Sodium Thiosulphate Coursework Essay Example for Free

Sodium Thiosulphate Coursework Essay We must produce a piece of coursework investigating the rates of reaction, and the effect different changes have on them. The rate of reaction is the rate of loss of a reactant or the rate of formation of a product during a chemical reaction. It is measured by dividing 1 by the time taken for the reaction to take place. There is five factors which affect the rate of a reaction, according to the collision theory of reacting particles: temperature, concentration (of solution), pressure (in gases), surface are (of solid reactants), and catalysts. I have chosen to investigate the effect temperature and concentration have on a reaction. This is because they are the most practical to investigate it would take longer to prepare a solid in powdered and unpowdered form, and it is difficult to get accurate readings due to the inevitabilities of human errors, and as gas is mostly colourless it is difficult to gauge a reaction changing the pressure, and if a substance is added to give the gas colour, it may influence the outcome of the experiment. Similarly the use of a catalyst complicates things, and if used incorrectly could alter the outcome of the experiment. Experiment 1 Changing the concentration 5 cm3 of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm3 of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders and then poured into a conical flask, which is placed on top of a board marked with letter X. The stopwatch will now be started. When the mixture has turned sufficiently cloudy so that the letter X can no longer be seen the stopwatch will be stopped and the time will be recorded. The experiment is repeated with all the concentrations. The whole procedure is then repeated. Experiment 2 Changing the temperature 5 cm of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders. A beaker is half filled with hot water from a tap. The water is placed on top of a Bunsen on a blue flame and the two measuring placed inside the water bath. The water is heated to the necessary temperature (30?C to 70?C) then the two measuring cylinders are taken out and the contents of both are poured into a conical cylinder. The time it takes for the X to disappear is timed and recorded. The experiment is repeated using all the temperatures. The entire procedure is the repeated. Repeat results and averages will be taken to improve the credibility of the findings, and present solid grounding for the final conclusion. The repeat results will help to iron out any anomalies and the average will give a good summary of the results of the experiment. However if one set of results is entirely different to the other, a third experiment will be performed to replace the anomalous set of results. Safety A pair of goggles will be worn during the heating part of the experiment in order to protect the eyes. An apron will also be worn to protect the skin and clothing. When handling hot beakers and measuring cylinders a pair of tongs will be used. A gauze and heatproof mat will be used while heating to avoid any damage to the equipment. Fair Test In order for my findings to be valid the experiment must be a fair one. I will use the same standard each time for judging when the X has disappeared. I will make sure that the measuring cylinders for the HCl and thiosulphate will not be mixed up. The amount of HCl will be 5 cm3 each time, and the amount of thiosulphate will be fixed at 15 cm3. During the heating stage of the experiment, a blue flame will be used throughout. Also the same Bunsen burner and gas tap will be used to maintain continuity. All of these precautions will make my final results more reliable and keep anomalies at a minimum so thus make the entire investigation more successful. Prediction I predict that as the temperature is increased the rate of reaction will increase. I also predict that as the concentration of the sodium thiosulphate increases the rate of reaction will increase. This means that both graphs drawn up in my analysis will have positive correlation, and will probably be curved as the increase in rate of reaction will not be exactly the same as the concentrationtemperature is increased. This can be justified by relating to the collision theory. When the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully. If solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. All this can be understood better with full understanding of t he collision theory itself: For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area. Concentration If the concentration of a solution is increased there are more reactant particles per unit volume. This increases the probability of reactant particles colliding with each other. Pressure If the pressure is increased the particles in the gas are pushed closer. This increases the concentration and thus the rate of reaction. Surface Area If a solid is powdered then there is a greater surface area available for a reaction, compared to the same mass of unpowdered solid. Only particles on the surface of the solid will be able to undergo collisions with the particles in a solution or gas. The particles in a gas undergo random collisions in which energy is transferred between the colliding particles. As a result there will be particles with differing energies. Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution curves show the distribution of the energies of the particles in a gas. The main points to note about the curves are: 1. There are no particles with zero energy. 2. The curve does not touch the x-axis at the higher end, because there will always be some particles with very high energies. 3. The area under the curve is equal to the total number of particles in the system. 4. The peak of the curve indicates the most probable energy. The activation energy for a given reaction can be marked on the distribution curve. Only particles with energy equal or greater than the activation energy can react when a collision occurs. Although Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curves are for the particles in a gas, the same distributions can be used for the particles in a liquid or solid. Effects of a temperature change The graph below shows Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution graphs for a fixed mass of gas at two temperatures T1 and T2, where T2 is roughly 10?C higher than T1. The total area under the curve remains the same, since there is no change in the number of particles present. A small increase in temperature causes significant changes to the distribution energies. At the higher temperature: 1. The peak is at a higher energy. 2. The peak is lower. 3. The peak is broader. 4. There is a large increase in the number of particles with higher energies. It is the final change that results increase in rate, even with a relatively small increase in temperature. A small increase in temperature greatly increases the number of particles with energy greater than the activation energy. The shaded areas on the energy distribution curves show this. Effect of a catalyst A catalyst works by providing an alternative reaction pathway that has lower activation energy. A catalyst does not alter the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Because a catalyst provides a reaction route of lower activation energy, however, a greater proportion of particles will have energy greater than the activation energy. Analysis In this experiment I have found that as the temperature and concentration is increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. This means the rate of reaction increasers as it takes less time for a reaction to take place, so more take place per second. In the temperature experiment the time taken for a reaction to take place decreased by roughly 10 to 15 seconds for every 10?C increase in temperature, with the one anomaly being the 30?C reading. There is also a trend in the increase in rate of reaction as the temperature increases. The difference is always more or less 0.02 s-1, with the same exception. Using the graphs, with lines of best fit, I can draw a conclusion from my experiment. Firstly I can see that with the time graphs (that plot temperature and concentration against time taken for the reaction to take place) the graphs have negative correlation in both cases, meaning that as the temperatureconcentration increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. The time graph for the temperature experiment has a much steeper curve than the one for the concentration experiment, meaning that the decrease in time taken for the reaction was far more rapid. Naturally, the above means that the both the graphs plotting rate against temperature and concentration have positive correlation as the temperature and concentration are increased so does the rate of reaction. This is because when the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully, and when solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. The graph for concentration shows that when the concentrations were relatively low (10, 15, 20 g/dm3), the increase of rate x1000 was also fairly small (increasing from 4.47 to 6.71 to 9.47). There was then a gradual increase in the difference, and between 30 and 35 g/dm3 the rate more than doubled from 17.90 to 37.56s-1. This shows that there are far more collisions at a concentration of 35 g/dm3 than at 30 g/dm3. The graph plotting time against the rate of reaction x1000 shows that the difference of rate between increasing temperatures (excluding the anomaly of 30?C) was pretty much regular, increasing in steps of 6-10 (9.17 to 15.37 to 24.28 to 31.67). However, once again there is a giant gap in the last temperature increase at 60?C the RoR x1000 is 31.67 s-1, and at 70?C it is 57.03 s-1. For this to fully make sense it is necessary to recap the collision theory briefly: For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the  frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area.

The Inter Professional Practice In Social Work Social Work Essay

The Inter Professional Practice In Social Work Social Work Essay This essay will outline and explain why inter professional collaborative practice in social work is important. It will also examine key factors that help or hinder effective inter professional collaborative practice. It will explain why it is important that professionals work together and effectively as a team and the consequences that can occur when professionals fail to collaborate successfully. There has been a great deal of political and professional pressures for the development of inter professional collaborative practice. From the late 1990s onwards there were vast amounts of official documents to promote the importance of collaborative working within the health and social care sector. The 1998 social services White Paper Modernising Social Services (DoH, 1998) and The NHS Plan (2000) devoted entire chapters to the subject. It has been argued that inter professional working has advanced further in relation to services for older people than it has in relation to children and families. The Green Paper Every Child Matters (DfES 2003) recognised this and one of the main elements of this paper focused that improved collaboration was required so as not to repeat the tragic events of the Victoria Climbie case (this case will be discussed in further detail later in the essay). Government recognition suggests that many social problems cannot be effectively addressed by any given organisation acting in isolation from others. That is, when professionals work together effectively they provide a better service to the complex needs of the most vulnerable people in society. Inter professional collaborative practice involves complex interactions between a range of different professionals and is when professionals work together as a team to reach mutually negotiated goals through agreed plans. It is a partnership that can be defined as a formal agreement between the different professions who agree to work together in pursuit of common goals. Collaborative is defined as putting that partnership into operation or into practice. It involves the different professions working together and using their own individual skills instead of working in opposite directions to meet the needs of particular service users. It is suggested that when social workers and other professions work collaboratively the service user gets a better deal. Willing participation (Henneman et al, 19 95, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.19) and a high level of motivation (Molyneux, 2001, cited in Barrett et al, p.19) have been stated as vital aspects of effective inter professional collaboration. Social workers have certain ethical obligations to society that they must follow and this comes in the form of The British Association of Social Work (BASW) Code of Ethics and the National Occupational Standards for social workers. The Code of Ethics follow five basic values, Human Dignity and Worth, Social Justice, Service to Humanity, Integrity and Competence whilst the National Occupational Standards outline the standards of conduct and practice to which all social workers should adhere to. Whilst working in collaboration with other professionals, social workers should follow these Codes and Standards to ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved for the service user. In the past inter professional collaborative practice has been difficult with many disadvantages and that this has caused problems between the different professions involved. This has in the past led to catastrophic tragedies as in the case of Victoria Climbie. Shared accountability is important for effective collaboration and all professionals should be accountable. Each profession should support one another, not be seen as self interested and that no one profession is higher than another. Some of the problems that can occur are when there is not a logical distribution of power. Unequal power distribution can be oppressive (Payne, 2000, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.23) and can limit participation for some group members. Struggles for power are rooted in professional tradition and social difference. It is believed by some critics of social work that social workers have often been located in settings where they were considered as subordinate to other more established professional g roups (Brewer and Lait, 1980, cited in Wilson et al, 2008, p.401). Traditionally there have been difficulties within the medical profession and Cooke et al, (2001, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.23) suggests that general practitioners felt threatened by a redistribution of power and had problems letting go of their traditionally held power base. Social work in the past has been described as a semi profession and similar to nursing and teaching and not comparable to the learned profession of medicine or law as it does not have the required features of those professions (Freidson 1994). Payne (2000 cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.23) identifies this as peoples capacity to get what they want. Power in inter professional collaborative practice should be shared and distributed and no hierarchy of power should exist. If some professionals see themselves as more powerful than another they are not meeting the needs of the service user. Being territorial and not sharing information and know ledge has long been a problem in inter professional collaborative practice. Molyneux (2001, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p20) found that professionals who were confident in their own role were able to work flexibly across professional boundaries without feeling jealous or threatened. Professional adulthood was an expression used by Laidler (1991, cited in Barratt et al, 2005, p.20) to describe professionals who were confident in their own role to share information and communicate effectively with other professionals. These professionals do not feel territorial about relinquishing their knowledge and understanding to further enhance good inter professional collaborative practice. Stapleton (1998, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.20) suggests that a combination of personal and professional confidence enables individuals to assert their own perspectives and challenge the viewpoints of others. Open and honest communication is a vital and probably one of the most important aspects of inter professional collaborative practice. It requires professionals to take into account each others views, be respectful, dignified and to listen to each other without being highly critical of one another. Constructive criticism needs to be undertaken alongside constructive suggestions and encouragement and should take place at a time when other professionals are receptive. Active listening is an important skill. To be able to recognise and respond to what is being communicated is a fundamental skill. Professionals working collaboratively should demonstrate this verbally and non-verbally to each other. This is greatly helped if all concerned put aside the typical stereotyping of each others professions in order to hear and listen to what the speaker is saying. Keeping good eye contact and having good body language is just as important. It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of communic ation is non-verbal, i.e. something is communicated through body language by a body movement, a posture, an inflection in the voice (Birdwhistell, 1970, cited in Wilson, 2008, p.297). A breakdown in communication and the lack of sharing of information between the professions in the past have been major failings in inter professional collaborative practice for example in high profile child protection inquiries and this has led to tragic consequences. Effective systems of communication and knowing what information should be shared are essential not just between the professions but also between the service users. Trust, mutual respect and support are key features to inter professional collaborative practice. Trust was highlighted by many professionals as one of the most important factors in successful collaboration. When trust is absent professionals may feel uncomfortable and insecure in their role and this in turn can lead to defensive behaviour to counteract their insecurities. Stapleton (1998, cited in Barratt et al, 2005, p.22) suggests that trust develops through repeated positive inter professional experience and develops gradually over a period of time. Trust cannot be gained overnight so it is important for professionals working collaboratively to give one another time for trust to develop. When professionals feel valued, they feel respected. This can be achieved by actively listening to each other and having an insight into one anothers professions. Conflict between the professions can have a huge impact on the different professionals and service users. Loxley (1997, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.24) suggests that conflict is interwoven with collaborative practice. To counteract some of the problems associated with conflict it may be beneficial to all concerned to form ground rules. These ground rules could go some way to prevent and help the management of conflict and could include; open discussion and the obligation to be able to give each other honest feedback. Most importantly these ground rules need to benefit all parties involved. A great deal of emphasis is placed on social workers to critically reflect their practice. It literally means that social workers reflect on their practice before, during and after, thinking through tasks carefully. Other professionals may not do this in line with social workers beliefs of critical reflection or in the same way or see that reflection on their own practice is an important aspect of successful inter professional collaborative practice. To illustrate the above points a practice example will now be explained. The inquiry into the death of ten year old Victoria Climbie highlights the disastrous consequences when communication in inter professional collaborative practice fails. This child death case was fraught with communication breakdowns across the range of professionals associated with the case. In Lord Lamings report (2003) he draws attention to and illustrates lack of communication as one of the key issues. Victoria Climbie was failed by a system that was put into place to protect her. Professionals failed in this protection by not communicating with each other or with Victoria herself. One of the criticisms in the Laming Report (2003) was that none of the professionals involved in the case spoke to Victoria about her life or how she was feeling and suggests that even basic service user involvement was absent. There was an opportunity which is highlighted in his report that a social worker missed an opportunity t o communicate with Victoria by deciding not to see or speak to her while she was in hospital. It could be argued that if basic levels of communication with Victoria herself had been implemented, then more could have been achieved to protect her. It was not only a lack of communication with Victoria herself but a lack of communication between the professions that were investigated in the Laming Report (2003). Communication is equally important between the service user and the different professional bodies. Professionals are less effective on their clients behalf if they cannot communicate precisely and persuasively. (Clark, 2000, cited in Trevithick, 2009, p.117). For successful inter professional collaborative practice to work a combination of personal and professional skills are required, together with competent communications skills to enable the different professions to challenge the views of others. Recommendation 37 of the Laming Report (2003) states The training of social work ers must equip them with the confidence to question the opinion of professionals in other agencies when conducting their own assessment of the needs of the child. On at least one occasion, this did not happen when a social worker did not challenge a medical statement which turned out to be professionally incorrect which in turn led to the tragic eventual death of Victoria. Had the social worker challenged the medical opinion in this instance then it could be argued that more efficient communication and less confusion in the case may have saved Victoria. Alan Milburn (Hansard 28 January 2003, column 740, cited in Wilson et al, 2008, p.474), the then Secretary of State commented when introducing the Children Bill in the Commons that Victoria needs services that worked together and that down the years inquiry after inquiry has called for better communication and better co-ordination. Communication lies at the heart of high quality and successful inter professional practice and Victoria is just one case of when there is a lack of communication between the professionals and the devastating consequences that can arise. In conclusion, successful inter professional collaborative practice has many elements and all these different elements require that the different professions adopt them. Although inter professional working practice has been around for many years and is not new, it still needs to be continued, developed and incorporated into the daily work of all professions. When health and social care professionals from different disciplines truly understand each others roles, responsibilities and challenges, the potential of inter professional collaborative practice could be fully realised and many of the barriers alleviated, giving a more successful outcome to the service user.

Types Of EC Transactions Used By Dell

Types Of EC Transactions Used By Dell B2B transaction is an e-commerce business between two businesses/companies such as manufacturers and suppliers or wholesalers. This is the type of e-commerce which takes care of relationships among businesses. This type of e-commerce is now recognized as the E-commerce segment with major /the biggest potential. The B2B market has two primary components: e-frastructure and e-markets. E-frastructure is the architecture of B2B, primarily consisting of the following: Dell provides business to business (B2B) transactions which helps to low procurement costs of an organization. Within a B2B transaction, you can shop online from within your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) procurement application and return the contents of your shopping session back to your ERP system electronically. No longer are you required to enter duplicate information in order to purchase. The electronic requisition can now be routed through your standard ERP workflow where it can be approved electronically. Once this electronic requisition is approved, it can become an electronic purchase order and be transmitted instantly to Dell. These orders flow directly into Dells manufacturing system where your orders are built immediately, saving you hours or days in processing time. This brings you the latest technology at the quickest pace. Dell defines B2B Integration as server-to-server communication over the Internet integrating both systems and business processes to dramatically transform the way we conduct business with our partners, suppliers, and customers. By electronically integrating these processes, we not only benefit in process efficiency and information accuracy, we also increase our ability to respond and interact with each member of a business relationship. Dells has two objectives with its B2B integration initiative: To quickly integrate with customers who are capable today To help customers build a B2B solution for rapid deployment and connectivity Dell has built a solution that extends its existing Internet infrastructure and E-Commerce capability to easily integrate with any customer who supports open, industry document standards of XML (such as cXML based on Ariba, xCBL based on Commerce One) and EDI. This allows Dell to provide the same customized catalog most customers use today with Premier Pages, and integrate this dynamic commerce functionality into their internal procurement systems. If a customer is not currently capable of integrating their procurement systems and processes with their suppliers, Dell can provide the necessary hardware, software, and consultation to help build and deploy a solution that not only connects the customer to Dell, but one that can to connect to even other suppliers or customers. Benefits: Better align Dell with customer procurement processes Ease the purchasing process and reduce errors by eliminating duplicate data entry Reduce costs for clients by eliminating paper purchase order/fax processes Reduce customer cycle times for ordering approval and payment Process controls for shoppers versus buyers B2C: Business-to-consumer (B2C, sometimes also called Business-to-Customer) transaction is when businesses such as companies and retailers serve their products and services to individual consumers directly. This transaction can be done online by consumers using shopping carts in the website. It is the earliest form of electronic commerce and the largest after B2B transaction form. By enhancing customer access to information and make it easier to customers to find a competitive and economical price for some products and services, B2C can decrease transactions costs. Moreover, constructing and maintaining a website costs much less than installing a brick-and-mortar structure for a firm; therefore, B2C e-commerce also reduces market entry obstructions. Its origins can be traced to online retailing (or e-tailing).13 Thus, the more common B2C business models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com, Beyond.com, Barnes and Noble and ToysRus. In the case of information goods, B2C e-commerce is even more attractive because it saves firms from factoring in the additional cost of a physical distribution network. Moreover, for countries with a growing and robust Internet population, delivering information goods becomes increasingly feasible. B2B2C: Business-to-Business-to-Consumer e-commerce (B2B2C) : It is when a business sells products and services to client businesses. The business provides products and services to client businesses to maintain its own customers. This can be when a business provides products and services to agencies, which are considered as business partners, sell it to customers. (Efraim Turban, Electronic Commerce, 2006) Dell uses e-procurement services and offers it to its agents who purchase the products. Customers visiting the agents website will find a link which connects the user to Dells website. After that when the customer buys a product, the agent receives a commission which is a percentage of the price of the product bought by the customer. B2G: Short for business-to-government, B2G is the exchange of services and products from one company to a government agency. Business-to-government e-commerce is generally described as commerce between companies and parts of a countrys economy which is controlled or supported financially by the government. B2G e-commerce form indicates a large market potential since the public sector plays an important role in establishing e-commerce, also, to make the procurement system effective, the public sector need the public sector has the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective Business-to-Government e-commerce (B2G) is a type of transactions where the government buys information, products, or services from businesses. (Electronic Commerce, Efraim Turban, 2006) Dell sells its products and services to governments. It provides a separate section called public sector in its website which serves several divisions within a government. The company offers special products and services to government divisions and areas supported by government such as State government, Local government, Federal government, Higher education and Healthcare. Government agencies can buy the offered products and services from the companys website online and the delivery service is provided by Dell. http://www.dell.com/content/segmenter.aspx//pub?c=uscs=2684l=ens=pub~ck=mn B2E: E Collaboration: Collaborative commerce should help companies forge long-term relationships while reducing the costs of cooperation, says Lisa Williams, an analyst at The Yankee Group in Boston. For example, a Web server hub could substitute for distributed groupware for jointly managing projects such as constructing a building. Instead of all the partners buying the same groupware product, theyll all just sign on to the Web site, she says. But while collaborative commerce has the potential to be the next big trend in partneringits just beginning to take shape, says Stan Lepeak, an analyst at Meta Group Inc. in Stamford, Conn. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/46547/Collaborative_Commerce Collaborative Commerce In todays global commerce environment, the need for accurate, standards-based information is critical for conducting business efficiently. By standardizing the way information is communicated, and by having all trading partners accessing the same information, the opportunity for errors decreases dramatically, costs are reduced, and supply chains operate more efficiently. http://barcodes.gs1us.org/dnn_bcec/Solutions/CollaborativeCommerce/tabid/195/Default.aspx Collaborative commerce is a technology that enhances a companys communications with its business partners electronically. It enables companies and organizations to share information between each other, including Coolaborative commerce helps/provides companies and organizations a variety of benefits and opportunities by reducing service costs, Key business issues: Decreased service costs Faster cycle times Increased customer satisfaction Streamlined operations Enhanced flexibility and responsiveness Rapid, reliable fulfillment Improved planning through better system visibility In a collaborative environment, organizations and individuals can work together, share sensitive information, protect their privacy, and collaborate on activities and projects efficiently and effectively. Dell provides support forums for users and customers to refer in order to gain information from experts who bought Dell products and services. In this way, customers will be able to know how to buy and which product or service they should choose. It will also avoid buying products and returning it to Dell if it was not suitable due to the lack of knowledge. (http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/default.aspx) Collaborative commerce (or c-commerce) can be regarded as the next evolutionary step beyond the more basic process of electronic commerce (or e-commerce). It is an emerging area that is based on interactions enabled by Internet technology. The business models used by Dell: EC business models can differ depending on the industry and the companys strategy. According to Weill and Vital methodology/framework (2001), there are eight elementary e-commerce business models combines to create Online Direct Marketing: online direct marketing is very inexpensive, especially as postage rates continue to raise. With a little effort, it can also generate enough responses to be equally successful. Generally, online direct marketing focuses on creating communication between you and your customers, giving you the opportunity to target specific customers with relevant promotions. Read more: How to Be Successful in Online Direct Marketing | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2103036_be-successful-online-direct-marketing.html#ixzz1AqFb2CsV 1- Online Direct Marketing: It means selling products and services online directly to customers. This E-business model reduces costs and makes the distribution/dispersion of procurements more efficient, where sales are direct from the manufacturer or retailers to customers without processing through/using agents and physical stores. Dell offers e-procurement service to customers and businesses willing to buy products or services from the company. It allows buyers to browse, buy and order stocks through the Dell website which offers to buyers a chance to contact their staff for any guide. In premier B2B; another more developed version of e-procurement; authorized users of British Airways staff are provided with e-procurement tools to be able to access the intranet service and request for a product or order stocks from Dell Company. (Electronic Commerce, Efraim Turban, 2006) Electronic Tendering Systems: E-tendering is used for large-value purchases which are usually made by large organizations or public organizations. Conducting such a tendering online through Dells website will consume less time and money. Government agencies use e-tendering in most of their procurement to buy products and services efficiently. E-tendering can be applied on B2C business transaction as well as B2B transaction. In this way, Dell can become more popular and gain more customers to the company. Also many government agencies recommend tendering in most of their e-procurements. (Electronic Commerce, Efraim Turban, 2006) Dell established an e-procurement model to share it with business partners, such as British Airways. Electronic Tendering help them in requesting for bids when buying from sellers. Dell uses e-tendering in buying large quantities of components for their products. In this case, Dell will be to save more money when buying products through tendering. (Electronic Commerce, Efraim Turban, 2006) Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing is an internet-based marketing where an arrangement is made between the company and a marketing partner which is refered/called affiliate , . The affiliate will place/display an online advertisement of the company on his website by placing a banner ad or the companys logo or its link. A commission will be given to the affiliate partner every time a customer visits/refers to the selling companys website or makes a transaction/purchase through the advertisement placed in the affiliate website. the publisher (also known as the affiliate) It is a pay-for-performance model which means if an affiliate does not generate sales, it represents no cost to the merchant Those methods include organic search engine optimization, paid search engine marketing, e-mail marketing, and in some sense display advertising. On the other hand, affiliates sometimes use less orthodox techniques, such as publishing reviews of products or services offered by a partner. Dell appoints affiliate partners to link their websites to Dell website (dell.com). This partner receives 2 to 4 percent of the price of the product sold, if the buyer used the link of Dell website at the partners website. (Electronic Commerce, Efraim Turban, 2006) Online Auctions: Online auctions are sales transactions conducted online where shoppers make bids for products and the highest bidder wins the auction and gets the product delivered to him. The participants could be consumers, retailers or companies. The functionality of buying and selling in an auction format is made possible through auction software which regulates the various processes involved. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_auction_business_model Dell auction has renewed Dells computers and other products at dellauction.com. Whereas the online auction is important sales channel in 2006, Dell has opened physical stores, mostly in reaction to customer demands. (Electronic Commerce, Efrim Turban, 2006) Viral Marketing: Dell has support forums in its website where buyers and users can refer to gain knowledge and information about Dell products. Customers of Dell who bought products and services will be able to help those who do not know what to buy, as they can make use of their experience from what they bought. In this way, Dell can gain more customers by encouraging their customers to inform others about Dell products in the forum. Also loyalty can be gained from customers by Dell when they find specific and accurate information is provided. (http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/default.aspx) Supply Chain Management: E-supply chain management: e-supply chain management is a joint technology used- to improve the processes of B2B transaction along with improving agility, speed, real time control and customer satisfaction. Vi Dells Website Dells suppliers The customers E-customer service Mass customization Dell IT has successfully implemented this solution for Dells Americas, Brazil, Europe, and Asia Pacific/Japan regions. By using the same processes for disaster recovery, backup, and monitoring across all Dell operations, Dell IT has achieved a cost-effective and readily supported deployment model. January 2007 Page 5 Dell Enterprise Technology Center This article describes in depth how Dell IT made the transition from proprietary Unix-based servers to running mission critical supply chain management applications on Dells own hardware. The problem being solved by these database applications is described in detail in Section 3. The old solution and the Dell-on-Dell solution are described in Section 4 and Section 5. Finally, measured performance improvements are shown in Section 6. Dells Supply Chain Management The sheer number of transactions and pieces of information that the supply chain management system needs to handle is impressive. Each of the core components of the supply chain management (SCM) system are heavily used and relied on to keep Dells operations running smoothly. Configuration Management: The Configuration Management system manages over 1 million Dell part numbers across approximately 200 product families, and over 2 million Bills of Materials (BOMs) per year. BOMs listing component part numbers are created for manufacturing to build assemblies and sub-assemblies to produce Dells products. Procurement: The Procurement system manages nearly 1.8 million Purchase Order lines per year, from more than 5,000 suppliers worldwide. To streamline the procurement process Dell uses an automated application which includes workflow approvals and vendor communication, and provides for services such as defective part warranty replacement. Cost: The Cost component of the system runs mostly in batch mode to calculate the costs to Dell for all Bills of Materials. These batch jobs run weekly, monthly and quarterly, with each run rolling up total material costs. Inventory: Between all sites there are more than 3 million inventory movements daily from stock rooms to the factory floor. A corresponding 3 million messages are transmitted to various systems for reporting, analysis and factory scheduling. Accounts Payable: Accounts Payable handles approximately 15,000 items per day including payments to Dell suppliers, invoices and receipts. Vendor information includes number, location, negotiated terms and contact information. On top of these order-related transactions, there are several batch process jobs that need to be run to rollup data every week, month or quarter. The longest of these, the end-of-quarter (EOQ) rollup, took 31 hours under the Unix-based solution. In Dells Americas region the SCM Oracle database application consists of approximately 3,000 database objects (functions, packages, procedures, triggers, tables, and views). The same SCM system is also supported by 6 Dell PowerEdge 2650 application servers, 5 internally developed web-based applications, more than 50 system-to-system integrations, approximately 125 batch jobs, and about 500 user interfaces deployed to support the entire SCM application. Dells Supply Chain Management (SCM) System allows customers to make their own orders. This feature involves the customer directly and cuts down costs for Dell salesmen salaries at the same time. Furthermore, Dells SCM system allows customers to build up their own computer systems with all provided options. Thus, customers will be forced to review all the available options along with adding components and parts they might not have thought of adding initially. When customers can review all of the possible options at their own pace, without direct sales pressure from a salesperson, Dells can benefit from additional component sales. Dell is also striving on establishing good communication and better customer service. The company now is providing easy access to support through its web site. Customers can find answers to frequent/common problems without the need of Dells technical assistants which helps the company to reduce its payroll costs. Dell also provides other opportunities like online chat, email and phone to make it easier for customers to contact the companys customer service for enquiries and to solve problems that are not mentioned in the website. Dell uses chat groups and users groups to keep customers involved with the company, which help to retain customers for future components sales from satisfied customers. Dell has established a web site that provides wide information options for its customers. In order to make it easier to its customers, The company has splitted the home page into a number of main customer groups; 1- Home Home Office, 2- Small Business, 3- Medium and Large Business and 4- Government, Education Healthcare. (Dells Website Flowchart I made illustrates this perfectly.) In each group, customers will find particular products and services that are suitable to their usage. Classifying the website shows that Dell realizes each customer groups needs and saves consumers time by displaying the products and services that concern them only. Dell also devoted a particular division for customer service and support on its website, which shows the companys high priority to customer satisfaction. Dell has provided Service Support group and its duplicated in all customer group pages. Dell makes it possible for the customer to do a significant amount of research on their own. The website contains a large deal of information that will address their needs and answer most of their enquiries and questions. Dells customer support and service field is greater than its competition in comparison to other companies (Dell.com). Recommendation: Industry advisory firm, Technology Business Research (TBR), issued a report on support satisfaction among corporate buyers and has indicated that Dells satisfaction ratings have slipped to 80.98, down from 83.4 in the third quarter of 2003. TBR questions buyers on eight aspects of support, including their overall satisfaction with a companys support service, and assigns each one a weighted score for a total of 100 possible points. Although Dell still topped rivals HP and IBM in the TBR survey, its score was the lowest seen since the research firm began tracking Dells satisfaction levels in the first quarter of 2001. According to the TBR report, IBM outscored Dell in the fourth quarter of 2003 based on product design/features and long-term durability. From polling customers that have switched from Dell to IBM, customers stated that their reasons for changing companies were product performance, pricing and support. Although Dell has maintained its strong leadership posi tion in the fourth quarter of 2003, Dell needs to address their customer loyalty and keep customers from changing companies. As a result of these polls, Dell is working toward reversing the declining customer satisfaction trend and to return to the industry leader in the area of customer service. Dell is aware that the PC business is becoming increasingly commoditized, marked by similarly equipped machines and price erosion. By cutting out the middleman, Dell believes it has established a closer relationship with its customers. One way to stand out from the crowd is to appeal to existing and new customers by offering better service and support than competitors (4Q03). Although US consumers have condemned Dell in some fields, Dell is still doing extremely well in other countries. According to Technology Business Research (TBR) reports report in September 2003, the France Customer Satisfaction Study determined Dell is the No. 1 ranked desktop and notebook vendor in France and is tied No. 1 server vendor. Dell was significantly ranked higher than other vendors within most notebook categories in loyalty and satisfaction. Moreover, customers in France consider that Dell provides excellent long-term durability hardware. Dells General Manager in France, Thierry Labbe stated These results, and recent strong market share gains in France, show this is starting to pay off. We will however, constantly drive value up and prices down, and focus on providing a great customer experience, giving customers plenty of reason to continue choosing Dell (Customer Satisfaction in France).

A Comparison of Seamus Heaneys Mid-Term Break and Digging Essay

A Comparison of Seamus Heaney's Mid-Term Break and Digging I am comparing two poems by Seamus Heaney- `Mid-Term Break` and `Digging`. Both of the poems are written about his childhood and his family. The first poem I analysed was `Mid-Term Break`, where the simple and straight forward title `Break` caught my attention suggesting to me that this poem is going to be a positive experience, a break from work, a time to relax. The commencing stanza, the first line reads, ?I sat all morning in the college sick bay?, which has connotation of depression, illness and suffering suggested from the word `sick`. Also with the reference to college the reader gathers that the boy is in his late teens. Second line, ?Counting bells knelling classes to a close?, the word `knelling` in that line is associated with funerals and death so we get the feeling that something might be wrong and gather a sense of foreboding at what is to come. The final line, ?At two o?clock our neighbours drove me home?, is unusual, why are his neighbours driving him home and not his parents? The question why are his parents driving him home this increases the sense of foreboding. Also there is falling rhythm in this stanza. In the second stanza, the line begins, ?In the porch I met my father crying?, and this confirms to the reader that something is wrong, that something tragic has happened. The second line mentions that he takes `funerals` in his stride, so that says to me that he?s attended quite a lot of funerals even though he?s not that old. The final line, ?And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow?, leads me to believe that Big Jim Evans is a close friend and also that he is quite large suggested by the adjective `Big` to descri... ...o poems `Mid-Term Break` and `Digging` are both good poems, which are both about families. `Mid-Term Break` is about when he leaves college and returns home to find out the news about his little brother. `Digging` is about his grandfather and how he?s getting old and finding work difficult, so both poems are about family, but quite different circumstances. The layout of the two poems is very different. `Mid-Term Break` being very straight forward, just having three lines to each stanza and `Digging` being completely opposite and following no strategic pattern. Overall I think that `Mid-Term Break` is a better poem, as I find it more serious and was personally more effective by this poem due to it being quite sad talking about his brother and that last line, ?A four foot box, a foot for every year?, which is a very emotional last line to finish a poem.

From The Mountains of California To The Hills of Kentucky :: Short Story Moving Traveling Essays

From The Mountains of California To The Hills of Kentucky Jose used to live in Los Angeles California. He lived there for the first ten years of his life. Los Angeles was all Jose ever knew. He had many friends and he loved everything about the state he lived in. When Jose was ten his family decided to move to Florence, Kentucky. Jose had to leave everything in Los Angeles and start a new life in Florence. Kentucky is different from California in many ways. There are less Hispanics in Kentucky than in California. Hardly anyone speaks Spanish in Kentucky and in California almost everyone speaks Spanish. Speaking Spanish in a store causes everyone to turn around and looks. In California if you where to go into a store and speak Spanish nobody would care. In Kentucky there are hardly any attractions. In California, there are many of attractions and the weather is mostly sunny and warm. In Kentucky the weather is only nice for the summer and then it gets cold. There are no beaches, and Mexico is not as close as it is in California, that is the worst thing. How did Jose and his family end up in Kentucky? It all started like this. His uncle’s job decided to move away. His uncle’s company gave their employee’s a choice either to stay and have no job or to move with the company. Unfortunately, he chose to move away. His uncle didn’t think the company made a fair choice, but that was the way they did it. His uncle told the whole family about this and another of Jose’s uncle’s said his family and he would also move with him to Kentucky since he was out of a job. When Jose heard about this, he became afraid of not seeing his uncles, aunts, or my cousins anymore. He told his cousins to tell him all about Kentucky and to call and write him as much as possible. When his aunts and uncles moved away, they still kept in touch with letters and telephone calls, but it was not the same. Christmas came, Jose’s aunts decided to buy two airplane tickets for his sisters to go to Kentucky. Jose got mad at his aunts for not buying him a ticket and said that he would never talk to them again but then he thought about it and thought it would be cool not to have any of his sisters around, everything would be for him and his sisters would not bug him for two weeks.

Outsourcing and on-Demand Computing

Outsourcing and on-demand computing are two of the fastest emerging business tactics in the industry today. In outsourcing, businesses contract out certain services to an outside provider or manufacturer, often overseas. On-demand computing is similar to outsourcing only here businesses contract out their computing resources, such as computation and storage, rather than an actual business services. The computing is tracked as a metered service, similar to physical public utility such as electricity, water, natural gas, or telephone network. In either case, some piece of the company is broken off and run by an outside source. Organizations can outsource any aspect of their information system, including hardware maintenance and management, software development, database systems, networks and telecommunications, Internet and intranet operations, hiring and staffing, and the development of procedures and rules regarding the information system† (Stair, 348). For the most part, outsourcing and on-demand computing have had a positive financial impact on US businesses. They are able to â€Å"reduce costs, obtain state-of-the art technology, eliminate staffing and personnel problems, and increase technological flexibility† (Stair, 348). However, from a consumer standpoint, there has been much controversy over these tactics. For example, many believe that by outsourcing services to foreign companies for cheaper rates, businesses are damaging the local labor markets. Often times there are language barriers making communication difficult between consumers and foreign workers conducting companies’ services. Staff â€Å"turnover is higher under an outsourcer and key company skills may be lost with retention outside of the control of the company† (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Outsourcing). Qualifications of outsourced staff are often well under those of actual business employees and because they haven’t been trained under the original company, they also often lack company knowledge and fail to realize the business’s values. All of these factors can be very frustrating for a consumer trying to conduct unfinished business with a company whom they have already finalized a purchase with. I speak from experience when I say this as well. I purchased a laptop computer from Dell in December of 2006 and was sent a defective mouse. I have YET to be issued a correctly working, adaptable piece of equipment and have spent hours  on the phone with their ‘customer service’ representatives who are based in India and barely speak English. The connections are horrible, we can’t understand each other, I have never spoken with the same representative, and have been told something different every time I have called. Because of this experience alone, I will never again purchase anything from Dell and have started asking companies if their services are outsourced before making purchases from them. So in discussing the impact outsourcing and on-demand computing are having on the economy, I think the effects are positive for the businesses up front, but I think if this trend continues, organizations may start to lose clients who, like myself, have become extremely frustrated in dealing with outsourced services. On the flip side of that, if the trend continues and more companies get on board with these tactics, this may be the way of business in the future. I certainly hope not though!

Difference Between Single & Married People Essay

Today, there are a lot of significant numbers of people who are married and some are single. This has changed their lives and gives differences between their lives. In this essay, I am going to compare and contrast the differences between single people’s lives and married people’s lives in their lifestyle, companionship, and responsibility. Some things in life are going to be good, regardless of whether you are single or married, and some things will be the opposite. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The two areas that differ in married and single life are compromise and sharing of possessions. Lifestyle is the first difference between single and married people’s lives. Single people have much more privacy in their life. They are not bothered by anybody in their home. Nobody will demand that they sleep late, not watch movies too much and so on. And, single people can live a free life too. They can spend their time with their friends anywhere and anytime they want. In contrast, married people are bothered by their partner. They have to take care of their children and their partner. They cannot live a free life. If they want to go out with their friends, they must get permission from their partner first before they go. Married people are busier compared to single people, because married people have to take care of their children and their partner, unlike single people who do not have children and partner. Companionship is the next difference between single and married people’s lives. A husband depends on his wife, and a wife depends on her husband. Support is easily achieved from their partners, parents and their children, unlike single people who do not depend on anybody in this world. They cannot trust anyone to share their secrets and other important parts of their life except their parents. Support can be achieved only from their parents and their friends. Read more:Â  Married vs Single Responsibility is the last difference between single and married people’s lives. Married people have to manage their money and expenses gently and economically every day. They are also responsible for raising their children and guiding their families. If they cannot guide their family in the right way, their family can be broken and maybe ruined their lives. Married people are also responsible for managing their time. They have to spend their time with their children, husband or wife every day. In contrast, people who remain single do not have a schedule, they do not have any children or partners to guide and they are less responsible with their money and daily expenses. In conclusion, lifestyle, companionship, and responsibility are the three main differences between single people and married people’s lives. So is single life comfort and married life pleasure? Some people prefer to be single, others prefer marriage. Although there are reasonable advantages to both lifestyles, both lifestyles can be equally rewarding.