What is the role of social media in the field of journalism-LITERATURE Term Paper

What is the role of social media in the field of journalism-LITERATURE REVIEW - Term Paper Example acquire more traffic especially from the young generation, media corporations have also followed their consumers onto online space by creating social media sites. Apart from generating traffic, media corporations have also embraced social media forms of journalism in a move to be at par with competitors (Kerrigan & Graham, 2010). Apart examining values of journalism, the study will also analyze its contribution to the online community. In the current generation, it would be quite unfortunate for journalism corporations not to embrace the rapidly growing technology, especially in social media. This is due to the fact that social media is of great importance to the journalism network. Embracing social media is no longer an option since it is one of those things that are a â€Å"must have† for all journalists. Unlike previous generations, the current one is quite literate and normally spends most of the time seeking information on the internet; this is clear indication that it is rare for them to get information from hard copy materials such as books, magazines and newspapers. Because of this, journalists ought to change the ways in which they relay information to the public. Since most people depend on social media for information, journalists have no option but embrace them too. Studies so far conducted show that apart from Facebook, other common social media platforms include twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace ( Oh, Agrawal & Rao, 2013). The 21st generation is quite inquisitive to the extent that it is not possible for them to wait until the next day so that they can read about a trending story. To them this is a long time for a generation normally yearning for information. Therefore, by embracing social media, journalists are in a position to post up to date information on what is trending not only in the US but also globally. By doing so, people will become interested with journalists and media corporations that post instant news hence resulting to traffic that is

American Independent day Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American Independent day - Essay Example The July 4, 1776 independence day is celebrated every year. During 1776, there were 2.5 million residents. In 2009, there were over 300 million Americans (Aloian, 2009). The people are reminded of their forefather’s gift to the currents 21st century American people. Annually, the American people celebrate the benefits of the American independence. The American Independence Day celebrates the present generations’ benefits generated from the brave 1776 residents of the 13 colonies. One scholar discusses one benefit of the American Independence Day, freedom to improve the communication among other residents in a democratic manner. The author describes how each person in a democratic society tries to improve the communication between two persons. It is an admitted fact that different people have different interpretations of certain words and actions. The journal article’s scholar classifies this as pragmatic failure (Moalla, 2013). The author performs the research on 30 speakers. The research was done in Georgia, United States. The speakers were students from the Kennesaw State University and the Catholic College. There were 30 respondent speakers. The respondents were made to take the Discourse Completion Test. The test determines the speakers’ reactions on certain everyday events (Moalla, 2013). The findings of the research show people interpret each message differently. The difference is brought about by the respondents’ cultural background. Twenty Tunisian students interpreted the compliments as rather insincere. This clearly shows that the students were more interested in the true message of the conversation. The 20 Tunisian students tried to decipher the real message behind the compliments. These same students tried to determine the truthfulness of compliments bestowed on them by the speaker (Moalla, 2013). On the other hand, the other ten students, American students, happily

Hypoxia-inducible factor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hypoxia-inducible factor - Essay Example Hypoxia is a condition where physiologic oxygen levels fall lower than the normal, which can result in stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, other neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Because of the importance of oxygen for life, organisms have developed mechanisms to cope and survive low oxygen levels (hypoxia). During hypoxia, cells adapt by altering the expression of many genes: those involved in maintaining oxygen homeostasis, coping with reactive oxygen species and other effects of low oxygen stress. Many of these genes are directly regulated by the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF; with common isoforms: HIF-1 and HIF-2). When oxygen levels are normal (normoxia), HIF is barely discernible; under hypoxia the HIF concentration increases dramatically. The active form of HIF is composed of two sub-units, HIF ÃŽ ±, and HIF ÃŽ ². The latter is constitutively expressed regardless of physiologic oxygen concentration, while HIF ÃŽ ± concentration is very low under normo xic conditions but increases with hypoxia. In normoxia, HIF ÃŽ ± is hydroxylated by through the action of prolyl hydroxylases domain proteins or PHD. Hydroxylation allows HIF ÃŽ ± to associate with a protein complex that makes it a target for proteolytic degradation. The proof of the inhibitory effect of PHD on HIF was established when silencing of PHD2 gene increased normoxic HIF levels (Berraet al., 2003). Silencing of other identified PHD, 1 and 3, did not affect normoxic levels of HIF, leading to the conclusion that the PHDs have different roles in vivo (Berra et al., 2003).

American Independent day Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American Independent day - Essay Example The July 4, 1776 independence day is celebrated every year. During 1776, there were 2.5 million residents. In 2009, there were over 300 million Americans (Aloian, 2009). The people are reminded of their forefather’s gift to the currents 21st century American people. Annually, the American people celebrate the benefits of the American independence. The American Independence Day celebrates the present generations’ benefits generated from the brave 1776 residents of the 13 colonies. One scholar discusses one benefit of the American Independence Day, freedom to improve the communication among other residents in a democratic manner. The author describes how each person in a democratic society tries to improve the communication between two persons. It is an admitted fact that different people have different interpretations of certain words and actions. The journal article’s scholar classifies this as pragmatic failure (Moalla, 2013). The author performs the research on 30 speakers. The research was done in Georgia, United States. The speakers were students from the Kennesaw State University and the Catholic College. There were 30 respondent speakers. The respondents were made to take the Discourse Completion Test. The test determines the speakers’ reactions on certain everyday events (Moalla, 2013). The findings of the research show people interpret each message differently. The difference is brought about by the respondents’ cultural background. Twenty Tunisian students interpreted the compliments as rather insincere. This clearly shows that the students were more interested in the true message of the conversation. The 20 Tunisian students tried to decipher the real message behind the compliments. These same students tried to determine the truthfulness of compliments bestowed on them by the speaker (Moalla, 2013). On the other hand, the other ten students, American students, happily

Economy Exam Questions Essay Example for Free

Economy Exam Questions Essay 1. The Prisoner’s Dilemma involves two spies who are held in separate soundproof rooms. But even if the two spies could communicate, what makes it difficult for them to achieve the cooperative solution (both not confessing)? 2. A key to analyzing subgame perfect equilibrium strategy in sequential games is 3. In making promises that are not guaranteed by third parties and in imposing penalties that are not enforced by third parties, all of the following are credibility-enhancing mechanisms except 4. The starting point of many methods for predicting equilibrium strategy in sequential games is 5. Credible promises and hostage mechanisms can support a continuous stream of cooperative exchanges except when 6. Firms that have a cover charge for their customers and charge for each item they purchase as well are exhibiting 7. Third-degree price discrimination exists whenever 8. To maximize profits, a monopolist that engages in price discrimination must allocate output in such a way as to make identical the ____ in all markets. 9. Vacation tours to Europe invariably package visits to disparate regions: cities, mountains, and the seaside. Bundling, a type of second degree price discrimination, is most profitable when 10. ____ is a new product pricing strategy which results in a high initial product price. This price is reduced over time as demand at the higher price is satisfied 11. Contracts are distinguished from tactical alliances by which of the following characteristics: 12. When someone contracts to do a task but fails to put full effort into the performance of an agreement, yet the lack of effort is not independently verifiable, this lack of effort constitutes a 13. When borrowers who do not intend to repay are able to hide their bad credit histories, a lenders well-intentioned borrowers should 14. To accomplish its purpose a linear profit-sharing contract must 15. When retail bicycle dealers advertise and perform warranty repairs but do not deliver the personal selling message that Schwinn has designed as part of the marketing plan but cannot observe at less than prohibitive cost, the manufacturer has encountered a problem of ____. 16. The lower the barriers to entry and exit, the more nearly a market structure fits the ____ market model. 17. ____ yields the same results as the theory of perfect competition, but requires substantially fewer assumptions than the perfectly competitive model 18. ____ occurs whenever a third party receives or bears costs arising from an economic transaction in which the individual (or group) is not a direct participant. 19. The antitrust laws regulate all of the following business decisions except ____. 20. The sentiment for increased deregulation in the late 1970s and early  1980s has been felt most significantly in the price regulation of 21. The ____ depicts the risk-return relationship in the market for all securities: 22. If the acceptance of Project A makes it impossible to accept Project B, these projects are: 23. Capital expenditures: 24. The decision by the Municipal Transit Authority to either refurbish existing buses, buy new large buses, or to supplement the existing fleet with mini-buses is an example of: 25. Which of the following items is (are) not considered as part of the net investment calculation? 1. In the linear breakeven model, the difference between selling price per unit and variable cost per unit is referred to as: 2. Evidence from empirical studies of long-run cost-output relationships lends support to the: 3. Theoretically, in a long-run cost function: 4. In a study of banking by asset size over time, we can find which asset sizes are tending to become more prominent. The size that is becoming more predominant is presumed to be least cost. This is called: 5. A ____ total cost function implies that marginal costs ____ as output is increased. 6. In the linear breakeven model, the breakeven sales volume (in dollars) can be found by multiplying the breakeven sales volume (in units) by: 7. Long distance telephone service has become a competitive market. The average cost per call is $0.05 a minute, and it’s declining. The likely reason for the declining price for long distance service is: 8. All of the following are mechanisms which reduce the adverse selection problem except ____. 9. In the long-run, firms in a monopolistically competitive industry will 10. An experience good is one that: 11. The price for used cars is well below the price of new cars of the same general quality. This is an example of: 12. In the short-run for a purely competitive market, a manufacturer will stop production when: 13. Experience goods are products or services 14. Declining cost industries 15. In natural monopoly, AC continuously declines due to economies in distribution or in production, which tends to found in industries which face increasing returns to scale. If price were set equal to marginal cost, then: 16. When the cross elasticity of demand between one product and all other products is low, one is generally referring to a(n) ____ situation. 17. Regulatory agencies engage in all of the following activities except _______. 18. ____ as practiced by public utilities is designed to encourage greater usage and therefore spread the fixed costs of the utilitys plant over a larger number of units of output. 19. The practice by telephone companies of charging lower long-distance rates at night than during the day is an example of: 20. Some industries that have rigid prices. In those industries, we tend to 21. The existence of a kinked demand curve under oligopoly conditions may result in 22. Barometric price leadership exists when 23. A cartel is a situation where firms in the industry 24. Even ideal cartels tend to be unstable because 25. Some market conditions make cartels MORE likely to succeed in collusion. Which of the following will make collusion more successful?

Management of Risk in an Organisation

Management of Risk in an Organisation As the central point of contact, and as the individual with both responsibility and accountability for the successful delivery of a project, it is the job of the project manager to put into place the necessary safeguards for the management of risk; safeguards which will help to uphold the anticipated value of the project. Before all of this, however, a project manager must grasp the notion that projects exist only to promote and benefit an organisation and that, by this logic, the value of a project is defined by the way in which the project accomplishes the business objectives. The value of projects can also be highlighted by the way in which they themselves extract value from opportunity by the carefully managed application of resources.[1] Academics argue that current performance is the best predictor of future performance and that using the trends in data it is possible to forecast risks such as budget variance or scheduling issues at an early stage in any project. Earned Value is one of the most comprehensive trend analysis techniques and is one way in which project managers can monitor a project. Basically, EV requires the manager to monitor the project plan, the actual work completed and the work completed value to check whether the project is on track. The EV trend analysis helps to indicate how much of budget/time should have been spent at any given stage and allows a comparison with actual work done to date. EV is different to the usual budget v actual cost incurred model because it requires the cost of work in progress to be quantified. This allows for a comparison of actual v expected in terms of work completion.[2] Where an organisation has failed to prepare to receive and apply the project deliverables the project manager must take control and formally verify all the information needed to fully understand the project and its expected deliverables. This requires a specific type of input and the project manager must determine the key players within the organisation. It is vital to the success of the project that the project sponsor is known to the project manager, and that the project sponsor takes on the role of ‘champion’ for the project. The project manager must also identify the stakeholders in order that each stakeholder’s precise expectations can be identified and managed. It is advisable for the project manager to establish a project repository: a place where all important documentation can be gathered together – this can be done manually, or can be an online document management system. In any EV system, there is a need for a benefits manager, too – and t his is usually the PS. The benefits manager ensures, through the process of KPI measurement and investment recovery to measure the attainment of the project. A project which attains its projected value is a project which delivers operationally against the business case.[3] In order to ensure that the project sponsor and manager understand the purpose of the project and its linkage to strategy, other projects and operations within the organisation, a project charter, or S.O.W., should be created. The charter formally recognises the existence of the project within the organisation and identifies the sponsor, manager and stakeholders and their respective responsibilities. The project objectives are clearly laid down, as is the scope of the project. In order to ensure the success of any project, the project manager must ensure that the objectives are SMART, and that the objectives are accompanied by a list of specific deliverables as well as any explicit exclusions.[4] The charter must provide a completion date as well as the completion project budget. The project sponsor must sign the charter as this indicates that s/he will provide the necessary funds and support to complete the project.[5] It is then vital for the project manager to identify the core team who will work on the project and to hold a kick-off meeting, at which the project sponsor should be in attendance: this will help demonstrate their support for the project as well as provide them with an opportunity to contextualise the project with regards the mission and strategies of the organisation. It is important for the organisation that the project manager identifies other team commitments that may exist within the core team, and that commitment is obtained from the resource providers.[6] The first stage in managing risk in any project is to ensure that, once the project manager has been appointed, regardless of whether the organisation has prepared itself to receive and apply deliverables, a WBS is undertaken. The WBS allows the project leader to work with the core team to identity the key stages of the project and once identified to task board these stages into a logical sequence. Generally the key stage id entification is undertaken at around level 2, in terms of detail, however, with an EV system the project manager must assign a budget to each work package. It is then essential to chart the dependencies that can be identified and at this stage this is generally done using a logic diagram.[7] The WBS, then, is simply a convenient way to present this work in a graphical manner but it is important to note that the WBS itself does not show dependencies other than at key stages and that it is not time based. It is also a dynamic tool which can be updated depending upon need. It may even be useful to add tasks for the project manager into the WBS since if the project managers’ time is being charged against the project this enables the manager to track their activities against the plan. Under the EV system, the WBS allows the project manager to monitor the earning of each work package against planned value and accord variance to plan, where necessary, in the case of creep.[8] Resources must then be assigned to the project and it is important for the project manager to consider who and what might be needed in order to make the project a success and to meet the value anticipated by the sponsor; the actual availability of staff; the manner in which any deficit in resources may be covered if they are not readily available when required; and whether any unresolved constraints with resources may cause creep.[9] When all of this has been identified and resources assigned the project manager must draw up a project task worksheet and people this. If it is thought to be too early in the project to produce a detailed allocation of tasks, it is equally feasible to allocate responsibilities for key stages and to identify a key stage owner who takes ownership over all the responsibilities of that stage. The benefit of the EV system is that the project manager can report to the PS with more confidence and can generally spot creep early on.[10] It is then the role of the project manager to create a realistic project plan or schedule and the manager must bear the following considerations in mind: the WBS to the task level; the specification of people to tasks; the dependencies between and amongst tasks, successor activities and potential slippage and the completion date for each task (in consultation with individuals).[11] The problem with much of the above is that is requires a great deal of estimation in terms of the duration of each activity and this can make the TPT projection difficult. It is important to build in contingencies to quantify the extent of uncertainty in the estimation process. The major portion of all project costs is frequently the time expended so it is important to schedule full team members at 3.5-4.0 productive working days per week; to include management time, where appropriate, as an additional 10%; avoid splitting tasks between individuals when planning; allow time for cross-functional data transfer and response and include contingencies at all levels of planning. It is possible to take an alternative method when planning estimations, particularly if the project is to take place over more than a couple of months. Rather than prepare estimates on the basis of individuals and seeking advanced agreement of commitments; the plan can be developed on the basis of some resources wo rking full time on the project. This is usually done on the basis of what is known as single person dependencies (SPD) so that each piece of work is given a duration based on how long it will take if one person carries out the work, assigned full-time to the job and with no other commitments. This helps to create a common baseline. So for example, a part of a project with an SPD estimate of 8 days can be completed with: one person full-time; two people at 50% capacity; four people at 35% capacity. In practice, however, the more people who get involved the less effective the capacity becomes, so 2 people will need 55% capacity and 4 people around 35% capacity and so on.[12] In order to deliver the value of any project, it is necessary to go much further than the above, in the planning stages. Thus far we have discussed simply the basics of the planning process, but to try and fully manage risk, a project manager must implement advanced planning techniques. There are two popular methods of indicating and tracking task completions: the Gantt chart and the PERT chart. The PERT method allows for the planning of critical paths and is based on representing project activities by nodes which contain essential information calculated to show the flow of data through its various paths in the logic diagram. The PERT method allows for an indication of the earliest start time and the latest start time, and conversely for such finish times. The advantage of this method is that it shows predecessor and successor activities and allows for the imposing of constraints with the start-to-start or finish-to-finish relationships between activities. Forced delay can be imposed using a lag between the start and finish of predecessor activity and the start or finish of one or more successor activities. The forced start or lead is used to start a successor activity before the predecessor activity is completed.[13] The Gantt chart allows the project manager to take all of the information derived from the above steps and display it so that the core team can understand it! The chart allows the project manager to show a listing of key stages of the project, their duration and the key stage owner. The Gantt chart also allows the project manager to build in float time, the limit of which is the limit of the work if the schedule is not to be threatened and possibly extend the project. Any critical activities will have zero float. Dependency links can also be shown on the Gantt chart as should milestones, project meetings and project reviews. The total float which the project manager can calculate from the analysis of the PERT diagram etc. provides the Gantt chart a range of capabilities as a decision-processing tool. It allows the project manager to decide when a piece of work should start or whether it can be broken up into smaller sections. As the project manager knows the float time available they are able to take a decision as to the feasibility of delaying the start slightly or delaying as late as possible. The real value of this is that it allows the project manager to establish ‘what if’ scenarios. High risk areas can be identified easily and can be examined for the impact of any serious slippage. This allows the project manager to make the necessary contingency plans. The logic of such processes allow the project manager to enter into neutral dialogue when organisational, market or political pressure for a ‘pushback’ receives a negative response from the project sponsor. At this planning stage it is also necessary to estimate the cost of each activity and this usually includes people’s time, overheads and materials used. This provides the project manager with a total project cost which becomes the project operating budget (plus an allowance for contingencies). To be effective, the budget has to be time-phrased for each level of the project plan with accurate estimates of costs. In practice, the project manager will achieve this through the WBS. To manage risk, it is vital that any operating budget contains a contingency to cover unknowns: this is nominally a 10% variance. Once the budget has been established it is the job of the project manager to undertake const control which requires the manager to pay constant attention to the cost consciousness of all those involved in the project; company standards and the change control system. Cost control usually focuses on the value of the work completed (ACWP) at any time and compares it to the actua l cost of the work in terms of the originally predicted costs in the operating budget (BCWS/BCWP).[14] It is vital that the project manager accepts that not everything will go to plan so it is prudent to ensure that due consideration is given to an assessment of all possible risks to the project and the necessary contingencies that may be required. Risk can be defined as a function of three variables: an event that could disturb the project, the probability that such an event will happen and the impact of such an event happening. When a risk becomes a reality it is known as an issue. Once the risks have been assessed the project manager must constantly monitor risk to ensure that when it arises it is controlled. Controlling risks means that the successful project manager should be able to allocate responsibility for action; monitor and report actions and monitor valid risks for change. This is continuous phase throughout the PLC, and because it involves a significant amount of analysis should be documented through a risk status log. This should be reviewed at intervals (generally mont hly) and risks must be reviewed and updated. Using the Gantt chart and the WBS ensures that if things do start to go wrong it is possible to undertake an impact analysis of the consequences of issues arising, and provides the project manager with the necessary information to take informed decisions regarding the action needed to mitigate slippage. [15] The project manager should also ensure that they undertake a certain amount of communication planning. Poor communication can hinder the progress of projects and can result in unnecessary risks. The project manager must work out the number of communication channels, especially in large projects, for example with 7 core members in a team there are 21 channels. The project plan should, therefore, detail who needs information; why they need it; what information they need; when they need it; the way it should presented; and when the core team should meet to discuss project status etc. Routine status reports can take the form of simple memo.[16] Another very important part of managing risk is having an effective change control process. Scope creep can drive a project schedule and budget over an approved baseline and so it is important for project managers to have the appropriate mindset when dealing with the possibility of change. The most basic change control process ought to include: the submission of change requests to the project manager via a change request form; the logging of change request; an assessment by the core team of the impact of the change – when this has been done the impact of the change is then discussed with the individual who requested the change, as often, when the impact is known the request is withdrawn. If the change request is not withdrawn, the proposed change is discussed with the PS and the customer, and is either approved or disapproved and the requester is notified, as are stakeholders. The change is then incorporated into the project plan and the deliverables.[17] This then is the basic methodology which allows project managers to deliver value through all stages of a project life cycle, and to carry out the project in accordance with both the objectives and strategies laid down by the organisation[18]. The success of the project manager is directly measured through the perceived results in each dimension of the project, and in order to achieve this attainment, the project manager needs to achieve these results with and through others.[19] Bibliography Augustine, N. Managing Projects and Programs. Boston. Harvard. 1989 Cleland. D, King, W. Systems Analysis and Project Management. New York. McGraw-Hill. 1983 Cleland, D., Ireland L. Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2002. Collins, J. Good to Great. New York. Harper Collins. 2001 Cook, C.R, Just Enough Project Management. McGraw Hill. New York. 2005 Frame, Davidson. Managing Projects in Organizations. San Fransisco. Jossey-Bass. 2002 Goodpasture, J.C., Managing Projects for Value. Vienna. VA. 2002 Harvard Business Review. Project Management: A Harvard Business Review Paperback. Boston. HBSP. 1991 Haughey, Duncan. What is Earned Value? Project Smart. 2007 Katzenbach, J., Smith, Douglas. The Discipline of Teams. New York. Wiley Sons. 200 Kerzner, H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to planning, scheduling and controlling. New York. Wiley Sons. 2001 Leech, D. Turner B.T. Project Management for Profit. Chicester. Ellis Horwood. 1990 Lewis, J. Project Leadership. New York. Mc-Graw Hill. 2003 Lewis, J. Project Planning, Scheduling and Control. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2001 Project Management Institute Standards Committee. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge/ 2001, p205 Smith, Steve (ed.). Make Things Happen: Readymade Tools for Project Management. London. Kogan Page Limited. 1997 1 Footnotes [1] Goodpasture, J.C., Managing Projects for Value. Vienna. VA. 2002 [2] Haughey, Duncan. What is Earned Value. Project Smart. 2007 [3] Goodpasture, J.C., Managing Projects for Value. Vienna. VA. 2002 [4] Cook, C.R, Just Enough Project Management. McGraw Hill. New York. 2005 [5] Project Management Institute Standards Committee. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge/ 2001, p205 [6] Augustine, N. Managing Projects and Programs. Boston. Harvard. 1989 [7] Cleland, D., Ireland L. Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2002. [8] Cleland. D, King, W. Systems Analysis and Project Management. New York. McGraw-Hill. 1983 [9] Harvard Business Review. Project Management: A Harvard Business Review Paperback. Boston. HBSP. 1991 [10] Frame, Davidson. Managing Projects in Organizations. San Fransisco. Jossey-Bass. 2002 [11] Smith, Steve (ed.). Make Things Happen: Readymade Tools for Project Management. London. Kogan Page Limited. 1997 [12] Katzenbach, J., Smith, Douglas. The Discipline of Teams. New York. Wiley Sons. 2001 [13] Lewis, J. Project Planning, Scheduling and Control. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2001 [14] Lewis, J. Project Planning, Scheduling and Control. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2001 [15] Kerzner, H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to planning, scheduling and controlling. New York. Wiley Sons. 2001 [16] Lewis, J. Project Leadership. New York. Mc-Graw Hill. 2003 [17] Lewis, J. Project Planning, Scheduling and Control. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2001 [18] Leech, D. Turner B.T. Project Management for Profit. Chicester. Ellis Horwood. 1990 [19] Collins, J. Good to Great. New York. Harper Collins. 2001

Electronic Commerce Essay -- Ecommerce E-commerce

Electronic commerce   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the fastest growing industries today is electronic commerce. Almost anything can be purchased, traded, or sold all via the Internet. A person sitting in their living room dressed in pajamas on a rainy Saturday morning in mid December can hookup to the internet and place their bid on a new chess set for the holidays without ever setting foot in the department stores. They can pay for it with their credit card through a secure transaction and have it delivered right to their door in a couple of days for less than they could get it retail. An article by Jan Thomas said that the electronic commerce industry is booming and that it has grown at an alarming rate of over 2000 percent since last year. She continued to say that she predicts that it will continue to grow at an even faster rate, as more and more products become available online and that knowledge of Internet commerce is really happening. (34)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the major reasons that this industry is booming is because purchasing over the Internet has been made very easy compared to the traditional way of shopping. Ordinarily a consumer will take the kids and pile in the family car and head to the local shopping mall. Once they get there they will find what they are looking for only to be told by the rude, pushy sales person that it is out of stock. After they get pushed into something other than what they came for they will wait in a line similar to that of Space Mountain at Disney World....