Category: Web Technology

Executive Summary

This report has been commissioned by Jeremy Dawes, the owner, and manager of Newcastle Infotech, a relatively small firm specializing in Web-design and software development. This paper analyzes the internal and external environment of the company to identify the factors preventing this business from achieving a more solid position in the market. The recommendations are mostly connected with such aspects as human resource management, the structure of the company, and marketing policies.

The list of key suggestions

1. To hire full-time employees working regularly
2. Departmentalize the company
3. Set more stress on advertising and branding
4. Adopt flexible pricing policies

For more detailed information, please, refer to the enclosed document.

Business Report

Introduction

This report aims to discuss the situation that has recently emerged in a small web design company Newcastle Infotech. The main task is to propose methods to boost the firms growth and profitability. This investigation will rely on the study of the internal and external environment of this enterprise, in particular, its services, marketing strategies, relations with the customers, communication process, and so forth. This will enable us to map out the action plan which can help to strengthen the positions of Newcastle Infortech in the market. During the course of this investigation, we are going to employ SWOT analysis in order to outline the key directions for improvement.

Analysis of the internal and external environment

Problem Statement

Newcastle Infotech was founded by Jeremy Dawes and his associates in the late nineties, at the moment when such a sphere as E-business was relatively new. Currently, this firm provides a wide range of services, namely, Web and graphic design, optimization of search engines, computer repair, and installation of the new software (Dawes et al, 2008). For a considerable period of time, this enterprise has flourished due to the diversity of its activities, good interactions with clients, and the creative approach taken by the management. However, in recent years its profitability has declined. We can single out several reasons for this: 1) the electronic market has become oversaturated with firms, specializing in Web design and related areas (Chaffey, 2007). Consequently, the competition has intensified. The key issue is that the rivals of Newcastle Infotech are more focused; they major in some concrete branches of Web design or hardware and spend considerable amounts of money on R&D (Research and Development). Hence they can ensure the customers satisfaction. 2) The difficulties, faced by Newcastle Infotech also take their origins in poor advertising strategies. The firm is practically unfamiliar to the target audience and many people in Australia as well as in other countries do not know about its existence. 3) The third factor which prevents the company from reaching its full potential is human resources. At present, Newcastle Infotech has a relatively large staff but the employees (programmers, designers, and engineers) work mostly on a casual basis depending on how busy they are (Dawes et al 2008). This drawback gives rise to several controversies: first, they cannot fulfill long-term projects that require constant commitment and full-time employment. Furthermore, due to this instability, the firm cannot always meet deadlines set by their clients.

SWOT Analysis

We need to employ such research methods as SWOT analysis to determine the strengths and weaknesses of this enterprise as well as outside factors which can be either beneficial or harmful for Newcastle Infotech.

Strengths:

1. Variety of services. As it has been noted earlier, they develop and maintain websites; install intranet software, create databases, customize already existing solutions. Additionally, they perform repair jobs, restore data, diagnose hardware, and so forth. This diversity may help them to become popular in Melbourne and all over Australia (Dawes et al, 2008).
2. Experience in this field. Newcastle Infotech began to operate in the late nineties since that time the person has had a good opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills.

Weaknesses:

1. Inadequate advertising strategies and lack of publicity. Currently, the news about this firm is spread only through customers who can recommend it to other people. Certainly, their feedbacks and testimonials are very important, but they are insufficient at this stage (Kaynak et al, 1996).
2. Personnel. Some participants cooperate with the firm to carry out only short-term projects. Newcastle Infotech does not have a working schedule and this is by far the biggest drawback. 3) Organizational structure. This firm is not divided into separate departments as it should be especially given the fact that the range of their activities is very diverse (Chaffey, 2007, p 238).

Opportunities:

1. Increasing demand for Web products:
2. Location. The company is located in Melbourne, one of the biggest financial and industrial centers in Australia. Therefore, a great number of clients may be willing to collaborate with them. Threats: intense competition. Since the late nineties, the E-business market has become saturated with companies that provide similar services.

Proposal:

Judging from these facts, we can argue that the main obstacle on the path to continuous improvement is human resource problems.

1. First, Newcastle Infotech should be fully staffed with people who are ready to work constantly for this firm. This may enable them to achieve a higher level of stability. This will also establish good workplace communication in this enterprise because at present some programmers or designers work only online. Sometimes, this causes delays and poor interactions among colleagues. The experience of several leading companies indicates that the effective flow of information is a powerful stimulus for success (Locker & Kaczmarek, 2007.p 9).
2. Secondly, the management should bring changes in the structure of their business: it should be departmentalized or split into several sections, for example:
   • Web design and graphic animation;
   • The development of software solutions and databases;
   • Hosting;
   • Repair of computers and installation of new operating system;
   • Quality assurance department. This division is based on the activities of Newcastle Infotech and its key objectives. This restructuring is necessary because now working procedures are organized haphazardly.
3. The third direction is the marketing approach taken by the management. This brand is hardly known to the general public, only clients testimonials give publicity to them (Dawes, 2008). Thus, they need to conduct an advertising campaign, which would emphasize the range and quality of their products and services (Meyers & Gerstman, 2001). Afterward, the management will have to pursue flexible pricing policies, giving discounts to returned customers or even offering certain bonuses for them.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The success of E-business is shaped by the following factors: diversity and quality of products and services, organization of the firm, and marketing strategies. The recommendations, advanced in this report involve such steps as hiring full-time employees, being able and willing to work on a regular basis: splitting Newcastle Infotech into several departments, each specializing in one particular area, and adopting new marketing strategies which would include advertising campaign and pricing.

Reference List

Chaffey D (2007). E-business and e-commerce management: strategy, implementation and practice (third edition). Harlow. Pearson Education.

Child. J (1998). Organization: a guide to problems and practice. London. SAGE.

Dawes. J et al (2008). Newcastle Infotech. Web.

Dwyer. (2009). Communication in Business: Strategy and skills (4th ed.): Prentice Hall.

Dubofsky. D. Miller. T. W (2003). Derivatives: Valuation and Risk Management. New York. Oxford University Press.

Kaynak. E. Kucukemiroglu. O. Kara. A (1996). Creating effective advertising strategies in developing markets. International Journal of Commerce and Management. Vol 3-4, pp 105-133.

Locker. K. Kaczmarek (2007). S. Business communication: building critical skills. New York. McGraw Hill Professional.

Meyers. H. Gerstman. R (2001). Branding at the Digital Age. New York Palgrave

Thierauf. R. Hoctor. J (2003). Smart Business Systems for the Optimized Organization. Westport. Praeger.

Shaw. M (2007). E-business management: integration of Web technologies with business models. Springer.

Assume you are interested in buying a digital camera. Go to www.curcuitcity.com and www.bestbuy.com and comparison shopping on these two sites for a digital camera

Curcuitcity.Com: Helpful features

The website curcuitcity.com is very attractive and has an excellent design. It easily attracts any viewers attention and promotes the urge to explore more. Curcuitcity.com webpage is designed with colorful pictures of various items that are being advertised. The login process is also very easy. The web page is full of items being advertised. Each item is presented together with its specific price so that it is easy for the visitors to compare them and chose the most appropriate. Moreover, all the pictures posted on the website are also of high quality. This makes it easy for any potential buyer to carefully examine the desired item to be purchased.

The website also displays varieties of consumer commodities that are available in stock. Most of these items are electronic devices. They include computers, mobile phones, security cameras, and printers. The information on the final selling price for each item is also displayed. The discount for each item is indicated. For example, the market price for dell Inspiron 17R 17.3 dropped from $799.99 to $699.99. This information helps the customer when calculating the total amount of money saved after buying the item.

One of the helpful features of the site is the possibility to see customers reviews on each item being presented on the webpage. Those present all advantages and disadvantages of the items from the personal perspectives of users and also help new visitors with making the right decisions. Curcuitcity.com website also offers varieties of business deals and partnerships to customers. Such deals offer good discounts to customers. Depending on the deal, a discount may even shoot up to 70% on various items purchased. Moreover, curcuitcity.coms marketing website also caters to potential international customers. This is evident through their advertisements where they offer free shipping services for international customers. Furthermore, the minimal amount of shopping required to get free shipping service is only $100. This would easily attract any international customer viewing the website.

Difficulties encountered

Despite numerous positive attributes mentioned, the curcuitcity.com website has failed in displaying some of the consumer commodities. This is evident because the website only advertises only one type of camera. There is only one security camera presented on the webpage. Therefore, customers who wish to purchase a different brand of digital camera find the site irrelevant. Notable to mention is that this site does not offer any additional information on the items they market. This makes it very difficult for customers to know about the technical characteristics of the items. As far as the digital camera is concerned, it is impossible to tell the brand, megapixel, and other detailed features of the camera being advertised. Besides, the website does not offer a variety of digital cameras based on color and technical characteristics.

Bestbuy.com: helpful features

Bestbuy.com is one more marketing website. The webpage portrays a friendly welcoming design once the customer logs in. Furthermore, the customers are first welcomed with a broad smile from online attendants. Once the customer logins, one can choose any language from the list available, which is a very attractive website feature for international customers. This shows how the site recognizes all international customers regardless of an individuals ethnic background. Additionally, the site also displays detailed information for all international customers regarding the possibilities of online shopping. There is also a free shipping service offered to international customers who can also pay for the item they purchase via international credit cards. This makes it easy for any international customer to buy and pay for the items without traveling.

Difficulties encountered

Bestbuy.com webpage has a plain and unattractive online web design. This can easily discourage any potential customer from logging in to the website for the first time. The login procedure for bestbuy.com is also complicated, and any impatient customer would easily log off the website. They also have a detailed login process that further demands an email address and password.

Conclusion: the best marketing website

After carefully examining the two marketing websites, bearing in mind that the item to be procured is a digital camera, I prefer shopping from bestbuy.com, because bestbuy.com offers a broader choice of digital cameras. This is contrary to the circuitcity.com site, which presents only one security camera. Besides, I also find bestbuy.com as a friendlier and better-organized website. This is evident since this website advertises more varieties of cameras at different prices. The digital cameras advertised are also arranged depending on their varying features. They also provide detailed information on each camera, for example, the make, brand, megapixel, and the designated use of the camera.

Most importantly, all discounts offered on each digital camera are also posted. I would prefer to purchase a black Sony cyber shot DSC-HX200V camera from bestbuy.com according to technical specifications it has 18.2 megapixels. It is of high quality and with advanced features. Due to the discount offered, it is also possible to save up to $60 in addition to free shipping services. In summary, bestbuy.com is the most customer-friendly marketing website for all.

Validation and Verification Plan

The management team introduces validation and verification through developing internal reviews of management and technical reports (Fisher, 2007). The internal analysis of the management staff will involve work verification of such members as a project manager, technician, designer, programmer, associate programmer, risk managers, and website managers.

The external reviews will be carried out once the documents and reports have been approved by the project leader. All the verification procedures will be preceded by the support managers. The roles that the team members should take involve the initiator, secretary, author of the reviewed document, the advisor, and reviewers. The initiator will be responsible for making appointments with all the members of the validation procedures (Fisher, 2007). The main responsibility for the success and accuracy of the verification reviews is imposed on moderators or advisors who take control of all testing procedures (Fisher, 2007). While reviewing the external and internal reviews, the project managers should constantly cooperate with other team members involved in developing the project.

Quality Assurance

The main purpose of the quality assurance process lies in presenting frameworks that can allow the project managers to introduce efficient risk management that can prevent possible pitfalls in introducing a new information system. Electronic databases could contribute to information exchange about customers to define the demand rates and identify possible problems (Bagad, 2009). Web designers, therefore, should pay closer attention to the functionality of the website of the Kings Jewelry, as well as provide possible corrections to improve the quality and expand the customers access to the companys information. At the same time, quality managers should be concerned with confidential information. The role of quality assurance procedures consists of preventing illegal invasions.

Quality control is closely associated with the way information is delivered on the website. This is of particular concern to the estimation of information about pricing policy, purchasing, and personnel (Bagad, 2009). The website should also provide sufficient information about the products, including images, detailed descriptions, and advertising to persuade the customers that the companys products are of exceptional quality. The quality assurance department should also be concerned with the attitude of employees toward the quality of the proposed products. Therefore, it is highly necessary to involve sales assistants in the quality verification process.

Review and Audits

The external and internal reviews will allow the project manager to evaluate compliance with the established specifications, standards, requirements, instructions, and procedures. Physical audits are aimed at checking the records out to define whether the project is successful or not. Functional audits can be performed before the software support is released (Mitra, 2012). A support management plan can allow the managers to check whether the procedures are properly followed.

The audit should be attended to and monitored by quality assurance and project managers to assure that the reports are carried out with high accuracy. The results of the reviews should be reported in a written form both to the quality assurance and to the project manager (Mitra, 2012). The audit reports should comprise the data, the participants, items to be checked, conclusions, and recommendations. The managers ability to understand and retrieve knowledge from electronic databases will influence the quality of the decision-making process (Mitra, 2012). Information classified is applied for improving the qualities and eliminating the uncertainty in executing a support plan.

References

Bagad, V. S. (2009). Management Information Systems. US: Technical Publications.

Fisher, M. S. (2007). Software Verification and Validation: An Engineering and Scientific Approach. US: Springer.

Mitra, A. (2012). Fundamental of Quality Control and Improvement. US: John Wiley & Sons.

Belonging to the national and state professional accounting organizations, respectively, sites of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) offer information about the profession. One of the readily apparent features of the AICPA site that can be of use to an aspiring accountant is the Career Guidance section. It offers a wealth of information on job peculiarities, educational programs, work-life balance, and other important aspects (AICPA, 2021). It also covers different career paths for becoming a certified public accountant (CPA), from a high-schooler interested in accounting to a student preparing for graduation (AICPA, 2021). FICPAs site does not offer this type of guidance in the readily available way, but its Knowledge Hub tab provides current information on the developments important of accounting in Floridian context (FICPA, 2021). While trying to describe every bit of knowledge available on both sides within a single post would be unfeasible, it is safe to say that both sites can serve as a reliable source of information.

References

AICPA (2021). Career guidance. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Web.

FICPA (2021). Knowledge Hub. Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Web.

Website for Internship Opportunities

The first idea that selected over other ones is a website that will provide information about existing internship opportunities for teenagers, those who have a gap year, or those who have not yet decided what occupation attracts them. People who have just graduated from high school often experience uncertainty because they do not know what business, industry, or profession is right for them. The company, in its turn, struggles to find motivated interns. This website will combine the needs of both parties and present them with a solution.

This idea was chosen over other ones because it addresses the sensitive issue of unemployment, uncertainty, and dissatisfaction of teenagers and graduates. Information about internship programs is often unknown to them or hard to find. The inability to understand what type of work you like can lead to wrong decision-making in the future.

The members of our group and their friends have experienced this problem as well. The resources of our group allow us to create a pilot model of such a website by contacting local companies, gathering information, and structuring it on a website. Free services for website construction can help us see how many websites will be perceived.

The market of newly graduated teenagers who seek internships and other opportunities is wide, but, as Mullins points out, it is essential to find a smaller group within this vast market (10). The website will focus on adolescents who graduated high school. Employers often recognize the value of experience (Rigsby et al. 1137). The industry of websites is a wide one, but there is a scarcity of websites that provide information about local internships for teenagers (not students). At last, our group can communicate with employers and create a website to help teenagers and enhance their work experience.

Database of Eco-Friendly Brands

The second idea is a website that will be a database of eco-friendly clothes and brands that support such ideas. Not every brand labels its products as eco-friendly; furthermore, not all companies indicate that they test their products on animals or support deforestation. This website will be useful for those who want to stay aware of what brands and products they purchase and how it affects ecology.

The popularity of recycling and other environment-based behaviors is growing; the impact of climate change is undoubtful and concerning. With this idea, we would like to point out the current issues such as climate change, animal rights, and resource scarcity.

The information about eco-friendly brands can be easily found online; those enterprises that do not support it are often discussed in the media as well. Based on this data, a database will be created using free website constructors.

Cherian and Jacob notice when consumers are aware of eco-labels they react more positively towards knowledge of green marketing and the purchase of green products (121). It is difficult to estimate the market size, but consumers interest in eco-centered products grows. Consumers in their 20s and 30s who can operate websites and computers are more interested in sustainable consumption. The product can be seen as a part of the online services industry, with the exception that it will present brands from different industries (textiles, food, drinks, etc.). This industry is overcrowded, but attractive because it has a low entry-level and does not demand serious investment. We as a group can create a website by gathering all the necessary data online and from the media reports.

Shop for Used Books

The third idea will also be based on an environmental problem. A small shop that will sell used books and magazines can be established near the campus to address students needs in textbooks and journals, as well as to stress the problem of deforestation and recycling. Books and magazines that we possess are often read only once and then forgotten; instead, they could be sold for a minimum price to those who need them.

This idea can be easily implemented and is based on the groups values. Moreover, it addresses the problem of expensive textbooks and rare magazines, as well as unrecycled paper. Such a shop is highly needed in colleges and campuses because library books are often not available and new copies are expensive.

The market is attractive although the shop will have to compete with libraries and individual sellers who can also provide books for free. Moreover, websites such as AbeBooks or Amazon are often used by students to buy out-of-print books (Tafuri 23). However, shipping is often slow, and the book can be lost during it.

The industry, in return, is not attractive, but it is crucial to acknowledge that (Mullins 14). However, the shop will be introduced to a specific market (students at campus) that does not have any major players except for AbeBooks and Amazon. As was mentioned, these services are not convenient for everyone and have their disadvantages such as slow shipping and possible product loss. Moreover, the shop will also focus on spreading the awareness of deforestation and attracting customers via green marketing. The group can utilize used textbooks as the starting point of the sales. The market we want to serve consists of the customers who have the same aims as we do (studying).

Reviews of Unsuccessful Startups

A website that will review the unsuccessful startups might seem like an ironic idea to some, but in reality, it is a useful tool for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to understand what mistakes should be avoided and what ideas have been already implemented. This website can provide insights in particular cases and serve as a large case study for all students who want to become entrepreneurs; experienced entrepreneurs can use it as teaching material.

This idea was chosen because of its highest relevance to our group and our study  we need o to learn from our mistakes and mistakes of others. Teachers and professors, as well as our experiences, can serve as sources of information. The website will be filled with different reviews and articles about startups, entrepreneurship ideas, and news to help students avoid the same mistakes.

The market is wide and will consist of students, aspiring entrepreneurs, experienced entrepreneurs, and those who are interested in the topic. A larger market is capable of stimulating entrepreneurship, but it can also lead to a lower ratio of self-employment (Sato et al. 1148). The industry also has high entry-levels because of the existing websites dedicated to startups. However, there is not any website that is focused on startups failures only, which can help the idea spread through the market and attract customers. It is reasonable to assume that students from the same programs and the same university will be interested in the website, which narrows the market to a particular group (Mullins 11). Although there are major rivals in the industry that also publish startup news, there is nothing for our product to imitate or duplicate; instead, it will focus on other news rarely discussed on websites dedicated to startups. Thus, this website will be both educational and entertaining. Our team is interested in the negative experience of others because it can help one avoid mistakes that repeatedly happen during the launch of projects and products. Our team is also motivated to point out these mistakes to other aspiring entrepreneurs.

Help Chat for First-Year Students

The last idea is highly relevant for first-year students at colleges and universities who need help with schedules, navigation, papers, etc. during their study. The aim is to create a hotline or a chat that will provide students with all the necessary information about the college, lectures, libraries, schedules, and other parts of a students life.

This idea was selected because it is relevant to many of us and other students who had a hard time (or still have) understanding how college works and what one needs to do. Guides assigned for this task cannot help many students at the same time, which results in anxiety and frustration. Our team can provide the needed advice and information, as well as guide some of the students if they are confused about their responsibilities.

This project can start at the educational facility we are familiar with; the market size will be small and changing every year. However, the only rival on this market will be the informational board and the advisor who has different aims. The industry of online services for college students is extensive, but in our case, it is a smaller part of it that is underdeveloped. American university culture highly values independence and the ability to pave ones pathways (Stephens et al. 1185). This project will develop interdependence among students. Our group is motivated to enhance support among students, which can positively influence academic performance and reduce the level of anxiety and depression linked to pressure students frequently experience.

Works Cited

Cherian, Jacob, and Jolly Jacob. Green Marketing: A Study of Consumers Attitude towards Environment Friendly Products. Asian Social Science, vol. 8, no. 12, 2012, pp. 117-126.

Mullins, John. The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Launching a Lean Start-Up. Pearson UK, 2013.

Rigsby, John T., et al. An Examination of Internships and Job Opportunities. Journal of Applied Business Research, vol. 29, no. 4, 2013, pp. 1131-1144.

Sato, Yasuhiro, et al. Market Size and Entrepreneurship. Journal of Economic Geography, vol. 12, no. 6, 2012, pp. 1139-1166.

Stephens, Nicole M., et al. Unseen Disadvantage: How American Universities Focus on Independence Undermines the Academic Performance of First-Generation College Students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 102, no. 6, 2012, pp. 1178-1197.

Tafuri, Narda. Libraries Changing Buying Habits: So Many Books, So Little Money. Against the Grain, vol. 21, no. 5, 2013, pp. 22-26.

Introduction

Nowadays, social media are regularly used by businesses to share information about their products and services and get immediate feedback from a large pool of users. Considering this, social media sites create multiple opportunities for social media commerce or, in other words, active participation in the marketing and selling of products and services in online marketplaces and communities (Baethge, Klier, & Klier, 2015, p. 269).

To meet various functional and non-functional requirements of users on social commerce platforms, the right tools must be implemented to render multiple relevant web services. Thus, the present research project will aim to identify the best possible web service composition technique able to satisfy those requirements.

Research Proposal

To evaluate various composition methods, the quality of services (QoS) metrics will be applied. According to Rajeswari et al. (2014), as well as Sethuramana, Sasiprabha, and Sandhya (2015), they include cost, execution time, reliability, reputation, availability, throughput, trust, and security. Along with this, a holistic assessment taxonomy developed by Lemos, Benatallah, and Daniel (2015) will be used as it allows us to define the overall ability of composition methods to solve fundamental tasks within the social commerce environment. Their taxonomy includes the following elements: composition language, knowledge reuse, automation, tool support, execution platform, and target users.

To attain the formulated research objectives, a large sample of literature on the subject of interest will be systematically and critically reviewed and high-quality evidence will be retrieved to answer the following questions:

• What are the major requirements of users on social commerce platforms and what characteristics do the latter have?
• How suitable are the existing workflow techniques and AI techniques in supporting web services on social commerce platforms: which advantages and drawbacks do they have in terms of the QoS and holistic taxonomy metrics?

Besides the systematic literature review that will provide background information, the quantitative analytical methods will be used to compare the identified web service composition techniques based on the suggested evaluation criteria. Compared to qualitative methods that aim to establish dynamic links among variables and answer why questions, quantitative analysis tools allow obtaining objective findings.

Both descriptive and inferential statistics instruments will be applied in the proposed research. The former will help summarize evaluation results in the form of mean numbers, while the latter will assist in revealing more complex associations between the studied web service composition techniques and social commerce characteristics (Ali & Bhaskar, 2016). Overall, a combination of both inductive and deductive reasoning approaches will be applied to solve the intended research task.

Induction implies the construction of theory and hypotheses from observation of relationships among distinct variables, and it will be implemented at the literature review stage (Zalaghi & Khazaei, 2016). Conversely, the deduction starts with the identification of objectives and proceeds to building a logical structure that would satisfy them (Zalaghi & Khazaei, 2016). This approach will be utilized during the analytical and comparative part of the project after the most suitable web service composition technique for social commerce will be suggested.

Conclusion

Social commerce is an emerging and increasingly promising phenomenon that currently draws a lot of interest due to its multiple benefits for both consumers and businesses. Considering high interoperability demands on such commercial platforms and in applications, the issue of service delivery is of significant concern. The analysis of web service composition techniques allows addressing this concern and look at its root.

The evaluation of various web service composition techniques about their quality and suitability to the social commerce environment will thus provide theoretical implications for further research, as well as the practical ones for algorithm developers.

References

Ali, Z., & Bhaskar, S. B. (2016). Basic statistical tools in research and data analysis. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, 60(9), 662-669.

Baethge, C., Klier, J., & Klier, M. (2016). Social commercestate-of-the-art and future research directions. Electronic Markets, 26(3), 269-290.

Lemos, A., Benatallah, B., & Daniel, F. (2015). Web service composition: A survey of techniques and tools. ACM Computing Surveys, 48(3), 33-41.

Rajeswari, M., Sambasivam, G., Balaji, N., Basha, M. S., Vengattaraman, T., & Dhavachelvan, P. (2014). Appraisal and analysis on various web service composition approaches based on QoS factors. Journal of King Saud University  Computer and Information Sciences, 26(1), 143-152.

Sethuraman, R., Sasiprabha, T., & Sandhya, A. (2015). An effective QoS based web service composition algorithm for integration of travel & tourism resources. Procedia Computer Science, 48, 541-547.

Zalaghi, H., & Khazaei, M. (2016). The role of deductive and inductive reasoning in accounting research and standard setting. Asian Journal of Finance & Accounting, 8(1), 23.

Traffic Statistics

Traffic ranking

From the statistics above, Four Seasons traffic rank has been experiencing a significant drop in the past 3-month period. From the statistics above, the companys site had experienced a worrying 1045 decline in the April statistics. This was succeeded further by 875 and 461 drops for the months of May and June, respectively. The reason for these significant drops may be a result of the misalignment between the companys market search strategy and its customer acquisition goals. The companys chosen keywords may be unsuitable (compared to its competitors) in its operating market hence its current loss in customer acquisition.

Reach

Percentage of global Internet audience which visit Four Seasons:

From the statistics above, the number of global internet users who visit Four Seasons has kept on increasing when comparisons are made to other international sites. This may be attributed to the companys increased marketing strategy that has seen it place online adverts to attract the audience to its site pages.

Pageviews

Percentage of global pageviews on Four Seasons:

Likewise, the companys site has experienced a small increase in the number of pages viewed by its users, especially in the last two months. The growth may be attributed to users keen interest in flip through the companys many titles and sub-titles, which increase the number of pages viewed by users.

Moreover, the management has linked the entire sister hotels and resorts to the mother site. According to Four Seasons Homepage (2011), the sites home page displays the image of the hotel headquarters in Toronto- Canada. Users are then prompted to click on Find a hotel or a resort. On clicking, various hotel or resort names are displayed from across the globe. A click on any one of them shows the image of the hotel or the resort. The described instances also increase the sites page views.

Pageviews/users

Daily pageviews for each user:

However, the statistics above should be noted when averages are compiled to determine the unique pages visited by each user for 3 months. It is established that the percent change drops with a relatively small margin. This might be attributed to the tendency of the companys management not to carry out frequent updates on most of its page contents, thus leading to users dissatisfaction.

Bounce %

The %-age of visits to Four Seasons that consist of single pageviews:

Referring to the above statistics, the author notes that the %-age visits to the Four Seasons site that consist of single-page views have increased. This might be due to the management structuring the site such that users can derive their specific information of preference on single pages. For instance, visitors who may have bookmarked the Four Seasons Atlanta Resort link can easily access all the pricing and reservation details on this single page.

Time on site

The daily time spent on Four Seasons:

From the above statistics, the duration of time that users spent on fourseasons.com has been reducing in the last 3-month period. This might be for a variety of reasons, which may include the ability of the users to easily find their preferred statistics or the inability of the users not to find out their selected statistics. This might have caused their dissatisfaction leading to less spending time.

Search %

Drawing inferences from the above statistics, the author points out that the %-age of visits to the companys site originated from search engines has kept on shifting. In May, the percentage change had dropped to -1%, while in the next month of June, the statistics had improved by a margin of 2%. The fluctuating pattern may be attributed to the managements inability to implement search engine optimization for this company.

Search Analytics

From the statistics above, search traffic has been tremendously increasing for the Four Seasons site. The companys primary site (fourseasons.com) led to the number of search engines directed at it. This motherland site had a total of 12.55% as compared to the least sister company (Nevis), which had a percentage of 0.86%. The increase in the search engine visits may be attributed to the companys increased use of keyword-rich tags that encompass, amongst others, four seasons, hotel resort, resort, hotel, resorts, and home (Four Seasons Homepage, 2011).

Audience

The following findings can be said on the popularity of Four Seasons audience:

On the age category, the above Alexa statistics reveal that the companys site is more popular with the category of persons whose age bracket falls between 25-34 years. However, the site is not popular with the category of people aged 65 and above. This may be attributed to the increased tendency of holidaying amongst the middle-aged as opposed to the aged persons.

Moreover, the following findings can also be highlighted on the companys site:

• Statistics reveal that many females pay a visit to the site compared to the decreasing number of males.
• Most graduates pay a visit to the site.
• Children do not pay visits to the site at all.
• Most people access the site while at work.

Reviews

The company has had no reviews written on it.

References

Alexa (2011). Fourseasons.com. Web.

Four Seasons Homepage (2011). Four Seasons hotels and resorts. Web.

Introduction

With the advent of the internet, there are so many websites online, some have authentic information while others do not. It is important to have the know-how of collecting authentic information from a website. This paper analyzes the website www.webmd.com with website evaluation tools provided by Prof. Robert Harris.

Pre-evaluation

Websites are updated regularly and this makes it challenging to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of any given website. However, Professor Robert Harris has developed a rationale for analyzing websites. Professor Harris (2010) has engineered the CARS (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, and Support) checklist. Harris indicates that the initial stage of website evaluation begins before conducting any search on the web. In line with this guidance, I selected the intended topic; I wanted a website that offers educative information on health-related issues to the general public. Having been guided by Prof. Harriss CARS checklist, I chose www.webmd.com.

Webmd.com (About Us 2014) is a commercial website belonging to WebMD Company and was founded in 2005. This website has hundreds of articles, which highlight the statistics, causes, management, and prevention of various diseases. It offers verified information on health-related matters for public access. Webmd.com offers educative information on how to live a healthy life by illustrating what has to be done and how it should be done. On top of that, visitors of this website can utilize the symptoms checker tool. A visitor can enter the symptoms that they have and this guides them in getting to know the medical condition they might be having. Webmed.com has numerous articles on health and they can be retrieved by searching for an item through the search window. Articles have been categorized alphabetically as well as based on other characteristics such as drugs and supplements, family and pregnancy, healthy living, news, and experts. On top of that, webmed.com offers daily health tips, provides geographical data of any given disease, and provides a tool that helps people assess their likelihood of having or managing various conditions. Webmed.com has sponsored links offering health solutions.

Credibility

On the home page, various aspects have been highlighted. First, at the bottom of the page, it has been indicated that this website does not provide diagnosis or medical consultation; it only provides educative information. Those who visit this website are advised to consult their doctors if they have any medical problems. Those who have medical conditions that warrant emergency services have been advised to call 911. The information given on this website appears to be credible. There is a page titled about WebMD; on this page, it has been indicated that the editorial staff that provides and reviews the information posted on this website is comprised of qualified journalists and medical professionals.

Medical professionals provide medical information from MedicineNet.com. Anyone who wishes to meet the websites medical team has an opportunity to book an appointment. This website has received hundreds of awards from various bodies because it provides detailed and credible medical information, reference materials, and online community programs to consumers. Consumers can contact the websites editorial team through a contact us form. Webmd.com has editorial and privacy policies and terms of use, which guide the general management of its operations.

This websites news and information are updated by a special office known as the editorial team. There are hundreds of publications on this site and the authors responsible for those publications are boldly indicated. Most importantly, the provided information is cited accordingly. For instance, an article on flu highlights the causes and management of this disease. On every page, there is a note indicating the last time that page was updated. The article has a map, which indicates regions where flu is prevalent. This confirms the credibility of the information listed on this website. According to Prof. Harriss checklist on credibility, a website that has verifiable information qualifies to be termed as credible.

Accuracy

In terms of accuracy, webmd.com provides not only balanced but also fair and accurate information. The editorial team verifies the information that is posted on the website. This team has qualified medical professionals, as well as competent journalists. As such, this website provides customized health information that can be understood by everyone without necessarily having a medical background. The information is educative, and it has been put in as simple language as possible so that consumers can understand the message that is being broadcasted easily. Every page is updated regularly.

Substantiation of the claims made on the website is boosted by the use of scholarly and reliable information such as journal articles, government publications, and medical bodies among others. For instance, I intended to find out more about cardiovascular diseases. Upon submitting the query, a page with information on cardiovascular diseases opened up; it highlighted the latest statistics, symptoms, and management guidelines. This site has a search window where a visitor of the website can type any question and submit a search request. Information that is in the websites database is easily accessible through the search window. If the information is not in the websites database, the visitor is informed accordingly. Truth be told, this website has a huge library of health-related information.

A tour on the webmd.com website reveals the rich medical information that is available.

Reasonableness

The information posted on this website is exceptionally reasonable. The press team as indicated earlier ensures that the information available at the site is verifiable. This ensures that it is not sentimental, but factual. The idea of sourcing information from other government agencies, scholarly journals, and medical bodies is an indication that webmd.com endeavors to provide reasonable health information to consumers. Critical information such as statistics of a given disease, mortalities, and morbidities allows an individual to compare previous and latest statistics. In addition, a detailed explanation is given to account for the differences in the reported figures. The most significant aspect in terms of reasonableness is that the editorial team has given a bold message that webmd.com provides neither medical diagnosis nor treatment; the information provided should be used as a guide. In addition, there are terms of use, which guide the operations of this business. The existence of advertisement, privacy, and editorial policies is a clear indication that this website is reasonable.

However, the reasonableness of the information given by sponsored links on this website is questionable. Webmd.com has indicated that it is not responsible for the information that is provided by sponsored links. This approach surprises as one wonders whether such information is credible. Webmd.com is a commercial website; it generates revenue from the traffic of visits to the site. Advertisers pay webmd.com to post adverts on the sites since this website attracts millions of people. For this reason, some sponsored links may provide unverifiable information. This aspect questions the accuracy and credibility of dot-com websites.

Support

The aspect of corroboration is easily evident following a tour on webmd.com. As indicated earlier, critical information such as statistics of a given disease comes from reliable sources. Webmd.com has a news and experts section that provides the latest medical news and regulations from various sources such as the FDA, Congress, international medical bodies, and blogs. In addition, this website collaborates with other sponsors in the provision of medical information. For instance, on the home page, there are various sponsored links, which provide more information on several topics. For example, there is a link to controlling diabetes. Webmed.com indicates that it is not responsible for the information provided by sponsored links. However, if the reported data was extracted from other sources, those sources are listed at the end of the page.

Conclusion

Searching for accurate health-related information on the web is challenging. There are tons of inaccurate medical information on the web, especially from dot-com domains. Most dot-com websites have been commercialized. This aspect limits such a websites credibility and accuracy. However, the checklist documented by Prof. Harris has been of exceptional help. This tool offers guidance when selecting a website with accurate and verifiable information. The rationale prepared by Prof. Harris has widened my scope of website evaluation. Using Prof. Harriss checklist, I have garnered confidence to search for information on dot-com websites. This tool will be of exceptional help in my studies, as it will guide me to locate essential medical information.

References

About Us. (2014). Web.

Harris, R. A. (2010). Evaluating Internet Research Sources. Web.

Introduction

In the globalized world of rapidly evolving information technologies, designing and maintaining websites gained several forms, combining machinery and creativity. As a matter of fact, the websites effectiveness depends on multiple undebatable factors, such as convenience, organization, and appealing design. Comparing and contrasting the websites of two prominent American media, The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) and The American Conservative (www.theamericanconservative.com), provide excellent evidence for identifying common elements and features of the contemporary media.

Both online media serve as one of the primary sources for reliable news extraction for thousands of Americans. These websites are each others main competitors in the news delivery industry, continually developing new strategies to attract new audiences. Therefore, this assignment focuses on analyzing, correlating, and opposing several aspects of the websites, like proximity, alignment, repetition, that are accountable for the success or failure of these media.

Websites Proximity Comparison

The human brain is designed to connect separate elements of the whole, defining whether the information provided on the webpage will be efficiently perceived and processed. Proximity is a fundamental component of a website since it provides readers with an ability to separate or connect the elements of a webpage (Campbell, 2017). The Washington Posts website exhibits the convenient proximity for the readers, where headings, descriptions, and the authors name of the same article are located close to each other (see Figure 1).

The American Conservative may also boast a convenient spacing of its elements. Similar to The Washington Post website, the thematically related articles are grouped together. However, the menu headings are positioned not accordingly to their importance. The American Conservative websites primary asset is its convenient dropdown menu, which unites broader categories with more specific subjects (see Figure 2). Concluding, the proximity of both substantial media websites devises an effortless and efficient perception of information.

Websites Alignment Comparison

Another essential feature of a website is the alignment of its text, illustrations, and elements of design. Segmenting information into thematic groups and aligning them on a webpage is exceptionally crucial for online mass media since it provides for uncomplicated comprehension and systematization of the text. The Washington Post has a few distinctive alignment elements that formulate a unique style of the website. The homepage incorporates the most significant piece of news, positioned in the center of the page, aimed to instantly captivate the readers attention (see Figure 3). Simultaneously, less significant pictures are inconsistent in size, creating an impression of visual disorganization and inequality.

The American Conservative website practices a distinctly contrasting model of alignment. The most relevant article is situated in the left-justified position, closer to the center of the page. The primary asset of the website is the conciseness of the text in the feature preview and the size alignment of the pictures, which delivers the webpage perception as more appealing and neat (see Figure 4). The website does not distribute the featured news into sections like The Washington Post. Instead, it uses a different manner of captivating the readers consciousness, highlighting the topic headings in red color. To summarize the section, The American Conservative website appears to be more systematic and consistent in terms of alignment, while The Washington Post resembles a more chaotic and self-contradictory arrangement.

Websites Repetition Comparison

Since the online media analyzed in the present paper are mostly the sources of informative nature, they do not possess various significant design elements that could be considered monotonous. For instance, The Washington Post has a repetitive feature of the black horizontal line dividing thematic sections (see Figure 5). The same tendency can be noticed on The American Conservative website, where the articles are separated with grey parallel lines. Furthermore, the media adopted two primary colors for the brand representation  black and red, which are consistent throughout the webpage (see Figure 6). Thus, the repetitive traits of the two comparable websites are somewhat alike; they are harmonious and do not deflect the readers attentiveness from the central content.

Websites Contrast Comparison

Finally, the contrast in website design is what advocates in establishing a valid visual representation of the webpage elements. Both websites utilize black font color of text blocks on the white background as for the color contrast. A divergent and straightforward color scheme allows for making the text well-defined and coherent. Both websites comply with the variation of form and size. On The Washington Post homepage, the despair in headings design is vividly noticeable, where the Opinions section distinctly deviates from the news sections (see Figure 7). The American Conservative follows such a tendency and likewise employs the divergent design, which deflects the blogs section from the standard preview of news articles (see Figure 8). Hence, the variation in designing options on the webpage on both websites primarily serves to emphasize certain content.

Conclusion

To sum up, the comparison of the two online mass media websites allowed identifying their common and different features. Both websites contain a significant amount of information, which is conveniently grouped with the use of different spaces and contrasting colors, fonts, and picture sizes. Alignment of The Washington Post appears to be less consistent, while the information on The American Conservative is structured in a more organized way. The latter website contains more repetitive elements of design, which do not affect perception. It can be suggested that the two websites analyzed in this paper are rather similar in their design, which, in general, can be considered effective enough for these information sources.

References

Campbell, J.T. (2017). Web Design: Introductory (6^th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Washington Post: Breaking news, world, US, DC news & analysis. (2020). Washington Post. Web.

The American Conservative. (2020). The American Conservative. Web.

Creating the website development strategy

This stage of the process involves developing a “vision” for the website in terms of what is its specific purpose for the company (i.e. will it sell products or merely present information regarding the company itself). This stage of the process involves analyzing what must be put in, what functions must be present and to what specific category of internet users must the website appeal to.

Translating the website development strategy

Translating the development strategy involves the creation of an effective framework of approach regarding how the idea for the website can be implemented in reality. This comes in the form of developing the conceptual framework for the website, creating teams to implement the intended functions and information that should be present as well as outlining specific deadlines for task completion.

Aligning the organization

This stage of the process involves aligning the company in such a way that it incorporates the new website into its operational framework. For instance, in the case that the company is developing the website to sell its products, this involves implementing a back system that seamlessly incorporates an order with warehouse operations, delivery service as well as customer service to deliver the product to the customer. Without such a system in place, chaos ensues which shows the need for proper organization alignment for online operations.

Planning operations

This stage of the process involves focusing on how the entirety of the website should function; who should monitor and be responsible for it, as well as determine what teams of individuals should be in charge of online market promotions, information posting, social media and other similar tasks that are an aspect of website development.

Monitoring, learning, testing and adapting new processes

This stage of the process involves examining the operations of the website in real-time and determining whether adjustments need to be made here and there to manifest optimum performance in website operations

Starting the Web Journey

This is the end of the project life cycle and involves normal website operations.

Three Levels of Planning

In this particular example, the three levels of planning complement one another to create a more competitive framework for the company. For example, in the case of corporate-level strategy, this involves the vision of the company for its operations while business strategy involves tactics to gain a competitive advantage. In this case, an online website acts as a means of manifesting the company’s corporate strategy (ex: become the number 1 bed and bathroom supplier) with its business strategy of staying ahead of the competition by selling online directly to consumers. Combining this with a functional strategy in the form of online marketing and advertising campaigns shows how the different levels of planning complement one another in this strategy.

Teams and Teamwork

As indicated by Thanhain (2005) four characteristics are in demand within a technology-oriented enterprise (in this case an enterprise that is trying to be more digitally oriented through the creation of an online sales website), namely: high market responsiveness, fast developments, low cost, and finally high levels of creativity, innovation, and efficiency (Thamhain, 2005). What must be understood though is that such characteristics are dependent upon the type of technical teams that are the backbone of the company wherein through the utilization of a variety of management practices a seamless integration of vertical and horizontal means of collaboration need to be implemented to create a stable organizational structure for proper operations and product development. Teams and teamwork are thus an indispensable aspect of the process since it would be necessary to delegate various tasks and important activities to specific teams to get things done right.

Without proper task delegation, activity management as well as proper communication and collaboration in the form of teamwork, it is very likely that a project can become stalled, mired in administrative red tape or may even be released albeit with an invariably reduced level of quality resulting in a negative image being attributed to the company itself. Morgeson et al. (2005) explains that teamwork enables a seamless transition between task creation and task accomplishment wherein every individual that is part of the project openly communicates regarding their current activities, problems that they encountered and what possible alternative solutions could be implemented to resolve a particular issue. Without communication and collaboration in the form of teamwork and teams during a project life cycle, mistakes are often made resulting in a far inferior project outcome as compared to what might have come about if proper teamwork was implemented. Based on what has been presented in this section, it can be seen that teams and teamwork are a beneficial aspect in the creation of a new company website since it enables the project to be completed efficiently and effectively.

Development and completion of the final project

By outlining the tasks necessary in completing the project as well as the various factors that are necessary in its inception to completion, this helps to expedite the process by enabling me to better understand what it is that I must do to accomplish the project in the most effective way possible. As explained by Smith-Daniels & Smith-Daniels (2008), one of the problems with the project planning process is a lack of sufficient “vision” and planning. “Vision” in this particular case refers to the taking into consideration the various nuances that are a part of all project development processes. In the case of developing a corporate website, it would be necessary to take into consideration its functionality, its purpose (i.e. whether it’s merely to present information about the company or will sell the company’s products) as well as determining its aesthetic appeal in terms of targeting a specific market segment.

It is this and other such factors that showcases the importance of “vision” when it comes to project development since you need to determine what must be implemented beforehand to avoid potential pitfalls later on. When it comes to planning, this activity enables a project manager to create a conceptual framework regarding proper task delegation involving specific activities as well as determine task completion schedules. By doing this type of activity beforehand, this enables the creation of a more efficient project development process by conceptualizing what needs to be done instead of determining what has to be implemented while the project is underway. This prevents possible problems later on related to redundant functions, inefficient processes and lessens the likelihood of going over budget.

Reference List

Morgeson, F. P., Reider, M. H., & Campion, M. A. (2005). Selecting individuals in team settings: The importance of social skills, personality characteristics, and teamwork knowledge. Personnel Psychology, 58(3), 583-611.

Smith-Daniels, D. E., & Smith-Daniels, V. L. (2008). Trade-Offs, Biases, and Uncertainty in Project Planning and Execution: A Problem-Based Simulation Exercise. Decision Sciences Journal Of Innovative Education, 6(2), 313-341.

Thamhain, H. (2005). Management of technology. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.