Transformation of Nora in Henrik Isbens A Dolls House...

Transformation of Nora in Henrik Isbens A Dolls House During the time in which Henrik Isbens play, A Doll?s House, took place society frowned upon women asserting themselves. Women were supposed to play a role in which they supported their husbands, took care of their children, and made sure everything was perfect around the house. Nora is portrayed as a doll throughout the play until she realizes the truth about the world she lives in, and cuts herself free. Nora Helmer was a delicate character that had been pampered all of her life, by her father, and by Torvald. She really didnt have a care in the world. She didnt even have to care for the children; the maid would usually take care of that. In every sense of the word, she†¦show more content†¦She can use neither her married name nor her maiden name to borrow money. She finds that she cannot appropriate her fathers name. In other words, as a married woman she has neither authority nor identity. Panic begins to set in and she begins to feel helpless because she has no power to do anything about the situation. In act two Nora continues to act as she is supposed to, as a perfect housewife. She confides in her friend Mrs. Linde about her problem with Krogstad for the first time, which shows that she is starting to break free from Torvald and think for herself. Knowing that there isnt much that can be done to prevent Torvald from finding out, she tries to delay him from reading the letters. The climax of the play happens when Torvald does read the first letter Krogstad sent Nora questions (possibly for the first time), and Torvalds reaction is inappropriate. He treats her with no respect, calls her a liar and is ready to throw their whole marriage away just because his name might be hurt. He refuses to help her in any way, which shows that their marriage really didnt mean anything much. What a horrible awakening! All these eight years ? she who was my joy and pride ? a hypocrite, a liar ? worse, worse ? a criminal! The unutterable ugliness of it all! For shame! For shame!? (62). When the seco nd letter came and he found out that his name was saved, he acts as nothing just happened between the two of them and everything was back to normal. ?Try andShow MoreRelated Henrik Isbens A Doll’s House and Frederico Garcias The House of Bernarda Alba1556 Words   |  7 PagesHenrik Isbens A Doll’s House and Frederico Garcias The House of Bernarda Alba The House of Bernarda Alba and A Dolls House, by Frederico Garcia Lorca and Henrik Ibsen respectively, are two similar plays written at different times. In 1964, Fredericos The House of Bernarda Alba debuted in Madrid Spain, thirty-one years after its birth in 1933. It pioneered the style of surrealistic imagery, popular folklore and was written in prose. A Dolls House was published in 1879 and appeared on stage

Definition Of Existence Of Stereotypes - 1630 Words

Introduction: Existence of Stereotypes For decades, differences in gender have been at the forefront of debate, especially in relation to effective leadership in managing a company. Women were recognized as too emotional, weak or subordinate to be successful as managers. However, as time has passed, the perceptions of society have changed, and although women made the leap into many management positions, the stereotype that they are inferior to men still exists, making them feel the need to prove themselves. In management positions, women are challenged in different ways, present themselves in a different manner and communicate differently than men; however, despite the variations, females have successfully integrated themselves into the†¦show more content†¦For example, as Sarah Rutherford divulges in her article, women are stereotyped to be â€Å"more apologetic and less confident in their management styles compared to their male counterparts† (327). On the other hand, males are perceived as â€Å"bette r negotiators, strong leaders and great problem solvers† (Hamori-Ota 238). These two stereotypes reveal how more positive attributes are linked to males compared to females in relation to managing a company. However, more individuals are now focused on support of females in management positions and their qualities are being acknowledged. For example, women are recognized as better communicators â€Å"with their ability to handle unfamiliar, uncertain and sensitive social situations in the business world† (Rutherford 328). Overall, hiring personnel need to grasp the concept that in particular situations, varying management strategies can be successful, so the differing personalities, approaches and qualities each gender possesses can enhance the business. Although some companies hold onto the stereotype that one gender prevails over the other, the differing male and female management styles are complementary; therefore, beneficial to the business world as a whole. Gender-Specific Strategies and Characteristics of a Manager Both males and females have strengths that allow them to embody an

Origin/My Immortal by Evanescence free essay sample

The song â€Å"My Immortal† by Evanescence is really just a huge metaphor that has background music and a band behind it.This song was published in 2000 and it’s not well known anymore.I remember listening to it years ago, and although it wasn’t appealing to anyone else, I found myself stuck to it.To this day, the song and the lyrics especially! have never left me, because everytime I hear this song, I am taken on a magical tour about a woman who is trying to step into reality after trying not to lose hope†¦ At the start of her journey, the narrator in the song feels weak and wastes her time crying and complaining about her troubles. She acknowledges that she is â€Å"so tired of being here/suppressed by all [her] childish fears† as evidence that she is caught in an infinite whirl of misery where happiness will never exist again. We will write a custom essay sample on Origin/My Immortal by Evanescence or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the chorus, the singer introduces us to the nostalgia buried within her when she thinks about how her life used to be flawless when she and her true love had a bond of trust and affection that seemed everlasting. As she progresses onwards, Amy Lee (the lead singer) admits that everywhere she goes, the wonderful things that once enhanced her life now make her draw back in agony and fear. At this point, we realize that what the narrator is going through is not any ordinary sadness; it is a depressing, eternal affliction with more depth than most of us have ever experienced. Because this sorrow has taken over her life, the singer admits that â€Å"[His] voice it chased away all the sanity in me†, convincing us that the reminders of her past are driving Amy Lee out of her mind. As the song wraps up, the narrator has finally learned her lesson; though her beloved one is infinitely on her mind, he is gone, and all along as she has tried to be an optimist, she has been alone. What can she do about her broken heart? Absolutely nothing. She has tried to tell herself that he is not coming back, and yet her heart has tried to continue flying, hoping, and dreaming.Amy Lee has never stopped believing in a bright future, even when her life has collapsed into a big hole of desperation. That is where this song gets its name, â€Å"My Immortal†.Normally, an immortal would be one who cannot die, but in the true core of this song, the word immortal is used metaphorically to symbolize a perpetual hope that cannot be broken down.

Psychology Paper free essay sample

In this paper I am going to be talking about the philosophy of psychology in the 19th century. I am going to be discussing the roots in early philosophy leading into the 19th century that influenced the development of modern psychology, identify philosophers that historically relate to the beginnings of psychology as a formal discipline, identify major philosophers in the western tradition that were primary contributors to the formation of psychology as a discipline and explore the development of the science of psychology during the 19th century. There were several philosophers that historically relate to the beginnings psychology as a formal discipline. John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume and John Stuart Mill are just a few to mention. John Locke made a distinction between simple and complex. â€Å"Simple ideas resulted from experiencing basic sensory qualities such as yellow, white, heat and so on, and from making simple reflections such as â€Å"pleasant. We will write a custom essay sample on Psychology Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † A complex idea includes sever ideas, which can be a combination of simple and other complex ideas. Complex ideas are compounds and can be ultimately reduced to simple ones, much as chemical compounds are composed of simple elements. (Goodwin, 2008). David Hartley, another dualist, believed that although the mind and body operated separately but also parallel to each other. He used association in his theory of memories. He believed the â€Å"strength of association relies on repetition† (Goodwin, 2008). John Stuart Mill, known as the â€Å"key transition figure in the shift from the philosophy of the mind to the science of the mind† (Goodwin, 2008), used a chemical rather than mechanical description in our complex ideas are made from simple ones. He believed that the mind was much more active than passive. Mill’s logic consists of the Method of Agreement, Method of Difference, and Joint Method.

How to Create a Nursing Resume to Get You Hired

How to Create a Nursing Resume to Get You Hired You’ve put in the hard work and training to get all of your certifications, now you’re ready to go out into the world and start helping people- and getting paid for the privilege. You may think, as long as your qualifications are complete, you don’t need to do anything else. Unfortunately, you’ve got one more hurdle to clear. Yes, nurses. You too need a killer resume. Set yourself up against your classmates who’ll be applying for the same jobs you will by making sure to craft a clear, professional resume that highlights your particular skills and experience.There are a number of templates to be found online- for any position. Whether you’re looking for a position as an entry-level RN or nursing assistant, or you’re hoping for a significant promotion, the Internet can help.Step one: make your resume. Check out some resume samples.  Do a bit of research to see what seems to work best in a nursing resume. Ask your mentor or someone in t he profession you respect. Remember, the more work you put into your resume, the easier it will be to land the job.Once you’ve got your resume in order, make sure to have a friend or colleague proof it. Make sure you’ve struck the right tone- somewhere between confident and not-too-cocky. Then write yourself a cover letter, explaining anything you think is relevant or providing context you didn’t have space to provide in any one particular section of your resume.Remember, hiring managers don’t know you. Make sure you’re painting the clearest possible picture of who you are and what you do and why they’d be stupid not to hire you.

Skyscraper Technique How to Improve Your Content - CoSchedule

Skyscraper Technique How to Improve Your Content There is a long-standing SEO technique out there called the skyscraper technique. Have you heard of it? It consists of three steps. Find top performing content. Create better content than the current top performers. Try to get a bunch on people to link to your new content. It sounds pretty straightforward, and it is. Its a technique that has been shown to get good results, but not all of us are SEO experts, so how can it help us? The reality is that you dont have to be an expert in SEO to use this strategy to improve your content marketing. It works for everyone. Before you jump in, it is important to understand what this technique is not: An exclusive SEO thing meant for nerds. Permission or license to steal someone elses work or content. Permission to claim an entire idea, without building on it, as your own. I know what youre thinking.  What am I getting myself into here?   Hang with me–this could really help your content. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Content With a Content Audit Template How To Use The  Skyscraper Technique To  Improve Your Content Marketing The skyscraper technique is actually a fairly simple method that will allow you to see the top content for a given keyword string or topic idea. Using a few simple tools, you will instantly know what posts are being shared the most, what topics they are covering, and the level of quality the currently-shared content is at. As a content marketer, this is gold. Not only will you be armed with some great content ideas, but you will be able to target your content marketing to what your audience is already demanding.  And, lets not forget about the insight of overall content quality. The skyscraper technique will show you where the bar is in terms of content quality. In theory, you should be able to one-up that content and produce something even better. Heres how the technique works. Get Your Free Skyscraper Technique Template Bundle Download three free resources to create better content than your competition: A Skyscraper Technique checklist to apply this advice on every post you write. A Content Writing Template to create content and keep it organized. A Competitive Content Analysis spreadsheet to research your competitors (so you can create something better). How to Improve Your Content with the Skyscraper TechniqueStep #1: Find Top Performing Content BuzzSumo  is a great little tool for finding content ideas. As a content research tool, BuzzSumo  can provide you with a conclusive list of some of the most popular content for a given set of keywords. As an example, take a look at this search for content marketing. You can easily see the top content for the term "content marketing" based on social shares per network, plus total social shares overall. You can find quite a bit of information, even without a paid subscription. However, with a paid subscription, you can also view backlinks and see who shared each piece of content. Understanding what the top content on your topic is helpful for the following reasons: Sharpening your focus on specific post ideas. Course corrections on topics you already cover. Finding new ideas on how to approach old topics. Uncovering new topics that you are missing completely. Here's how to improve your content with the Skyscraper TechniqueThe results can be listed based on the number of times it has been shared on social media in total, or by network. Both of these factors are important for this step. By default, BuzzSumo  will  sort by total sharing stats: If you don't have a paid subscription to BuzzSumo, don't worry. You can find backlink information for top content free using the Moz Toolbar (which works with either Chrome or Firefox). Once you've installed the toolbar, take the keyword you entered in BuzzSumo, and try searching it on Google. These won't necessarily match the "most shared" posts you've surfaced with BuzzSumo, but the data you find will still be useful (and it'll show you even more posts to gather inspiration). This toolbar will add an overlay to each search result providing backlink information for each page. Specifically, it'll tell you: Each site's Domain Authority. This is a metric on a 100-point scale that tells you how authoritative a site or blog is. The higher this number, the harder they will be to compete with for  page one space in Google's search results. Each result's Page Authority. This is similar to Domain Authority, except it refers only to how authoritative that specific page is. How many backlinks each result has received. If you see lots of posts with high numbers of links, this shows you've found a popular topic. Next, compare that to content to the posts that BuzzSumo says are  most likely to be shared via social media: When you start to compare these two lists, things might get interesting. The key is understanding what you should  actually  do with this information. Here are some tips: Grab some of the best topic ideas and file them away for later. (Don't steal!) Figure out what topics are being shared the most on social media. What do they have in common? Understand what type of content is being linked to the most from other sites. Get a benchmark on the type of the content that is being shared (text, photos, videos, etc.) Understand headline intricacies for both linked and shared content. See the big content topics that readers care about. Think about this method as a way to get smarter about the type of content that your audience wants to read, link to, and share via social media. Tip: If you find yourself interested in finding a bit more data, you can always try a Google search or a search on Twitter.com itself. Both of these resources can add another layer of data to your findings. Step #2: Create Better Content Than The Current Top Performers The next thing that you should do is take an audit of   the  content that is performing the best. This will help you improve your own content by understanding what exactly makes up a top post. Begin by clicking through to a few of the links on your BuzzSumo  search results. What are the common themes that you see? Here are a few of the things you should be looking for. Average content length. Average number of images. Overall quality of content (rank from 1-10). Specific keywords/key-phrases used. This can work even better if you chart your findings. For the chart below, I audited the term "skyscraper technique" which is the keyword I used to write this post. The goal here isn't scientific data. More so, it is about taking the time to analyze the content beyond the service. Use a simple word count tool to figure out how many words are on the page, or a word frequency counter to make a guess at what keywords the post is targeting. Adding a simple tally of the images and videos in a post also gives you an idea of what type of content is performing so well. For example, could you spring ahead by introducing a post with video content? Recommended Reading: 21 Social Media Templates That Will Help You Execute a Strategy for 10X Growth Step #3: Now, Make Something Better Than Everyone Else on the List Here are a few things you can do. Make Your Content Longer and More In-Depth One of the simple things that you can do to one-up your content marketing competitors is to create longer content than they do. Results has shown that longer content typically performs better on search engines, so taking the time to add a few hundred (or thousand) extra words can easily pay off over time. Add Images, Videos, and Other Rich Content You will notice that some posts actually offer little written content, but rather a lot of images or video-based content. This can make for excellent content that readers love to share and link to. Be sure to take note if there are no top sites offering this type of content. It could provide an opportunity for you to leap ahead. Dig Deeper Into the Topic Even today there are still many pages that rank well on Google, but provide little actual value to the customer. If you notice this happening, then you have a golden opportunity to add something of value to the mix. Never miss the chance to simply do a better job of covering a topic and making things useful for the reader. Think More Strategically Many blog posts do a poor job of using keywords and do little to emphasize the SEO value of content marketing. Simply adding this additional effort to your process could make the difference. Step #3:  Get People To Link To Your Content The third step of the skyscraper technique   is usually the hardest. How do you get people to link to your blog? Sure, there is always promoting it on social media, but what else is there? There are a lot of theories and questionable methods that even involve cold-pitching via email, but they rarely work and should be used with caution. The better, and more reliable, way is to simply earn it by creating better content. Remember, we decided to give this skyscraper thing a try because we wanted to improve our content marketing. That means two things: Better content ideas. Better content. Nothing builds backlinks like great content. #QualityFirst #SEO #ContentMarketingIt really is as simple as that. Try Applying the Skyscraper Technique Yourself With the skyscraper technique, we can easily see what content is performing the best and being shared the most. This should easily help us generate a constant supply of new ideas for blog posts and content marketing campaigns. In some ways, I like to think of this technique as a simple way of introducing new ideas and thought patterns into my brain. After one look at BuzzSumo, I usually have new blog post idea that I may not have thought of on my own. There is value in that. Always remember that the end-goal here isn't to copy the ideas and content from another post. You should be able come up with your own take on a topic, and do it better. The skyscraper technique will help you understand what topics to cover and how to cover them in a way that will help you leap ahead of the competition.

Utilitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Utilitarianism - Essay Example Bentham’s Principle evaluates unhappiness and happiness based on their relation to pain and pleasure respectively. His principle characterized by the use of anxiety, closeness and unease as the basis for describing pain and comfort (Smart & Bayles, 1968). John Mill defined utilitarianism criticizing Bentham’s proposition. He described it as a quality representing delight as opposed to pleasure. He added that it is impossible to quantify pleasure thereby leading to the conclusion that the greatest principle of utilitarianism is enjoyment (Smart & Bayles, 1968). Act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism are the two categories defined by Start Mills. In this course, Smart states the importance of deriving the importance between the two categories in the process of understanding the implication of an individual’s actions. According to act utilitarianism, rules are not required to guide judgement of happiness. It states that moral rightness of an individual’s action is judged on the basis of comparison of the happiness it yields to what any other actions he or she could have performed within that time. A good illustration; if the consequences of breaking a promise are considered more rewarding compared to keeping it, there should be no regulations restricting an extreme utilitarianism. On the other hand, Rule utilitarianism evaluates rightness according to its conformity to the rules that are known to yield greatest good. In which case, rightness of the subject rule acts as a bechnmark for deciding on the rightness or wrongness of the given action (Kant, 1998). If embraced by all, a maximum enjoyment would be realized. An activity will be evaluated according rules followed hence a noble action follows defined rules. However, there are some flaws associated with utilitarianism. One of these is that it appears to limit ethical theory by ignoring means, considered to be of significance for advancement of

News media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

News media - Research Paper Example The principle of this article was to make clear to the public about the dangers of meat product consumption. In addition, it would arouse the government to introduce activities that could tame unscrupulous meat packagers and processors. In this sense, this article is intended for responsible entities such as the USDA. It is also projected to the public and institutions such as public schools. For the public, it is vital that they assess the credibility of restaurants and retail houses. On the other hand, the government should attain information about the potent of the current food industry for respective reactions. This is a NY Times piece that was published in the month of October and in the 2009. New York Times is an approved entity that specializes in various kinds of informative articles. They range from investigative reports to reactionary opinions. According to New York Times, Moss is a Pulitzer winning journalist that has been specializing in investigative and informative pieces. In this sense, his pieces would be mostly objective and vent oriented. Mr. Moss has a high level of credibility since he specializes in food industry. His Pulitzer price was based on the E.Coli virus report about Stephanie’s situation. Since 1994, the government banned grocers and meat companies from beef that carries the virulent strain of E.Coli (Moss 1). The scientific name of the virus relates to 0157:H7. It came into public focus in 1994 because of an outbreak which resulted into the deaths of four children. In spite of its age since the 1994 scare, many individuals still sicken of this deadly pathogen. In spite of Ms. Smith’s extreme reaction to E.coli strain, it is discernible that the system was lousy in its meat safety procedures (Moss 1). This is exemplified in the trace of her infection through corporate records and interviews. This makes beef consumption a dangerous

Deurbanization in Detroit Essay Example for Free

Deurbanization in Detroit Essay Downtown Detroit has faced tremendous decline over decades, and only now is it undergoing some redevelopments. Many city-led efforts have altered the city and its economy by focusing on taking in corporate dollars and new residents, but it is said by some grassroots organizations that issues faced by Detroit’s inner-city neighborhoods are left ignorant by this method. To create a socially sustainable Detroit, a crucial notion will be the growing collaboration between the advocates of these disparate strategies. Present day Detroit stands at a junction in terms of its future and how it’ll pan out via these redevelopments. Since the early to mid 20th century Downtown has not looked any better. Loft living, casinos, new stadiums and resettlement of corporate offices of companies like Compuware and of very recent Quicken Loans are all supplying to people so they return, which stands to be a reflection of the return of cooperate development. With respect to history since the 1960’s and subsequently, in recent years majority of the city’s resources have been the focus of this traditional or corporate redevelopment model. However, the efficiency of these tactics comes to questioning when you see how throughout Detroit, both in downtown and innumerable neighborhoods, most of the post-industrial decay and desolation found is produced by corporations. Concepts like ‘Creative class†, the â€Å"Cool cities’, green collar jobs, urban agriculture and even ‘Imagination economy’ argufy the traditional corporate tax-break-downtown paradigm. Present debate over the city’s redevelopment also ruminate an urban culture which came upon arduous history of clashing classes, racism, deindustrialization and down grading environment, So to achieve conceiving the purpose of city and society and not just redevelop it. Today, in order to reinvent a new Detroit for the 21st century the city an d its residents must come in terms with the bygones and the crude realty which it has imprinted up on the city. Corporate Refurbishment With new lofts, residences and restaurants emerging near downtown Detroit, all thanks to corporate projects like Ford Field, Comerica Park and the relocation of Quicken Loans and Compuware, the city is made more vibrant. But these pledges are likewise a deliberate choice to entice back through, physical enhancements and attraction, the white middle that fled since the early Second World War and continue even today. Simultaneously, these policies neglect many concerns in the city’s neighborhoods where reside largely African American. Status quo policies are eventually implanted in the same system that originally resulted in Detroit’s downfall and it seems that it fails to acknowledge the history of decline that shaped the city’s problems to begin with. They carry a sense of immediacy and rightly so. But the long term reliability of these solutions is unclear, especially when attention given to alternatives is rare. Downtown city perhaps, being the most prominent city symbol, stands far from being a decent portrayal of Detroit as a whole. ‘Cool Cities’ program of the state of Michigan and ‘Creative Class’ notion of Richard Florida manifests some of the most prevalent concepts as substitutes to the strictly corporate and grand model of urban redevelopment. These ideas cater to create a ‘people climate’ to attract the crowd by emphasizing the link between education centers, a vibrant ‘authentic’ urban center and a lively middle class. Their bases rely on containing and appealing talented people via opportunities and educational institutions rather than creating casinos and stadiums to lure tourist. Successful examples of this strategy are: San Francisco, Chicago, Portland and New York. In some regards Detroit is striving to replicate these cities’s success. Loft living, local restaurants, the educational appeal of Wayne State University and to some stretch, the river walk, is this notions part. Nevertheless, there lies a prominent belief under these ideas that struggling cities like Detroit can only be revitalized by attracting fresh residents, instead of investing in the people having bore the living cost of urban decline, and go beyond radical and particularly class boundaries. Fresh solutions to the Urban Crisis: With a focal point being Detroit’s neighborhood, an increasing number of people prefer a truly new means of thinking on how urban centers be redeveloped in a holistic manner for a socially and an environmentally sustainable future. Entrepreneurial socialist Jackie Victor, â€Å"Community activist† Grace Lee Boggs, and Capuchin Monks and organizations alike The Greening of Detroit advocate for people and believe that residents, forgotten and abandoned by what Boggs titles the â€Å"dominant culture† must ‘grow their souls’ which meet their needs by visualizing a fresh way of redevelopment. The growing presence of urban organic farming in the city’s neighborhoods manifests new ways of conceiving Detroit’s present situation, business morals of Avalon Bakery (with a devotion to local community and socially responsible mission, is an organic bakery opened by Detroit residents) and even at university level, where from the University of Detroi t Mercy a group of students formed the Adamah Project, an agricultural and green vision for Detroit’s eastside. Co founder, Avalon Bakery , Jakie Victor highlights not only her business model but also wider themes of self determination and local reliance when she writes â€Å"Sustainability, local economy, and community are three pillars of the path not-yet taken in Detroit. A path that moves beyond downtown development, beyond ‘cool cities. The Imagination Economy can be an authentic expression of who we are, .However the uneven focus given on downtown leads to these themes not being presented on equal level in the city redevelopment strategies, which very similar to suburban sprawl, neglects and sustains in society class and racial division that have been Detroit’s and other cities – part for years of history. Not focusing on the needs and assets of the current residents, the local government seems vastly focused on luring people to the city. It is unwilling, amidst the continued desolation of its residents, to look for new solutions that would aim to profit a larger division of the city but is rather enraptured with the idea that community wellbeing and jobs can only come through physical improvements and corporations. As a result same people, who have been at the pit of this flunked system, receive a clear message of hopelessness and betrayal. A holistic approach to redevelopment In Detroit the community-centered ‘agri-urban’ sides of the redevelopment argument seeks to rebuilt the prevailing communities of the city and in an all-inclusive way , by linking environment issues, education and in Avalon Bakery’s instance, business ethics. In August 2007, after a lucrative garden tour of the city, one Detroiter remarked: Detroit, without a doubt is a stronghold of possibility. When these disparate, groups advocating redevelopment, harness the potential for collaboration and genuine dialogue, Detroit can reach beyond possibility, to become the next grand American city, by creating a authentic holistic redevelopment structure that addresses historically established problems of community degradation and race/class while dealing with subjective matters such as environmental sustainability. To some it seems unreasonable that Detroit should bear a radically dissimilar model of urban redevelopment policy alone, a city affected by treacherous Federal policies. If successful, Detroit will become an exemplar for the region as a compliant metropolitan future and that’ll make the entire difference.

Classroom Management and Learning Theories Essay -- teaching practices,

Teachers use theories, models of learning, and professional standards to shape their teaching practices. There are several learning theories that have evolved the educational field. Theories guide instruction and the beliefs of the teachers. Teachers use these theories, standards, and personal beliefs to develop goals in order to improve teaching effectiveness. Through exploring multiple learning theories and reflecting on my own teaching beliefs, I have developed my own theory of learning. As I developed my theory, I wanted to consider what it takes to be a highly effective teacher. An effective teacher must have mastery of instructional strategies, classroom management, classroom curriculum design, and use assessments as feedback (Laureate Education, 2010a). By using a variety of instructional strategies, teacher’s can meet the learning styles of all the students in the classroom. Effective classroom management can lead to students feeling safe and more willing to take risks. When a student feels comfortable to take risk, then learning will increase and the students’ confidence will grow. Classroom management also creates order in the environment, which will allow effective learning to occur. By understanding curriculum, the teacher can target skills and causes learning to take place. Teachers need to deliberately pl an lessons around standards and specific goals based on curriculum and the school’s mission (Marzano, 2010). Assessments need to be use to guide instruction and used as a â€Å"method for improvement and mastery,† (Marzano, 2010). While determining my own theory of learning, I believe that I need to consider what effective teachers demonstrate in the classroom. My theory of learning is based around the ... ...ation, Inc. (2010). Designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment: Research on learning. Baltimore, MD: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment: Teaching and learning. Baltimore, MD: Author. Killion, J. (2008). Knowledge, attitude, skills, aspirations, behaviors (KASAB) matrix. Adapted from Assessing impact: Evaluating staff development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Marzano, R. J. (Ed.). (2010). On excellence in teaching. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. National Board Professional Teaching Standards. (2002). What teachers should know and be able to do. Retrieved from http://www.nbpts.org/sites/default/files/documents/certificates/what_teachers_should_know.pdf Social Learning Theory (Bandura). (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html

Plastic Water Bottles, Are they safe? Essay

People these days use plastic bottles filled with water since it is durable and light to carry. Many colorful plastic water bottles out in the market today which are trendy, and perfect for active lifestyle. Those colorful bottles are made with polycarbonate plastics. However, majority of the plastic water bottle users did not know that it may cause serious health hazards because of the materials used in making the plastic water bottles. The harmful material which makes up the plastic bottle is the lexan polycarbonate resin. Research found out that this type of plastic polymer is accidentally developed by General Electric in 1953. Variety of products over four decades like compact discs and DVDs, bullet-proof windows, computers, mobile phones, baby bottles and water bottles were made up of lexan polycarbonate resin. People think that if it doesn’t change the flavor of the liquid inside the plastic bottle it is safe. A discovery by Dr. Patricia Hunt in 1998, those plastics which are made from polycarbonate resin can leach bisphenol-A (BPA), BPA is known endocrine disruptor, which is a xenoestrogen that disturb the hormonal messaging in our bodies. Heat exposure, like leaving your plastic water bottle in your car, back pack, sitting the plastic water bottle on your desk is not also safe. The attractive colorful plastic bottles made with polycarbonate plastics may leach BPA. This chemical can be leached into the water bottles contents through wear and tear, exposure to heat and cleaning agents. This is also found in epoxy resin and other polycarbonate plastics that may damage the reproductive organs and have negative effects on tumors, prostate development by reducing sperm count and breast tissue development. BPA is also linked to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes and destructive to babies and young children. Plastic water bottles are only good for singe use. After using them it is better to dispose or have it recycled. The toxins in the plastic bottles bring harmful effects to every user, and those harmful effects are slowly killing the organs in our body. These days those types of plastic bottle which contains BPA are now banned due to its bad effects to our health. There are ways for us to keep away from harm and to avoid exposure to BPA. Instead of using plastic water bottles, switch to stainless steel water bottle, but still you have to be careful because many products on the market are lined with epoxy finish. Another means, is to use glass bottles even they are a bit heavier, but are good and safe to use. Works Cited Medical News Today. http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/articles Polycarbonate Plastics and Bisphenol. http://www. bisphenol-a. org/human/polyplastics. html Water and Hydration Bottle Health. http://gearjunkie. com

The Disability and the Media

In the disability and the media by Charles A. Riley II who is a professor of journalism at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York. Who is the co-founder of We (Media) We (Media) is the first multimedia company devoted to people with disabilities. He is also the former editor-in-chief of WE (media) magazine, a national bimonthly magazine which he has written two dozen cover stories. Riley was the director of communications for the International Center for Corporate Accountability, a Baruch-based labor, and environmental monitoring NGO. Riley was also a member of the board of the Asian American Research Institute and advisor to the Asian American Higher Education Council. And he has won major awards for his coverage of disability from Easter Seals, the National Recovery Alliance United, Cerebral Palsy and other organizations and acted as an advisor on both small business and accessibility issues to corporations. These include IBM, AT&T and Microsoft, the White House and the office of the mayor in New York City. As stated on page 529, â€Å"All branches of the media considered here, from print to television, radio, and move (including advertisement) to multimedia and the Internet, are guilty of the same distillation of stories of their own, usually fiscal, ends.† The audience is addressed in a way. They are addressed by saying that, they are the ones that take people with disabilities and they also change how they are being and the benefits they receive than other people. This article also addresses the general public, which is the people who believe in the media and take what the media says as everything and final. Riley tried to get peoples attention across what the media has been doing and not telling the truth but lie. â€Å"This is patronizing, trivializing, and marginalizing ur-narrative of distance ability in the media today.† This is talking about how the media uses people with disabilities and transforms and changes the person or subject they are using, possibly making them out to be the complete and total opposite of who they truly are. He uses Aimee Mullins experience to talk about her fifteen minutes of fame for her running with amputated legs but did not talk about her being a Pentagon intern and appearing on the dean's list as an academic genius and diplomacy at Georgetown. Riley talks about how the achievement of Aimee's are always told over and over by authors and journalist who are well-meaning but sometimes never give out enough information to find out who she really is. He says that most articles talk about her success and glorify her achievements with her disability into something way bigger than it truly is. It states, â€Å"However, today's storytellers, including those in the disability media, are more likely to make people with disabilities into ‘heroes of assimilation.† He is talking about how the media takes a simple person with disabilities and makes them out to be a hero for overcoming and fighting the battle they face, but rarely tell much about the person outside of the disability. â€Å"Every time Aimee Mullins sees her name in the papers she braces herself for some predictable version of the same headline followed by the same old story.† (Page 529) Riley talks about how the media always introduce her on headlines that seem to address her the same way every single time and never really talks about who she is. People do not like it sometimes what the media do and intend to forget what it could do to them or even forget who they are. I believe his main idea is not to just listen to the media, but to learn more about the person outside of the media as much as you can, because sometimes, everything you see and hear is not the truth.

Is globalisation a new phenomenon in world politics Essays

Is globalisation a new phenomenon in world politics Essays Is globalisation a new phenomenon in world politics Essay Is globalisation a new phenomenon in world politics Essay In the many academic papers and books published on the subject, globalisation has been given numerous and varying definitions. In spite of these variations, globalisation is commonly agreed to be political, social and economic in its effects: In political life, globalization takes a distinct form, though the general trends towards deterrorialization, interconnectedness across borders, and the acceleration of social activity are fundamental here as well( Scheuerman, 2002) The Progressive Living Glossary defines it as being both a cultural and political concept, seeing it as a trend towards a single world society, a process which trends toward the undermining of national sovereignty in favor of the economic interests of gigantic transnational corporations. (www. progressiveliving. org). Alternatively, Anthony Giddens, a leading sociologist, defines globalisation as a decoupling of space and time and states that culture and knowledge can be instantaneously shared throughout the world using communications systems such as the Internet. www. globalisationguide. org). For the purposes of this essay, I will be utilising the definition that I feel best fits the concept of globalisation, that of Baylis and Smith, who state it as the process of increasing interconnectedness between societies such that events in one part of the world more and more have effects on peoples and societies far away (2001, p7). Although the word globalisation itself is a relatively ne w one, the concept as particularly seen through this last definition can be traced back centuries, even to ancient times. In this essay I intend to show that globalisation is not a new phenomenon and that although there seems to be no commonly agreed point of origin, its roots can be traced back through world history. Additionally, there seems to be an inextricable link between the development of globalisation and the growth of capitalism. However, the advent of instantaneous global telecommunication systems and increased access to all parts of the globe have effectively allowed the process to advance a greater rate in more recent years. The Roman Empire, which encompassed most of the known world, showed clear evidence of sophisticated levels of interconnectedness. Economically, it had its own commercial trading network which stretched hundreds of miles and a common currency similar to that of the modern European Union. On a social level, their culture strongly permeated their conquered nationalities, the legacies of which can still be seen today. Effective communication systems enabled political decisions, originating in Rome, to be carried out across the length and breadth of the empire. The first circumnavigation of the earth in 1519 to 1521 can be regarded as the next significant event which furthered the progress of globalisation from earlier times. For the first time in history the entire world was potentially exposed to global influences. The resulting explosion in trade, on a scale never experienced before, marked the first great leap forward for globalisation. This was quickly followed by a growth in colonialism amongst the great European powers. These powers succeeded in carving most of the known world into vast empires, meaning that by the late nineteenth century even isolated and previously inaccessible continents, like the interior of Africa, were under the jurisdiction of European powers. (Baylis and Smith(eds), 2001, p 45). The Concert of Europe, which was a balance of power coalition, applied the notions of diplomacy and international law on a world wide scale by enforcing them upon their colonies. Even the countries which did not fall under the control of a European nation, were still obliged to abide by these practises. Although it can be argued that western powers economically exploited and enforced their culture upon their colonial territories, nonetheless, this still represents a form of interconnectedness concurrent with the above definition of globalisation cited earlier (Baylis and Smith, 2001). In the years following World War II a strong feeling of anticolonialism emerged. Leaders of European colonies demanded self-determination, an ideal which had its origins in western culture. The resulting independence allowed them access to an inclusive international society thus increasing the existence of interconnectedness between states and nations. From 1947 onwards the majority of Asian and African colonies gained their independence, became full members of the United Nations thus effectively creating a new world order. From the 1960s onwards, the introduction of global communications succeeded in further reducing local and national boundaries as the transfer of information, and potentially power, became instantaneous. However, the ongoing Cold War remained a major barrier as it effectively divided the globe and prevented the process of interconnectedness politically, socially and economically. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 the last remaining obstacle to globalisation was effectively removed. For the first time in history an international society encompassing the entire world was created. With Communism defeated, for the first time, every country in the world was either capitalist or dependent on trade with capitalist nations. This created an ideal environment for globalisation to flourish. Transnational corporations were able to expand into previously forbidden areas and trade worldwide. Countries from the former Soviet Bloc could now communicate with Western nations, and vice versa, meaning that ideas and cultural experience could be exchanged. Cultural communication at a global level has also increased rapidly. Through the combination of TV, radio, Internet and film, experience of diverse cultures can be gained. The speed at which globalisation has occurred in the past century at a political level is clear to see when studying the number of international organisations and agencies which now exist. Intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have sprung up at an incredible rate. In 1909 37 IGOs and 176 INGOs existed, while in 1996, this had grown to 260 IGOs and five and a half thousand INGOs. This proves that globalisation is not a new phenomenon, as at the start of the Twentieth century there existed many international agencies. However, the number which exist in modern times shows just how quickly globalisation has progressed. The main difference between the globalisation today and that of say, a hundred years ago, is the difference in communication. Whilst international trade amongst the richest countries is not significantly greater than it was at the start of the twentieth century, but international communication was slow and expensive. The growth of instantaneous communications has completely changed the political system. This can be seen most clearly when looking at modern warfare. Wars can now be controlled from a computer screen thousands of miles away from the front line. The process of globalisation, although an ongoing one, has rapidly accelerated in the past ten to fifteen years. The fall of the Soviet Union gave rise to a truly worldwide international community for the first time, and global communications systems enable this community to talk to each other instantaneously. World trade has also grown due to the emergence of capitalism as the ideological victor of the Cold War and due to the great advances in communications, specifically the Internet. Globalisation, however, is not entirely new, as its roots lie centuries back. Recent events have taken the process to heights never previously seen or envisaged, but essentially, globalisation has existed, to a lesser extent, for as long as people have been internationally trading.

Definition and Examples of Creoles

Definition and Examples of Creoles In linguistics, a creole is a type of  natural  language that developed historically from a pidgin and came into existence at a fairly precise point in time.  English creoles are spoken by  some of the people in  Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and  parts of Georgia and South Carolina. The historical  transition from a pidgin to a creole is called creolization.  Decreolization is the process by  which a creole language gradually becomes more like the standard language of a region (or the acrolect). The language that provides a creole with most of its vocabulary is called the lexifier language. For example, the lexifier language of Gullah (also called  Sea Island Creole English) is English.   Examples and Observations of Creole Creolization-  A pidgin is the combination of two or more languages which sometimes occurs in trade contact, multi-ethnic or refugee situations, where participants need a functioning common language. . . . Sometimes the pidgin becomes stable and established and comes to be spoken as a mother-tongue by children: the language has then become a creole, which quickly develops in complexity and is used in all functional settings. The process of turning a pidgin into a creole is called ​creolization.(Robert Lawrence Trask and Peter Stockwell, Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts. Routledge, 2007)-   A creole has a jargon or a pidgin in its ancestry; it is spoken natively by an entire speech community, often one whose ancestors were displaced geographically so that their ties with their original language and sociocultural identity were partly broken. Such social conditions were often the result of slavery.(John A. Holm, An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles. Cambridge Univ ersity Press, 2000) Similar Features of CreolesLinguists have been struck by the similarities between widely separated creoles. These include such features as SVO word order, pre-verbal negation, lack of a formal passive voice, questions with the same forms as statements, and copula deletion. Some linguists argue that such similarities are evidence of an innate language faculty or bioprogram- that in conditions of impoverished linguistic input, children will nevertheless develop a fully fledged syntax based on universal grammar.(Michael Pearce, The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies. Routledge, 2007)Gullah-  The English variety spoken by descendants of Africans on the coast of South Carolina is known as Gullah and has been identified as a creole. Of all the vernaculars associated with African Americans, it is the one that diverges the most from (White) middle-class varieties in North America.(S.S. Mufwene, North American Varieties of English as Byproducts of Population Contacts, in The W orkings of Language, ed. by R. S. Wheeler. Greenwood, 1999)- On possible to get straight wood from crooked timber.(A Gullah  proverb,  from  The Gullah People and Their African Heritage, 2005)- The Gullah lexicon is  largely English. From his research conducted in the late 1930s, Lorenzo Turner was the first linguist to document over 4000 Africanisms in the Gullah lexicon,  many of them used as basket names (e.g. Gullah nicknames). Today you can still hear in normal everyday conversations such African retentions as  buckra white man, tita elder sister, dada mother or elder sister, nyam eat/meat, sa quickly, benne sesame, una you, and da the verb to be.  Other Gullah Africanisms such as  cooter turtle, tote to carry, okra plant food, gumbo stew, and goober peanut are widely used in mainstream American English.(Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World, ed. by  Keith Brown and Sarah Ogilvie.  Elsevier, 2009 Disagreements Over the Creole Roots of Black English in the U.S.[A]s for various arguments that Black English displays African or creole roots because of the role that aspect plays in its grammar (e.g., DeBose and Faraclas 1993), the issue is in fact not yet sufficiently examined to stand as an accepted fact. For one, tense plays a much more central role in Black English grammar than in Creoles or the West African languages of the Upper Guinea region, underlyingly marking the past and future as obligatorily as any Indo-European grammar (cf. also Winford 1998: 116). Second, typical of Creolist Hypothesis advocates generally insufficient attention to English dialects, the aspect arguments do not address the role that aspect in nonstandard British dialects may have played. This gap in argumentation alone renders the linkage of Black English aspect to Africa and creoles seriously incomplete, which is all the more significant given that there is indeed evidence that nonstandard British di alects are more aspect-focused than standard English (Trugdill and Chambers 1991).(John H. McWhorter, Defining Creoles. Oxford University  Press, 2005) Pronunciation: KREE-ol

The Arts as a Learning Lens Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Arts as a Learning Lens - Assignment Example The element will assist the students in their role-play skills. It may be used to enhance health and physical education in the students. Drama may entail the writing role, interpretation, and process drama. The level of demand for the art will affect the students’ health and physical fitness due to the relationship. Role writing and interpretation of scripts will allow the students to enhance their thinking skills. The drama sessions will also provide physical education where the students will be required to move around while utilizing their talents. The participation of students in a group and individual activities will be an expectation from the students in Grades 4. Additionally, there will also be sustaining belief and maintaining focus among the students that will help in boosting their social lives in the end. The students involvement in drama will improve their movement skills; hence, resulting in positive impacts. Involvement in physical activities will lead to the elimination of some of the common causes of children illnesses. The drama forms can be applied differently to enhance competence and understanding. Improvising more movement connections will help the students manipulate the story elements. Professional theater productions can be due to a change in the students attitude and experiments with various techniques. Grade 4 students are in the process of understanding music elements due to the developing urge to read music notation. Musical approaches may be through moving, singing, creating, and playing instruments with other. The element can also be used as a foundation to understand various cultures due to different socio-cultural beliefs. The students’ exposure to related fields such as dancing will assist in keeping the healthy. Critical thinking skills will also be used as approaches to help them in their social and physical skills. A critical analysis of the art elements

Marketing Communications Plan and Press Release for Viejas Essay

Marketing Communications Plan and Press Release for Viejas - Essay Example In this essay, the researcher develops a marketing communication plan for the Viejas Outlet Center in order to increase visitor numbers to the center so that it can survive the current recessionary downturn. The marketing plan includes such strategies, which will play their role in creating awareness among the public about the facilities and entertainment provided by Viejas Outlet Center as well as the new stores’ opening. The creation of a marketing plan is very vital for any business enterprise because it helps to create the entire business plan which is like the route map of the business. The major goals and objectives regarding development of marketing plan include increase in market share, achievement of market dominance, gaining competitive edge over the rivals, seasonal promotions, market penetration, and creating awareness among the public about the facilities and entertainment provided by the outlet. The researcher of this essay prepares a well structured marketing pl an, which will eliminate all flaws that exist in the existing marketing plans of Viejas Outlet Centre. Such modes of advertising will be used which will make every person aware of the new facilities and entertainment stuff provided by the centre. The researcher then concluds that in order to let the public know about the entertainment facilities to be provided by the Viejas Outlet Center, we will use different forms of media, such as, television, social websites, and radio regarding the openings of the new stores throughout the year.

Closing argument (persuasive) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Closing argument (persuasive) - Essay Example George Milton’s action was necessary. He has no other choice but to take away the life of Lennie. George should not be accused of any crime or he should not be considered guilty. George knows Lennie quite obviously. He is acquainted with Lennie so much that he knows that Lennie is always ready to harm himself with his activities. Lennie is not fully mentally fit and performs acts that are disadvantageous for him and he is not aware of this fact. Such as Lennie has hidden a dead mouse in his pocket, which can be epidemically harmful for him. George took it away from him but he again put it into his pocket. â€Å"George stood up and threw the mouse as far as he could into the darkening brush, and then he stepped to the pool and washed his hands. "You crazy fool. Dont you think I could see your feet was wet where you went acrost the river to get it?" He heard Lennies whimpering cry and wheeled about. "Blubberin like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you." Lennies lip quivered and tears started in his eyes. "Aw, Lennie!" George put his hand on Lennies shoulder. "I aint takin it away jus for meanness. That mouse aint fresh, Lennie; and besides, youve broke it pettin it." (Steinbeck 5) Lennie wants to pet a dead mouse without considering that it can cause a disease. George takes it away and throws it away twice. George wants to correct Lennie at each and every incidence by guiding him to do the rightful. He knows that his friend mishandles every creature whether it is an animal or a human being. Such as when Curley’s wife allows him to play with her hair, he mishandles them and at last, kills the woman by mistake. He is unable to feel that he becomes a reason for killing creatures by his mishandling. â€Å"She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free; and from under Lennies hand came a muffled screaming. Lennie began to cry with fright. "Oh! Please dont do none of that," he begged.

Designing and Implementing E-procurement

Designing and Implementing E-procurement CHAPTER ONE: Background Study Overview The project is designing and implementing e-procurement on business-to-business transactions, it first identifies current procurement process and explores how to implement procurement that involves mainstay drivers and problems of e-procurement system usage and investigate the effect on the performance of the Ministry in terms of e-government and transparency in the Federal Ministry of Science and technology. The solution essentially involves in creating all the requirement details/ specs, of a tender to be floated electronically, in parameterized form; so that subsequent evaluation comparative chart preparation exercises could be automated to a large extent. The term procurement can be referred to as the buying of tangible and intangible merchandise for organizations which can be executed through agency or company. Procurement is not an event. It is a process and signifies a continuing relationship between the government and its suppliers. Procurements are always taken as an important task in the government environment and always handled in a strictly secured and controlled manner (Dunleavy, 1994). According to Nwokak, et al. (2007) procurement is also one of the sectors that remains insulated against any process improvements. At the moment, it is been recognized world over, that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can eliminate the existing bureaucratic problems and make the governments performance more resourceful, easily reached and clear as crystal, besides being cost-effective. The procurement process in the Ministry of science and technology (www.fmst.gov.ng)is a complex process that starts and ends in a cycle. Procurement cycle starts from Raising of the requirements for an item or a service and ends only after settlement of supplier payments as shown in the diagram below. The Concept of E-Procurement Electronic Procurement can describe as purchasing order that release a communication over the internet through authorized internet seller catalogue. E-procurement is the electronic purchase of goods and services for an organization; Turban et al. (2006) from an easy phrase, electronic purchase can be described as procedure to purchase tangible and intangible merchandise by the use of internet for a company or institution. For example, within Nigeria, the majority of companies in the petroleum Industries, United Parcel Service, Plc.(Ups) Federal Express Plc (Fedex), communication industries etc are some of the few organizations that practice e-procurement in material purchase (Nwokak et al, 2009). The reason is so, because the industries have advanced and developed their technology usage of e-procurement keeping up with the changes in the business environment as it pertains to information and technology. Furthermore, electronic procurement or merchant trade is the business-to-consumer (B2C) or company-to-company (C2C) acquisition as well as trade of tangible and intangible goods by electronic means and various information and network system, like the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) (Nwokak et al, 2009). Electronic procurement systems permit competent and valid user to search for buyer or seller of tangible as well as intangible merchandise. No matter which method, buyer or seller may as well state the outlay and request for bidding. Dealings can then be welcomed. Other Concepts in E-procurement Reverse Auction The traditional auction is a Forward Auction. It is a process through which a seller offers an item for auction, and prospective buyer competes with one another other for acquisition. By doing this, the price continue to move up upon the time nobody will be able to go up further. In the reverse auction, several dealers of a product vie for the trade of one single purchaser. In such a way the price moves downward. There are 3-4 flavours of reverse auction, called as: English Auction, Dutch auction, Sealed Bid Auction etc. How it works There is no contact or conciliation with the bidders during the auction. The Buyer also watches the progress of bidding from his office. Identities if bidders are available to him. In reverse auction competition is high; bidders get tempted to bid lower and lower to clinch the deal, until they are unwilling to go any further. At the conclusion the lowest bidder emerges as winner of the auction. Benefits To Buyers: Significant reduction in cost due to Dynamic Bidding process. Inefficiencies in the supply chain reduce. With real time competition, suppliers are on their toes It is an effective way of measuring and assessing price discovery and making the negotiation process an easy effort. Often used along with Tendering. To Vendors: Ensures Savings in marketing cost / distributor margins Facilitates flexibility in pricing decision. Transparency increases Allows vendors to assess their pricing power from close quarters of competition. E-payment Commonly available modes for effecting EMD/ Fee/ other payments electronically, from within a software Application, are: Online payment through Credit cards/ Debit cards or Direct Account Debit (using Gateway for Internet Banking) Depending on the actual need and usage constraints, the appropriate mode could be chosen and integrated into the s/w application. Credit cards could conveniently be integrated for use if the payment amounts involved are not substantial. For all other cases where payment amounts could be heavy, payments through Direct Debits from concerned accounts, using Internet Banking is the only alternative. Scope of E-procurement solution to the Ministry Purchasing of all kinds of goods and services, works etc. Types of Tenders Open, Limited, Expression of Interest Hybrid Mode of Operation Electronic and Paper Based Bid Submission (Initial Stages of Implementation) Mode of Payments (Tender Fee, EMD) e-Payment, as well as Conventional Payment Modes (DD etc.) The Importance of Procurement The purchasing of merchandise, works, and services has a main effect on the efficient execution of an assignment. To a great degree the quality, cost, and judicious achievement of a task determined on the supervision and managing of purchase of materials needed. Use of articulated policy and practice, considered by unbiased, just, and transparent measures, is vital, not only to create reliable and steady market that will be capable to catch the fancy of competent contractor and supplier, but also to uphold the paradigm of accountability and the cost-efficient use of civic treasury. The importance of procurement in delivering key aims and mission of the ministry, and as a result the procurement of merchandise, facility and services is of strategic significance to the Ministry: It has an undeviating force on the Ministrys general overheads, and price of service prerequisite to public. Can have direct effect with delivery of its services by Ministrys. Can have direct effect on the accomplishment of business, department and service mission. It provide the system to deliver key plan objective, together with sustainability, corporate work environment, egalitarianism and cost-effective improvement. It operate in multifaceted dog matic structure that should be followed. Benefits of E-Procurement to Ministry of Science and Technology. For years, improvement to purchase has been attempted, frequently by means of information technology. The concrete opportunity for development today lies in the use of e-procurement, the electronic process of obtaining goods and services for an organization Nwokak et al, (2009). They further to ascertain that by automation and reformation the thorough and arduous routine of obtain task, purchase professional will have the opportunity to pay more attention, on other tactical purchase, in order to achieve these set of objectives: Growing the efficiency of purchase agent (by giving enough period as well as decreasing the work stress) Reducing the procure price by merchandise homogeny reverse auctions, quantity price cut, and also through purchase consolidation. Getting better information stream and organization (for example supplier information and price). Reducing or elimination of the purchase through unqualified vendors, in that way eliminating nonconformist buying. Getting better the disbursement procedures and savings due to expedite disbursement (for seller) Ensure just in time delivery always Slash order-fulfilment and handling period through the use of computerization Reduce skill as well as instruction need of purchase agent. Reduce numeral figure of supplier Reformation of purchase procedure, creating it easy, better and speedy (may involve authorize) Requests to carry out purchase on their desktop, bypassing purchasing unit. Reformation of account statements and difference of opinion decision Reduce organizational handing out expenditure for each bid a s to a great extent of 90% Getting fresh supplier and vendor that will be able to provide goods and services quicker and more so, More cost effective due to better sourcing. Integrate budgetary measures in purchase procedure. Reduction or elimination of individual error in trade or transport procedure Monitor as well as regulate exchange activities. The various benefits are listed below Transactional Benefits Electronic purchase enable purchaser to process transaction through internet. For instance, an internet-base transacts means through which things can be chosen mostly from an identified catalogues and submit for authorization. The device can be connected in same direction of the backside part of ERP structure for access, imbursement of invoice, and arrangement of organization information. Electronic procedures (together with computerization of p-card purchase) lead to immense period saving as well as effectiveness owing to: universal, computerized process incorporate finest tradition as well as eliminate needless actions; electronic processing enable affiliation with supplier, which speed purchase phase period and facilitate contractor feat improvement; and better data correctness, which minimize order in accuracy as well as provide the necessary base for enhanced supervision from side to side control and scrutiny. Compliance Benefits A lot of instances in a company, conformity and unconventional expenditure is an important problem not for the reason that workers intentionally procure outside of favoured arrangements, but to a certain extent through be short of knowledge. Electronic purchases address this from side to side apparatus such as catalogues and benchmark order procedures and authorized process. Conformity will be achieved owing to: easy and speedy request-to-pay procedure together with a easy to use interface and pre-source catalogues modified to the needs of different client; easy and speedy tactical source procedure with benchmark purchase process and apparatus, without difficulty accessing information Electronic purchase structure, the only purchase method obtainable. Management Information Benefit This statement analyze the important of datas cost centre, commodity codes, etc. is hard coded in opposition to the user significantly reduce code error and provide extremely exhaustive as well as effortlessly available data. This is very important information to make the rule of the monetary revenue of tactical source. A successful e-procurement performance will give high value, complete management information and will reverse the need for data warehousing or resource heavy data mining, by David Eakin (2002). The capability to display to your supplier that you are using e-procurement as an apparatus to make sure final user do respect their union significance will augment ability to bargain along the prices through: Better improved capture and as a result, trustworthiness of expenditure information; and Better assurance that costs volume can be assured from better conformity with the structure, hence allow degree price breaks and discount to achieve. These include the capacity to improve management of business cash flow as well as control the proficient imbursement of supplier because of the further rationalized procurement procedures giving additional suitable and precise information to the accounts payable department. Possible benefit includes limited staff a hard benefit only if improvement can bring about head count decrease) and brings down expenditure on postages as well as stationeries. Throughout negotiations the procurement manager can further credibly guarantee the supplier a level of prompt payment, which was not possible prior to e-procurement. David Eakin (2002). However, the electronic invoice benefit is frequently unexamined and uncared for. Reduction in Procurement Contracts cycle time Cost Reduction Efficient streamlined Procurement Processes New Supplier Discovery Close Monitoring of Activities/ Vendor Performance Rich MIS and Analytics New Improved Image Standardized formats and Uniform tendering practices Increased visibility/ Less artificial barriers Increased business opportunities, Greater degree of transparency Cycle time reduction in participation and award of Contract Supplier Enablement and Ease of Participation For high-value items, purchasing personal in the Ministry spends most of their work period on procurement activities. These functions involve developing relationship with considered supplier, negotiating prices as well as terms, qualifying supplier, and bringing out suppliers certification as well as evaluation. When buyer is occupied in the midst of information of lesser things (especially MROs), they have less period to adequately engage in the purchase of the high value item. Other problems can happen in traditional purchase. These include delay in paying a lot for hasten order. Purchase inadequacy is nonconformist exchange, (impromptu procurements of merchandise needed hurriedly, unintentionally at non-pre-negotiated soaring price. The conventional purchase procedure, as discuss over, is therefore ineffective. In other to avoid a repeat of this event, the ministry needs to re-engineer the process of purchasing, by carrying out of new purchasing models in general, through the int roduction of electronic purchase. From this stage, we shall gaze at what e-procurement means in B2B market. The issues are summarized below: Lack of a general Public Procurement Policy. Nigeria lack up to date regulation on Public Procurement and enduring supervision and supervise purchase entity. Transparency in Procurement Act, The finance Control and Management Act, 1958, jointly with Financial policy which sets basic regulations for managing public expenses have gap, deficiency as well as defective execution of existing set of laws on procurement (for example, inadequate in the arrangement for controlling and supervision) which make opportunity for unethical behaviour. Lack of model bidding documents and contract documents -because of inflations, inadequate and regularly adjustment to threshold of the favourable limit of the Tenders Board, their approval were regularly gnarled consequential in abuse, top amongst include is split of contract. Complicated procedures for approvals, bidding and payments. There is a large number of tenders board that are alleged by the private sector as a source of delay as well as non intelligibility. Furthermore, those tenders board appear to encompass inadequate mandate amid power to choose contracted faction active through the permanent Secretary as well as Minister/ Commissioner. Inadequate skilled resources. There is no centralized system of registration of suppliers. Delays in making payments to suppliers whos Procurement are sometimes executed through staffs that substantially lack the required experience. E-government procurement is the collaborative purchase of tangible and intangible merchandise by the civic division using electronic methods at every stage ensuring transparency and efficiency. Ideally, it covers the full life cycle of procurement. The intention is to automate, possibly, the whole purchasing processes, along with tender offer submission as well as payment from supplier; in an automated computerized concurrent situation .E-procurement could resolve many of the constraints/ delays of traditional procurement. In David Eakin (2002).Summary, e-Procurement is the business-to-business buying and selling of supplies and services online. The e-procurement helps both the buyers and the suppliers to decrease the cycle time, needless paper work, waiting in long queues and at the same time maintain the simplicity in the entire process. David Eakin, (February, 2003). Which are to:- Reduce cycle times of procurement Increase supplier access to ensure wider participation Reduce costs of procurement through competitive bidding and Reverse Auctioning Remove cartelisation by supplier groups (Reverse Auctioning) enhance transparency in the procurement procedure Almost complete elimination of paperwork, for speedy and efficient functioning Inefficient function In the Ministry is because of: Lack of a general civic procurement policy Lack of consistency in enforcing procurement practice procedures Low competence labour-intensive process call for of intelligibility in procurement leading to fraud pilferage of the treasury unethical practice by suppliers Cartel creation Influence selection by bribing unit personnel Advances in electronic procurement by the use of safe internet-enabled means have not being used in an extensive method Approach to a Procurement Solution Before looking for an e-Procurement solution, a relook on existing procurement procedures/ practices is essential: As Is Analysis, Re-engineering for optimized processes Optimization/ reduction in process-flow steps Uniformity/ standardization in formats/ practices/ procedures Organization wide use of unified item-codification structure Automation of Processes Critical Determinants of a procurement Solution Good authentication Role based access Security, Secrecy (of bids) Signing, Encryption Ease of Use, Tender Templates, e-Payment integration etc. Integrated Document Management features, Good Analytics Good Audit trail/ traceability features Access for Financial Audit, Legal and RTI needs Good Archival Retrieval features/ policy Safe and secure Probing for seller so as to get and contrast supplier and product occasionally can be in reality awfully time-consuming and expensive. Most Ministries as a way out invite sellers to fulfill orders and create market place. Procurement is used to refer to the purchase of goods and services for an organization, (Martin et. al., 2001). Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) are among of the important parastatals of the Federal Government. The major term of office is providing access to technology for the Majority of Nigerian Populace. The ministry is made up of 8 (eight) departments. The Department of Administration and Supply within the Ministry is responsible for: Planning, management and entirely documenting the procedure to purchase both tangible and intangible merchandise. use of active Continuing Service Agreement for products to attain program needs; management, soliciting and contract award procedures is done prudently and unprejudiced method that is fair and treat every potential vendor and bidder; ensures that contract for good, service as well as building is planned to offer the most excellent value to government; ensures that every ministry acquisition and disposal is unswerving with guidelines, appropriate legislature as well as trade agreement; Declare products excess as soon as their utilization to the ministry has finished. The department is therefore responsible for procurement of goods and services in the Ministry. The Nature and Scope of E-Procurement According to Nwokak et al, (2009) different methods are employed to procure goods and services by companies depending on what and where they buy, the quantities needed, how much money is involved, and more. They further mentioned some important procurements method to comprise the listed below: To buy from an internal buyers catalogue in which company-approved vendors catalogues, including agreed upon prices, are aggregated. This approach is used for the implementation of desktop purchasing, which allows the requisitions to order directly from vendors, bypassing the procurement department. Buy directly from manufacturers, wholesalers, or retailers from their catalogues and possibly by negotiation. Frequently, a contract implements such a purchase. Buy from the catalogue of an intermediary (e-distributor) that aggregates sellers catalogues. Conduct biding or tendering (a reverse auction) in a system in which suppliers compete against each other. This method is used for large-ticket items or large quantities. To buy at private or public auction sites in which the organization participates as one of the buyers. Collaborate with suppliers to share information about sales and inventory, as to reduce inventory and stock -outs and enhance just-in-time delivery (Turban et al 2006). Join a group-purchasing system that aggregates participants demand, creating a large volume. Then, the group may negotiate prices or initiate a tendering process. The Procurement Process Procurement cycle starts from Raising of the requirements for an item or a service and ends only after settlement of supplier payments. By Category of Goods Services Goods Services Civil Contracts By Nature of Procurement Tenders Rate Contract Catalogue Buying Auctions, Reverse Auctions By Size / Volume of procurement High Values, low volumes Low values, High Volumes By Portfolio of services needed Requisition, Bid Process Evaluation, Award, PO Supply, Quality check, Inventory Management Payment, Accounting, Audit MIS, EIS The traditional procurement process has been widely criticized as an ineffective procurement method because it often involves time and cost overrun (Dunleavy, 1994). Yet the method is still being widely used in Nigeria most especially for the procurement in Ministry of Science and technology. Inefficiencies in Traditional Procurement Management According to Nwokak et al (2009) precisely 80% of organizations purchase item, especially for Maintenances, Repairs as well as Operating items (MROs), constitutes 20- 25 percent of the total purchasing values. Furthermore, Nwokak; OzuruUgoji (2009) affirmed that a portion of corporate buyers time is spent on non-value-added activities such data entry, correcting errors in paper work, expediting delivery or solving quality problems. For high-value items, purchasing personal spend a great deal of time and effort on procurement activities. These activities include qualifying suppliers, negotiating prices and terms, building rapport with strategic suppliers, as well as carrying out supplier evaluation and certification (Nwokak et al, 2009). If buyers are busy with details of the smaller items (usually MROs), they do not have enough time to properly deal with the purchase of the high -value items. Other inefficiencies also may occur in conventional procurement. These range from delays to paying too much for rush orders. Procurement inefficiency is maverick buying, (unplanned purchase of items needed quickly, often at non-pre-negotiated high prices. The traditional procurement process, as discussed above, often is therefore inefficient (Mills, 1996). In order to correct this situation, the ministry needs to reengineer their procurement systems, implementation of new purchasing models and in particular, introduce e-procurement. At this juncture, we will look at what e-procurement is in a B2B marketplace. Issues in Ministry Procurement Lack of a common Public Procurement Policy: Nigeria lacks a modern law on Public Procurement and Permanent oversight and monitor purchasing entities. Lack of model bidding documents and contract documents -due to inflation and lack of regular adjustments on the thresholds of the approving limits of the Tender Boards, their authorization were constantly being eroded resulting in abuses, prominent among which is splitting of contracts. Complicated procedures for bidding, approvals and payments. That there was proliferation of tender boards which were perceived by the private sector as sources of delays and non transparency. In addition, these tender boards appeared to have limited mandates with powers to decide contracts de facto resting with the permanent Secretary and the Minister/ Commissioner. Lack of skilled resources. No centralized system of registration of suppliers. Delays in making payments to suppliers that Procurement is often carried out by staff who substantially lack relevant training. Conclusion Not until June 2008 was the procurement bill recently signed into law, previously there was no Federal or state law governing the practice of public procurement in Nigeria. With the advent of the new law, a number of challenges with regards to transparency, accountability and good governance in the area of contracts and procurement of supplies and services by government. In Nigeria it is pertinent to note that e-procurement is not prominently featured in law, this project sets out to make e-procurement prominently featured. With the advent of digital technology and globalisation, Nigeria as a third world country needs to be aware of the challenges and opportunities with regards to the e-procurement process. Furthermore, this project seeks to classify the meaning as well as the benefits of the E-procurement process in Nigeria. This project will also highlight the challenges in transforming Nigeria into a transparent and corrupt-free business environment and also ways of overcoming the challenges of adopting e-procurement in Nigeria. (E-Public Procurement in Nigeria: Some Lessons from EU, 2009) Investigation of Security Issues Security E-procurement platform transacts confidential procurement data and is exposed to several security threats. Agencies world over face threats to their online e-procurement and usually desist from sending sensitive information over the Internet for security reasons. The growing number of cyber crimes has added doubts regarding the reliability of the Internet. Security measures such as authentication and encryption are therefore employed while passing sensitive information between companies. Another major issue concerning e-procurement is the type of goods that are procured through the online medium. Companies usually prefer to source smaller, inexpensive goods such as office stationery (Miller, 2006). Larger complex orders that usually take weeks or months for negotiation are done in the traditional manner but this can be addressed by employing a combination of security features and security best practices which result in reduced threat of data loss, leakage or manipulation. Security and secrecy of tender data is of paramount importance as the portal handles sensitive procurement transactions of departments and has foreseen the security concerns. Security mechanisms provide a secure communication interface, mainly for the exchange of documents between procurement authorities and Economic Operators. Standards constituting adequate and acceptable security need to be provided for the implementation of services during each stage of the procurement process. Importance of Security in e-procurement Security is one of the major factors restricting the growth of e-procurement. Without proper security measures this could lead to the loss or corruption of sensitive information on e-procurement. Security breach could also lead to fraud and financial loss, also includes misappropriation of funds and revealing of sensitive information (The Economist, 1995). This project outlines various security issues faced by e-procurement in Nigeria and possible solutions that can be implemented to reduce such risk. (NATIONAL E-PROCUREMENT PROJECT SUPPLEMENTARY GUIDANCE NOTES, 2004) The major objectives measured for the creation of a safe environment include the following: Verification: guarantees that the service is only available to users with a confirmed identity. Agreement: guarantees that authenticated users can only contact services or data matching their task and access rights. Confidentiality: guarantees that the data exchanged between the person requesting it and the provider cannot be intercepted or accessed by a third non-authorised party. honesty: guarantees that data exchanged among the person requesting it and the contributor has not been tampered with by a third non-authorised party. Non repudiation: guarantees that the sender of the message cannot reject, at a shortly point in time, that he/she sent it. Accordingly, following stringent security measures are already implemented in the system to ensure that transactions on e-procurement portal happen in the most secured manner: Physical security of Data Centre. Entry to the Data centre is with Bio metric smart cards, round the clock CCTV monitoring and under strict personal supervision of Data Centre personnel. Web security through 128 bit Secured Socket Layer (SSL) Technology from client end to server for secured passage of data. Fire walls, intrusion detection system, online virus check, up to date antivirus system, online OS patches to prevent malicious attacks. Network monitoring system to monitor the service levels of the site. Sound back up methods for storing data. Comprehensive Audit Logs of all events that are taking place on the platform. Access controls, sharing of functions between system administrator and data base administrator Third party security audit of e-procurement system. M/s. PWC has conducted security audit in pilot phase (2003) and has expressed that security is unco Designing and Implementing E-procurement Designing and Implementing E-procurement CHAPTER ONE: Background Study Overview The project is designing and implementing e-procurement on business-to-business transactions, it first identifies current procurement process and explores how to implement procurement that involves mainstay drivers and problems of e-procurement system usage and investigate the effect on the performance of the Ministry in terms of e-government and transparency in the Federal Ministry of Science and technology. The solution essentially involves in creating all the requirement details/ specs, of a tender to be floated electronically, in parameterized form; so that subsequent evaluation comparative chart preparation exercises could be automated to a large extent. The term procurement can be referred to as the buying of tangible and intangible merchandise for organizations which can be executed through agency or company. Procurement is not an event. It is a process and signifies a continuing relationship between the government and its suppliers. Procurements are always taken as an important task in the government environment and always handled in a strictly secured and controlled manner (Dunleavy, 1994). According to Nwokak, et al. (2007) procurement is also one of the sectors that remains insulated against any process improvements. At the moment, it is been recognized world over, that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can eliminate the existing bureaucratic problems and make the governments performance more resourceful, easily reached and clear as crystal, besides being cost-effective. The procurement process in the Ministry of science and technology (www.fmst.gov.ng)is a complex process that starts and ends in a cycle. Procurement cycle starts from Raising of the requirements for an item or a service and ends only after settlement of supplier payments as shown in the diagram below. The Concept of E-Procurement Electronic Procurement can describe as purchasing order that release a communication over the internet through authorized internet seller catalogue. E-procurement is the electronic purchase of goods and services for an organization; Turban et al. (2006) from an easy phrase, electronic purchase can be described as procedure to purchase tangible and intangible merchandise by the use of internet for a company or institution. For example, within Nigeria, the majority of companies in the petroleum Industries, United Parcel Service, Plc.(Ups) Federal Express Plc (Fedex), communication industries etc are some of the few organizations that practice e-procurement in material purchase (Nwokak et al, 2009). The reason is so, because the industries have advanced and developed their technology usage of e-procurement keeping up with the changes in the business environment as it pertains to information and technology. Furthermore, electronic procurement or merchant trade is the business-to-consumer (B2C) or company-to-company (C2C) acquisition as well as trade of tangible and intangible goods by electronic means and various information and network system, like the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) (Nwokak et al, 2009). Electronic procurement systems permit competent and valid user to search for buyer or seller of tangible as well as intangible merchandise. No matter which method, buyer or seller may as well state the outlay and request for bidding. Dealings can then be welcomed. Other Concepts in E-procurement Reverse Auction The traditional auction is a Forward Auction. It is a process through which a seller offers an item for auction, and prospective buyer competes with one another other for acquisition. By doing this, the price continue to move up upon the time nobody will be able to go up further. In the reverse auction, several dealers of a product vie for the trade of one single purchaser. In such a way the price moves downward. There are 3-4 flavours of reverse auction, called as: English Auction, Dutch auction, Sealed Bid Auction etc. How it works There is no contact or conciliation with the bidders during the auction. The Buyer also watches the progress of bidding from his office. Identities if bidders are available to him. In reverse auction competition is high; bidders get tempted to bid lower and lower to clinch the deal, until they are unwilling to go any further. At the conclusion the lowest bidder emerges as winner of the auction. Benefits To Buyers: Significant reduction in cost due to Dynamic Bidding process. Inefficiencies in the supply chain reduce. With real time competition, suppliers are on their toes It is an effective way of measuring and assessing price discovery and making the negotiation process an easy effort. Often used along with Tendering. To Vendors: Ensures Savings in marketing cost / distributor margins Facilitates flexibility in pricing decision. Transparency increases Allows vendors to assess their pricing power from close quarters of competition. E-payment Commonly available modes for effecting EMD/ Fee/ other payments electronically, from within a software Application, are: Online payment through Credit cards/ Debit cards or Direct Account Debit (using Gateway for Internet Banking) Depending on the actual need and usage constraints, the appropriate mode could be chosen and integrated into the s/w application. Credit cards could conveniently be integrated for use if the payment amounts involved are not substantial. For all other cases where payment amounts could be heavy, payments through Direct Debits from concerned accounts, using Internet Banking is the only alternative. Scope of E-procurement solution to the Ministry Purchasing of all kinds of goods and services, works etc. Types of Tenders Open, Limited, Expression of Interest Hybrid Mode of Operation Electronic and Paper Based Bid Submission (Initial Stages of Implementation) Mode of Payments (Tender Fee, EMD) e-Payment, as well as Conventional Payment Modes (DD etc.) The Importance of Procurement The purchasing of merchandise, works, and services has a main effect on the efficient execution of an assignment. To a great degree the quality, cost, and judicious achievement of a task determined on the supervision and managing of purchase of materials needed. Use of articulated policy and practice, considered by unbiased, just, and transparent measures, is vital, not only to create reliable and steady market that will be capable to catch the fancy of competent contractor and supplier, but also to uphold the paradigm of accountability and the cost-efficient use of civic treasury. The importance of procurement in delivering key aims and mission of the ministry, and as a result the procurement of merchandise, facility and services is of strategic significance to the Ministry: It has an undeviating force on the Ministrys general overheads, and price of service prerequisite to public. Can have direct effect with delivery of its services by Ministrys. Can have direct effect on the accomplishment of business, department and service mission. It provide the system to deliver key plan objective, together with sustainability, corporate work environment, egalitarianism and cost-effective improvement. It operate in multifaceted dog matic structure that should be followed. Benefits of E-Procurement to Ministry of Science and Technology. For years, improvement to purchase has been attempted, frequently by means of information technology. The concrete opportunity for development today lies in the use of e-procurement, the electronic process of obtaining goods and services for an organization Nwokak et al, (2009). They further to ascertain that by automation and reformation the thorough and arduous routine of obtain task, purchase professional will have the opportunity to pay more attention, on other tactical purchase, in order to achieve these set of objectives: Growing the efficiency of purchase agent (by giving enough period as well as decreasing the work stress) Reducing the procure price by merchandise homogeny reverse auctions, quantity price cut, and also through purchase consolidation. Getting better information stream and organization (for example supplier information and price). Reducing or elimination of the purchase through unqualified vendors, in that way eliminating nonconformist buying. Getting better the disbursement procedures and savings due to expedite disbursement (for seller) Ensure just in time delivery always Slash order-fulfilment and handling period through the use of computerization Reduce skill as well as instruction need of purchase agent. Reduce numeral figure of supplier Reformation of purchase procedure, creating it easy, better and speedy (may involve authorize) Requests to carry out purchase on their desktop, bypassing purchasing unit. Reformation of account statements and difference of opinion decision Reduce organizational handing out expenditure for each bid a s to a great extent of 90% Getting fresh supplier and vendor that will be able to provide goods and services quicker and more so, More cost effective due to better sourcing. Integrate budgetary measures in purchase procedure. Reduction or elimination of individual error in trade or transport procedure Monitor as well as regulate exchange activities. The various benefits are listed below Transactional Benefits Electronic purchase enable purchaser to process transaction through internet. For instance, an internet-base transacts means through which things can be chosen mostly from an identified catalogues and submit for authorization. The device can be connected in same direction of the backside part of ERP structure for access, imbursement of invoice, and arrangement of organization information. Electronic procedures (together with computerization of p-card purchase) lead to immense period saving as well as effectiveness owing to: universal, computerized process incorporate finest tradition as well as eliminate needless actions; electronic processing enable affiliation with supplier, which speed purchase phase period and facilitate contractor feat improvement; and better data correctness, which minimize order in accuracy as well as provide the necessary base for enhanced supervision from side to side control and scrutiny. Compliance Benefits A lot of instances in a company, conformity and unconventional expenditure is an important problem not for the reason that workers intentionally procure outside of favoured arrangements, but to a certain extent through be short of knowledge. Electronic purchases address this from side to side apparatus such as catalogues and benchmark order procedures and authorized process. Conformity will be achieved owing to: easy and speedy request-to-pay procedure together with a easy to use interface and pre-source catalogues modified to the needs of different client; easy and speedy tactical source procedure with benchmark purchase process and apparatus, without difficulty accessing information Electronic purchase structure, the only purchase method obtainable. Management Information Benefit This statement analyze the important of datas cost centre, commodity codes, etc. is hard coded in opposition to the user significantly reduce code error and provide extremely exhaustive as well as effortlessly available data. This is very important information to make the rule of the monetary revenue of tactical source. A successful e-procurement performance will give high value, complete management information and will reverse the need for data warehousing or resource heavy data mining, by David Eakin (2002). The capability to display to your supplier that you are using e-procurement as an apparatus to make sure final user do respect their union significance will augment ability to bargain along the prices through: Better improved capture and as a result, trustworthiness of expenditure information; and Better assurance that costs volume can be assured from better conformity with the structure, hence allow degree price breaks and discount to achieve. These include the capacity to improve management of business cash flow as well as control the proficient imbursement of supplier because of the further rationalized procurement procedures giving additional suitable and precise information to the accounts payable department. Possible benefit includes limited staff a hard benefit only if improvement can bring about head count decrease) and brings down expenditure on postages as well as stationeries. Throughout negotiations the procurement manager can further credibly guarantee the supplier a level of prompt payment, which was not possible prior to e-procurement. David Eakin (2002). However, the electronic invoice benefit is frequently unexamined and uncared for. Reduction in Procurement Contracts cycle time Cost Reduction Efficient streamlined Procurement Processes New Supplier Discovery Close Monitoring of Activities/ Vendor Performance Rich MIS and Analytics New Improved Image Standardized formats and Uniform tendering practices Increased visibility/ Less artificial barriers Increased business opportunities, Greater degree of transparency Cycle time reduction in participation and award of Contract Supplier Enablement and Ease of Participation For high-value items, purchasing personal in the Ministry spends most of their work period on procurement activities. These functions involve developing relationship with considered supplier, negotiating prices as well as terms, qualifying supplier, and bringing out suppliers certification as well as evaluation. When buyer is occupied in the midst of information of lesser things (especially MROs), they have less period to adequately engage in the purchase of the high value item. Other problems can happen in traditional purchase. These include delay in paying a lot for hasten order. Purchase inadequacy is nonconformist exchange, (impromptu procurements of merchandise needed hurriedly, unintentionally at non-pre-negotiated soaring price. The conventional purchase procedure, as discuss over, is therefore ineffective. In other to avoid a repeat of this event, the ministry needs to re-engineer the process of purchasing, by carrying out of new purchasing models in general, through the int roduction of electronic purchase. From this stage, we shall gaze at what e-procurement means in B2B market. The issues are summarized below: Lack of a general Public Procurement Policy. Nigeria lack up to date regulation on Public Procurement and enduring supervision and supervise purchase entity. Transparency in Procurement Act, The finance Control and Management Act, 1958, jointly with Financial policy which sets basic regulations for managing public expenses have gap, deficiency as well as defective execution of existing set of laws on procurement (for example, inadequate in the arrangement for controlling and supervision) which make opportunity for unethical behaviour. Lack of model bidding documents and contract documents -because of inflations, inadequate and regularly adjustment to threshold of the favourable limit of the Tenders Board, their approval were regularly gnarled consequential in abuse, top amongst include is split of contract. Complicated procedures for approvals, bidding and payments. There is a large number of tenders board that are alleged by the private sector as a source of delay as well as non intelligibility. Furthermore, those tenders board appear to encompass inadequate mandate amid power to choose contracted faction active through the permanent Secretary as well as Minister/ Commissioner. Inadequate skilled resources. There is no centralized system of registration of suppliers. Delays in making payments to suppliers whos Procurement are sometimes executed through staffs that substantially lack the required experience. E-government procurement is the collaborative purchase of tangible and intangible merchandise by the civic division using electronic methods at every stage ensuring transparency and efficiency. Ideally, it covers the full life cycle of procurement. The intention is to automate, possibly, the whole purchasing processes, along with tender offer submission as well as payment from supplier; in an automated computerized concurrent situation .E-procurement could resolve many of the constraints/ delays of traditional procurement. In David Eakin (2002).Summary, e-Procurement is the business-to-business buying and selling of supplies and services online. The e-procurement helps both the buyers and the suppliers to decrease the cycle time, needless paper work, waiting in long queues and at the same time maintain the simplicity in the entire process. David Eakin, (February, 2003). Which are to:- Reduce cycle times of procurement Increase supplier access to ensure wider participation Reduce costs of procurement through competitive bidding and Reverse Auctioning Remove cartelisation by supplier groups (Reverse Auctioning) enhance transparency in the procurement procedure Almost complete elimination of paperwork, for speedy and efficient functioning Inefficient function In the Ministry is because of: Lack of a general civic procurement policy Lack of consistency in enforcing procurement practice procedures Low competence labour-intensive process call for of intelligibility in procurement leading to fraud pilferage of the treasury unethical practice by suppliers Cartel creation Influence selection by bribing unit personnel Advances in electronic procurement by the use of safe internet-enabled means have not being used in an extensive method Approach to a Procurement Solution Before looking for an e-Procurement solution, a relook on existing procurement procedures/ practices is essential: As Is Analysis, Re-engineering for optimized processes Optimization/ reduction in process-flow steps Uniformity/ standardization in formats/ practices/ procedures Organization wide use of unified item-codification structure Automation of Processes Critical Determinants of a procurement Solution Good authentication Role based access Security, Secrecy (of bids) Signing, Encryption Ease of Use, Tender Templates, e-Payment integration etc. Integrated Document Management features, Good Analytics Good Audit trail/ traceability features Access for Financial Audit, Legal and RTI needs Good Archival Retrieval features/ policy Safe and secure Probing for seller so as to get and contrast supplier and product occasionally can be in reality awfully time-consuming and expensive. Most Ministries as a way out invite sellers to fulfill orders and create market place. Procurement is used to refer to the purchase of goods and services for an organization, (Martin et. al., 2001). Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) are among of the important parastatals of the Federal Government. The major term of office is providing access to technology for the Majority of Nigerian Populace. The ministry is made up of 8 (eight) departments. The Department of Administration and Supply within the Ministry is responsible for: Planning, management and entirely documenting the procedure to purchase both tangible and intangible merchandise. use of active Continuing Service Agreement for products to attain program needs; management, soliciting and contract award procedures is done prudently and unprejudiced method that is fair and treat every potential vendor and bidder; ensures that contract for good, service as well as building is planned to offer the most excellent value to government; ensures that every ministry acquisition and disposal is unswerving with guidelines, appropriate legislature as well as trade agreement; Declare products excess as soon as their utilization to the ministry has finished. The department is therefore responsible for procurement of goods and services in the Ministry. The Nature and Scope of E-Procurement According to Nwokak et al, (2009) different methods are employed to procure goods and services by companies depending on what and where they buy, the quantities needed, how much money is involved, and more. They further mentioned some important procurements method to comprise the listed below: To buy from an internal buyers catalogue in which company-approved vendors catalogues, including agreed upon prices, are aggregated. This approach is used for the implementation of desktop purchasing, which allows the requisitions to order directly from vendors, bypassing the procurement department. Buy directly from manufacturers, wholesalers, or retailers from their catalogues and possibly by negotiation. Frequently, a contract implements such a purchase. Buy from the catalogue of an intermediary (e-distributor) that aggregates sellers catalogues. Conduct biding or tendering (a reverse auction) in a system in which suppliers compete against each other. This method is used for large-ticket items or large quantities. To buy at private or public auction sites in which the organization participates as one of the buyers. Collaborate with suppliers to share information about sales and inventory, as to reduce inventory and stock -outs and enhance just-in-time delivery (Turban et al 2006). Join a group-purchasing system that aggregates participants demand, creating a large volume. Then, the group may negotiate prices or initiate a tendering process. The Procurement Process Procurement cycle starts from Raising of the requirements for an item or a service and ends only after settlement of supplier payments. By Category of Goods Services Goods Services Civil Contracts By Nature of Procurement Tenders Rate Contract Catalogue Buying Auctions, Reverse Auctions By Size / Volume of procurement High Values, low volumes Low values, High Volumes By Portfolio of services needed Requisition, Bid Process Evaluation, Award, PO Supply, Quality check, Inventory Management Payment, Accounting, Audit MIS, EIS The traditional procurement process has been widely criticized as an ineffective procurement method because it often involves time and cost overrun (Dunleavy, 1994). Yet the method is still being widely used in Nigeria most especially for the procurement in Ministry of Science and technology. Inefficiencies in Traditional Procurement Management According to Nwokak et al (2009) precisely 80% of organizations purchase item, especially for Maintenances, Repairs as well as Operating items (MROs), constitutes 20- 25 percent of the total purchasing values. Furthermore, Nwokak; OzuruUgoji (2009) affirmed that a portion of corporate buyers time is spent on non-value-added activities such data entry, correcting errors in paper work, expediting delivery or solving quality problems. For high-value items, purchasing personal spend a great deal of time and effort on procurement activities. These activities include qualifying suppliers, negotiating prices and terms, building rapport with strategic suppliers, as well as carrying out supplier evaluation and certification (Nwokak et al, 2009). If buyers are busy with details of the smaller items (usually MROs), they do not have enough time to properly deal with the purchase of the high -value items. Other inefficiencies also may occur in conventional procurement. These range from delays to paying too much for rush orders. Procurement inefficiency is maverick buying, (unplanned purchase of items needed quickly, often at non-pre-negotiated high prices. The traditional procurement process, as discussed above, often is therefore inefficient (Mills, 1996). In order to correct this situation, the ministry needs to reengineer their procurement systems, implementation of new purchasing models and in particular, introduce e-procurement. At this juncture, we will look at what e-procurement is in a B2B marketplace. Issues in Ministry Procurement Lack of a common Public Procurement Policy: Nigeria lacks a modern law on Public Procurement and Permanent oversight and monitor purchasing entities. Lack of model bidding documents and contract documents -due to inflation and lack of regular adjustments on the thresholds of the approving limits of the Tender Boards, their authorization were constantly being eroded resulting in abuses, prominent among which is splitting of contracts. Complicated procedures for bidding, approvals and payments. That there was proliferation of tender boards which were perceived by the private sector as sources of delays and non transparency. In addition, these tender boards appeared to have limited mandates with powers to decide contracts de facto resting with the permanent Secretary and the Minister/ Commissioner. Lack of skilled resources. No centralized system of registration of suppliers. Delays in making payments to suppliers that Procurement is often carried out by staff who substantially lack relevant training. Conclusion Not until June 2008 was the procurement bill recently signed into law, previously there was no Federal or state law governing the practice of public procurement in Nigeria. With the advent of the new law, a number of challenges with regards to transparency, accountability and good governance in the area of contracts and procurement of supplies and services by government. In Nigeria it is pertinent to note that e-procurement is not prominently featured in law, this project sets out to make e-procurement prominently featured. With the advent of digital technology and globalisation, Nigeria as a third world country needs to be aware of the challenges and opportunities with regards to the e-procurement process. Furthermore, this project seeks to classify the meaning as well as the benefits of the E-procurement process in Nigeria. This project will also highlight the challenges in transforming Nigeria into a transparent and corrupt-free business environment and also ways of overcoming the challenges of adopting e-procurement in Nigeria. (E-Public Procurement in Nigeria: Some Lessons from EU, 2009) Investigation of Security Issues Security E-procurement platform transacts confidential procurement data and is exposed to several security threats. Agencies world over face threats to their online e-procurement and usually desist from sending sensitive information over the Internet for security reasons. The growing number of cyber crimes has added doubts regarding the reliability of the Internet. Security measures such as authentication and encryption are therefore employed while passing sensitive information between companies. Another major issue concerning e-procurement is the type of goods that are procured through the online medium. Companies usually prefer to source smaller, inexpensive goods such as office stationery (Miller, 2006). Larger complex orders that usually take weeks or months for negotiation are done in the traditional manner but this can be addressed by employing a combination of security features and security best practices which result in reduced threat of data loss, leakage or manipulation. Security and secrecy of tender data is of paramount importance as the portal handles sensitive procurement transactions of departments and has foreseen the security concerns. Security mechanisms provide a secure communication interface, mainly for the exchange of documents between procurement authorities and Economic Operators. Standards constituting adequate and acceptable security need to be provided for the implementation of services during each stage of the procurement process. Importance of Security in e-procurement Security is one of the major factors restricting the growth of e-procurement. Without proper security measures this could lead to the loss or corruption of sensitive information on e-procurement. Security breach could also lead to fraud and financial loss, also includes misappropriation of funds and revealing of sensitive information (The Economist, 1995). This project outlines various security issues faced by e-procurement in Nigeria and possible solutions that can be implemented to reduce such risk. (NATIONAL E-PROCUREMENT PROJECT SUPPLEMENTARY GUIDANCE NOTES, 2004) The major objectives measured for the creation of a safe environment include the following: Verification: guarantees that the service is only available to users with a confirmed identity. Agreement: guarantees that authenticated users can only contact services or data matching their task and access rights. Confidentiality: guarantees that the data exchanged between the person requesting it and the provider cannot be intercepted or accessed by a third non-authorised party. honesty: guarantees that data exchanged among the person requesting it and the contributor has not been tampered with by a third non-authorised party. Non repudiation: guarantees that the sender of the message cannot reject, at a shortly point in time, that he/she sent it. Accordingly, following stringent security measures are already implemented in the system to ensure that transactions on e-procurement portal happen in the most secured manner: Physical security of Data Centre. Entry to the Data centre is with Bio metric smart cards, round the clock CCTV monitoring and under strict personal supervision of Data Centre personnel. Web security through 128 bit Secured Socket Layer (SSL) Technology from client end to server for secured passage of data. Fire walls, intrusion detection system, online virus check, up to date antivirus system, online OS patches to prevent malicious attacks. Network monitoring system to monitor the service levels of the site. Sound back up methods for storing data. Comprehensive Audit Logs of all events that are taking place on the platform. Access controls, sharing of functions between system administrator and data base administrator Third party security audit of e-procurement system. M/s. PWC has conducted security audit in pilot phase (2003) and has expressed that security is unco