Mexico And Its Incredible Role In International Commerce And The International Economy
The international economy has immensely grown over the past few decades as a lot more resources are developed that maximize the opportunities of importing and exporting, as well as greatly increasing the potential of international communication. Several businesses have made the move to make the most of this international economy through investment into resources such as outsourcing, which allows them to reduce their expenses and increase the opportunities of maximizing profit.
This international economy has also helped in boosting the opportunities of international commerce, as companies expand their business into countries around the world which offer strength in the domestic market. Mexico is one of the nations that has discovered the greatest advantage created by the international trade.
Mexico has fast become one of the greatest nations of opportunity for a business organization to take advantage of when looking to develop their profits with imports and increase the opportunities of producing exports. With looking to make the most of the opportunity of importing, Mexico supports a really large domestic market of over 112 million citizens.
When you combine this with the average age being 29, you discover a marketplace which provides great promise for a company looking to invest in international commerce, into a relatively untapped resource. To further aid companies in benefiting from this opportunity, Mexico has reduced their tariffs on imports from 13% to 4.8%, creating incredible savings for any company looking for investment into this foreign market.
Whilst the opportunities of importing are exceedingly positive, one more advantage a company could utilize when seeking the best possibilities in the international economy is found with production and exporting in Mexico. With the average age of citizens in Mexico being 29, it enables businesses to tap into a very youthful workforce that will help in maximizing production potential. Furthermore, 28% of the population is under the age of 15 which will allow you to continuously tap into a youthful workforce that's well-educated and driven towards creating high-quality products. The educational growth in Mexico is highly important, taking advantage of fields such as engineering, electrics, automotive, information technology, aerospace, and many other areas that will benefit your production opportunities.
One of the greatest possibilities in Mexico which exist with international commerce and taking advantage of the international economy is found with location. As a central point in the world, Mexico offers incredible access to high areas of international commerce, like those found in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Mexico supports 49 international access points, 76 seaports, 85 airports, 26,700 km of railroad, 366,000 km of roads, and even 11 trade agreements that give them access to 43 markets equaling 66% of the world GDP. No other country can match the international opportunities of importing and exporting which exists with Mexico.
ProMexico is the Mexican Government institution in charge of strengthening Mexico's participation in the international trade (<a href="http://www.myspace.com/556608531">comercio</a>). With this objective in mind, the institution supports the export activity of companies established in the country and co-ordinates actions to attract foreign direct investment to national territory. ProMexico was established on June 13, 2007, as a sectoral public trust under the Ministry of the Economy, and operates through a network of 25 offices throughout Mexico and more than 27 offices abroad.
About the Author
Visit the website <a href="http://www.promexico.gob.mx">http://www.promexico.gob.mx</a> to know more.
What is the role of e-commerce in the market?
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Online marketing also referred to as online marketing, i-marketing, web-marketing, online-marketing or e-marketing is the marketing of services or products over the internet. Media is now available to the global audience through internet. The internet has now a primary tool for the delivery of information; businesses of any sizes are following the route of online marketing to increase awareness of their company's goods and services. The interactive nature of online marketing in terms of providing instant responses is the unique qualities of the medium. Online marketing generally considered to be broad in scope because its scope is not only refers to marketing on internet, but also refers marketing done via e-mail and wireless media. Electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) system and management of digital customer data are also often grouped together under online marketing.
Online advertising
Under online marketing, online advertising plays a vital role. Online advertising is a type of promotion of your products or services that uses internet for the purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online advertising are contextual ads on search engine results pages, rich media Ads, online classified advertising, advertising networks, email spam, e-mail marketing, social network advertising and banner ads.
Online marketing plan
Online marketing involves the marketing of the services or product on the internet. Successful online marketing needs to have a good online marketing plan. A good online marketing plan does include a good search engines marketing plan. Good online marketing plan keep the web user returning to your web page. Every good market plans includes the SEO (search engine optimization) techniques. Such online market plans increases the traffic on your web page and result into popularity of your site.
Conclusion
Online marketing is online advertising of your product or service following a good online marketing plan.
About the Author
Bill Anderson is the CEO and founder Of ClicksRank LLC. Visit ClicksRank.com for afforadable pay per click advertising.
7 Benefits of Online Video Marketing for Local Businesses
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Role of e-commerce in Travel and Tourism,How it is used?, the Standalone system of Travel and tourism..,the type of network used in travel and tourism.Application use of the Travel and tourism system. please help me it is urgent....
The internet has provided a whole new arena for businesses to attract customers. Before one would have to walk into a business in order to find out more or employ services. Now they simply have to make a call or chat online to get what they are looking for and can pay online as well, making it all more convenient.
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Dominating Video Why You Should Invest In The Best Internet Marketing Strategies Online
Unless you have been under a rock for the past decade, then you already know that to ensure that us entrepreneurs to outlive in the marketplace we've to do one factor and do it effectively, that is drive traffic. There are 100s of how to drive site visitors, some efficient and some not so effective, however there's one method that has proven itself time and time once more and as a matter of fact is the preferred medium for profitable on-line marketers.
Why Use Video Advertising and Why 2010 Is The Finest Year To Implement It?
Video Advertising is by far probably the most best technique to model yourself as a consultant in your market. If you would like to create belief, credibility and construct visitors all at the same time, using video marketing is by far some of the smartest and most effective methods you can use to your business. Video is easy to produce, could be fairly cheap if performed proper, and is considered one of the quickest solution to drive focused traffic.
Think about whenever you see someone else utilizing video advertising, do not you're feeling like you understand this particular person? You feel just like the barrier has been broken and additionally you get a feel of who the person really is. Video advertising itself can create a lifetime brand for you and your business. Audios work, utilizing picture works, however there might be nothing compared to video. Only one short 1 minute video can increase your private branding and gross sales easily.
Find out how to use advertising to drive extra site visitors to your web sites?
One thing I love about video advertising is that it is viral. Movies have the tendency to be shared quickly and easily because of all the model new social media networking sites out there. You don't have to only restrict your videos to YouTube or viddler. With the in-built sharing features of web sites like Twitter, Fb and MySpace, you may simply get your video in front of lots of people rapidly, and the advantage of this is, people at the second are extra conditioned to view video and usually have a tendency to share it with their group rather than just common written content.
Video advertising does not need to be costly, in precise fact it isn't even near as costly because it was years ago. Now, you probably can merely put up a video you recorded utilizing a HD Flip Digicam or even a cellphone digital camera such as the blackberry or iphone etc. The notion of video now could be extra private than it was years ago, it doesn't have to be the highest quality, as lengthy as it delivers the message successfully you will do well. If you have not been utilizing video but, now might be the most effective time to capitalize on 2010 and put your self one step forward of your competition.
On-line video advertising is now not only for large corporations with fancy advertising budgets. Now more and more people are producing their very own on-line marketing movies and importing them to their websites and blogs. In reality, video marketing is so powerful and standard now, that if you are a net based marketer and never utilizing video advertising you may be merely going to get left behind.
So why is video advertising and marketing is so widespread amongst internet entrepreneurs? It's well-liked as an end result of prospects find it irresistible! Video is dynamic and visually stimulating. Video also allows for the use of music and a spoken gross sales pitch. What's more, video is easy on your customer. Folks like watching television and film and affiliate it with entertainment. It is much simpler for them to click on on a video, then sit again and relax, relatively than hunch over the display to learn a long sales letter.
On-line marketing is all about building trust with your viewers in an effort to turn them into customers. Online video advertising is a good way to do this. By appearing in your on-line marketing videos your self you can actually present your customers who you are. That is an incredibly highly effective and easy solution to build a relationship with your audience and subsequently improve their belief in you. Once you have gained that belief promoting turns into a lot easier.
The online advertising trade is seeing a particular shift towards online video marketing. It's nice that you've got recognized this want to include on-line video advertising into your advertising strategy.
In case you are nervous that the technical facet of online video marketing is beyond you, then suppose again. These days you should utilize software packages to care for all of the difficult technical facets reminiscent of coding, FTP, hosting etc. Some of the packages now use quite simple user interfaces that even probably the most untechnical individual can use to create skilled effective outcomes which translate into increased traffic and extra sales.
"Lights, digicam, motion!" In relation to video advertising the operative word is action, and particularly a call to action. At the beginning your video needs to have data in it that the viewer will discover useful. I can't rely the variety of movies I've closed out after the start 15 seconds were solely, "buy from us" pitches. In essence, the sport is performed that you simply give something of worth, and in return you're going to get a quality customer.
So how do you accomplish this end game with video promoting? If in case you have a model new thought, or distinctive perspective on an old concept you are ahead of the vast majority of video producers. Good quality video is important. There's nothing improper with a Powerpoint or Camtasia presentation which has a voice over. However there are just a few guidelines you need to comply with for such a production.
1. Do not spend a long time period on one slide or image. To linger on one visible is boring, and video at all times has motion on the core of its medium. For a Powerpoint presentation go to Flickr.com or SXC.hu for some free images. One other method of getting free pictures is to go to any pay picture site, see what they have to your topic, then exit and shoot your own pictures with a similar twist. Do not have time, or a digital digicam, then simply buy the images. The highest quality supplied shouldn't be needed when doing video advertising, medium quality photographs will work simply fine.
When working with a computer screen capturing program like Camtasia or CamStudio use your pointer to offer emphasis to your vocal level of view. Additionally when you can, pull in for shut-ups, or scan out to present a broader image. Just combine it as much as give the viewer a motive to maintain watching. Many tutorial movies would really make a greater audio recording, as an outcome of so little care is given to the visual a half of the production.
After all no matter how nice your visible manufacturing is you aren't going to win any awards in your video, but in case you play it right, you'll acquire a prize in the method in which of a model new customer.
2. Finish together with your name to action. Generally this will be a "visit my website for more particulars, or the joy of another great product, or in case you can -- a free offer". Your objective here is to move, quite literally, from the video to your gross sales process. Do not be shy about it, however then again don't be pushy, or arrogant. Speech like "solely I can..." is a call to motion for the viewer to think of who else can perform better than you. You do not wish to shove the viewer towards your competition. But should you don't inform them to do one thing they are going to do nothing.
3. Make your web site address, cellphone number or other means of contact be the final thing the viewer watches. This is the one visual that should linger for not less than 30 seconds. It's a must to give the viewer time to write it down, or to directly observe by means of on your name to action.
Don't take up the entire visible screen along with your name to action. Also when doing video advertising don't just tell the viewer to comply with the hyperlink below the viewing screen. At instances folks will really download your video, burn it with others of an identical matter to a DVD, then watch all of them on their television. Many TV's do not play the videos at the same display screen size as the computer does, so your internet tackle will seemingly be minimize off if it takes up your complete screen. Pull it in from all the perimeters a bit.
In gentle of individuals creating DVDs I am positive you can guess why you shouldn't put your call to motion as only a request to observe the hyperlink below the video. What link!?
Video advertising is doubtless one among the finest methods of getting your message out to the public. By creating informative, visually fascinating productions you might be assured individuals will not solely watch your video, but may also reply to your call to action.
Video advertising is gaining increasingly popularity within the promoting industry. Maybe it is a very unhealthy news for any English trainer but the recent studies in the society revealed that majority of individuals would select to watch a video about a company quite than studying any content material related to that same company. Within the internet, most videos are highly dependent on websites such as the YouTube or its software to distribute the content and deliver the advertising messages to each viewer all through the world. Presently, there might be nonetheless a lot that one can gain from the YouTube online advertising and marketing campaign however in time, the ubiquity of YouTube bots might weaken the effectiveness of the campaign.
Video advertising is now one of the vital viable strategies towards on-line viral marketing. Most of the video viewers will often elicit an instantaneous response upon watching the advertisement in video form. That is now one very efficient online advertising strategy that has the potential of reaching out to millions of people in a short interval of time. As this type of advertising remains to be a greatly underrated advertising and marketing strategy as not everybody is ready to view the videos, this business could be a likable potential to invest. Perhaps you probably can contemplate enhancing your business by means of some movies?
There has been ongoing rumors regarding the effectiveness of video advertising but not many company companies are willing to try out these viral videos. One biggest advantage of those videos is that they generate huge free visitors and will high search engine results as fast as 48 hours. At this second, video promotion resembles scorching cakes within the web advertising prospect however YouTube continues to be famous with the older demographic where social networking is still pretty restricted. Not like other web sites within the internet, movies themselves can not improve the search rank on search engines.
Video promoting is the newest advertising and marketing trend in the online marketing vogue. It is indeed a perfect method to promote your views, services to the entire vast world. For several reasons, video is way more efficient and there could be lesser competitors in comparison with the standard web site search engine positioning. That is viral and depends enormously on neighborhood submissions in addition to social tagging. Nonetheless, should you assume that a simple commercial shoot will be enough to create a buzz and get good ranks then you need to assume twice. This is merely a method adopted by most online enterprise corporations to promote their services or merchandise via the invention of brief movies and publishing them on their websites. If you don't possess such capabilities and cannot make alluring videos then it is uncertain that your effort can fetch favorable response.
Undeniably, video is revolutionizing the greatest way companies deliver their approach to audiences as it has been an increasingly well-identified advertising medium. In other words, video advertising is the potential future within the internet hence that is the best alternative in the event you want to keep ahead of others and luxuriate in maximized benefits that such advertising and marketing way can offer. When you could want to consider shooting, enhancing or optimizing videos then submit them to YouTube, Yahoo or Google as a form of advertisement, you need to first examine if internet customers are your focused customers.
Now we have all learned about the significance of web optimization (seo) and find out how to construction our websites for max site visitors and conversions, but have you ever actually tackled video marketing?
I do know, you see movies all the time that get 1000's if not millions of views and they're dumb as heck and are a joke. Effectively there in lies the hint... The attention span of oldsters watching a video is short, very short. In fact it's essential to seize their attention in beneath three-5 seconds are they are going to move on.
I do know your objective is to not have a million hits of your cat yawing on video however slightly to market a services or products to them, right? That is the place the sport modifications significantly as you do not want a hoard of un-targeted site visitors but what it's essential to highly target site visitors that will convert. True video advertising and marketing is getting clients to convert at a high rate.
There are so many scenarios to contemplate so allow us to simply make on example. Suppose you are selling your individual website positioning consulting service. Just having a video of a speaking head saying the identical thing everyone appears to be will get boring real fast. As a substitute find a strategy to capture their attention immediately and them lead them into your supply then funnel them to click a hyperlink to study extra, all this in below 2 minutes. Then watch your conversions skyrocket.
No onto the search engine optimisation portion of video marketing. Unlike a photo, movies don't get crawled correctly by engines like google as an end result of their intense HTML code. Instead, let the weblog of video listing guide these spiders in the precise direction by naming your video the goal key phrase and tagging it with a number of keywords related to the niche.
Also you don't want to be an knowledgeable film maker, just have primary skills. It is easier than you think! One other good tip is to have your net deal with overlay on the video throughout all the duration after which let is run for an addition 10 seconds after the video is completed to ensure good click on throughs together with a hyperlink under the video itself.
You should have heard in 2010, that utilising video to promote your small business would possibly just result in extraordinary results. But, will the advantages prevail over the energy it needs to submit your video on-line? No brainer... Yes! Capturing a video, formatting & modifying it, sending it to the Internet with a catchy title and outline requires a good bit of time & effort. However, the payoff for video advertising and marketing would possibly just be mammoth.
Learn On For 7 Essential Advantages From Utilizing Video Advertising and marketing:
1. Connecting Personally - Especially for Internet centered companies, the unique relationship along with your impending marketplace is an amazing promoting dynamic. Along with video, your market can really turn out to be acquainted with you, within the flesh. They get to distinguish that you're, unquestionably a real, animate, human being. They start developing a strong liaison with you and feel as if they actually have actually met you.
2. Social Proof - There are outdated proverbs & sayings: "Just because its written down, does not imply it's true." On the Web it is just so easy to be quick on the truth and a fraud. People are unconvinced concerning stuff they read online, and correctly so. However, video affords up a human being to your phrases and you develop into, hastily, much more genuine and truthful.
3. Traffic - Guys are viewing up to a few BILLION videos on daily basis on YouTube alone! That's bought to be potentially, a massive quantity of inbound traffic you are not directing in case you are not selling your self by utilizing video. It is often freed from cost and uncomplicated to connect your video to a major number of the video internet-sites out there on the Web.
4. Hearts & Minds - The classic horror movement image is likely to be an unbelievable illustration of how the audio features might have an exciting outcome on us. The creepy music is accessible in, instantaneously cluing you in that something stunning is approaching. At this second, envisage mixing that audio with sturdy video leads to manipulate the emotions of the viewer and produce a way more forceful communication than with simply written content material in isolation.
5. Transportability - Possibly much more so than content and ebooks, Video is movable. iPhones, Smartphones, iPads and all kinds of different gizmo's permit video to be viewed on the run. It's attainable to also permit people to obtain video without issue therefore, they will view it frequently.
6. Opinions - Surveys, case studies and examples are excellent ways to influence somebody to buy products and services. That's the reason why infomercials earn tens of millions of dollars. At current, there's no purpose so that you simply can be as aggravating because the Ker-pow guy to convey in money by approach of video; you simply need to create videos that exhibit and instruct your would-be prospects why your creation shall be useful to them.
7. Commitment - You can find numerous intelligence available on-line to level out that video swells response and conversion rates. Whereas anybody is watching a video, you will have their complete concentration - eyes and ears. Unlike with the written phrase, they gained't be more possible to skip forward or evade essential information. Almost everyone will watch over a video from opening to shut, enabling you to brazenly provoke a degree and call to motion that spurs in your audience.
About the Author
The Writer is a writer and has written plentiful articles on the internet. Among his masterpieces consists of a piece of writing about DominatingVideo and download here .
Internet Marketing w/Online Classifieds-Craigslist,BackPage
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Choose the Best Affiliate Program & Multiply Your Earnings
If you are a marketing enthusiast and eager to make additional income by utilizing your marketing skill, then affiliate marketing program is your answer. When you are eager to draw earnings from Internet marketing world, you must have a website with regular flow of traffic. Now, it is time to make use of the traffic to earn money by driving to the best affiliate program you have sign up. Yes, the first step is to select an affiliate program that matches your marketing niche, knowledge other parameters and expectations.
Once you have selected the best affiliate program – you will be given link of the vendor's site that you need to embed to your site. Now that you are given some textual and/or banner links of the merchant's site to your website you have one thing to do – lead the traffic coming to your site to the merchants' sites through the links pasted on your website. Every time a visitor visit the merchants' site through your affiliate site or submit a registration form or buys something from the site – you bag commission at a predetermined rates.
Rates of commissions are extremely varying in nature due to the varying terms and types of affiliate programs. Therefore, an affiliate program is perceived as the best affiliate program as soon as it matches the level of expectations of affiliate marketers in terms of commission payout. After all, being an affiliate marketer your main agenda to join an affiliate program is increasing your earnings. Therefore, your main lookout will definitely be the commission model and its payout regimen.
Usually, an online affiliate program offers commission somewhere between 10% to 50%. Some vendors share up to 70 to 75% from the sales price. Affiliates who are yet to grasp tricks and tacts of online marketing skill, should avoid lure of high scale sales or performance based affiliate programs. A click or action based affiliate program will be the best affiliate programs for you to get paid for just sending out visitors to the vendors' sites. Even though visitors do not submit forms or purchase from the site – you can pocket your commission for referring traffic. So, go ahead, outline your definition of a best affiliate program, choose accordingly, join and start earning right away.
About the Author
Author: M Wali is an expert author of Rupiz Affiliates, a leading affiliate network that caters to global audience. Which is into affiliate programs, search engine optimization, online advertising, affiliate network.
The Best Affiliate Program 2010. PROOF VIDEO. {Best Online Job Home Business}
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These are the all around best network marketing tips for success. This check list will not only provide you with a recipe for success with network marketing but success in anything you choose to apply the method to.
I’d say that’s pretty powerful stuff eh…?
What many people seem to have trouble grasping is the fact that success it self, be it with business, sports or even academics, has the very same formula. Basically, if you know what it takes to be successful at one thing, you can often apply the very same approach in a different context and duplicate that same kind of success for yourself over and over again.
Network Marketing Tips #1:
This first tip for success is also one of the most difficult to master. Time management may sound like a simple thing, but that’s far from the truth of things.
Ask yourself,” how do I spend my average day?” How many hours do you spend working, sleeping, eating, traveling between places, etc.? There are only so many hours in a day. If you work 8 hours, and get 8 hours of sleep, you only have 8 more left to do everything else.
The point I hope to make here is that your time is extremely valuable. The average American watches 4 or more hours of television a day. That 4 hours a day, equals a 28 hours a week that could be spent building your success.
Network Marketing Tips #2:
This second tip is nearly as important as the first. Being able to properly budget your finances is a must for any successful business owner. Being aware of how you spend your valuable resources, like your time and your money, will allow you to decide how to use them to your best advantage.
Also when planning to advertise and promote your business or service, preparing a set budget will help motivate you to promote your business as wisely and effectively as possible.
Network Marketing Tips #3:
This third tip is one that keeps on giving. Be sure to a lot both time and finances toward continuing education with your chosen industry niche. Think of this as an investment that will undoubtedly give you a serious return provided you stick to it.
There are possibly dozens of helpful hints to be lain at your feet in hopes that the right combination will guarantee success for you and your business. However, if you can properly manage your time and you finances as well as maintain the focus to continually increase your business knowledge you will all but have such a guarantee already in hand.
Successfully mastering just these three network marketing tips will require focus, discipline, and dedication. These are characteristics a great majority of successful individuals share. Work hard to develop them within yourself and success is sure to follow.
About the Author
Why are entrepreneurs still struggling to realize the near infinite business potential of the web? http://www.better-online-business-opportunity.com/Ab
Network Marketing Training (MLM Basic Beginner Strategies) by Christian Fioravanti
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I'm interested in the concepts of mlm and I really like to help people. Is there any way I can do both?
I've heard of one. It's called the Angel Gift Network. I guess they're getting ready to do "beta launch" which I guess is like a pre launch where you don't have to pay for awhile. Anyway, if you google "angel gift network" you should find a page full. They've got an information page at www.angelgiftnetwork.com and charities can sign up at www.angelgiftnetwork.org.
Best Network Marketing Company (MLM) (Best MLM) - 3 Important Criteria to Consider
Managing ICT transformation in University Education in Uganda: Justification,Problem and Way forward
The twentieth century saw much technological advancement in many social spheres ranging from the discovery of the radio, the aeroplane, the atomic bomb and the apex was the going to the moon. All these technological advancements had adverse impacts on the life style of the communities around the world. However, most importantly, is the invention of the Internet and the intranet which historic achievement has greatly impacted on the academic life of many universities around the world. The period of the 1990s ushered in a new world order; the beginnings of the idea of globalisation and its immediate impacts on higher education developments. Globalisation represents the international system that is shaping most societies today including university programs. It is a process that is “super charging” the interaction and integration of cultures, politics, business and intellectual elements around the world.
This paper examines the effects of globalization in terms of technological transformations on the development of universities. The pursuit of technological transformation in higher education has become widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa with the extensive pervasiveness of global networks like the Internet and Intranet as institutions struggle to prepare students for effective participation in the emerging global knowledge economy. Technologically based education is further seen as a way to address the increase in the world demand for tertiary education. The one new university per week is required to keep pace with world population growth but the resources necessary are not available. For instance, since the time of the overwhelmingly increased student enrolments in many public universities in Uganda from the 1990s and onwards, existing resources and infrastructure have not increased commensurate to the same increase in the student capacity. Lecture theatres and libraries are flooding and infrastructure and instructional materials and staff are all constrained with the alarmingly increased student populations. Higher education must develop more cost-effective methods so that public resources can be increased and effectively utilized. A lecture theatre in a public university that sits over 300 students attending an economics class will not be effective if more public address systems are not installed to enable each and every learner benefit from the lecture.
Likewise, if a university lacks internet facility to serve its ever increasing student population then it would be quite hard to ensure quality learning and research. By using technology for teaching, universities can serve the public more cost-effectively and in particular can prepare students better for a technologically based society. In view of the growing globalisation and transnational exchanges in many fields. In these circumstances politicians, policy-makers, and citizens should make demands upon education systems to reform. Open learning and distance education are at the forefront of educational responses to the changes that are taking place locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
Information technological transformation in universities, however, has major systemic implications and needs to be carefully managed. As soon as an organization takes the first tentative steps from data to information, its decision processes, management structure, and even the way it gets its work done begin to be transformed.Attempts to introduce any significant reform will impact on all of its sub-systems. The advent of information technology in any big university will wholly impact tremendously on the internal and external operations of that university. It implies that with information technological advancement, universities have to prepare themselves to welcome such crucial developments. It systematically relates to the fact that university management has to train or hire manpower to operate the technology; and the same universities should change the teaching approaches to cope with the demands of the new information technology.
Using technology to extend the campus on a global basis will affect all aspects of a university or college, but particularly administrative systems. Similarly when he refers to the necessity of looking at innovations within the framework of institutional development. The introduction of e-Learning will prompt a thorough re-examination of the core practices of an university organization, whether advertising, or registration, or design and delivery of materials, or student support or assessment of students and research, in order to arrive at the most effective way of providing these services in a networked, multimedia environment.
Involving academics in technological reform in Universities
Educational institutions exist to open minds and challenge established doctrine, but at the same time, the manpower that occupies these institutions is extremely resistant to change. Higher education can be described as largely bureaucratic and bureaucracies, by definition, resist change. I recall an incidence during my university life when my old professor hated something called a computer and a projector used in teaching. Whenever I told him that my research analysis was based on computer packages he retorted negatively “ you are bound to fail research, please use the formulas I gave you in class”. Such an expression and reaction depicts an “old fashioned academic” who is not ready to accept recent global changes in the area of academics in universities. Many other students, in recent times, face the same wrath of such unsighted professors. Because of the wide resistance to change in most education institutions, technological innovation has often been implemented as an isolated, top-down initiative of university managers for efficiency purposes. In this scenario, the wider systems within tertiary education are often not considered and neither affected by the innovation.
Technological innovations have also experienced difficulty-taking precedence in top offices in university educatio. Higher education, similar to other sectors of society, has often responded to new ICT applications on the basis of efficiencies rather than the use of more strategic considerations. Some staff have resisted IT advocating remaining in use of the old systems of processing student papers. They type writer and old record keeping methods are still in use creating managerial inefficiencies in the “transcript office” and at the departmental examinations office. This traditional criterion of record management tends to stifle operational effectiveness. Most changes in education in the twentieth and twenty first centuries had been first order changes, which aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness of current practices. One of such first order changes is the introduction of the Internet and the computer in management work and teaching methodology. Therefore, attempts to oppose such lucrative developments in any global institution are a path in the wrong direction because technology is here to stay.
To ensure ownership of sound educational quality in ICT and e-Learning, it is important that educators and educational policy drive and direct technological transformation of higher education. Therefore, the structures supporting technology-based education have to ensure an educational focus and pre-eminence of educational principles and policy grounded on administrative desires and attitudinal change. The literature on non-traditional modes of delivery in higher education using state-of-the-art technologies, indicates that the extensive use of ICT in education poses previously unencountered problems in pedagogy and andragogy, which are attitudinal. In addition, these problems are primarily to do with conservativeness of those who fear technological change. Technological decisions need to be preceded by policy and educational decisions and highlighting the importance of bottom-up and more organic approaches during technological transformation in higher education in the developing world.
Engaging academics to appreciate ICT is a significant management issue in higher educational reform and such reform has to be based on the development of 'learning communities'. That means that the actual process of reform must engage academics in actual learning of how to use the new technologies and seeing that this technology is further promoted creating self-initiative so as to build self-confidence and sharing. In most cases, ICT training should be made compulsory to every academic and don. This requires serious bottom-up approaches to encourage and implement the reforms. Top down attempts to achieve educational reforms in technological outlook have failed and will be doomed to failure until they confront the cultural and pedagogical traditions and beliefs that underlie current practices and organizational arrangement. In technological transformation in higher education, it seems necessary to address the concerns and perceptions of academic staff in the light of the need for changing their attitudes and to ensure ownership by academic staff.
Ownership of the technological transformation by academic staff is critical as it requires major changes in professional roles. This points to the need for specialised roles and the need for academics to gain the skills and knowledge for effective use of the new technologies, and the requirement for extensive training. University staff needs to change attitude towards technological advancement and need a more complex training session in how to use such technologies and come to appreciate them. The new technologies in global education point to a new role for the teacher, for the student and for course material. It centres on the construction of knowledge by the student. A lecturer becomes a facilitator and promoter and information becomes something to work with, think with, discuss, negotiate and debate with partners.
The specialized skills needed to develop technology based learning materials further point to the rationale for using development teams. Producing good quality technology based learning materials will require people who can combine good pedagogic practice with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different media and technologies. Course design teams are the accepted model in distance education and that the Open University uses course development teams extensively. The predominant course-team model in distance education and the main advantage of this model is that it operates on high professional standards.
Technological transformation in higher education, implementation and innovation is based on new approaches to organizational processes. An innovation can be described as an idea or behavior that is new to the organization adopting it. Implementing and adopting some thing new to a culture requires commitment, patience and acceptance of change. In this way, a bottom-up innovation process in the development of ICT is important because it fosters the development of the will among members and generates collective participation of lower cadres in decision making leading to consensus building. It is difficult to resist change that comes from the bottom from among the users. The importance of a bottom-up process for a successful innovation aims at spreading leadership. If it does not aim at shared leadership right from the outset, therefore such technology is unlikely to be capable of establishing itself in the university system.
In addition, there is need to ensure strong innovation diffusion into higher education systems. The innovation diffusion theory provides a general explanation for the manner in which new entities and ideas like IT and technology based education over time, disseminate through social systems, in higher education. The innovation diffusion theory is essentially a bottom-up approach based on individual responses that can be used as a starting point to depict technological transformation in higher education. Initially, there is a take-off stage during which an innovation is introduced into a social system. An entrepreneurial group called the innovators often then adopts it. During the next phase of maturation the "early adopters", who are change agents or opinion leaders among the social system, will enter the process thereby legitimizing the innovation and opening the potential for adoption to all members of the system. The final saturation stage in an innovation's adoption is characterized by widespread adoption. The innovation saturates the social system and growth tapers off. This process can be plotted as an S-shaped growth curve.
We have seen that technology cannot be separated from development of the university because it is transient with globalisation and its intentions. Hence, there is need to overcome any resistance from staff and management that hinder technology to take root especially where the computer and internet age is resisted in most main stream teaching, planning and record keeping. In order to cause a vibrant attempt to allowing the ICT age and e-learning to take root, there are several policy directions that should be taken first hand and these are:
To promote top-down and bottom-up strategies that promote ICT development and utilization in universities through innovation diffusion. The level of resources made available to promote ICT usage would not have been possible without senior management and staff support. When typical political problems like irrational resistance to change are encountered, senior management is able to step in and direct matters. Middle management and staff, that is, heads of academic and administrative departments and lecturers, play an important role in controlling resources and running the support.
The diffusion can be sustained through the use of a distributed implementation structure. A Centre for e-Learning, for example, should be established to provide central support and to coordinate the progress of the technological promotion project in the universities. Even learning should strictly adapt to these technologies where teaching methodologies should acquire ICT strategies and course work should be conducted using ICT facility.
Universities should take time to ensure staff ownership of technologies even the most rigid type and conservative staff should see the benefits of e-learning and ICT in higher education development. Ensuring ownership by academic staff is essential in the diffusion of e-Learning strategies that promote effective teaching and learning.
In order to ensure ownership of e-learning in universities by academic staff, it is important for educators and educational policies to drive the technological transformation. Staff development can be used as an important strategy to advance the transformation of higher education.
The implementation of educational technology into the curriculum requires the introduction of a very robust technology infrastructure. Every staff should have a Pentium computer, printer or access to a printer, access to the Internet and e-mail with power failures and network shutdowns minimal. The library should also create a technology rich learning environment.
In conclusion, creating an enduring vision and a strategic implementation framework for the effective implementation of technological innovations seems critical. However, it requires institutional leadership in order to promote technology use in university education. The most important function of institutional leadership may be to create a shared vision that includes widespread input and support from the faculty and administration, articulates a clear educational purpose, has validity for stakeholders, and reflects the broader mission of the institution. If African universities cannot take advantage of the information revolution and surf this great wave of technological change, they may be crushed by it. Catching this wave will require visionary leadership in most universities on the continent.
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About the Author
Mirek Sopek speech at "Web has a meaning" conference. Part 1
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When it comes to Internet marketing education, its essential that you pick the right course. And the right course will be different for different people.
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What do you get with the course - Some courses will come with a lot of material, extra reading and ebooks. Some will come with loads of online support. You need to find out what will work best for you. Whether you want more reading and hard copy material, or online support that you can call on if required.
What form does the course come in - Some internet marketing courses will come online, straight to your email box so you can work online. Some will come as a hard copy and the you can work through it at your own pace. Decide what you prefer and investigate before signing up.
Do they have testimonials - testimonials from previous students discussing the course and how they found it. If the course has testimonials then you know you are on a good product.
What support does the course have after the end - What happens after you finish the course? Do you they have support to get you on your way, or a supplementary course? Make sure that that internet marketing course that you choose has support after it finishes.
When you have decided upon the internet marketing course that you want to sign up to, do some research online on it. Google search it, search for it on Social Media - just find out what people are saying about it. There will be people that love it and people that hate it - that is natural. You can't please everyone. Just make sure that the feedback online is mostly good.
Doing your research before signing up to an Internet marketing course is essential for your success. Make an informed decision and you will reap the rewards.
Find out about the internet marketing course that I did to get my start in internet marketing here: http://bit.ly/coDBDm
About the Author
An avid Internet Entrepreneur, dedicated to helping others in the Internet Marketing world.
Niche Profit Classroom 3.0 - The number 1 Internet Marketing Video Course
The Internet now provides a set of interconnected networks for individuals and businesses to complete transactions electronically. We define electronic commerce very broadly as the online exchange of goods, services, and money' among firms, between firms and their customers, and between customers. The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce reported that annual online retail sales were up by 23 percent and that e-commerce accounted for 2.7 percent of total retail sales in the second quarter of 2006, resulting in revenues of more than $24.8 billion for that quarter. With this much money at stake, it is little wonder that no other information systems issue has captured as much attention as has EC. Although EC was being used as far back as 1948 during the Berlin Airlift (Zwass, 1996), the emergence of the Internet and Web has fueled a revolution in the manner in which products and services are marketed and sold. Their far-reaching effects have led to the creation of an electronic marketplace where a virtually limitless array of new services, features, and functionality can be offered. As a result, a presence on the Web has become a strategic necessity for companies.
Review of literature
Types of E-commerce
Contrary to popular belief, EC goes beyond merely buying and selling products online. EC can involve the events leading up to the purchase of a product as well as customer service after the sale. Furthermore, EC is not limited to transactions between businesses and consumers, which is known as business-to-consumer (B2C) EC. EC is also used to conduct business with business partners such as suppliers and intermediaries. This form of EC is commonly referred to as business-to-business (B2B) EC. Some companies use both forms for conducting business, such as the clothing and home furnishing retailer Eddie Bauer, while other firms concentrate solely in B2C or B2B. Some forms of EC happen between businesses and their employees; these are referred to as business-to-employee (B2E). Some forms of EC do not even involve business firms, as would be the case with an online auction site such as eBay; these forms of EC are referred to as consumer-to-consumer (C2C). Finally, there are forms of electronic commerce that involve a country's government and its citizens (government-to-citizen [G2C]), businesses (government-to-business [G2B]), and other governments (government-to-government [G2G]). Furthermore, there is a wide variety of ways to conduct business in each arena. In the following section, we examine the reasons that Web-based EC is revolutionizing the way business is being done. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of how companies are utilizing EC in their daily operations.
A- Internet and World Wide Web Capabilities
Technological forces are driving business, and the Internet and Web emerged as a strong new agent of change. The resulting technological revolution has essentially broken down the barriers to entry, leveled the playing field, and propelled commerce into the electronic domain (Looney and Chatterjee, 2002). Companies are exploiting the capabilities of the Web to reach a wider customer base, offer a broader range of products, and develop closer relationships with customers by striving to meet their unique needs. These wide-ranging capabilities include global information dissemination, integration, mass customization, interactive communication, collaboration, and transactional support (Chatterjee and Sambamurthy, 1999; Looney and Chatterjee, 2002).
Global information dissemination The powerful combination of Internet and Web technologies has given rise to a global platform where firms from across the world can effectively compete for customers and gain access to new markets. EC has wide geographical potential, given that many countries have at least some type of Internet access. The worldwide connectivity of the Internet enables global information dissemination, a relatively economical medium for firms to market their products and services over vast distances. This increased geographical reach has been facilitated by virtual storefronts that can be accessed from every Web-enabled computer in the world.
Integration Web technologies also allow for integration of information via Web sites, which can be linked to corporate databases to provide real-time access to personalized information. No longer must customers rely on old information from printed catalogs or account statements that arrive in the mail once a month. For example, when Alaska Airlines (www.alaskaair.com) updates fare information in their corporate database, customers can access the revisions as they occur simply by browsing the company's Web site. As with nearly every other major airline, the Web allows Alaska Airlines to disseminate real-time fare pricing. This is particularly important for companies operating in highly competitive environments such as the air transport industry. Furthermore, Alaska Airlines offers their valued customers the ability to check the balances of their frequent flier accounts, linking customers to information stored on the firm's corporate database. Customers do not have to wait for monthly statements to see if they are eligible for travel benefits and awards.
Mass customization Web technologies are also helping firms realize their goal of mass customization. Mass customization helps firms tailor their products and services to meet a customer's particular needs on a large scale. For instance, bag manufacturer Timbuk2 (www.Timbuk2.com) has developed an application called Custom Messenger Bag Builder, which allows customers to create a virtual bag that is modeled just for them (see Customers can configure the virtual bag based on a number of criteria such as size, fabrics, colors, accessories, and even use (e.g., for carrying a laptop). The virtual model application also assists Timbuk2 in tracking customers' preferred styles and colors, allowing them to target marketing efforts to individual customers.
Interactive communication via the Web enables firms to build customer loyalty by providing immediate communication and feedback to/from customers, which can dramatically improve the firm's image through demonstrated responsiveness. Many firms are augmenting telephone-based ordering and customer support with Web-based applications and electronic mail. In some cases, online chat applications are provided to allow customers to communicate with a customer service representative in real time through the corporate Web site.
Best Buy, for example, has entered into the computer repair and support business with their brand Geek Squad Traditionally, customers having computer problems would have to take their computer to a Best Buy store for repair. Geek Squad online (www.geeksquad.com) has implemented a feature whereby customers can contact customer support representatives at any time of the day to receive real-time online support. Support options include operation system diagnostics, software installation issues. and computer optimization, and interactive communication agents aid the customers online in real time. This feature allows the customer service agent to walk the customer through the troubleshooting process step-by-step while the customer is at home. This customer-driven approach far outdistances traditional, no electronic means in terms of tailoring and timeliness.
Collaboration Web technologies can also enable collaboration. The entertainment media company Virgin Entertainment Group, which runs 23 megastores throughout the United States, selling music, DVDs, and books, was looking for a way to maximize the time managers would spend selling products on the floor or training employees. Before they decided to implement a Web-based collaboration system, managers would spend countless
hours trying to locate inventory information for the head office, while at the same time employees in the head office would respond to literally hundreds of e-mails asking the same questions. After the introduction of Microsoft SharePoint, a Web-based collaboration suite, Virgin's managers can now spend up to 20 percent more of their times on efforts to sell products, while at the same time employees at the head office have substantially more time to devote to operational oversight or strategic planning (Microsoft, 2004).
Transactional support By providing ways for clients and firms to conduct business online without human assistance, the Internet and Web have greatly reduced transaction costs while enhancing operational efficiency. Many companies, such as Dell Computer Corporation, are utilizing the Web to provide automated transaction support. Dell began selling computers on the Web in mid-1996. By early 1998, Dell was experiencing around $2 million in online sales per day. Dell derives about 90 percent of its overall revenues from sales to medium-size and large businesses, yet more than half of its Web-based sales have been from individuals and small businesses that typically buy one computer at a time. As a result, Dell is experiencing significant cost savings per sale by reducing the demand for phone representatives on the smaller purchases. Individual customers can access product information at any time from anywhere, benefiting not only the end consumer but also Dell. Customer service representatives can focus on lucrative corporate customers, reducing labor costs involved in servicing small-ticket items.
Why e-Commerce
Because technology is different and more powerful than other technology, in addition, it has challenge much traditional business thinking, and has number of unique features that help explain why we have so much interest in e-commerce. E-Commerce is growing so fast because of its quickness-whereas in years gone by pc plc would send a cheque to the company and then the company would cash the cheque hekni dispatching the goods we can now use instant transactions to transfer money from account to account in a number of seconds. Another popular factor of ecommerce is its wide availability - people from everywhere can buy- not just those the company can afford to send a leaflet to, also it means that the internet can be used an extra income for your spare time.
E-Commerce is very low maintenance. You just have to wait for people to buy and then send the goods; sample as!!!
E-commerce in developing Countries:
E-commerce arguably has a potential to add a higher value to businesses and consumers in developing countries than in developed countries. Yet most developing country-based enterprises have failed to reap the benefits offered by modern information and communications technologies (ICTs). Some business models have emerged that overcome e-commerce barriers in developing countries. Yet in e-commerce journals, the developing world has received surprisingly scant attention. There are a very few analytical e-commerce studies in the developing world settings. Moreover, empirical evidence in the developing world lags behind theoretical development. There have been calls for research on developing country-based enterprises' e-commerce strategy.
E-business continues to grow vigorously in developed countries, but divergences are surfacing among developing countries, says E-commerce and Development Report 2003, released today. More and more governments and businesses in the developing world are nonetheless beginning to eliminate obstacles to the adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT). While the immediate effects are not necessarily dramatic, the Report predicts that improvements in the e-business environment should eventually result in productivity gains in these economies. At the same time, many other developing countries still face difficulties in identifying and realizing the potential benefits of ICT and the Internet for their economic development.
In terms of Internet use, developing countries continue to grow faster than developed countries: at the end of 2002, they accounted for 32% of the world´s 591 million Internet users, up from 28% the previous year, and could well represent 50% by 2008. These estimates, although far from ideal, provide a reasonably good indication of whether the foundations of a "digital economy" exist in a given country. Countries where such foundations do exist - whose governments have pushed the development of the information society early on (such as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the US) - have benefited from ICT much earlier, the Report finds. But for developing countries to catch up with ICT developments globally, they must be committed at the highest political level, must pay attention to implementation issues and must strike the proper balance between the roles of the public and private sector in ICT development.
As to what the spread of ICT will mean for national economic performance, the Report concludes that it has a positive impact on all factors affecting productivity and underpins growth in several countries where the technology really penetrated. Systematic empirical evidence on developing countries is still not abundant, but many useful lessons can be drawn from available experience. Governments should, for example, encourage greater understanding of best practices in the use of ICT so that the best possible choices can be made. They should implement policies to facilitate greater access to low-cost, high-bandwidth Internet connections and the use of affordable software. And they should play a leading role in addressing skill deficiencies in the workforce through training and education. UNCTAD recommends that the development and adoption of ICT in developing countries should follow a multi-stakeholder approach, including public-private partnerships, alliances and consortia.
Contrary to what might be expected, the Report finds that no direct linkage can be established between a country´s income level and Internet usage rates. Internet penetration rates in developing countries with comparable income levels vary by as much as 25 times. While developing countries share many challenges in their efforts to participate in the information society, such factors as levels of awareness, the vitality of civil society, and the priority that government, business and other social agents give to these challenges (and the policy choices they make) matter as much as the availability of financial resources.
The Report notes that the Web is growing rapidly in terms of active sites, whose numbers rose by 17% last year. The number of Internet protocol (IP) addresses using some kind of scripting language - indicating higher levels of interactivity - also mounted, by 52.1%. Similarly, the 14% increase in the number of sites using the secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol points to the continued expansion of business-oriented sites, which require secure transaction capabilities.
Internet hosts are heavily concentrated in the developed world: North America and Europe account for 89% of all hosts worldwide, and their numbers are growing faster than in the developing countries. But industrial countries account for an even higher concentration of Internet users: last year there were nearly 1,000 times more Internet hosts per 10,000 people in North America than in all of Africa. Thus, little content is hosted in developing countries. Hosting content in a developed country may, however, be the best option for some enterprises in developing countries, UNCTAD says: it may be easier to host information about a tourist destination, for example, on a server located close to where the potential tourists reside.
Main Finding
Part 1: Advantages of Ecommerce for Producers in Developing Countries
Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is widely believed to promise a radical change in the way that firms trade with one another. B2B e-commerce applications are being promoted as tools that will enable producer firms in developing countries to reduce their costs substantially, thereby easing their access to global markets. The vision of B2B e-commerce is driven by a simple idea that, the Internet provides an open global network and access to this network is relatively cheap. Internet-based B2B e-commerce should help producers in developing countries obtain better information on global markets and give them direct access to new customers. In developing countries, producer and benefit from low labor cost, enable lower price even on the already averaged low price most of the internet products. Also, Just- in- time (JIT) inventory system can be optimized, and fast payment
The e-commerce will provide producers in developing countries some unique advantages include:
A). Operate in universal standards
There are three benefits for producer who work in universal standards are:
Reduced search costs for consumers
Becomes simpler, faster, with more accurate price discovery
Lower market entry costs for merchants
B).Great transactions in terms of richness.
Traditional transactions can provide more richness in terms of face-to-face service including visual and aural cues. However, traditional transactions are limited in terms of how many people can be reached at a single time. Online transactions, which can be global in reach, can provide content that is both complex and rich, overcoming the traditional trade-off between reach and richness. Producers in developing countries get access to the global marketplace. The Internet spans the world, and it is possible to do business with any business or person who is connected to the Internet. Simple local businesses such as specialist record stores are able to market and sell their offerings internationally using e-commerce. This global opportunity is assisted by the fact that, unlike traditional communications methods, users are not charged according to the distance over which they are communicating.
C). Interactivity:
E-commerce allows the producers in developing countries to have two-way communication between them, and the consumer as well as their affiliate supplier. Speed electronic communications allow messages to traverse the world almost instantaneously. There is no need to wait weeks for a catalogue to arrive by post: that communications delay is not a part of the Internet / e-commerce world.
d). Information density:
The total amount and quality of information available to all producers in developing countries is vastly increased and is cheaper to deliver.
E). Personalization/Customization:
E-commerce technologies enable producers in developing countries to target their marketing messages to a person's name, interests and past purchases. E-commerce allows producers in developing countries to change their products or services to suit the purchasing behaviour and preferences of consumers.
F). Global Reach:
The potential market size is roughly equal to the size of the online population of the world. The products and services producers in developing countries have will be available just about everywhere and at all times. Producers in developing countries will be able to conduct business 24 x 7 x 365. E-commerce systems can operate all day every day. The physical storefront does not need to be open in order for customers and suppliers to be doing business with producers electronically. In brief, it is useful to take a global view with regard the potential and organisation e-commerce activities, especially if producers in developing countries are targeting global customers. The Internet provides an important new channel to sell to consumers. Peterson et al. (1999) suggest that, as a marketing channel, the Internet has the following characteristics:
1) The ability to inexpensively store vast amounts of information at different virtual locations,
2) The availability of powerful and inexpensive means of searching, organising, and disseminating such information
3) Interactivity and the ability to provide information on demand ,
4) The ability to provide perceptual experiences that are far superior to a printed catalogue, although not as rich as personal inspection.
5) The capability to serve as a transaction medium,
6) The ability to serve as a physical distribution medium for certain goods (e.g., software)
7) Relatively low entry and establishment costs for sellers
8) No other existing marketing channel possesses all of these characteristics.
Part 2: Constraints Do They Face in Intensifying in the Usage of the Method.
The key question is: does the implementation of Internet-based B2B or e-commerce actually lead to new trading opportunities for producer firms in developing countries? Some of the hype has gone out of the Internet debate, but policy makers and development assistance organisations continue to have a very optimistic view about the potential of the Internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs), more generally. They are concentrating on removing the obstacles that hold back the use of ICTs by developing country firms. Helping these firms to bridge the ‘digital divide' and take advantage of ‘digital opportunities' is a very high priority. Some constrains are related to the level of ICT and the advances in telecommunication in those developing countries.
Also the availability of cyber law, availability of fast modern logistic services , availability of e-commerce affiliated partner, availability of e-commerce expertise, and availability of the ecommerce acceptance by consumers in Developing countries.
Some disadvantages and constraints of e-commerce include the following:
A). Time for delivery of physical products.
It is possible to visit a local music store and walk out with a compact disc or a bookstore and leave with a book. E-commerce is often used to buy goods that are not available locally from businesses all over the world, meaning that physical goods need to be delivered, which takes time and costs money. In some cases there are ways around this, for example, with electronic files of the music or books being accessed across the Internet, but then these are not physical goods.
When you walk out of a shop with an item, it's yours. You have it; you know what it is, where it is and how it looks. In some respects e-commerce purchases are made on trust. This is because, firstly, not having had physical access to the product, a purchase is made on an expectation of what that product is and its condition. Secondly, because supplying businesses can be conducted across the world, it can be uncertain whether or not they are legitimate businesses and are not just going to take your money. It's pretty hard to knock on their door to complain or seek legal recourse! Thirdly, even if the item is sent, it is easy to start wondering whether or not it will ever arrive.
C). Perishable goods.
Goods bought and sold via the Internet tend to be durable and non-perishable: they need to survive the trip from the supplier to the purchasing business or consumer. This shifts the bias for perishable and/or non-durable goods back towards traditional supply chain arrangements, or towards relatively more local e-commerce-based purchases, sales and distribution. In contrast, durable goods can be traded from almost anyone to almost anyone else, sparking competition for lower prices. In some cases this leads to disintermediation in which intermediary people and businesses are bypassed by consumers and by other businesses that are seeking to purchase more directly from manufacturers.
D). Limited and selected sensory information
The Internet is an effective conduit for visual and auditory information: seeing pictures, hearing sounds and reading text. However it does not allow full scope for our senses: we can see pictures of the flowers, but not smell their fragrance; we can see pictures of a hammer, but not feel its weight or balance. Further, when we pick up and inspect something, we choose what we look at and how we look at it. This is not the case on the Internet. If we were looking at buying a car on the Internet, we would see the pictures the seller had chosen for us to see but not the things we might look for if we were able to see it in person. And, taking into account our other senses, we can't test the car to hear the sound of the engine as it changes gears or sense the smell and feel of the leather seats. There are many ways in which the Internet does not convey the richness of experiences of the world. This lack of sensory information means that people are often much more comfortable buying via the Internet generic goods - things that they have seen or experienced before and about which there is little ambiguity, rather than unique or complex things.
E). Returning goods
Returning goods online can be an area of difficulty. The uncertainties surrounding the initial payment and delivery of goods can be exacerbated in this process. Will the goods get back to their source? Who pays for the return postage? Will the refund be paid? Will I be left with nothing? How long will it take? Contrast this with the offline experience of returning goods to a shop.
Many issues arise - privacy of information, security of that information and payment details, whether or not payment details (eg credit card details) will be misused, identity theft, contract, and, whether we have one or not, what laws and legal jurisdiction apply.
G). Defined services & the unexpected
E-commerce is an effective means for managing the transaction of known and established services, that is, things that are everyday. It is not suitable for dealing with the new or unexpected. For example, a transport company used to dealing with simple packages being asked if it can transport a hippopotamus, or a customer asking for a book order to be wrapped in blue and white polka dot paper with a bow. Such requests need human intervention to investigate and resolve.
H). Personal service
Although some human interaction can be facilitated via the web, e-commerce cannot provide the richness of interaction provided by personal service. For most businesses, e-commerce methods provide the equivalent of an information-rich counter attendant rather than a salesperson. This also means that feedback about how people react to product and service offerings also tends to be more granular or perhaps lost using e-commerce approaches. If your only feedback is that people are (or are not) buying your products or services online, this is inadequate for evaluating how to change or improve your e-commerce strategies and/or product and service offerings. Successful business use of e-commerce typically involves strategies for gaining and applying customer feedback. This helps businesses to understand, anticipate and meet changing online customer needs and preferences, which is critical because of the comparatively rapid rate of ongoing Internet-based change.
K). Size and number of transactions
E-commerce is most often conducted using credit card facilities for payments, and as a result very small and very large transactions tend not to be conducted online. The size of transactions is also impacted by the economics of transporting physical goods. For example, any benefits or conveniences of buying a box of pens online from producers in developing countries tend to be eclipsed by the cost of having to pay for them to be delivered to consumer in developed countries. The delivery costs also mean that buying individual items from a range of different overseas businesses is significantly more expensive than buying all of the goods from one overseas business because the goods can be packaged and shipped together.
E-commerce however has some drawbacks. Consumers are hesitant to buy some products online. Online furniture businesses, for example, have failed for the most part because customers want to test the comfort of an expensive item such as a sofa before they purchase it. Many people also consider shopping a social experience. For instance, they may enjoy going to a store or a shopping mall with friends or family, an experience that they cannot duplicate online. Consumers also need to be reassured that credit card transactions are secure and that their privacy is respected.
Recommendation and conclusion
Products those are particularly suitable for selling over the Internet
1) Books :
More than 600 Billion books will be sold at the Internet this year, forecasts say. This should not come as a grand surprise when you realize the marketing power of Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. The average Internet surfer is well educated, self employed or in a responsible management position. He definitely has a need of information, new trends, but also of relaxing and sit-back time. Many consumers use books for this purpose and enjoy reading. The market is well fitted with the major book sellers; however, small and aggressive entrepreneurs will always have a chance to conquer their niche markets. Therefore in order for you to succeed online selling books you will have to choose a specific high demand book category and focus on this niche
2) Entertainment
Software, game, music, home videos DVD and Out Sell Feature Films and Movies flowers were $711.3 million, or 26 percent of the $2.8 billion total. The incredible success of DVD video has propelled home video to become America's most popular entertainment medium, surpassing consumer spending on movie tickets, music and mass-market books. Just announced by the DVD Entertainment Group at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, U.S. consumers spent more than twice as much buying and renting DVDs as they did going to the movies. Last year, consumers spent $20.3 billion buying and renting DVDs versus $9.3 billion moviegoers spent at the theatrical box office.
3) Traveling Services
An airline ticket, car reservations and hotel reservations was $582.8 million, or 21 percent of the total.
Products those are no particularly suitable for selling over the Internet
It is important for any producers in developing countries to follow the policies and legislative accredited by authority and government that producer operate from as selling illegal or prohibited items might lead producer to trail, lose and prison. Here is some items which are prohibited to be sell via Internet
1. Bootlegs: Bootlegs are generally the rare music CD's, rare movie footages etc. But bootlegs are also movies shot through a video camera by a person who for all you know is your next-door neighbour. There is a large-scale production going on in Asia and US jurisdiction does not apply there. So ‘No' bootlegs are allowed on EBay.
2. Copies: Copies of computer software are abundant and you can find them in Asian markets. It is not just the software but the black markets also sell copies of some of the best PC games too. These copied items are not allowed on eBay. Whatever you sell on EBay has to be original.
3. Counterfeits Copies and pirate Software: Copies of computer software are abundant and you can find them in Asian markets. It is not just the software but the black markets also sell copies of some of the best PC games too. These copied items are not allowed on eBay. Whatever you sell on EBay has to be original.
4. The Replicated products or Items: This is quite similar to copy and yet different. Many people would replicate a Gucci handbag or a RayBan's sunglass. Although they are openly sold in stores all across the US, but they are definitely forbidden for sale at eBay.
5. Firearms and Mass destruction Weapons
Selling firearms and mass destruction weapons are regulated by US law and cannot be placed for sell over e-commerce website.
6. Animal Products: There are organizations fighting to save wild animals and birds from near extinction. It is not allowed to sell any product made from animals or their skin on eBay.
7. Tickets: There are state laws on tickets such a Florida law states that cannot be sold for more than the face value plus $1. Since there are state-to-state restrictions, hence they cannot be sold at eBay.
8. Catalogues: Selling one item is one thing but selling an entire catalogue is a different ball game. The only catalogues that can be sold at eBay are those dealing with collectible items.
9. Alcohol: Sale of alcohol and alcoholic beverages are banned at eBay.
10. Smoking is injurious for health: EBay does not allow sales of cigarette or any kind of tobacco products.
References
1- D.J. Arnold, J.A. Quelch, New strategies in emerging markets, Sloan Management Review, Fall (1998) 7–20.
2- BBC News, Poor ‘Miss Out On Net Commerce', 20 November 2003.
3- Computer Economics, The global economy is not so global, Internet and E-Business Strategies 4(4) (2000) 1–3.
4- Sagren Moodley, Mike Morris, Does e-commerce fulfil its promise for developing country (South African) garment export producers? Oxford Development Studies 32 (2) (2004) 155–178.
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About the Author
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