless something of interest relieves the gloom. Interesting course works are written by writers working at .com. We are able to impress you with the depth of research and interesting information. Every coursework we deliver is custom written. It means that you receive custom essay written from scratch and in accordance to instruction. Read also: Term Papers for Sale Term Paper Writing Islamic Religion Term Paper Education Term Paper College Term Paper

The Impacts of Gender Bias on Society

The Impacts of Gender Bias on Society Gender bias exists in every aspect of society- from the workplace to the political arena. The gender gap affects our childrens education, the size of the paycheck we bring home, and why women still lag behind men in certain careers. Sexism in Politics As media coverage of female politicians has proven in recent elections, gender bias has crossed the aisle and it is not as rare as we might hope. It has challenged Democrats and Republicans, touched candidates in presidential, congressional, and local elections, and has been witnessed toward nominees for high government positions. 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was noted as a former beauty queen and subject to other remarks, neither of which had nothing to do with her 2008 run.Hilary Clinton fell victim to misogyny countless times in both her 2008 and 2016 bids for the White House.During her 2009 confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor was asked by Senator Lindsey Graham about a temperament problem and he later referred to a possible meltdown.A 2001 mayoral candidate in Allentown, Pennsylvania was publicly asked about her measurements before a delivering speech. These bring up the question that if any of these women had been men, would they have been  subjected to the same treatment? Sexism in politics is real and, unfortunately, we see it on a regular basis. Gender Bias in the Media Do women see themselves accurately reflected on television and film, in advertising, and in print and broadcast news? Most would say that they dont, but that it is improving. Maybe thats because only a small percentage of media decision-makers- those with enough clout to determine content- are female. If you want to find news about womens issues and from a female perspective,  there are a handful of outlets you can turn to. Traditional outlets are getting better at handling bias, though some womens advocates feel that it is still not enough. The members of the media often become the headlines themselves. Rush Limbaugh infamously has had a number of comments about women which many people have found inflammatory and derogatory. ESPNs Erin Andrews was the victim of a famous peephole incident in 2008. And in 2016 and 17, Fox News was plagued with sexual harassment allegations against leaders in the broadcast company. Beyond the news media, some women also find issue with other types of programming. For example, teen pregnancy shows on television raise the question of whether they are glorifying the issue or helping with abstinence. In other instances, shows may insensitively handle female body image issues such as weight. Older women can also be portrayed in negative ways and, in some cases, lose their jobs in media because theyre no longer young enough. Inequality at Work Why do women still earn only 80 cents for every dollar men earn? The primary reason is that its due to gender bias in the workplace and this is an issue that affects everyone. Reports do show that the pay gap between men and women is improving. In the 1960s, American women made just 60 percent on average as their male colleagues. By 2015, that had increased to an 80 percent average nationwide, though some states are not yet near that mark. Much of this decrease in the pay gap is attributed to women seeking higher levels of employment. Today, more women are entering fields in science and technology and becoming leaders in business and industry. There are also a number of careers in which women do make more than men. Inequality in the workplace extends beyond how much money we make. Sexual discrimination and harassment remain hot topics for working women. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act is designed to protect against employment discrimination, but it does not protect every woman and cases can be difficult to prove. Higher education is another venue in which gender and race bias remain a factor. A 2014 study suggests that on the university level, even well-intentioned academic professionals can demonstrate a preference toward white men. Looking Forward at Gender Bias The good news in all of this is that womens issues remain at the forefront of dialogue in the United States. Progress has been made over the last few decades and much of it is very significant. Advocates continue to push against bias and it remains a right of every woman to be able to stand up for herself and others. If people stop speaking out, these matters will continue and we cannot work on what remains to be done for true equality. Sources The American Association of University Women (AAUW). The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap. 2017.Milkman KL, Akinola M, Chugh D.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What Happens Before? A Field Experiment Exploring How Pay and Representation Differentially Shape Bias on the Pathway into Organizations.† Journal of Applied Psychology. 2015;100(6):1678-712.Ward M. 10 Jobs Where Women Earn More Than Men. CNBC. 2016.

Levels of Health Care for a Brain Tumor Patient Essay

Levels of Health Care for a Brain Tumor Patient - Essay Example Brain tumors can be diagnosed through various processes: physical examination, neurologic examination, a Computerised Tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). By physical examination, general health signs are checked. Neurologic examination is where the doctor examines the patient for attentiveness, strength of the muscles and coordination, any spontaneous effect and reaction to pain. The doctor also conducts an examination of the eyes to identify any swelling of the nerve connecting the brain and the eye which might have been caused by the pressure inserted by the tumor. With CT scan, an X-ray is conducted where the results are observed from a computer connected to the x-ray machine which clearly shows the position and the size of the tumors. MRI is where a high magnetic material is connected to a computer which shows detailed and clear pictures of the body that is provided by the means of a special dye which makes different tissues distinct. The pictures can be pr inted out (Potts & Mandleco, 2012). The patient undergoing brain tumor care is named Mrs. Y for purposes of patient confidentiality as required by the nursing and medical ethic. Primary level of health care is the first step where patients are exposed to health care systems which are normally the smaller health care facilities like the dispensaries serving the local community. Mostly, this unit involves simple diagnostic measures, preventive and curative where in-patients services are rare. Nurses are mostly found in this stage that will refer the patient to a district hospital which provides better services and in-patients services. The nurse examines the general sciences and symptoms of illness from the patient who then refers the patient for further treatment from the district level because the facility has no the necessary machines and equipment to examine the patient further (Potts & Mandleco 2012). The nurse can only administer pain killers to the patient. District level hospi tals have nurses, doctors and physicians who can conduct imaging, laboratory tests, simple X-rays and theaters to conduct simple surgeries. Most of the doctors and physicians could be operating in the provincial hospitals; therefore, they are only present in the hospitals rarely. The patient is given a chance to explain herself. Snooks state that because there is lack of proper equipment to critically examine the patient’s brain, the physician will have no choice but to refer the patient to the next level (2009). The physician explains to the patient and the family members of her condition and the challenge the facility is facing, the complexity of the condition and the cost of the procedure. The physician writes a note of referral which provides the initial examinations and any medication the patient has been given during this level. Mrs. Y may have a difficult time understanding her condition; many people view that any disease of the brain may result in madness. Therefore, counseling services may be provided by the administration to the patient and the family to reduce tension and stress (Potts & Mandleco 2012). The financial services to cover Mrs. Y treatment during this stage and to the next level may subject the family members some stress. Secondary level of health care refers to a stage with more sophisticated facilities as well as specialists in a particular area. Highly trained doctors, nurses, surgeons and physicians are readily available. This may be a provincial hospita

Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity Coursework

Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity - Coursework Example Fairtrade mainly exists in developing countries and it targets specific areas, for instance, the Handicrafts, Coffee Industry, Tea Industry etc, it does so in order to make sure that the workers and the producers are benefitted and their economic stature improves by participating in Fairtrade. To understand the concept better, its principles should be well understood and they are as follows: â€Å"Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, Fairtrade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system.† The most important principle of Fairtrade is to ensure that there are ample opportunities provided to the producer, the sole aim of Fairtrade is to ensure the well being of the workers and the producers and in this process the first is to provide opportunities to the producer because only when the producer has opportunities, it can be passed on to the workers. â€Å"Transparency and accountability, Fairtrade involves transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with trading partners.† Another important principle of Fairtrade is to make sure transparency exists in every activity initiated by it, in the sense that every activity initiated by Fair trade should be without any fusses and problems, fair rules and policies are followed hence ensuring the economic and financial safety of the producer. Another important principle is to make sure that the producer gets complete independence, in the sense that he/she shouldn’t have restrictions hampering their growth, it provides a very good platform for the growth of the producers and it also improves their marketing skills by giving them access to the market where they get to know so many things which they wouldn’t have learned had they not participated in Fairtrade.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Example for Free

The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Dorian Gray is a wealthy and incredibly handsome young Englishman. He meets Basil Hallward, a great, well-known artist during his time at a social gathering. After their meeting, Dorian decides to have his portrait painted by Basil. Basil is greatly taken by the magnificence of Dorian’s physical appearance. As an artist, Basil becomes inspired, to great extent, by Dorian’s seemingly exceptional exquisiteness. Dorian becomes Basil’s â€Å"muse†. This results in Dorian sitting for quite a few portraits by Basil. A friendship also ensues because of their frequent encounters. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Through his portrait sitting sessions with Basil, Dorian Gray meets Lord Henry Wotton. Lord Wotton is a very close friend of Basil’s. He is a nobleman and is quite the intellectual. A very articulate, witty and interesting conversationalist, Dorian Gray is instantly taken by Lord Wotton’s charm. Lord Wotton’s ideas are radical and endeavor to challenge the widely-accepted conservative concepts of truth. Lord Henry Wotton’s thoughts and theories reveal that he is a staunch believer of self indulgence. He is an exponent of the quest for both proper and immoral life experiences. However, his lifestyle reveals the opposite. He takes part in the social activities of London high society but he is careful enough to not involve himself in distasteful conduct. He is eager to take Dorian under his wing and teach him the principles of â€Å"new hedonism†. Basil confides in Lord Wotton that he finds Dorian’s Gray’s physical attributes enchanting and overpowering. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Upon hearing Basil’s confession, Lord Wotton sought to influence Dorian by his ideals. In one of their encounters, Lord Wotton seeing Dorian’s portrait by Basil leaves a distressing message to Dorian that youth and beauty are fleeting. Dorian, the vain person that he is, is greatly trouble by this statement. He agonizes over the preordained fact that his handsomeness, which he considers his best trait is vanishing as each day goes by. Dorian unknowingly puts a curse on his portrait, wishing that he could change places with image in the painting. He hoped that the painting would grow old and he would stay the same, vibrant and youthful. Basil gives Dorian the portrait to calm him down. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Dorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane, a young, poor actress. In spite of her brother, James’ warnings that a relationship with Dorian will not do her any good, she still persisted. She gets engaged with Dorian. One night, the raving Dorian proudly brings Lord Wotton and Basil to the theater to watch Sibyl. As the play unfolded, the two guests openly disapprove of Sibyl’s acting prowess. It is Dorian’s nature to be overly concerned of other peoples’ thoughts about him and his choices that he takes the criticism to heart. His guests try to console him that it does not matter if Sibyl is a good actress or not as long as they love each other but instead of calming down, he asks them to leave. Dorian tells Sibyl about this and the young and promising Sibyl who is swept away by her feelings for Dorian decides to abandon her love for acting for Dorian. In return, Dorian ruthlessly breaks off their relationship. This leaves Sibyl heartbroken and greatly distressed. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Upon returning home, Dorian gazes at his portrait and he observes that the expression on the portrait’s face had changed from a calm expression to a scornful look. Seeing this, he feared that his wish to change places with the image on the portrait had come true and that his transgressions will be documented on the canvas. He decides to reconcile with Sibyl the next day. Unknown to him, Sibyl had taken her own life. The next day, Lord Wotton tells Dorian the news of Sibyl’s suicide. When he first heard of the terrible news, Dorian was distraught. To console Dorian, Lord Wotton advises Dorian to see Sibyl’s death in a different light. Lord Wotton counseled Dorian to treat Sibyl’s death as rather, a creative feat by being the epitome of tragedy and put this misfortune behind him. Simply put, Lord Wotton advised Dorian to consider Sibyl’s death as just another case of life imitating art. Dorian hides his portrait for fear that someone else would see the changes in the portrait. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Given the conduciveness of the situation, Lord Wotton decides to take his â€Å"mentorship† with Dorian further by giving Dorian the ‘yellow book’ containing the exploits of the book’s hedonistic lead character. The book becomes Dorian’s ‘bible’. Dorian’s obsession with the book and hedonism signals the start of his corruption. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) After many years, Dorian’s appearance remains the same but his corrupt reputation precedes him by stories of his scandalous deeds and immoral exploits that hound his persona in London’s high society. A direct opposite of his physical appearance, his portrait by Basil had change considerably. The person in the portrait now looks repulsive, unbeknownst to many. When news of Dorian’s reputation reaches Basil, he decides to confront Dorian about his behavior. During the confrontation, Dorian shows the now hideous painting and the terrified Basil entreats Dorian to repent. In a fit of rage, Dorian kills Basil. This is followed by other atrocious deeds until one night, Dorian, overcome by fear and guilt tries to destroy his portrait. In his struggle to do so, he collapses on the floor and his servants are baffled to see the dead body of a disfigured, old man, a knife in his heart, in the place of their master. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Homoerotic love This novel is replete with instances that show homoerotic love. Both Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton are vying for Dorian Gray’s attention. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Basil is instantly won over by Dorian’s physical attributes during their first meeting. He becomes so obsessed over his physical attraction to Dorian that it is expressed in his portraits. Basil was so drawn to Dorian to the point where he said â€Å"as long as I live, the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate me†. Basil is very much concerned over Dorian’s behavior and his reputation. This is very evident in the scene where he confronts Dorian in hopes to get him to repent from his wrongdoings. In the novel, Dorian does not reciprocate Basil’s feelings. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Lord Henry Wotton senses Dorian Gray’s adoration of his sophistication and radical ideals starting from their first meeting. This sparks an attraction where Lord Wotton coached Dorian in the ways of hedonism. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Dorian Gray’s fascination towards the hedonistic ideals of Lord Henry Wotton overshadows his other relationships. His obsession reaches to the point that he is easily influenced by the mere words that Lord Henry Wotton speaks. He is greatly affected when Lord Wotton expresses disapproval in any aspect of his life. One particular case in point is his reaction when Lord Wotton and Basil Hallward openly criticized the acting skill of Sibyl, the woman with whom he was once engaged. Lord Wotton’s twisted stamp of approval became Dorian’s measure of success. Dorian’s idolization of Lord Henry Wotton and the principles of hedonism eventually led to his downfall. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 2007) Works Cited Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. (2007, November 6). The Picture of Dorian Gray. Retrieved November 9, 2007, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray#Homoeroticism

The Reader Essay -- essays research papers

Memory is a powerful concept. Often when an individual undergoes a traumatic situation, the ramifications of these actions seep into an individual?fs psyche unknowingly. In effect this passes through memory and becomes sub-consciously buried within a person?fs behavioural patterns generally. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink explores the concept of a young mans subconscious desire for a woman whom he ?gcan?ft remember to forget?h (1Memento) as she is so deeply inlaid within his soul. Critically acclaimed as ?gA formally beautiful, disturbing, and finally morally devastating novel. From the first page?c [it] ensnares both heart and mind?h ( Los Angeles Times), the novel tells the story of a young boy, 15, Michael Berg, through his own interior narration. He finds himself emotionally and sexually attached to a woman of over twice his age, Hanna Schmitz. She then breaks his heart by deserting him. Michael is emotionally torn by this incident and consequently develops a subconscious obsession with her. Years after the mysterious disappearance of Hanna, Michael marries a woman named Gertrude. ?gGertrude was smart, efficient, and loyal?h (3p 171) yet she never fulfilled Michael in the same way as Hanna had previously. Unknowingly he drove her away through his constant comparisons and dissatisfaction that Gertrude could not be the woman he wanted. ?gI could never stop comparing the way it was with Gertrude and the way it had been with Hanna; again and again, Gertrude and I would hol...

Community Service: Mandatory or Voluntary Essay

Community service is a topic that is highlighted in our society. Many people have different reasons for their participation in the service, having it be done for selfish reasons or unselfish reasons. However, participation is mandatory. This being the case, community service should be voluntary. Community service holds you back from doing certain things. High schools require 40 hours of community service in order to graduate. If you don’t complete these hours, it’ll keep you from moving on. Certain jobs require you to complete community service in certain tasks. Not doing such can earn you a penalty. Another example to support this claim is a quote from an article titled â€Å"The Benefits of Volunteerism, If the Service is Real†, is that â€Å"there is some cynicism among people that some portion of community service is prompted by students interested more in resume-building.† This goes to show that people have lost the initial purpose for community servi ce as a pass off to make themselves look good, rather than doing it for the cause alone. In addition, voluntary community service is more encouraged than mandatory. In the graphic â€Å"Attitude Toward Offering Students a Chance to do Community Service to Earn Money for College, By Age†, students were surveyed on whether or not they were in favor of doing community service for earning money for college. The survey was done from ages that ranged from 15-25 years old. Throughout the age range, the percentage of students who favor for community service to earn money or don’t favor varied. However, those favorable remained high in the 80% while those unfavorable remained low in the 20%. However, community service should be mandatory in certain situations. In the article â€Å"A Better Society? Or a Better Resume?†, mandatory community service is stressed. Model Naomi Campbell had to complete 5 days of community service as a result of hitting her maid in the head with a cellphone. She was set to work in a sanitation depot as a punishment. However, it tended to work out in her favor as it made her seem as she was doing it for the false altruism of her actions.

Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy

Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com E-tail Customer Fulfillment Networks Pioneer â€Å"The logistics of distribution Scorecard are the iceberg below the waterline of online bookselling.B-web type —Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, Amazon. comAggregation (e-tail) /Agora (auctions, Zshops) hybrid model KEY PARTICIPANTS â€Å"Ten years from now, no one will remember whether Consumers and business buyers Context providersContent providersAmazon. com and small online merchants (Amazon. com associates, Zshops, auctions) Suppliers and b-web partners (publishers; producers [OEM]; distributors e. g. Ingram Micro, Baker & Taylor Books, and others) Customers Amazon. com spent an extra $100,000 upgrading shipping from the West Coast to the East Coast. All that will matter is whether electronic commerceGave people a good or bad experience.2 —David Risher, senior vice president for merchandising, Amazon. com Commerce services †¢ Infrastructure providers â€Å"This [the Amazon. com distribution warehouses and CFN] is the fastest expansion of distribution capacity in peacetime history. † 3 —Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, Amazon. com Offering Amazon. com and online merchants (Amazon. com associates, Zshops, auctions) Amazon. om and merchants participating in auctions and Zshops Third party shippers (UPS & USPS) Amazon. com Drop shippers such as Ingram Technology providers such as Oracle, Net Perceptions, and i2 Technologies Third party shippers (UPS, USPS) The largest online e-tailer of books, music, videos, toys, and gifts Recently expanded service offering to include auctions (March 1999) and Zshops (September 1999)—an aggregation of merchants on its Web site Aspires to become a one-stop shop for merchandise on the Web CFN value proposition â€Å"Earth’s largest selection† of merchandise at competitive prices, a validated product assortment, nd consistent customer service from â€Å"home page to home delivery†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ24/7 URL http://www. amazon. com 360 Adelaide Street W, 4th Floor Toronto, Ontario. Canada M5V 1R7 Tel 416. 979. 7899. Fax 416. 979-7616 www. digital4sight. com  © 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. 1. 1 Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com few barriers to entry—but one of those barriers is customer fulfillment. In 1996–97, Amazon. com was largely alone in the e-tailing business. Now the Web is eeming with e-tailers like buy. com (which aggressively undercuts everyone else, including Amazon. com), CDNow, and barnesandnoble. com. There are also Web portal-run malls, many of which are copying and offering features (like the renowned â€Å"one-click shopping†) that have thus far differentiated Amazon. com. Yahoo’s online mall offers 7,000 stores with over four million items and walmart. com’s planned debut in 2000 poses a significant threat. Amazon. com’s first mover advantage, e-brand equity, and initial cost advantages (stemming from lack of investments in prime real estate for storefronts) are gradually eroding.Its margins are falling, while operating expenses from mergers and acquisitions are increasing. As of the end of 1999, Amazon. com expected to post approximately $600 million in losses for the year, at a time when growth in book sales is falling (from about 800% in 1997 to a little over 100% in 1999). On the plus side, customer retention rates exceeded 72% in the third quarter of 1999. 8 But average revenue per customer in 1998 was $98. 4, while average selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and distribution costs per customer (excluding cost of goods sold) were about $71. 30, leading to an average net earnings loss of around 21%. Amazon. com Founder Jeff Bezos wants to transform Amazon. com into the largest and most customer-friendly one-stop shop on the Web. Already the largest online e-tailer of books, music, and videos, the company has expanded its product offering to include toys, gifts, and electronics, and in September 1999 launched â€Å"Zshops,† a new initiative (online flea market on Amazon. com’s Web site) which offers customers â€Å"universal selection. †4 Zshops empower small merchants and customers to set up online stores on the Amazon. com Web site for a monthly fee of $10, and a transaction fee of 1–5% of every sale.With a market capitalization of approximately $31. 4 billion (as of November 1999), 12 million loyal customers, 18 million items on sale, projected 1999 sales of $1. 4 billion, and the most recognized brand name on the Internet,5 Amazon. com aspires to become the supermall of choice for online shoppers. Its recipe includes innovation driven by â€Å"customer obsession† and the ability to provide a secure, enjoyable shopping experience online, but its dominance is due to a customer fulfillment process that delivers. A carefully orchestrated and adroitly executed â€Å"sell all, carry few† strategy explains Amazon. com’s success ith e-tail customer fulfillment. Its business web (b-web) (for books) includes Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, the two largest book wholesalers in the US, as well as dozens of others. In 1998, Amazon. com obtained 60% of its books through Ingram, which operates seven strategically located US warehouses. Amazon. com pays Ingram a wholesale markup a few percentage points above the publisher’s price for its drop shipping services. 6 How has Amazon. com responded to these formidable challenges? First, to increase revenue per customer, Amazon. com added product lines or capabilities practically every six weeks in 1999.In February, the company bought 46% of drugstore. com. The following month, it launched online auctions. It bought a 35% stake in homegrocer. com in May, 54% of pets. com in June, an d 49% of gear. com in July. The Zshops and All Product Search (a â€Å"search the Web† service) initiatives have moved it even closer to its goal of providing â€Å"earth’s largest selection. † For Amazon. com, the Zshops initiative is 80–90% grossmargin rich, since its marginal costs for providing one-click shopping and credit card collection on Zshops is nearly zero. In 1999, Amazon. com opened five new automated distribution centers of its own in the US (this is in ddition to two centers already operational in Seattle and Delaware). The intent is to improve declining margins in a cutthroat business (e. g. by sourcing books directly from publishers), lessen dependence on Ingram and other distributors, and extend and control its online fulfillment process to enhance competitive advantage. Amazon. com now offers its customers same to next day shipping (in the US) on most items. In the 1999 holiday season, the company sent more packages—perhaps in e xcess of 15 million—to more people than any other e-tailer or mail-order retailer in the country. 7 Amazon. com’s leadership in customer fulfillment etworking (CFN) will be critical to its success as the landlord of the largest shopping mall on the Web. Second, its customer fulfillment networking (CFN) strategy is designed to increase gross margins by sourcing directly from publishers and other producers, rather than from wholesalers (e. g. distributors like Ingram) who provide drop shipping for a premium. Amazon. com will also reduce costs per sale by cross-docking orders (books, electronics, and toys all in one order) at the warehouse closest to the customer through state-of-the-art demand forecasting and optimization solutions from i2 Technologies. 10 Business contextE-tailing is fast becoming a crowded marketplace with  © 1. 2 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com So, what are the implications of Amazon. com’s push into more warehouses for better customer fulfillment? While the investment in five additional warehouses has been immense (in excess of $200 million), it enables same or next day fulfillment in most cases—driving greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, and higher evenues and profits per customer. It also lowers operating expenses and empowers Amazon. com to respond to pressures from Wall Street for profits. The strategy appears to be paying off—5. 69 million unique Web users (excluding its 12 million registered customers) shopped at Amazon. com in the 1999 holiday season (an 81% increase over 1998), with average spending per customer of $128 (a 30% increase over 1998). 14 However, maintaining stock in seven warehouses also increases inventory carrying costs, which the company will need to balance and contr ol through efficient customer fulfillment planning and execution. 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. Less compelling High Complex*E-BRAND AS BARRIER TO ENTRY E-CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AMAZON. COM (Circa 2001)†¢ Landlord of largest Web supermall†¢ Universal selection, one-stop shopping, and same day customer fulfillment = competitive advantage†¢ Revenues: $2. 7 Billion (est. )†¢ Registered Customers: 19. 5 MM†¢ Items Offered: >18 MM AMAZON. COM (1998)†¢ Book E-tailer†¢ Investment in brand building†¢ Customer fulfillment largely outsourced to Ingram and Baker & Taylor†¢ Revenues: $610 MM†¢ Registered Customers: 12 MM†¢ Books Offered2. 5 MM Low Low This strategic shift (figure 1) makes sense because Amazon. com’s e-brand will be a less compelling barrier to entry beyond 2000, co mpared to its customized, collaborative, and integrated online fulfillment capability for â€Å"orders of one. † According to Andrew N. Westland, Amazon. com’s vice president of warehousing, transportation and engineering, it would risk losing its competitive advantage from its pioneering and innovative one-to-one customer fulfillment excellence if it hired another company to handle distribution.As he points out, â€Å"we would be the teacher and then they would offer those services to our competitors. †13 Designed and built for online order fulfillment, Amazon. com’s CFN and warehouse distribution system is among the first of its kind (another is Webvan). As such, it confers competitive first mover and learning curve advantage. ONLINE PRODUCT ASSORTMENT Amazon. com’s business model consists of two different but complementary revenue, pricing, and profit models. In the case of auctions and Zshops, relatively small topline revenues (at least as of t he end of 1999) contribute high gross and operating margins.In contrast, for the traditional e-tailing model, lower gross and operating margins offset high topline revenues. 11 The company wants to utilize both models: cross-sell the high margin Zshops/auctions offering to its registered e-tailing customers (immediately enhancing both revenue and profits per customer), and cut the cost of sales and operating expenses through efficient customer fulfillment. High Simple Third, its strategy of providing hassle-free, same or next day fulfillment on most items will enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, driving repeat business, referrals, and increased market share.CUSTOMER FULFILLMENT AS CORE-COMPETENCE High * Complexity of product assortment implies both high breadth and depth of product lines offered. Figure 1. Amazon. com’s strategic shift: from book e-tailer to landlord of Web super mall. 12 Value proposition Amazon. com’s value proposition is â€Å"earth’s largest selection—24/7, at a competitive price. † The world’s most â€Å"customer-centric company† gives its customers what they want (universal selection), how they want it (in one consolidated package), and when they want it (same or next-day by the year 2000), by orchestrating an enjoyable buying experience at the front end and einforcing it with seamless fulfillment at the back end. Bezos, who describes his team members as â€Å"customer obsessed†¦genetic pioneers,†15 can take credit for numerous innovations, including customer recognition and one-click shopping, free book reviews, recommendations (suggestive selling), Purchase Circles (best seller list by region, country, company, and industry), All Product Search (shop the Web), free e-greetings, Auctions, Zshops, and seamless customer fulfillment. Each of these has been a first on the Web, and competitors have copied most of them. Recent innovations include a system that lets shoppers u t together a big order and then send each item, tagged with an individual message, to a different individual and address (September 1999); a â€Å"wish list†Ã¢â‚¬â€much like a wedding registry—that lets people tell the world what gifts they want to receive; and an â€Å"Amazon. com anywhere† initiative with Sprint (announced December 8, 1999) that facilitates wireless shopping through Sprint PCS Internet-enabled smart cellular phones. 16 1. 3 Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com 1 Customer places order; credit card processed for payment 4 E-Customer All items picked, packed and assembled at nearest warehouse & shipped ia UPS or US Postal Service 5 Order delivered from the nearest warehouse via UPS/USPS AMAZON. COM WAREHOUSE WWW Electronics OEM Amazon. com’s servers in Seattle Demand forecasting visibility and optimization through i2’s Supply Chain OptimizationSoftware 2 Customer order parsed out to appropriate suppliers (if not stocked in Amazon. com warehouse). Books sourced from Ingram or other book publisher Music company LEGEND Inventory Information 3 Producers dispatch goods to Amazon. com warehouse. Figure 2. Amazon. com’s customer fulfillment network (CFN)—circa 2000. CFN strategy Amazon. com is a CFN pioneer. Its innovative CFN trategy enables true dynamic commerce that provides a customized experience to not only fulfill, but also create demand—profitably, and in real-time. This is a virtuous cycle realized through integration of the customer relationship management applications with the order fulfillment applications and its b-web, as well as intelligent and dynamic demand-supply synchronization. It is rendered possible by the following CFN value drivers: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Business processes and applications Sourcing multiple line items from disparate suppliers and assembling them to a customer’s order and specifications for same/next day fulfillment invo lves ramatically greater logistics and supply chain complexity than delivering huge pallets from warehouses to shelf spaces (brick-and-mortar retail). Dynamic and intelligent personalization that ensures dynamic content insertion and cross-selling (enhancing revenues and profits per customer) while matching the customer’s demands with Amazon. com’s fulfillment abilities Virtual integration across the b-web (from customer to supplier and warehouses) that ensures synchronicity across business processes, delivering intelligent and profitable order fulfillment Dynamic demand and supply planning and ptimization to minimize inventory carrying and transportation costs and reduce cycle times, Three factors—selling an expanded selection of products online (Amazon. com offers 18 million items), the need to move a large volume of small parcels, and rising customer expectations—combine to put new pressures on order fulfillment systems. According to Toby Link, CEO of e-Toys, â€Å"Inventory management is the great ecommerce business process that no one seems to know much about. It is the true barrier to entry. †17 Amazon. com, which has depended largely on a drop shipping and just-in-time arrangement for books with  © 1. 4 aximizing profit and service levels Maximum visibility and responsiveness to supply and demand variability and anomalies through dynamic exception notification (e. g. an electronic alert signal if something goes wrong) 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com Order Management System (OMS) Credit card data verification, e-ordering (if needed), reconcilliation of shipping and customer charges Inventory Management System (IMS)Which items and categories to stock, where and in what quantities? What is available and what needs to be ordered? I2’s Demand Optimizer Inventory turnover data by product, category, country, region, state, industry, etc. I2’s Available to Promise (ATP) Can we fulfill these orders profitably? Oracle database of products and consumer profiles All Product Search What are customers looking for? Customer Orders What are they buying? Warehouse & Transportation Management System (WMS & TMS) Pick, pack and ship orders most efficiently & profitably Purchase Circles (Best seller listing by country, region, industry or company)WWW E-Customer New Customer Profile Who are the e-customers (demographics, etc. )? What are their preferences? Suggested Selling (Cross-sell and Net Perceptions up-sell profitable, Collaborative Filtering: in-stock items that What items and categories of customers want) products are customers likely to buy based on affinity? a nagement (CRM) Decision Support, S upply Chain Planning & Execution Customer Relationship M Figure 3. Amazon. com’s suite of CFN applications. 20 Ingram and Baker & Taylor, has now primarily moved to a from-stock hybrid model (that also includes the other options) with its seven US warehouses. In ddition to enlarging its Seattle and Delaware warehouses in 1999, the company has invested over $200 million to lease five distribution and warehousing facilities in Fernley, Nevada; Coffeyville, Kansas; Campbellsville and Louisville, Kentucky; and McDonough, Georgia. of Digital Equipment Alpha Servers and Netscape Commerce Servers built around an Oracle database server and Oracle Financials Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. 21 According to Jeff Bezos, 80% of the company’s investment in software development since its founding in 1994 has not gone into its famously user-friendly screens, but to back-office logistics. 2 In 1998, two-thirds of Amazon. com’s 2,100 employees worked on customer fulfillment. 22 These seven warehouses, comprising 3. 5 million square feet of total space, will en sure fulfillment in 24–48 hours in most cases in the US. 18 The CFN comprising Amazon. com’s warehouses, b-web of suppliers and drop shippers, and end-to-end integration is specifically designed for online retailing from the ground up (i. e. , shipping merchandise item by item to individual customers). 19 It is one of only a handful of such networks. Amazon. com developed most of its own front end e-commerce applications, including page design and rder management systems (OMS). The acquisition and incorporation of Junglee, a highly sophisticated XML-based shopping bot, forms the basis of Amazon. com’s New Product Search application. It sourced its highly acclaimed suggested selling collaborative filtering software from Net Perceptions and recently acquired a Supply Chain Planning and Optimization package from i2 Technologies. 24 All other software—including middleware and the much-praised and patented one-click shopping application—is customized fo r Amazon. com or proprietary, and zealously guarded for competitive advantage. Amazon. com’s CFN, including its network of istribution centers, is illustrated in figure 2; figure 3 shows CFN applications deployed. Amazon. com’s initial hardware and software consisted  © 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. 1. 5 Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com Amazon. com is in the process of integrating its b-web (suppliers, distributors, and customers) with its supply chain planning (SCP) and ERP, as well as management systems for orders (OMS), inventory (IMS), warehouse WMS), and transportation (TMS) (figures 2 and 3). This strategy will lead to intelligent demand forecasting, optimization, and profitable distribution execution. The customer relationship management (CRM) suite at the front end, which consists of one-to-one personalization and collaborative filtering from Net Perceptions and Amazon. com’s own order management system (OMS), works in sync with i2’s Supply Chain Planning, Optimization (SCPO) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) at the back end. These form a virtuous cycle that creates profitable demand while delivering a customized buying experience in real-time, as well as ntelligent, profitable fulfillment that ensures customer satisfaction and referrals. Figure 3 presents a hypothesis of how the applications work to deliver intelligent end-to-end order fulfillment: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ This is a true â€Å"sense and respond† CFN based on Amazon. com’s move towards a â€Å"real-time inventory solution† (if the customer can order it, it is available, and can be shipped) to drive customer loyalty, revenues, referrals, and profitability. Data is gathered initially from the customer to form a customer profile in the Oracle data base. Information on items customers are looking for, and ctually buy, is gathered through the All Product Search function and customer orders, respectively. Data from All Product Search drives the categories and product lines that Amazon. com keeps adding to its colossal assortment. The buying data is queried to yield inventory turnover (for every item) by zip code, state, country, business, company, and industry. The inventory turnover data is used to stratify Amazon. com’s inventory on an A, B, C basis (e. g. ‘A’ items could be best sellers, ‘B’ items have medium turnover, and ‘C’ items are one-off orders). The inventory turnover data (XML tagged by zip ode) is fed back to the customer by way of Purchase Circles (best-seller listing) to seduce the customer into buying the item. As well, data from the customer profile and previous buying patterns are mined (using collaborative filtering from Net Perceptions) to predict affinities betwe en customers and products. This enables real-time suggestive selling recommendations (the right suggestions to the right buyer at the right time—right now) relevant to each customer’s buying objectives. These recommendations convert browsers into buyers, increase revenue and profits per customer, and stimulate repeat buying. 25 2’s demand planner uses the inventory turnover and buying data to dynamically anticipate customer needs by accurately predicting customer demand on an ongoing basis. By integrating these with i2’s available-to-promise (ATP) inventory management and distribution systems, Amazon. com ensures that B-web organization Amazon. com’s b-web is an Aggregation (e-tail) and Agora (auctions and Zshops) hybrid model powered by its CFN. Win-win b-web relationships and electronic integration with suppliers, distributors, publishers, producers, and software and hardware providers account for Amazon. com’s winning experience and fulfi llment.These partners contribute significantly to, and derive benefits from, its success. In addition to large and assured revenue streams, learning from this e-tailing and CFN pioneer assures competitive advantage in the high velocity arena of e-commerce. In book e-tailing, for instance, Amazon. com ties Ingram’s inventory data to its customer interface. This gives Amazon. com available-to-promise (ATP) capabilities that lets customers know when they can expect to receive their merchandise. As soon as an order comes in, Amazon. com sends it to Ingram electronically (if it doesn’t carry the ordered item); Ingram then ships the rder, usually the same or next day, to Amazon. com’s customer fulfillment center for cross-docking and shipping via UPS/USPS. Key lessons Four factors explain Amazon. com’s in success e-tailing: †¢  © 1. 6 it maintains an optimum inventory of its most ordered books, CDs, videos, toys, and electronics in its warehouses for in- stock fulfillment. Continuous reconciliation of order and inventory data via the ATP function enables Amazon. com to commit to lead times on its Web site that it can profitably fulfill. Distributors like Ingram will drop ship one-off items (‘C’), or Amazon. com will order them (through theOMS) on a just-in-time basis from other suppliers for cross docking at its warehouse closest to the customer (figure 2). Intelligent distribution, warehousing (WMS), and transportation (TMS) optimization ensures that Amazon. com picks, packs, and transports orders for delivery, via US Postal Service (60% of orders) or UPS (40% of orders), â€Å"from buy button to customer doorstep† 24–48 hours for in-stock items, and within seven days for others, in the US. 26 First, it translated its customer-centric understanding of market need into an easy-to-use, intuitive buying experience that pleases customers and drives evenues and referrals 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com †¢ Second, Amazon. com invested tens of millions of dollars in building the most valuable brand on the Web Third, Amazon. com built loyalty and barriers to entry by investing in innovative technology solutions such as suggested selling from Net Perceptions, Supply Chain Optimization (i2), Purchase Circles, and All Product Search, and integrating them into a irtuous cycle for dynamic commerce Fourth, and arguably most important, Amazon. com’s commitment to fulfillment has translated into deep and effective b-web relationships with distributors and suppliers like Ingram and a core competence in one-to-one inventory management and distribution †¢ †¢ Thanks to these four factors, Amazon. com forecasts a customer base of 22. 3 million and revenues of $3. 15 billion b y 2002. The company’s strategic investments in its warehouses, technology, and b-web integration (CFN) to enable reliable and accurate same or next day customer fulfillment are a key part of its first mover dvantage and a significant barrier to entry. Amazon. com can strategically leverage this â€Å"killer app† CFN in a number of ways:26 †¢ †¢ †¢ First, Amazon. com can offer excess capacity in its warehouses to Zshops’ merchants on a â€Å"fee for fulfillment† basis. This would accrue considerable marginal revenues for a significantly lower marginal cost incurred. Second, by installing Web-enabled buying kiosks (as well as interactive television sets and wireless Webenabled devices like PDAs) at high traffic areas in malls, office buildings, and other locations, it can move its Web buying experience to the real world for ess Web-savvy customers. Third, and perhaps most radical and innovative, Amazon. com can build free customer buying port als for each of its registered, loyal customers. For an incremental cost, Amazon. com can create customized buying pages (similar to Dell’s Premier Pages for its business-to-business customers) that will allow customers to go online and enter their buying requirements as needed. Amazon. com can then deliver the items it carries, and turn over remaining orders to its Amazon. com associates, Zshops, or other b-web affiliates for fulfillment. —Arindam (Andy) De  © 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp.Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. 1. 7 Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com Amazon. com: Key Performance Indicators (see Table 1 and figures 4a to 4f) Table 1. Comparison of 1998 performance: Amazon. com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. 28 †¢ †¢ †¢ 117. 8 million US adults, or 60% of the adult population, recognize the Amazon. com brand name, making it the most recognized brand name on the Web, followed by Priceline and e-Bay. 29 Amazon. com, with a low customer acquisition cost of around $2930 compared with $109 for a new e-tailer) and a customer retention rate of over 72%31 enjoys huge competitive advantage in terms of repeat revenue streams and significant growth in its customer base. Analysts estimate that Amazon. com’s customer base will be about 22. 3 million users by 2002 (figure 4a). 32 With an average revenue per user of $141. 25 (figure 4b), this would translate into $3. 15 billion in revenues. Gross margins over the same period would increase from 22% in 1999 to about 25% in 2002. †¢  © 1. 8 Amazon. com, with $610 million in sales in 1998 and revenue growth of 230% (June 1998–June 1999), had ero days of receivables, 23 days of inventory, 87 days of payables (figure 4c) and a positive â€Å"gap in finance cycle†(figure 4d) of 64 days. 33 This implies that Amazon. com, unl ike its competitors, is actually financing working capital with cash flow from suppliers. Amazon. com’s revenue per employee (1998) was $290,476 (figure 4e) and revenue per dollar of fixed assets (figure 4f) was $20. 47 (appreciably higher than the competition). Figures 4e and 4f show an interesting correlation between Amazon. com’s market capitalization of $31. 40 billion and its revenue per employee and revenue per dollar of fixed ssets, against the competition. This may help explain the significant upward disparity in market capitalization enjoyed by the company vis-a-vis its clicks-and-mortar competitors. 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com REVENUES ($ MILLIONS) 19,500 22,300 $3,150 20 $2,700 2500 16,500 2000 13,300 15 $2,100 1500 10 $1,403 1000 6,200 Total reven ue per user Annual net income per user $127. 27 Gross margins $138. 6 25% 25 $105. 49 90 $98. 39 22% 22% 21% 21% 20 60 15 30 10 0 ($8. 08) 5 500 30 $141. 25 120 $ PER USER 3000 $150 NUMBER OF REGISTERED USERS (MILLIONS) Revenues ($millions) Number of registered users (millions) GROSS MARGINS (%) 25 $3500 $610 -30 ($19. 57) ($20. 09) 5 ($36. 73) ($45. 37) 0 1998 1999 2000E 2001E -60 2002E Figure 4a. Amazon. com: Revenues & number of registered users (1998–2000). 34 0 1998 1999 2000E 2001E 2002E Figure 4b. Amazon. com: Revenues & net income per user, registered users and gross margins (1998–2002). 35 80 64 INVENTORY TURNOVER OR CASH-TO-CASH CYCLE 60 Inventory turnover (1998) Gap† in finance cycle (1998) Revenue growth (1998-99) 400% 40 20 16. 14 0 -20 300 2. 4 AMAZON. COM 1. 83 B&N BORDERS 230. 1% 200 -40 -60 -80 100 (80) 6. 3% -100 Figure 4c. Book retail: Age of receivables, payables, and inventory (1998). 36  © 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any mean s, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. REVENUE GROWTH (%) 0 (90) 14. 5% 0 Figure 4d. Book retail: Revenue growth (June 1998–1999) vs. inventory turnover & gap in finance cycle (1998). 37 1. 9 Customer Fulfillment in the Digital EconomyAmazon. com $350,000 300,000 $35 Revenue per employee (1998) Market capitalization ($ billions) $30 Revenue per $ of fixed assets (1998) $35 Market capitalization ($ billions) $31. 41 25 $30 $31. 41 $30 $20 200,000 $15 150,000 100,000 $103,641 $10 $95,404 50,000 0 $20 15 $15 10 $10 $5. 89 $1. 21 $0 $25 $20. 47 5 $5 $1. 64 20 $1. 64 0 $5. 26 MARKET CAPITALIZATION ($ BILLIONS) $25 REVENUE PER $ OF FIXED ASSETS ($) 250,000 MARKET CAPITALIZATION ($ BILLIONS) REVENUE PER EMPLOYEE $290,476 $5 $1. 21 $0 AMAZON. COM B&N BORDERS Figure 4e. Book retail: Revenue per employee (1998) and market cap (November 1999). 38Figure 4f. Book retail: Revenue per $ of fixed assets (1998) and market cap (November 1999). 39 1. Anthony Bianco, â€Å"Virtual Bookstores Start to Get Real,† Business Week, 27 October 1998. 2. Saul Hansell, â€Å"Amazon’s Risky Christmas,† The New York Times, 28 November 1999. 3. Ibid. 4. Jeff Bezos quoted by Stefani Eads, â€Å"Is Amazon Shopping for Profits in its Zshops? † Business Week, 12 October 1999. 5. According to Opinion Research Corp. , 117. 8 million Americans, or 60% of the US adult population, recognizes the Amazon brand name, making it the most valuable brand name on the Web. 6. Anthony Bianco, op. cit. 7.Saul Hansell, op. cit. 8. As quoted in SS Investor Equity Research Report on Amazon, December 1999. 9. Analysis and estimates by Lauren Cook Levitan, analyst, Banc Boston Robertson Stevens, August 1999. 10. Jeanne Lee. â€Å"i2 Learns What Not to Say When Talking to Analysts,† Fortune, 29 March 1999. 11. Jeff Bezos, quoted in an interview with Robert D. Hof, Business Week, 31 May 1999. 12. Strategy map based on Digital 4Sight analysis of Amazon’s etailing strategy. 13. Saul Hansell, op. cit. 14. Media Metrix numbers quoted in â€Å"Amazon, e-Bay Get Most Holiday Visitors,† Los Angeles Times (Home Edition), 4 January 2000. 5. Jeff Bezos quoted by Chip Bayersin â€Å"The Inner Bezos,† Wired, (March 1999). 16. Amazon press release from its Web site, URL http://www. hoovers. com/cgi-bin/offsite? url= http://www. amazon. com/exec/obidos/subst/misc/investorrelations/investor-faq. html/002-5319771-2477605. 17. John Evan Frook, â€Å"Missing Link Emerges: Inventory Management,† Internetweek, 9 March 1998. 18. Bob Tedeschi, â€Å"Many Internet Companies Have Focused on Attracting Customers. The Bigger challenge Is Fulfilling Orders,† The New York Times, 27 September 1999. 19. Katrina Booker, â€Å"Amazon vs. Everybody,† Fortune, 8 November 1999: 120. 20.Digital 4Sight hypothesis based on secondary research. 21. Customer case study on Oracle’s Web site, URL: http://www. oracle. com/customers/ss/amazon_ss. html. 22. Anthony Bianco. op. cit. 23. Mary Beth Grover, â€Å"Lost in Cyberspace,† Forbes, 8 March 1999. 24. Jeanne Lee, op. cit. 25. Product data from Net Perceptions Web site. URL:http://www. netperceptions. com/product/home/0,,1091, 00. html. 26. Michael Krantz, â€Å"Cruising Inside Amazon,† Time, (December 1999). 27. Digital 4Sight analysis of Amazon. com’s e-tailing strategy. 28. Digital 4Sight Financial Ratio Analysis based on P&L and balance sheet data sourced from www. oovers. com.  © 1. 10 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. Customer Fulfillment in the Digital Economy Amazon. com 29. Opinion Research Corp. survey quoted in â€Å"Equity Research Report on Amazon,† SS Investor, December 1999. 30. McKinsey & Company Data quoted in â€Å"Online Customer Acquisition Costs† Business 2. 0, (November 1999): 16-17. 31. As quoted in â€Å"Equity Research Report on Amazon. com,†SS Investor, December 1999. 32.Analysis and estimates by Lauren Cook Levitan, op. cit. 33. Gap in Finance Cycle = Days of Payables – (Days of Receivables + Days in Inventory). 34. Analysis and estimates by Lauren Cook Levitan, op. cit. 35. Digital 4Sight Financial Ratio Analysis, op. cit. 36. Ibid. 37. Ibid. 38. Ibid. 39. Ibid. 360 Adelaide Street W, 4th Floor Toronto, Ontario. Canada M5V 1R7 Tel 416. 979. 7899. Fax 416. 979-7616 www. digital4sight. com  © 2000 Digital 4Sight Corp. Reproduction by any means, or disclosure to parties who are not employees of Digital 4Sight member organizations is prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation. 1. 11

How to Build a Marketing Report Quickly (Free Template) - CoSchedule

How to Build a Marketing Report Quickly (Free Template) Most marketers would rather not spend time building reports. It can be a tedious process that takes your focus off doing other work. However, good reporting is essential for proving your efforts are moving the needle. The key, then, is learning how to build effective reports quickly. That way, you’ll be able to show (with real data) how well you’re performing. You’ll also have more time to spend on things that actually make a difference (instead of compiling  reports). In this post, we’ll walk through a complete marketing report template you can use. It’s built to be flexible and editable to adjust to your own needs. We’ve also intentionally excluded complex formulas that, while beneficial for automation, can easily break when adding or removing portions you may or may not need. We’ll also show you: How to build this report using free tools. Different marketers have different tool sets and workflows. So, for the purposes of this post, we’ll demonstrate how and where to find usable data from free sources. Replace those tools with your own paid alternatives where necessary. How to analyze your marketing performance and translate it into language others can understand. How to get this all done quickly so you can spend your time on other things. Now, let’s make you a marketing reporting master. Why Bother Building Reports, Anyway? If you can find all your analytics data inside your reporting tools, or within individual apps and services themselves, then why do you need to complete formal reports? Here are a few reasons: Your boss and company executives need to see all your data in one place. They want to see your numbers, and they want to see them quickly. You need that visibility yourself. Mashing together data from multiple sources in one location can help you connect the dots in ways you wouldn’t otherwise. It’s useful for others in your company to see how marketing is performing. Beyond executives and decision-makers, other staff might benefit from seeing the numbers. To make this whole process more expedient, download your template below.How To Build A Marketing Report Quickly (Free Template)Section 1: Marketing and Sales Summary First and foremost, marketing needs to increase your bottom line. So, that’s where our reporting template will start. To begin, include a short summary of three successes your team achieved over the past month: These could include: Successful projects you’ve recently completed. Significant increases on your KPIs. Problems your team has been able to solve. Anything you’ve achieved that’s worth sharing can go in this space. Next, let’s take a look at your sales and revenue. These are the numbers that rule your entire life (as a marketer). Where to Find This Info Start with your own team to find quick wins to share. If you’re not immediately aware of what those might be, ask your supervisor or coworkers. Try to find stories that show what you’re accomplishing to earn your paychecks. Depending on your role and the size of your organization, tracking down your sales data may not be as obvious. If you don’t typically dig into tools that can show this data (CRMs, Google Analytics, and so forth), you may need to get some outside help. If that’s the case for you, here are some starting points to consider: Ask your sales team. They should have numbers for leads and revenue. Your finance department. Again, they should know how much money is coming in. Your sales management or tracking software. If your company uses such a service, see if you can get access for reporting purposes. Regardless of where they come from, what’s important is that you report accurate numbers. Recommended Reading: How to Rock at Relationship Marketing Like the Best Sales Pros Section 2: Website / Blog Performance Report You’ve likely invested a hefty chunk of change in your website. If you’re running a blog, you’re (hopefully) putting ample resources into publishing consistent content, too. In either instance, you should be making sure they’re both earning their keep.

Subject Complement Definition and Examples

Subject Complement Definition and Examples A subject complement is a word or phrase (usually an adjective phrase, noun phrase, or pronoun) that follows a linking verb and describes or renames the subject of the sentence. Also called a subjective complement. In traditional grammar, a subject complement is usually identified as either a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective. Examples and Observations The light in the chapel was warm and soft.Mrs. Rigney was my fourth-grade teacher.My fourth-grade teacher was exceptionally kind.Ruth and Thelma are my best friends, and their roomies are Tammy Hinsen and Rebecca Bogner. (Dean Koontz, Lightning. G.P. Putnams Sons, 1988)I knelt down and pulled on the edge of the stone with him, and it started to move with the sucking sound of thick mud. It smelled awful, and we looked at each other with sour faces. (Patrick Carman, The Land of Elyon: Into the Mist. Scholastic Press, 2007)The Johnson children and Harbor Branch received $169 million. But if they were the true winners, no one was the loser. (Barbara Goldsmith, Johnson V. Johnson. Knopf, 1987)The very air was alive with the uncanny cries of phantoms that flew through the secret places of this region. These mountains were unfriendly at the best of times. (David Bilsborough, The Wanderers Tale. Tor, 2007) Linking Verbs and Subject Complements If a verb requires a subject complement (SC) to complete the sentence, the verb is a linking verb. The subject complement ([italicized] in the examples that follow) typically identifies or characterizes the person or thing denoted by the subject: (1) Sandra is my mothers name.(2) Your room must be the one next to mine.(3) The upstairs tenant seemed a reliable person.(4) A university is a community of scholars.(5) The receptionist seemed very tired.(6) You should be more careful.(7) The distinction became ​quite clear.(8) The corridor is too narrow. The most common linking verb is  be. Other common linking verbs (with examples of subject complements in parentheses) include appear (the best plan), become (my neighbor), seem (obvious), feel (foolish), get (ready), look (cheerful), sound (strange). Subject complements are typically noun phrases, as in (1)-(4) above, or adjective phrases, as in (5)-(8) above. (Gerald C. Nelson and Sidney Greenbaum, An Introduction to English Grammar, 3rd ed. Routledge, 2009) The Difference Between a Subject Complement and an Object The Subject Complement is the obligatory constituent which follows a copular verb and which cannot be made the subject in a passive clause: Whos there? Its me / Its I.*She became a tennis champion at a very early age.Feel free to ask questions! The Subject Complement does not represent a new participant, as an Object does, but completes the predicate by adding information about the subject referent. For this reason, the Subject Complement differs from the Object in that it can be realized not only by a nominal group but also by an adjectival group (Adj.G), as illustrated in the previous examples. The objective case (me) is now in general use (Its me) except in the most formal registers, in which the subjective form (Its I) or (I am he/she) are heard, especially in AmE. As well as be and seem, a wide range of verbs can be used to link the subject to its Complement; these add meanings of transition (become, get, go, grow, turn) and of perception (sound, smell, look) among others... (Angela Downing and Philip Locke, English Grammar: A University Course, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2006) Agreement with Subject Complements (16c) These are the costs the grey parties never talk about when they allow the system to go on. (w2b-013:097) . . .(16h) I call them wild flowers. . . .(s1a-036:205) In those cases in which the complements are noun phrases, the subject complement shows concord with the subject S, and the object complement is in concord with the direct object, as can be best seen in the examples (16c) and (16h). (Rolf Kreyer, Introduction to English Syntax. Peter Lang, 2010) Semantic Relations The italicized portions of the following examples are Subject Complements. The upper case labels to the right indicate the semantic relation between the Subject Complement and the Subject: (4a) The venue for the meeting is the Roxburghe Hotel. EQUATION(4b) The estate car is a Volvo. PROPER INCLUSION(4c) Youre so young. ATTRIBUTION(4d) Would you still love me if I were old and saggy? ATTRIBUTION(4e) that telly was mine POSSESSION(4f) Sometimes were on a collision course, LOCATION(4g) the NHS was for all of us BENEFACTEE(4h) The five pound note was for services rendered. IN EXCHANGE The Inflection (marking for tense, aspect, mode, and agreement) in this type of construction is carried by be; therefore be is the syntactic Head of the Predicate. However, the Subject Complement is the element that expresses the main semantic content of the Predicate. In other words, the Complement is the semantic Head of the Predicate. Source Thomas E. Payne, Understanding English Grammar: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2011

Entrepreneurial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Entrepreneurial Management - Essay Example My particular area of interest is the EXPEC Computer Centre which is the technological department of Saudi Aramco, and which majors in the technological issues of the company (Oxford Business Group, 2009). The company has commanded a sizeable market share as well as gained respect in its exploration into technology. Through this, the company has remained remarkably relevant in the oil industry in the region, commanding a particularly sizeable market share and respect in technology related to exploration. EXPEC forms the basis of the company’s success in technological issues. It will be an honor to get the opportunity to work in this unit since it is paramount in the prestigious Saudi Aramco Company. It will be a pleasure to be a member of the team responsible for taking Saudi Aramco to its current height of Technology. The Company has had a crucial role to play when it comes to the journey of industrialization in the Saudi Kingdom (Oxford Business Group, 2009). The EXPEC Compu ter Centre has played a role in the company when it comes to finding solutions to technological problems and creating various solutions in the same field. The company boasts of technology that is as a result of EXPEC ARC actions. EXPEC ARC gas has been recognized and received various awards in the Saudi Kingdom and from the rest of the world (Vitalis 2006). ... Various production techniques are dependent on technology. There are various production techniques that rely on EXPEC ARC, and which have played a crucial role of pushing Saudi Armaco to greater heights. So far, EXPEC ARC has been able to make major strides in simulations, visualizations as well as land seismic (Vitalis 2006). I am a young man full of ambition, and it will be absolute honor if I become part of the scientists who will be working towards the achievement of the 2020 goals set by Saudi Aramco Company. The aim of the company is to be transformed into an integrated, global chemicals and energy company by 2020. In this case, the company needs to harness the skills and creativity of young people like me in order to realize these goals. If given a chance to work at the EXPEC ARC, I will focus all my energy on coming up with new technologies and ideas to improve production and other operations within the Saudi Aramco company. Job details Computer programmer The position is for a junior/graduate who will write computer programs for the company and use them to perform various functions as a member of the team working on the various ongoing projects. Personal information From the early stages of my life, I always had a keen interest on computers, and most of my activities such as games, entertainment, exploration and a part of my education revolved around the computer. As a result of my interest in computers, I decided to take up computer studies. I am currently undertaking a course in computer science, and currently in my final year, last semester of my undergraduate course. Since I would like to apply my computer skills in business, I plan to take up a master degree course in Digital Business next year. With the knowledge