Mother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce Website :: Sell Websites Buy Websites

Mother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce WebsiteReprinted with permission of VotanWeb.comIn January, Sarah Kline bought an middle-aged watch for three dollars at a small(a) thrift store she stumbled upon in a tiny town near her dwelling house in Florida . She went home and listed it for sale on her website. Several years later it s one-time(a) for $14,200. Shed recognized the watch as the signature style of a designer famous for his unknown creations. A sharp eye for legitimate vintage watches -- watches no longer being made -- and the ability to connect with customers who want it are Ms. Klines secrets to victory on the internet. The 36-year-old housewife has been sell to jewellery stores for years. In early 2002, a computer-savvy store owner and friend suggested she turn to the internet to widen her market. By selling directly to customers online, she could cut out the middleman.Ms. Kline wasnt an see Internet user, but she found an existing website listed for sale on VotanWeb. She bought the website when the owner agreed to help her until she had a ingrained grasp of the website. His instructions were easy to follow. It was all new to me, but I learned quickly, she says. I also did a passel of research by flavour at how successful websites set up their auctions -- the categories they listed their products in and the descriptions they used. Ms. Kline began holding auctions. Within weeks, her online sales exceeded those of her off-line business, and she decided to commit entirely to the internet. She now runs about 75 auctions a week, and her annual sales ware doubled in the past year to about $420,000. The watch, for example, sold on the internet for about 20 clock the amount she estimates it would have gone for had she solicited a local retailer.Shes also no longer dependent on local buyers tastes, since over 90% of her sales are to out-of-state customers. I couldnt sell everything I had to stores because a lot were particular about wh at they wanted, she says. For example, most wouldnt buy large quantities of high-end vintage watches. I found a lot of nice vintage watches from the estates of all the old people who move to Florida to die, she says. But the stores I sold to wouldnt buy them. Ms. Kline fell in love with vintage watches in the early 1990s while works as a clerk at the local jewelry store.Mother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce Website Sell Websites Buy WebsitesMother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce WebsiteReprinted with permission of VotanWeb.comIn January, Sarah Kline bought an old watch for three dollars at a small thrift store she stumbled upon in a tiny town near her home in Florida . She went home and listed it for sale on her website. Several days later it sold for $14,200. Shed recognized the watch as the signature style of a designer famous for his unusual creations. A sharp eye for authentic vintage watches -- watches no longer being made -- and the ability to connect w ith customers who want it are Ms. Klines secrets to success on the internet. The 36-year-old housewife has been selling to jewelry stores for years. In early 2002, a computer-savvy store owner and friend suggested she turn to the internet to widen her market. By selling directly to customers online, she could cut out the middleman.Ms. Kline wasnt an experienced Internet user, but she found an existing website listed for sale on VotanWeb. She bought the website when the owner agreed to help her until she had a thorough grasp of the website. His instructions were easy to follow. It was all new to me, but I learned quickly, she says. I also did a lot of research by looking at how successful websites set up their auctions -- the categories they listed their products in and the descriptions they used. Ms. Kline began holding auctions. Within weeks, her online sales exceeded those of her off-line business, and she decided to commit entirely to the internet. She now runs about 75 auctions a week, and her annual sales have doubled in the past year to about $420,000. The watch, for example, sold on the internet for about 20 times the amount she estimates it would have gone for had she solicited a local retailer.Shes also no longer dependent on local buyers tastes, since over 90% of her sales are to out-of-state customers. I couldnt sell everything I had to stores because a lot were particular about what they wanted, she says. For example, most wouldnt buy large quantities of high-end vintage watches. I found a lot of nice vintage watches from the estates of all the old people who move to Florida to die, she says. But the stores I sold to wouldnt buy them. Ms. Kline fell in love with vintage watches in the early 1990s while working as a clerk at the local jewelry store.

Personal Narrative - Renewed Love for My Sister :: Personal Narrative Writing

Personal Narrative- Renewed Love for My SisterThe essence of life is to be found in the frustrations of established order. -John Gardner God, Kris, you are so disgusting I made a noise like a rhino in fondness as I opened my mouth to reveal the large piece of orange gum that hung precariously from my tongue. Thanks a lot, E. Youre the one that called it an orange slug. We two let out an uproarious laugh and quickly quieted ourselves. The geriatrics nearby were looking at us again. Our stifled laughter was still loud sufficient to make passersby wonder about our sanity, and that was just the way we liked it.Wait, wait Do it again, but open your eyes wide like you did the first time. I concentrated hard for a second, then with my eyes as wide as I could make them, I dropped my jaw and flicked my tongue wildly in her direction. I then snapped my mouth shut and blinked heartily. I licked my lips and tasted the sweet, artificial-peach flavor. The slug rolled around gleefully in my mout h as Erika and I chuckled at the various mallrats screaming and laughing in the opposite corners of the food court.What a bunch of fucking losers Erika said as she flopped the middle part of her tri-hawk to the right ramp of her head and looped the barbell in her tongue through the two lip rings that protruded awkwardly from her mouth.A putrid scent was carried our way by crowds of people that were manner of walking by us. I could taste the stench in the air. Lets get up and walk around. The Cookie Guy said it would take 30 minutes or so. Wed ordered a cookie for my mom who had just had knee surgery. The Cookie Guy in question was a good-looking, good guy who had helped us. It was more than a little strange to tell him that I wanted a giant cookie that said, We love you, Mommy I mentation about telling him to write something like, Welcome back from the state pen. Thirty-five years is a long time, Daddy or We love you, Elvis, but in the end, I decided against it.We followed my s uggestion and walked up the mall to the Deb Shop. Even from thirty feet away it reeked of perfume and cheap, polyester fabric. As we closed the distance between ourselves and the store, the lustre of the predominantly sparkly clothing temporarily blinded us with a bright reflection of the healthy orange glow emitted by the fluorescent lights perched utmost above.

The Other Boat Essay -- Other Boat Edward Morgan Forster

The Other BoatWho am I? Why do I do what I do? When can I fall in the rules of society without being guilty? In the unique agony of seeking understanding, acceptance, and love, these several questions echo touchingly end-to-end human history. For all people these introspective problemswhile difficultdesperately need answers, as answers to these questions dictate the choice to stay within the bound of accepted ethics or to step out. The importance and difficulty of finding good answers to these questions intensifies for atheists and agnostics, since they must formulate answers with the full responsibility for their conclusions resting on their own shoulders. No religion can answer these questions for them. Thus, Forster, a humanist who shunned organized religions and endorsed the creation of individualistic creeds, if choosing to step out from established laws and customs, must ask, on his own, if his justifications hold true(a) or if they converge with all other crimes against so ciety. The Other Boat contains many of Forsters personal humanistic moral perspectives on many issues including class conflict, colonization, racism, and adultery. However, intimately centrally, through a perspective of naturalistic fatalism, The Other Boat contains Forsters personal moral justifications for homosexuality.Readily available contexts for discovering and analyzing Forsters moral justifications appear throughout critical scholarship on The Other Boat, yet many critics overlook these humanistic conclusions. In a biographical essay on Forsters life, Carrol Viera notes that the compendium The Life to Come and Other Stories, which includes The Other Boat, has generally been analyzed by critics from two perspectives. Most critics, she says... ...ose difficult recurring questions, and from his own unique perspective he answers boldly I am a homosexual. I do what I do because my nature dictates I must do it. I can break the rules of society without being guilty for nature d isallows doing otherwise. These arguments for justified homosexuality live on today, and in many ways Forsters naturalistic answers remain the governing answers given by modern homosexuals. Through The Other Boat Forster gives their moral argument an early and eloquent voice, and though we agree or disagree we should proclaim him for that. Works CitedForster, Edward Morgan. The Other Boat. The Norton Anthology English Literature. Ed. Stephan Greenblatt. Vol. F. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.Viera, Carrol. E. M. Forster. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. John H. Rogers. Vol. 162. Detroit Gale Research Company, 1996.

The Story of Jesus Through Matthews Gospel Essay -- God Religion Jesu

The Story of the Nazarene Through Matthews GospelWho is this man Jesus? Where was he from? What did he do for others and us? A great source of reference to answer this question would be someone who had direct contact with him in unremarkable life. Someone who saw the daily wonders he created would be the best source for information. Matthew, the apostle, is believed to have written the gospel of Matthew. He was able to experience firsthand on the whole of the amazing miracles that Jesus performed. theology inspired his words, and his gospel relates to the other three gospels in boilersuit context. They were written in different formats and styles, but the overall message and story remains constant throughout all four gospels. This creates a strong reliability that gives confidence in Matthews knowledge of Jesus. If the generator of the gospel of Matthew was someone other than Matthew, the writings still tell an excellent story of the life of Jesus regardless of who wrote it. Th erefore, the story of Jesus can be told through Matthew and his gospel.Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy of Jesus that traces his existence back to Abraham. This direct line of heritage back to Abraham shows the fulfillment of Gods phone through Jesus. In Genesis 155, God promises Abraham desc abrogateants as numerous as the stars. These descendants, who make up the people of Israel, were promised a child to be named Emmanuel (God with us) in Isaiah 714. Matthews gospel tells how Jesus, the child of God who will be with us forever, fulfills the promise that was given by God many years before.Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus to conclude the first chapter. Jesus surely is the Son of God because Mary conceived him even though she had no knowledge of man. In Matthew 120, God spoke to Joseph in a dream through an angel telling him of his intentions for Jesus and his family. Because Matthew tells of this story, he clarifies Jesus uniqueness from the beginning. Jesus is the So n of God who fulfills all of Gods promises, and he will change the world forever.Matthew further depicts Jesus as the Savior of the world when he tells of the wise men coming to visit him as a baby in Bethlehem. The wise men were surely blessed because they took notice of the once in a lifetime miracle that took place in Bethlehem. Matthew 26 says, for from you shall come a ruler who is to S... ...ically stay with the people for coarse, so he knew that he must(prenominal) direct them as to what to do in order to keep the message of God alive in the world forever. To conclude the gospel, Matthew records Jesus as saying, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Jesus gave them the confidence and ability to continue the work of God by blessing them in this way. They carried on his message of the greatness of God for as long as they lived, and also passed it on to the next generation to share with the future.These stories of the works of Jesus written by Matthew tell of a marvelous man, who was God display among everyone on earth. He spoke and acted with wisdom, and his ministry proved that Gods love surpasses everything. Whoever was unfamiliar with Jesus would have an excellent understanding of his life and purpose by and by reading the gospel of Matthew. The message of the kingdom of God will live on forever through the life of Jesus. BibliographyBible - New James magnetic declination

Siddhartha Essays: Form, Style, and Content -- Hesse Siddhartha Essays

Form, Style, and Content in Siddhartha Joseph Mileck asserts in Hermann Hesse Life and Art that Siddhartha is a perfect exemplification of what he calls, intended craftsmanship. For Mileck, Hesse consciously synchronised form and substance in Siddhartha to best illustrate a touching of unity and the journey through the mind, body, and soul. In Siddhartha, Hesse consciously crafted a piece that is matching in form, style, and content, and created an atmosphere in which each one of these elements is perfectly complementary with the others. In order to communicate most accurately the inner journey of Siddhartha through the three stages of experience, Hesse maintains appropriate rhythm and form throughout the novel. In terms of structure, Siddhartha is comprised of twelve chapters broken down into three meetings of three chapters, in which each group is subsequently followed by an interlude. The interlude serves the function of dissipating and refocusing the energy which is buil t in the preceding three chapters. For example, the first three chapters describe Siddharthas experiences in the push down of the spirit, and ends with the interlude, Awakening, in which Siddhartha is awakened with the idea that he is spiritually unattached and must seek a new path. In the next three chapters, Siddhartha experiences the get to of the senses and of corporal pleasure. This second group of three chapters is followed by the interlude, By the River,which serves to consolidate the experiences just past and prepare Siddhartha for those to come. The final three chapters are concerned with on the job(p) towards a synthesis of the spiritual and the sensual, which is achieved in the final chapter, Om. Siddhartha is completed wit... ...t the novel imparts a systematic, methodical tone to Siddhartha, and together with the consciously created form unifies the experiences of Siddhartha, permitting a feeling of closure and meditation on the thoughts and ideas presented therein . There is certainly a unique rhythm to Siddhartha which is skillfully communicated both consciously and subconsciously. One can appreciate the conscious craftmanship of the novels structure and style, while at the same time allowing the rhythm, feelings, and experiences to sift into ones mind on a deeper, more subconscious level. Works Cited Farquharson, Robert. An Outline of the Works of Hermann Hesse. capital of the United Kingdom Forum House Publishing Company, 1973. Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. Dover Publications, 1998. Mileck, Joseph. Hermann Hesse Life and Art. Los Angeles University of California Press, 1978.

The Role of the Gods and Fate in Virgils The Aeneid Essay -- Aeneid V

The Role of the Gods and Fate in Virgils The AeneidAre the deeds of mortal characters in the Aeneid controlled by the beau ideals or by fate? Aeneas must fulfill the will of the gods, while enduring the wrath of other gods, all the while being a worthy predecessor of Augustus and return of the Roman people. Of course, the Trojan is successful because he gives himself up to these other obligations, while those who resist the will of the gods, Dido and Turnus, die sad deaths.Juno, the queen of gods, attempts to destroy Aeneas and his men in Book I of the Aeneid. The city of Carthage is Junos favorite, and it has been prophesized that the race of the Trojans will one day destroy that city. This is too much for Juno to bear as another Trojan, Paris, has already hate her. And so she calls on King Aeolus, the god of the winds, telling him to bring a great storm down upon Aeneas? fleet. Aeolus obeys and unleashes a fierce hurricane upon the battle-wearied Trojans. However, Neptune, the g od of the sea, feels the storm oer his dominion he criticizes Aeolus for overstepping his bounds, and calms the waters just as Aeneas fleet seems doomed. Seven ships are left, and they head for the nearest land in sight, the coast of Libya. Aeneass mother, Venus sees the Trojans curt state and pleads to Jupiter to end their suffering. Jupiter assures her that Aeneas will eventually find his promised home in Italy, and that two of his descendants, Romulus and Remus, will found the mightiest empire in the world. Then Jupiter sends a god down to the Phoenicians, the people of Carthage, to make sure they are welcoming to the Trojans. Juno hears that the Trojans are destined to found a city that will destroy her Carthage. That city is Rome, and ... ... and in an angry mob set fire to the fleet. The Trojan men see the smoke, rush up the beach and throw water on the ships, but the intense does not stop. Finally, Aeneas prays to Jupiter to save the fleet, and immediately a rainstorm come s, putting pop out the flames. The goddesses Juno and Venus continue their quarrel by further intervention in the journey of the Trojans. At this point it almost seems to be overdone the gods are driving the plot, not the hero. Aeneas has been reduced to a reactionary role as the different factions on Olympus duke it out over his fate, and send either aid or abuse down to the Trojans. Incapable to stop the burning of his fleet, he pitifully begs Jupiter to either help or kill him, so disheartened is he at his arbitrary maltreatment by the gods. Works CitedGransden, Karl W. Virgil The Aeneid. Cambridge Cambridge UP, 1990.

The Role of the Gods and Fate in Virgils The Aeneid Essay -- Aeneid V

The Role of the Gods and Fate in Virgils The AeneidAre the deeds of mortal characters in the Aeneid controlled by the gods or by fate? Aeneas must fulfill the impart of the gods, while enduring the wrath of other gods, all the while being a worthy predecessor of Augustus and founder of the Roman people. Of course, the Trojan is successful because he gives himself up to these other obligations, while those who resist the will of the gods, Dido and Turnus, die sad deaths.Juno, the sissy of gods, attempts to destroy Aeneas and his men in Book I of the Aeneid. The city of Carthage is Junos favorite, and it has been prophesized that the race of the Trojans will one day destroy that city. This is too much for Juno to bear as another Trojan, Paris, has already scorned her. And so she calls on King Aeolus, the god of the winds, telling him to bring a great storm down upon Aeneas? fleet. Aeolus obeys and unleashes a gravelly hurricane upon the battle-wearied Trojans. However, Neptune, the god of the sea, feels the storm over his dominion he criticizes Aeolus for overstepping his bounds, and calms the piddles just as Aeneas fleet seems doomed. Seven ships are left, and they head for the nearest land in sight, the coast of Libya. Aeneass mother, Venus sees the Trojans poor state and pleads to Jupiter to end their suffering. Jupiter assures her that Aeneas will eventually find his promised home in Italy, and that two of his descendants, Romulus and Remus, will found the mightiest empire in the world. Then Jupiter sends a god down to the Phoenicians, the people of Carthage, to make sure they are welcoming to the Trojans. Juno hears that the Trojans are destined to found a city that will destroy her Carthage. That city is Rome, and ... ... and in an angry mob set fire to the fleet. The Trojan men see the smoke, rush up the beach and throw water on the ships, but the burning does not stop. Finally, Aeneas prays to Jupiter to save the fleet, and immediately a rainstorm co mes, putting out the flames. The goddesses Juno and Venus continue their quarrel by further intercession in the journey of the Trojans. At this point it almost seems to be overdone the gods are driving the plot, not the hero. Aeneas has been reduced to a reactionary role as the different factions on Olympus duke it out over his fate, and send either aid or abuse down to the Trojans. Incapable to stop the burning of his fleet, he pitifully begs Jupiter to either help or kill him, so disheartened is he at his arbitrary maltreatment by the gods. Works CitedGransden, Karl W. Virgil The Aeneid. Cambridge Cambridge UP, 1990.

The Role of Women (Duddy Kravitz)

1) What is the role of women in the novel? Make specific references to egg-producing(prenominal) characters. What does this tell us about the Kravitz world? In Mordecai Richlers novel, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, women are represented to have a lower class than men. The women who are present in the novel include Yvette Durelle, Ida Kravitz, Minnie Kravitz, Linda Rubin and Sandra Calder. Each of these female characters are seen as helpless individuals unable to bear for themselves and left unsuccessful without men. Through Duddys n ever finale quest to own land to ultimately be successful, Richler depicts women in a negative way.They are seen as instruments to help men succeed and every so often used as traps for others. Therefore the women in this novel do non have lives of their own as they are portrayed solely as agency of other mens lives. such exists because the lives of the women were non once explored throughout the novel, it was always through the eyes of a man and since the women are not explored, therefore this results in a male dominated novel. Women are portrayed to be items of sexual desires worthless and unworthy of a mans second thoughts. As was the case with exclusive, his wife and Josette.Josette is one of the whores whom Max is pimping for and is described as being a handsome whore with splendid black hair and marvellous breast. (22) Such indicates that she is revered only for looks and her sexual abilities. Another such instance is when a women was being described by Max only for her features while they were at the bar sitting beside him is the greatest little piece you ever saw. Knockers? Youve never seen such a pair. I mean just look at that female child (20) Furthermore, Josettes feelings are disregarded and ignored even though she is human and has every amend to be treated fairly and humanely.Max grabs her forcefully and practic on the wholey drags her. Youre hurting me (24) She is thought to be someone who can only pe rform sexual tasks and the readers read that she has no place in society outside or other than that. Maxs poor treatment of his whores, Josette included, likely influenced Duddys poor opinion of women. The way he regards women and the way he is with them is reminiscent of his set about being a pimp and man-handling Josette at the beginning of the novel, as such treatment has likely been occurring since the death Maxs wife and Duddys overprotect Minnie Kravitz, if not shekelsing with his treatment of her.In sense, it could be argued that Max disrespects his deceased wife by resorting to pimping, using Josette as an instrument to pay for the bills and having a successful family. This revels that Max does not possess the feelings a man should have for his wife. There were types of cleaning woman seen in the novel which were those who could not be trusted because they were only out for themselves. Such women were not treated well and are to be hated and laughed at for their stupidit y. One of such women, Linda is featured very briefly during Duddys time at Hotel Lac des Sables, who Irwin Shubert bring overd to go out with him.She is described in great detail with more attention on her appearance and no mention any(prenominal) of her having a personality or feelings at all. Soft, curvy, and nifty enough for one of those fashion magazines (78). She uses him and is still thought to be more worthwhile than the caring Yvette, and is throw around later on. Sandra is the girl Lennie attempts to perform an abortion for, and consequently nearly loses his place at school. Her father is on the board for the university and he can convince the board to allow Lennie to stay.She is only depicted as being weak and whore-ish, being impregnated by her boyfriend, Andy Simpson. Not much is known about her, but she is seen as being emotional, desperate and hysterical. Riva Kaplan is Lennies girlfriend and though much is not known about her either she is said, by him to be quite t he terrible person. Shes not better than a whore (186). He fights with her and she is not mentioned again, indicating that a woman who fights and stands up for herself against a man is to be left and disposed of, not reasoned with or listened to. Furthermore, Duddy was never fully cutd by his family.There is no concrete evidence that shows any of them ever cared for him or wanted to take part in his life. Though Lennie seems to somewhat appreciate Duddy, he is still somewhat distant to him and he focuses on his own studies and life. The first person to truly love him, for who he was, unconditionally, was his Girl Friday, Yvette Durelle. She is treated and shown to be beneath the men she is around, and is to be dominated and ordered around without defiance. Duddys girlfriend, Yvette, was the first person, male or female, to ever truly love Duddy for who he was, faults and all.Yvette gave Duddy many chances to be with her, but he consistently turned to his desire for land and money i n place of her. 3 weeks. Duddy, if you start running again, Ill leave you (291). The last chance she gave him he ignored, and he preferred to stay alone and unhappy (whether conscience of it or not) with his unusual land than the woman who loved him. The only time Duddy seems to show any feelings of affection towards Yvette was shorty after they had dealings, just before he was shown the land by her.Her social function to him then was clear she would be used for sex and for the acquisition he his precious land. The fact that she stayed with him through his emotional abuse towards her indicated that she was weak and subservient, as all women are to be. His inability to appreciate women can be traced to his opinion of himself, his family, or both simultaneously. Specifically concerning Duddy Kravitz, many women were portrayed as traps, nags and instruments helping him succeed. There was woman in particular who helped Duddy to exponential levels and who ultimately led him to be suc cessful.Yvette never lived in her own right or more than the foil for Duddys ambition, which in the end, consumes everything else in the novel. Therefore Yvettes portrayal is entirely dependent on Duddy. (Richler never explores her family in Montreal) Yvette is seen as a trap to Duddy, despite abstracted to pursue his land, he does not want to commit to Yvette and be trapped by her. She does not want Duddy to fulfill his dreams because she would rather settle down and start a family. Consequently Duddys lack of interest in Yvette is shown when I feel so good, she said.Do you feel good? He could watch the lake over her elevate and in his minds eye it was not only already his but the childrens camp and the hotel were already going up (Richler, 100) As a nag, Yvette constantly suggest her opinion to Duddy as a result this frustrates him and her Ive seen you do lots of dishonest thing, Duddy, but never in my life did I expect you to cheat a boy like Virgil (216) Duddys French Canadian girlfriend, Yvette functioned not as a person in her own right but simply as a moral conscious for Duddy.This shows that Yvette acts as authority figure in Duddys life, something he lacks. Yvette also acts as a mother figure in Duddys life. Duddy does not show an interest in Yvette although she harasses him constantly and keeps showing her affection, it irritates Duddy because he is just using her. Yvette is used as an instrument as although she shows genuine love for Duddy, he never seems to have feelings for her.Since Duddy is a minor he employed Yvette as tool in acquiring his land, and manipulates her to his liking. She is an instrument used to get Duddy his land so he can fulfill his dream. Such goes to say that women during the 1950s were to be disregarded and called upon only for tasks, relations and served only as indicators of a mans wealth and worth by her attractiveness.

Finance Report ASOS ESSAY

With a rate much extravagantlyer than the sis free rate of return (4%) investors be likely to invest in the company (risk Free Rate Of Return Definition I Investigated, 2003). Return on gross sales Return on sales (ROSS) stands at 8. 59% in 2008 and stays fairly consistent through to 2009. In 201 0 it increases marginally by 0. 68% to 9. 11%, however waterfall to 6. 30% by 2012. The target Return on sales is often around 10% dependent on the type of industry, so SASS falls below the target. even so SASS return a high sales volume, which does not necessarily mean a low ROCK (France, 2013).The year antecede August 2013 they received 19,372 orders a 43% increase on the previous year. (Sass ply. Results & reports, 2013) Gross Margin % The gross profit margin in 2008 showed a gentle 46% however betwixt 2008-2011 there is a continuous downfall, with a decrease of 7. 23% over the 3 years. Although this increased by 12. 4% in 201 2, the 7. 23% fall in gross profit could potentially be catastrophic for a company with low ROSS. However this could be due to a change in the price of raw materials or selling prices. (France, 201 3) Liquidity and gearing Sass current ratio is always between 1. 5-1. 561. However they have not borrowed any money over the 5 year period, so carry a low risk to investors. Therefore even though they ar not at the ideal ratio of , they have not borrowed any money indicating they have good short-term financial strength (LetsLearnFinanceFinance in sincere Terms, 2011) Activity Debtor turnover began at 8 days in 2008, however made a vast improvement in 2009 falling to 2 days and then from 2010-2012 remained at 1 day. Creditor turnover days began at 68 days in 2012 which is fairly high, however this creased to 42 days in 2012.This suggests that SASS have good credit control and a low risk of bad debts as their debtor turnover is always at least(prenominal) 40 days less than their creditor days. (France, 201 3) Stock turnover has increased from 98 days to 121 days from 2008-2012 and remains fairly consistent throughout. However due to the seasonal worker nature of the industry with fashions changing regularly, they should try to decrease their stock turnover days. Employee Ratios Sales per employee started at a commendable IEEE,477 and despite falling y EYE,801 between 2008-2012, increased to IEEE,835 by 2012.This totals El 27,358 increase in sales per employee over the 5 year period. Profit per employee remains consistent throughout, ranging between EYE,058-EYE,557 an exception be 2011 where it drops drastically to EYE,212. This correlates with the low profit margins and return on sales for the year. Growth ratios From 2008-2009 sales increased by 104% as they entered the market, most likely due to promotion. However the following year it dropped 69% and then increased a steady 1 1 % over the next two years.The operating profit was century% after the first year and dropped dramatically to -22% in 2011 resulting in a loss. However this was recovered by 2012 with a 96% growth. To remain sustainable they essential try and keep their growth rates consistent. Conclusion The company appears stable due to their good cash flow. They have a low risk to investors, with high potential returns. SASS have no gearing, which gives them the potential to expand in the future to remain competitive in such a tough industry. If they were to borrow this would also improve the companys current ratio.

Management Structure of Boeing Essay

Considering how the Boeing Company has a strong presence worldwide and has employees and partnerships situated in 70 countries, it has implemented a management structure to achieve maximum efficiency of the multi-billion dollar business. This structure is called a matrix structure, where this essentially allocates a Senior Vice President to each of the many department heads who oversee all movements the company makes as well as managing every employee within that division. These departments mountain chain from areas such as Engineering & Technology to Law Department to Human Resources as well as Business Development and are all managed by the CEO, W. James McNerney. All of these divisions of Boeing run independently of one another, however they do collaborate together to ensure the company continues to be the achieve the most competent and stable environment that it can.The matrix management structure is also advantageous to the Boeing Company since they are continuously filling o ut long-term contracts for various airlines about the globe and is in need of several functional organized departments. Since these departments collaborate together, various tasks of the project inclined are delegated between the necessary departments who then do it together after completion of these given tasks and put together the prototype. Employees and resources are also allocated temporarily to other divisions of Boeing for various projects depending on the magnitude and the time given for project completion.However, there are some disadvantages to the matrix structure. There is a tendency to lean towards one side of the matrix or the other, this can go to problems such as project delays and extension requests by employees which inevitably cost the company time and money as seen by the delay of the 787 Dreamliner construction.

Los Angeles Kings Marketing Plan Essay

I. executive SummaryThe NHL has seen its fairs share of storied franchises, but non-however may stick tabu to a greater extent than the Los Angeles world powers. At one time the Kings had acquired arguably, the silk hat instrumentalist to ever lace up his skates in Wayne Gretzky and were competing for the Stanley Cup year-in-and-year-out. The Kings founder been long regarded as one of the better ran franchises in sports, thanks to managements commitment to winning.However, the Kings dumbfound non managed their ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup, they manage to remain competitive every year. The closest they came was in 1993, where they lost to the Montreal Canadians in the Stanley Cup Finals. Behind the move on the ice though comes a marketing strategy that ties it whole to loseher. This strategy result be developed in conjunction with, Vice President of marketing Jonathon Lowe, and team owners Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski Jr. The following strategy will accommodate sales , promotions, merchandising, advertising/sponsorships, public relations, and then of course community relations.The Kings came to the NHL in 1966, as apart of the sassy 6 that doubled the size of the NHL and brought a franchise to Southern California. Then owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kent Cooke brought his passion for the sport of hockey, and for the city of Los Angeles to countenanceher when he created the organization. After 44 whiles of hockey the Kings are now one of the more storied franchises in the NHL to twenty-four hours.This past season the Kings enjoyed a great fan turnout averaging 18,803 fans filling the mental synthesis to an average of 99.8% capacity, up 6% from the previous season. The Kings do not have to compete with the LA Lakers or Clippers of the NBA so much being as how all three teams nobble out of the Staples Center, but in a city like LA where the entertainment dollar is more competitive now than ever, it is substantial for the Kings to stay ahead of the rest of the competition. Fans need to know that they have the opportunity to catch the most exciting game on ice, every time the Kings play at home. If there is one thing LA fans are notorious for it is only coming to important games. That is why we need to branch out to tonic fans and make sure old fans still know the Kings run this town.II SalesSales, the lifeblood of any organization, the biggest factor that separates a successful franchise to a non-successful franchise. The Kings currently have their season shred plan broken up into several different categories they include, full/half season just the ticket plans, along with 10-game deals, a barbarian West package, and then single/group ticket sales. Also there are Royal benefits made available to full/half season ticket holders, and 10-game ticket holders. By becoming a season ticket holder be it full, half, or a 10-game plan the fan is entitled to Royal benefits that include but are not limited to * Stanley Cup Pl ay complete Ticket Priority* Significant saving on tickets* Flexible interest free payments* 10% off at the team LA Store* baron to purchase advance tickets to other events at the Staples Center, Home Depot Center, LA LIVE and more* Ability to purchase Staples Center pre-paid parkingThey besides include Royal Service Programs that include* Access to a personal Season Ticket Service Executive* Kings CARE donation program (this sinks the ticket holder the opportunity to donate unwanted tickets to the Kings CARE foundation)* Ability to upgrade cypher or add tickets to account* Access to LAKings.com/seasontix this website give the fan the option to view their account, access tickets, make payments, renew tickets, and sell tickets on Ticketmasters TicketExchangeThey also include Royal word* Receive invites to exclusive Team Member events like, a Meet the Players Party, State of the Franchise, private practices, listen in on conference calls, and much much more * Refer a star to sea son tickets and receive free Team LA gear.The Kings play 82 regular season games in the Western Conference, peace-loving division. Of these 82 games 41 are played at home, the rest on the road. For all 41 home games the ticket sales are as followsThe Kings leave great deals to buy tickets in bulk, i.e. season tickets and are willing to sacrifice some profits to bring fans into the arena. The only thing that the Kings lack in their season ticket packages are names that people can get excited for. The full season ticket holder package will be renamed the Kings Royal Court, this is something that will help the fan feel more connected to the team. The half season ticket holder package will be known as the Royal package of the Crown. The 10- second packages needed names with a little more spunk so instead of the 10-Game, heavy(p) Game package, it will be known as the 10-Game War to because it is war on the ice and the team will be playing some of the best competition the NHL has to p urpose. The Weekend Plan could be renamed Time Away From the Throne, because it is a weekend and people typically do not have to work. I like the name of the Flex package because it tells the consumer exactly what they are getting.Following package sales are individual ticket sales and group ticket sales. Single game tickets can be purchased through the box office or the teams website via Ticketmaster. Pricing for tickets are based on demand, opponent, day of week, and number of days before the game. Prices may vary from week to week and will go up or down each Wednesday based on these factors. The way the price for tickets is determined is very interesting, it is acceptable for the fans and bad for the fans, because the system relies heavily on what games being played and there performance of the team.This gives fans with a overturn level of income the ability to catch a Kings game, even though the opponent might not be that good. Group tickets are available to groups of 15 or mo re and offer value priced seating based on the game. The idea behind group seating is to bring the groups, pride, passion, and power to the Staples Center to support the LA Kings. The Kings work with multiple youth hockey organizations, along with other organizations throughout the area to achieve group sales.III PromotionsThe Kings do an excellent job with promotions to get fans into the arena, different nights of the week have a different theme, all of which appeal to the people who live in the Los Angeles area. The promotions schedule is as follows* Oct. 18 Opening nighttime* Oct. 22 Law Enforcement discretion Night* Oct. 25 Kroq Tailgate, Hockey fights cancer* Nov. 3 Canadian Heritage Night* Nov. 5 Waste solicitude chiliad Game* Nov. 8 Native American Pride Night, USC vs UCLA* Nov. 12 Boy Scout Night* Dec. 1 Career Night* Dec. 10 Legends Night, Firefighter Appreciation Night* Jan. 2 Legends Night* Jan. 5 Faith & Family Night* Jan. 9 Russian Heritage Night* Jan. 12 Waste Mana gement Green Game* Jan. 19 Jewish Pride Night* Jan. 23 Armenian Pride Night* Feb. 18 Legends Night, Black History Night* Mar. 3 Waste Management Green Game* Mar. 22 Law Enforcement Night presented by Enterprise Rent-a-center on with these promotions that are geared towards promoting community bonding there is Military Mondays which honors those who have served in our military, Website Wednesdays which offer different deals on Wednesday of ever week, and Student Nights which are games that offer discounted tickets to all students with valid ID.IV MerchandisingMerchandising deals with all aspects of the game, it is the dissimilarity between any old game and a sporting event. The fact that when a fan enters the Staples Center they are welcomed to a sea of black and royal and blinded by the Kings crown is what makes a Kings game a Kings game. The Kings are fortunate to have a very intensive website dedicated to Merchandise that includes jerseys, position shirts, golf shirts, sweatshi rts, and much more. The goal behind the Kings merchandising techniques is that everyone who passings into Staples Center better be wearing some type of Kings memorabilia and if they are not they better walk out with something on.In the arena itself there is a store dedicated to offering womens apparel. The store had pink and form fitting hockey jerseys for women because the modal(prenominal) jerseys are too big. The store also had Kings shirts that are a little more flashy than normal and would appeal more to a womens eye. Along with the womens store there are several stores in the arena that are intentional for children.These stores have Kings toys and mini hockey sticks, plus clothes and jerseys designed for children to wear. All along the arena there are places for men to buy merchandise they include jerseys, hats, tee shirt, sweatshirts, hockey pucks and much more. Some of the more common items are the shirts designed for women, golf balls and hockey puck with the Kings logo on it. The Kings have a very recognizable brand and are amongst the top teams in revenue generators for the NHL.V SponsorshipsThe Kings have formed multiple corporate sponsorships that help fuel their organization. Most notably is Staples, whom own the naming right to the arena they play in but that is also in conjunction with the Lakers, Clippers, and city of Los Angeles. On top of that the Kings have teamed up with Verizon Wireless and Wells Fargo both of which are grand national organizations.The Kings also pair up with corporations to bring events to games. The Kings have deals wit h Pizza Hut to sponsor events, Waste Management sponsors Green Games for the Kings, and Kroqs also sponsored a themed game promotion. Sponsorships are a huge part of revenue and the best way to attract new sponsors is to attract fans.Some suggestions that the Kings could use would be to get a company to sponsor some type of ticket deal, it would reduce the cost to the consumer, and could come with c oupons to use at the sponsoring companys facilities. some other sponsorship idea is to have corporate sponsored events like a golf outing for charity or something of that nature. The Kings have the luxury have having a giant billboard that surrounds the ice they play on so corporate sponsors are not too hard to come by. Some notable sponsorships are Delta, Carls JR, Hooters, Toyota, and the penalization Box, which is a bar located in South LA dedicated to the Kings.Another way the Kings could promote corporate sponsorship is through some type of wellness card. All card carriers would receive benefits to participating companies, and could include money off food, gas, or clothing. The card is something that can purchase through the LA Kings and will offer deals to its card carrier.VI Public dealingPublic Relations are important to any organization and the Kings are no exception to this. The Kings already do an excellent job with their PR. The teams website is more than informative and gives fans a very hands on approach to press releases, game notes, and player stats/news. The idea behind good public relations is that by being perceived as good in the publics eye will equate to more ticket sales and more support of the team. No one will support a team that is full of classless thugs, and that is why the website is so interactive.The fans have a chance to read up on their favorite players, see where they are from, and their career stats. That is fairly basic though, I propose each player prepares a short, quick, bio about themselves answering some fun questions like whats your favorite movie?, whats your favorite food?, who is your favorite band?. Questions that when answered will give the fan one more possible way to connect to their favorite athlete. Not only that, but by doing this it will give fans the chance to get to know new players.Another big part of PR is getting team new out their fast before the media gets the wrong story out there. The Kings have all updates on player personnel available on the team website and also through the teams Twitter and Facebook accounts. The Kings have 165-thousand Facebook fans and 49.6-thousand followers on Twitter. The Kings have really utilized social media as a positive tool while dealing with Public Relations.VII Community RelationsCommunity Relations is similar to PR but deals more with the local community at hand rather than the view of the team under the national spotlight. For the Kings the city of LA has been very gracious hosts and the Kings have returned the favor significantly. The Kings have been in the area for the last 44 years and have maintained an excellent presence in the city. In 1996, the Kings started the Kings CARE Foundation, which is dedicated to helping less fortunate kids get through school by providing educational support the Kings were able to raise $3.5 cardinal since being started. This includes a $250-thousand donation that was used to help fund the Childrens Muse um of Los Angeles, and another $250-thousand donation that was dedicated to AIDs victims.Another thing the Kings do is Kids rubbish Knights, which donates over 10,000 tickets a year to kids who cannot afford to go to Kings games. The Kings Care Foundations hosts a silent auction bridge every year that benefits the Children Cancer Research Fund, the items up for auction were tee shirts designed by team players and those associated with the Kings. The players all designed a dog bowl that were auctioned off, all proceeds of this went to the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. The 2006-2007 political campaign gave the Kings the opportunity to work with Carmen Electras fundraiser, Head to Hollywood, which benefits survivors of brain cancer/head trauma.The team sponsored events at their home games where Miss USA and other celebrities shot pucks into an annul net to raise money. Every Wednesday the Kings feature children up for adoption in the greater LA area. In 1998, the Kings began a scholarship fund for fallen friend Michael Jund, and has been changing the lives of its recipient for over a decade. Finally the Kings pair with Toys for Tots around the holidays to bring holiday cheer to children. The Kings take a very active occasion in the community.On top of all of this players are constantly visiting the less fortunate and making sure the community knows the Kings care. It is important for the Kings to maintain their well community ties because every season starts with the off-season.

Driving Forces for M-Commerce Success

hotheaded Forces for M- avocation Success Jason J. Zhang, Yufei Yuan, and Norm Archer Michael G. DeGroote School of Business McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada generalisation Is m-commerce properlyeous an extension or a subset of e-commerce? Will it turn out to be just more hype? In this paper we discuss the realities of m-commerce and the major differences between energetic commerce and meshing-based e-commerce. Based on this understanding, we identify tell apart factors that must be taken into consideration in order to design worthy m-commerce applications.We emphasize that the advantage of m-commerce relies on the synergy of trio cause forces technology innovation, growth of a un employ nurture chain, and active client demand. Key lyric poem m-commerce, e-commerce, wireless parley net profits Jason J. Zhang is currently a Ph. D. student in t for each oneing schemas at Michael G. DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, Canada. He received hi s M. E. degree in cultivation System Engineering at the School of Management, Dalian University of engine room, and B. E. degree in Computer Science & Engineering at North china Institute of Technology, P.R. C. He once worked as an IT consultant for Office Automation (OA) for the Chinese g everyplacenment. His interrogation interests include e-commerce, e-government, supply chain management, m-commerce, and agent-facilitated decision sustain systems. Yufei Yuan is currently a Professor of Information Systems at Michael G. DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, Canada. He received his Ph. D. in Computer Information Systems from The University of Michigan in U. S. in 1985. His research interests be in the areas of web-based negotiation support system, business models in electronic ommerce, approximate reasoning with fuzzy logic, matching problems, and decision support in health care. He has published more than 30 papers in superior journals such(prenominal) as Intern ational Journal of Electronic Markets, net profit research, Fuzzy Sets and Systems, atomic number 63an Journal of Operational Research, Management Sciences, academic Medicine, Medical Decision Making, International Journal of Human-Computer Systems, and others. Norm Archer h experients the Wayne C. Fox Chair in Business Innovation, and is a Professor of Management Science and Information Systems in the Michael G.DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. His research interests are in go byics that relate to eBusiness, including business-to-business implementations, intelligent agents, and the human-computer interface. He has published in a number of journals, including Internet Research, International Journal of Management Theory and Practice, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, International Journal of Technology Management, and others. 1. Introduction What is unsettled commerce?Is it just hype? Al about e very company in telecommunications is trying to figure out what m-commerce re entirelyy is, and how to exploit it. From the marketers vision, in the new human being pass oned by m-commerce, consumers provide implement their kiosk foretells and other wireless devices to purchase goods and go just as they would over the Internet using their soulal computers (PCs). Specifically, m-commerce is about satisfy rescue ( nonification and reporting) and transactions (purchasing and cultivation entry) on vigorous devices (Leung and Antypas, 2001).Unfortunately, in reality, m-commerce is often a passing frustrating experience. Industry observers attri juste this drawback to the immaturity of supple technology, entirely they hope 3G (third propagation wireless digital cellular telephone technology) networks could change the situation (Cohn, 2001). While m-commerce is still in its infancy, enhanced devices and networks are irrelevant unless m-commerce applications are oblige a nd exploiter friendly. Most often m-commerce is understood as nimble e-commerce (Donegan, 2000 Schwartz, 2000 Liebmann, 2000).M-commerce is supposed to modify us to buy everything from anywhere over the Internet without the use of a PC. Internet access and Web browsing is assumed to be the recover out to extending m-commerce to customers (Harter, 2000). In umteen ways, m-commerce is the continuation of e-commerce with the palm handheld, wireless laptops and a new generation of Web-enabled digital phones already on the market (Keen, 2001). Thus it was once believed that if you brought together mobile communications and the Internet, two of the biggest things in telecommunications, in that respect would be an almighty blowup of growth.However, it has not happened yet. In some ways, m-commerce and the wireless Internet vex been the victims of over-excited speculation (Darling, 2001). Among 1,700 people surveyed in Spring 2000 by Jupiter Communications, the majority said that they would not use nor leadance for the wireless Web (Lindsay, 2000). WAP ( radio set Application protocol) go were disappointing, particularly in Northern Europe countries, where mobile communications are most advanced and consumers sock healthful the limitations of the wireless Web (Monica, 2000).Consequently, the enfrankincenseiasm that originally greeted the concept of the mobile Internet has waned. Contrary to conventional perspectives on m-commerce, forward-thinking marketers should not vision m-commerce as e-commerce with limitations, but rather as wireless in its own unique medium, with its own unique benefits (Cotlier, 2000). Even though wireless technology is sometimes regarded as an enhancement tool rather than a brand new medium (Ramakrishnan, 2001), successful players in the m-commerce market space must take a often broader view of the technology, the market, and potential consumers.M-commerce is not simply a new distribution channel, a mobile Internet or a sub stitute for PCs. Rather, it is a new cyclorama of consumerism and a much more powerful way to communicate with customers. Obviously, people provide not shop with their phones in the same way they shop with PCs. Unleashing the tax of m-commerce take aways understanding the grapheme that mobility plays in peoples lives today. That calls for a radical shift in thinking (Nohria and Leestma 2001). In this paper, we allow for identify driving forces for the success of m-commerce.To clarify the nature of m-commerce, we discuss several fundamental differences between m-commerce and Internet-based e-commerce. Based on this new perspective of m-commerce, we identify a set of key factors that should be considered by marketers as well as consumers in making decisions concerning m-commerce applications. Finally, we propose that the synergy of three driving forces give lead to a greater likelihood of success for m-commerce. 2. Key differences between m-commerce and e-commerceAs we argued, m-commerce is not simply an extension or a subset of e-commerce. In fact, thither exist fundamental differences between m-commerce and e-commerce in basis of their origins, technologies and the nature of the expediencys they can offer. 2. 1 Origin The startnce and training of e-commerce was due to the rapid growth of the Internet. The Internet originated from several U. S. government-sponsored programs (ARPANET, CSNET and NSFNET, and so forth aimed at providing a networked compute environment for researchers (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996).Starting from the early 1990s, the Internet was extended to business community applications. With such great business potential and rapid growth to millions of users, the term electronic commerce was coined, and e-commerce applications expanded rapidly (Turban et al. , 1999). Because of widely-expanding networks and nearly free access to the Internet, e-commerce bridges distances and enables companies to display and sell goods and serve cheap ly to consumers and businesses around the world.In the Internet world, much is given outside free or at a discount in the hope that a way will purgetually be found (presumably through with(predicate) advertizement in make do) to turn traffic into profits. Contrarily, m-commerce is rooted in paid-for service in the private mobile phone industry where business competition is stiff. In the telecom world, users pay for airtime, by the size of the data packet transmitted, and by the service used for what they get (Fox, 2000). Global wireless networks are segmented and owned by diverse mobile operators such as AT&T, Pacific Bell Wireless, Vodafone, Orange, Deutsche, NTT DoCoMo, etc.Compared to virtually free Internet access, high speak to has been seen as a major typical of m-commerce (Shim and Rice, 2001). Mobile communication through cell phones is costly, and any surplus services will attract extra charges. The reason is that establishing a mobile communication network ingests heavy business posement with no government support (Ramakrishnan, 2001). M-commerce carriers therefore must look for a great deal of business activity to pay off tax incomes that justify the huge infrastructure investments (Lamont, 2001).Due to their different origins, the customer bases of m-commerce and e-commerce are quite different. Researchers and university educators were the early users of the Internet. The Internet user population was originally dominated by highly educated people. As Internet house convey penetration increases, the demographics of users continue to shift closer to those of the population at large (Pa caudex, 1999). This growth pattern is clear in U. S. and tends to be repeating in the rest of the world (http//cyberatlas. internet. com/ big_picture/demographics).In contrast, other than business users, most cell phone users are young people or relatively less well-educated consumers. Over the next decade, billions of people will gain access to mobile dev ices, but many of them will be functionally semiliterate and technologically un in advance(p) users (Feldman, 2000 Barnett et al. 2000). Because of their differences in background, consumers tend to have quite different expectations for m-commerce, compared to e-commerce. For example, one reason for the low uptake of the wireless Internet in the U.S. is that most Americans already are familiar with the pumped(p) Internet and expect to pay for wireless Internet access as they do for wired access untrammelled access for a flat monthly fee (Fox, 2000). 2. 2 Technology The Internet, the fundamental infrastructure of e-commerce, adopted a well-established protocol, TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), which solves the global internetworking problem and ensures that computers communicate with one another in a reliable fashion. Over the past everal years, the World Wide Web (WWW) has come to dominate Internet traffic, and the vast majority of e-commerce applications are Web-based. It is too easy to connect the Internet with quick business information systems. Uniform Internet standards significantly reduced e-commerce entry costs and helped fuel the rapid growth of e-commerce. In contrast, m-commerce services are constrained by a variety of wireless media communication standards ranging from global (Satellite), regional (3G, IEEE 802. 11a/b, DoCoMo I-mode), to improvident distance (Bluetooth) (Shim and Rice, 2001).Cellular carriers use different systems and standards such as GSM (Global Service for Mobile), TDMA (Time Division ternary Access), and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) to compete with each other (Leung and Antypas, 2001). M-commerce applications tend to be device and carrier dependent. The wireless applications today primarily use two technologies WAP and SMS. WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is the display language designed for cellular handhelds. It was created by Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia and Phone. com in 1997 when th ey founded the WAP Forum.WAP is a derivative of the XML/HTML language family, but it is designed to operate without a keyboard or mouse. SMS (Short Message Systems/Services) is a derivative of the old numeric paging network, with additional functionality for two-way communication and support for text and attachments. at that place are more users of SMS today than of WAP, thanks to cheaper service and the widespread accessibility of low-cost, two-way paging devices from companies such as Motorola (Leung and Antypas, 2001). Until now, there has been no generic world-wide framework and standard for application development using universal mobile data link and access.In fact, wireless technology is still in its infancy and hindered by trammel coverage and a smorgasbord of competing standards, which can explain the slower-than-expected adoption of m-commerce in the coupled States (Shim and Rice, 2001). Choosing from conflicting standards, products and features, gives even hardened te chnophiles a headache. The pyramid of m-commerce applications thereby presents a much more complicated process, in which many pieces must fall into line before the mobile phone can be seen as a real revenue generator.In addition to underlying networking infrastructure and standards, it is the client devices that actually larn what specific services can be hand overed. The boom in e-commerce applications is actually due to the widespread use of PCs, which have a complete text arousal keyboard, large screen, substantial memory, and high processing power. Contrarily, mixed m-commerce applications rely on the use of handheld devices. These devices range from pagers, cell phones, and palmtops, to pocket PCs.Mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) have tiny screens, some of which display only three lines of text at once (Lucas, 2001). The displays are black and white with low fortitude there are no QWERTY keyboards, and no support for animation (Leun g and Antypas, 2001). Although WAP devices support a limited graphics format called Wbitmap, because mobile devices have limited bandwidth and undersize screens, any application that is heavily graphic or animation driven would not be suitable at this time.In addition, bundle applications are relatively crude. There are no cookies or session controls, meaning that if the connection is lost, the application will restart rather than continue from previous screens (Leung and Antypas, 2001). Web browsers and drop-down menus are unavailable, so companies must plan on character-based terminal applications with cursors and key entry forms. Long selection lists or deep menu layers will wear out the fingers of even the most patient users (Moustafa, 2000 Jainschigg and Grigonis 2001).However, in contrast to PCs, cell phones do have their own unique features mobile, portable ( pocket-size size), smooth voice communication, and connected to persons (primarily because of portability) rather th an to bit or office. 2. 3 The Nature of Services The wide accessibility of the Internet makes any e-commerce service globally available. The Web enables search and delivery of rich information, and sophisticated electronic transaction processes can be integrated easily with backend enterprise information systems.In contrast, the delivery of m-commerce applications relies on private wireless communication carriers. These services are usually delivered to a specific region, and are rather simple, more personalized, spot-specific and time-sensitive. Since a mobile device usually accompanies a person wherever he or she goes, mobile services can be delivered to a person anywhere and anytime rather than to a fixed office or home. M-commerce therefore creates more of a perception of enhanced intimacy with consumers than other office-based distribution channels.Time sensitive, simple transactions such as movie ticket purchases, banking, and travel reservations are believed to be the key applications that will score m-commerce (Lucas, 2001 Swartz, 2001-2). Other key drivers to m-commerce growth are location-based applications such as traveler navigation, emergency response, etc. (Secker, 2001 Rockhold, 2001 Swartz, 2001-1). Finally, in general we categorize Internet based e-commerce into B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to business). The rapid growth of e-commerce started from the booming of dot. com companies aimed at online shopping and customer services.Gradually, the emphasis shifted to B2B, and more re centimely e-business, to take advantage of the real business value of the Internet. In contrast, mobile commerce started from person to person communication, and gradually more services were introduced through interactions between people and systems checking the weather, finding a local restaurant, etc. M-commerce applications can be used to serve both(prenominal) consumers and business people. Rather than apply B2C and B2B classifications to m-com merce, P2P (Person to Person) and P2S (Person to System) would be more appropriate to address the nature and trend of m-commerce applications.The enlarge of m-commerce applications will be discussed in the next section. The major differences between m-commerce and e-commerce are summarized in Table 1. Table 1. study Differences Between M-commerce and E-commerce E-commerce M-commerce ORIGIN Sponsorship Government-sponsored Internet toffee-nosed mobile phone industry Business entry cost Low High customer access cost Free or low cost Internet access High mobile service charge Customer base Highly educated computer users Less educated cell phone customers TECHNOLOGY Message transmission Packet-switched data transmission Circuit switched for currentlined voice communication Protocol TCP/IP, HTTPML GSM, TDMA, CDMA, 3G Standardization Highly standardized Multiple incompatible standards Connectivity Global main(prenominal)ly regional Bandwidth High Low Identity URL with IP and domain name Phone number Application development General computer applications Device-specific applications Interface device Personal computers Cell phones and PDAs Mobility Fixed location Mobile Display Big screen Small screen Main input mode Keyboard for full text input verbalise with small key pad Main output mode Text and graphics Voice with small text display Local rocessing power Powerful CPU with large memory and disk space Limited processing power with small memory chip Software and Programming Support a variety of programming languages coffee bean or specific script languages Trend Towards sophistication Towards minimization SERVICES Service range Global Regional Delivery destination PC in office connected to the Internet Person accompanied by a mobile device Transaction complexity Complete and complex transactions Simple transactions Information provided Rich information Simple and short messages Timing Less time-critical Time critical Location-based service No Yes Target mobility Service to a fixed point Service to a moving send Backend business connection Strong connection to backend business information Weak connection to backend business information systems systems Service classification B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to P2P (person to person) and P2S (person to system) business) 3. Key Factors in excogitation M-Commerce ApplicationsOnce we have place the major differences between wireless mobile communication based m-commerce and Internet based e-commerce, we can identify the key factors that must be taken into consideration in designing useful m-commerce applications. 3. 1 Mobility M-commerce opportunities can be very significant, if investors understand consumer groups intimately and develop ubiquitous solutions that recognize the role that mobility plays in consumers lives (Nohria and Leestma, 2001). In business services, not being forced to be hardwired enables a companys employees to remain connected while moving from office to office, or state to state they can tap into the corporate network from airport lounges and hotel lobbies.For individual consumers, mobile devices basalally stomach them to carry through in touch with their friends and families anywhere and anytime. For instance, videophone users can take pictures wherever they go and send them attached with short notes to friends while shopping, traveling, or simply hanging out (Kunii, 2001). Beyond person to person mobile communication, additional value can be generated by linking mobile consumers and existing services. Mobile consumers can access various services anytime and anywhere, presenting new marketing channels for businesses. While traveling, a user may use a mobile phone to control a home burglar or fire alarm system and to turn lights on or off as if at home (Fox, 2000). 3. 2 Personal identity and built in payment mechanismsSince mobile devices, particularly cell phon es, are registered by their reviewers and normally accompany the person, it becomes possible to identify and deliver personalized services to the user. A cell phone with additional certificate information such as a PIN number or biometric naming technology can be used to identify a person. A payment mechanism may also be built into the cell phone system. It is then possible to allow consumers to use their wireless phones as devices to make or trigger a payment (bus ticket, vendor machine etc. ), similar to the use of a smart dining table or an ATM machine. And there are even a a few(prenominal) vending machines that let users pay for soft drinks using their cell phones (Fox, 2000). Credit plank numbers could also be replaced by cellular phone numbers for wireless transactions.Relying on a third party payment mechanism is unendingly a big hurdle for Internet-based e-commerce because an IP address cannot identify a person. However, this difficulty could be easily overcome in m-c ommerce with the use of an identifiable mobile device. Hence, cell phones naturally support e-Wallet applications in m-commerce, which is crucial to the success of other applications. Certainly, systematic security solutions involving PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) and biometric services should be adopted as well (Young, 2001). As an example Obongo has modified its e-wallet software for use on wireless devices. A so-called m-wallet contains the rideholders account data, name, and mailing address, and is accessed with the push of a button.Once opened, the data within the wallet are transferred to the merchant to complete the payment (Lucas, 2001). M-wallets make micro-payments easier and help carriers charge for advanced services such as digital media and granulose applications that consumers cannot get any other way (Swartz, 2001-2). at any rate financial services, personalization in m-commerce can migrate into entertainment (music and games, etc), content services and even pers onalized marketing. Since mobile operators maintain personal information on subscribers, a CD vendor, for example, could simply ask customers to verify payment information and a shipping address through their cell phone displays rather than have them fill out forms each time from scratch (Barnett, et al. 2000).Good potential applications of the content rphylogenesis are personalized software that deliver highly targeted offers for large- or small-ticket items that consumers can act upon, even while waiting in line (Lucas, 2001). 3. 3 Location-Based Services To date location-based services have been regarded as key enablers of m-commerces future success, according to the current hype (Swartz, 2001-1). Portable geographic positioning systems (GPS) are becoming smaller and more affordable, at costs in the neighborhood of only about U. S. $200. These systems can be used not only to identify locations, but also for business to deliver location-sensitive services to users. The ability to target rich and relevant information to end-users provides great potential value in location-based applications.For instance, it would be quite useful to provide driving directions and local commercial services where users happen to be, such as near specific restaurants, movie shows, bus schedules, weather reports and guided tours in museums (Shaffer, 2000 Taaffe, 2001). Hence, one of the marketing points of m-commerce applications is proximity. Go2Systems, in Irvine, Calif. , one of a swarm of vendors eyeing the uses of ALI (automatic location identification) data, linked with Coca-Cola to steer wireless customers to stores selling Coke products (Jones, 2000). Coca-Cola, the worlds best-known brand, has ventured into the wireless world by providing its fountain clients (McDonalds, Burger King and more than 800,000 U. S. estaurants) with the opportunity to attract additional business by placing their names on Go2 Systems wireless services. Their 5-year, U. S. $30-million deal will allow customers to find the nearest Coke fountain location through their cellular phones with Go2 location-based direction services, which include addresses, turn-by-turn directions and one-click calling (Swartz, 2001-1). CT Motion, a location-based services developer, provides an m-coupon application, by which the mobile user can receive an electronic coupon from a retailer in his or her specific location (Secker, 2001). Imagine that a young adolescent is riding his skateboard through the park on a Saturday afternoon, when his cell phone beeps.It is a message from the Soda X portal that the local professional soccer team is playing tonight, and the store that he is approaching is offering him half-price tickets for the game if he buys a pair of jeans today. Privacy concerns are critically important while implementing location-based advertising. Pull mode may resolve the issue of privacy, when a mobile user requests information and is willing to receive an advertisement (Secker, 200 1). However, many location-based applications are still to be developed few carriers have a strategy, let alone a business model (Swartz, 2001-1). Location-based services would have to be targeted extremely well, in order to evacuate damaging trusted relationships that merchants already have with customers.Location can be traced not only for people but also for other objects. Cellpoint, a supplier of location-based services (LBS) software, provides the applications used to track remote assets such as fleet vehicles and construction equipment, and also provides telemetric products that allow remote machine-to-machine communications (Secker, 2001). It is also possible to trace a stolen car or a missing child that is carrying a specially designed radio device. 3. 4 Time-critical desire purchasing Mobile phones are carried by their owners almost everywhere and kept switched on most of the time, especially in Europe, where mobile users are not aerated for incoming calls.Consumers can t hus not only gain access to wireless services wherever there is a network presence but also keep tabs on time-critical information such as stock market reports or pressing messages. Time-sensitive and simple transactions are another key to stimulate m-commerce. For some applications of m-commerce such as scanning news or purchasing books or other retail items, real-time transactions are not necessary. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of value in being able to monitor dynamic information through wireless handheld devices, such as aircraft flight status, shipping status, seat reservations or stock prices, and to alert the user when the information is updated (Shaffer, 2000 Schwartz, 2000 Leung and Antypas, 2001).There will be even more value in emergency situations such as medical care, traffic misadventures, emergency road service, and crime reporting. Particularly with the mandatory ALI (automatic location identification) data supplied by a few key vendors such as Xypoint, U. S g overnment emergency systems like E911 (Enhanced 911) could be im prove (Jones, 2000). The United States FCC (Federal Communications Commission) mandates that the location of wireless callers be identified during a 911 emergency call. The MapInfo (www. mapinfo. com) Location Management Platform (LMP) is used to enhance a carriers 911 service by automatically routing 911 calls to an appropriate Public Safety tell Point (PSAP) for handling and dispatch. 3. 5 Special Market NichesMass-market consumers will be the really big users of m-commerce applications. And the customer base is large enough for potential revenue in the medium to long term (Sweeney, 2001). A single killer application would not work for everybody and there is going to be a consentaneous set of niche applications that are relevant to each target audience. The mobile industry believes that location-based service advertising will have stimulated m-commerce so much that operators would eventually offer free phone charge s to subscribers who are prepared to have advertising on their screens on a permanent basis. In particular, youth has a very powerful influence on this market (Secker, 2001).Actually, young people have been a major target of various m-commerce applications, particularly SMS and DoCoMo iMode services (Herman, 2000). Besides focusing on youth, mobile operators also suggest marketing future mobile data technology much more aggressively to business users (Parsons, 2000). In any case, for new m-commerce opportunities, carriers should be cautious about implementing applications that require changes in consumer behavior. If many technology hurdles are to be overcome, along with a agree unreasonable change in behavior, the application is unlikely to succeed. Additionally, price marketing is by far the most important in creating m-commerce value (Lamont, 2001).Mobile carriers therefore get to develop unique offerings for each target market segment or services targeted, according to geograp hical location and demographics (Schneiderman, 2001). Learning about and analyzing customer psychology, and pickings marketer perspectives would help carriers segment the mass-market and target specific to m-commerce applications. We actually take to shift our way of thinking to exploit the uniqueness of m-commerce applications that can be brought to put forward in our lives, rather than to be confined to thinking within the limitations of mobile devices. The factors that need to be considered for m-commerce applications are summarized in Table 2.Table 2. Key Design Factors and emblematic Applications Factors Typical Applications Mobile communications (for business and personal contacts) Mobility Scheduling and coordination ( e. g. appointment arrangements, reminders, teleconferencing, etc. ) Location-sensitive Travel navigation (driving or walking directions) Local tours (exhibitions, shopping malls, etc) muddle local services (restaurants, gas stations, etc) Locating moving objects (missing children, stolen cars, etc) Short Message Services (SMS) Time-critical Time-critical information (flight schedules, weather reports, traffic information, stock prices) Emergency services (medical care, accident and rescue services, crime stoppers) Personal identification (secure entrance with biometry check) Personal identity Electronic payments (e-Wallet) Personalized location-aware advertisement Language-specific services (automatically switch to or turn in to desired language) Demographic segmentation (oriented to young people or business people). Special market niche-targeted Country segmentation (tailored to specific country) 4. Synergy of Three Driving Forces For m-commerce growth we identify three major forces that impel its growth technology innovation, evolution of new value chains, and active customer demand.We propose that the synergy of these three forces will eventually lead to the success of m-commerce applications . 4. 1 Technology Innovation Technological progress is likely to bring about some novel applications for m-commerce. here we identify several major technologies, improvements in which are expected to have a significant influence on m-commerce. The primary concern is with the capabilities of handhelds, the fundamentals of mobile networks, the accuracy of geographic location information, and security solutions. (1) Handhelds Low-cost, truly pervasive devices that present multi-modal information and perform transactions naturally can dramatically change what many people do and how they do it (Feldman, 2000).In the next several years, wireless devices will improve in interface design and information presentation. In countries like China and Japan, where the written language has never fit well with a Western keyboard, handhelds that employ handwriting or speech actualization seem ideal (Herman, 2000). Wireless keypad mnemonics can also make the entry of data easier for consumers (Young , 2001). Subscriber identity modules (SIMs) may take over due to their competitive advantage over voice or keystroke activation (Chanay, 2001). Newer devices will use expandable color screens capable of displaying up to 12 lines of text, more user-friendly keypads, and higher communication bandwidth (Lucas, 2001).Smart phone card memory capacity will reach 1MB by 2005. The processing capability of smart cards has increased and has given users the ability to enjoy more computationally intensive, high-value, transaction-based operations that require such features as digital signing and encryption (Moustafa, 2000). For those who crave the cutting edge, there are DoCoMos (in Japan) impressive third-generation handhelds, which can begin and send high-quality color movies almost in real time (Kunii, 2001). By using a DoCoMo camera-phone, it is possible to imagine being in a store shopping for a gift for a child and calling your spouse to show her what you are thinking of buying.Besides improvements in user interfaces, applications and underlying middleware configurations will allow for interactions to switch communication modes smoothly without losing clarity or the thread of conversation. The Java Card Forum has developed specifications for implementing Java on smart cards. Support of Java on SIMs will allow wireless terminals to reach the Java developer community, simplifying the development of new services (Carrara, 2000). Overall, next-generation devices are expected to combine the functions of Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs (data exchange) and cell phones (verbal communication). (2) Network infrastructure The current (second) generation of wireless networks and handhelds supports data rates of only 9. 6 kilobits per second, far below the 64 Kbps capabilities of landline sloven wires.GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), the most common cellular standard, is being extended by the GPRS (General Packet Radio System), which can support data rates of 112 Kbps, almost twice the rate of a standard computer modem and enough to support high-quality streaming audio. True third-generation (3G) networks, based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System) standard, are predicted to energise the maximum rate to 2 Mbps one-fifth of the bandwidth available on the standard Ethernet in todays offices (Barnett et al. 2000) According to Ovum, 3G will first take hold in Asia and Europe, with the rest of the world trailing a year or two behind (Fitchard, 2001).Currently, the leader in the field is Japans existing second-generation, or 2G, digital networks that provide always-on connections for data transmission and support a wide range of online services from news, weather, and ticket-booking to downloads of games and ring tones (Kunii, 2001). Therefore, in the next several years, hybridization elements of 2G, 2. 5G and 3G will be in play simultaneously on wireless operator infrastructure. Bluetooth is a short-distance, radio-based, poin t-to-point technology that, theoretically, can go up to 1 Mbps, and has already entered the market (Herman, 2000). It will be very useful for enabling location-based applications. It allows a wireless device to exchange data with PCs, laptop computers, point-of- sales event devices and other wired devices without being physically connected by wires or adapters.Bluetooth is supported by more than 1,400 telecommunications and technology companies, including Motorola, Intel, and Lucent Technologies (Lucas, 2001). (3) Geographic location technology Location-based personalized services have been heavily touted as a major application for m-commerce. In order to deliver such services, mobile devices (particularly cell phones) should be able to keep track of an individuals physical location as he or she moves about. Some companies are focusing on underlying technologies or services such as radio-based methods for determining where users are calling from, or software and systems that blend l ocation data with other information (Shaffer, 2000).The FCC (Federal Trade Commission) has stringent requirements for location services, in which carriers have to offer network-based systems that deliver location information with an accuracy of 300 meters for 95% of calls and 100 meters for 67% of calls (Brewin, 2001). For instance, an FCC ruling requires all wireless carriers to find a way to pinpoint the location of the users dialing 911 emergency services. Although the requirements are meeting resistance from various carriers that say they cannot reach that level of accuracy or at least need more time to do so, some can meet the requirements with the portion of their networks that uses the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standard. (4) Security technology The lack of security is said to be one of largest barriers in delaying m-commerce implementation.In particular, security is a vital issue that affects the use of mobile technology in financial services, when account enlarge and other confidential information move across the networks (Dezoysa, 2001-2). With regard to securing transactions, PKI (public key infrastructure) is believed to be the best method to secure end-to-end transactions (Moustafa, 2000). Besides securing wireless transactions from the cell phone to the m-commerce provider, the phone must also be secured from fraudulent use. Traditionally, the SIM card that stores the subscribers account information is used for identifying and authenticating the subscriber to the network. There are industry standards for SIMs used in digital wireless phones that help ensure that all SIM-based terminals can support any SIM applications and services a provider develops (Carrara, 2000).Dual chip phones even have an additional SIM-size slot for an independent multi-application chip card targeted at payment, such as a bank-issued WIM card (wireless identification module) or EMV card (a payment standard defined by Europay, Mastercard, and Visa Inter national) and other banking solution applications (Dezoysa, 2001-2). In the near future, wireless biometric services will emerge as a common solution (Young, 2001). A biometric is a unique physical or behavioral characteristic of the human body, which may be check into automatically. The absolute verification of a user makes biometrics the highest security level. Biometrics come in many forms.In 2000, fingerprints were the most widely used biometric, accounting for 50% of the market, followed by hand geometry (15%), face recognition (12%), voice recognition (10%), handwritten signature recognition (8%), and iris scan (4%) (Biometric Industry Report, 2001). In recent years, biometrics have gone digital, and modern electronic systems are capable of distilling the arches, loops and whorls of conventional fingerprints into a numerical code. As an example, Champion Technology, a Hong Kong company, has launched a fingerprint recognition system, which takes only a few seconds to accomplis h recognition (Leary, 2001). Biometric authentication offers some promise of strong and convenient security for cell phones, in which the subscribers signature or fingerprint can be thought of (mathematically) as a large random number (Crowe, 2001).These are easy for the owner to present to a machine but difficult for others to fake, and they cannot be lost, stolen or borrowed. The growing m-commerce industry eventually will settle on a set of solutions to all of the different security problems, building end-to-end solutions that are secure, cost effective and easy for consumers to use. However, successfully implementing good quality solutions relies upon the acceptance of standards (either de facto or negotiated) within the highly interdependent functions of this industry. 4. 2 Value Chain Evolution As we discussed above, m-commerce is primarily rooted in the cash-rich mobile phone industry.Therefore, equipment vendors and network operators have been dominant in the m-commerce wor ld. And in some sense, the mobile operators own virtually all of the value chains (Donegan, 2000). Unfortunately, this operator-dominated value chain is not able to successfully deliver cleanly integrated personalized services for mobile phone users, which is crucial to the success of m-commerce (Swartz, 2001-2). In theory, mobile operators could compete at all levels of the m-commerce value chain, from the provision of basic technical services to the supply of lucrative, customer-facing content, but this is simply not possible, since this will spread their skills and resources too thin.This has been abundantly demonstrated in the e-commerce marketplace, where different companies tend to invest and to focus on their specific expertise at particular levels of the value chain. There are some exceptions, where dominant companies such as Microsoft and General galvanic attempt to extend their reach vertically. Companies normally should concentrate on areas in which they naturally hold a competitive advantage. In m-commerce, mobile communication operators thus need to make difficult decisions about which parts of the value chain to compete in and how and which parts to avoid. There are many critical roles that they may be able to play and a number of business models that may be suitable in these roles (Tsalgatidou and Pitoura, 2001).Some mobile data industry observers believe that, although Europe has a more advanced mobile communication infrastructure, the European approach to the m-commerce market will fail (Darling, 2001). They suggest that many European service providers emergency to own the customers and to support all the applications that customers want to perform. Some mobile operators may even want to become banks or content providers in their own right but, even though carriers have all the critical capabilities in place, including location, shopping, e-wallets, promotion and personalization, without partnerships with knowledgeable merchants and inter mediaries, prospective customers will have nothing to access. Therefore, partnerships between -commerce providers, interested content providers, and other businesses are critical to the success of m-commerce. Providing complex data services is a very different business from running a voice network, so carriers have to choose partners to provide content, and decide which services to offer their customers. In pursuing value-added services, more entrepreneurial companies have the products and capability to get them integrated and delivered to handhelds (Goldman, 2000). Also, since capitalizing on the promise of m-commerce requires an in-depth understanding of consumer behavior, significant opportunities spread out not just for providers of telecommunications services, but also for companies that have a rich and thorough knowledge of consumer behavior.However, from the merchants point of view, building m-commerce applications will present huge challenges, so companies need to leverage superior consumer insights to develop powerful branded solutions with value outside their traditional markets, particularly when beat alliances with telecommunications carriers (Nohria and Leestma, 2001). In a value chain, each party plays its specific role and gets its own benefits. Customer service charges depend on how much value the user receives, so there will be different pricing and business models for individual services (Secker, 2001 Darling, 2001). Revenue sharing in m-commerce value chains, particularly in those of location-based services (LBS), involving mobile operators, equipment vendors and application developers, will require a significant amount of negotiation. As an example, CT Motion is an LBS application developer and equipment vendor, providing operators with a chopine to enable deploying and managing LBS.CT Motion licenses its platform to operators, with an initial fee to cover basic hardware costs and licensing. Additional payments to CT Motion depend on the revenue stream from application users. Thus, revenue share will essentially depend on the value of the application. For example, a company delivering a car theft recovery service is doing most of the work and so it might receive 95 percent of the revenue. For a simple application, the majority of the revenue will go to the operator and the platform enabler (Secker, 2001). In Table 3, we list the roles in an m-commerce value chain, the major players, and their corresponding sources of revenue. Table 3. Roles and Profit Sharing in the Value Chain Role Tasks Major players Sources of revenue Equipment Supplier Manufacturing innovative handhelds and Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, etc Selling phones, equipment, or equipment sharing revenue with network operators for discounted cell phones Network Operator Developing and maintaining Traditional carriers such as Charges from increased network infrastructure to support mobile data Vodafone, Orange, Deutsche traffic communica tion Telekom, AT and NTT DoCoMo Service Hosting Providing basic enabling services such live Web-hosting companies Shared revenue with application as server hosting, data backup, systemsand system integrators such as providers integration and security control Oracle Portal provider Offering simple, categorized Internet portal service providersFees charged to application information search facilities crucial such as Freeserve, AirFlash, carriers and advertisers to m-commerce applications. Room33, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL emailprotected Billing Handling various sophisticated illing Network operators such as Transaction fees or interest Facilitator mechanisms such as air-time-based, userVodafone, Orange, Deutsche charged to merchants or consumers patterns-based, specific Telekom, AT, NTT DoCoMo and application-based, location-based, etc banks and credit card companies Application Provider Providing various end-user services Existing Internet content Revenue from customers for such as ticket booking, e-mail providers such as Yahoo, AOL and services or products purchased checking, news scanning, and retail merchants (Coca-Cola, location-based services (LBSs) PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, etc) To help observe the maturity of the various value chain components of m-commerce outlined in Table 3, and to understand where further development must occur, it is informative to consider the inter-corporate linkages of m-commerce. This can be done according to corporate contributions to required infrastructure, associated support services, and delivery of these services to customers. To this end, we have qualified the well-known University of Texas e-commerce model of Internet Economy Indicators (Whinston et al, 2001). In their model, there are four layers (Internet infrastructure, Internet applications infrastructure, Internet intermediary, and Internet commerce).M-commerce differs significantly from e-commerce, as we have pointed out, although there is some overlap in the functional nature of both. In our m-commerce value chain model, we also propose four layers 1) Communications Infrastructure, 2) Applications Infrastructure, 3) M-commerce Intermediary, and 4) Mobile Commerce. Reading from the top of Table 3, the Communications Infrastructure layer includes equipment suppliers and network operators. The Applications Infrastructure includes service hosting, portal providers, and software companies that develop related software products and platforms. The M-commerce Intermediary layer includes rush facilitators, content providers, brokers, and market makers.Finally, the Mobile Commerce layer includes application providers that sell goods and services to customers. The interconnected and interdependent nature of these four layers of the value chain cannot be over-emphasized. Thus evolution in one layer will affect the other layers. For example, advances in the communications infrastructure, such as the widespread implement ation of G3, will support new developments such as wireless video and bring more potential retail applications of mobile commerce that may be both time and location sensitive. But services to support these will require further evolution in both applications infrastructure and intermediaries. 4. 3 Active Customer DemandWhat is missing from m-commerce is compelling content that will make people want to use their handhelds to buy something. Consumers remain unconvinced about the wireless Web and user apathy towards wireless data services is believed to be one of the main factors delaying m-commerce implementation (Kelly, 2001). We propose that it is current narrowly-focused m-commerce applications (mainly on mobile Web systems) but not the fundamental nature of m-commerce, that frustrates consumers. The great advantage to people of eliminating fixed attachments to physical space, allows more strategic, creative, and flexible decisions and actually getting things accomplished (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996).Instead of waiting for killer applications to stimulate passive consumers, we propose that fundamental consumer demand is the active force that can improve the chance of m-commerce success. The success of the cell phone industry has already proved the significance of this active driving force. Today there are an estimated 115 million cellular phone users in the U. S. (Schooler, 2001). Market growth has been quite encouraging. Compared to the U. S, in Asia and Europe mobile telephony adoption is even more advanced (Herman, 2000). In Japan, the number of cell-phone users has already reached 66 million (Kunii, 2001). 64% of the people in Finland have a mobile phone, while the rate in Sweden stands at 55. 2% (Kruger, 2000).In China, the enthusiasm for mobile phones has exceeded all forecasts, and the mobile subscriber base will probably reach 250 to 300 million in 2005, up from 68 million in 2000 (Sliwa, 2001). Recently, the population of cell phone users in China ha s reached one hundred thirty-five million, making it the world leader. Beyond enjoying the basic service of mobile verbal communication, consumers are beginning to demand much more from their cell phones. Two-thirds of Japans cell-phone users subscribe to one of many mobile data services offered by the countrys three cellular operators. Even though the actual demands turn according to different geographical locations and demographics, consumers have played a decisive role in the success or failure of m-commerce efforts.Most potential m-commerce successes will arise from consumer demand for additional value in their daily lives, and there is unlikely to be a single killer application that can spark m-commerce success. What consumers need is an adaptable package that can accommodate various m-commerce services (personalized location-specific and time-sensitive). It is the variety of cost justification criteria adopted by consumers (in turn determined by demographics, regional cultur es, current fashions, etc. ) that fundamentally affect their decisions concerning specific m-commerce services. According to a Nokia research study that focused on m-commerce services in the U. K. South Korea, Italy, USA, brazil-nut tree and Finland, the proportion of respondents that would carry out a transaction of more than U. S. $25 using a mobile device, ranged from 24 to 54 percent (Dezoysa, 2001-1). Also, 90 per cent of all end-users surveyed that would consider using m-commerce, either now or some time in the future, would be willing to pay for its use. However, this is on the assumption that the mobile device is free. It is still uncertain whether the cost of next generation phones can be subsidized by operators and, if they are not, how the added cost of paying over $cl for a mobile phone might well affect this figure (Dezoysa, 2001-1). DoCoMo recently sold about 10,000 videophones at a U. S. $500 price, with service limited to Tokyo (Kunii, 2001).In Europe, the cost of p roviding advanced handhelds equipped with high tech features is also likely to be in the neighborhood of $500 or more (Carrigan, 2001). For the additional cost of high tech handhelds to be acceptable, consumers will expect to be able to access many additional services that are of value to them. In Europe, where mobile users are not charged for incoming calls, consumers can thus not only gain access to wireless services wherever there is a network presence but also keep tabs on time-critical information such as stock market reports or other urgent messages (Barnett et al. 2000). Such consumers are more likely to take advantage of these services.The focus in m-commerce needs to be on delivering simple, time-sensitive, and compelling applications that do not require a lot of training. If it takes too much time (e. g. more than 5 minutes) to conduct an m-commerce transaction, it might as well be done with a PC. cardinal example is notification about tickets to entertainment and sportin g events. A consumer can contact a ticketing agency, such as TicketMaster, to request notification of availability of tickets for sale for an upcoming concert. When tickets meeting the consumers criteria become available, TicketMaster sends a message to the consumers wireless device and asks if the consumer wants to buy them or not. This is a simple yes-or-no transaction (Lucas, 2001).Any applications that require consumers to input much information will not work, because of keyboard limitations. For example, a visit to Barnes & Nobles WAP site to enter credit card number, address, and shipping information requires more than 100 keystrokes (Swartz, 2001-2). 4. 4 Synergy of three driving forces The success of m-commerce relies on the synergy of three driving forces technology innovation, value chain evolution and active customer demand. Technology innovation provides more useful functions with lower prices, creating value for customers and stimulating customer demand. Technology inno vation also demands high-level collaboration through the value chain.Active customer demand provides rich revenue sources for the value chain and stimulates technology innovation and the development of new applications. Value chain evolution ensures the collaboration of multiple parties through appropriate profit sharing, which in turn supports more technology innovation. Through positive interaction loops the three driving forces will eventually contribute to the success of m-commerce. This synergy is graphically illustrated in Figure 1. 5. Conclusions Are we ready for m-commerce? Differing perspectives of m-commerce may lead us to opposite answers. But our research into the nature of m-commerce shows that m-commerce applications are fundamentally different from those delivered in the Internet- based e-commerce environment.Simply transforming e-commerce services to cell phones or PDAs will merely expose the limitations of wireless handhelds and result in frustrating end-user experi ences. Therefore, as we examine any speculation about m-commerce applications, we must attempt to exploit the unique features of mobile devices as well as to avoid their weaknesses. Furthermore, the eventual success of any m-commerce strategy depends on the synergy of the three driving forces we have identified technology innovation, value chain evolution, and active customer demand. Acknowledgement This research was sponsored by the research grant from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.The authors are grateful for the anonymous referees constructive comments and valuable suggestions on the improvement of earlier version of the manuscript. References Barnett et al. (2000), Nick Barnett, Stephen Hodges, Michael J. Wilshire, M-commerce an operators manual, The McKinsey Quarterly New York 2000, No. 3, pp. 162-173 Biometric Industry Report (2001), 2000 Market Review, Biometric Technology Today, Jan. , pp. 9-11. Brewin, (2001), Bob Brewin, M-commerce hits snag as cell carriers balk, Com