Eisenstein and the Cinema of Montage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Eisenstein and the Cinema of Montage - Essay Example re vigorous productions which reverberate through film theory to this day. However, this is not simply a paper on the history of Soviet silent film-it s an investigation into the significant innovations from this epoch. Many talented men entered this field over a short span of years and produced works deserving of attention and note, including Vsevolod Pudovkin, Fridrikh, Grigorii Kozintsev, Abram Room and Leonid Trauberg. Yet it is the development of a distinct theory of montage that still reverberates, and this theme is most apparent in the work of Sergei Eisenstein, most notably in the 1925 film Battleship Potemkin. For the Eisenstein of the silent film era, montage ... n quite startling, juxtapositions of shots'.5 His writings stress the core significance of the idea, as 'we must fully recall the characteristics of cinema's effect that we stated initially and that establishing the montage approach as the essential, meaningful and sole possible language of cinema'. 6 In this method, 'The shot is by no means an element of montage. The shot is a montage cell'. 7 As the Statement on Sound, released jointly by the formalist filmmakers Eisenstein, Pudovkin and Alexandrov in 1928 clearly states, 'The success of Soviet pictures on world screens is to a significant extent the result of a number of those concepts of montage which they first revealed and asserted'.8 Although the concept of montage was a distinctly Soviet one, that does not mean it was alternative or on the fringe in that country. The leading directors of the era openly acknowledged the importance of the technique, and were pleased that it helped distinguish a Soviet school of cinema, to the p oint that these men issued joint statements to that effect. In terms of modern scholarship, a review of the Soviet montage method typically focuses on the contribution of Eisenstein, for his was the most brazen and distinct use of the method. He propagated this method not only in his work but in his numerous writings on films. The swift cutting and visual juxtapositions read in a very distinct way from contemporary, non-Soviet cinema. In 1927, his films were referred to as 'plotless cinema' by Adrian Piotrovsky, because they relied on 'exclusively cinematic means of expression'.9 The narrative is clearly secondary to the montage. For Eisenstein, 'montage is conflict. As the basis of every art is conflict'.10 Weaving distinct cells together creates more than what could simply

Escalating Costs of Social Health Insurance Essay Example for Free

Escalating Costs of Social Health Insurance Essay Unlike any other country in the world, the United States continually experience rising cost of healthcare provision. Wolfe (1999) reports that healthcare costs has been increasing at a high rate for decades, it is estimated that every 40 months, the share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on healthcare goes up by 1 percent. Health expenditure which stood at 12. 3 percent of GDP in 1990 increased to 16. 0 percent of GDP in 2006 and is projected to reach 20 percent in the next 7 years. Between 2005 and 2006 alone, healthcare spending increased by 6. 7 percent, exceeding nominal GDP growth by 0. 6 percent, to a whooping $2. 1 trillion, representing an estimated $7,000 spending per person (Kuttner 2008; Catlin et al 2008). Various factors including inflation, aging population and advances in medical technology has been indicted as been responsible for the global increase in health expenditures, however, the American situation appears to be peculiar. Kuttner (2008) contends that the proliferation of new technologies, poor diet, lack of exercise, the tendency for supply (physicians, hospitals, tests, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and novel treatments) to generate demand and the culture of the American litigation, resulting in excessive malpractice litigations and the practice of defensive medicine, all adds together to ensure that the country experiences the largest and fastest growth in health expenditures, while at the same time, defeating efforts at cost containments. Like every other developed country, health insurance systems, especially social health insurance systems constitute the primarily methods of health financing (Carrin and James, 2004). This arrangement ensures that most of the cost of healthcare are paid by third parties, either through public establishments, as in social (public) health insurance systems, or by private bodies, as in private health insurance system, or in some cases, a mixture of both (Wolfe, 1999). The mixture of private and social health insurance is present in almost every country, with variations in their coverage. While in most European countries, social health insurance is deeply ingrained in societal fabric and provides the largest source of funding and insurance coverage (Saltman, 2004), the vast majority of Americans receive their health insurance coverage through employer based private insurance, with the rest of the country covered by any of the several public health insurance programs (Glover et al 2003). It is estimated that employer private health insurance covers approximately 63 percent of the population, with 51 percent of these amount covered by their own employers, while the remaining 41 percent are covered as a workers dependent; 14 percent are covered by public programs, 5 percent covered by individual insurance policies while an estimated 17 percent of the population are uncovered by any insurance (Devi, 2005). Medicare is largely regarded as the primary national (social) health insurance program in the United States, providing coverage for an estimated 44 million Americans over the age of 65. It is also estimated that Medicare provides health insurance coverage for about 7 million Americans under the age of 65 who have a disability or chronic condition (Fact Sheet, 2007). Social health insurance is a vital part of any countrys health care and health financing program, in some part of Europe, there is a general contention that social health insurance is not just an insurance arrangement, but a way of life, they are seen as a part of a social incomes policy that seek to redistribute wealth and health risk evenly amongst the population, however, the rising costs of these systems, not just in the United States but across the modern world, threatens the system. Before an analysis of the costs and factors driving costs of social health insurance systems, especially in America and in other European countries, it is important to first briefly describe the underlying principles of the social health insurance system and its difference from the private health insurance programs. This will be followed by a description of the United States Medicare program and some social health insurance programs in selected European countries and then a look at the costs of these programs. Steps taken towards cutting costs of the social insurance programs and the differences in cost cutting approaches between the United States and European Union countries will be examined. Lastly, future approaches that could help ameliorate the financial challenges facing the United States public insurance programs shall be recommended. Social Health Insurance Social health insurance, in its basic principle, in any society achieves a set of societal objectives through its peculiar form of financial cross subsidies, which covers redistribution from the healthy to the ill, from the well off to the less well off, from the young to the old and from the individual to the family. This redistributive focus of any social health insurance program distinguishes it from what is nominally regarded as insurance, thus, in several societies, it entrenches solidarity, income redistribution and is thus seen as a key part of a broader structure of social security and income support that sits at the heart of civil society (Saltman, 2004:5) Saltman and Dubois (2004) contend that although Germany is considered the source of the modern day form of social health insurance, when it codified existing voluntary structures into compulsory state supervised legislation in 1883, the history of social health insurance (SHI) dates back longer to the medieval guilds in the late Middle Ages. However, they agreed that the structure and organization of SHI over time has considerably evolved; the number of people covered has increased from a small number of workers in particular trades to a larger portion of the population, the central concept SHI has evolved from wage replacement a death benefit into payment for and or provision of outpatient physician services, inpatient hospital care and drugs; thirdly, the administrative structure of SHI has also evolved from cooperative workers association to state mandated legislative character, beginning with Germany in 1883 and the most recent, 1996 in Switzerland. Structurally, social health insurance everywhere possesses three common characteristics. Social health insurance programs are administered privately in both funding and in the provision of health services; as a result of their private administration, social health programs are self regulating, and lastly, as a consequence of their independence and self regulation, social health insurance programs are relatively stable, both in organizational and financial terms (Saltman, 2004). As a fall out of these structural characteristics, social health insurance posses several core components that differentiate them from private health insurance programs. Under SHI, the raising of funds is tied to income of beneficiaries, usually in the form of a transparent and fixed percentage of wages. As a result, contributions are risk independent and thus encourage maximal risk pooling. Also, collection and administration of revenues for the program are handled by not-for-profit and sometimes, state run funds and these funds are usually managed by board members that are usually representative and elected. The United States Medicare program posses most or all of the characteristics of a social health insurance program. For over 40 years, the program has successfully provided healthcare access for the elderly and millions of people with disability. It is regarded as the nations single largest health insurance program and it covers a wide range of the society for a broad range of health services. For example, Potetz (2008) report that one out of ever five dollars spent on healthcare in 2006 came through the Medicare program. The program is also reported to fund, at least, one third of all hospital stays, nationally. In most European countries too, national, public (social) health insurance programs reportedly covers a large proportion of the population, in most cases, reaching up to 100 percent coverage. Saltman and others (2004) reports that in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland and from 1995, Israel, all have health insurance systems where (public) social health programs plays predominant roles in organization and funding of health care services, where between 60 to 100 percent of the population are mandatorily covered. They further argue that even countries like Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Greece and Portugal that have a tax funded National Health Service schemes, segments of SHI based healthcare funding also exists. Explaining the difference between social health insurance programs and private health insurance, Thomson and Mossialos (2004) contend that private health insurance play very insignificant role in the health systems of several European countries, either in terms of funding or access to healthcare. Unlike in the United States where more than 60 percent of the population are covered by private employer based insurance, private health insurance programs covers a relatively small proportion of the population and accounts for less than 5 percent of the total health spending, with the exception of France, Germany and the Netherlands. The most common difference between social and private health insurance includes eligibility, risk pooling and benefits. For social health insurance programs, contributions are mostly based on a fixed or varying proportion of wages, without regard for risks, thus a wider proportion of the people are eligible and benefits i. e. health services offered are broader with less out of pocket costs (Thomson and Mossialos, 2004; Saltman 2004). For private health insurance, the reverse is the case in most situations. Especially in for-profit private health insurance systems, contributions are adjusted according to risks and for the most part high risks individuals are rejected or expected to pay higher premiums. Consequently, eligibility requirements are strict; out of pocket expenses might be higher, while services provided vary significantly across programs, depending on an array of factors. Depending on the generally functions and services offered by private health insurance, the relation to social health insurance can be substitutive, complementary or supplementary. Substitutive private health insurance programs provides insurance covers that is otherwise available from the public programs purchased by individuals or groups who are excluded from the SHI. The larger proportion of the US society is excluded from the public insurance programs, which are usually available to the elderly, the disabled or the very poor, the rest of the population must rely on private employer based insurance. However, in European countries with effective SHI, only certain individuals with income above a certain upper threshold are excluded from the public insurance program e. g. in Netherlands and Germany, while the rest of the population are eligible. Complementary private health insurance programs provide cover for services not fully covered by the SHI programs or totally excluded, the Medicare + Choice plans is an example of such covers. Lastly, supplementary private health insurance provides cover for faster access and also increased consumer choices for individuals who can afford it (Thomson and Mossialos, 2004). Eligibility and Coverage  The United States Medicare program is essentially for the elderly, thus, individuals are eligible for Medicare coverage if they are citizens of the United States or have been a permanent legal resident for five continues years and over 65 years old. Individuals younger than 65 years of age can also be eligible for Medicare coverage if they are disabled and have been on the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or the Railroad Retirement Board benefits for a period of two years. Further, individuals with end state renal disease (ESRD) or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) known as Lou Gehrig’s disease also qualifies for Medicare coverage. However, many people with disability do not qualify for SSDI benefits and by extension, Medicare. To qualify for these benefits, disabled individuals must have a family member under age 65 who have a work history which included Federal Income Contribution Act tax (FICA), an individual may also qualifies for SSDI on the FICA contributions of a parent as a Childhood Disability Beneficiary (CDB) or as a disabled spouse of a deceased spouse. Whichever qualification route applicable, an individual qualifies for Medicare two years after he/she starts receiving the SSDI benefits, except for the Lou Gehrig’s disease where Medicare benefits starts in the first month SSDI payments are received or in the case of the ESRD where Medicare benefits starts within three months of the first dialysis (Fact Sheet, 2007). As of 2007, it is estimated that Medicare provides cover and health services to about 43 million Americans. This figure is expected to double to 77 million by 2031 when the baby boomers of the post World War II period start to retire. However, as mentioned previously, SHI in European countries offer universal coverage that is mandatory in some countries. Coverage for these countries varies from 63 percent in Netherlands to 100 percent coverage in France, Israel and Switzerland. In most of these countries, it is usually the highest income groups that are either allowed or required by law to leave the social health programs for private health insurance (Saltman, 2004:7). Benefits Benefits for Medicare members have continually been modified. The original program has two parts, Medicare Part A and part B. The Part A program known as Hospital Insurance, covers hospital stays with stays in skilled nursing facilities for limited periods if certain qualifying criteria are met. Such criteria include the length of hospital stay, which most be three days, at least, excluding the discharge day and stay in skilled nursing facility must be for conditions diagnosed during the hospitalization. Medicare Part A allows up to a maximum of 100day stay in skilled nursing facilities, with the first 20 days completely paid for by Medicare and the remaining 80days paid in part and requiring a co-payment from the beneficiary. The Medicare Part B covers services and products not covered by Part A, but on an outpatient basis. The benefits under this coverage includes physician and nursing services, laboratory diagnostic tests, influenza and pneumonia vaccinations x-rays and blood transfusions. Other services include renal dialysis, outpatient hospital procedures, Immunosuppressive drugs for organ transplant recipients, chemotherapy, limited ambulance transportation and other outpatient medical treatments carried out in a physicians office. This coverage, to some extent, also includes medical equipments like walkers, wheelchairs and mobility scooters for individuals with mobility problems, while prosthetic devices, such as breast prosthesis after mastectomy or eye glasses after cataract surgery are also covered. The recently added Part C and D of the Medicare benefits slightly deviate from the original Medicare concept. After the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 came into effect, Medicare beneficiaries were allowed the option of receiving their Medicare benefits through private health insurance plans if they do not want to go through the original Medicare plans. These became known as Medicare + Choice as beneficiaries could choose any private health insurance plans and have it paid for by Medicare. The Medicare + Choice or Part C arrangement later became known as the Medicare Advantage Plan after the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 came into effect. The Part D plan, on the other hand, covers mainly prescription drugs and anyone in the original Plan A or B is eligible for this plan. However, in other to receive the benefits of the Plan D, a beneficiary must enroll and be approved for a Stand-alone Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) or Medicare Advantage plan with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD). However, because Plan D is effectively operated by private health insurance companies, there are no standardized benefits, like the plan A and B; the private insurance companies could choose to cover some drugs or classes of drugs and not cover others, with the exception of drugs excluded from Medicare coverage. Beneficiaries are therefore restricted to the drugs coverage of the plans they choose (Merlis, 2008; Potetz, 2008). Contributions towards Social Health Insurance Medicare financing, like social health insurance everywhere, is financed through a complex mix of taxes, contributions, co-payments and the likes. The most important source of financing for the Medicare expenditures is through the payroll tax imposed by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act and the Self-Employment Contributions Act of 1954, while other sources of financing includes general revenue through income taxes, a tax on Social Security benefits, and payments from states required for the Medicare drug benefits which started in 2006. In addition to these, beneficiaries also contribute directly to Medicare financing through premiums, deductibles and co-insurance. It is reported that income cases, physician do charge beneficiaries an additional out-of -pocket balance billing to cover for services rendered (Potetz, 2008). The federal payroll taxes are paid by the working population or by the beneficiaries throughout their work history. The tax equals 2. 9 percent of gross wages, with half (1. 45 percent) deducted from the workers salary and the other half paid by the employer. Initially, there was a ceiling on the maximum amount any single person can contribute; however, beginning from 1994, the maximum limit was removed. Self employed people who do not have an employer to cover the other half of their taxes are mandated by law to pay the full 2. 9 percent of their estimated earnings. However, the contributions from the beneficiaries vary considerably depending on the plan and also range from premiums, deductibles, co-payments or in some cases, the balance billing mentioned previously.

Organisational Structure of Red Rooster

Organisational Structure of Red Rooster Red Rooster is owned Australia chicken brand. Red Rooster (n.d.) stated that it has over 360 stores and 5000 employees and well established franchise support network so Red Rooster is great successful fast food Franchise Company Australia owned brand. Red Rooster support each restaurant franchises such as operation system, commercial and promotion of brand and it designed to take minimise risk and maximise potential. Australian Fast Foods possessed Red Rooster until 2007 but Anne (2007) stated that Quick Service Restaurant Holdings (QSR) has bought Australian Fast Food (AFF) what was the owner of Red Rooster through. Since 2007, QSR is owner under name of fast food restaurants Red Rooster, Chicken Treat and Oporto. Is it a corporation, listed company, private company, franchise, national, international Describe ownership structure (who owns the company) 1.2 Organizational Structure (120 words) Red Roosters Head office is located on Western Australia and Northern Territory State and the owner is QSR but Quadrant Private Equity (2007) said that Quadrant which is the venture arm of the Westpac supported $180 million to Quick Service Restaurants Pty Limited has achieve Red Rooster and Quadrant majority own QSR. Red Rooster built up the own web page for marketing of their products and brand and the company is using the news media such as the internet, newspapers, radio, TV and Magazines for sending their message to all location of Australia. Moreover, Red Rooster has been developed in collaboration with Australian Association of National Advertiser (AANA) which company has promoted and protected the interests of advertiser community for enhancing their quality of commercial communication and made relationship with entertainment brands such as DreamWorks, Wanner Brothers and Hasbro for promotion of products to children and their parents (Red Rooster, n.d.). Chief Executive Office on QSR is Mark Lindsay Chief Executive Office on Quadrant is Chris Hadley Contact person is Gary Glen Where is HQ Other organizations owned, or associated with them Who is the CEO: spokesperson or contact person? (Be specific this does not require an internal management structure) what are the cc communication lines Industry Activities (120 words) Red rooster is leading fast food service in Australia. They try to provide their products as possible as quickly with high quality, value of service and hygiene which means that provide services and foods to customer with high satisfaction and keep innovation of their product that focuses on consumer and their life style. Therefore, the aiming is exceeding customer expectations. Seliske, Pickett, Boyce and Janssen (2008) indicated that Food retailers were categorized as full service restaurants, fast food restaurants, sandwich shops, coffee shops and grocery stores. It shows that fast food restaurant is categorized on retailer so Red Rooster is including on retail industry. Purpose of retail is sales of goods or products directly to purchasers in fixed location where they are organized. What do they do What industry Wholesale, retail, manufacturer, importer or combination. 1.4 Theory Stakeholder (300 words) The important of managing the business activities should understand the directions of influence which managers operate business activities successfully and achieve the organizations objectives effectively and the direction of influence are incorporated in stakeholder which is that Freeman (1984) any group or individual who can affect or support by achievement of the organizations objectives. Robert (2003) said that business organizations are among the most powerful social entities on the earth. Therefore, the organization should manage and identify stakeholders interest, needs and point of view (Friedman and miles, 2006). It shows that the purpose of business activities should consider of maximization stakeholders interesting and their fairness. Mutual relationship with stakeholders is a crucial for all of organizations which means that building and maintaining friendly relationships with stakeholders is vital component for achievement of companys objectives or goals. First of all, t he most important action is that the company should indentify who are our stakeholders because in the business world, different stakeholders including employers, government, financiers and customers exist and quietly concern with companys business and different stakeholders have different interests for the company so the company is treated differently. Stakeholder theory is helping to this task. This is because Friedman and Miles (2001) has opinion that stakeholder theory or approach has helped to identify and pursuit stakeholder responses to changes in corporate strategy. Moreover, theory of stakeholder suggests the way how managers formulate and implement processes which satisfy all who have a stake in the business (Freeman, 1984). Second important action is making friendship with stakeholders. Mutual relationship with stakeholders is a crucial for achievement of the companys objectives. On the other hand, it has given guarantees the long term success of business activities. Argad ona (1998) stated that Stakeholder theory is concerned about activity management of relationships and the promotion of shared interest in order to develop business strategies. It shows that stakeholder theory is helpful that the company achieve the business goal effectively and efficiently. Freeman (1984) Stakeholder theory It focuses that the organisation should consider stakeholder interests when they make business strategic Bruning Ledingham (2000) Relationship management approach This approach function builds and maintains organisations relationship with stakeholders (Bruning and Ledingham, 2000) Compatible Type A: Defensive Quadrant Private Equity Top management Type B: Opportunism Investors of Quadrant Private Equity (can check at http://www.quadrantpe.com.au/Investors who is their investors. Westpac Bank Trade association (Advertising Federation of Australia, Australian Barramundi Farmers Association, Australian Chicken Meat Federation, Dietitians Association of Australia) Educationalists Incompatible Type D: compromise Low level employees Government Customers Creditors Labour unions Suppliers: under Finesse Food Pty Ltd Kailis Organic Grove Barramundi Retailer in Thailand Beverage companies such as Coca-cola, Nestle, need more Type C: Elimination Criminal members of the public Animal Welfare NGOs Type A is necessary compatible relationship which all of these have strong connection with Red Rooster. Therefore, the company should protect relationship with them as a strategy Type B is contingent compatible institutional arrangements. Between Red Rooster and group in type B have the same interests. However, Red Rooster has no direct relationship with type B group members. An opportunistic strategy is the logical strategy. Type C is contingent incompatible institutional arrangements. Red Rooster has separated unconnected and opposed the interests with type D group members. It becomes a problem when one of two parties insists on its position. The strategy should depend the company own interest to seek elimination. Type D is necessary incompatible relations. It occurs when material interests are necessarily related to each other but their operations will lead to the relationship itself being threatened. The situation logic is concession and compromise Customer, employees, local communities, suppliers and distributors, shareholders, business partners, Government Who would be the stakeholders? Plenty of stakeholders Corporate Identity 1.6 Theory Corporate Identity A corporate identity is expressing the companys reality such as character and personality as conveyed through the organisations name, logo, motto, products, services, buildings, stationary, uniform and all of physical materials to create by the organisation and communicate to a variety of constituencies (Argenti, 2009). Identity would be more relation with organisational behaviour and psychology rather than marketing. Strong identity can help the organisation align with the marketplace, attract investment, motivate employees and serves as a means to differentiate their product and services (Melewar and Karaosmannoglu, 2006). It shows that identity is an effective strategic way to gain competitive advantages. However, development corporate identity is difficult. Bridge (2004) stated that a corporate identity is not simply the creation of a logo and some communication material and needs to keep care of it to ensure that it says relevant to the organisation. Furthermore, corporate ident ity is associated with wide range of components (see the figure ). It means that the organisation should consider various components which are related with corporate identity. Corporate culture Corporate culture and corporate identity are certainly connected and it is very difficult to separate the two (Melewar and Karaosmanoglu, 2006) because corporate culture help to develop the organisation identity and it is also generated the identity of organisation. Corporate communication Corporate design Corporate structure Corporate strategy Behaviour Control behaviour: employees behaviour is significantly effects on corporate identity. It means that it is the company characteristic and In this section you give a definition and discussion of corporate identity theory (and cite the sources). If you read enough you can describe and introduce different components of what constitutes corporate identify. You may find some variations in the different theories on this theme and it is proper that you comment and cite them. Make sure that you identify the main features from theory (300 words) 1.7 Company identity, activities and tools Red Rooster is usually located the services are usually for people who do not have enough time or short time to eat their foods. It is offering as low prices, limited menu and fast service What do they do and where do they do it city centres, shopping centres, main roads, specialist precincts, industrial vehicle insignias Discuss those company communication activities which are specifically focusing on communicating its identity. Some of these may include slogans, buildings, layout, etc. give examples to illustrate (250 words) Are there differences in use of logo / slogans You may put a company logo or similar in this section Figure 1, Company logo ~ its gotta be red

Essay example --

Napoleon Bonaparte was a bewildering man of many achievements. He attended military school at the age of nine, and joined the French military when he was sixteen. His mother was named Letizia, and his father was named Carlos. He had seven siblings, named Joseph, Lucien, Elise, Louis, Pauline, Caroline, and Jerome. He also supported the revolution, which led to him attending several places during the initial part of the revolutionary wars. He became renowned after shielding the Nation Convention in 1795. One of his more significant feats was that he led effective campaigns against Austria, Sardinia, and Italy. As soon as other people became aware of his accomplishments, he very quickly became known as â€Å"the General.† His earlier military occupation included the Italian Campaigns: from 1796-1797, he dominated most of northern Italy for France, and had established a liking for leading. Another triumph from his early military career was the Egyptian Campaign. In 1798, he was defeated by a British navy, which was under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who devastated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. Discarding his troops in Egypt, Napoleon returned to France and received a champion’s welcome. In 1796, Napoleon got married to Josephine. But by 1799, the dishonesty of the Directory along with the dwindling war effort against the Second Coalition left the government open for assaults. Napoleon was put in control of the military on November 9, 1799. The next day, he and his military took control by overtaking the government, which then decided to end the Directory. The Directory was swapped with three consuls, and Napoleon was elected First Consul. With the government in disorder, Napoleon launched a successful coup d’ et... ... European leaders at the Congress of Vienna tried to reestablish order and reestablish peace. The champions (mainly the alliance of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain) restored the French boundaries of 1792 and the Bourbon dynasty. They made other modifications in the boundaries of Europe, founding Prussia as a "sentinel" against France, and produced a new kingdom out of Belgium and Holland. It was understood that the notion of the stability of power would preserve peace in Europe. But the demands of the conquerors, especially the Prussians and the Russians, for reimbursement threatened the balance. The Russian demands for Poland and the Prussian wish for Saxony led to conflict among the powers. Castlereagh, Metternich, and Talleyrand forced Russia and Prussia into a compromise whereby Russia got part of Poland and Prussia received two-fifths of Saxony.

Law Enforcement Code of Ethics Essay

The way in which police treat citizens have a ripple effect on community opinions, as these citizens impart their experiences to friends, family, and neighbors. One’s moral principles on right and wrong behavior are a form of discipline. Morals and ethics are often used interchangeably, and everyone has his own value system (Thomson and Wadsworth, 2005). Moreover, the code of ethics is an officer’s behavior of his credibility and validity. The officer must uphold the law regardless of the offender’s identity. According to Sykes (1989), a law enforcement informal code of ethics generally covers several aspects. The most important one being the principle of fairness and justice: An officer must uphold the law regardless of an offender’s race, social status or identity. One must not abuse his powers to take advantage or give special treatment to citizens, which turn out to be the main source of solicitation and acceptance of gratuities (pp. 141-142). In addition, a precinct with a value system empathizing crime control may allocate resources differently from one with a value system promoting community-oriented policing (p. 139). In fact, officers within these two precincts would be rewarded differently, and the formal culture of the agency would encourage different behavior patterns (Thomson and Wadsworth, 2005, p. 140). According to Scheingold (1984), law enforcement typically forms a homogenous social group in a closed social system. This leads to the extreme nature of police (formal ethics) subculture (p. 144). The three distinctive codes: First, the perfect professional, second, guidelines or his principles, and third, mandatory rules that serves as discipline. For example, an oath of duties and the sacred trust of an officer. An individual officer’s code of ethics is more specific to his behavior, whereas a professional code allows discretionary practices and unique issues of that particular profession (Thomson and Wadsworth, pp. 139-140, 2005). One knows that unpleasant experiences with the police affect individual opinions. Ideally, an officer’s decision-making is based on his code of  ethics. However, within many grey areas, the issues of loyalty force and discretion makes the process very difficult. Sykes (1989) states, â€Å"Professional ethics is extremely crucial to the image of law enforcement as a professional† (pp. 141-142). An officer has a responsibility to the whole community in a manner such as will inspire trust and confidence. References Axia College of University of Phoenix. (2005). Chapter 7: Corruption and the Code. Retrieved September 1, 2008, fromAxia College, Week Three reading AXcess, ADJ 235- Ethics and the Administration of JusticeAxia College of University of Phoenix. (2005). Chapter 6: The Ethics of Social Control. Retrieved September 1, 2008, fromAxia College, Week Three reading AXcess, ADJ 235- Ethics and the Administration of Justice

Consumer Perception on Security in E-Commerce Portals Essays

Consumer Perception on Security in E-Commerce Portals Essays Consumer Perception on Security in E-Commerce Portals Essay Consumer Perception on Security in E-Commerce Portals Essay With the introduction of internet and e-commerce many companies have been performing their business transactions through e portals such as C2B (Consumer to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer) etc. Increasing technology changes has bought tremendous changes in online business transactions and /or processes (buying and selling) and currently this process has become common. Currently E-commerce portals are playing a vital role in online business and here most consumers have varying opinions or views on online transactions especially security, privacy and trust. Security and privacy are the two major aspects that drive online businesses which leads online consumers to develop trust on the e-portals. This ultimately increases the business processes. Keeping in view this as a major aspect this research investigates and discusses the varying consumer perceptions on privacy, security and trust in electronic commerce portals. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This research aims at discussing varying consumer perceptions on privacy, security and trust on electronic commerce portals. The intended aim is achieved through following objectives * Analyze consumer perceptions on varying characteristics of e-commerce portals * Examine the various factors that influence consumer trust and privacy on e-commerce portals * Identify the antecedents and consequences of online consumers privacy concerns * Examine how various security factors affect consumer perceptions towards e-commerce portal BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The competition is on the increase in this highly advanced segment of marketing, both in number and intensity. More number of websites or portals are offering their services/products with lot of value additions and better quality. Selling of the services or goods, groceries, clothes, music, travel, tickets, hardware, gifts, flowers, books are a part of the e-merchandise. Insurance, smart cards, debit cards, financial services, credit cards, internet banking, banking machines etc. , are a part of the e-finance products. If any website seriously intends for retention of it existing customers (in addition to attractive more number of new customers), hey need to incorporate in their marketing strategies the relationship paradigm (Hsu, Li-Chang amp; Wang, 2008; Walczack et. al, 2006). Internet Effects on Trade and Commerce Utilization of the internet has become one of the important marketing channels and medium. In this scenario, it is the responsibility of the Managers to efficiently manage the scarce marketing resources under the purview of the internet channels in order to improve the sustainab le customer relationships. Every business entity needs to focus on the customer’s perception of improving the security, in order to maintain long term relationship. This is an important aspect in view of the fact that the customers depend on the internet for gathering the information as well as for purchases online and become very loyal to the company or a particular brand of the product they are interested in (Bart et. al. , 2005). Web Site Designing Crucial Concerns Designing of a website is one of the critical parts of internet marketing strategies as well in addressing the security concerns of the customers/consumers. The characteristics that are generally emphasized in the website categories are navigation, privacy and security (or the trust). (Bart et. al. , 2005). A website needs to be viewed as a virtual store from the consumer’s standpoint and needs to gain customer’s trust in order to create a meaningful shopping experience. A consumer’s online interaction through the website can be co-related to the experience at a store in person. Naturally, consumers develop perceptions of trust basing on their website interaction and experience. However, the trust of a consumer developed on the website depends on the extent of confidence on the security and safety of the portal. Only basing on these factors the consumer’s perceptions are formed either positive or otherwise. The level of satisfaction derived by a customer by a portal depends to a great extent on the authenticity and believability of the information offered by a portal (Bart et. al. , 2005). Privacy Vs Freedom of Information Every individual has a right to retain the information of their own tax, medical and other government related documents and this highly sensitive and ersonalized information is not revealed by the hospitals/doctors, financial institutions, business parties or the government agencies to irrelevant third parties. The Capitalistic societies are trading with the personal data as a saleable commodity (Jan, 2005), resulting in the privacy and free market policies being at odds with each other. Advanced data management technologies have re sulted in sophisticated â€Å"Consumer database and management systems† which in turn has become a fast growing and highly profitable business activity by itself. Data stored digitally has an indefinite span of life; because of which, consumers are apprehensive about their personal information being shared with unintended third parties (Warren amp; Brandies, 1890). In the present day context, the â€Å"rights to privacy† is directly conflicting with the â€Å"freedom or the right to information† being implemented by various democratic societies (Udo, 2001). Protection of the individual personal identifiable information is covered under the privacy. This is one of the major key drivers of online trust. A person buying a system may not reveal so much of personal information as the one who is travelling or even commuting. Traveler has to identify self, place of residence, place of travel, date of travel and such other details which are of prime importance and need meant to be disclosed to everyone – specially those who are not relevant to the issue. Security relates to the information revealed online such as credit card, debit card or the other financial related information, used for purchase of goods and services (Hoffman, Novak amp; Tom, 1996; Peratla, 1999). The need for online trust is very high for website categories which require presentation and navigation of information. The consumers may rely more on the brand strength of the product/ portal, while searching the websites. Advice is also one of the stronger determinants of online trust of website categories, for information on high search efforts. High involvement items are generally associated with the issue of order fulfillment conditions. Community features are very useful in trusting the information in cases where the expected sharing of the information in unknown circles is very high. Consumers generally expect the website to be â€Å"error free† (such as incorrect processing of information or the site containing wrong information) since they do not accept information error on the websites as the information becomes the critical input for their decisions making (Hoffman, Novak amp; Tom, 1996; Peratla, 1999). Regulation – Sanctity of Online Privacy Statements Of late it has become customary on the part of every website to have a privacy statement displayed prominently. This has become compulsory in view of increasing consumer perception of their security and safety being at risk while transacting on the e-commerce portals. In order to nullify the negative feelings of the consumers, privacy statements have been resorted to by the owners of various e-commerce web portals (Jan, 2005). Seldom, the privacy statements on the websites really try to protect the consumers from misutilization of their data and privacy. Mostly, they exhibit the same as per the regulatory requirements. There is lot of ambiguity in these privacy statement declarations, which are not clear in their terms and conditions and most of the time they are vague, unclear and highly confusing. The consumers are really taken for a jolly good ride by these statements, which are prepared in the interest of the owners; not the consumers (Jan, 2005). The Efficacy of Privacy Statements Unfortunately, despite various regulatory authorities being in place, the companies are not legally obliged to protect the consumers in true sense. It is up-to the consumers themselves to protect their privacy by taking care and precaution while dealing with such e-commerce portals. The consumer is expected to read the privacy statement in detail and take a decision accordingly, whether or not to divulge the personal information through such web portals. Obviously, consumers who are high users of internet services, while the occasional browsers of the internet will be taking high risk in dealing with the e-commerce portals. The high users of internet services have more awareness of privacy issues and hence will be very discrete in sharing their personal information with the web portals. (Miyazaki amp; Fernandez, 2000; Sheehan amp; Hoy; 2000). While participating in various online activities, consumers have always expressed their serious concern as regards their privacy aspects. Various legislations have been made to improve the privacy levels of the consumers. Unfortunately, such legislations have been misused by the portals to their advance, for example Amazon. com had recently publicized their privacy police statement without any notice to the consumers. As per this policy, Amazon. com could use (trade with) the personal data of the consumers with out their consent. Every organization with internet presence, cannot deny the fact that the privacy is the key factor the success of online transactions (Miyazaki amp; Fernandez, 2000). Internet Seals of Approval This is an effort by a group of companies having their online presence, to promote a third party seal of approval system in order to counter the efforts of legislation of privacy policies by various government authorities. Despite this seal of approval system being in force for couple of decades now, discussions are still inconclusive as regards – i) improving the online e-commerce portals’ privacy related practices that are acceptable to the consumers as per their expectations. ii) The extent of influence on consumer’s perceptions by such privacy policies and their implementation (Krishnamurthy amp; Sandeep, 2002). The so called seal of approval has very little or negligible impact on the consumer perceptions on the believability; since the same has been carried out by an agency of the e-commerce portal management / owners and not by a government or legalized authority. It has been believed that it is not in the best interests of the consumers and it is only intended to help the e-commerce portals to improve their business revenues by way of trying to influence the consumers by giving a feeling of total privacy assurance. Even after having failed to convince the consumers on a high note, the system of seal of approval is still continuing to be used in the market place of e-commerce portals (Krishnamurthy amp; Sandeep, 2002) Thus, this study tries to discuss and analyze the differentiating perceptions of consumers towards internet privacy, security that leads to trust on e portals. In this regard this research also looks for consumer perceptions towards e portals, key drivers of internet security, and characteristics of consumer perceptions and measures that can be used or implemented to reduce consumer perceptions on security. Further this research intends to put forward the antecedents and consequences of online consumer privacy and few recommendations to overcome the increasing security related issues to e portals which could help the consumers to effectively use e-portals, and the portals to give efficient and effective services to their online consumers. Therefore the following sections give a clear picture of these aspects in the research. LITERATURE REVIEW E-commerce portals (B2B / B2C) Today business is done with many communication technologies such as mail order phone, mail order fax, walk-in retail and so on. Web and internet are said to be another medium of communication (Vark, 1997). With the increasing demands of online customers the need of scalable, fast, accurate and secured information exchange is very important. This creates trust in online consumers. E-commerce is generally defined as a means for transactions of goods and services through internet (some of these could be B2B, B2C etc. ). E-commerce creates an indirect access of the business products and services to the customers who intend to buy just sitting at one place. This can be said as a more relaxed way of shopping (Akther, 2004). E-portals provide a wide range of products and services and if any customers intend to buy through moving for shopping they have to move to different locations to get the same, so e-portals can be said as â€Å"one sit shopping†. Security in e-commerce portals Security is defined as the protection of data against accidental or intentional disclosure to unauthorized persons, or unauthorized modification or destruction (Udo, 2001). Security is also defined as the protection of data against accidental or intentional disclosure to unauthorized persons, or unauthorized modifications or destruction. Privacy refers to the rights of individuals and organizations to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is to be transmitted to others (Udo, 2001). According to Hsu, Li-Chang amp; Wang (2008); Mc. Knight et. al. (2002) security is one of the major and important factors of this relationship marketing. For a successful business relationship, security is generally is considered as the crucial component in the relationship marketing paradigm. Security is a mutual detriment of behavior and an indication of confidence in the exchange partner’s integrity and its reliability. The importance of consumer perceptions on security in e- portals has been stressed by many researchers and practitioners keeping in view different perspectives such as social, economic, institutional, ethical, organizational, managerial, and technological approaches (Chang et al. 2005, Moon, Gefen and Straub 2004), while Jarvenpaa et al. (1999) and (2000) in their preceding studies have suggested importance of consumer perceptions on security with respect to internet sites (online websites) and comparatively some other studies were also investigated importance of B2B on consumer buying behaviors and their varying expectations (Akhter et. al. , n. d). According to Miyazaki amp; Fernandez (2000) online consumer s purchasing behavior is affected due to concerns related to security. Due to low consumer trust these concerns may raise high risk concerns or low buying behavior. It is viewed (Akhter et. al. , n. d) that based on the experience online consumer consciously or subconsciously analyze the security levels provided online and decide to continue transactions with that particular business (company) or move to another. Technical and non technical barriers in e-commerce have been discussed by Akhter (2004 amp; 2006), Tassabehji (2003) and Turban et al. , (2000) which are considered as barriers of online growth and development. Some of the barriers are said as lack of security and reliability, standard technologies for secure payment and proven online business models. Security is a major concern to vendors in B2C as this reflects the consumer perceptions towards that business. As there is uncertainty and due to many complications present in e-commerce online consumers think of whether their financial information such as credit card are safe to send to a vendor through internet (Akhter, 2006) and due to this most consumers fear to provide their credit card information on internet to do any transaction. According to an argument done by Akhter (2004), online consumer trust can be increased if e commerce or e portals can create a positive opinion on the system that it is trustworthy and secure. Key Drivers of Online Trust Trust is a fundamental principal of every business relationship. Trust is the critical factor in stimulating purchase over internet (Corbit et. al. , 2003). Most internet marketing sites lack trust of consumer either in merchant honesty or competency. Thus trust plays a vital role on online consumer activities there by leading to ecommerce success (Corbit et. al. , 2003). Trust is said to be characterized by uncertainty, reliability, dependency and venerability and these are reflected on online transactions. According to Corbit et. al. , (2003) in the relationship marketing paradigm, trust is generally viewed as an essential ingredient for a successful relationship. Trust as a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence. Trust is the perception of ‘‘confidence in the exchange partner’s reliability and integrity. According to balance theory it states that consumers tend to develop a positive towards those with whom they have prior association. Greater the association, more the consumer experience, more is the positive attitude developed towards e-commerce sites. Successful e-commerce websites are those that build trust in consumers and reduce the risk perceptions through effective technologies and marketing activities (Corbit et. al. , 2003). Some of the key drivers of online trust are – security privacy – advice brand strength fulfillment of order conditions – features of the community – error free transaction or absence of errors of all these Security and Privacy being of highest importance (Warren amp; Brandies, 1980). The basic human dignity calls for â€Å"a right to be let alone† or a right to total privacy. In the present day the powerful media or the press has taken over to a new proportion. With the advancement of information technology as well the rise of the information society, privacy levels have been curtailed by the latest â€Å"right to information acts† being implemented by various governments (Warren amp; Brandies, 1980). According to a company website (ecommerce-digest. om) most ecommerce merchants leave the mechanics to their hosting company or IT staff, but it helps to understand the basic principles and discuss some of the basic principles of customer security as following and states that any system has to meet following four requirements: * Privacy: information must be kept from unauthorized parties * Integrity: message must not be altered or tampered with * Authentication: sender and recipient must prove their identities to each other * Non-repudiation: proof is n eeded that the message was indeed received (ecommerce-digest. com). Online Privacy Policies and Adoption of Internet Seals Fair Information Practice Principles, which were adopted prior to the internet widespread, need to be based for arriving at online privacy standards. These primary principles are as follows: Notice: Disclosing the information practices by the Data Collectors (e-commerce web portals) prior to the collecting of the personal information from the consumers. This totally keeps the consumer aware of the practices being adopted by the web portal and whatever decision is taken subsequently is at their own risk and security aspects (Miyazaki amp; Fernandez 2000; Sheehan amp; Hoy, 2000). Choice: Consumers needs to be kept aware of whether and how – the personal information provided by them online the portal, could be used, beyond the purposes for which the information is provided by them to the e-commerce web portal. Here, the consumers are not only alerted on the ways of utilizing the information, also their prior consent is obtained in order to proceed further for intended purposes (Miyazaki amp; Fernandez 2000; Sheehan amp; Hoy, 2000). Access: provision of letting the consumers being able to view the accuracy as well as the completeness of the data gathered from them by the e-commerce web portal. This enables them to contest the same, if they so desire to do so (Miyazaki amp; Fernandez 2000; Sheehan amp; Hoy, 2000). Security: This is the major concern of any consumer. As the consumers are slowly but steadily moving from physical shopping to the internet shopping environments. This aspect only stops them from using the e-commerce portals, for the fear of its inadequate security measures or the levels. As such, the role of Security in this kind of environment is highly desirable form the consumer’s perception (Miyazaki amp; Fernandez 2000; Sheehan amp; Hoy, 2000). The data collectors or the e-commerce web based portals, need to assure the consumers that the information collected on line from them is â€Å"totally accurate, secure and will not be used for un-authorized purposes by the people, who are not supposed to be dealing with such data of the consumers† (Miyazaki amp; Fernandez 2000; Sheehan amp; Hoy, 2000). PROBLEM DEFINITION E-commerce is an act involving an online transaction. It could be anything from ordering a product or service online, paid content being delivered online sometimes, and financial transactions such as payments to various services such as water, electricity, telephone, rail, road and air services, movement of money from one account to another. The opportunities that arise out of E-commerce are: E-learning, E-business, E-insurance, E-ticketing etc. The internet based E-Commerce, besides its own major advantages, has some is-advantages too coming with it. These days, most of the web sites on the Internet are not focusing on the security, privacy and trust concerns of the consumers; which is highly essential for an ongoing relationship with the consumers. Most of the websites, unfortunately, are acting as â€Å"online service catalogs providers or catalog display centers†. Their failure to convince the consumers on the security and safety of their privacy issues is leading to failu re of not being able to convert the â€Å"clicks† into â€Å"closure of deals†. This is simply because they are not effective on their website on the safety, privacy and trust related information as expected by the consumers of the present day. Therefore, here security, privacy and trust are the major concern of any consumer. As more consumers are slowly but steadily moving from regular shopping to the internet shopping environments these aspects become very vital for the consumers. Thus this research intends to investigate and discuss the varying consumer perceptions on security, privacy and trust in e-commerce portals. RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES The purpose of this study is to investigate and discuss the perceptions of online consumers towards privacy, security and trust on e-portals. The different perceptions reported in this paper were identified by review of literature in relation to this issue (trust, security and privacy). A questionnaire consisting 21 questions were developed and mailed to 150 e-commerce (B2B and B2C) consumers (an email survey was conducted) in three major emirates of UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah) where in 108 individuals responded to the survey. The questions were developed from literature review, news, security and privacy issues. People who make online shopping have email Id’s as conformation of purchase is made through emails, hence we have approached this methodology. The sample email ids were borrowed from social networking sites. A pilot email was sent to them to assess their willingness to participate in this survey. Only those who were interested in the survey were sent the main questionnaire. SURVEY RESULTS The following tables (table 1 and 2) indicate the percentage responses according to demographics, consumer behavior other issues related to usage of e-portals Table 1: Percentage response according to gender, age and occupation Characteristics| % Response| Gender| Males| 72. 3| Females| 27. 7| Age| 18-25| 23. 2| 25-35| 48. 1| 35-45| 15. 4| 45-55| 12. 3| 55 and above| 2. 0| Occupation| Managers| 12. 2| Employees| 36. 3| Students| 17. 2| Others| 34. 3| According to the demographics out of 108 people surveyed 72. 3% were males and 27. 7% were males of which 23. 2% were under the age group of 18 – 25, 48. 1% were under the age group of 25 – 35, 15. 4% were under the age group of 35 – 45, 12. 3% were under the age group of 45 – 55 and the other 2. 0% were under the age group of 55 and above. Next considering the occupation of the respondents surveyed it is seen that 12. 2% were managers, 36. % were employees, 17. 2% were students and 34. 3% were others. This clearly indicates that the survey included more percentage of males when compared to females and people in the age group of 25-35 are of the highest and most on the respondents were employees and others. The following table indicates the percentage response i n accordance with consumer behavior and opinion towards browsing e-portals and online purchases, E-portal sites regularly visited, Frequency of online purchase, Concernedness and Willingness. Table 2: Consumer behavior towards browsing, purchase, frequency of usage, concernedness and willingness Behavior| % Response | Browse e-portals| Yes| 98. 5| No| 1. 5| Online purchases| Yes| 68. 7| No| 31. 3| E-portal sites regularly visited| Brownbag. ae| 21. 2| eRealDeal. com| 30. 1| Frobes. com| 3. 0| Ellamart. com| 24. 5| eTechnoworld. com| 18. 1| BooksArabia. com| 3. 1| Frequency of online purchase| Regularly| 42. 3| Occasionally| 46. 4| Never| 11. 3| Concernedness| Strongly concerned| 96. 3| Concerned| 3. 6| Neutral| 1| Not concerned| Nil| Willingness| Yes | 2. 3| No| 97. 7| According to the survey results it is seen that 98. 5% respondents browse e-portals and of which 68. 7% make transactions through e-portals. RealDeal. com portal is mostly used (30. 1%) in UAE by the respondents where as Ellamart. com stands in the 2nd position (24. 5%). Occasional purchasers are more (46. 4%) when compared to regular purchasers (42. 3%). Survey indicates that 96. 3% people are strongly concerned towards the abuse of your financial and other personal information when/they purchase things online. When questioned abou t willingness towards purchase of anything online in case their (consumer) concerns are addressed or eliminated, this survey indicated that 97. 7% people do not show willingness. The following table indicates the level of opinions of online consumers towards various issues related to security, privacy and trust. Table 3: Consumer perceptions towards issues related to security, privacy and trust Level of opinion| % Response| Online or internet security is becoming an increasingly important issue| Strongly agree| 47. 5| Agree| 31. 6| Neutral| 12. 7| Disagree| 5. 7| Strongly disagree| 0. 6| The privacy of Internet users is greatly violated| Strongly agree| 41. 8| Agree| 33. 5| Neutral| 11. 4| Disagree| 9. 5| Strongly disagree| 1. 9| Internet (e-portals) shopping sites cannot be trusted| Strongly agree are sufficient to provide security and safety on the Internet| Strongly agree| 4. 3| Agree| 20. 9| Neutral| 25. 8| Disagree| 38. 1| Strongly disagree| 6. 4| I am assured of the safety of my credit card information on the e-portals| Strongly agree| 3. 1| Agree| 11. 5| Neutral| 15. 1| Disagree| 29. 8| Strongly disagree| 38. 0| Stalking and impersonation (including forged identity) are common on the e-portals| Strongly agree| 32. 3| Agree| 42. 4| Neutral| 13. 9| Disagree| 7. 0| Strongly disagree| 2. 5| Security and privacy concerns are barriers for my shopping online| Strongly agree| 44. 1| Agree| 31. 2| Neutral| 20. 5| Disagree| 3. 2| Strongly disagree| 1. 0| As depicted over 89. % of participants (strongly agreed and agree) agreed that online or internet security is becoming an increasingly important issue. A large number 85. 3% of participants (strongly agreed and agree) agreed that the privacy of internet users is greatly violated; looking at the response for Internet (e-portals) shopping sites cannot be trusted it is indicated that 69. 0% agreed (strongly agreed and agree) where as 22. 2% showed a neutral opinion. The survey indicates that 13. 7% participants were neutral but a highly 90. 3% participants agreed that reduced the risk of liability, e-portals should institute privacy protection policies. RECOMMENDATIONS Measures to Reduce the Consumer’s Negative Perceptions on Security With the kind of negative consumer perception on the e-commerce trading and patronizing with such portals, it becomes important on the part of the owners of such portals to attempt reducing the consumers perceived security (risk) factors. One of such important measures could be the use of seal of approval from a third party agency. Attestation by such third parties on the maintenance of security and privacy levels, may be believed by the consumers, better than the one’s issued by the own agencies of e-commerce portal managements. This improved trust or the confidence level of the consumers, helps improving the online transactions using the e-commerce portals. Secondly, the seal of approval can be treated as a co-branding strategy of a web based e-commerce portal aligning with a trusted third party agency which ultimately leads to the gain of trust/confidence of the potential customers/consumers; as they are assured of security by a neutral agency, which is in line with their expectations (Krishnamurthy amp; Sandeep, 2002). One of the major responsibilities of online consumers is to maintain the privacy. When they look for any e commerce site and intend to do any transactions it is important for them to look for privacy statements of that site (Udo, 2001). According to Udo (2001) sites in which privacy concerns are sensitive should clearly display privacy policies and should offer the consumer to choose to share their personal information or restrict its use and such sites should also state how to use the privacy policies. The following have been provided as the top 12 ways to protect the user’s privacy online (McCandlish, 2002): * Do not reveal personal information inadvertently Turn on cookie notices in your Web browser * Keep a clean’’ e-mail address * Don’t reveal personal details to strangers or just-met friends’’ * Realize you may be monitored at work, avoid sending highly personal e-mail to mailing lists, and keep sensitive files on your home computer * Do not reply to spammers, for anything * Be conscious of Web security * Be consciou s of home computer security * Examine privacy policies and seals * Remember that you decide what information about yourself to reveal, when, why, and to whom * Use encryption Keep sensitive files on your home computer