Current Purchasing and Supply Chain Practices in E-procurement Essay

Current Purchasing and Supply Chain Practices in E-procurement - Essay Example Indeed as e-commerce continues to gain root courtesy of the developments realized in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) it seems every single sector is being transformed. E-procurement therefore involves the use of Electronic Data Interchange and Enterprise Resource Planning. It is basically facilitated through the use of various software applications which enhance the process of supplier management and complex auctions. The value chain process of e-procurement consists of e-tendering, indent management, e-auctioning, catalogue management, order notice, e-invoicing, e-payment and contract management. It basically involves the conventional supply chain processes which are enhanced through the use of information systems. In public sector organizations, e-procurement is becoming a common affair given its increased benefits. Some of the benefits realized through e-procurement include increased efficiency and cost savings. Indeed, these have always been major concern in govern ment contracting. Similarly, e-procurement improves the transparency of the procurement process. Conventional procurement is normally characterized by rampant corruption especially in the public sector. A supply chain network enables the distribution options for the procurement of both raw material and finished products. In this regard, the major aim of a supply chain network is to satisfy the needs of the consumer as soon as they appear. This is certainly an important component of e-procurement (Ageshin, 2001). It should be realized that e-procurement is not simply a process of making online purchases. It must provide an open and effective communication line with all the potential suppliers throughout the business process (Waters, 2007). Research and New trends Businesses are today compelled to adapt and reconfigure their IT systems, assets and business operations in order to meet the increasingly changing demands of the customers. There is a growing need to compress the long busin ess cycles and to differentiate from the increased competition (2007). In this respect, new trends in e-procurement are constantly adopted with the major aim of enhancing operations through efficiency, costs reduction and output maximization. The systems are facilitated through the adoption of new architectural styles. The e-procurement and purchasing process involves the following steps (Dolgui, Soa, & Zaikin, 2005). Purchase approval and supplier evaluation The e-procurement supply chain process normally begins by the demand or need of the material by a user. In this respect, a number of electronic documents are normally used. They include forecasts and customer orders, purchase requisitions, stock checks and material requirements. The process of purchase approval involves a number of steps and will normally depend on the size of the purchase and whether the client is making first time purchases. Depending on the size of the purchase, there can be a need for supplier evaluation wh ich begins with from the determination of the purchase need (Forrest, 2006). Bidding and supplier selection The selection of suppliers is actually one of the most important activities in this respect. In any case, any mistakes or errors at this time can be very damaging and long-lasting. Once all the bids are received and the negotiation process has occurred, the sourcing team will then select an appropriate supplier and the approval is then authorized through the purchase approval step (Foust, 2013). Purchase approval Once the supplier has been selected, purchasing grants an authority or approval to purchase the product or service. This is facilitated through the use of an electronic drafting of a purchase order (PO). This is also

Indian Tribes within the US Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Indian Tribes within the US - Research Paper Example Indians are among the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. The major locations which they occupy are divided into seven regions, discussed below; 1) Great plains They occupy the hills and plains of North America. Major examples include the Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow and Comanche. They have an archaic culture just like other Indian tribes, due to resistance to domination by the United States and the governments of other countries. Great Plains Indians are divided into two major groups; the nomadic who practiced agriculture and kept animals and the aboriginal Indians, who are semi sedentary hence, lived in villages where they grew crops and traded with other neighboring communities. They comprise of Hidatsa, Iowa, Omaha and Otoe. The main animals they hunted were the buffalo and antelopes, for their hide, bones and for food. They later learnt about horses from Spanish explorers in the early sixteenth century, which greatly enhanced how they lived their life for exa mple made transport easier. The buffalo however remained the main source of game food. The great plain Indians had no particular religion. They however believed in spirits, which they believed controlled their health. They also respected the sun as the source of life. Their housing was referred to as Teepees made of buffalo hides, which could move around when they were moving from one place to another, for those who were nomadic. For the sedentary ones, the preferred form of housing was game lodges. They wore moccasins in the feet, hence the shoes. Women adorned themselves with jewellery to enhance beauty .to preserve their food they used the sun. The great Plains Indians had impressive arts which they expressed through painting and carvings which was mainly done by men. On the other hand women mainly engaged in beadwork, needle work and cloth design. 2) South West Indian tribes. They include Chea, Creek, Timucua and Lumbe. Mainly considered to be woodland Indians. Their main source of economic activity was hunting and gathering of wild fruits and animals, farming of crops such as rice and corn. They comprise of different languages and dialects within them. Just like other native communities they passed tradition from current and future generations orally, from elders to the young members of the community. The tribes were divided into clans, and a person belonged to the mothers’ clan, hence it was matriarchal in nature. They were very religious in nature and hence believed in gods and deities. As a form of worship they put up occasions where they prayed through song and dance ceremonies. They inhabitated forested areas of the south western areas of the country. 3) Mid Atlantic/north East . They comprise among others Lenape, Iroquois, Pequot, Algonquin and Niponic. The houses they inhabitated were called longhouse and wig warms. To protect them during cold periods, barks of trees and animal hides were used to cover their dwellings to provide warmth. They had leaders who were reffered to as Sadem which was a hereditary position. Chores were divided according to age and gender. Men did hunting and made weapons to be used in hunting and during war, while women were involved in cooking, farming and weaving baskets. Early Europeans who settled in this area introduced new infections which led to

Course work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Course work - Essay Example Also education was meant for them as they would be required to read the Bible and scriptures. The role of the village clergy was to oversee the spiritual life of his people on the medieval manor. It was the village priest who represented the Church for the medieval men and women. (Kreis, 2006) The church had the backing of the people as they were considered the spiritual people who god had chosen for the spreading of his teachings. This put a great responsibility on the Church as they held much influence over the people. But they held all control over education as it was not open for all. Therefore most of the inventions of the time, such as the printing press, were developed by the priesthood. The concept of proper land management was also introduced by them improving the quality and efficiency of the land production. But around the 12th century the people began to notice an increased change in the lifestyles of the priests. They were moving towards a worldlier lifestyle living their lives like the aristocracy. This negative feeling built up and led eventually to the Protestant Reformation. Other notable movements were those of the Franciscans, Waldensians, Poor Clares and Dominicans. (Sherman & Salisbury, 2006) These events were considered important as they showed that people wanted the church to reform itself and to be more religious in nature then it was. The people wanted to prevent the Church from deterioration and were willing to bring about change in the system. Aside from the worldly nature of the Church the main reason for dissent among the people was the Church's desire for more money. They began offering indulgences which did not suit the people as they saw the rich buying their way to paradise rather than leading a good pure life for it. The church's own attitude towards the people became more aloof as they concentrated their attention on the wealthy and were found to be serving under nobles and other feudal lords due to their education. The church would preach in Latin and since not many people knew the language they had to rely on the church for communing with god whereas they themselves couldn't. The inquisition was the straw that broke the camels back as the church now began prosecuting the people. This led to much dissatisfaction and when Martin Luther introduced the Protestant Reformation where he stressed on the actions of the people gaining them access to paradise rather then them buying it, people embraced it in multitudes. (D olan & Hubert, 1980) 2. Review the Crusades. Why did the crusaders go to the Holy Land, and what did they accomplish The crusades were initiated by an emotional speech done by Pope Urban II in 1095 which began the 200 hundred year lasting crusades. He moved the nobility to take back the Holy lands, to redeem themselves in the eyes of god by clearing themselves of their sins, and for the common people to become the soldiers of god. This speech was so potent that by the end of it the people were willing to lay down their lives for the Church and to go forth into battle against the heathens who had control over the Holy Lands. (Schreck, 2003) The crusades religious reasons were to reclaim the land from the Muslim invaders, secondly to repair the rift between the Roman and Orthodox Christianity since the Schism of 1054. The

Marketing Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Models - Essay Example Presently, marketing aspects such as advertising need to utilise persuasive communication, creative strategies and planning in order to capture the interest of the target group. The most significant feature in the marketing environment in the 21st century is the increasing active role of the consumer and the emergence of new technologies. This means that an effective and elaborate communication process must exist for a company to attract consumers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). There are various reasons for marketing especially when a product is in the mature stage of the product life cycle. In this stage, the sales are high but they tend to stabilize and without the right marketing channels, they can decrease. Therefore, the company needs to come up with a marketing strategy that stands out from its competitors and promotes the products in an extraordinary way (Kile, 2013). In the maturity stage, marketing plays significant roles with the consumers as it help them to associate with the brand by building trust with the customers. It also helps in increasing sales as more customers are attracted to the brand and since it is an established brand, they can trust the company to provide quality products. The company gains a favourable reputation through marketing (Brown, 2001). Marketing is significant for a company as it helps it to adapt to the constant changes occurring in the marketing environment. As many companies are embracing globalisation, information transparency and the use of the internet, their technological capabilities and business models are changing. This phenomenon has made marketing a crucial function in many organisations as they try to differentiate their products to suit the new consumer needs and expand their markets. Markets are also unpredictable following these changes, therefore, a company has to market its products to ensure that the consumers are retained and also capture the minds of new or prospective

History, Government, and Economics and their influence on Global and Research Paper

History, Government, and Economics and their influence on Global and Local Issues - Research Paper Example Discussion For decades, Arabs was in control of Arabs and Turks, who made it a part of their Ottoman Empire. It was in 1805 when Muhammad Ali Pasha, an Albanian solider took control of Egypt and declared himself as the â€Å"Sultan† and â€Å"Wali† of the country. Most authors agree that Pasha’s period mark the beginning of modern Egypt (Thompson, 2009). Despite the fact that Pasha was not a liberal or modernist but many of his reforms had great impact on the formation of the current culture of Egypt (Moscovitch, 2007). Pasha nationalized all the land in Egypt thus allowing the government to own all agriculture and crops produced in the country. He focused greatly on the industrial, primarily for building weapons for the army. Pasha sent promising students to Europe for higher studies and brought back those students to take key positions in educational institutions, hospitals, and bureaucracy (Goldschmidt, 2004; Vatikiotis, 1991). However, after the completion of Suez Canal, the British and French started taking a lot of interest in the domestic matters of the Egypt and eventually went to take over the country in 1882. This control remained until the year 1922 when Egypt became an independent country. During the British occupation, trade developed in the country and Immigrants from Southern Europe and Northern Africa flew into the country, which increased the total number of immigrants in the country to 1.5 million in the 1930s (Moscovitch, 2007). The independence was actually the result of 1†919 Egyptian Revolution, which was led by Saad Zaghlul, and other members of Wafd Party† (Moscovitch, 2007). Saad Zaghlul eventually went on to become the first prime minister of the country in the year 1924, one year after the formulation of Egyptian constitution (Vatikiotis, 1991). The British did retain the control of certain matters related to foreign policy of Egypt, wars and partial control of Sudan as well. This remains one of the re asons why even today, anti British feelings are observable in the hearts and minds of the masses of Egypt. During the First World War, British promised that they would take the entire burden over their shoulders, thousands of Egyptian shoulders lost their lives. Even in Second World War, British used Egypt as a base for Allied forces. â€Å"Anti-British feelings continued to grow and provided one of the reasons for the Egyptian Revolution of 1952† (Pateman & El-Hamamsy, 2003). The revolution was aimed at removing King Fahad 1 and making Egypt a republic. Corruption, lavish lifestyles of the rulers, monarchy, and inflation, ignorance of the rulers towards the domestic matters of country and pro British policies were among the other reasons (Moscovitch, 2007; Thompson, 2009). General Naguib took control of the country but Nasser who became the President of the country in 1956 later put him on a house arrest. Naseer Died in 1970 and Anwar Sadat took control after him. Both these leaders, despite being autocrats, remained extremely popular amongst the Egyptian and other Arab people. Sadat launched a war against Israel. Although it ended in a draw but Sadat considered this as his win (Goldschmidt, 2004). Important here to note is that the period of Nasser gave the Arab world what is known as pan-Arab ideology or Nasserism which still influences many Egyptians political and economic circles. The ideology asks for the complete or partial rejection of American and European systems and increased economic, political, and social support for members

Marketing Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Models - Essay Example Presently, marketing aspects such as advertising need to utilise persuasive communication, creative strategies and planning in order to capture the interest of the target group. The most significant feature in the marketing environment in the 21st century is the increasing active role of the consumer and the emergence of new technologies. This means that an effective and elaborate communication process must exist for a company to attract consumers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). There are various reasons for marketing especially when a product is in the mature stage of the product life cycle. In this stage, the sales are high but they tend to stabilize and without the right marketing channels, they can decrease. Therefore, the company needs to come up with a marketing strategy that stands out from its competitors and promotes the products in an extraordinary way (Kile, 2013). In the maturity stage, marketing plays significant roles with the consumers as it help them to associate with the brand by building trust with the customers. It also helps in increasing sales as more customers are attracted to the brand and since it is an established brand, they can trust the company to provide quality products. The company gains a favourable reputation through marketing (Brown, 2001). Marketing is significant for a company as it helps it to adapt to the constant changes occurring in the marketing environment. As many companies are embracing globalisation, information transparency and the use of the internet, their technological capabilities and business models are changing. This phenomenon has made marketing a crucial function in many organisations as they try to differentiate their products to suit the new consumer needs and expand their markets. Markets are also unpredictable following these changes, therefore, a company has to market its products to ensure that the consumers are retained and also capture the minds of new or prospective

Memoir Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Memoir - Essay Example Usually, I used to celebrate my birthday at home and only call my friend to wish him a happy birthday. One day, as we approached our birthdays, my friends suggested that we went hiking and celebrate surrounded by nature. That was a completely new experience for me, and I agreed. The only thing left to handle was to ask my parents whether I could do that. They allowed me to go hiking and celebrate my birthday with friends but they were upset because our tradition would be broken. I said I was old enough to decide how I wanted to celebrate. Now that I am recollecting that moment I deeply regret I said so. On the day we went hiking, the weather was perfect, and I was cheerful and optimistic. I could not wait to halt, put up tents and start celebrating my friend’s and my birthdays surrounded by nature around the campfire. I really enjoyed spending my special day with my friends; they gave us presents and said a lot of great words to us. They even managed to bring a small cake and light candles. Everything seemed to be perfect. I felt some discomfort though. At first, I thought it was caused only by the unfamiliar environment for I that was the first hike in my life. With some time passing, however, I understood what was wrong. I realized that it was not only the environment but people that made me feel that way. That discomfort was caused by the absence of my family and the atmosphere of a holiday that our house always has at such days. I have never really thought that our family ties are so strong. Also, I have never thought of myself as of a stay-at-home person. In fact, I have always thought I am not tied to my home and believed that I am able to leave it any time I want to do so. In reality, it appears that my family and the home we live in are the most important things in my life. All these memories and feelings were inspired by photos which I tend to look through from time to time. When I opened the page with the photos