Overstock.com E-Business Essay Example

Overstock.com E-Business Essay The e-commerce system chosen is the Overstock. com. Overstock. com is an online retailer offering a broad variety of high-quality, branded name goods at discount prices, including bedding, home decor, appliances, watches, jewellery, electronics, sporting goods, clothing and shoes. At the beginning, Overstock. com sold surplus and returned merchandise on an online E-commerce marketplace and liquidating the inventories of the failed dot-com companies at below-wholesale prices (Drummond, 2006). Recently, it has expanded to sell new merchandise and also offering manufacturers, distributors and other retailers an alternative sales channel for liquidating their inventory. In addition to its direct retail sales, Overstock. com has also offered online auctions on its website. The company’s major competitors are eBay and Amazon. com (Mann, 2005). b. The e-Marketplace. Overstock. com is considered as a private e-marketplace that is owned by a single company. In a sell-side e-marketplace, such as Overstock. om will sell either standard or customised products to individuals (B2C) or to business (B2B), this type of selling is considered to be one-to-many (Turban, King, Lee, Liang amp; Turban, 2010). Overstock. com uses the Internet to create a more efficient market for liquidation, closeout and other discount merchandise by providing consumers and businesses with quick and convenient access to high-quality, brand-name merchandise at discount prices. Besides that, Overstock. om operates the part of their website as an online auctions business, a marketplace for the buying and selling of goods and services-as well as online sites for listing cars and real estate for sale (Mann, 2005). Overstock. com is an example of virtual e-tailers that sell directly to consumers over the Internet without maintaining a physical sales channel. Virtual e-tailers have the advantage of low overhead costs and streamlined process (Turban et al. , 2010). General e-tailers, such as Overstock. om, selling a vast range of goods and services online, capitalize on the internet to offer such variety to a diverse group of customers geographically without the need to maintain a large physical storefront network (Mincedmedia, 2008). 2. Research into the e-business components. a. Organization. i. Possible internal organization functions involved the system. The internal organization of the Overstock. com is formed by few different departments. The sales and marketing department will find and retain customers by building effective customers relationships to increase the sales of the firm. We will write a custom essay sample on Overstock.com E-Business specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Overstock.com E-Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Overstock.com E-Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Marketers of the Overstock. com uses several types of online advertising methods such as banner ads, e-mail advertising and video ads (Turban et al. , 2010). The engineering department will be in charge of the firm’s e-commerce system, online security, payment systems, IT compliance, application software, website design and maintenances and also data management. The firm’s IT engineer will be responsible to use technology expertise such as the defence and e-commerce security strategy, e-commerce payment systems, application of software and the knowledge in the web 2. to facilitate the online business of Overstock. com (Kelly, 2005). The accounting and finance department will be responsible in partnering with other county departments to leverage resources that are essential toward achieving related objectives and also ensuring that quality financial services and information is provided. In addition, the operations department does the day to day operation of the business. The operations department of the Overstock. com consist of the merchandise operational coordinator, co-op manager and system administrative. They handle all the clerical functions having to do with clearance, settlement, and execution of trades (Mincedmedia, 2008). This department keeps customer records and handles the day-to-day monitoring of margin positions. ii. Possible firms, suppliers and business partners. Part of Overstock. coms merchandise is purchased by or manufactured specifically for Overstock. com. Merchandise is obtained either by buying excess inventory, referred to as the companys direct business, or by selling the merchandise of other retailers, catalogue companies, and manufacturers on a commission basis (Mann, 2005). Among their products are handmade goods produced for Overstock by workers in developing nations. The shopping business of the Overstock. com includes both a direct business and a fulfilment partner business. Products from the fulfilment partner segment are from various industry verticals, such as florist supplies, restaurant supplies, and office supplies (Wang, Liu Koong amp; Bai, 2009). Overstock. com form partnerships with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Kenneth Cole, Simon amp; Schuster, Samsonite, and Cuisinart. These fulfillment partners, constituting the former commission side of Overstock. coms business, drove the companys revenue growth high and following its IPO. iii. Possible business process associated with the system. The shopping business of the Overstock. com includes both a direct business and a fulfilment partner business (Overstock. com). The fulfilment partner business is one of the business process associated with the system, Overstock. com sell merchandise of other retailers, cataloguers or manufacturers ) through their Website. Overstock. om currently has fulfilment partner relationships with approximately 1,250 third parties on their website (Ferguson amp; Hlavinkha, 2007). Overstock. com also provides an online auction service on the Website. The Auctions business allows sellers to list items for sale, buyers to bid on items of interest, and users to browse through listed items online. The revenue for the merchandise returned to the Company that we sell at auction is recor ded on a gross basis. Revenue from the auctions business will be included in the fulfilment partner segment. Besides that, an online site for listing cars for sale was provided as a part of the Website. The cars listing service allows dealers to list vehicles for sale and allows buyers to review vehicle descriptions, and allows purchasers to contact sellers for further information and negotiations on the purchase of an advertised vehicle. Revenue from the cars listing business is recorded net and is included in the fulfilment partner segment. In addition, an online site for listing real estate for sale was provided as a part of the Website. The real estate listing service allows customers to search for active listings across the country. Listing categories include foreclosures, live and on-line auctions, for sale by owner listings and also broker or agent listings. Revenue from the real estate listing business is recorded net and is included in the fulfilment partner segment (PR Newswire, 2010). b. Possible technologies. i. Hardware, Software and Network telecommunications technology. Overstock. com needed equipment that would perform consistently and handle the traffic peaks that occur in the fourth quarter of the year without service degradation therefore, they chosen Foundry’s BigIron MG8 high-performance 10-Gigabit switches to power the backbones at its headquarters. Foundry is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions and also an application service provider for Overstock. com, Inc. Foundry has helped them achieve the level of performance with a solution that will accommodate future growth and the payoff can be enormous in terms of customer experience and cost savings (Foundry Network, n. d. ). Overstock. com is using the OptiMine Software, a provider of intelligence software for advertising optimization. Their flagship product, OptiMine Paid Search Bid Management Application, forecasts the performance of each paid search ad placement each day and automatically sets optimal bids. Overstock. com also uses many other software such as Breach Security’s web defend and VPNs for website security purpose. Besides that, software like EDIs are used for online data interchange via emails and chat rooms; EFTs are used for the purpose of e-payment systems (â€Å"Breach†, 2009). Overstock. om uses the internet and extranet, private network that uses Internet protocols and network connectivity (VeriSign, 2008). Overstock. com uses these network and telecommunications technology to operate the online shopping, online auctions and online listing cars and real estates. It has been described as a state of mind in which the Internet is perceived as a way to do business with a selected set of other companies, the fulfillment partner companies to sell their products online (â€Å"Success St ory†, 2009). ii. Payment systems and security technologies. The payment system used by Overstock. com is majorly based on online credit card payment. In the United States, credit card holders of the American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard and Visa card are able to purchase goods online directly from Overstock. com website. ‘Bill Me Later’ is a payment method offered on the websites of many well-known merchants, including Overstock. com. The site offers credit through CIT Bank, allows purchases to be made online without using a credit card. Besides that, the payment systems of Overstock. om also have many special features, such as secure ordering/Payment system, on-line ordering shopping cart system, on-line order tracking system, customers info is confidential, gift services available and also live customer representative (Steiner, 2006). Lately, Overstock. com has integrated Auction Checkouts payment service into its auction platform. Third-party sellers on Overstock. com Auctions can now accept credit card payments for auct ion sales without having a credit-card merchant account (McDonald amp; Dunbar, 1998). One of the most important issues for a desirable e-payment system is the system should be based on well-established security principles (Turban et al. , 2010). Overstock. com uses the methods of address verification, manual review and fraud screens and automated decision models in preventing financial frauds in the payment system. For securing the networks of Overstock. com, the company uses firewalls, VPNs and IDSs and also teaming with some leading provider of application security assessment to optimize their Web security systems (Overstock. com, 2010). For example, Overstock. om chose Breach Security’s WebDefend web application firewall (WAF) to provide immediate compliance with the latest Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) (VeriSign, 2008). The system ensures that all web-facing application be protected against known attacks via web application firewall vulnerability scans or code review. c. Value of the e-business system. i. Tangible benefits. The ef fect of e-business in Overstock. com has brought several tangible benefits to the firm itself. The sales of Overstock. com have increased due to the some of the factors. Revenue has increased by having new customers from new markets, from existing customers due to the repeat-selling and also cross-selling (Turban et al. , 2010). By using the e-business technology, costs can be reduced as the efficiency of search and transaction costs have been improved. Marketing cost also can be reduced as we reduce time for customer service, reduce printing and distribution costs of marketing communications. Besides that, Overstock. com’s supply chain cost also can be reduced by reducing the levels of inventory and having a shorter cycle time in ordering. In addition, administrative cost also can be reduced from more efficient routine business processes such as recruitment, invoice payment and holiday authorization (Schwartz, 2002). E-commerce system allows Overstock. com to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or distance and therefore people can save time and cost. Customers can log on to the Internet at any point of time, be it day or night and purchase or sell anything one desires at a single click of the mouse. The relationship between the customers and Overstock. om also can be improved because the website also includes a support home page where the customer support, customer care contacts and also some frequently asked questions. Overstock. com also provides personalization services whereby the firm will notify customers by e-mail when there are new products, according to the specific user’s preferences (Deeter-Schmelz, amp; Kennedy, 2004). ii. Intangible benefits. The use of e-business system by the Oversto ck. com also brings a lot of intangible benefits to the organizations, individual customers and society. One of the benefits is the enhancement of products, with the e-business system Overstock. om get to expand its business by selling their own product and also selling some ‘fulfilment partnership’ products, and further on manages an online auction site and provides car and real estate listings. Besides that, the e-business system brings more rapid, more responsive marketing communications including public relations to the firm (Turban et al. , 2010). A faster product development lifecycle will also enabling faster response to market needs (Ferguson amp; Hlavinkha, 2007). A better customer service will be served as well because of the customer service home page on the Overstock. com web page. Customers can solve their problems quickly by searching the web page. The firm can also easily collect feedback from customers on products. This can assist the firm in meeting customer’s expectations (Drummond, 2006). The strategic position of the company can be improved as the Overstock. com includes value propositions such as complementarities and novelty. Overstock. com provides complementarities such as the bundling of products and services, for example, the website offers a wide variety of products and after purchasing these products, shipping services from will be also included by the company. The novelty of what Overstock. om introducing is about using innovative ways for structuring, connecting partners and fostering new market. For example, Overstock. com helps some firms to liquidate their inventories and also sell their products on the website under the â€Å"fulfilment partner† category. Besides that, Overstock. com also provides online auction, listing car and real estate for sale which encourages the fostering of new market. Overstock. com also can make out new partners and supporting existing partners more efficiently and effectively with a better management of marketing information, customer information and business partners’ information (Schwartz, 2002). ii. Alignment with company vision, mission and objectives. By using the e-business system, Overstock. com has significantly cut down the cost associated with marketing, customer care, processing and information storage. It also reduces the time period involved with business process re-engineering and customization of products to meet the demand of particular customers, increasing productivity and customer care services. Electronic commerce reduces the burden of transportation to conduct businesses and thereby raises the amount of funds available for profitable investment. It also enables efficient customer care services. Alternatively, it collects and manages information related to customer behaviour, which in turn helps develop and adopt an efficient marketing and promotional strategy (Deeter-Schmelz, amp; Kennedy, 2004). In fact all these benefits will help out Overstock. com to achieve their vision, missions and objectives. Overstock. com’s vision is to provide online shoppers with the best price and a superior customer experience with the values of honest, helpful, efficient, accountable, and trustworthy, and committed to profitability and service. The value and benefits of e-business systems in Overstock. om can help to reach its vision as the cost reduction of firms and the improved customer service and relationship will allow customers to buy products with a cheaper price and enjoy a superior customer experience (Wang, Liu Koong amp; Bai, 2009). Overstock. com’s main mission is to save consumers’ money (Overstock. com). With the e-business system in the Overstock. com, con sumers can compare and shop online for the lowest prices and also get information easily with details and demos. The standard of living of the consumers also can be improved as consumer can afford to buy cheaper goods and services. The e-business system also helps Overstock. com to achieve its mission. The objective of the Overstock. com is to become the dominant internet-based closeout solution for holders of brand-name merchandise, allowing them to dispose of that merchandise discreetly and with high recovery values, and to ultimately become a one-stop Internet-based discount shopping destination. 3. Possible e-business issues a. Security and privacy issues The lack of trust in Internet commerce applications may result in cautious business operators and clients to abstain from using the Internet for now and revert back to traditional ways of doing business. This eradication of trust being fuelled by continued stories of hacker attacks on e-commerce sites and intrusion of consumer data privacy (Marchany amp; Tront, 2002). There are two major threats faced by Overstock. com: Denial of Service (DOS) and financial fraud. DOS is still an attack in which many major e-commerce sites suffer whereby hackers rely on software and zombie PCs to launch the attacks. DOS attacks can be difficult to stop; a series of steps could be costly to combat these attacks. Overstock. com consumers use credit cards for online purchases where security and fraud are the major issues in making e-payments. Due to this issue, wide variety of tools such as address verification and other authentication services are employed to reduce the problems while considering the ease of use and the fit within the overall business context. However, it is impossible to totally overcome security and fraud issues as the victimized industries, users, and organizations are still vulnerable due to the failure of taking necessary precautions to avoid becoming a victim (Turban et al. , 2010). Consumer privacy is becoming the most common security issue following theft and fraud as top concerns in e-commerce. For example, selling consumer data without the customer knowledge or permission is the major internal threat to consumer privacy. This type of issue will be a resistance for people to participate in certain types of e-commerce transactions if the assurance of privacy is low or non-existent. If the majority of businesses are not considered to be secure, the confidentiality and integrity of the customer information will be in doubt (â€Å"Breach†, 2009). Hence, e-commerce security needs to be addressed not only at the business site with its servers/network ut also on the client side, which includes direct connected home computers. Despite of all the security and privacy issues flooding the society, security architecture of e-commerce sites has to be tailored to ensure consumer data privacy and company resources are not used to attack other Internet sites. There are guidelines for securing systems and networks to educate the consumer on these e-commerce security issues. Consumers playing their part in solving these issues are the most critical element of the e-commerce security architecture (Turban et al. , 2010). Besides that, training and orientation programs are critical to increase the general public awareness of security on the Internet. IT and financial control groups within the e-commerce site should form an alliance to overcome the general resistance to implementing security practices at the business level while industry self-regulation of consumer privacy should make recommendations to congress in order to introduce legislation on privacy issues. b. Marketing issues. One of the marketing issues faced by Overstock. com is competition. Two major competitors of Overstock. com are eBay and Amazon. om (Overstock. com, 2010). These two competitors are well known e-marketplace for the internet surfers (Mann, 2005). Overstock. com has an oligopoly market structure in which a small number of firms supply most of the market. There are only a few firms dominating the market such as big firms with large share of market sales. Firms in an oligopoly market structure are interdependent whereby they watch each other closely because of the competitive strategy. Oligopoly firms such as the Overstock. com normally use non-price competition accrue greater revenue and market share. It has a high barrier to enter the market and large existing firms enjoy economies of scale. However, new entrants tend to face higher production and set up costs. Overstock. com has to spend enormous amount of money on advertising to win and retain their customers and brand loyalty. Consumer behaviour is also one of the marketing issues faced by Overstock. com. It is difficult to create customer loyalty as it is very fast and easy for consumers to switch loyalty online. Hence, enhancing loyalty through methods such as e-loyalty programs is a must. Besides that, building trust is very difficult since people do not know or see each other. Amazon. com is using one-to-one marketing which can increase the degree of loyalty. This one-to-one marketing strategy is not exercised by Overstock. com which leaves them in the losing end if compared to its competitors (Mincedmedia, 2008). In order for Overstock. com to survive in this competitive market, their possible market strategy and segmentation is to set up their e-business system as their storefront and gain new market target and new market opportunities on online selling sites of car and real estate listing (Overstock. com, 2010). Overstock.com E-Business Essay Example Overstock.com E-Business Essay The e-commerce system chosen is the Overstock. com. Overstock. com is an online retailer offering a broad variety of high-quality, branded name goods at discount prices, including bedding, home decor, appliances, watches, jewellery, electronics, sporting goods, clothing and shoes. At the beginning, Overstock. com sold surplus and returned merchandise on an online E-commerce marketplace and liquidating the inventories of the failed dot-com companies at below-wholesale prices (Drummond, 2006). Recently, it has expanded to sell new merchandise and also offering manufacturers, distributors and other retailers an alternative sales channel for liquidating their inventory. In addition to its direct retail sales, Overstock. com has also offered online auctions on its website. The company’s major competitors are eBay and Amazon. com (Mann, 2005). b. The e-Marketplace. Overstock. com is considered as a private e-marketplace that is owned by a single company. In a sell-side e-marketplace, such as Overstock. om will sell either standard or customised products to individuals (B2C) or to business (B2B), this type of selling is considered to be one-to-many (Turban, King, Lee, Liang amp; Turban, 2010). Overstock. com uses the Internet to create a more efficient market for liquidation, closeout and other discount merchandise by providing consumers and businesses with quick and convenient access to high-quality, brand-name merchandise at discount prices. Besides that, Overstock. om operates the part of their website as an online auctions business, a marketplace for the buying and selling of goods and services-as well as online sites for listing cars and real estate for sale (Mann, 2005). Overstock. com is an example of virtual e-tailers that sell directly to consumers over the Internet without maintaining a physical sales channel. Virtual e-tailers have the advantage of low overhead costs and streamlined process (Turban et al. , 2010). General e-tailers, such as Overstock. om, selling a vast range of goods and services online, capitalize on the internet to offer such variety to a diverse group of customers geographically without the need to maintain a large physical storefront network (Mincedmedia, 2008). 2. Research into the e-business components. a. Organization. i. Possible internal organization functions involved the system. The internal organization of the Overstock. com is formed by few different departments. The sales and marketing department will find and retain customers by building effective customers relationships to increase the sales of the firm. We will write a custom essay sample on Overstock.com E-Business specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Overstock.com E-Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Overstock.com E-Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Marketers of the Overstock. com uses several types of online advertising methods such as banner ads, e-mail advertising and video ads (Turban et al. , 2010). The engineering department will be in charge of the firm’s e-commerce system, online security, payment systems, IT compliance, application software, website design and maintenances and also data management. The firm’s IT engineer will be responsible to use technology expertise such as the defence and e-commerce security strategy, e-commerce payment systems, application of software and the knowledge in the web 2. to facilitate the online business of Overstock. com (Kelly, 2005). The accounting and finance department will be responsible in partnering with other county departments to leverage resources that are essential toward achieving related objectives and also ensuring that quality financial services and information is provided. In addition, the operations department does the day to day operation of the business. The operations department of the Overstock. com consist of the merchandise operational coordinator, co-op manager and system administrative. They handle all the clerical functions having to do with clearance, settlement, and execution of trades (Mincedmedia, 2008). This department keeps customer records and handles the day-to-day monitoring of margin positions. ii. Possible firms, suppliers and business partners. Part of Overstock. coms merchandise is purchased by or manufactured specifically for Overstock. com. Merchandise is obtained either by buying excess inventory, referred to as the companys direct business, or by selling the merchandise of other retailers, catalogue companies, and manufacturers on a commission basis (Mann, 2005). Among their products are handmade goods produced for Overstock by workers in developing nations. The shopping business of the Overstock. com includes both a direct business and a fulfilment partner business. Products from the fulfilment partner segment are from various industry verticals, such as florist supplies, restaurant supplies, and office supplies (Wang, Liu Koong amp; Bai, 2009). Overstock. com form partnerships with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Kenneth Cole, Simon amp; Schuster, Samsonite, and Cuisinart. These fulfillment partners, constituting the former commission side of Overstock. coms business, drove the companys revenue growth high and following its IPO. iii. Possible business process associated with the system. The shopping business of the Overstock. com includes both a direct business and a fulfilment partner business (Overstock. com). The fulfilment partner business is one of the business process associated with the system, Overstock. com sell merchandise of other retailers, cataloguers or manufacturers ) through their Website. Overstock. om currently has fulfilment partner relationships with approximately 1,250 third parties on their website (Ferguson amp; Hlavinkha, 2007). Overstock. com also provides an online auction service on the Website. The Auctions business allows sellers to list items for sale, buyers to bid on items of interest, and users to browse through listed items online. The revenue for the merchandise returned to the Company that we sell at auction is recor ded on a gross basis. Revenue from the auctions business will be included in the fulfilment partner segment. Besides that, an online site for listing cars for sale was provided as a part of the Website. The cars listing service allows dealers to list vehicles for sale and allows buyers to review vehicle descriptions, and allows purchasers to contact sellers for further information and negotiations on the purchase of an advertised vehicle. Revenue from the cars listing business is recorded net and is included in the fulfilment partner segment. In addition, an online site for listing real estate for sale was provided as a part of the Website. The real estate listing service allows customers to search for active listings across the country. Listing categories include foreclosures, live and on-line auctions, for sale by owner listings and also broker or agent listings. Revenue from the real estate listing business is recorded net and is included in the fulfilment partner segment (PR Newswire, 2010). b. Possible technologies. i. Hardware, Software and Network telecommunications technology. Overstock. com needed equipment that would perform consistently and handle the traffic peaks that occur in the fourth quarter of the year without service degradation therefore, they chosen Foundry’s BigIron MG8 high-performance 10-Gigabit switches to power the backbones at its headquarters. Foundry is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions and also an application service provider for Overstock. com, Inc. Foundry has helped them achieve the level of performance with a solution that will accommodate future growth and the payoff can be enormous in terms of customer experience and cost savings (Foundry Network, n. d. ). Overstock. com is using the OptiMine Software, a provider of intelligence software for advertising optimization. Their flagship product, OptiMine Paid Search Bid Management Application, forecasts the performance of each paid search ad placement each day and automatically sets optimal bids. Overstock. com also uses many other software such as Breach Security’s web defend and VPNs for website security purpose. Besides that, software like EDIs are used for online data interchange via emails and chat rooms; EFTs are used for the purpose of e-payment systems (â€Å"Breach†, 2009). Overstock. om uses the internet and extranet, private network that uses Internet protocols and network connectivity (VeriSign, 2008). Overstock. com uses these network and telecommunications technology to operate the online shopping, online auctions and online listing cars and real estates. It has been described as a state of mind in which the Internet is perceived as a way to do business with a selected set of other companies, the fulfillment partner companies to sell their products online (â€Å"Success St ory†, 2009). ii. Payment systems and security technologies. The payment system used by Overstock. com is majorly based on online credit card payment. In the United States, credit card holders of the American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard and Visa card are able to purchase goods online directly from Overstock. com website. ‘Bill Me Later’ is a payment method offered on the websites of many well-known merchants, including Overstock. com. The site offers credit through CIT Bank, allows purchases to be made online without using a credit card. Besides that, the payment systems of Overstock. om also have many special features, such as secure ordering/Payment system, on-line ordering shopping cart system, on-line order tracking system, customers info is confidential, gift services available and also live customer representative (Steiner, 2006). Lately, Overstock. com has integrated Auction Checkouts payment service into its auction platform. Third-party sellers on Overstock. com Auctions can now accept credit card payments for auct ion sales without having a credit-card merchant account (McDonald amp; Dunbar, 1998). One of the most important issues for a desirable e-payment system is the system should be based on well-established security principles (Turban et al. , 2010). Overstock. com uses the methods of address verification, manual review and fraud screens and automated decision models in preventing financial frauds in the payment system. For securing the networks of Overstock. com, the company uses firewalls, VPNs and IDSs and also teaming with some leading provider of application security assessment to optimize their Web security systems (Overstock. com, 2010). For example, Overstock. om chose Breach Security’s WebDefend web application firewall (WAF) to provide immediate compliance with the latest Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) (VeriSign, 2008). The system ensures that all web-facing application be protected against known attacks via web application firewall vulnerability scans or code review. c. Value of the e-business system. i. Tangible benefits. The ef fect of e-business in Overstock. com has brought several tangible benefits to the firm itself. The sales of Overstock. com have increased due to the some of the factors. Revenue has increased by having new customers from new markets, from existing customers due to the repeat-selling and also cross-selling (Turban et al. , 2010). By using the e-business technology, costs can be reduced as the efficiency of search and transaction costs have been improved. Marketing cost also can be reduced as we reduce time for customer service, reduce printing and distribution costs of marketing communications. Besides that, Overstock. com’s supply chain cost also can be reduced by reducing the levels of inventory and having a shorter cycle time in ordering. In addition, administrative cost also can be reduced from more efficient routine business processes such as recruitment, invoice payment and holiday authorization (Schwartz, 2002). E-commerce system allows Overstock. com to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or distance and therefore people can save time and cost. Customers can log on to the Internet at any point of time, be it day or night and purchase or sell anything one desires at a single click of the mouse. The relationship between the customers and Overstock. om also can be improved because the website also includes a support home page where the customer support, customer care contacts and also some frequently asked questions. Overstock. com also provides personalization services whereby the firm will notify customers by e-mail when there are new products, according to the specific user’s preferences (Deeter-Schmelz, amp; Kennedy, 2004). ii. Intangible benefits. The use of e-business system by the Oversto ck. com also brings a lot of intangible benefits to the organizations, individual customers and society. One of the benefits is the enhancement of products, with the e-business system Overstock. om get to expand its business by selling their own product and also selling some ‘fulfilment partnership’ products, and further on manages an online auction site and provides car and real estate listings. Besides that, the e-business system brings more rapid, more responsive marketing communications including public relations to the firm (Turban et al. , 2010). A faster product development lifecycle will also enabling faster response to market needs (Ferguson amp; Hlavinkha, 2007). A better customer service will be served as well because of the customer service home page on the Overstock. com web page. Customers can solve their problems quickly by searching the web page. The firm can also easily collect feedback from customers on products. This can assist the firm in meeting customer’s expectations (Drummond, 2006). The strategic position of the company can be improved as the Overstock. com includes value propositions such as complementarities and novelty. Overstock. com provides complementarities such as the bundling of products and services, for example, the website offers a wide variety of products and after purchasing these products, shipping services from will be also included by the company. The novelty of what Overstock. om introducing is about using innovative ways for structuring, connecting partners and fostering new market. For example, Overstock. com helps some firms to liquidate their inventories and also sell their products on the website under the â€Å"fulfilment partner† category. Besides that, Overstock. com also provides online auction, listing car and real estate for sale which encourages the fostering of new market. Overstock. com also can make out new partners and supporting existing partners more efficiently and effectively with a better management of marketing information, customer information and business partners’ information (Schwartz, 2002). ii. Alignment with company vision, mission and objectives. By using the e-business system, Overstock. com has significantly cut down the cost associated with marketing, customer care, processing and information storage. It also reduces the time period involved with business process re-engineering and customization of products to meet the demand of particular customers, increasing productivity and customer care services. Electronic commerce reduces the burden of transportation to conduct businesses and thereby raises the amount of funds available for profitable investment. It also enables efficient customer care services. Alternatively, it collects and manages information related to customer behaviour, which in turn helps develop and adopt an efficient marketing and promotional strategy (Deeter-Schmelz, amp; Kennedy, 2004). In fact all these benefits will help out Overstock. com to achieve their vision, missions and objectives. Overstock. com’s vision is to provide online shoppers with the best price and a superior customer experience with the values of honest, helpful, efficient, accountable, and trustworthy, and committed to profitability and service. The value and benefits of e-business systems in Overstock. om can help to reach its vision as the cost reduction of firms and the improved customer service and relationship will allow customers to buy products with a cheaper price and enjoy a superior customer experience (Wang, Liu Koong amp; Bai, 2009). Overstock. com’s main mission is to save consumers’ money (Overstock. com). With the e-business system in the Overstock. com, con sumers can compare and shop online for the lowest prices and also get information easily with details and demos. The standard of living of the consumers also can be improved as consumer can afford to buy cheaper goods and services. The e-business system also helps Overstock. com to achieve its mission. The objective of the Overstock. com is to become the dominant internet-based closeout solution for holders of brand-name merchandise, allowing them to dispose of that merchandise discreetly and with high recovery values, and to ultimately become a one-stop Internet-based discount shopping destination. 3. Possible e-business issues a. Security and privacy issues The lack of trust in Internet commerce applications may result in cautious business operators and clients to abstain from using the Internet for now and revert back to traditional ways of doing business. This eradication of trust being fuelled by continued stories of hacker attacks on e-commerce sites and intrusion of consumer data privacy (Marchany amp; Tront, 2002). There are two major threats faced by Overstock. com: Denial of Service (DOS) and financial fraud. DOS is still an attack in which many major e-commerce sites suffer whereby hackers rely on software and zombie PCs to launch the attacks. DOS attacks can be difficult to stop; a series of steps could be costly to combat these attacks. Overstock. com consumers use credit cards for online purchases where security and fraud are the major issues in making e-payments. Due to this issue, wide variety of tools such as address verification and other authentication services are employed to reduce the problems while considering the ease of use and the fit within the overall business context. However, it is impossible to totally overcome security and fraud issues as the victimized industries, users, and organizations are still vulnerable due to the failure of taking necessary precautions to avoid becoming a victim (Turban et al. , 2010). Consumer privacy is becoming the most common security issue following theft and fraud as top concerns in e-commerce. For example, selling consumer data without the customer knowledge or permission is the major internal threat to consumer privacy. This type of issue will be a resistance for people to participate in certain types of e-commerce transactions if the assurance of privacy is low or non-existent. If the majority of businesses are not considered to be secure, the confidentiality and integrity of the customer information will be in doubt (â€Å"Breach†, 2009). Hence, e-commerce security needs to be addressed not only at the business site with its servers/network ut also on the client side, which includes direct connected home computers. Despite of all the security and privacy issues flooding the society, security architecture of e-commerce sites has to be tailored to ensure consumer data privacy and company resources are not used to attack other Internet sites. There are guidelines for securing systems and networks to educate the consumer on these e-commerce security issues. Consumers playing their part in solving these issues are the most critical element of the e-commerce security architecture (Turban et al. , 2010). Besides that, training and orientation programs are critical to increase the general public awareness of security on the Internet. IT and financial control groups within the e-commerce site should form an alliance to overcome the general resistance to implementing security practices at the business level while industry self-regulation of consumer privacy should make recommendations to congress in order to introduce legislation on privacy issues. b. Marketing issues. One of the marketing issues faced by Overstock. com is competition. Two major competitors of Overstock. com are eBay and Amazon. om (Overstock. com, 2010). These two competitors are well known e-marketplace for the internet surfers (Mann, 2005). Overstock. com has an oligopoly market structure in which a small number of firms supply most of the market. There are only a few firms dominating the market such as big firms with large share of market sales. Firms in an oligopoly market structure are interdependent whereby they watch each other closely because of the competitive strategy. Oligopoly firms such as the Overstock. com normally use non-price competition accrue greater revenue and market share. It has a high barrier to enter the market and large existing firms enjoy economies of scale. However, new entrants tend to face higher production and set up costs. Overstock. com has to spend enormous amount of money on advertising to win and retain their customers and brand loyalty. Consumer behaviour is also one of the marketing issues faced by Overstock. com. It is difficult to create customer loyalty as it is very fast and easy for consumers to switch loyalty online. Hence, enhancing loyalty through methods such as e-loyalty programs is a must. Besides that, building trust is very difficult since people do not know or see each other. Amazon. com is using one-to-one marketing which can increase the degree of loyalty. This one-to-one marketing strategy is not exercised by Overstock. com which leaves them in the losing end if compared to its competitors (Mincedmedia, 2008). In order for Overstock. com to survive in this competitive market, their possible market strategy and segmentation is to set up their e-business system as their storefront and gain new market target and new market opportunities on online selling sites of car and real estate listing (Overstock. com, 2010).

A chance of emergence Essays

A chance of emergence Essays A chance of emergence Essay A chance of emergence Essay Culture in organisation frequently reflects norm, value, tradition, and expectation from its people. Each organisation has its own unique internal environment. For example, in theory, all applicants are required to show their self-confidence and their extroversion. These cannot go well with the traditional or conservative organisation which requires a modest person rather than an aggressive one. A working environment which comprises structure or flexible style can affect the applicant when they have an interview, for instance, casual clothes are accepted in some companies but not others. Ideal working environment was quoted in theory but in practical it is far beyond that. The continual innovation and improvement of science and technology have been changing social economy environment and competitive methods between companies to a great extent (Ref). This kind of transformation enhances the difficulty of companies and organisations to make an appropriate policy of HRM. They need to achieve a balance of catching up with new challenges and avoiding the risk of inaccurate decision-making. In recruitment and selection, technology has adapted new content in practice, the flourish of traditional public media let organisations place their recruiting adverts at a reasonable price, the development of public transport and the car industry has made it possible for companies to recruit from a larger region, the Internet has given them a good chance to go further. A giant in computer soft industry claims that The only constant in Microsoft is change (Ref). However, not all players are winners in this game. It is universal for managers to make inaccurate decisions because of deficient cognition of new methods. For instance, although E-recruitment can bring us quick, low-cost, efficient methods of finding qualified candidates, it still has unavoidable shortcomings. (www. arinso. com/downloads/recruitment. pdf, accessed 11/11/03) Online recruitment and the use of new emerging technologies have many advantages for the modern recruiter. The one drawback, however, is that online recruitment can appear to be a daunting subject? (Michael Stamp, E-recruitment is revolutionising the Recruitment Industry)The worldwide trend of incorporation and internationalisation has promoted companies to expand into huge organisations. Recruitment and selection have become extremely difficult to deal with in such enormous employee scale. When each step of Recruitment is made, HRM department need to classify complicated relationships and deal with huge information. Once an inaccurate decision is made, the influence is fatal and far-reaching. Take Balin Bank of UK as an example, (Ref) which had a history as long as 233 years and finally became bankruptcy. Besides the unsound operation system, the essential reason was the using of wrong people in fatal positions. Again, Ericsson announced that they would lay off another 1,700 employees in Sweden as an important step of the final object to be at 47,000 employees next year from 107,000 at the start of 2001. Maybe it will help the company to a profit during 2003. However, they could get more benefits if they had taken appropriate action in their recruitment and selection phases, from planning to testing. (Ref/Why? )Every theory has a particular environment of society and economy to exist in. When HRM theories were concluded, they all had been proved as effective to solve specific problems in practice. Nevertheless, these specific problems have different representations in different cultures and political environments. When business is put in a variable environment, HRM does not always work as well as it does in theory. Sometimes it is such a long and costly term for a company to adapt their HRM methods to new region which they are trying to expand to, no matter how successful these methods had been in the original system. The growth process of Microsoft China is a good case in point. In this August, Microsoft continued the contract with Jun Tan, who was assigned as the chairman of their subsidiary in China one year ago (Ref). It seems that Microsoft have found a suitable method of recruitment and selection for this important subsidiary now. However, they had been bothered for 5 years before the commission of Jun Tan. Each predecessor of Jun Tan survived in the hard and fast test of Microsoft, which proved effective in recruitment of their subsidiaries in western countries. These experts in both management and technology, had not arrived as far as they were expected in China market. Fortunately, Microsoft realised what they needed was a manager familiar with Chinese culture and the particular situation of China. After the commission of Jun Tan, Microsoft designed a new position CEO of Microsoft in big China area for an advanced manager recruited from another company, who has a strong background of working with Chinese government. Cultural shock is not the only thing that can beat companies HRM methods and strategies, every change of business environment could be fatal. There has been a gradual decline in the importance of recruitment and selection theories because of their validity and reliability. In the changing circumstances of a competitive business environment, it seems that every factor such as people, technology and so forth is changing all the time; on the other hand, the theories development are steady in the way of realistic applied. Generally speaking, individuals are different in terms of attitude and belief which affects their behaviour. It is implausible that the theories can be matched up perfectly with each individual. Each organisation has its own organisational culture which can be distinguished from the others. Moreover, currently, businesses have to be able to compete internationally. Nevertheless, the theories have limitations for worldwide use. Some theories can be appropriate for one country but not another. The big change of recruitment and selection method was brought by the impact of technology, the emergence of online recruitment or E-recruitment. As far as E-recruitment is concerned, it is believed that it could reduce operating expenditure and time spent on advertising and selecting the right candidate, for example. This phenomenon is not only about technology but also cultural and behavioural change both within HRM and people in organisation. It is a barrier-free procedure which means that everybody has the same rights to approach an organisation. No matter who you are, disabled person, mother of two children, black or white, man or woman. The process of E-recruitment will eliminate bias occurring from the recruiter. These will bring equal opportunities for people in society. E-recruitment is going to be the next important step of recruitment and selection without any doubt if the organisation strictly manage and deploy it in the constructive way. In the end, modern theory will definitely be waiting for a chance of emergence.

Chapter 1- What is Geomorphology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Chapter 1- What is Geomorphology - Essay Example â€Å"The word geomorphology is a composition of three Greek words; ‘geo’ means earth, ‘morph’ means form and ‘-ology’ means discourse† (Hugget, 2011). So the study of earth forms is called geomorphology. Some people only include the forms of earth’s surface while others also include surfaces of other planets such as Moon, Venus etc. â€Å"There are three components of geomorphology; constitution (the chemical composition of the surface), mass flow (the rate of flow of the material; rate of evaporation) and configuration (the shape and size; geometry of the surface)† (Hugget, 2011). Ancient Greek philosophers wondered about mountains and plains, and how they took up the shape they appear in. Greats like Aristotle and Seneca have long pondered how valleys and rivers came about, and how come sea shells end up at the beaches, and how come deltas of the earth are â€Å"as they appear to be† (Hugget, 2011). Landforms leave a history behind them. Ripples on a beach or a river that stopped flowing, all have history but many might pass by unnoticed because of leaving no footprint (stratigraphic record). This way it becomes easier to study landforms, data collection regarding this also becomes easier. In the past, geomorphologists used to map morphological forms based on the principle of â€Å"the present is the key to the past† (Hugget, 2011). This made it the perfect assumption that the present form of the landscape has evolved from the past and correctly tracing back would lead to the past form of earth morphology. William Morris Davis, the morphologist who expounded on the term ‘geographical cycle’. To describe Morris’s theory on Geomorphology in small number of words; the uplift takes place quickly, while landscapes slopes decline through time. The surface, like humans and other living beings has stages of life; youth, maturity and old age. Times have

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin Essay

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin - Essay Example The sense of originality has lost by use of pictures as compared to paintings. According to Benjamin, the reproducible film represents a historical shift that many audiences might fail to notice. Benjamin noted that the work of art reproduced mechanically has intervened to fill the void left by loss of aura. For instance, the loss of authority by the original work of art has been compensated by the use of a camera. Cameraman can direct the viewers eyes towards specific places and stories, as a result of being radical, revolutionary and totalitarian. Mechanical reproduction has introduced distraction as a new way of reception. There is a shift in the location of work of art that can be referred to as an aura to the mythological space. People are now capable of visiting places like museums, theaters, galleries and cinemas to see the work of art. Benjamin, however, complements the loss of aura. He notes that the loss has opened up politicization of the work of art put into use in different ways. He observes that a mechanical reproduction has managed to change contemplation regarding the screen as well as the films

Is management remuneration too excessive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Is management remuneration too excessive - Essay Example In an article published in Business Week, In 1980 it was established that the a Chief Executive Officer working at a any foremost organization, on average, makes approximately 42 times compared to what a worker works on a normal hourly pay. In the next decade, i.e. 1990, this rate had crossed the doubled mark as it was up to 85 times compared to a normal hourly pay of a worker and in the next decade i.e. the twentieth century, the average salary of a Chief Executive Office has climbed to an incredible 531 times of the regular workers’ hourly pay. (Management 2000) This has been always an argument regarding the fact that the management, especially the top management, such as the Chief Executive Officers, Directors, Chief Financial Officers and the Heads of Departments etc are paid extensively more that the normal employee even though their job is limited to the decision making part while the workers have to put in extra impetus from the planning to the implementation stage. Let us go research in this respect whether the management remuneration is justified. Shleifer and Vishny (1997) in their research have described the corporate governance as the means where the providers of funding guarantee a return on their investments for themselves. Since, the profits of the investors largely depend upon the contracts incurred between themselves and the company so a variety of markets operations and the performance of players of finance has developed into various sub-literatures. literatures. need for the growth in pay of executies Lucian Bebchuk in his article â€Å"The Growth of Executive Pay’, discussed the reasons and the need for the substantial increase and the growth of the pay of executives and the top management personnel. He has justified the growth in the pay scale by the comparison of the size of the organization where the executive is employed. He mentioned â€Å"Remuneration level is predictable to augment due to the increase in the size of the firm and performance of the management, which may vary from industry to industry† He has researched over the average size of the S&P 500 firms from 1993 to 2003 and has expressed the fact that with the relevant increase in the size of the organization or the performance of the company, the compensation of the executives has increased side by side showing a very linear trend. Kaplan and Rauh (2009) inspected the query regarding if increase in the management remuneration can imitate the forc es of the market. The idea was that if a top management personnel’s pay imitates the market forces; in that case its increase should be in line with that of other extensively paid occupations. Kaplan and Rauh also assembled some information on the compensation of high yielding professions such as the employees from the financial service sector, banks, and funds and compared them to the compensation received by the business lawyers, professional athletes, doctors and celebrities. Murphy and Zabojnik (2007) proposed the thought that the escalation in management remuneration embodies the move in the significance of the ability of the managerial staff i.e. the talent and ability which is capable of being transferred through several companies related to the human capital which is specific to the firm i.e. precious only to the extent of the organization, which functioned to support the bargaining point of the top executives through improving their options of working at another orga nization. different views of executive compensation Holmstom (1979) in his article published in the Bell Journal of Economics has discussed several views of the executive compensation of which he has highlighted two of those views. He discusses that one of the view which he highlighted as the

The Politics Of Secularism In India

The Politics Of Secularism In India Secularism in India has always been more of a political than a philosophical phenomenon. Secularism may be one of the basic features of the Preamble but its validity as one of the basic features of the Constitution and its practicability in Indian society is questionable. There is an increasing use of religion in the social construction of ethnic and communal identity which is made the basis for the articulation of common economic interests and political mobilization. There is also the construction of a pan Indian Hindu consciousness that cuts across caste and regional divisions. While secularism has been integral to Indias democracy for more than 50 years, its limitations implementations are indeed matters of acrimonious debate even to this day. Discussions on the place of religious community in Indian society have turned on the opposition of secularism communalism and of modernity tradition. Secularism is unalterably linked with modernity, but the ideal of equal respect for all religions has not been translated into social reality, and the end result is something termed as pseudo-secularism. Modernity was characterized by the emergence of public, civic and privatized religious entities, concepts of a liberal democracy and a nation state, and the secularized individual who is unfettered by ascriptive identities. But such a trajectory of human development and social transformation required an understanding of humanity that was fundamentally ahistorical. Both the Round Table Conferences as well as the Constituent Assembly Debates struggled with the dilemma of formulating a liberal democracy for people who had historically been represented, and in turn came to represent themselves, as determined by the ascriptive identities of sect and caste.  [1]  Whenever critiquing secularism, the question of caste has always been sidelined by the preoccupation with religion. But the politics of secularism in India is integrally reliant and revolves around the co-optation of untouchables into an upper caste Hindu identity. The crucial fact that needs to be clarified is that, rather th an being distinct from the categories of community and caste, nationalism and communalism, liberalism and democracy, Indian secularism emerged as the nexus of all of these.  [2]   The Indian Constitution has spelt out several provisions regarding the secular state even before the term secularism was introduced into the Preamble of the Constitution in 1976. Articles 14, 15, 16, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 325 all incorporate the principles of 1. Freedom of religion to individuals as well as to religions. 2. Equality of citizenship and no discrimination on grounds of religion. 3. Separation of State from religion. It is evident that the intention of the Constitution is neither to oppose religion nor to promote a rationalization of culture, but merely to maintain the neutrality and impartiality of the state in matters of religion. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 stated that Secular means a republic in which there is equal respect for all religions, but the Supreme Court of India has been interpreting secularism in the Constitution differently over the years in its various judgments. To examine the vicissitudes of the Indian experiment with secularism, one needs to understand that there is a dichotomy in Indian society- Firstly, the political society comprising parties, movements, non party political formations which channelise popular demands through a form of mobilization termed as democracy- and secondly the civil society for whom the affirmation of secularism has been through the state and its institutions, schools, universities and the English media. In Indian society, the merits of secularism have been familiarized only by the academy and intellectual circles (civil society) whereas Hindu communal history has pervaded the streets and common sense (political society).  [3]   The relations between state, society and religion are not well defined, personal laws vary with religious communities, the precarious position of religious minorities, the affiliations of political formations with religious fundamentalists, increasing importance of the Hindu and more importantly the Hindutva philosophies pose severe challenges to the success and future of secularism in India.  [4]  It must be conceded that secularism in India today is too politicized and statist acting as an ideology of the state and an instrument of power. It is necessary to find ways to depoliticize secularism and to move it further into the domain of civil society. The project will put forward and comparatively analyze both the Gandhian and Nehruvian approaches to understanding secularism, the way secularism has been interpreted by the judiciary at times even contravening constitutional provisions, and finally the researcher will attempt to discuss whether a coexistence of democracy and secularism can be successful in a diverse and plural society like that of ours. Through the research paper, the researcher attempts to advocate the following: Secular means a Republic in which there is equal respect for all religions In the light of this remark, comparatively analyze the Nehruvian and the Gandhian understanding of the concept of secularism? Referring to the Constituent Assembly Debates 1946-1950, and landmark Supreme Court Cases, discuss the changing perceptions to the concept of secularism and whether such decisions have been a reflection of the Nehruvian or the Gandhian understanding? Can Secularism in India survive the functioning of democracy where the will of the majority is imposed on the minority and their consent is gained by a mere strength in numbers? Chapter 1. Secularism: Nehruvian Understanding Vs. Gandhian Understanding. Religion, Nehru wrote to Gandhi in 1933, is not familiar ground for me, as I have grown older I have definitely drifted away from it. I have something else in its place, something older than just intellect and reason, which gives me strength and hope. Apart from this indefinable and indefinite urge, which may just have a tinge of religion in it yet is wholly different from it, I have grown entirely to rely on the workings of the mind. Perhaps they are weak supports to rely upon, but, search as I will, I can see no better ones  [5]   Gandhis use of the term secular in relation to the state is such as may, in contemporary political discourse, be described as Nehruvian.Likewise, Nehrus positions on the definition of the Indian nation are the same as Gandhis.  [6]  That is, Gandhi does not attach any meaning to the term secular that would have been unacceptable to or unintelligible to Nehru.  [7]  Both possessed a remarkable steadfastness of faith. Even though they had strong mutual synergies on vital issues, nonetheless there was a creative tension in the Gandhi-Nehru relationship.  [8]  Gandhi and Nehru had differences. Gandhis religiosity and non violent principles was not shared by Nehru. Although he opposed the concept of theocratic statehood, Gandhi strongly advocated the importance of religious ethics in political practice. Perhaps no single leader has succeeded to the same extent as Gandhi in terms of effectively appealing to the Indian masses from all walks of life.  [9]   Gandhi expressed the opinion that the state should undoubtedly be secular.  [10]  It could never promote denominational education out of public funds. Everyone living in it should be entitled to profess his religion without hindrance, so long as the citizen obeyed the common law of the land. There should be no interference with missionary effort, but no mission could enjoy the patronage of the state as it did during the foreign regime.  [11]  This understanding came subsequently to be reflected in Articles 25, 26 and 27 of the Constitution. . In the last years of Gandhis life, a withdrawal from the political sphere to that of private moral experimentation is evident. . Unlike Gandhi, Nehru was hurled into the ruckus of politics, in command of a state, the most powerful structured concentration of modern instrumental reason that exists. He subjected Gandhis principle to scrutiny could the principle of non-violence make sense in politics, where governments are notoriously based on violence which is indeed the very lifeblood of the modern state. Nehruvian secularism was characterized by an equal contempt for all religions. Secularism as an element of modernity, required therefore a non-discriminatory rejection of all religions and all religiosity from public, as distinct from private, affirmation. Nehru was neither irreligious nor antireligious but his approach to religion was influenced by 3 basic assumptions of humanist liberal tradition- individualism, rationalism and universalism. Nehrus secularism meant freedom of religion and conscience, including freedom for those who have no religion, subject only to their not interfering with the basic con ceptions of our state. Nehru envisaged for India a secularist programme that gave religion little role in national affairs. Nehrus political wisdom was based on a theory of democracy, socialism, secularism and non-alignment. His strategy lay in an all-out attack on those forces that threatened disunity: provincialism, separatism, communalism and above all casteism. He could claim credit for making democratic secularism Indias pathway to the modern world. In his opinion Indias encounter with the Wests humanism, skepticism, and its ascendant science and technology, demanded a radical evaluation of all that India knew and was, and in that effort Indias outstanding religious heritage must correspondingly bear the strain of the encounter because in the final analysis the encounter of civilizations is a matter of spiritual discernment and active exchange.  [12]  Nehru was acutely aware and reflected expansively on the meaning of religion in the history of Indian civilization, but interestingly he was far from attempting a philosophy of religion but talked about religion in an anecdotal fashion, allowing others to distil from his remarks a refined Nehruvian theory of religion.  [13]   To summarise, analogous to post modernitys concern with immediacy and the present-Gandhi was a relentless explorer of immediacy- immediate needs, immediate means, immediate ends. In a very short span of time Gandhi introduced new themes in Indian politics with mass effect. But throughout his long career as a political thinker and activist, Gandhi encountered the dilemma of either remaining faithful to his non-violent principles and risking the failure of the Indian nationalist movement, or focusing at the seizure of political power at the expense of his moral message. Nehrus writings reveal full awareness on his part of the need to strengthen nationalism and democracy in a multireligious society characterized by arrested development while his style of functioning is an acknowledgement of the limitations under which he had to work.  [14]  A point that deserves mention is that Nehru did not intervene even once in the discussions on the clauses related to religious freedom in the constitution assembly debates. An in depth analysis of Nehruvian philosophy reflects his strong belief that the crucial choice for society is not between a fixed present and a proposed innovation, but more importantly it is concerned with an uncritical abandonment and structural engagement. The essence of Nehruvian philosophy lies in his intellectual and political understanding, in his struggles trying to base public life on a reasoned morality.  [15]  When dwelling on the thought provoking question of whether secularism has a future in India or not, the Nehruvian analysis regarding the parallel streams of the material and the spiritual which he identified as the fundamental matrix of life, for persons and civilizations alike, seems particularly relevant even to this day. Chapter 2. Secularism: Constituent Assembly Debates Landmark Cases. Constituent Assembly Debates [1946-50]: A look into the Constituent Assemblys debates clearly reveals that the general understanding amongst members of the assembly was that India was to be a secular state. They have emphasized the secular foundation of the Indian state. They also declare that secularism as adopted in the Indian constitution is not an anti-religious concept; rather it prevents discrimination against the citizens on the basis of religion. According to H V Kamath, When I say that a state should not identify itself with any particular religion, I do not mean that a state should be anti-religious or irreligious. India would be a secular state but according to me a secular state is neither a godless state nor an irreligious nor an anti-religious state. During the debate in the Constituent Assembly, Prime Minister Nehru declared that secularism was an ideal to be achieved and that the establishment of a secular state was an act of faith  [16]  . It is unfortunate that he failed to identify what faith the faith that he was referring to actually meant and in an unfortunate turn of events and circumstances it has been progressively interpreted by the courts to mean the Hindu faith. The dominant position on secularism that a democratic Constitution find place for religion as a way of life for most Indians triumphed over those who wished for the Assembly to grant only a narrow right to religious freedom, or to make the uniform civil code a fundamental right.  [17]   The crucial questions that arose by way of discussions in these debates were: Was a state secular only when it stayed strictly away from religion, and could such a secular state survive only if society was secularised as well? Did a state that equally respected all religions best capture the meaning of secularism in the Indian context? How could a democratic state represent a religious majority at the expense of the rights and liberties of a minority? The issue of religious freedom and secularism was discussed in the light of three alternative theoretical positions: The no-concern theory of secularism saw a definite line of separation between religion and state. Given the principles of religious liberty and freedom of expression, it was up to the individual to decide whether to be a believer or not, or to adhere to this religion or that.  [18]  Based on a doctrine of intolerance it confined religion to the private realm. This approach led to a conception of a secular state as one that stays away from religion per se. India was engaged in creating a modern nation state and in this enterprise, religion which seemed to be an obscurantist and divisive force, had no place. The second position was that no links between the state and religion should be permitted, not because it would weaken the state, but it would demean religion. Religion could not be made subject to the whims of changing majorities by allowing the democratic state to intervene in religious affairs.  [19]   The third position termed as the equal respect theory began with the principle of religious liberty, but held that in a society like India where religion is integrally related to the lives of the people, the state should not stay away from all religions equally but that it respects all religions alike. Thus it is evident the in these Constituent Assembly Debates the main issues of contention were: Whether the right to religious freedom should be the right to religious worship or to religious practice; Whether the state should recognise only linguistic minorities or religious minorities as well; The dispute over the Uniform Civil Code, over political reservation of religious minorities; Whether there should be religious instruction in state-aided schools. What is finally reflected in the articles of the constitution is a broad definition of the right to religion as the right to religious practice, but nonetheless there were no political safeguards for the religious minorities. Landmark Cases In Sardar Taheruddin Syedna Sahib v. State of Bombay  [20]  , the apex court claimed that Art. 25 26 serve to emphasize the secular nature of the Indian democracy which the founding fathers considered to be the very basis of the Constitution. Although in Kesavananda Bharati case, it was declared that secularism was a part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution, but interestingly a year later in St. Xaviers College Society v. State of Gujarat  [21]  , Supreme Court ruled that it was only by implication that the Constitution envisaged a Secular State.  [22]  For the first time there seemed to be an apparent contradiction between the judicially constructed concept of secularism and that in the text of the Constitution. In 1976 the court adopted a more philosophical and utilitarian approach in the Ziyauddin Bukhari  [23]  case. In the S.R. Bommai  [24]  case it was reasserted that secularism was a part of the Basic Structure and that it was based on principles of accommodation and tolerance. Herein what is evident is a euphemistic approach an espousal of a soft secularism.  [25]  In this case it was ruled that The State has the duty to ensure secularism by duty or by executive order. It is the duty of the court to bring every errant political party in line if it goes against secular ideals like casteism and religious antagonisms Jus. Ramaswamy. The State has the power to legislate on religion including personal laws under Art.44 and secular affairs of places of worship Jus. Jeevan Reddy. If a political party indirectly espouses a religious cause, it will be considered unconstitutional Jus. Agrawal. It is interesting to note that the Court withdrew from most of these commitments in the subsequent years. In the Ramjanmabhoomi case, the court went on to elaborate on secularism in terms of Indian scriptures thereby going back to the Gandhian Sarva Dharma Sambhava tolerance of all religions. In resorting to religious scriptures the court seems to have rejected the western concept of secularism of separation of church and state as propounded in S.R. Bommai case and has gone back to initial approach of equating secularism with tolerance and the fact that state has the power to take over any religious place.  [26]   Lastly with reference to the latest Hindutva judgements  [27]  the court enunciated, contrary to the Bommai decision that a speech with a secular stance alleging discrimination against any particular religion cannot be treated as an appeal on the ground of religion . Moreover the court seemed to have conveniently shifted its stance to uphold the constitutional duty to get political parties in line with secularism and most importantly it equated Hinduism and Hindutva with Indianisation and are not to be construed in a narrow sense. Thus what is clearly evident is the lack of consistency in these abovementioned Court decisions. The court has mostly stuck to secularism not being a wall between the church and the state but a sense of toleration between people of different religions. There have been frequent deviations from the Bommai decision, but it seems that the Ramjanmabhoomi case encapsulates the essence of Indian secularism toleration based on tradition. The Hindutva judgements reassert the recognition and increasing importance of the essential Hindu identity of tradition.  [28]   Clearly the judiciary in India is a significant site where contests under the banner of secularism have been taking place over the last sixty odd years. Though landmark judgements of the apex court of the nation has been interpreting secularism in the Constitution differently over the years in its various judgments  [29]  reiterating the fact that secularism is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution and that secularism involves liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, even though secularism as a term appears in very few Supreme Court judgements yet it is evident that a crisis of secularism indeed exists in the worlds largest and most fractious democracy. With reference to the Constituent Assembly debates and the landmark cases the following interesting observations can be deduced: When discussing the concept of religious freedom in the Debates, there arose a paradox- it is precisely some of the advocates of a broad right to religious freedom who were also the most vociferous opponents of any political rights for religious minorities. The no-concern and equal-respect positions on secularism clashed constantly during the debates in the Constituent Assembly as the question of secularism cropped up in discussions about innumerable articles. The distinction between tolerance and secularism has never been made by the Indian judiciary. The apex court conveniently avoids exact direct mention of the word secular in its various prior judgements eg. Kesavananda Bharati case. A valid argument could be that the Supreme Court has not directly addressed the issue of secularism for the simple adjectival reason that it is a thorny issue with also the Constitution being suitably ambiguous would never permit a justifiable interpretation. The interpretation by the court reflects the interpretation of the Constitution which society is more likely to accept. As opposed to the prior cases such as Kesavananda Bharati and S.R.Bommai , post the Hindutva cases, the line of thinking of the Court has gradually been inclined towards secularism being tolerance based on tradition but the interpretation of tolerance is more in terms of grudging accommodation than wholehearted notions of acceptance. What is most extraordinary about the courts reasoning, from a strictly legal point of view, is that it can draw such an unequivocal conclusion as to the meaning of Hindutva without having cited virtually any authorities-judicial or otherwise in its support. Even when the apex court has addressed the issue of secularism it has not been uniform in its judgements. On the one hand it has effectively legitimized the Hindu Rights understanding of secularism and supported its nonsecular agenda, but on the other hand it has also in no uncertain terms condemned the practices of several members of the Hindu Right. Thus the decision given by the court in the Hindutva cases is a contradictory one, wherein it has both condemned as well as condemned the Hindu Right. Chapter 3. Secularism Democracy: A Misunderstood Relation. Sixty years ago, 565 princely states and 13 British-ruled states became united into one sovereign nation, with a secular democracy as its Constitutions primary guiding principle. In our country, eight major religious communities co-exist ,namely the Hindus(82%), Muslims(12.12%), Christians(2.6%), Sikhs(2%), Buddhists(0.7%), Jains(0.4%), Parsis(0.3%) and Jews(0.1%). The single-most defining element of the Indian democracy is the acceptance of all religions in the nations Constitution, granting explicit freedom to all its citizens and residents to practice their faiths without violating the others right to do so. It is from this explicit freedom that citizens experience other freedoms necessary to realize their lives. In stark contrast to some 90 percent of Asian nations, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, India guarantees that right. A state that arises from democracy need not be strictly secular. Democracies are perfectly capable of giving an important role to religion in the affairs of the state. It is the problem of aggregation that is of utmost importance. A democratic state will tend to reflect in its own makeup the complexity of the individuals it represents.  [30]   The challenge facing the theorists of Indian secularism is therefore to devise an answer to the problem of intolerant religions. If one or more religions in a pluralistic society preach their unwillingness to co-exist with the others, and insist on religion as the unitary framework for individual, society, and state, how do we define a secular regime for such societies? No viable model of secularism can be built on terms defined by any one religious group even if it is the majority community, especially so since its mode of toleration has historically included absorption, subjugation and marginalisation of religious minorities. The Indian democracy provides mechanisms, available in a secular democracy, to temper extremism and intolerance inherent in most religions; it leads diverse religious communities, especially the Hindu majority, to accept that the well being of all human beings consists in respecting the others religious and civil rights, particularly that of minorities. Many critics  [31]  reject secularism as radically alien to Indian culture and tradition and advocate a return to genuine religion and the indigenous traditions of religious tolerance as the best means to preserve a pluralist and multireligious Indian society. On the contrary Nehruvian theory suggests that democracy would have never been possible in a non-secular India. Nehru claims that if democracy requires a minimum consensus about the basic values and institutions of society and the rules of the political game, then such a consensus could not have been built on a religious basis in a pluralist nation like India.  [32]  This fact is clearly reflected in the failure and subsequent removal of the communal electorate system in the wake of Indias independence. Whether India is a sufficiently secular state and whether circumstances are favourable for the survival of secularism depends ultimately upon the readiness and ability of its people to maintain an autonomous political community. The challenges of casteism, communalism and religious fundamentalism involving separatism in India are the major threats to our Secular state. They weaken the working and stability of our democratic secular Federal state and militate against the basic principles governing our national life and providing means to our new identity. Communal riots and caste carnage has to stop if India has to emerge as a secular and democratic polity. Large-scale communal riots broke out in India after the demolition of Babri Masjid by the Sangh Parivar in Ayodhya . Both Hindus and Muslims were killed in the communal backlash that followed. The attacks on Christians in Orissa and Gujarat made headlines in electronic and print media. The grouse of the Sangh Parivar is that the Muslims had demolished their temples, humiliated Hindus during Muslim rule and partitioned India and thus justified their animosity and attacks on Muslims. The Godhra and Post-Godhra incidents pointed to the absence of political sanity in Gujarat. Nothing could represent a more provocative insult to the national commitment to communal harmony and pluralist co-existence than Narendra Modis repeated taunts of the Muslim minority people of his own state, his insinuations that they are susceptible to the supposedly adventurous designs of Pakistan and his final desperate suggestion that if the opposition Congress wins the election, it would represent a victory for Pakistan. The terrorist attack on Indian Parliament on December 13,2001, was unprecedented not only in the history of India but also in the annals of democracy in the world. It manifests utter disregard and contempt for parliamentary democracy by Pakistan which only can boast of a military democracy. Thus it is evident that during the last 60 years of independence, India has witnessed both successes and failures in running the secular democratic processes. It has evolved a lasting secular constitution, a viable political system and a functional federal secular polity and with strong democratic traditions on the one hand, but on the other hand it has also garnered several communal riots and caste wars. However, it is politics, which proved to be divisive and not religion. It is not religious leaders by and large (with few exceptions) who divide but politicians who seek to mobilise votes on grounds of primordial identities like relig

The Business of Offshore Outsourcing in India :: Globalization essays, research papers

Offshore outsourcing of IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) is known to be the practice of hiring an external organization to perform some or all business functions in a country other than the one where the product or service will be sold or consumed. â€Å"In 2005 IT and BPO were estimated to have generated revenues of $36 billion contributing nearly 5% of the GDP† (â€Å"Virtual,† 2006, p. 1). It is very clear that BPO has transformed into a very large and profitable business, with â€Å"India leading the way by providing $7.5 billion in BPO revenue this year. India’s outsourcing capabilities have grown steadily throughout the last decade† (â€Å"Turning India,† 2006, p. 1). â€Å"In the 1980’s outsourcers in India did low skill jobs such as data entry and some software development. In the 1990’s they expanded by doing larger software projects, taking over entire IT systems and back office functions such as accounting for U.S. and European corporations † (â€Å"Offshoring,† 2006, p.1). â€Å"Indian IT grew on the relatively humdrum software work needed to fix the Y2k millennium bug at the end of the 20th century. It then received a boost from the dotcom bust, which in many firms in America and elsewhere caused IT budgets to be slashed, prompting outsourcing to India for a lower price† (â€Å"Virtual,† 2006, p. 1). The India of today has taken on new challenges and more sophisticated services such as engineering, research and development, and designing auto parts, and chips for wireless service (â€Å"Offshoring,† 2006, p. 1). â€Å"Now Indian firms can perform almost every service offered by the global giants of IT outsourcing and India’s core business remains â€Å"ADM† which is the application, development and maintenance of software, which accounts for about 55% of exports of IT services†(â€Å"Virtual,† 2006, p.1). Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro are the three largest Indian IT service firms in India, â€Å"Each are recruiting and hiring more than 1,000 people per month† (â€Å"Next Wave,† 2006, p. 1). J.P. Morgan Chase, a large investment bank in the U.S., plans to double its staff to 9,000 in the near future. These new employees responsibility will be to settle complex structured finance and derivative deals (â€Å"Next Wave,† 2006 p. 1). These new investments all show that India has moved into a third stage of the great Indian services-export boom. In the first stage, â€Å"firms such as Tata developed world-class expertise in software application development, and maintenance. The Business of Offshore Outsourcing in India :: Globalization essays, research papers Offshore outsourcing of IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) is known to be the practice of hiring an external organization to perform some or all business functions in a country other than the one where the product or service will be sold or consumed. â€Å"In 2005 IT and BPO were estimated to have generated revenues of $36 billion contributing nearly 5% of the GDP† (â€Å"Virtual,† 2006, p. 1). It is very clear that BPO has transformed into a very large and profitable business, with â€Å"India leading the way by providing $7.5 billion in BPO revenue this year. India’s outsourcing capabilities have grown steadily throughout the last decade† (â€Å"Turning India,† 2006, p. 1). â€Å"In the 1980’s outsourcers in India did low skill jobs such as data entry and some software development. In the 1990’s they expanded by doing larger software projects, taking over entire IT systems and back office functions such as accounting for U.S. and European corporations † (â€Å"Offshoring,† 2006, p.1). â€Å"Indian IT grew on the relatively humdrum software work needed to fix the Y2k millennium bug at the end of the 20th century. It then received a boost from the dotcom bust, which in many firms in America and elsewhere caused IT budgets to be slashed, prompting outsourcing to India for a lower price† (â€Å"Virtual,† 2006, p. 1). The India of today has taken on new challenges and more sophisticated services such as engineering, research and development, and designing auto parts, and chips for wireless service (â€Å"Offshoring,† 2006, p. 1). â€Å"Now Indian firms can perform almost every service offered by the global giants of IT outsourcing and India’s core business remains â€Å"ADM† which is the application, development and maintenance of software, which accounts for about 55% of exports of IT services†(â€Å"Virtual,† 2006, p.1). Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro are the three largest Indian IT service firms in India, â€Å"Each are recruiting and hiring more than 1,000 people per month† (â€Å"Next Wave,† 2006, p. 1). J.P. Morgan Chase, a large investment bank in the U.S., plans to double its staff to 9,000 in the near future. These new employees responsibility will be to settle complex structured finance and derivative deals (â€Å"Next Wave,† 2006 p. 1). These new investments all show that India has moved into a third stage of the great Indian services-export boom. In the first stage, â€Å"firms such as Tata developed world-class expertise in software application development, and maintenance.

Flower and Delicious Sunflower Bread

The sunflower family (Helianthus) has perfect flowers, with male and female organs both on the same flower, but with either the male or the female organ infertile. What is usually called the flower is actually a composite flower, made up of numerous flowers or florets crowded together. Once the plant has flowered, usually in summer, it produces a sweet pollen mixture that lures bees and other insects. When the bees arrive, they get their feet wet with the pollen as they drink the plant's nectar. The plant relies on the sperm-producing pollen coming into contact with the egg-containing stigma. The yellow pollen is transferred from the insect's hairy legs to the stigma. This is the first step in sunflower reproduction. Once the pollen goes down the stigma, it releases sperm into the ovary. An available egg receives the sperm, and the egg is fertilized with a meat-bearing seed. The pollen/sperm can belong to the original plant or may come from another sunflower. Self-pollination is a mechanism that the sunflower uses to stay alive. On the occasion where the stigma receives no pollen, the stigma will twist and wrap itself around its own pollen. Seeds created by self-pollination will only produce flowers that look like the original plant, so no hybridization will have occurred. Sunflowers are fast reproducers, and one plant can create dozens of others. Plant seeds about an 1 inch below the ground. Germination occurs quickly, usually between 5 and 10 days, but spring crops produce more plants than summer crops. Spring crops are planted in April and May. Summer crops go in the ground in June and July. When the back of the plant's head turns brown, it is ready for harvesting. The Sunflower’s symbiotic relationships with other plants usually benefit the Sunflower, because the sunflower takes all the nutrients and water from the soil for itself and takes over (hence, its invasive). The Sunflower’s relationships with bees and birds and humans is much less greedy, however. The huge face of the Sunflower feeds many bees with its sweet pollen, baseball players and birds feed off of its multitudes of plump, ripe seeds. The Sunflower was first cultivated in mesoamerica (present day Mexico) in 2600 BC (A Gardeners Guide, 1996) and there is evidence that it was being used by the Native Americans in the Mississippi valley in around the same time. It is widely believed that Sunflowers were cultivated for religious purposes having to do with various tribal sun deities. They also used the oil for religious rituals having to do with warfare, bread, medical ointments, dyes and body paints. When Francisco Pizzaro ravaged and plundered the welcoming tribes of Peru, he came across gold paintings and idols of Sunflowers, which he stole and brought back to europe in the 16th century. The Europeans have been growing sunflowers since then, mostly in Holland, Germany, and France. Sunflowers are cultivated nowadays to make Sunflower butter (a peanut butter alternative), and it is mixed with rye to make a delicious Sunflower bread, bird food, salad mixings, etc. The Sunflower oil, which is taken from the ripe seeds is used commonly for cooking and also used as a cheaper biodiesel. Sunflowers also produce latex

The eNotes Blog The Love Lives ofAuthors

The Love Lives ofAuthors Love is dangerous- best to leave it to the experts. Spend your Valentines Day living vicariously through these writers and their passionate love lives. Because lets face it, youd rather be draped in chocolate wrappers than a volatile amour, right? Just me? Lord Byron Image via Mental Floss The 6th Baron Byron was a Romantic with a capital R, but that doesnt mean he was particularly gentlemanly. His first partner in scandal, Lady Caroline Lamb, described him aptly when she professed he was mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Indeed, she was just one of many public conquests that rocked British society, several of which produced children. Only one of these was legitimate, the Honorable Augusta Ada Byron, also known as the  co-creator of the first computer, Ada Lovelace. Others, save for a daughter he had with Mary Shelleys sister, were never proven or recognized by Byron. In essence, he was a cad with a weakness for women, or so we can assume from his poem  Don Juan.  I mean, not even  his own half-sister  was off-limits to him. But still some come to his defense. Poet Katha Pollitt excused Byrons bad boy behavior with an interesting take on his contribution to feminism:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Byron’s great insight, in an era where women were expected to be placid and insipid (not that they were!), was to see that women were much like men: They wanted sex and went after it eagerly, if secretly.† William Butler Yeats Image via The Poetry Foundation Its never too late to find love, or in Yeats case lust. The Irish poet was already in his fifties when he proposed to and married twenty-five year-old Georgie Hyde-Lees. It only took until their honeymoon for him to regret this decision, though they stayed married for the duration of his life and shared two children. Obviously a pragmatic and forgiving woman, Georgie wrote to her husband,  When you are dead, people will talk about your love affairs, but I shall say nothing, for I will remember how proud you were. Well, she was right: were still talking about his love life almost as much as his poetry, mostly because of the Lolita-esque nature of Yeats infidelities. At the age of sixty-nine Yeats underwent the Steinach operation, a procedure created to renew vigor in older men by increasing hormone production. It seemed to do the trick; for the last five years of his life he found poetic inspiration in the arms of numerous young women.  I find my present weakness made worse by the strange second puberty the operation has given me, the ferment that has come upon my imagination. If I write poetry it will be unlike anything I have done. So I guess were thankful for his lasciviousness?   Ick. W. H. Auden Image via Inside the Apple In 1928 Auden was engaged to be married, to a woman. Such was expected of a closeted gay man of that time. So, in 1929 the poet embarked for a sojourn in Berlin, where he could openly gratify his homosexuality. His goal was to essentially binge until he outgrew such desires, but ten months later nothing had changed except his own view of his sexuality. He returned to England, broke off his engagement, and wrote six love poems in German. His journal of that time, discovered in 1990, reveals a poets typical tormented view of love: He noted in his 1929 journal that he liked to suffer and that he regarded suffering as part of his identity as an artist. He also observed in the journal that the torment of his homosexuality was, for him, one of its attractions; he associated mutual love with despair. Most likely, Audens views on Valentines Day and requited love wouldnt gel with your own. However, there is one thought from his diary I petition us all to take to heart: all bureaucrats should be obliged to prove that they have a happy love-life, and immigration officials most of all. H. G. Wells Image via The Victorian Web The writer of the famous  War of the Worlds appeared to also suffer a war with women, at least one woman in particular. Wells was married to his cousin Isabel when he fell in love with one of his students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Yet, this was not his greatest upset. After divorcing Isabel the author married Amy, who agreed to an open marriage. Wells proceeded to carry on affairs with prominent women, some of whom were activists and novelists. He had a daughter out of wedlock with the writer Amber Reeves and then a son with the feminist Rebecca West, who was twenty-six years younger than him, only nineteen at the time. She apparently expected Wells to leave his wife for her, which didnt happen, and their tempestuous love affair ended with an angry letter from West: When you said, â€Å"You’ve been talking unwisely, Rebecca,† you said it with a certain brightness: you felt that you had really caught me at it. I don’t think you’re right about this. But I know you will derive immense satisfaction from thinking of me as an unbalanced young female who flopped about in your drawing-room in an unnecessary heart-attack. Translation: Youre a jerk for making me feel like a crazy person. Basically the old-fashioned version of a break-up text. In his autobiography Wells confessed,  I was never a great amorist, though I have loved several people very deeply. Lets hope it soothed the burn. Want more author-related Valentines Day posts? Check out our most popular articles on the Top Ten Love Letters of Writers  and Top Ten Love Lines from Literature for Your Valentine.