Key To Success For Implementation Of IMC

Key To Success For Implementation Of IMC The emergence of integrated marketing communications (IMC) has developed into one of the most significant example of growth and expansion in the marketing discipline (Kitchen, 2003). It has influenced acting and thinking among companies but also state owned companies, authorities and political parties, all facing the realities of rivalry in an open economy (Smith, 1996). Today, integrated communications has developed into an expansive discipline that links marketing to a number of other grounds, including corporate culture, corporate design, corporate communication and public relations (Christensen et al., 2008). IMC has received significant interest in both the practitioner and academic communities, since the beginning. The interest played to IMC is largely a purpose of its strong appeal which makes good sense. Its been more than a decade since the concept was first introduced but however most major businesses have yet to fully apply the ideas contained in the IMC. In fact Schultz, et. al. (1992) state that recognition of IMC has not been as rapid as they thought. The benefits of IMC that Smith et al. (1999) identified are the following: All of the market communications are controlled and managed by the IMC. IMC ensures that brand positioning, personality and messages are conveyed to each part of communication which are delivered from a single reliable strategy. It is said that Relationship Marketing strengthens a bond of devotion with consumers which can also protect them from the competition. It is a great advantage to keep a consumer for life. IMC can increase the sales by extending messages across numerous communication tools to generate more ways for consumers to be aware of the product and to make a purchase. IMC reduces duplication in photography and graphics as they can be shared in advertising and exhibitions. A single agency is used for all communications so the agency fee is reduced or even if many agencies are used, time is as meetings get all the agencies together for strategic planning or briefings. Thus, it decreases workload and stress levels. Successful IMC campaign needs to find the firm a correct mixture of promotional techniques and tools that define their tasks and the level to which they should be used, and manage their use appropriately. IMC helps in making the communications effective and efficient amongst companies through various concepts such as customer focus, customer empowerment, brand resonance, immersive marketing and emotional bonding. If correctly implemented, the IMC plan could collect data and implement response based on the previously gathered data. Marketing communications derived from the consumer need is able to build value into the service or product and divide it from the competition in the customers minds. BARRIERS TO IMC IMPLEMENTATION Marketers appear to be tired when it comes to modifying the change and investment in their approach to marketing communications. The discussion concerning what marketing communications can be predictable to accomplish has been going on for very long ( Ambler, 2000). In the middle of the rising identification that advertising; mostly in the grown markets mainly carries out a reminder purpose focused largely on protecting the existing market-share. Both the agencies and clients have challenges in generating and implementing the efficient communications agenda. All areas of the diverse marketing communication business carry on to face instability among the media, declining audience and the internet (Douglas, 2003). All this are making the companies reconsider the blend of marketing communication tools with consequences for the usual mass media which may not be capable to gather the wants of the 21st century customers and find their market shares wear down despite of the synergies occurr ing from tactical associations in the media business (Davis and Craft, 2000). Another concern is regarding the advertising practitioners where an occurrence of inside-out idea and practice overcomes (Kitchen and de Pelsmacker, 2004). There are various tactical subjects of concern in the broader discussion concerning the development of IMC along with the long term involvement to marketing practice and theory (Gould, 2000). Duncan (2005) advocated the tactical forecasting and examining of brand relationships is who as well said that priority ought to be given to their most important consumers. But, so far, there is very little proof of purchaser value being resolute by any segment of IMC (Garber and Dotson, 2002). In spite of huge investments, the relationship amongst the multiplicity of IMC and customers is not well understood. Though, observed evidence of the effects of mixtures of media, like print advertising and television (Jin, 2004) is rising. According to the consumer driven strategy, IMC is the main organization of all the brand contact points. Different levels exist, where such integration takes place. The different levels would be the following. Level 1 Tactical co-ordination Level 2 Redefining the scope of marketing communication Level 3 Application of IT Level 4 Strategic and Financial Integration Key to success for implementation of IMC IMC is a theory that must be implemented logically and simultaneously at all levels and functions of a corporation. Marketing functions and Public relations are not the only programs that are integrated which makes the company an example of IMC (Low, 2000). The key tip is to be careful of companies with strong marketing cultures, because topics like corporate reputation will take a back seat to the provincialism of brand management (Pettegrew, 2000). Functional and Structural issues must become a critical part of any effective IMC series. Of particular importance is beginning with a communication czar who will become the principles and evangelist of the IMC implementation attempt (Reid, 2005). Any IMC program must be personalized to the unique character of a particular organizational culture. For an IMC program to work successfully, it must reflect the distinctive culture in which it must function well. EXAMPLES: In spite of the demand, the IMC premise fails to take into account the way most companies are structured and functioned. Many corporations that are believed to be examples of IMC; fail to maintain the IMC principles on a company basis. The examples of Nike and Proctor Gamble will disclose that neither of these companies are functionally or structurally integrated public relations and employee communications with their marketing roles. NIKE Nike- the athletic footwear and attire manufacturer, has been cited as an example of IMC excellence and marketing. In a cover story from Fortune, (Hamel, 1997) states: Ask Nike- CEO Phil Knight what he likes to do best, and he does not falter a beat, he likes to break things. then in the 1980s, he turned his booming athletic shoe corporation into a marketing machine, saturating the airwaves with drastic commercials that highlighted emotion rather than the product. Schultz, et. al. (1992) publicized Nikes success in their IMC book: The thinking behind IMC is that every statement logo, price, promotion, label, distribution should be created to help convince the intention of the competitive advantage. Duncan and Caywood (1996) also include Nike among several companies that have been tremendously successful and based on observation, they are doing brilliant jobs of integrating their communication labors. Nikes breaking the marketing rules of the athletic footwear business which has come at a cost paid by its worldwide company reputation. Given these setbacks, one could argue that Phil Knights tactical wisdom for Nike is more alike to original advertising and horizontal integration than true IMC. There is a little proof that Nikes victory was achieved by the tactical management of all messages and media used by an organization to jointly influence its perceived brand value (Keegan, Moriarty Duncan, 1992). There are missteps that suggest Nikes marketing communications which may not be so ideal. For example, in 1997, Nike followed its patently bold and brash in your face marketing formula in an attempt to gain market share in an international soccer (Thurow, 1997). In Spain, an overwhelmingly Catholic nation, Nike introduced a commercial of Satan and his demons playing against a team of Nike endorsers. Spain refused to allow the commercial to air during primetime. Nike also placed an advertisement in Soccer American magazine saying: Europe, Asia and Latin America: Barricade your stadiums. Hide your trophies. Invest in some deodorant, as Asia and Latin America have been crushed. So will Europe. The world has been warned (Thurow, 1997). And finally, Nike ran an ad on British TV featuring a controversial French soccer player who detailed how spitting at a fan and insulting his coach had won him a Nike contract. Far from having an insight into the soccer market from the customers point of v iew and gaining ground against rival Adidas, Nike garnered a scathing editorial in the International Federation of Football Associations newsletter. Another recent evidence that says Nike is hardly the quintessential IMC company. Nike groped and allowed accusations of child-labor sweatshops in Asia that subcontract the manufacturing of Nike shoes to fester. In 1999, a team of journalists went to document the conditions for themselves, but Nike shut the factories. Prior to this series of incidents, widely published news stories detailed incidents in which poor children in the inner-city were robbing, stealing and seriously injuring peers to obtain expensive Nike shoes such as Air Jordans. Publicly Nike ignored these charges for years. Considering these two incidents, there was a genuine public relation crisis where any company engaged in lawful IMC could have anticipated before it became a crisis. Instead, Nike just kept on marketing until crisis overwhelmed it. Nikes power as an IMC example is, at best overstated. Harris (1998) argues: That master marketer of our times, Phil Knight, likes to point out that while an ad page in Sports Illustrated costs $150,000, no amount of money can buy the front cover where swoosh-bearing athletes appear with great frequency. The omnipresent swoosh has a 90 percent-plus awareness among consumers, enabling it to stand alone. Many seasoned public relations professionals are quick to admit that companies that live by extraordinary market exposure can also die by the same token. In a recent effort to distance itself from its public relations problems, Nike first tried to eliminate its swoosh from its marketing campaigns and replace it with a kinder-friendlier marketing approach that emphasizes fair labor practices, the global community and environment. PROCTER GAMBLE Procter Gamble (PG) is considered by academic scholars to be a world-class marketing company and is said to stand 6th in Fortunes Most Admired Companies 2010 list (Wikipedia). Similar to the Nike brand, PG possesses some of the most particular brands in the world like Tide detergent, Duncan Hines cake mix, Jiff peanut butter, Crest toothpaste and Cover Girl cosmetics. It also has dominant market share with many of its leading brands. Even though, PGs marketing command has a record of external internal communication mistakes suggestive of Nike. PG openly misused both the Rely Tampon crisis and allegations that their packaging sign recognized the companys satanic links. It was said that PG lost face openly and separated employees when it was exposed that the company had phone-tapped a few staffs they had assumed of revealing business information. This was followed by a job of dealing with some of the physiological effects of its new replacement, Olestra. Without bearing in mind the public comeback, they allowed their scientists to name the release of Olestra, anal leakage (Henkoff, 1996), raising an additional sign of public controversy. Recently, PG shot itself in the business reputational base again. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) declared to the media that PG anticipated to meet its earnings forecast for the end of the quarter. Few weeks later, new CEO, Durk Jager was forced to declare to the same media that they had incorrectly over-estimated their periodical income and that the business would fall very short of its periodical earnings forecast. Over the following week, the companys stock fell sharply as financial markets and shareholders lost faith in the respected company. The Board of Directors of PG then fired Mr. Jager. New CEO, A.G. Lafley must now try to recover the market share and end the defections of many of the companys finest and brightest to the hi-tech industry. Regardless of Harris (1998) categorization to the opposite, these exemplars explain just how far away PG has been working from the essential IMC state of speaking to all stakeholders with a single voice (Schultz, et. Al., 1992). THE PROBLEM WITH IMPLEMENTING AT THE HIGHER LEVEL OF MANAGEMENT Nike and PG do a wonderful job with the marketing side of IMC without incorporating their employee and public relation functions, their company reputations have suffered. IMC theory has given a short shrift to the organizational barriers that often avoid companies from implementing IMC effectively. BARRIERS BETWEEN THE COMPANIES [NIKE AND PG] I have argued that two companies Nike and Procter Gamble, fall far short of the IMC model. Neither company has effectively integrated its many communication functions seamlessly. Both companies are very strong in terms of marketing, but they remain weak in employee communications, public relations or both. The question is, how do companies like these miss the IMC mark? The answer would be to a great level in their organizational structures. Both- Nike and PG are marketing organizations, organized around product marketing. PG demonstrates a brand management association where both staff and line functions are positioned within a companys various brands or products. While, PGs organizational structure has developed over the years, staff communication functions such as public relations and employee communications are organized around and directly support each brand or group of brands. Brands get the most resources and use huge internal influence. Beginning in June 1999, PG undertook a new organizational proposal that created a unit called Global Business Services providing a centralized staff support service across all of its Global Business Units (GBUs). Prior to this idea, each brand unit had its own communication staff functions with little company-wide centralization and control. While Nike uses another form of organization, its purpose and structure still highlight marketing its products and services. CEO- Phillip Knight is Nikes marketing chief and until its recent reputational woes, exemplified its bold approach to the market (Thurow, 1997). Most of the marketing decisions are made by the heads of these business units without the kind of teamwork and central planning required by IMC. Staff communication functions like investor relations, public affairs and human resources have traditionally played support roles. CONCLUSION The concept of IMC is a good one but it only exists at lower level management and not the higher level management and reasons for it are very clearly stated in the passage above.

The Tapestry Metaphor Essay -- Intercultural Communication Cultural Es

The Tapestry Metaphor We have all heard or used the tapestry metaphor at one time or another: â€Å"It's like a tapestry —with many delicate threads all woven together to make a whole.† Yes, we have heard it again and again. But why not repeat it? Well, after contemplating on the sociocultural experiences I chose to study—attending a Sunday worship service at the local Nazarene church and arraignments at the Juneau Court House—I believe that a person's idea of her or his cultural self is like a tapestry. One's own life experiences and communications with others are the threads. And woven together, the experiences of one's life create a unique cultural being. The Juneau Church of the Nazarene conducts its Sunday services much like many other churches I have attended. A pastor, associate pastor, or music director leads the service from the front of the sanctuary, each taking turns standing at the pulpit when speaking. Also up in front sits the musicians, two pianists and a guitarist. In the main part of the sanctuary sit the congregation in rows of pews. The service usually begins with a reading of scripture, church announcements, or a hymn. Then there are small orders of business, like prayer concerns, special music sung by church members, or other scripture readings. The climax of the hour-long service is the pastor's sermon, in which he preaches about some specific topic centering on the Christian doctrine. The two services I attended followed this basic outline, with little to no deviation from the bulletin. Rather than a bulletin, the Juneau Court House conducts its arraignments according to a calendar, which is posted outside the door to indicate which cases will be addressed on a particular day. A judge or, in this case... ...Well, we could go with Lustig and Koester's definition: â€Å"Culture is a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behaviors of a relatively large group of people† (27). But why not use a timeless analogy? Cultural identity is a tapestry, a tapestry of one's social interactions, traditions, values, philosophy on life, and so on. Culture is not purely family or ethnicity or location or religion; it is an amalgam of these things—a unique weaving of what makes up our everyday lives. Works Cited and Consulted Jandt, Fred E. An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community. 4 th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc., 2004. Lustig, Myron W., and Jolene Koester. Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication across Cultures. 4 th ed. Boston: Pearson Education Inc., 2003.

Paper Issues – Mobile Ecommerce

S30057544 Christopher Navarro Atarama S30057544 Christopher Navarro Atarama Mobile E-Commerce ITECH 3212 E-commerce 2 – Assignment 1 Mobile E-Commerce ITECH 3212 E-commerce 2 – Assignment 1 Table of Contents 1Abstract2 2Introduction2 3Definitions2 4Mobile E-commerce infrastructure3 5Privacy issues4 6Security issues4 7Mobile Client Device Technologies and Issues5 8Mobile devices applications issues6 9Bibliography7 * Abstract The following report is a document made with the intention of accomplishes the first assignment of E-Commerce 2 course of the University of Ballarat at IIBIT Sydney. The aim of this report is give a general overview about Mobile E-Commerce or M-Commerce and its different issues in the actuality. Introduction Day by day, new technologies come up bringing new ways of communication and interconnection, using the great network: Internet. This network, in addition, opens a wide door of electronic business opportunities known as E-Commerce (Roehl-Anderson, 2010). In the actuality, and with the development of new technologies in mobile devices area, make electronic commerce is more accessible, fast and mobile (Antovski & Gusev, 2009). This new E-business model is known as Mobile E-commerce or M-Ecommerce. According with Antovski & Gusev (2009), M-Commerce is defined as any transaction with monetary value that is conducted via a mobile telecommunications network. M-Commerce like Ecommerce can be B2B (business to business), P2P (person to person) or B2C (business to customer) oriented. The framework divides into couple sub areas based on user’s distribution criterion. Mobile Ecommerce addresses electronic commerce via mobile devices, where the consumer is not in physical or eye contact with the goods that are being purchased. Definitions Mobile Devices: Also referred to as handheld devices, are generally poket-sized devices with computing capabilities (including smartphones, PDAs, etc. ). These devices generally offer robust functionality without the restriction associated with heavier, tethered equipped (Harris, 2010). E-commerce: E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. In practice, this term and a newer term,  e-business, are often used interchangeably. For online retail selling, the term  e-tailing  is sometimes used (Harris, 2010). Smartphone: A cellular telephone with built-in applications and Internet access. Smartphones provide digital voice service as well as text messaging, e-mail, Web browsing, still and video cameras, MP3 player, video viewing and often video calling. In addition to their built-in functions, smartphones can run myriad applications, turning the once single-minded cellphone into a mobile computer. Mobile E-commerce infrastructure The mobile e-commerce evolution is being fuelled by the same forces that enabled ecommerce by PC users (Buccafurri, 2010). According with Antovski & Gusev (2009), there has been considerable investment in mobile e-commerce by banks, hardware providers, cellular operators, and content providers that is leading mobile consumers to eventually have the same satisfactory experience, in terms of content and variety, that they have come to appreciate from their PC Several banking projects are underway to fund the payment architecture needed to address the mobile consumer. MasterCard International announced in May, 2000 that it would launch a fund for start-ups and established companies dedicated to the development of new roducts and services involving smart cards, e-commerce and m-commerce that strategically supports MasterCard’s member institutions (Winter, 2010). Visa, likewise, announced it was teaming up with Cyberbills and Aether Systems to create an â€Å"anytime, anywhere bill payment service†. Credit Mutual, a French bank, is teaming up with MasterCard International and Europay Internation al on an EMV-compliant mobile commerce pilot in France. Included in this global agreement are hardware providers France Telecom, Oberthur Card Systems, and Motorola. Other pilots are planned in Germany, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, the UK and the US. Hardware companies are equally important stakeholders in the mobile commerce revolution (Buccafurri, 2010). Efforts are underway in developing standards and forming partnerships and consortiums between industry leaders to establish the platform for building the mobile commerce industry. Cellular handset manufacturers are leading this effort with developing next generation digital phones that will carry voice and data over new communications networks that will rival the wired market for transmission speeds and internet access. The big three; Ericsson, Nokia, and Motorola control over 50% of the handset market worldwide. They have formed an alliance called the Global M-commerce Standard. The objective of this alliance is to develop standards that will reduce the time to market for hardware, applications, and communications. Analysts predict that by 2003, there will be more cell phones that are capable of accessing the Internet than PCs. The ability of the cellular industry to quickly achieve worldwide standards like GSM, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and WAN (Wireless Application Network) has contributed to position they find themselves in leading the mobile commerce revolution. The consortium has wisely included operators and financial institutions into the mix to make sure the services will keep up with the technology (Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, 2009). Privacy issues Privacy issues have always been a key reason for potential online consumers to avoid E-Commerce (Jun Xu, 2010). In the early days of E-commerce, a significant fraction of consumers thought that credit cards could be â€Å"snatched† off the Internet. Solid encryption technologies have reduced most of those fears, and for the most part, new consumers don't orry about losing credit cards while online (Cruz-Cunha, 2010). However, there remains some very real privacy issues associated with conducting transactions electronically, which may be exacerbated with the capacity to undertake mobile transactions. These include unauthorized access to stored data, especially personal information and transaction history. Security issues According to Francesco Buccafurri (2010), s ecuring m-commerce may be even more difficult than protecting wired transaction. Constrained bandwidth and computing power, memory limitations, battery life and various network configurations all come into play, raise the questions as to whether there will be adequate security for users without compromising the ease of use and speed. In the use of text messaging, a number of security issues have already been identified, and will extend to the use of m-commerce (Buccafurri, 2010). While a direct SMS message is relatively safe because it is encrypted for its transition from one mobile handset to the other, because of its store forward nature, messages are vulnerable to being corrupted. Like voice messages, SMS' are stored on a server before being forwarded to the receiver. There is no mandatory encryption and access protection for storage. The only way to secure the entire transmission would be with end-to-end encryption. Messages exchanged between two service providers can also be violated in transit if the link between the two networks is not protected. If this information is payment details or authorities to make transactions, there is even more danger (Lee, 2009). The reliability of SMS messages is also in question. Unlike in Europe, where message delivery confirmation can be obtained by pressing a three-digit code, no confirmation is issued in Australia. The capacity to check and ensure that sent messages are received will be essential to build and maintain trust in the use of m-commerce. Mobile technologies manufacturers are developing improved security for applications with authentication and encryption technologies. However, there are two trade-offs for increased security, namely price and style (Cruz-Cunha, 2010). Mobile Client Device Technologies and Issues According to Antovski & Gusev (2009), the interactivity devices or mobile client devices currently most important to mobile e-commerce are mobile telephones, handheld computers, laptop computers, and vehicle-mounted interfaces. Hybrid devices are now appearing, such as the crosses between mobile phones and handheld devices (sometimes called smartphones), but the question remains as to what form the devices will ultimately take, which is an important issue for mobile system developers. Usability will become more critical with handheld and phone devices, which differ from desktop and laptop computers in terms of their smaller screen sizes, less available memory, and limited input devices (Antovski & Gusev, 2009). Many handheld devices are limited to a few lines of text, and do not have traditional keyboards. One usability issue is the need for organizations to determine how people can best use applications and access information through different devices. Mobile devices have forced developers to carefully revisit both operating systems and applications software on a variety of platforms (Jun Xu, 2010). Operating systems such as Microsoft’s Pocket PC and Palm’s PalmOS have been developed for handheld devices. Although this software meets some of the current needs, it has limited functionality. The creation of system software with increased functionality for devices with limited capabilities will be an ongoing challenge. Another important building block for this emerging infrastructure landscape may be the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), which enables wireless devices such as mobile phones to access the Internet (Kr. Sharma, Sharma, & Raj, 2011). Many WAP-enabled devices have already appeared, although there is doubt as to whether WAP will become a globally accepted standard, especially with the popularity of Japan’s i-mode. Developers ultimately face the issue of deciding which set of protocols to accept, or risk the potential problems of working with multiple standards and/or choosing to ignore some. Mobile devices applications issues Many of mobile devices applications are currently constrained by technology limitations and issues described previously. According Juhnyoung Lee (2009), there are two fundamental application issues that researchers and developers must address are what tasks do users want to do without regard for temporal or spatial constraints and how to provide support for these tasks through wireless applications. Mobile e-commerce payment systems can also benefit from wireless technology (Skeldon, 2011). One scenario involves a consumer not having to stand in line to make a purchase, but simply paying for an item though a wireless device. Final payments might even be billed to a telephone company. Bluetooth technology may enable a list of available services to be generated automatically on a device when a user walks close to a Bluetooth-equipped cash register. Wireless technology is well suited for bringing e-commerce to automobiles and other forms of transportation (Lee, 2009). Traffic advisory systems can warn of impending traffic jams. Cars will eventually be able to report potential problems to service centres themselves. The service centre might even make minor adjustments to the car online. Car-mounted devices will eventually allow regular Internet access, although safety issues of â€Å"browsing while driving† must be addressed. While most initial mobile commerce applications seem to be aimed at the business-to-consumer market, business-to-business and intranet applications are also appearing (Lee, 2009). Service technicians can be dynamically assigned new tasks and sent problem information while they are traveling. Sales people can go literally anywhere in the field and access product information and customer accounts, although the applications right now are still subject to the constraints of current wireless devices. Organizations must address the issue of designing complex, robust applications that work well within these current (and any foreseeable) device limitations. Flexibility can be integrated into designs to enable future functionality. Conclusions Mobile electronic commerce enables the consumer to be able to conduct their business while on the move. In today’s fast-paced society, people are always looking to do everything on the go and do not want to be slowed down. Also, as technology changes throughout the years, people are now looking for their mobile devices to perform more tasks than ever before. It seems logical for people to want access to the Internet through their mobile devices and to want to take care of their business through these devices. Through the origin of mobile electronic commerce, people are now able to conduct their business over the Internet without having to sit in front of their computer all day. This saves consumers time because they no longer have to be logged onto their personal computer at home or work. This allows consumers to be mobile and on the go. But, mobile electronic commerce has also helped the companies as well. Bibliography Antovski, L. , & Gusev, M. (2009). M-Commerce Services. Retrieved August 09, 2011, from http://delab. csd. auth. gr/bci1/Balkan/15Antovski. pdf Australian Interactive Media Industry Association. (2009). Australian Mobile Phone lifestyle index. Buccafurri, F. (2010). E-Commerce and Web Technologies: 11th International Conference, EC-Web 2010, Bilbao, Spain, September 1-3, 2010, Proceedings. Springer. Cook, A. , & Goette, T. (2009). Mobile Electronic Commerce: What Is It? Who Uses It? And Why Use It? . Communications of the IIMA . Cruz-Cunha, M. M. (2010). E-Business Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for SMEs: Driving Competitiveness. Idea Group Inc (IGI). Encyclopedia. (n. d. ). Retrieved August 10, 2011, from PCMag. com: http://www. pcmag. com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=Smartphone&i=51537,00. asp Harris, C. (2010, September). Ebook glossary. Retrieved August 10, 2011, from Library Journal: http://www. libraryjournal. com/lj/articlereview/886887-457/the_lj_ebook_glossary. html. csp Jun Xu, M. Q. (2010). E-business in the 21st century: realities, challenges and outlook. World Scientific. Kr. Sharma, R. , Sharma, R. , & Raj, S. (2011). CONFRONTS AND ISSUES IN M-COMMERCE: A BUSINESS ON MOBILE AND NET APPROACH. International Journal of Information Technology and Knowledge Management. Lee, J. (2009). Data engineering issues in e-commerce and services: second international workshop, DEECS 2009, San Francisco, CA, USA, June 26, 2006 : proceedings. San Fransisco: Springer. Roehl-Anderson, J. M. (2010). IT Best Practices for Financial Managers. John Wiley and Sons. Skeldon, P. (2011). M-Commerce. Crimson Publishing, Limited. Winter, R. (2010). Global Perspectives on Design Science Research: 5th International Conference, DESRIST 2010, St. Gallen, Switzerland, June 4-5, 2010. Proceedings. Springer.

Overview of the Animals Called Monotremes

Monotremes (monotremata)  are a unique group of mammals that lay eggs, unlike placental mammals and marsupials, who give birth to live young. Monotremes include several species of echidnas and the platypus. Monotremes Most Obvious Differences From Other Mammals The most striking difference from other mammals is that monotremes lay eggs. Similar to other mammals, they do lactate (produce milk). But instead of having nipples like other mammals, monotremes secrete milk through mammary gland openings in the skin. Monotremes are long-lived mammals. They exhibit a low rate of reproduction. Parents take close care  of their young and tend to them for long periods of time before they become independent. Monotremes also differ from other mammals in that they have a single opening for their urinary, digestive, and reproductive tracts. This single opening is known as a cloaca and is similar to the anatomy of reptiles, birds, fish, and amphibians. Differences in Bones and Teeth There are a number of other less salient characteristics that distinguish monotremes from other mammal groups. Monotremes have unique teeth that are thought to have evolved independently of the teeth that placental mammals and marsupials have. Some monotremes have no teeth. Monotreme teeth may be an example of convergent evolutionary adaptation, however, because of similarities to other mammals teeth. Monotremes also have an extra set of bones in their shoulder (the interclavicle and coracoid) which are missing from other mammals. Brain and Sensory Differences Monotremes differ from other mammals in that they lack a structure in their brain called the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum forms a connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Monotremes are the only mammals known to possess electroreception, a sense that enables them to locate prey by the electric fields generated by its muscle contraction. Of all monotremes, the platypus has the most sensitive level of electroreception. Sensitive electroreceptors are located in the skin of the platypuss bill. Using these electroreceptors, the platypus can detect the direction of the source and the strength of the signal. Platypuses swing their head from side to side when hunting in water as a way of scanning for prey. Thus, when feeding, platypuses do not use their sense of sight, smell, or hearing: They rely only on their electroreception. Evolution The fossil record for monotremes is rather sparse. It is thought that monotremes diverged from other mammals early on, before marsupials and placental mammals evolved. A few monotreme fossils from the Miocene epoch are known. Fossil monotremes from the Mesozoic epoch include Teinolophos, Kollikodon, and Steropodon. Classification The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an odd-looking mammal with a broad bill (that resembles the bill of a duck), a tail (that resembles the tail of a beaver), and webbed feet. Another oddity of the platypus is that male platypuses are venomous. A spur on their hind limb delivers a mixture of venoms that are unique to the platypus.  The platypus is the only member of its family.   There are four living species of echidnas, named after a monster of the same name, from Greek mythology. They are the short-beaked echidna, the Sir Davids long-beaked echidna, the eastern long-beaked echidna, and the western long-beaked echidna. Covered with spines and coarse hair, they feed on ants and termites and are solitary animals. Although echidnas resemble hedgehogs, porcupines, and anteaters, they are not closely related to any of these other mammal groups. Echidnas have short limbs that are strong and well-clawed, making them good diggers. They have a small mouth and do not have any teeth. They feed by ripping apart rotten logs and ant nests and mounds, then licking up ants and insects with their sticky tongue.