Abstract The following essay looks at the methodology, literature and analysis of the trends within the tourism industry and how the digital age and Internet marketing has changed this industry dramatically.
Table of contents
Introduction
Trends within the Tourism Industry
Methodology
Results and Analysis
Future challenges for the Tourism and Travel industry in the Digital Age
From the Paper The growth of the WWW on the Internet has created many opportunities as well as challenges for commercial businesses and industries. One of the challenges for a small- or medium-sized business is how to be found by the potential customer. This is underlined in a recent article about international marketing in Sloan Management Review (Quelch and Klein, 1996). The authors state that "the potential for 'information overload' is enormous" (p. 66). Even though the lack of rules on the net is critical to electronic commerce (Spar and Bussgang, 1996), this is not so critical for Internet as an information source.
Abstract This paper analyzes the needs of a wide area network (WAN) which serves to connect the many franchises that McDonald's owns and to structure and communicate between them. The author examines how the WAN functions and discusses the benefits for McDonald?s.
From the Paper "McDonald"s, one of the biggest food franchises in the world. Known for its diverse culture branched to all countries around the world, the company is based on a series of network group ownership. Each division is required to have its own financial and operations systems that would allow the food to efficiently work in a cohesive manner. The need for the network stemmed from the operation manner in which McDonald is structuralized. Employee development as well as franchise development depends on a network of information flow.?
Abstract This paper thoroughly explains database normalization and views it as a series of steps designed to deal with ways in which tables can be more complicated than necessary. The paper contends that the purpose of normalization is to reduce the chances for anomalies to occur in a database.
From the Paper "In 1970, Dr. E.F. Codd's seminal paper "A Relational Model for Large Shared Databanks" was published in Communications of the ACM. This paper introduced the topic of data normalization, so-named because, at the time, President Nixon was normalizing relations with China. (Date, 1990)"
At first glance, Database normalization seems fairly simple. It's a technique used to ensure that there is only one way to know a fact. This is done by removing all structures that prove more than one way to know the same fact as represented in a database relation table. So, the goal of database normalization is to control and eliminate redundancy. One of the more complicated topics in the area of database management is the process of normalizing the tables in a relational database."
Abstract This paper describes the design of a basic local area network that would be useful in a wide variety of businesses and possibly educational settings for a cost of approximately $200,000. This system is designed both to meet current needs of a business that wishes to run efficiently and to be able to interact with other businesses also running at acceptably high efficiency levels for a company with high-tech aspirations. In order to work, the system needs to show flexibility in order to expand with growing business needs and volume for at least several years before any new substantial investment is made in hardware or new software. In order to demonstrate the feasibility, the author gives us an overview, definition and background about a basic local area network. The feasibility of the network's success is analysed, and its potential for successful integration into an actual business is evaluated.
From the Paper "However, at the same time, no network designer should make the mistake of providing too few of a number of peripherals like printers because doing so limits the efficiency of workers and tends to produce a great deal of frustration in the office. Workers sitting around waiting to print out a needed job are not only workers being paid not to work, but they are also workers being paid to be frustrated, which is most certainly not the ideal situation in any way. Perhaps a good standard rule for the network designer would be to estimate the number of peripherals needed and then for every 20-25 people who will be using the network to add one peripheral. The added cost in initial equipment expenditure will be paid back by the fact that workers will be able to be more efficient. This will also allow for workers to continue to be productive when a device breaks down (as of course will happen) because there will be other machines within the network already linked to provide those needed services (Derfler 68)."
Abstract An analysis of software piracy from an economic point of view. The paper provides charts of losses incurred by software companies due to piracy and domestic copying. It also looks at the ethical problems of software piracy.
From the Paper "Software is a term that is essentially synonymous with computer programs. Software is simply a set of instructions that cause the hardware (the physical machines that we see on the top of our desks) to do the things that we want them to do. Anyone with any amount of experience in dealing with computers knows that software comes in an almost uncountable variety of different types of programs. The two major types of programs are operating systems, which control the basic workings of a computer, and application software, which addresses the innumerable multitude of specific tasks for which people use computers, from classifying recipes to playing Tomb Raider. While system software often handles essential (but to the average user invisible and actually pretty dull) electronic chores such as maintaining disk files and managing the screen) application software performs word processing, manages databases ? and allows people like me to play really cool games. System software is less subject to piracy than is application software for at least two separate reasons (www.msnbc.com). The first is that nearly every computer today (at least those sold in the First World) come complete with systems software that is up-to-the-minute so there is simply no reason to copy it from someone else."
This paper investigates the facts surrounding the use of the FBI Internet program 'Carnivore' in obtaining communication and other incriminating evidence from possible terrorists and criminals.
Abstract The paper thoroughly examines the issues surrounding FBI's use of 'Carnivore' Internet Program in terms of the violation of personal privacy and freedom, its use as vital tool in hunting and apprehending criminals who use the Internet as a medium of communication, in particular after the events of September 11, 2001. The paper argues the government's "Carnivore" program erodes our constitutional freedom for the majority of law-abiding citizens.
From the Paper "The events of September 11, 2001 are, at the least, unforgettable. That day will live in infamy as the point when the nation's false sense of security and personal safety within out country was shattered. The large jagged pieces are still being swept up within our lives, but the cracks in society ran deep, and are, I think, permanent. Out of the ashes of 9-11 have been borne many new approaches to terrorism and law enforcement in general. One such advance is the widespread use of a fairly new technology known publicly as "Carnivore". An Internet based tool, Carnivore, along with many other modern and tried-and-true methods, is used by the FBI to obtain information about possible suspects and even intercept incriminating evidence in a possible terrorist attack or other impending crime, all via the Internet. The upside of this technology is the possibility to reconnoiter suspects via the Internet by intercepting data from said suspect. The downside is unconditional snooping upon possibly non-criminal individuals either connected with or not connected with a suspect. Also known as invasion of privacy."
Abstract This paper is an analysis of the Fortune 500 company, Sun Microsysytems. Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982 for the purpose of selling low-cost, high-performance desktop computers running the UNIX operating system. It is a factual overview of the development of the company since establishment. It details Sun Microsystem's operating strategy, it's product and service design, Sun's Process Planning, Analysis, and Reengineering, and it's management principles. It is an in-depth of the company's performance and it provides insight to their overwhelming success.
From the Paper "The history of Sun Microsystems? operations strategy can be seen from its first years when Andreas Bechtolsheim, William Joy, Vinod Khosla, and Scott McNealy founded Sun Microsystems, Inc., in 1982 for the purpose of selling low-cost, high-performance desktop computers running the UNIX operating system. These computer workstations found immediate acceptance among engineers, software developers, and scientists who benefited from having dedicated machines, rather than sharing more expensive minicomputers or mainframe computer systems (www.java.sun.com). Unlike its Fortune 500 competitors, Sun Microsystems did not have revenue from other sources to fund development of its computer workstations. This meant that the company needed hundreds of millions of dollars in start-up investments, as well as large purchase agreements, to develop a hardware manufacturing infrastructure and to attract top-flight hardware and software engineers. In 1983 the company signed a multimillion-dollar original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement with Computervision Corporation, a designer of computer-aided design and engineering programs. This was the first of many large OEMs for which Sun built computers that sold the workstations under their own labels (Jackson, 1998, p. 119)."
Abstract This paper is an in-depth look at information technology, such as software, and how such commercial goods and services are now handled under Article 2B of the UCC. The author looks at the debate whether these transactions, sales of software, should be considered under copyright laws, as it is different from the Uniform Commercial Code. The paper discusses how information technology is distinct from the sale of actual goods, software is a service.
From the Paper "Information transactions and, especially, transactions involving licensing of information, differ substantively from transactions involving the sale or lease of goods. The differences are manifested in both the conditional nature of the transaction and that the value lies not in the tangible property, but in information and rights that are severable from the tangibles. Indeed, increasingly no tangible items are needed to convey information on-line or in electronic transactions. A body of law tailored to transactions whose purpose is to pass title to tangible property can not be simply applied to transactions whose purpose was to convey rights in intangible property and information. A separate treatment of this commercially important class of transactions was needed."
Abstract This paper looks at the problems caused by large volumes of unwanted email on the internet. It discusses the economic ramifications and legal issues involved. Federal Trade Commission recommendations are examined and seen as a serious annoyance to internet users.
From the Paper "re you sick and tired of junk e-mail filling your inbox and wasting your time? Do you want to do something about it? The boundless, dreadful Spam monster must be stopped, and you can help. This is how a typical day starts for me. While sipping the morning coffee in front of my PC at home or work, I get an uneasy feeling that I am only a mouse click away to viewing something I do not want to see. My password is entered and there they are, four advertising e-mails trying to sell a product, service, or a promise to make me rich. The junk e-mail is called UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail); a.k.a. "Spam", but has nothing to do with the luncheon meat product we all love or hate."
Abstract This paper examines the ongoing and evolving process of selling and disseminating music through the Internet. The author discusses how such activity has provoked a number of economic as well as artistic debates for the music business and for the computer and technology businesses that allow such technology to be accessed. This paper particularly focuses on the anti-trust issues that have arisen over the course of this debate.
From the Paper "First of all, the issue of disseminating music over the Internet provokes the perplexing question of who really "owns" the commercial product of a pieces of music, anyway? Is the owner the person or persons who simply hear the tune and keep humming it? Is the owner the musician who produces the product? Or are the owners the music companies musicians have signed artistic rights to? Clearly, to survive musicians must be able to charge for the product they produce, and the companies have control over the specifics of how to market that product. But once a song is in the public sphere, do not consumers have a right to "pass on" that music product in ways that they see fit, even if those ways may inhibit the sales of recordings of that music?"
Abstract This is a review of an article by Spencer E. Ante, and Ira Sager, titled "IBM's New Boss" that appeared in the February 11, 200 issue of "Business Week." This article informs the reader about the new management styles and plans of IBM's newly chosen CEO, Samuel Palmisano. The author gives us a brief biography of Palmisano and some history of IBM before detailing some of the possible policy changes that may come about with Palmisano taking the helm of the company.
From the Paper "Palmisano is apparently something of a workaholic, scheduling weekly instead of monthly or quarterly meetings. He demands that in times of crunch, managers work from 7 am to 9 PM. He expects weekly e-mail updates, and always answers his own email. He has personally managed all but two divisions within the corporation, and made advances and innovations in each. Often small changes have had good results, such as his decision to change the commission pay scale from a "per size of deal" system to one, which was based on the eventual revenues and profits from any given sale. That one change alone catapulted revenues from 14.9 billion dollars to 22.9 billion."
Abstract This paper examines the reasons behind the current growing popularity of the "object-oriented approach" in programming and as a result the lessening of popularity of the "structured" approach. The advantages of both forms of programming are examined. The "software crisis" that prompted this changeover is also examined. A number of case studies are presented, illustrating the use of object-oriented languages and programs with attention to what it is about object-oriented design that makes it so attractive currently for use in developing information systems.
From the Paper "In the past two decades, and now occurring at an ever-faster rate, a vast collection of computer software has been designed to help people organize different kinds of information in the most efficient way possible. This paper examines one of the most important developments to have come out of this push for increasingly sophisticated information systems: The shift from structured approach to an object-oriented approach."
Abstract This paper evaluates the effect that the Internet has had on the healthcare industry and the allocated finances for this new emerging branch of the healthcare industry. It examines the trend of remote health care, the flood of medical information available on the net and the possible pooling of resources now available through the internet.
From the Paper "Telemedicine, a new emerging form of healthcare service, is being provided in this age of multimedia and technological advances. Telemedicine enables the provision of healthcare services by experts in any field of medicine via the primary care provider to patients in remote regions of the world or those without access to advanced medical facilities.
"The Internet is used in telemedicine for the transmission of data in the form of text, sound, digital imaging and video-conferencing to primary care providers who then dispense medical advice and recommendations to the patient. In France, a pilot project undertaken by the Assistance Publique - H?pitaux de Paris (Tabet & Angehrn, 1997) for neuro-surgical emergencies revealed telemedicine as promising both for clinical and research purposes."
Tags: health, medicine, technology, advancement, internet
Abstract This paper discusses the question of how secure the internet is regarding credit card details, social security numbers and other vital and personal information. It looks at security features offered by most companies and examines whether these are safe. It also shows that if anyone really wanted to construct a method of tapping into people's personal details, it would not be hard, and of course it is being done already.
From the Paper "
"With the development of the Internet and the expansion of abilities that computers have, the world has become more reliant than ever on the use of computers. In the past ten years, the Internet has come from being a start-up idea to the fuel which runs the world. Computers with Internet access have become so much of a necessity not only to families with students, but to families who wish to have anything they want at the touch of a button. Online information is so easy to come by that families have become reliant on computers for almost everything, including shopping. While some people do not trust the internet enough to be entering vital information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and family information, some people believe all of the security features offered by certain companies and enter this information at will."
Tags: internet, computer, access, email, web, mainframe, browser, user
Abstract This paper examines this medical technology which has been in use since the first astronauts took off in the 1960's and has developed at a very rapid pace since the hype of the Internet. It looks at its effectiveness both from a budget point of view and the quality of treatment. The benefits of this trend are also discussed.
From the Paper "Telemedicine began in the early 1960's when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) first put men in space. Physiological measurements of the astronauts were monitored from both the spacecraft and the space suits during NASA space flights. In the 21st century, patients can be scheduled, seen, diagnosed, receive follow up care, rehabilitation, and patient education through telemedicine. Internet accessibility, together with rapidly evolving technology, makes telemedicine increasingly efficient."
