Monday, May 25, 2020

The Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Crises - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3251 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? Coca-Cola has the most valuable brand name in the world and, as one of the most visible companies worldwide, has a tremendous opportunity to excel in all dimensions of business performance (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2008). However, as proven in this case study, Coke has a lot on their plate as the biggest brand name in the world. Ethical issues throughout different aspects of the company, and with multiple leadership changes in the last ten years, Coke has some catching up to do. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Crises" essay for you Create order The company has been involved in racial discrimination, misrepresenting market tests, manipulating earning and disrupting long-term contractual arrangements with distributors. Neville Isdell, the new president of Coke is currently working to improve their reputation cause by some of the problems presented next. The Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Crises Coca-Cola History Coca-Cola is the worlds largest beverage company that operates the largest distribution system in the world. This allows Coca-Cola companies to serve more than 1 billion of its products to customers each day. The marketing strategy for Coca-Cola promotes products from four out of the five top selling soft drinks to earn sales such as Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite. This process builds strong customer relationships, which gives the opportunity for these businesses to be identified and satisfied. With that being said, customers will be more willing to help Coca-Cola produce and grow. Pepsi and Coca-Cola, between them, hold the dominant share of the world market (soft drink market 2008). Even though Coca-Cola produces and sells big across the United States, in order for the company to expand and grow, they had to build their global soft drink market by selling to customers internationally. For example, both companies continued to target international markets focusing on traditio nal soft drinks, new-age drinks and expanding into the snack-food businesses. With these new changes, Pepsi has 60% of the U.S. Snack-food market while Coca-Cola contributes 85% of its sales outside of the United States. According to the late Roberto Goizueta, Coca-Cola used to be an American company with a large international business. Now we are a large international company with a sizable American business (Ferrell, 2008). Increasing market share is one of the most vital goals for a business such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Competitions between other soft drink companies, false market share reports and other business conducts can cause certain obstacles if the top selling companies allow them too. However, Coca Colas strategy, from the early and late 1800s, of achieving goals such as the international mergers, big market shares, snack food production and overall performance allowed them to strive then and continue to succeed today. Today, most of coke sales are spread throughout t he world in the 2004 Annual Report, Coca Cola had gallon sales distributed as follows: 28% in the United States, 26% in Mexico, Brazil, Japan and ChinaÂÂ  and 46% in spread throughout the world (Coca cola, 2007). This means that Coca Cola makes 70% of its profits from other countries. Coca-Cola must remain vigilant to keep their brand untarnished and their ethical issues to a minimum; their brand is their main key to success. Discussion Coca-Colas Reputation Coca-Cola is admired and known for its strength of brand. It is the most well recognized logo and brand across the world. Coca-Cola retains a commitment and plan to attract, satisfy, and keep customers for the long run. The company has a reputation of having the most loyal customers of the industry. It is this reason that has made Coca-Cola the market leader in the beverage industry year after year. Coca-Cola is extremely active in all aspects of society and environmental issues. Coca-Cola has made numerous steps to prevent harm to the environment in its production of products. Some of these steps include eco friendly facilities and equipment. Coke has been a leader when it comes to environmental issues throughout the years with a major goal of being water neutral, which means every drop of water used by the company will be replenished by 2020. Coca Cola also has a commitment to helping the local aspect by collaborating with different groups and organizations to help with many l ocal and health issues. An example of this would be Coca Colas collaborating with UNAIDS to help with the HIV/Aids epidemic throughout the world. Coca Cola has also had a vast impact on improving education. They have had many programs over the years, which include a scholarship program that has given out over 22 million dollars in grants. Coca-Colas strong emphasis on reputation they have created loyalty, trust among their customers, and the strongest brand recognition of all time. Coca-Cola continues to earn numerous awards including Responsible CEO of the year (2010), most socially responsible company (2008), Worlds most accountable companies (2007), and top 50 most admired companies (2010). Coca-Cola has sought not only to be the worlds largest beverage company but also to improve the quality of life of the communities they serve. Social Responsibility Focus Many companies do not realize the importance of having a connection with the community and to be seen in their eyes as a very strong ethical company. Coca-Cola has taken up a few different social projects that have given them a good amount of support from the public. For example, they have done a philanthropy known as Education On Wheels, in which children are placed into a classroom that history is brought to life, giving them a very rich learning environment. They do different activities that really get the children thinking and force them to develop critical thinking methods. This is a huge thing for Coca-Cola and in our opinion for companies as a whole. The first thing that you must engage in a customer is their emotions, the strongest buying point that people act on. If people start recognizing that a company is doing community based activities for children, they are going to be very prone and likely to want to support and buy the products from the company. The second thing that Coca-Cola has done is setup multiple scholarship funds available for high-school seniors as they make their way into college and the real world. In addition to grants, Coca-Cola provides scholarships to more than 170 colleges, and this number is expected to grow to 287 over the next four years (Ricci, 2010). Coca-Cola was very smart when they went about setting up these different funds for students. There is a huge market with kids graduating high school and those who are currently in college, appealing to these kids will grow a strong interest in their company and will build up their brand image more than ever. It states in the book that it is beneficial to the shareholders by doing this. This is so true with every company because shareholders and people who are invested in the company want to make sure that they are involved in a company that is making ethical decisions and who are giving back to the community in some way, shape or form. As long as Coca-Cola keeps being p ersistent with how they give back into the community and monitor what they are doing on an ethical standpoint, they will keep their customers and stakeholders happy. Crisis Situations Coca-Cola has not always been a squeaky-clean company that never had problems. The stock price of the company is the same price as it was 10 years ago, and this is due to the ethical and legal issues that were associated with the company. A small problem occurred in Belgium in 1999 when a few children fell ill after drinking a product with the Coca-Cola brand on it. They had a recall on the product there in Belgium, but soon after, every item Coca-Cola made was pulled off the shelves in every store. This caused a loss of reputation, which, in turn, made people lose respect for the company and investors started selling their stocks in Coca-Cola. Neighboring countries, such as Luxembourg and the Netherlands, soon followed suit and recalled all products throughout both countries. After Coca-Cola found the root of the problem, that being a bad batch of carbon dioxide, they made an announcement regarding the situation. Being a few days after all this happened was a little too slow fo r the media, and they ate up the story making Coca-Cola look worse than what was said about them. However, this was not the only occurrence. France supposedly had about one hundred people become sick due to mold in the products they consumed. Every single product was banned throughout France until the problem was resolved, but Coca-Cola had yet another slow response to the problem and their reputation was further diminished. During this crisis, Coca-Cola started to run into different problems with their marketing in European countries with anti-trust laws. They wanted to create a merger with themselves and Orangina, a French company, but their overaggressive style turned off the other companies in the deal, which became a problem. Their strong-arm tactics proved to be too much for the foreign countries, and creating a competitive advantage seemed to cross the line of the anti-trust laws in which they were sued for the by the country of Italy. Italy won the court-case, which cause d investigations of the companys competitive practices, which is never a good thing for business. Racial Discrimination Allegations Coca-Cola faced a lawsuit in the spring of 1999. Fifteen hundred African American employees sued Coca-Cola for racial discrimination. Later, the number grew to 2,000 current and former employees. The company was being charged because they put African Americans at the bottom of the pay scale. An African American could have the same job as a Caucasian, but the African American would make $26,000 less each year. This is a huge difference in pay especially if it is only based on the color of a persons skin. In the lawsuit, it states that the top management of Coca-Cola knew about the discrimination for four years and did nothing to stop it. The company denied the accusations, but the public had strong reactions to the case. To rebuild their image, Coca-Cola created a diversity council and paid $193 million to settle the racial discrimination lawsuit. Problems with the Burger King Market Test Just three years after the racial discrimination lawsuit, Coca-Cola found themselves in another allegation. Matthew Whitley, a mid-level Coca-Cola executive filed a whistle-blowing suit. Whitley revealed fraud in a market study that Coca-Cola did on behalf of Burger King. In 2002, Coca-Cola wanted to increase sales so they paired up with Burger King to launch a frozen Coke as a childs snack. Before launching nationally, Burger King wanted to test the product out in the market. Burger King launched a three-week trial run in Richmond, Virginia to see if it was worth the investment. Customers received a coupon for a free frozen Coke when they purchased a Value Meal. When the test first started, sales of the frozen Coke were not looking good. Therefore, Coca-Cola decided to pay at least one individual $10,000 to take hundreds of children to Burger King to purchase Value Meals including the frozen Coke. U.S. attorney general for the North District of Georgia discovered and investigated the fraud. Coca-Cola had to pay Burger King $21 million, the whistle-blower $540,000, and a $9 million pretax write off had to be taken. Coca-Cola disputed the claim; however, it was extremely costly for the company. Not only did they lose millions of dollars, but also the case attracted a lot of negative publicity. In addition, it ruined any relationship that they had with Burger King. Inflated Earnings Related to Channel Stuffing Along with the other ethical dilemmas Coca-Cola was faced with, the company was accused of practicing channel stuffing. According to the textbook, Business Ethics, channel stuffing is the practice of shipping extra inventory to wholesalers and retailers at an excessive rate, typically before the end of a quarter (Ferrell, 2008). The use of channel stuffing is deceptive and a company utilizes it to inflate their sales and earnings figures. When a company ships out their product to a distributor, it is counted as a sale. However, when a company participates in channel stuffing, they count the sale and usually the product is returned or it remains in a warehouse. The company sends their retailers more than they can sell, falsely demonstrating that there is a high demand for the product. It can also be used to hide when the demand of a product declines. The benefit the company would receive from channel stuffing is more earnings on their financial statements and misinforming their i nvestors. In Coca Colas situation, they were accused of sending extra concentrate to Japanese bottlers from 1997 to 1999 to dishonestly inflate their profits. Even though Coca-Cola settled the accusation, the Securities and Exchange Commission concluded that channel stuffing did occur. The company then pressured bottlers into purchasing extra concentrate in return for extended credit. Coca-Cola promised the SEC to avoid engaging in channel stuffing in the future. At this time, the company created an ethics and compliance office, who verifies each financial quarter that they have not altered the terms of payment or extended special credit. Coca-Cola agreed to try to reduce the amount of concentrate held by the international bottlers. Even though they settled the predicament with the SEC, Coca-Cola still faces a lawsuit with shareholders for channel stuffing in Japan, North America, Europe, and South Africa. Trouble with Distributors Coca-Cola also faced serious issues with their distributors beginning in 2006. The company had deliveries of Powerade sent to Wal-Mart in a small Texas test area. When they tried to expand the delivery of Powerade directly to Wal-Mart warehouses all over the US, fifty-four of their bottlers filed lawsuits. The textbook says that Coca-Cola had an agreement regarding Powerade bottlers and that it was a breach of the agreement to provide warehouse delivery to Wal-Mart, even with the use of a subsidiary agent for warehouse delivery. The subsidiary agent, CCE, and Coca-Cola claim that they were trying to meet a request from Wal-Mart for warehouse delivery, just how PepsiCo distributes Gatorade. CCE proposed making payments to some other bottlers in return for taking over the distribution of Powerade. The bottlers were concerned that the proposed arrangement would violate antitrust laws. In addition, they believed that moving forward with their warehouse delivery would deteriorate the va lue of the bottlers businesses. This dilemma had a serious impact on the reputation of the company. When one firm in a channel structure suffers, all the firms in the supply chain suffer in some way as well. Coca-Cola adopted a new enterprise resource system that made their classified information available to a group of partners. Since there is a lack of integrity between Coca-Cola and their partners, the partners assume a greater risk when forming a partnership with the company. These problems with their distributors took a toll on their partner companies, their stakeholders, and finally, their bottom lines. Problems with Unions and Coke Trade Secrets Amongst other international problems faced by Coca-Cola, they ran into trouble related to labor unions as well. The major cause of these problems occurred in Columbia where there were unfortunate deaths of Coca-Cola workers as well as forty-eight who went into hiding and another sixty-five who received death threats. The labor unions claimed that Coca-Cola chose to be involved with illegal dealings surrounding these deaths, death threats and disappearances. Coca-Cola denied any of the allegations and claimed that only one of the deaths was on the premises of the bottling plant that Coke worked with while the other ones were located off the premises where Coke had no involvement. Rather than take swift action Coca-Cola made itself look bad by not offering to help to any of the workers or their families. The further denial along with not providing any aid or action caused animosity with labor unions regarding the case and put another black mark on Coca-Colas currently sliding ethical reputation. Sure there may have been other circumstances behind the problems in Columbia but Coca-Cola did nothing to help anyone else or themselves in the situation. Another problem Coca-Cola faced came a little closer to home. Coca-Cola had three employees get arrested in 2006 for fraudulently and unlawfully stealing and selling trade secrets from Coca-Cola. One of the people accused in the case contacted Pepsi and told them he was a high level employee with Coca-Cola. He then offered them very confidential and detailed information regarding the Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola then received a letter from Pepsi about the offer and contacted the FBI. The FBI found out the informants name was Ibrahim Dimson from Bronx, NY. He provided the FBI with fourteen pages worth of confidential information marked classified as well as top secret products from the Coca-Cola company. Ibrahim got his information from Joya Williams who was an executive administrative assistant for Coca-Colas globa l brand in Atlanta . She had access to all of the information given to the FBI by Dimson who is known in the case as Dirk. This is a big problem for Coca-Cola because not only are the actions of employees a direct responsibility of the company but it also makes the company look bad if there is internal problems. Any company that has people who are willing to give trade secrets to the direct competition need to evaluate the people who are in charge and make a change if the employees feel that disloyal towards a company that is very well known and successful globally. The company should have a system in place to protect its secrets because otherwise any person on the street can go take the syrup formula from Coke and give it to its competitors. This is another ethical situation where the right leadership and system in place could have resolved the issue before it started. Because of poor leadership now Coca-Colas reputation is once again tarnished ethically and 3 company employees are being charged with serious crimes. Ethical Recovery? Even after all of these problems presents, the customers in Europe said that they still feel like coke would behave correctly during these times of crises. Even after all of this they are still ranked third in a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of the most respected companies in the world. Coke then donated $50 million to a foundation to support programs in minority programs, and hired an ombudsman who reports directly to the CEO in order to settle the racial discrimination lawsuit shown above. Coke is taking the initiative to fix their problems and the international community is seeing that. It seems that since they are taking these precautions to prevent further problems in the future, the European nations, in addition to the United States will be more trusting of Coke in their decisions in the future. Conclusion Coca-Cola is one of the most successful and recognized brand in the world. These ethical problems that have been presented in this paper were not just minor problems for the company, but it seems that they have been able to keep the Coke name relatively untarnished. Coke today strives to reduce their ethical issues to a minimum in order to focus on reaching all around the world. The issues presented to us were all problems that could be fixed and while we gave examples of how they could have handled the problem differently, Coke seems to have handled it in the way that they see fit, and their name still stands as one of the top companies in the world. A company this big has to be very careful with what they do in the public eye, one fatal mistake can be the end of a very successful business.

Friday, May 15, 2020

Stress Is An Epidemic Of The 21st Century - 1858 Words

Your job getting hard to keep a handle on, the to-do list is piling up, the credit-card bills are rising steadily. Your teenager decides they hate school and want to run away with the circus. Or maybe you are feeling down by the constant stimulation you are bombarded with 24 hours a day†¦.images, media, news, television, radio, billboards†¦. Whether it’s due to one thing or another, you just can’t relax. There is no doubt about it, stress is an epidemic of the 21st century and it s can easily creep into our lives and grow there if we let it. It s upsetting that in the USA today over 77% of people are regularly experiencing negative physical symptoms due to stress. For some people this can mean dealing with depression or anxiety, but for others it can mean that they get hungry! So hungry that they add the stress of weight gain to their growing list of problems†¦.. Looking at the nation as a whole it s easy to see that we are more stressed and less healthy than ever before. But it doesn t have to be this way! Trust me, I know what it s like to feel stressed. Just like many of you, I am constantly trying my best to balance the personal, family and professional areas of my life. We wear multiple hats every single day. Don t we? It is so important to have the right tools to calm the mind and nervous system and find that balance we truly need in our lives.Otherwise, the outcome can be disastrous. With heavy minds, bodies andShow MoreRelatedChildhood Obesity800 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ I. Introduction a. Childhood obesity is a rising epidemic in the United States. b. We can teach children healthy eating habits, incorporate physical activity and lead by example. II. Teaching healthy eating habits a. Educate children about healthy foods and their benefits b. Provide healthy alternatives to unhealthy snacks c. Limit fast food for meals III. Incorporating physical activity a. Limit time for electronic use b. Set a specific amount of time for daily outside activity cRead MoreHeat Wave Environments716 Words   |  3 PagesIncreased temperature has become one of the most visible environmental concerns of the 21st Century. Recent research shows that the overall risk of heat-related illness or death has climbed steadily since 1980, with around 30% of the world’s population now living in climatic conditions that deliver extreme hot temperatures persisting several days to weeks a year (Mora et al. 2017). Between 2000 and 2016, the number of vulnerable people exposed to heat wave events has increased by approximately 125Read MoreStress in the 21st Century Essay2392 Words   |  10 Pagesâ€Å"Stress is an epidemic in the 21st century and impacts on people’s behaviour in many ways. Discuss in light of the literature.† Stress is a term that is frequently used in everyday conversation. The conventional meaning of the word stress – too much to do, too much to worry about – was not part of the vocabulary some fifty years ago. In the 1930s the Hungarian scientist Hans Selye, the godfather of stress research, took an engineering concept and applied it to humans 1. Stress in generalRead MoreHow Can Save Your Life With Stress Relief?963 Words   |  4 PagesHow To Save Your Life With Stress Relief By Matthias K. Maas | Submitted On September 16, 2014 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Expert Author Matthias K. Maas How often do you feel on the edge? FrustratedRead MoreThe History of Nursing Science1076 Words   |  4 Pagescomplexities, and because nursing science is so intimately tied to nursing practice, it may be simplest and most appropriate to place the birth of nursing science with the establishment of professional nursing and nursing education in the early 19th century. The most popular version of the founding of the nursing profession revolves around Florence Nightingale, a wealthy British woman who organized a group of female nurses to tend to soldiers in the Crimea in 1854 and subsequently established nursingRead MoreSpreading Of Hiv / Aids1734 Words   |  7 PagesGregory Lewis Professor Zeller International Relations 17 April 2017 The Spreading of HIV/AIDS What is AIDS and how it is spreading throughout the world? Throughout the 20th-21st Century, AIDS has been a top primary concern for many people and how it can spread numerous ways through any physical contact. AIDS, which stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, has a set of symptoms that has caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV. This type of virus is considered to be whenRead MoreWork Is A Necessary Part Of Society And The Need To Work1773 Words   |  8 Pagesbeginning of time. In the world we live in it is how money is made and how products are manufactured. However, what does it look like when Americans work too much? One piece of evidence presented in an article by Fred E. Stickle points out that the stress that is put on the employee in the workplace can have a dramatic effect on their health and overall wellbeing. This is further addressed in the article â€Å"Are Americans working too much?† by Schuyler Velasco and Jacob Turcotte where they explain thatRead MoreCultural Culture Courtship And Marriage1268 Words   |  6 Pagesforsaking all others. Courtship today, isn t what it was in earlier years. Times in America has changed drastically in the 21st c entury. Marriage was typical of man and woman, but now Homosexuals are allowed to marry in most states in the United States of America. Some trends in the United States that started in 1960 s-1970 s divorce has begun to rise for over a century (Smock, 2004). Many marriages between those who are well off financially secure are more than likely to marry and stay marriedRead MoreThe Problem Of Mental Health1558 Words   |  7 Pagesyoung people have such a hard time today is because they have so much stress packed on their shoulders. All the stress adds up to an abundance, that can t really be taken off their shoulders. When you add up everything that a young adult has to go through, and you compareto what our parents and their parents had to go through. It s nothing in comparison. Our lives are just simply more stressful, in comparison to what the 20th century adults and young adults had to go through. I believe that s dueRead MoreThe Eternal Quest for Inner Peace1012 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Inner peace is the greatest success; it makes your world a Paradise.† Inner peace can be defined as state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with a sense of understanding which keeps oneself strong against stress. It is always associated with happiness, bliss, satisfaction and contentment. People are searching for numerous reasons as to how they can be finding their inner peace, but here I will shortlist the three most important reasons leading to the creation of inner peace which

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The prison situation in the United States is a growing...

Why do we choose to break the law? It’s socially accepted, most people break the law in a minor way, perhaps by speeding or J-walking. Unfortunately some people go to far and end up in prison. At that point society is divided, where is the line that separates us? What affects the outcome of what side of that line you are standing on? Education? Environment? Genetics? What would cause one subject to end up in prison while the other raises a family? Some researchers have concluded that it is in your genetic makeup. From the beginning of your life it’s already decided if you will be a law respecting citizen. Though you can’t deny the importance of the environment you were raised in. A majority of people currently imprisoned is there largely†¦show more content†¦The early release of inmates due to lack of funds results in more criminals out on the street, eventually this will be a problem for you, if not one you have already encountered. If more criminals ar e on the street before they are rehabilitated will cause an increase in crimes. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Aspects of a person’s social upbringing will effect their reactions to situations they encounter in the future. Imagine two boys, both the same age. One is named Hot Dog King, we will call him King for short, and the other boy will go by Tom. Both were exposed to similar situations growing up, until around the age of ten. At that point King’s father was killed by a drunken driver, as he got older he felt angry, saying life was unfair. Due to a lack of income his mother had to move from a middle class neighborhood with a good school to a Housing Project that had a school plagued with gangs, weapons, and drugs. In the new neighborhood King found older males to fill the missing role that his father left. They were usually associated with gangs or were drug dealers, regardless he didn’t know better. His Mother grew forlorn and started drinking, eventually she started physically abusing him. King ended up running away at the age of fifteen. Wi thin a month of being on the street he had become affiliated with a neighborhood gang. The gang that he was associated withShow MoreRelatedReform, Means Improvement : Prison Reform Essay1558 Words   |  7 PagesReform, means improvement. Prison reform, means the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, establishing a more effective penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. The penal system is part of the larger criminal justice system. Prison reformation, is not just about the justice system or the criminal justice system. They all have a different meaning, but, in all, they do involve with the same concepts, expectations, and ways of doing things because it deals with community, societyRead MoreRacial Disparity in Prisons Essay examples1456 Words   |  6 PagesA Look at Racial Disparity in the United States Prison System Micah O’Daniel Institutional Corrections 2/22/11 Racial inequality in the American criminal justice system  has a strong effect of many realms of society such as the family life, and employment. Education and race seem to be the most decisive factors when deciding who goes to jail and what  age cohort  has the greatest percentage chance of incarceration. Going to prison no longer affects just the individual who committed the crimeRead MorePrisons : A Dangerous Place944 Words   |  4 PagesPrisons originated in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were first designed to punish people for doing criminal activities. Prisons were strict then than they are now most people were sentenced to death, regardless of what the crime was. During that time the inmates did not have as much freedom in prison that they have now. It was very tough being in prison during this time. In the United States today almost two million people are in prison, the expansion of the prison system began in the earlyRead MoreMental Illness Among Prisons And The United States1576 Words   |  7 PagesIf a society is to be judged how it treats its most disadvantaged members, then the United States is in a very lowly state of affairs. The United States currently incarcerates over 356,000 individuals diagnosed with some form of mental illness. This is ten-fold the number of people receiving treatment in psychiatric hospitals, around 35,000 (Frances). Leaving us with the question, when did suffering from a mental illness become a crime worthy of incarceration? Doubt no longer remains as to if theRead MoreSocial Problems From Crime, Criminal Justice, And Incarceration1511 Words   |  7 Pages Social Problems from Crime, Criminal Justice, Juvenile Delinquency, Prison System, and Incarceration Billy Marquardt â€Æ' There are many different situations going on in the United States. What is going on in our country becomes a social issues that the whole country will have to deal with. Crime, criminal justice, juvenile delinquency, the prison system, and incarceration are all problems that are prevailing in our media. Flaws in the system, violence, and outbreaks are making peopleRead MoreReducing Recidivism, Provide Treatment For Offenders, And Assist With Re Entry1185 Words   |  5 PagesIn the United States and around the world there is an epidemic involving drug addiction. Also, we are facing a growing problem revolving around prison overcrowding, due to inmates that have committed drug related crimes, or offences while under the influence. There’s a solution that would help society and lessen overcrowding, and that’s to help those that are committing crimes due to an addiction disorder. In this paper, I will explore option’s that will help the growing population, reduce recidivismRead MorePrivate Prisons1166 Words   |  5 PagesRunning head: PRISON PRIVATIZATION 1 An Assessment of Prison Privatization Sharon Baumann-Heller ORG 8575 Michael Mills August 12, 2012 PRISON PRIVATIZATION 2 Abstract Over-crowding in our federal, state, and local prisons, along with a depressed economy, has resulted in a trend toward privatization of these facilities. This paper examines the core issues surrounding private prisons in the areas of cost-effectiveness, recidivismRead MorePrison Overcrwoding in America and England1234 Words   |  5 PagesPrison overcrowding in the United States is due to many reoccurring charges that is being sentenced to inmates that have been released and returning. As the increasing inmate population is a growing concern in the U.S, many law enforcement agencies and academic expert have analyzed data about the situation and are working to combat it. Research shows that Drugs are mainly to blame. Of the inmates in federal prison as of September 2011, more than half or 50.4% was serving sentences for drug offensesRead MoreSolitary Confinement And Mental Disorders972 Words   |  4 Pagespsychosis (Metzner Fellner, 2010). Being confined inside a unit with no wind ows can disorient inmates with or without mental disorders, and failure to provide mentally ill inmates with psychiatric help could result in more disruptive behaviors. Prison officials must be aware and mindful of inmates that are medically diagnosed with mental disorders. Placing mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement can jeopardize the safety and efficient operation of a correctional facility, and pose challengesRead MoreCrime in the United States1052 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States is one of the most developed countries in the world, if not the most developed, yet the U.S. has the largest prison population in the entire world by far. For most of my life I have always believed that the American justice system worked. When people do wrong they need to be punished and pay for their crimes. That is what our justice system is here for so how could is possibly go wrong? Unfortunetly it is not as simple as it sounds and all it takes is a little research to discover

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Electronic Data Interchange Essay Research Paper Electronic free essay sample

Electronic Data Interchange Essay, Research Paper Electronic Data Interchange One of the more normally recognized definitions of Electronic Data Interchange, or EDI, has been # 8220 ; the computer-to-computer transportation of information in a structured, pre-determined format. # 8221 ; Traditionally, the focal point of EDI activity has been on the replacing of pre-defined concern signifiers, such as purchase orders and bills, with likewise defined electronic forms. # 8221 ; 1 EDI is the electronic exchange of information between two concern concerns in a particular predetermined format. The exchange occurs when messages that are related to standard concern paperss, such as Purchase Orders and Customer Bills are exchanged. The concern community has arrived at a series of standard dealing formats to cover a broad scope of concern demands. # 8220 ; Each dealing has an extended set of informations elements required for that concern papers, with specified formats and sequences for each information component. The assorted informations elements are built up into sections such as seller reference, which would be made up of informations elements for street, metropolis, province, nothing codification, and country. # 8221 ; 1 All the minutess are so grouped together, and are # 8220 ; preceded by a dealing heading and followed by a dealing dawdler record. If the dealing contains more than one dealing, many purchase orders can be sent to one seller, several dealing groups would be preceded by another type of record, referred to as a functional group heading, and would be followed by a map group trailer. # 8221 ; 1 One of the first topographic points that EDI was implemented was in the buying operations of a concern. Before the execution of EDI, a buying system would let purchasers to reexamine their stuff demands, and so make purchase orders, which would be printed out and get off. The provider would have the purchase order, and manually come in it into their client transportation system. The stuff would be shipped, and an bill would be printed, which would so be mailed back to the provider. In this illustration, even if the purchased stuffs were shipped and received on the same twenty-four hours the purchase order was received, the rhythm clip could be every bit much as a hebdomad, depending on the mail and the backlog at the provider # 8217 ; s order entry system. With the debut of EDI, this scenario changed dramatically. Buying agents would still reexamine their stuff demands and make their purchase orders, but alternatively of publishing them out and get offing them, the purchase orders would be transmitted straight to the providers over an electronic web. On the provider # 8217 ; s terminal, the dealing would be automatically received and posted. This new procedure could let the cargo of stuff on the same twenty-four hours the purchase order was sent. Suppliers could direct their transportation certification electronically to the purchaser in the signifier of a shipment presentment, supplying the purchaser with accurate receiving paperss prior to the existent reaching of the stuff. The provider gained an extra advantage every bit good, since now the bill could be sent straight to the client # 8217 ; s histories collectible system, rushing payment to the provider. Speed, Accuracy and Economy are the benefits of EDI. Whether executing of EDI was in the country of purchase orders, advanced shipment presentment, or automatic invoicing, several immediate advantages could be realized by interchanging paperss electronically. Information traveling between computing machines moves more quickly, and with small or no human intervention. Sending an electronic message across the state takes proceedingss, or less. Mailing the same papers will normally take a lower limit of one twenty-four hours. Courier services can cut down the clip, but increase the cost. Facsimile transmittals work good for little paperss, but for several hundred pages, it # 8217 ; s non a executable option. When surrogate agencies of papers transportation are used, they suffer from the major drawback of necessitating re-entry into the client order system, acknowledging the chance of identifying mistakes. However, information that passes straight between computing machines without holding to be re-entered eliminates the opportunity of written text mistake. There is about no opportunity that the receiving computing machine will invert figures, or add an excess figure ; therefore stoping the human mistake component. The cost of directing an electronic papers is non a great trade more than regular first category postage. Add to that the cost decreases afforded by extinguishing the re-keying of informations, human handling, routing, and bringing. The consequence is a significant decrease in the cost of a dealing. Expense, Networking Complexity, and Options are the drawbacks of EDI. Although these benefits are converting, existent credence and executing of EDI was far less common than might be expected. For all the benefits, the technological jobs of EDI presented a figure of major faltering blocks. # 8220 ; Computers, particularly mainframes, and their concern application systems were complex and expensive. Chiefly functioning the # 8220 ; on the border # 8221 ; maps of a concern, they were non regarded as being to the full joined into all concern activities # 8221 ; . 2 Traditionally, the mainframe-computing consciousness was viewed as an information reservoir. EDI required that information engineering be extended beyond nucleus maps. So while there were significant nest eggs to be gained from the usage of EDI, the cost of re-designing and deploying package applications to conform EDI into an bing portfolio of concern applications was high plenty to countervail the awaited advantages. The demand for telecommunications capableness posed a 2nd major barrier for EDI execution. Beyond the computing machine, a basic demand of EDI is a agency to convey and have information to and from a broad assortment of clients or providers. This required a big investing in computing machine webs. Unlike the mail, to direct electronic paperss there must be a specific point-to-point electronic way for the papers to take. # 8220 ; Companies were either required to develop extended, and expensive webs, or rely on intermittent point-to-point modem communication. # 8221 ; 2 Because of the technological complexness and cost of execution, cheaper options hurt the widespread usage of EDI. To derive some of the advantages of EDI without the high monetary value of computing machine hardware, package and webs, many advanced options were developed. # 8220 ; Overnight messenger service, facsimile machines, and the ability to give clients limited entree to mainframes through dense terminuss provided speedy and moderately priced options to ask foring a major change of concern environments. # 8221 ; 3 The past decennary has seen an tremendous alteration in the computer science environment in most concerns, with the new strain of little, cheap and powerful personal computing machines. With the Personal computer, computing machines have literally moved out of the cellars and back suites, and onto the desktops, and at that place has been a decrease in monetary value. # 8220 ; A client based computing machine, or waiter can be obtained today for about the same cost as a little mini-computer of 10 old ages ago, but the same dollars are now purchasing a machine that has mainframe calculating capableness in a PC-sized box. Personal computer # 8217 ; s are now economical plenty that their monetary value approaches the same cost per user as a dense terminus did attached to that same mini-computer. # 8221 ; 3 The same betterments are found in the country of communications. It is now platitude for computing machine users in retail shops to entree computing machines many 100s of stat mis off. Now, the terminus or Personal computer on a desk in a steel works may really be utilizing informations from several computing machines, each in a different location. # 8220 ; Progresss in networking and client-server environments have encouraged the consciousness that while information is certainly one of the most valuable assets of any concern, information that is shared within and between companies becomes a most powerful asset. # 8221 ; 4 Businesss have spent 1000000s of dollars on computing machine engineering to automatize production procedures. # 8220 ; Computer-assisted fabrication systems, such as one might happen in the food market industry, have become platitude. It is now possible for stock list ingestion to be known instantly, and the impact of that ingestion on buying demands and maestro production programming can be recalculated continuously. # 8221 ; 4 Computers can now be used to imitate mill production, optimising procedures and leting applied scientists to find the best use of equipment and forces. If there is a sudden displacement in demand, what will be the impact of major alterations to production agendas? However, it does really small good to change a production agenda if the supply line can non respond to the changed demand. # 8220 ; As the mechanization processes inside the four walls of fabrication works reached adulthood, it became evident that to derive the full benefits of the increased velocity and flexibleness could non be achieved every bit long as the procedure of having natural stuffs, and administering finished merchandises remained unchanged. # 8221 ; 5 In applications of EDI, recalculating natural stuff demands on an hourly footing offered small betterment every bit long as the ordination of natural stuffs was still based on traditional methods of puting purchase orders. The rapid displacement in production often would intend hours on the phone obtaining stuff. While the fabrication floor could run on a # 8220 ; merely in clip # 8221 ; footing, the buying section would often hold to run on a # 8220 ; merely in instance # 8221 ; footing. In an exigency, obtaining stuff would hold to trust on the # 8220 ; whatever it takes # 8221 ; methodological analysis: premiums, surcharges, and particular bringings. Businesss began to force the boundaries of EDI. The initial public presentation of EDI looked at the paperss used in concern, and replaced them with electronic paperss. However, this public presentation did non turn to how the paperss were being used. It simply automated the method. # 8220 ; The demand for greater velocity and flexibleness led the concern analysts to take a serious expression at how the paperss were being used, and this led to an inspection and repair in the manner the paperss are being used. Analysis has looked non at replacing the paperss, but at extinguishing them wholly. With this attack, a new partnership between the client and provider was born. Rather than hold buying agents review natural stuff demands and topographic point purchase orders, purchase orders can be placed automatically, based on pre-determined stock list levels. # 8221 ; 7 The Kroger Company has begun to do their stock list degrees available to their providers via EDI, # 8220 ; leting the provider to set their ain production agendas to react more rapidly to their client # 8217 ; s demands. With saloon cryptography and point-of-sale informations aggregation, refilling of retail stock list or cargo of finished merchandises can now be triggered by information collected right at the hard currency register. # 8221 ; 7 With the alterations in the computing machine engineering and the addition in information engineering, they both play a function in today # 8217 ; s fabrication, distribution and service environments, # 8220 ; along with alterations in concern doctrine, has changed the definition of Electronic Data Interchange. The definition must now be more across-the-board than simply the rapid transmittal of electronic documents. # 8221 ; 8 EDI must now be viewed as # 8220 ; an enabling engineering that provides for the exchange of critical informations between computing machine applications back uping the procedure of concern spouses by utilizing agreed-to, standardised, informations formats # 8221 ; .8 EDI is no longer simply a manner to convey paperss. It is a agency to # 8220 ; travel informations between companies that will be used by computing machine systems to order stuffs, agenda production, agenda and path transit, and refill stock. # 8221 ; 7 To stay competitory in today # 8217 ; s economic system, concerns are being forced to re-evaluate the manner they do concern with their clients and their sellers. The focal point of these relationships has moved towards greater velocity through shorter dealing rhythms. With the dramatic additions in public presentation of computing machine engineering, the impact of some of the drawbacks that led to limited executing of EDI have being reduced. What used to necessitate mainframe power can now be handled on computing machines that fit handily on or under the desk, and can run in the office, warehouse, production floor or usage by a path adult male. There is a revolution traveling on in the package industry. The elapsed clip from construct to deployment of new package is being dramatically reduced. Software developers can now bring forth bundles that can run on a assortment of hardware platforms, leting them concentrate on presenting greater functionality and flexibleness to their package bundles, instead than passing valuable development clip and dollars on customization. # 8220 ; This revolution in hardware velocity, power and flexibleness, combined with an progressively choice of high-quality package merchandises allows concern to acquire a higher return for each dollar they invest in computing machine engineering. It has allowed concern to solidify the information demands of their ain processes. # 8221 ; 7 With betterments in their ain procedures, advancement can come to a arrest if the supply and distribution concatenation is non on the same page. So as the procedures have been put under control, it has besides forced direction to concentrate on chances in their client and supplier relationships # 8211 ; the country EDI ignored. The revolution in computing machine engineering has led to another revolution # 8230 ; # 8220 ; The replacing of dictatorial or adversarial relationships between clients and providers with information partnerships. In fact, for some clip in the vocabulary of EDI, two concerns engaged in electronic trading of information have been referred to as # 8220 ; merchandising partners. # 8221 ; 9 The job was it took direction a long clip to recognize that partnership had to widen much further than merely holding to merchandise electronic versions of paper paperss. By interrupting down the barriers between sellers and clients, another order of addition in velocity and flexibleness could be introduced. # 8220 ; The true value of EDI comes when concern can get down to merchandise or portion information. The scenario of EDI public presentation painted a image where normally used paper paperss were replaced by electronic versions of the same paperss. Purchase orders, shipment presentments, invoicing, and histories collectible began to take part in the process. # 8221 ; 9 The concern of fixing the electronic paperss is easy the most demanding portion of puting up EDI in any concern. The assortments of methods available to bring forth the electronic paperss are every bit different as there are concerns and applications, which include # 8230 ; transcribing informations, heightening bing applications, and buying package The Kroger Company has several hundred providers, and the opportunity of acquiring them all to hold upon the Kroger # 8217 ; s definition of a purchase order format was non traveling go on, # 8220 ; peculiarly if since those providers are besides covering with 100s of other clients. This would necessitate a alone set of regulations for each partnership. The resulting pandemonium would rapidly drive clients and providers likewise to return to paper signifiers irrespective of the benefits or savings. # 8221 ; 7 The solution has been found in the development over the last T wo decennaries of a comprehensive set of national and international criterions. â€Å"These criterions, typically developed by specific industry or concern groups, have provided normally agreed upon formats for usage in virtually every type of concern communication.†3 These criterions provide a structured manner of forming information in a # 8220 ; dealing # 8221 ; format with definitions for the format and arrangement of each separate piece of informations. # 8220 ; Translation to a standard format can be accomplished by internal systems or it can be done by a separate bundle of package. Regardless of the agencies you choose for interlingual rendition, the terminal consequence of the procedure will be an end product file generated in a specific format that any endorser to the criterion can understand. # 8221 ; 3 In a simple one-to-one EDI relationship, conveying informations can be every bit simple as doing a modem connexion, and directing the file. However, this would go impractical with more than merely a little figure of sellers. If a maker has to direct out 1000s of PO # 8217 ; s each hebdomad to 100s of providers ; it would necessitate a little ground forces to convey all of their PO # 8217 ; s. Even if the maker had an extended web available, successful transmittal would necessitate that all sellers be linked into the web. Supplying a connexion to the transmitter # 8217 ; s computing machine to let receiving systems to log on and roll up their informations would be one manner to avoid these jobs, but it poses a serious security job. It will work on a limited footing, but merely with controls, including separate hardware to insulate the system being accessed by 3rd parties. Few companies would accept these attacks, for any extended usage of EDI. If these options were required, pandemonium would reign, and one time once more most EDI users would rapidly return to fixing printed paperss, so that they could trust on the mail to administer all their paperss. Fortunately, the EDI user doesn # 8217 ; Ts have to trust on either of these options. They can turn to third party web services, normally referred to as # 8220 ; Value Added Networks # 8221 ; or VAN # 8217 ; s. The VAN maps as a glade house for electronic minutess, in consequence helping as a private electronic mail service. The VAN routes each seller # 8217 ; s informations to their ain electronic letter box. The VAN provides an reply to the pressing job of security. It allows merchandising spouses to be secure in the cognition that the can merchandise information, but at the same clip avoid giving information off. Neither party has entree to the other # 8217 ; s systems, but can still freely interchange agreed-upon information. In add-on, a full service VAN can supply other services, including interlingual rendition, criterions conformity checking, and EDI package to ease the execution procedure. This procedure is the contrary of outward interlingual rendition. Once the PO # 8217 ; s have been placed in the electronic letter boxs by the VAN, the seller can recover them at their convenience. # 8220 ; The following measure in the procedure is to # 8220 ; de-map # 8221 ; the file, interpreting it into the specific format required by the seller # 8217 ; s application ( s ) . # 8220 ; Since a standard format has been used, the seller will easy be able to first acknowledge which company the dealing is from, and so which type of dealing it is. When interlingual rendition is complete it can be made useable in any coveted format to the receiving system # 8217 ; s internal applications. The Kroger Company # 8220 ; experimented with VAN, but rapidly purchased the package bundle Chain-Tracks # 8221 ; . 8 Are there particular tools required to implement EDI? Yes they are criterions, package, hardware, and service suppliers. The demand for definition of criterions is absolute in guaranting successful EDI. Without an in agreement upon set of criterions, EDI would be impracticable from the start. There is a set of public criterions that define the demands for a assortment of EDI dealing types, so that any concern concerns will be addressed within the guidelines of an internationally recognized set of criterions. Companies have been interchanging informations electronically for over three decennaries. Before the being of national and international criterions, companies wishing to interchange information had to find themselves acceptable formats for the interchange of informations. This resulted in the outgrowth of # 8220 ; in fact # 8221 ; criterions defined by those companies with the fiscal clout to enforce the demand for informations interchange on their providers or clients. They basically dictated the footings under which electronic trading would take topographic point. While this did supply some criterions, existent jobs arose when every bit obstinate spouses collided with each other. # 8220 ; The consequence of such struggles was that the smaller or newer participants in the EDI market topographic point were forced to detect a assortment of conventions, depending on who the receiver of the information was to be. Confusion aside, an ineluctable effect was increased cost for EDI implementation. # 8221 ; 11 As the assorted criterions collided in the market topographic point, the consequence was the development of industry involvement groups formed to seek to cut down the pandemonium and confusion to manageable degrees. The first was the Transportation Data Coordinating Committee, whose involvement country was the standardisation of the minutess required for trade and transit. Get downing in the late 1980 # 8217 ; s, many of these criterions organic structures began to unite their separate criterions under the bureau of the American National Standards Institute. All major American EDI dealing groups are now covered under the general umbrella of the Accredited Standards Committee, ( ASC ) , and are referred to as the X12 group of criterions. The ASC X12 Standards apply merely for the United States. However, more and more companies are required to take part in the international exchange of electronic informations. The progressively planetary extent of many concern endeavors requires that companies may hold to at least be cognizant of the other major criterions groups. The United Nations has provided a forum to supply a common set of international criterions, under the general authorization of the United Nations. Thus the Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport ( EDIFACT ) group was formed. EDI can non be undertaken without package. # 8220 ; There is a wide scope of options available, whether for low-priced first-time execution or for the integrating of EDI into a comprehensive portfolio of bing software. # 8221 ; 7 # 8220 ; Design and development of computing machine package is an expensive and time-consuming procedure. The ready handiness of commercial third-party bundles or VAN # 8217 ; s will order against the internal development of in-house interlingual rendition bundles, since the one-year cost of package licencing for third-party package will be less than the cost of developing and keeping bundles internally. The clip required for internal package development will widen the valuable clip it will take to deploy an EDI package. # 8221 ; 4 There may be other grounds for developing a interlingual rendition bundle internally. # 8220 ; If The Kroger Company owned or controlled its distribution like it controls its retail mercantile establishments ; it could be cost effectual to make a customized EDI bundle tailored specifically to the company # 8217 ; s distribution demands. The major drawback to such an attack is that public presentation of new dealing types will necessitate extra development non merely within the internal systems, but besides within the EDI interlingual rendition software. # 8221 ; 7 With the go oning growing of EDI has besides come the growing of a comprehensive library of EDI interlingual rendition package bundles with monetary value tickets that range from really cheap to important. The extent of these bundles ranges from modest PC-based transcriber bundles to large-scale systems for proprietary minicomputers and mainframes, complete with house communications characteristics, and occupation and transmittal programming capableness. Basically a bundle can be found for merely about every budget. Third-party interlingual rendition bundles offer several advantages over in-house development, which are: comprehensive criterions coverage, cost effectivity, and reduced care Before the widespread handiness and credence of PC # 8217 ; s and UNIX workstations, companies were reasonably much bound by their bing restrictive hardware base. This dictated that EDI be implemented on whatever hardware was available and pick of package was badly limited by hardware options A concern seeking to get down EDI for the first clip likely already has a Personal computer that can be used to run an EDI interlingual rendition bundle and communications package. Even if such hardware is non available, or is outdated, it can be obtained at a comparatively little cost. The principal demands for put ining most PC-based bundles are non any more demanding than today # 8217 ; s word-processing or spreadsheet bundles. For package bundles designed specifically for restrictive hardware, # 8220 ; the price-tag is likely to be higher than for a bundle designed for a UNIX workstation, because of the more limited market and the more specialised proficient expertness required. Besides this difference can be expected to turn as Reduced Instruction Set Computing ( RISC ) based unfastened systems computing machines have gained popularity. Many package sellers are turning from purely sole package to development of bundles that will run under the UNIX runing system on a assortment of RISC platforms with merely minor alterations and differences. # 8221 ; 5 RISC computing machines, because of their power, have put mainframe calculating in a PC-sized bundle. They have gained popularity for client-server applications where a local Personal computer will incorporate a package bundle that accesses distant databases. Another characteristic of the RISC/UNIX systems is their # 8220 ; unfastened architecture # 8221 ; design. # 8220 ; Open Architecture for the EDI user means that the informations on the system can be much more easy shared with package on other platforms through standardized file entree protocols. # 8221 ; 5 These UNIX systems are available in a broad scope of public presentation constellations. At the low terminal the platforms are comparable in power to the larger Personal computer with the added advantage of back uping multiple users. At the high terminal they compare favourably to mainframe capableness. Early innovators in EDI were faced with technically confusion and a dearly-won pick when it came to pass oning with their trading spouses. So early usage of EDI tended to be # 8220 ; in-house # 8221 ; instead than between companies, and was limited to those who could afford to develop and keep extended internal electronic webs. Implementing EDI in a concern does non necessitate to be hard, and the benefits can be enormous. It is of import to understand that EDI is a tool, and non a panacea. EDI is an undertaking necessitating a partnership ; nil can halt its possible. A good illustration would be between Kroger and it # 8217 ; s sellers and the exchanging of electronic invoicing, and automatic fund transportation for payment helps Kroger cut down the rhythm of their history receivables. In this instance, everybody goes home a victor. For start-up EDI undertakings, limited aims with seeable benefits should be sought out. If Kroger had selected, for its first undertaking, an ambitious program to wholly pass their full retail distribution procedure, they may good be trying excessively big a first measure. Kroger selected a more realistic initial undertaking this was computing machine assisted ordination ( CAO ) . CAO assists the retail shop in telling merchandise when the purchased merchandise is scanned at the checkstand. The CAO system keeps path of all day-to-day merchandise motion within a certain clip frame ( normally 28 yearss ) . The CAO system produces a recommended order of merchandises for shop personal to reexamine. They verify truth of on-hand merchandise degree, future publicities and adjust consequently. The one draw back to CAO is the teller. For case, if the client buys six different spirits of Kool-Aid, and the cashier scans all as cherry, CAO will urge purchasing merely the red spirit ; when in fact cherry is non the lone spirit needed. An of import facet of execution planning is affecting all concerned parties at all stairss of the undertaking. Good communicating is indispensable, so that freshly installed EDI capablenesss will alter the manner concern is done, non interrupt it. One of the most valuable ways of supplying good communicating and undertaking direction is to specify an EDI coordinator # 8217 ; s place. This place should be filled by an person with strong cognition of both the concern demands being addressed, and the proficient demands of EDI. A critical measure in execution planning is the proving procedure. Before users are really committed to depending on their new EDI map, they must be comfy that the procedure really works faithfully, all the clip. This must be proven beyond uncertainty by carefully constructed testing and proof processs. Since information is being transferred to another trading spouse, it will be necessary to guarantee both internal and external users that correct information is being traded. In any undertaking, it is necessary to cognize what the true cost of execution will be, and it is no different with EDI executions. Some of the costs are obvious, such as hardware and package. The unknown cost factor is developing your staff. In decision, EDI requires a big figure of picks. What are the concern aims? What tools should be used? How big is the purpose? Hopefully, the one pick that will be easy to do will be the pick to take the first measure with EDI. It is of import to repeat that EDI is merely a tool, and if that tool is started without carefully specifying aims, it will non populate up to outlooks. A cardinal point to retrieve is when tools are applied to the incorrect procedure ; it can perplex a concern and thwart its users. With right defined aims, and a carefully considered program of executing, it is a tool of great power. EDI will add velocity and better truth in any concern. 2 Bridge Software Home page 22 January 2000 *http: //www.edi-bridge.com/edi-bridge/Education.html* 1 Compaq Corporation. Home page. 21 January 2000 *http: //www.compaq.com/corporate/edi/* 3 National Institute of Standards and Technology, Home Page. 22 January 2000 * hypertext transfer protocol: //www.itl.nist.gov/div896/ipsg/eval_guide/tableofcontents3_1.html* 5 QRS Corporation. Home Page 22 January 2000 *http: //www.ediconnection.com/contents.htm* 6 Simplix Corporation. Home Page 23 January 2000 * hypertext transfer protocol: //www.simplix.com/index.shtml* 4 TIE Corporate. Home page. 22 January 2000 *http: //www.edi-tie.com/* 10 Bouden, Scott. Personal interview. 20 January 2000 9 Bramlett, Rusty. Personal interview. 21 January 2000 8 Coffey, Tracey. Personal interview. 20 January 2000 11 Holder, Thomas. Personal interview. 24 January 2000 13 Tegl, Eric. Personal interview. 26 January 2000 12 Winkler, Lisa. Personal interview. 25 January 2000 7 White, Bill. Personal interview. 20 January 2000 Business and Technology Electronic Data Interchange Andy Schoen Communication and Technology, Comm 106 Professor Jack Miller 15 February 2000