Corporate Blogging: a new marketing communication tool fo companies

In order to maintain a competitive edge, corporations are increasingly looking for opportunities to make them stand out. A corporate blog is a blog published by organization to reach the organization's goals. Internally blogs are generally referred to as tools for collaboration and knowledge management. In external communications the potential benefits include strengthened relationships with important target groups and the positioning of the publishing organization as well as the individuals within it as industry experts.

The purposes of blog usage can be grouped in three fields - brand building, customer service and promotion. There are five types of corporate blogs that can be catogorized based on the characteristics of authors and contents.

• Employee blog - a typical personal blog that is maintained by a single rank-and-file employee. When organizations took a hands-off approach, employee blogs are hosted on commercial sites. Although a majority of employee blogs are still hosted independently of the company web site, employee blogs are increasingly being hosted on ocmpany-owned domains as more and more companies are officially sponsoring employee blogging.


• Group blog - also called a collaborative blog, is written by several people. Most group blogs focus on a specific topic, often a technical one with autors who are experts on the topic. Some group blogs are started under emplyee's own volition and self-hosted. On the other hand, others are driven by strategic plans crafted by management and hosted in companies' official web sites.


• Executive blog - People have become more interested in top executives who run companies than in individual companies. When top executives appear in blogsphere, their blogs generate instant traffic and can be an effective tool to establish a direct connection with stakeholders.


• Promotional blog - The purpose of the promotional blog is to generate buzz about products and events. This type of blog is somewhat controversial among bloggers at large, primarily due to the lack of an authentic human voice.


• Newsletter blog - Aside from typical personal blogs, some organizations have launched a newsletter type of blog that officially represents their positions. Thus, this type of blog tends to filled with well-polished messages. Examples are Yahoo! Search Blog, Google Blog and Red Hat Magazine. They cover a variety of topics auch as company news and product information.
  

Related links:

1. Beginners' Guide to Corporate Blogging - http://www.corporateblogging.info/basics/corporatebloggingprimer.pdf

2. The many challenges of corporate blogging - http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/05/29/the-many-challenges-of-corporate-blogging/

3. A guide to corporate blogging - http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/10/15/a-guide-to-corporate-blogging/

4. Top 25 blog posts on corporate blogging (2008/2009) - http://www.spotlightideas.co.uk/?p=1252

E-government in Malaysia: Its implementation so far and citizen's adoption strategies

E-government is the use of information and communication technologies in public administration combined with organisational change and new skills to improve public services and democratic processes and to strengthen support to public policies. It use information technology and e-commerce to provide citizens and organizations with more convenient access to government information and services and to provide delivery of public services to citizens, business partners, and those working in the public sector.

Ita implementation:

Seven main projects were identified to be the core of the e-government applications:

1. Project Monitoring System (PMS)

2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)

3. Generic Office Environment (GOE)

4. Electronic Procurement (EP)

5. Electronic Services (E-Services)

6. Electronic Labor Exchange (ELX)

7. E-Syariah

Other than these seven main projects under e-government flagships, several government agencies has also initiated online services for the public projects, aims to increase the ease and efficiency of public service to the people. Among others were Public Services Portal (myGovernment), e-Tanah, e-Consent, e-Filing, e-Local Government (e-PBT), e-Kehakiman, Custom Information System (SMK), Pensions Online Workflow Environment (POWER), and Training Information System (e-SILA).

Citizen's adoption strategies

E-Services form an emerging field, which is rapidly gaining attention and importance. Citizens expect and demand governmental services with a high degree of quality, quantity, and availability in a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week, and year-round fashion. Governments all over the world are developing information systems and electronic services that have the capacity to meet these rising service needs and demands of citizens and other clients.

Success in delivering electronic services depends upon the capability and self-confidence of citizens in performing e-transactions, as well as their trust and confidence in the protection of their personal data within an open and accountable government.

The e-government applications are developed based on best understanding of citizen requirements. These applications will provide a seamless online service and thus improve traditional government services.

Review of Blooming.com

There are many local-commerce website in Malaysia and the lucky website that I had chosen is http://www.booming.com.my/. This is a website that specializes in gifts and flowers for various occasions.

This website has a large selection of flowers as gifts and it has more variety of flowers and is much customizable. The QUALITY FLOWERS and QUALITY SERVICES have been provided to customers and maintain consistently through the years. However, Noel.com becomes the main competitor to Blooming in e-commerce scene because Noel provides various type of gift compare to Blooming is more focus on flowers as gifts.

Being a gift website, Blooming does not have many choices of practical gifts that I could actually give to my friends and family members. Most of their arrays of gifts are very exotic in nature. Hence, they are not suitable to be given just to anyone. However, if a last-minute purchase needs to be made, and you don’t have any idea what to get, this website will be an excellent choice for you. You no need go out to choose for the gift but just sit at home and click to select the gift from the website. The delivery service is also provided. It is much more convenience compares to shopping.

This website not only focused on the ‘Valentine’ Day’ market, but also focused on Birthday, Wedding Day, because they are very ‘lovey-dovey’ in nature and have many flowers and cute soft toys and etc for purchase.

In conclusion, Blooming.com is an e-commerce site which provides a good quality of flowers and services to the user. The overall site design and layout of the website is also very nice and well organized.

Related links:
http://www.blooming.com.my/
http://www.noel.com.my/

Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in an e-auction

E-auction fraud is a growing epidemic worldwide, as online shopping has grown significantly every year that online shopping has been available.

Most e-auction fraud cases involve straightforward scams where consumers allegedly win merchandise by being the highest bidder. All sounds good until they send the payment and never receive the merchandise.

Sometimes auction fraud cases involve slick descriptions that are presented and worded in a way that most people would miss important details.

Below are some tips on keeping risk at a minimum when purchasing items from an e-auction website:

• Be aware of phishing. Verify that you are receiving emails from the correct source and that you are logging in at the correct website.
• When making payment, prefer using your credit card over online transfer. Using a credit card give you the opportunity of a chargeback in case the transaction turns out a fraud. Use debit card, wire transfer, or money order only when you completely trust the seller.
• Use reputed escrow services. An escrow service mediates a buyer and a seller. They accept money from buyers and release them to a seller only when the buyer confirms that the product was received to his/her satisfaction. But be wary of sellers or buyers who themselves pose as an escrow service to cheat the other—a buyer posing as an escrow service gets a product released without making payment, or a seller poses as an escrow service to trick the buyer from making a payment.
• DO NOT entertain emails received from outside of the auction website mentioning that the highest bidder has withdrawn and you are now entitled for a product. They veer you off the auction website and you lose any protection that the website may provide.
• NEVER make a deal with a seller outside the auction. Although they sound lucrative, you are at a very high risk of being cheated.
• READ the auction website’s terms and conditions, buyer protection policy, refund policy before making a transaction. Here, they list in how many days the order will be fulfilled, what if the product you receive is not the same as what was advertised, and so on. Also check that the policies are fair on both buyers and sellers.
• Check if the product you are purchasing has appropriate warranty and documentation with it. If not, make sure that you intend to purchase it without that protection. Check if shipping and delivery is covered by the seller or if you have to bear those costs.
• Check that you are not purchasing a product that you are not allowed to possess lawfully.
• BE WARY of products that offer revolutionary results. In most cases, they are fraudulent claims.
• DO NOT respond to emails that ask for your personal information, such as your log in details or credit card details.
• READ the online auction website for feedback on the seller and a rating that they give to sellers and buyers. Most online auctions rate the sellers and buyers based on their transactions’ feedback.
• READ the product features and the model number that you intend to purchase. Verify these with what is being advertised by the seller.
• When giving your credit card details or your debit account details at a website, check that the Internet connection you are using is secure. Look for the lock at the bottom or https (an‘s’ appended to ‘http’) in the address field of your browser. These indicate that the connection is a secure one.
• Avoid making a transaction if anything in the auction seems suspicious to you.
• If you are cheated on any product purchase, be sure to post a note on the online auction website and let them know personally.

Moblie Payment System in Malaysia: Its potential and consumers' adoption strategies

For the adoption from Wikipedia website, Mobile payment (also referred to as mobile web payment or WAP billing) is the collection of money from a consumer via a mobile device such as their mobile phone, SmartPhone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or other such device.
The mobile payment can be used to purchase any number of digital goods and physical goods. For example digital goods are ring tones, games, wallpaper for mobile phone and the booking cinema ticket and air ticket. Usually purchase digital good are through by SMS based transaction payments or mobile web payment (WAP).

Mobile payments services indeed have a great potential and advantage. Consumers are more comfortable with low-value transactions over such non-traditional means. Common applications will include payment for transportation, parking, restaurants, convenience stores, retail outlets, e-tickets to name a few - typically for low-value items. This helps especially when consumers are in need of cash but doesn’t have any in hand, therefore with mobile payments they do not need to even search for an ATM machine to withdraw the needed money for the payment.

In order to encourage consumer to adopt mobile payment systems, it should enhance consumer confidence toward security, safety and reliability of the systems. It can also educate consumers through seminar or advertisement about the function and the usage of mobile payment system. Furthermore, it should increase the number of company that can accept mobile payment system.

electronic currency

Electronic currency also known as e-money, electronic cash, digital money, digital cash or digital currency which refers to money or scrip that is exchanged only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems. The examples of electronic money are Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and direct deposit. EFT refers to the computer-based systems used to perform financial transactions electronically while direct deposit is a banking term used to refer to certain systems used to transfer money.


Electronic currency allows its holder to buy the goods and services that the greatness of the internet offers. A private currency may use gold to provide extra security, such as digital gold currency. An e-currency system may be full backed by gold (like e-gold and c-gold), non-gold backed, or both gold and non-gold backed (like e-Bullion and Liberty Reserve). Other than that, some private organizations, such as US military use private currencies such as Eagle Cash. Many systems will sell their electronic currency directly to the end user, such as Paypal and WebMoney, but other systems such as e-gold, sell only through third party digital currency exchangers.


The main focuses of digital cash development are:
1. being able to use it through a wider range of hardware such as secured credit cards.
2. linked bank accounts that would generally be used over an internet means for exchange with a secure micropayment system such as in large corporations (PayPal)


The digital cash can provide many benefits such as convenience and privacy, increased efficiency of transactions, lower transaction fees, and new business opportunities with the expansion of economic activities on the internet. Other than that, there are many potential issues with the use of digital cash. The transfer of digital currencies raised local issues such as how to levy taxes or the possible ease of money laundering. There are also potential macroeconomic effects such as exchange rate instabilities and shortage of money supplies (total amount of digital cash versus total amount of real cash available, basically the possibility that digital cash could exceed the real cash available). These issues may only be addressable by some type of cyberspace regulations or laws that regulate the transactions and watch for signs of trouble.


Electronic currency trading can let you to do business and earn only few dollars of investment. In fact, some of the experts will suggest the beginners to start with only a few dollars so that they can first learn the ropes of electronic currency. Besides, electronic currency trading has a low transaction cost. Unlike other businesses that will eat up your profit with a huge amount of fees and give you more profit and money. There are few websites examples that can let people to do e-currency trading such as MG E-currency, IT GOLD.com



Related links:

1. http://www.selfseo.com/story-6264.php

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_currency

3. http://www.romow.com/business-blog/benefits-of-e-currency-trading/

Credit Cards Debt: causes and prevention

Credit cards do provide convenient for most of us in our daily life. However, great responsibility comes with having a credit card. The number of people who now have credit card debts is at an all time high; credit cards have become easier to obtain and more tempting to use concurrently, which is a lethal combination.

With the debts rising, it is not surprising that individuals have started to realize the financial problem they have created by the constant and indiscriminate spending they have carried out.

What caused credit cards debt? Poor purchasing decisions, lack of information on credit card fees, and disregard for upcoming credit payments are among the reasons why many credit-card users are often hard-pressed in paying their debts.

Furthermore, poor money management also causes credit cards debt. Most people are unable to manage their expenses well and always spend over their income. People, who are experiencing under-employment, where they were over-qualified to their current position, may fail to balance out their expenses with their current income. These people tend to be irresponsibility as they do not concern about their future, by spending their future money.

So how can we prevent these problems?

Be credit smart. Applying for a credit card application means you are ready to assume the responsibility for paying your credit.

Use your credit cards wisely and sparingly. Remember: Paying goods and services using credit cards are more expensive than using cash or checks. Credit payments include interest and other fees. Use credit cards as sparingly as possible. If you really need to use credit cards, carry only the cards that you will actually use.

Avoid impulse shopping on your credit card.

Savings. Save living expenses for the period of three to six months. This can help you when you facing an urgent need to use money.

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

Prepaid cash cards are plastic cards, which fall under the pay first category of plastic payments. Prepaid cash cards can be used to make payment for goods and services and even to withdraw money. Before use, the user needs to load the card with a sum of money. This means there is no risk of running into debt as it has no credit or overdraft facility. Prepaid cash cards are designed to be used as a safer alternative as compare to cash.

The prepaid cash card is of use in several ways. For example, we can use it for paying bill, such as rent, utilities, insurance, car payment, and cell phone bills. Besides, we can shop at anywhere as long as the card using is accepted at different retailers, buys fuel at the pump, pay by phone, and shop on the Internet. We also can use it for transferring money - for some prepaid cash card they provide the convenient such as send or receive money via bank wire transfers, between two cards.

The following are some examples of the prepaid cash card:

Touch ‘n Go (TnG) smart card is used by Malaysian for electronic payment system to toll expressway and highway. It is expanding its business to retail purchase by starting with fast food industry that enables consumers to buy dough nut, burger or fast-food from 21 outlets such as Burger King, 7-Eleven, Dunkin’ Donut. It is imitating the success of Hong Kong’s Octopus Card by setting 5 to 10% of the card holders for retail purchase as current target of the company.

Octopus Card was launched in Hong Kong on year 1997, September. It is a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card to transfer electronic payments in online in offline system. It is widely used in payment system for transportation, supermarkets, fast food restaurant, car parks and other pint of sale application such as service station s and vending machines that have achieved good outcomes.

The threat of online security: How safe is our data?

The threat of online security: How safe is our data?

The threat of online security can be distinguish between nontechnical and technical.

Nontechnical attacks are those in which a perpetrator uses some form of deception or persuasion to trick people into revealing information or performing actions that can compromise the security of a network. Examples are pretexting and social engineering.

Technical attack is an attack perpetrated using software and system knowledge or expertise. An example of technical attack is a computer worm.

Types of attacks
Zero-day incidents are attacks through previously unknown weaknesses in their computer network.

Denial of service is an attack in which so many requests for service or access bombard a system that it crashes or cannot respond. Zombied PCs can be used to launch DOS attacks or spread adware.

Phishing is a crimeware technique to steal the identity of a target company to get the identities of customers.

Web servers and web pages can be hijacked and configured to control or redirect unsuspecting users to scam or phishing sites.

A botnet is a huge number of hijacked Internet computers that have been set up to forward spam and viruses to other computers on the Internet.

A virus is a piece of software code that inserts itself into a host, including the operating systems, running its host program activates the virus.

A worm is a software program that runs independently, consuming the resources of its host in order to maintain itself, that is capable of propagating a complete working version of itself into another machine.

A macro virus is a virus or worm that executes when the application object that contains the macro is opened or a particular procedure is executed.

Trojan horse is a program that appears to have a useful function but that contains a hidden function that presents a security risk.

Trojan-Phisher-Rebery is a new variant of a Trojan program that stole tens of thousands of stolen identities from 125 countries that the victims believed were collected by legitimate company.

Banking Trojan is a Trojan that comes to life when computer owners visit one of a number of online banking or e-commerce sites.
Rootkit is a special Trojan Horse program that modifies existing operating system software so that an intruder can hide the presence of Trojan program.

Phishing - examples and its prevention methods

Phishing is an e-mail fraud method in which the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking email in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from recipients. Typically, the messages appear to come from well known and trustworthy Web sites such as PayPal, eBay and Yahoo. A phishing expedition, like the fishing expedition it's named for, is a speculative venture: the phisher puts the lure hoping to fool at least a few of the prey that encounter the bait.

Examples of phishing:
(1) PayPal

(2) eBay

(3) Yahoo!


How to prevent phishing?

Don’t click on links within emails that ask for your personal information.
Fraudsters use these links to lure people to phony Web sites that looks just like the real sites of the company, organization, or agency they’re impersonating. If you follow the instructions and enter your personal information on the Web site, you’ll deliver it directly into the hands of identity thieves. To check whether the message is really from the company or agency, call it directly or go to its Web site (use a search engine to find it).

Never enter your personal information in a pop-up screen.
Sometimes a phisher will direct you to a real company’s, organization’s, or agency’s Web site, but then an unauthorized pop-up screen created by the scammer will appear, with blanks in which to provide your personal information. If you fill it in, your information will go to the phisher. Legitimate companies, agencies and organizations don’t ask for personal information via pop-up screens. Install pop-up blocking software to help prevent this type of phishing attack.

Protect your computer with spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and a firewall, and keep them up to date.
A spam filter can help reduce the number of phishing emails you get. Anti-virus software, which scans incoming messages for troublesome files, and anti-spyware software, which looks for programs that have been installed on your computer and track your online activities without your knowledge, can protect you against pharming and other techniques that phishers use. Firewalls prevent hackers and unauthorized communications from entering your computer – which is especially important if you have a broadband connection because your computer is open to the Internet whenever it’s turned on. Look for programs that offer automatic updates and take advantage of free patches that manufacturers offer to fix newly discovered problems.

Only open email attachments if you’re expecting them and know what they contain.
Even if the messages look like they came from people you know, they could be from scammers and contain programs that will steal your personal information.

Be suspicious if someone contacts you unexpectedly and asks for your personal information.
It’s hard to tell whether something is legitimate by looking at an email or a Web site, or talking to someone on the phone. But if you’re contacted out of the blue and asked for your personal information, it’s a warning sign that something is “phishy.” Legitimate companies and agencies don’t operate that way.

Act immediately if you’ve been hooked by a phisher.
If you provided account numbers, PINS, or passwords to a phisher, notify the companies with whom you have the accounts right away.

Report phishing, whether you’re a victim or not.
Tell the company or agency that the phisher was impersonating. You can also report the problem to law enforcement agencies. The information you provide helps to stop identity theft.

Some alert reference:
1.http://benardcometh.blogspot.com/2008/10/maybank2u-phishing-alert.html
2. http://www.cybersecurity.my/en/knowledge_bank/news/2005/main/detail/935/index.html
3.http://www.meshio.com/2006/09/public-banks-latest-phishing-scam/

the way to safeguard our personal and financial data

Nowadays, the computer and internet is very common to everyone. Most of the people will rely on computer to save their own data and using online financial service to do their financial transaction such as online e-banking. However, the information transmitted over the Internet is more vulnerable and has a higher degree of security risk than internal networks because they are open to anyone. For-example, the other people will easily know your bank account number if the hacker was incursion to the bank system. Therefore, safeguard of computer is important for the users to protect their data.

Here are some suggestions for the computer users to safeguard their data:
1. Password protection
The users may create some longer password because it is more security compare to the shorter password. Other than that, users may change the password frequently and do not disclose to other people, including friends and family.

2. Install and update antispyware and antivirus programs
Install an antivirus program such as Symantec and Norton antivirus, AVG antivirus or other more in order to protect theirself against viruses and Trojan horses that may steal or modify the data on their computer. The antivirus must be always up to date in order to keep the well protection.

3. Avoid accessing financial information in public
The users do not encourage to log in to the bank system to check the balance from the coffee shop that provide wireless access. This is because we don’t know how powerful their firewalls are.

4. Biometric device
It’s grant access to programs, computers or rooms using computer analysis of some biometric identifier. The examples of biometric devices and systems include fingerprint scanners, hand geometry systems, face recognition systems and others. The biometric devices are gaining popularity as a security precaution because they are a virtually foolproof method of identification and authentication.

5. Encryption
The individuals may use a variety of encryption techniques to keep data secure and private. Encryption is a process of converting readable data into unreadable characters to prevent unauthorized.

Related links:
1.http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST06-008.html
2.http://www.msisac.org/awareness/news/2007-03.cfm
3.http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/103893/Six-Ways-to-Safeguard-Your-Online-Assets

The application of third party certification programme in Malaysia

The most famous application of third party certification programme in Malaysia is provided by the MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd. MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd is a licensed Certification Authority (CA) operating within the Multimedia Super Corridor. MSC Trustgate was incorporated in 1999 to meet the growing need for secure open network communications and become the catalyst for the growth of e-commerce, both locally and across the ASEAN region. They offer complete security solutions and leading trust services that are needed by individuals, enterprises, government, and e-commerce service providers using digital certificates, digital signatures, encryption and decryption. Their vision is to enable organizations to conduct their business securely over the Internet, as much as what they have been enjoying in the physical world.

The products and services of Trustgate are SSL Certificate, Managed PKI, Personal ID, MyTRUST, MyKAD ID, SSL VPN, Managed Security Services, VeriSign Certified Training and Application Development. Digital certificate usually attach to an e-mail or an embedded program in a web page which verifies that user or website is who they claim to be. The common functions of a digital certificate are user authentication, encryption and digital signatures. User authentication provides other security than using username and password. Its session management is stronger. Encryption can make the data transmission secured by using the information encrypted. The intended recipient of the data is only person to receive the message. Digital signatures are like the hand signature in the digital world. It can ensure the integrity of the data. By using the digital certificate, the users will be able to make transaction on the internet without fear of having the personal data being stolen, information contaminated by third parties, and the transacting party denying any commercial commitment with the users. Furthermore, the digital certificates can assist the development of greater internet based activities.

Revenue model for Google, Amazon.com, eBay

5. Identify and compare the revenue model for Google, Amazon.com, eBay.
Google has multiple revenue models. It earns profit from advertising fees, from functions such ad AdWords, a pay per click advertising programme which allows advertiser shows relevent or related advertisement from what users searching for. As you can see, AdWords also generates affiliates fee for Google.
Google also have another revenue model which also an advertising form call AdSense. Website owners can enroll in the program to enable text and vidoe advertisements. This has same concept as pay per click, advertisers are required to pay Google a fee for each time a user clicks on the advertisement.
eBay does not have inventory like Amazon.com. It only provides technology platforms and tools for e-commerce. ebay has various revenue model, it earns transaction fee from owning paypal, an online paying service system for users to buy items online more conveniently. ebay also gains sales from the service of listing customer’s product to be sold to other users as well as some advertisement fee. ebay generated overall revenue around $6 billion from its three primary business: auctions, payments (PayPal) and communication (Skype).
Amazon.com uses similar revenue model to ebay, they also offer items listing to be sold online. Amazon.com generate revenue from commissions from suppliers when there is a sale of product. In thier main websites, there are few advertisement displays in the page where users browsing through some items.

Google's success and its causes

The first name that comes to most peoples’ mind when they want to use a search engine on the web is ‘Google’. Google has paved the way globally for technological innovation, business prudence, product quality and effective marketing. Google’s success hasn’t been gained overnight. Instead, it has been a combination of foresight, good business thinking, product innovation and of course luck. Here are ten things, which could potentially benefit companies aspiring to achieve success just like Google did, in their industry.

1. A unique product

Google was successful because it made good business decisions, constantly improving its products as well as expanding its product base. But at the core of its business was and still is a very unique, solid and effective search engine more popular than any search engines currently in the market. The point is that even before delving into competitive pricing and effective marketing strategies it is important that you offer something, which most companies in the same industry don’t. It may be a product or even a service.

2. Focus on core competency first

Google has always focused on keeping its original products robust and on the leading edge of technological advancement. This helps them invest in other areas without putting themselves at too much risk.

3. The battle against inertia

Google was very successful with its core product, the search engine, but it didn’t stop there. They kept improving it while constantly probing non-traditional markets such as mobile services (SMS service), desktop searches (Windows search has been used traditionally with a Windows OS), etc. For a company it is necessary to keep making better its current products but at the same time it is equally important to look out for new markets and opportunities because the competition is most certainly doing that!

4. Getting the right people

Your company is only as good as the people who work for it. Google carefully chose its people because they wanted to make sure that the people coming in were mentally aligned to the company's goals and objectives. Not only should they have the necessary skill sets to adjust to the culture and perform in it, but they should thrive in this environment. For Google, the important qualities to look for in potential employees were creativity and imagination more than experience and education.

5. The best defense is offense

Google recently launched their web document tools such as Google spreadsheets and documents. Microsoft has dominated the offline market for the longest time and though this does not look like a direct hit it does make them think and put a foot back in defense. It pays to be proactive instead of being reactive. Penetrating into foreign territory with aggressiveness but with sufficient research and logic will more often than none lead to sustained growth.

6. Promote the right culture and then embrace it

People popularly know the Googleplex today, the Google HQ boasts of state-of-the-art facilities that has everything from swimming pools and hair stylists to a multi-cuisine cafeteria and day-care center. It is because Google wants its employees to feel more than just employees and their work place more than just a cubicle with a desk and a computer. Google promotes a ‘family’ environment with all the comforts of a home and more. Because the philosophy is that a happy, free and content mind is a creative, imaginative mind free of day-to-day stress and problems.

7. Speed to market

In today’s environment, speed to market can make or break your company or at least cause significant damage or enormous profitability. Google has an unusual strategy in that it releases beta products very quickly in the mainstream user market while it contemplates on financing strategies and product quality. They buy time but make sure the consumers get a taste of the product, so that by the time it is ready to sell it; users are hooked on to it. Speed is important and it pays off. The thing to remember though that speed to market should not be confused with hastiness, which could have a hard-hitting backlash instead of potential profitability.

8. Be honest to your company’s mission statement

Google’s mission statement explains their desire to make quality data universally available. For the same reason they never insert ads into their search hits. In fact when AOL first wanted to use Google’s search engine capabilities on their website it asked them to insert ads. They refused and have steered clear of it ever since. They got the contract with AOL two years later. Your company needs to understand and value what it stands for and function by it. Publicly owned companies will soon lose shareholder confidence if they exhibit hypocrisy in business practices.

9. Find the right investors

If your company is really a start-up looking for promising investors then the importance of getting the right-minded (for your company) investors cannot be stressed more. It doesn’t make good business sense to approach pharmaceutical companies for funding when your company is all about IT, at least in most cases, unless there is a vested interest. These investors often sit at the Board of Directors meetings and have a yay or nay in a lot of crucial decisions.

10. Believe in Luck!

Believe it or not luck is important too, the lack of which can cause serious damage. But it doesn't means that the company should sit back leaving itself to the mercy of fortune.Though you can never achieve ‘good luck’ you can certainly align your decisions in a way that would make it more likely to be lucky than unlucky. Looking at long-term losses instead of immediate gains while making decisions is imperative.

The history and evolution of E-commerce

History of E-commerce
One of the most popular activities on the Web is shopping. It has much allure in it – you can shop at your leisure, anytime, and in your pajamas. Literally anyone can have their pages built to display their specific goods and services.
History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of the very old notion of “sell and buy”, electricity, cables, computers, modems, and the Internet. Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened to commercial use. Since that date thousands of businesses have taken up residence at web sites.
At first, the term ecommerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the leading technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions. The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and organizations to send commercial documentation electronically.
Although the Internet began to advance in popularity among the general public in 1994, it took approximately four years to develop the security protocols (for example, HTTP) and DSL which allowed rapid access and a persistent connection to the Internet. In 2000 a great number of business companies in the United States and Western Europe represented their services in the World Wide Web. At this time the meaning of the word ecommerce was changed. People began to define the term ecommerce as the process of purchasing of available goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services. Although the dot-com collapse in 2000 led to unfortunate results and many of ecommerce companies disappeared, the “brick and mortar” retailers recognized the advantages of electronic commerce and began to add such capabilities to their web sites (e.g., after the online grocery store Webvan came to ruin, two supermarket chains, Albertsons and Safeway, began to use ecommerce to enable their customers to buy groceries online). By the end of 2001, the largest form of ecommerce, Business-to-Business (B2B) model, had around $700 billion in transactions.
According to all available data, ecommerce sales continued to grow in the next few years and, by the end of 2007, ecommerce sales accounted for 3.4 percent of total sales.
Ecommerce has a great deal of advantages over “brick and mortar” stores and mail order catalogs. Consumers can easily search through a large database of products and services. They can see actual prices, build an order over several days and email it as a “wish list” hoping that someone will pay for their selected goods. Customers can compare prices with a click of the mouse and buy the selected product at best prices.
Online vendors, in their turn, also get distinct advantages. The web and its search engines provide a way to be found by customers without expensive advertising campaign. Even small online shops can reach global markets. Web technology also allows to track customer preferences and to deliver individually-tailored marketing.
History of ecommerce is unthinkable without Amazon and Ebay which were among the first Internet companies to allow electronic transactions. Thanks to their founders we now have a handsome ecommerce sector and enjoy the buying and selling advantages of the Internet. Currently there are 5 largest and most famous worldwide Internet retailers: Amazon, Dell, Staples, Office Depot and Hewlett Packard. According to statistics, the most popular categories of products sold in the World Wide Web are music, books, computers, office supplies and other consumer electronics.
Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the most famous ecommerce companies and is located in Seattle, Washington (USA). It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and was one of the first American ecommerce companies to sell products over the Internet. After the dot-com collapse Amazon lost its position as a successful business model, however, in 2003 the company made its first annual profit which was the first step to the further development.
At the outset Amazon.com was considered as an online bookstore, but in time it extended a variety of goods by adding electronics, software, DVDs, video games, music CDs, MP3s, apparel, footwear, health products, etc. The original name of the company was Cadabra.com, but shortly after it become popular in the Internet Bezos decided to rename his business “Amazon” after the world’s most voluminous river. In 1999 Jeff Bezos was entitled as the Person of the Year by Time Magazine in recognition of the company’s success. Although the company’s main headquarters is located in the USA, WA, Amazon has set up separate websites in other economically developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and China. The company supports and operates retail web sites for many famous businesses, including Marks & Spencer, Lacoste, the NBA, Bebe Stores, Target, etc.
Amazon is one of the first ecommerce businesses to establish an affiliate marketing program, and nowadays the company gets about 40% of its sales from affiliates and third party sellers who list and sell goods on the web site. In 2008 Amazon penetrated into the cinema and is currently sponsoring the film “The Stolen Child” with 20th Century Fox.
According to the research conducted in 2008, the domain Amazon.com attracted about 615 million customers every year. The most popular feature of the web site is the review system, i.e. the ability for visitors to submit their reviews and rate any product on a rating scale from one to five stars. Amazon.com is also well-known for its clear and user-friendly advanced search facility which enables visitors to search for keywords in the full text of many books in the database.
One more company which has contributed much to the process of ecommerce development is Dell Inc., an American company located in Texas, which stands third in computer sales within the industry behind Hewlett-Packard and Acer.
Launched in 1994 as a static page, Dell.com has made rapid strides, and by the end of 1997 was the first company to record a million dollars in online sales. The company’s unique strategy of selling goods over the World Wide Web with no retail outlets and no middlemen has been admired by a lot of customers and imitated by a great number of ecommerce businesses. The key factor of Dell’s success is that Dell.com enables customers to choose and to control, i.e. visitors can browse the site and assemble PCs piece by piece choosing each single component based on their budget and requirements. According to statistics, approximately half of the company’s profit comes from the web site.
In 2007, Fortune magazine ranked Dell as the 34th-largest company in the Fortune 500 list and 8th on its annual Top 20 list of the most successful and admired companies in the USA in recognition of the company’s business model.
History of ecommerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customer advantage. It is a world which we are all building together brick by brick, laying a secure foundation for the future generations.




The Evolution of Commerce
As technology continues to drive evolution in the market place new forms of commerce are being born. In the wake of E-commerce we are now seeing the combination of almost every letter of the alphabet with commerce. The letters V, I, P, T, U and M have joined forces to become voice commerce, internet commerce, proximity commerce, ultimate or ubiquitous commerce, television commerce and mobile commerce.
One trend that seeks to further tap into our impulsive human nature has become known as T-Commerce, or television commerce. Shopping channels and paid advertisements have been around for more than 20 years, but until now we have always had to pick up the phone and talk to someone to make a purchase. Researchers have found this to be a deterrent for some even when they have a strong need or desire for the advertised product. T-commerce allows viewers to purchase items displayed on their television with a press of a button. In some countries such as Taiwan, this has become a multi-billion dollar industry with revenues exceeding all television channels combined.
The technology combines your TV with the internet via a set-top box (STB). The box decodes any interactive features available on a certain program. If you happen to become interested in a particular product your favorite actor or actress is using, navigation with your television remote takes you to more detailed information and even enables you to make a purchase. Other features found in STB's are hard drives, DVD recording, video on demand, and VoIP support. They also allow for interaction with television games shows, and online auctions.
With increasing demand for this service security requires greater consideration. Although the integrated nature of the systems security is fairly high, there are always risks. The main concerns facing STB developers are compromised credit card information when using merchant services, breach of privacy, and cloned technology. Even though identity theft is the greatest fear among consumers shopping online many do very little or nothing at all in regards to computer security. The implementation of security features is much easier than on PC's due to the proprietary technology used by STBs. Software could be updated automatically without subscribers even knowing making it nearly impossible for hackers to gain access to user accounts and transfer money to an offshore merchant account.
As markets continue to innovate there is no end to what is possible. Perhaps the day is near where getting people to the polling stations is no longer a problem and we can all vote from the comfort of our couches whilst watching the latest episode of "Lost".

Pets.com failure and its causes

Pets.com sold pet accessories and supplies direct to consumers over the World Wide Web. The site was launched in November 1998, founded by company web developer Greg McLemore. It rolled out a regional advertising campaign through TV, print, radio and yet a Pets.com magazine. The company was known for its wildly popular mascot, the Pets.com sock puppet, and Pets.com site design had attained several advertising awards.

Pets.com is a former dot-com enterprise that ceased operations in November 2000. The company went public in February 2000; the former NASDAQ stock symbol was IPET. Pets.com made significant investments in infrastructure; these resulted in the company needing a critical mass of customers to break even. Its management maintained that the company needed to get to a revenue run rate that supported this infrastructure buildout. They believed that the revenue target was close to $300 million to hit the breakeven point and that it would take a minimum of 4 to 5 years to hit that run rate. This time period was based on growth of Internet shopping and the percentage of pet owners that shopped on the Internet.

By fall of 2000, after the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the Pets.com management and board realized that they would not be able to raise further capital. However when PetSmart offered less than the net cash value of the company, Pets.com's board turned down that offer. Pets.com stock had fallen from over $11 per share in February 2000 to $0.19 the day of its liquidation announcement. While the offer from PetSmart.com was declined, some assets, including its domain, were sold to PetSmart.com. The pets.com management stayed on to provide an orderly wind down of operations and liquidation of assets.

Obviously, the poor business plan of company led to Pets.com failure. First of all, Pets.com had overestimated the market trend. The company optimistically assumed that the revenues would grow rapidly and allow them to hit their rate. However, the estimation was based on the current market without analyzing the future trend and risk. This unsustainable business model facing downfalls when dot-com failure.

Furthermore, the company did not bring up a good proposal in opposing its competitors. Pets.com advertised extensively and selling its products at low prices to maintain competitive. High cost of delivering and low profit margins caused the company facing crisis in generating revenues. Nine months after securing $82.5 million in investment the company went bankrupt.

Pets.com never had a unique selling proposition. There is no reason to convince consumers to buy pet foods and accessories through the site. Since it is available within neighbourhood, purchasing online is inconvenient as customers have to wait for days to receive their orders. The cat may already poop all over the floor when the cat litter arrived. There is no benefit regards price nor convenient.

Here are some related links:

1. Pets.com (http://pets.com/)

2. Pets.com latest high-profile dot-com disaster (http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-248230.html)

3. 10 epic website failures (http://www.goodwebpractices.com/website-design/10-epic-website-failures.html)

4. The 25 worst business failures in history (http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-worst-business-failures-in-history/)

5. Top ten E-commerce mistakes (http://shopping-cart-review.toptenreviews.com/top-ten-mistakes-ecommerce-article.html)

...about me?...

Elo~~ I'm Caly. This is not my very first blog, but I'm not consistent with blogging for all the time. Opps..! >.<

Let me start with my self introduction. I am going to turn 21 this year after my birthday in November. (A long long way to go... ^.^v) This make me the youngest in our group. However, on the other hand, I'm the eldest in my family. I have 3 sisters who still attending secondary school. I'm taking Accounting Degree at UTAR and being a university student wasn't as proud as I think it should be. (Too bad... =.=")

I don't like sports. Exercising make me sweat! I used to read some magazines and novels, listen to musics during my free time. Whenever it's possible, I love to go for shopping with my sisters. =) Furthermore, I enjoy playing online games to relax and get rid of stress.

The websites I visited the most is Facebook and Friendster. It let me keep in touch with my buddies and we always share our latest photo and recent day of life.

Secondly, I do always surf Youtube. The video clips available are so broad of choices. I can watch the latest MTV of singers, funny clips, and even sometimes I can learn to cook some dishes from Youtube.

The next most visited website is WBLE. As a undergratuate student, I visit WBLE to keep myself up-to-date with the events happen for each course. Lecture notes and tutorial questions are downloaded from the site.

As a home page, I visited Google almost everyday. (>.<) Regardless this, Google do help a lot with my assignments. Whenever there is ambiguity, I'll check it out by using Google search.

Now come to the top 5 internet activities, I usually play online games, chit-chatting with friends using messenger, watching movie, listening music, and checking my mails through internet.

Huh.. Finally here come to the end of my introduction. Chinese New Year is around the corner, wishing everyone has a prosperity OX year, everything the best!! ^^

about me.. :)

hi.. everybody.. i'm miav kheng.. but all my friend like to call me 'miao'.. :) anyway, it's more easier for my friends to recognize me.. because 'miao' is easy to remember.. hehe.. i think most of you all are not interest of my family, so i just skip it.. haha.. if you like to know.. haha.. sorry to tell you that, it's SECRET.. haha.. (just kidding)
actually, singing is my favorite. when i'm free, i will go sing k with my classmate or my housemate.. (because they are same like me, all like to sing.. haha) the high score of me sing about 7 hours.. wow.. that's crazy.. huh? :D after we sing, we all lost our voice.. haha.. for me, this is a good way to release stress.. other than that, i like to watch movie also.. especially the hong kong drama.. :D... hmm.. feel that all my hobby show that i'm a extroversion person.. but, actually not really.. sometimes, i like to read book also.. but of course not the text book.. (ok..ok.. i admit that i'm not a hardworking student..) i like to read novel and comic also my favorite too.. :D sometime, i will read the comic until forget to eat and sleep.. but if ask me to read text book, 5 minutes is enough for me to fall in sleep.. that's why my result is always bad.. :(
ok, let's talk about the website that i usually surf.. i think most of the utarians like friendster and facebook, of course the msn also.. so am i.. :D i like to surf friendster and facebook to see the photo that my friends upload in order to know their current status.. and sometime i can found back my ex-classmate throuhg the friendster.. other than that, facebook also provide many games for us.. it was quite interesting.. msn is the place for me to chat with friends.. sometimes, we also use msn to make a group discussion about the assignment.. it save cost and time for us to come out and meet.. hehe.. Yahoo and Google also is a sources for me to search for the assignment information. everyday i will sigh in Yahoo website to check my mail.. actually i will do the illegal things which is i will download movie from the website.. hehe.. although i know that is illegal, but since i don't have money to watch movie from cinema, i have no choice but to download from the website.. :D
that's all about me.. hope that all of you will know me well after viewing my blog.. hehe.. :D

Adrian is me, I am Adrian...

Hello, my name is Adrian, Chua Li Yang, age 20 and maritial status is still single and available, currently studying in University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bandar Sungai Long campus. I am also the eldest son in my family, and I have 2 siblings. Kuala Lumpur is my hometown, I was born here since 1988. When I was in my secondary school, Chong Hwa Independent High School, I used to be a talented table tennis player, and I have represented my school to go for a number of competition, from zone to state to state against state and have won many prizes. Although I am a table tennis player, I still playing well in other sport activities, such as basketball, volleyball, badminton and etc.

My favorite websites are as follows:
1. http://www.friendster.com/
2. http://www.facebook.com/
3. http://www.google.com/
4. http://www.wble.utar.edu.my/
5. http://www.thestar.com/

The list is followed by my most favorite and visited website to the least. Friendster and facebook are the websites that I visited the most because through these websites, i can get know to mroe friends from other places, thus having more friends not only limited in the university. Google is the other website that i often visit to search for some studying material that may be helpful for my assignment and self use.WBLE can be said that it is compulsory for me to visit it, allowing me to access to the notes given by the lecturer. Lastly is The Star website, while I am free, I will look into it for some latest news.

Self-Intro

Hello, I’m Doreen, full name is Doreen Na Hai Rong. Once everybody sees my name, they like to ask: “Are you a Christian?” I’m not a Christian although I have a Christian name. I’m the second child of my parents. Besides parents, I have another three siblings. I’m 20 years old. See, my description seems like a primary school essay, right? There is no choice for me as my English is not so pro. Let’s continue my self introduction. I’m now studying at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman as a year three undergraduate. I’m taking a Bachelor of Commerce (HONS) Accounting. Now, I feel a bit regret of taking this course as it is not easily as what I thought before. But due to my future, I have to finish it. Actually I’m not really interested in studying, so reading books of course is not my hobby. When free, I like to watch movie and listen to the music. Although I’m not talented in dancing, I still hope that I can have the chance to participate as I really love it very much. Hmmm…I think these are enough for my self-introduction, anything else need to know, welcome to ask me again if necessary.