Website Attributes On Customer Satisfaction In E-Commerce

Website Attributes On Customer Satisfaction In E-Commerce Effects Of Website Attributes On Customer Satisfaction In E-Commerce Introduction The Internet is no longer a niche technology it is mass media and an utterly integral part of modern life. As our lives become more fractured and cluttered, it isnt surprising that consumers turn to the unrivalled convenience of the Internet when it comes to searching and buying product. Introduction To E-Commerce The rise of the WWW gives birth to new phenomena in our daily lives, one of which is e-commerce. The internet has played a fundamental and key part to promote selling products and services online which makes life convenient for the audience, which in an inter-connected world, is well, the whole world. E-Commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet. E-commerce system seeks to add more revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with partners and clients and to improve the systems efficiency. E-commerce has given rise to the concept of absolutely online shops selling products and services, proficiently catalogued and available for the convenience of customer. There are several websites that stockpile everything from books, electronic appliances lifestyle items, collectibles etc. The level of e-commerce use can be measured by using an e-commerce capability indicator. E-commerce capability indicator by Molla and Licker: No e-commerce indicates a company without e-mail or an Internet connection. Connected e-commerce represents a company that has an Internet connection and e-mail. Informational e-commerce indicates a company using a Web site to publish basic information about the company and its products/services in a static manner. Interactive e-commerce refers to the ability of users to search the companys product catalogue, make queries, and enter orders. Transactional e-commerce allows online selling and purchasing of products or services including online payment and customer service. E-business applications can be divided into three categories. First is an internal business system in which customer relationship management (CRM), Enterprise resource planning (ERP), and Human Resource management (HRM) type of systems are involved. Second is enterprise communication and collaboration such as content management system (CMS), business process management (BPM) and web conferencing etc. Third is e-commerce that includes Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and Business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce. Online shopping comes under this category on which this study is conducted. Several e-commerce service providers are available on web that provides professional personalized web designing services that suit their clients needs. Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following: Online Shopping (Web Shop) Online Banking Online Marketing CRM etc Online Shopping Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the Internet. An online shop, e-shop, e-store, internet shop, web shop, web store, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services over the web. Online shopping is a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. The term web shop also refers to a place of business where web development, web hosting and other types of web related activities take place (Web refers to the World Wide Web and shop has a idiomatic meaning used to describe the place). Service Quality The level of service received on a website. Dependent on reliability, responsiveness and availability of staff and the web site service. Service quality is comprised of five dimensions. These are: Tangibles as the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and written materials (Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler, 2006). Reliability is the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Assurance describes as the employees knowledge and courtesy and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Responsiveness termed as the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Empathy is defined as the individualized attention given to customers.   Service Quality Dimensions In E-Commerce Systems Lets examine how customers judge the five dimensions of service quality in perspective of e-commerce systems. Tangibles refer to the physical appearance of an e-commerce website, its structure, layout, theme etc and referred as â€Å"website structure†. Reliability represented as â€Å"website adequacy† which provides the relevant and needed information provided by an e-commerce system when customer clicked or requested for. Assurance termed as â€Å"website security† refers as the trustworthy service provider that could include a well reputable website, reliable payments methods etc. Responsiveness is the prompt and relevant response to the specific request of users described by â€Å"website response†. Empathy knows internal customers as individual; understanding individual needs and concerns such as by providing recommendations that matches the customers needs which is termed as â€Å"website customization† in world of web. Service Quality Framework (SERVQUAL) SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality which are reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding or knowing the customer and tangibles. By the early nineties the authors had refined the model to the useful acronym RATER. Reliability Assurance Tangibles Empathy, and Responsiveness SERVQUAL has its disbeliever and is considered overly complex, subjective and statistically unreliable. The simplified RATER model however is a simple and useful model for qualitatively exploring and assessing customers service experiences and has been used widely by service delivery organizations. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction refers to the extent to which customers are happy with the products and services provided by a business. Customer satisfaction levels can be measured using survey techniques and questionnaires. Gaining high levels of customer satisfaction is very important to a business because satisfied customers are most likely to be loyal and to make repeated orders and to use a wide range of services offered by a business. The basic definition of customer satisfaction says that Customer satisfaction is a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is an abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product or service. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the organizations products or services. Customer Satisfaction Based On Perceived Service Quality Of E-Commerce Systems The overall satisfaction of e-commerce customers can be attained by providing the level of service quality that customers perceive in that system. The five dimensions of service quality are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The website structure of an e-commerce websites is all about the tangibility dimension. The reliability dimension in this study is measured by the attribute called website adequacy. The website response variable indicates the responsiveness dimension. Website security as another attribute of an e-commerce system refers to the assurance dimension and the empathy dimension described by the website customization The overall customer satisfaction is based on the five service quality dimensions representing various service attributes. These five dimensions are tangibility, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy. The detailed model used in this study is presented in figure A. The website design elements are characterized into five different types which are supposed to influence the five service quality dimensions. This study hypothesizes that some website attributes that are based on service quality dimensions has an impact on an online customer satisfaction. In other words, customers satisfaction level will increase if the e-commerce system provides a higher level of service quality through different website attributes. Increased Trend Of Online Surfing And Shopping In Pakistan The trend of an online surfing is increasing rapidly due to the increased benefits by the use of e-commerce business environment. People visit e-commerce web sites not only for buying but for several other reasons and the smart retailer just should not only focus on boosting online browse-to-buy conversion rates, but should also try to grab the attention of an online visitors who came in for review so as they could become a customer later. Many people feel it comfortable to review the products through an extensive knowledge provided over the internet before actually buying a particular product. For this purpose, e-commerce website provides an interface to the buyers to write their reviews and share their after-purchase experiences. Thus, the e-commerce systems reduce the time and efforts required for the first step of information search in consumer decision making process. That is, by just few clicks a consumer can have a concise analysis for what matches his/her needs. There are some factors emerged as a results of the changes in lifestyle and habits of consumer which has promoted the trend of online searching and shopping in Pakistan. Some of these factors are lack of time, need of convenience and easy access to the desired object. Moreover, e-commerce websites facilitates the visitor in many ways to boost up online browse-to-buy conversion rate. Whenever a new customer lands on an e-commerce website, he/she must be having many questions in their minds regarding the products and services. A well-framed ecommerce site has an enquiry page for their customers. This gives the chance to the visitor to post an enquiry with the website. Main aim of this page is to gather all relevant and necessary information from the customers so that they can be given response in an apt manner. Within the past decade, e-commerce has matured and grown exponentially. The result shows that now there are many types of e-commerce payment methods available online. If a customers credit is bad and customer cannot afford a merchant account, there are alternative methods of payments on e-commerce websites which can help the customer. The e-commerce systems give customers controlled access to the data they need. In other words, through an e-commerce systems company is not only managing the relationship with its customers, but giving the customers the tools to manage their relationship with the company. Thesis Structure This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the problem about which the research was carried out and in general about the trends of online shopping in Pakistan. Chapter 2 is about the literature review and the theoretical background is developed. In Chapter 3, researcher describes the research method adopted including sources of information and data collection procedure is discussed. In chapter 4, the empirical data collected through questionnaire is analyzed and results are concluded on the basis of a survey. In Chapter 5, Conclusions are drawn and necessary recommendations are suggested. Statement Of The Problem â€Å"Effects of website attributes on customer satisfaction in e-commerce.† The main purpose of this research is to find out the different attributes which encourage consumers to visit, search and shop on a particular website. Objective The purposes of this study are as follows: To identify the most important website element of e-commerce with respect to the customer satisfaction. To examine what is important to the customer regarding website attributes in e-commerce with perspective of website builders. Possible Research Findings The research will also provide the following significances. Help the organization to better understand what customers expect in e-commerce and how those expectations impact customer attitude. The study will examine what the customer views as major attributes of website in e-commerce. Able to investigate the major customer attitudes associated with website structure in e-commerce. The study will indicate the link between the website attributes and the customer attitudes. Hypotheses H1 Website structure has a significant association with customer satisfaction. h3 Website adequacy has a significant association with customer satisfaction. h3 Website security has a significant association with customer satisfaction. H4 Website response has a significant association with customer satisfaction. H5 Website customization has a significant association with customer satisfaction. Introduction To E-Commerce The propagation of WWW has originated few facts in our daily lives, one of which is e-commerce. A transaction between two or more participants through an electronic medium is defines as e-commerce (Kalacota and Whinston 1997). As an e-commerce is rapidly raising field, therefore for accomplishing success in this market, a top quality information system is necessary (Margherio, Henry, Cooke and Montes 1998). An e-commerce system is designed by selectively integrating many technical (e.g. search system) or managerial (e.g. the level of information related to product) design elements (Lohse and Spiller 1998). It is still very difficult, if not impossible; to make use of all the design factors presently available for the e-commerce system although many design factors have been suggested to improve the overall quality of e-commerce system (Selz and Schubert 1997, Lohse et al. 1998). This is because of the recent arrival of new design factors resulted by an increase in the interest of Internet (Selz et al.) The main goal of this paper is to explore important design elements that have significant influence on the customer satisfaction regarding the performance of e-commerce systems. In this paper, the study presents a conceptual model of e-commerce websites that includes concrete design elements, perceived level of website quality and the customer satisfaction (Kim and Lee 2002). There is remarkable potential for e-commerce in developing countries. Online shopping makes it easy to find things, merchants and best offerings and thus economical in terms of time and effort offerings (Balasubramanian, 1997). According to the Malone, Yates and Benjamin (1989), communicating a same piece of information through communication networks results in decreased cost and improved speed. There is tremendous potential for e-commerce in developing countries because the use of an e-commerce can potentially reduce transaction costs. As per Malone et al. (1989) observation, the search costs such as cost of identifying a market (from where to buy a product) and /or a product or service are likely to reduce with the use of e-commerce systems and can be defined as potential e-commerce cost savings. From an organizations perspective, e-commerce systems provide the organization with the better market reach and an ability to provide their customer a customized service that suits their individual needs and preferences. For example the exchange between â€Å"richness† and â€Å"reach† can be minimized by e-commerce (Evans and Wurster 2000). Richness refers to the quality and quantity of information in terms of accuracy, relevance, customization, etc. and reach measures the number of people who can be got in touch with that information. Service Quality Dimensions The overall customer satisfaction can be measured by the level of service quality of an e-commerce system that customer perceives. Some researchers (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988) stated that consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction is as an ancestor of service quality. Conversely, modern evidence recommends that it is an outcome of service quality (Woodside, Frey and Daly 1989; Cronin and Taylor 1992). Service quality attributes are the most important factors for the success of an e-commerce systems For example Liu and Arnett (2000) found that organizations that involve in e-commerce can only ensure the success of their system by keenly looking for the ways to improve their service quality. The customers decision whether to continue using a particular e-commerce system is based on the perceived quality of service (Bhattacherjee, 2001) as the service quality impacts the overall satisfaction of a customer. Tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy are the five dimensions of service quality. (Parasurama, Zeithaml and Berry 1985, 1991; Pit, Watson and kavan 1995). The tool that is being used in this study to measure the dimensions of service quality is SERVQUAL. This instrument has been proved valid and reliable and hence used in various domains. (Brown Churchill and Peter 1993; Fisk, Brown and Bitner 1993; Parasuraman et al. 1993). On the basis of previous researches, service quality despite being a main interesting field in services marketing for the past two decades (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Malhotra 2000); electronic service quality is still in its early stages in research area. Riel, Liljander and Jurriens (2001) concluded that there has been no theoretical conceptualization emerged for customer evaluation of electronic services that could have been accepted generally. Cox and Dale (2001) has supported this conception by the fact that most out of the dominant research on service quality cannot even be valid to e-business environment. By the year 2002, the existing studies on the determinants of electronic service quality were based on measuring B2C interactions (Gilbert, 2000; Barnes and Vidgens 2000, 2001 and 2002) and few exploratory researches on website quality and e-service quality by Zeithaml et al. (2000). In early stages of service quality research, researchers were required to find out what is service quality from customers perspective (Sasser, Olsen and Wyckoff 1979; Lehtinen and Lehtinen 1982; Gronroos, 1982). It was normally approved that the judgment of service quality came from comparisons between what customers feel a service provider should offer (expectations) and the actual service performance of the company (perceptions) (Zeithaml et al. 2000). This view was reinforced by Zeithaml et al.; Parasuraman et al. (1985) in their study of service quality in different service industries with which they discussed the concept of service quality as a function of expectations-perception gap. Parasuraman et al. (1985) identified the 10 dimensions that customer uses in their assessment of service quality. These 10 service quality dimensions then shaped the source for the development of a scale (SERVQUAL) to measure service quality in direct service interactions. Research extended in other context and as a result refined the scale and reduced it to 5 dimensions (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles) Since the SERVQUAL scale has been widely used to measure service quality in many studies across a range of settings (IS Departments; Airlines; Universities; Ocean Freight Shipping; Professional Services; Health Providers; International Markets; Purchasing; Advertising; Banking; E-commerce). (Burgess). Initially the concept of services were created to capture the nature of service encounters (Meuter, Ostrom, Roundtree and Bitner 2000) which may not be sufficient to capture the characteristics of customer interactions with self-service technologies such as e-services (Dabholkar, Thorpe and Rentz 1996). Later on, many approaches have been proposed to study online service. (Gilbert, 2000; Gronroos, Heinonen, Isoniemi and Lindholm 2000; Parasuraman and Grewel 2000; Kaynama and Black 2000; Zeithaml et al. 2000) proposed the use of existing service theory as a first type. The second type utilizes generated new categories for self-service technologies such as e-services (Szymanski and Hise 2000; Riel et al. 2001; Wang and Tang 2001; Ruyter, Wetzels and Kleijnen 2001). Third type develops information systems and web quality theory (Barnes et al. 2000, 2001 and 2002; Aladwani and Palvia 2001). These researches have centered on customer interactions with a variety of self-service technologies such as automated call centre technology, ATMs and Web sites and touch screen technologies. A redefined SERVQUAL instrument to measure the service expectations and perceptions of customers of Internet businesses was used by Gilbert (2000) in which he concluded that to measure online service quality, the altered SERVQUAL scale was a practical instrument. The features that are useful, accurate, relevant and comprehensive information reflect the reliability of quality information (Bailey and Pearson 1983). Bailey et al. also identified that website reliability depends on to what level the information provided on the website about the product or service is true, precise and also depend to what level a customer can rely on a particular website that it provides enough amount of information available regarding each product. (Luedi, 1997) stated that website personalization based on the ability of website to deliver individualized interface for a specific user which generated dynamically as per users needs. This may involve making purchase recommendations and /or providing the list of other relevant products that matchs the customer needs. This can be extracted through the previous data available regarding an individual user such as buying behavior, cart items and the current session contents. Providing customized services is the best way to create a loyal customer and make repeat visits on a website (Luedi, 1997). The concern over security continues to plague the online world. Variables like perceived security, reputation were included in this study to examine the customer attitude towards buying process (Lightner, 2003). Even though the understanding of credit card transactions perceived secure like a waiters and waitresses, still security is the top concern of people who shop online (Salisbury, Pearson, Pearson and Miller 2001; Luo, 2002; Wilson and Abel 2002). Likewise security is the reason why people do not shop online (Luo, 2002). The research variable of Security reflects trust in the online system and the variable reputation reflects trust in the specific vendor. Discovering whether vendors receive repeat business reflects the overall buying attitude of consumers. Overall customer satisfaction at online shopping measures which attributes helps the website meets expectations. Website Elements The first phase of consumer decision making process that is the information search starts the minute customers look at the interface of e-commerce website and ends until they decide whether to place the purchase order or not (Schmid, 1995). The role of website structure remains important during the phase of information search process such as site maps, navigation, content settings and layout of website etc. The content, structure and website elements should be portrayed explicitly on the e-commerce interface. Website structure that includes the presentation of design elements determines how the information is actually displayed on the screen to acquire the customer attention (Morris and Hinrich 1996). Convenient website structure defined as to what extent a customer feels that the e-commerce website is user friendly, simple and instinctive. (Chung and Shin 2008) Website adequacy describes the quality and quantity of the information provided in the e-commerce system. Content based on usefulness and comprehensiveness involves the type and scope of information to be included in the system (Morris et al. 1996; Kim 1997). After the collection of appropriate information regarding the identified products or services, the contents must be placed in a well organized manner so that the customer can understand the interface easily (Gronroos, 1982; Rosenfeld and Morville 1998). A well-defined and properly placed content is a feature of website which indicates the ability to made information easily available to visitors (Chung et al. 2008). When adequate and reliable information has been properly dispersed across different web pages within the structure of the e-commerce website, an efficient interaction system must be provided to enable the customer to switch between different pages easily (Kim and Yoo 2000, Park and Kim 2000). (Ballantine, 2005) has found the impact of interactivity and product related information on customer satisfaction in an online trade setting. He argued in his study that the amount of product-related information affected consumer satisfaction of online shopping. An important design element that relates to the interaction system includes the involvement of website response and website customization ability. Website Customization is referred as the extent to which an e-commerce website can identify a customer and then modify the choice of products and shopping experience for that customer (Srinivasan, Anderson and Ponnavolu 2002). (Coupey, 2001) in their research argued that the improved accessibility of information on internet is likely to result in informed customers. And educated customers are able to make better quality decisions and will then experience more satisfaction with the visits and purchases they make. The connection between all of the five individual variables describes the basic architecture of web pages (Steinmetz and Nahrsted 1995). The overall satisfaction of e-commerce customers can be attained by providing the level of service quality that customers perceive in that system. Satisfied customers have more potential to spread positive word-of-mouth (Gremler and Brown 1999), and they avail further services (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman 1996). The five dimensions of service quality are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Parasuraman et al. 1985, 1991; Pit et al. 1995). Attributes related to the website structure such as physical appearance of e-commerce websites are represented by tangibility dimension. For example, the tangibility measures the appeal of the website design of e-commerce system presents to their customers. The ability of the website to provide the dependable, accurate service is represented by reliability dimension. (Pit et al.1995). For example, the reliability dimension measures how often an e-commerce system provides useful and comprehensive information regarding the relevant products or services. The responsiveness dimension indicates how prepared the website is to promptly response the customer with the clicked option. (Parasuraman et al. 1991). For example, the responsiveness dimension measures how often an ecommerce system voluntarily provides services that are important to its customers such as less loading time. Or it can be measured by how often a website provides accurate and rich information after a user clicked a particular product. The trust and confidence encouraged in the customer by the information provided on e-commerce system refers to the assurance dimension (Parasuraman et al. 1991). For example, the assurance dimension can be measured by extent to which a website is able to give a secure feeling to an online buyer. The empathy dimension described as the individual attention to the customer that is being provided by the dynamic e-commerce website (Pit et al. 1995). For example this dimension measures how often an ecommerce system voluntarily offers recommendations that match to its customers needs in order to provide the individual customers benefit. In summary, the overall quality of an e-commerce system can be measured by the service quality level perceived by its customers and ultimately leads to the customer satisfaction (Kim et al. 2002). (Parasuraman et al. 1988, 1991) in study on SERVQUAL found that the interactive elements of e-commerce systems are e-business features that help in building relationships with customer and are fall into five main sets that are tangibles, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy. Due to the consistency of research findings stated in literature, it become easy to propose that the five main determinants of e-commerce include website structure, website adequacy, website security, website response and website customization (Horn, Feinberg and Salvendy 2005). In an e-business structure, the customer interaction with the business is through the e-commerce website. Therefore, several original SERVQUAL items were modified to focus on e-commerce website. The definition of an empathy dimension was extended to include personalization or customization, which is the concept of web gurus as they believe the emotional connection between customer and web business (Peppers et al. 1999). The overall appearance and structure of e-commerce website shows its tangibility. The performance of promised services and adequacy of information explains the reliability of an e-commerce website. Responsiveness is the ability of e-commerce system to help and provide prompt response to the website user. The individualized attention and customized service provided by the e-commerce system to an individual customer is described as empathy. Security is the trust on an e-commerce system in protecting personal and financial information (Horn et al. 2005). The major factors that impact the customer attitude are the five main attributes of e-commerce system. The model in Figure 1 describes how these attributes of e-commerce system work together to achieve customer satisfaction. The satisfaction or dissatisfaction of customer is defined as an emotional response to a specific consumption experience (Swan and Oliver 1989). It is determined by to what extent a consumer perceives that the service fulfills his/her needs, wants or desires. Satisfaction is a â€Å"state† inconsistent in that a consumer can be â€Å"very dissatisfied† or â€Å"very satisfied† (Tse, Nicosia and Wilton 1990). Survey Sources Of Data Collection: According to experts, the best approach and way of building an e-commerce site is by using services of website development providers. A professional team of web developers would take care and work for the e-commerce designing project and give regular feedback about the proceedings therefore for conducting this research, professionals from web development area was selected from five different firms. A survey was conducted by going to the software organizations that are involved in business of web development. Out of the five selected firms, few were chosen from the list of organizations registered on PASHA website and few were preferred on the authentic source of information about the adequate web development experience of these firms. The respondents were web developers, web architects and project managers. Questionnaire The instrument co

Israel-Palestine: Two-State vs One-State Solution

What Does The Future Hold for Israel-Palestine? The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has proven to be one of the most complex and â€Å"intractable† conflicts of modern history – or as some may even add – of all time. And after many decades of failed attempts at peacemaking in this region, there still seems to be no conceivable end to the conflict.During those same decades, most of the parties involved as well as the international community have embraced the idea of a two-state solution, but the question we pose today asks whether this solution is still a viable option considering the present context, and if not, is it finally time to consider a one-state solution?This essay will argue that although a two-state solution remains the more desirable and popular option, keeping in-line with both nations’ desire for freedom, civic rights, dignity, statehood and nationhood, it may no longer be a possibility in the near future and as time passes. A one-state solution also has its faults however, as it simply fails to address the issue of inevitable future conflicts and retaliation, which would stem from the most problematic symptom of a bi-national state: the reduction of Palestinian-Israelis to second-class citizens within their own country.Finally, the essay will attempt to show that regardless of what the more desirable and feasible option may be, the context today points to a de facto one-state reality, which some argue would ultimately need to be embraced as the only option. There is no solution but the two-state solution? Is a one-state solution feasible today? If it is, how optimal of a solution is it for both populations and state-entities?The answer seems to be negative mainly due to the fact that the Jewish-Israeli populace desires to remain a majority within their own state and similarly because the Jewish-Israeli state depends on a Jewish majority in order to vote-in and implement laws and policies, which are aimed to provide a safe home for the Jewish and not the Arab population as per the Balfour Declaration (1). Uniting all territories under one-same state would shift demographics in such a manner that Jewish-Israelis would become the minority within their own state, and thus they would put in jeopardy the Jewish component of what s now a democratic Jewish state. A one-state solution seems to be a utopian idea when we consider the immense sense of pride and victory the Palestinian and Israeli peoples attach to the concept of having and ruling over their own independent and sovereign state. History has shown time and again that no two entities have ever peacefully agreed and successfully managed to create a multinational state within one-same country, but rather they have favoured separate national states, or a two-state solution.Also, from a psychoanalytical and social approach, it appears almost completely improbable that two peoples, cultures and religions that have participated in such a long-standing in tractable conflict would concede to the creation of only one state, since their motivational and cognitive biases as a result of distinct psychological processes would â€Å"render then unable to recognize as advantageous settlement terms† proposed by the other side (2).This would fully undermine the Palestinians’ fight for liberation and sovereignty and the Israelis’ struggle for existence and independence. Moreover, under one state, the Palestinians would perhaps suffer a reality of segregation and would shift their fight towards one for achieving their civil rights. This could potentially be achieved as it was done in South-Africa. However, it would ultimately lead towards a Jewish minority within the state and that would directly threaten the existence of a Jewish state.One could argue that Israelis would never agree to dismantle the Jewish state by contributing to the formation of an Arab majority within their own territory. Also, the realities in South-Afr ica were quite different from those in Israel-Palestine today. In fact, the struggle was of another nature: the black-Africans and white-Africans both fought for a one-state solution and the domination of that state, whereas the Palestinians and Israelis fight for the creation of their own independent states, therefore a one-state option is neither desired by the Israelis nor the Palestinians (3) (4).Furthermore, the involvement and conflict-resolution approaches of the international community during the South-African ordeal differed greatly from those of today, since Israel has a more complex relationship with the United-States than South-Africa ever did and an international boycott of Israel would ultimately fail as it would be interpreted as a repetition of the Holocaust, which began with the simple slogan â€Å"Don’t buy from the Jews† and which no one in their right mind desires today! 5) So, is a two-state solution a more viable option? One might think that a two -state option is a very remote possibility seeing the constant hostility from the Palestinian side, the crisis and disconnect between Hamas and the official Palestinian Authority, the fragmentation of the West Bank territory into districts due to growing Israeli settlements, and an almost inexistent peace process between the two nations in light of a unilateral Israeli approach to conflict resolution.However, it is also vital to underline that the lack of evidence of a one-state option being the optimal solution to the problem makes the route towards a two-state solution more compelling in comparison. In fact, by opting for a one-state solution and denying the Palestinian people their own independent state where they can freely live with dignity and enjoy full civic rights, Israel and the international community risk causing additional chaos, retaliation and a continuation of the already intractable war between these two nations.On the other hand, the reality we have today points de facto to the existence of a bi-national state, mainly as a result of Israel’s expansionist policies. In fact, living on what was d’antan Philistine are almost eleven million people, almost equally divided, half of whom – the Palestinians – are growing faster in number and will most inevitably become the majority (6). Historic precedents have shown through failed peacemaking processes that this land cannot be successfully partitioned by agreement.This means that the only way to achieve a two-state solution is by military force, which many would agree is not desirable, since it may generate the worst war to date. The greatest fear emanating from the adoption of a one-state solution, and which prompts many to favour the infamous two-state solution, is the creation of an apartheid state and second-class citizens as was the case in South-Africa. However, many fail to remember that only upon agreement to create a democratic bi-national state did South-Africa d issolve its apartheid component (7). This is not to say that an equitably shared i-national state would automatically be created when and if a one-state solution is put into place, but rather that a peaceful coexistence within a bi-national state is a possibility. In fact, one could defend that any attempt to separate the two entities would be impossible, since any territorial split would create displaced Palestinian and Israeli persons and refugees within both states. A two-state solution almost guarantees that having Palestinians and Israelis live under Israeli and Palestinian sovereignly respectively will additionally fuel discontent, retaliation and violent struggle.This would undermine any past attempt to reconcile the two parties and achieve peace, and would render any past accords and treaties useless. Furthermore, ruling two separate geographical entities – Gaza and the West Bank – under the same independent Palestinian state is an impractical and inefficient w ay of organizing institutions and governmental administrations, as it would complicate decision-making and even practical implementation of policies pertaining to resources, energy, security and social issues.For example, how could a Palestinian state survive without access to resources such as water and electricity, when Israel has almost completely taken control of water access in the West Bank and is the greatest supplier of electricity to the Palestinian territories? Also, how will these two geographically separate, yet politically united entities communicate, ensure safety for their citizens travelling through Israel in-between Gaza and the West Bank, organize transport and delivery of goods, services and energy to each part, and how will they reconcile their economies?The answers to most of these questions point towards a reality that would be quite impossible to accept and sustain. In addition, it is safe to say that the problem of a two-state solution runs a lot deeper. For example, the PA is quite weak as it lacks support in Gaza: it is lead by wealthy officials who have no interest in altering the Palestinian reality in the West Bank due to their investments in that region, the economy is unstable in that region, and it depends almost entirely on Israeli and American support and funding.If it became a sovereign state, Palestine’s economy would suffer, as it is greatly linked and depends on both Israel and the international community. From empirical evidence, as is the case with many European countries today and other African and South American countries some years ago, we know that a weak or crumbling economy spells political and social unrest, and therefore a two-state solution would fail to accomplish what a one-state solution may prevent: a failed state and extreme violent uprisings.Moreover, land disputes are an impediment for a clear-cut two-state solution. For example, ten percent of the West Bank would be annexed by Israel (8) as it for ms part of permanent Israeli settlements and land-swaps would occur failing to provide a clear understanding of what would happen to Palestinians living on these â€Å"swapped† territories inside of Israel. For these reasons and more, it is quite unimaginable to even speak of a strong, stable and sovereign Palestinian state at the moment.In sum, neither option seems to be ideal, although on a personal note, I believe that a one-state solution would lead to yet another form of occupation, at least for some years or even generations to come, of lower-class Palestinian-Israelis by Jewish-Israelis as well as to more struggle for land and to more violence, since the Jewish inhabitants of the land evidently enjoy the upper economic and political hand in this conflict. As the South-African example depicts well, the one-state option would lead to an apartheid state for some time at least.Israeli-Jews inevitably would continue to hold onto the economic and socio-political power they e njoy today, which means that Palestinian-Israelis would become second-class citizens who will suffer discrimination in all spheres of life and who may even be compelled by law to participate in that which is the top source of their anguish and hate: the Israeli army. Both sides will forcibly persist in trying to augment their numbers in order to form the standing majority and the foreseeable and very unfortunate event that would unfold is another mid-twentieth century-type civil war.And however complicated a two-state solution may seem, it is an illusion to believe that the Israelis or the Palestinians for that matter would easily give up the idea of having their own independent state. There is no force in this world that could make these two nations give up this aspiration. However, on the other hand, it seems that if the idea of a two-state solution was brought to fruition today it would be a disaster for the Palestinian people, since the content of the solution would inevitably p ut them at a disadvantage in the context of today.In the end, as we can deduce from some of the evidence presented in this essay, one is still left with unanswered questions as well as with new questions pertaining respectively to the best possible option for Israel and Palestine as well as other foreseeable solutions that differ from the one and two-state solutions. References and Works Cited Al-Masri, Hani. â€Å"The Two-State Solution Is Still an Option. † Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture 14. 2 (2007): 27-30. Print. ?Avnrey, Uri. â€Å"One State: Solution or Utopia? Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture 14. 4 (2007): 7-12. Print. Awad, Samir. â€Å"Http://www. pij. org/details. php? id=1413. † Palestine-Israel Journal: Impact of the Revolutions in the Arab World on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict AndFuture Prospects. Middle East Publications, 2012. Web. 04 Aug. 2012. . Baskin, Gershon. â€Å"A Choice To Be Made. â €  Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture 14. 2 (2007): 94-96. Print. Democracy in America Blog Correspondents. (2011).Palestine Statehood: A Strategic Mistake by Everyone. Available: (http://www. economist. com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/09/palestine- statehood-0). Last accessed 3rd Aug 2012. ?Dudai, Ron. â€Å"A Model for Dealing with the Past in the Israeli–Palestinian Context. † The International Journal of Transitional Justice 1 (2007): 249-67. Print. Ghanem, As'ad. â€Å"Cooperation Instead of Separation: A One-State Solution to Promote Israeli-Palestinian Peace. † Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture 14. 2 (2007): 13-19. Print. ?Hadi, A. B. A. The Balfour Declaration. † The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 164. 1 (1932): 12-21. Print. ?Kelman, Herbert C. â€Å"The Interdependence of Israeli and Palestinian National Identities: The Role of the Other in Existential Confli cts. † Journal of Social Issues 55. 3 (1999): 581-600. Print. ?Lindsay, Talmud. â€Å"Six South-African Lessons. † Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture 14. 2 (2007): 96-100. Print. Majdalani, Ahmad. â€Å"The Serious Threats Facing the Palestinian National Project. † Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture 14. (2007): 37-43. Print. Plenary, Sixty-sixth General Assembly. UN General Assembly Archives. 23 Sept. 2011. Peace Can Only Come through Negotiations, Responds Israel’s Prime Minister, Offering ‘Straightforward Discussion’. United Nations NHQ, United States of America, New York. Pollak, Joel. â€Å"A Northern Ireland Solution for the West Bank? † Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture 14. 2 (2007): 62-68. Print. ?Ruether, Rosemary, â€Å"Invisible Palestinians: Ideology and Reality in Israel†, Christian Century Publishing, (1987), p. 587.

Design of Sound Activated Remote Control Essay

ABSTRACT Nowadays, when delinquency has more and more expanded and burglary, even car theft has become a social phenomenon and due to the limitation of infrared remote control in terms of control distance from the electrical equipment which not exceed in 30 feet or 10 meters and require line of sight when communicating with each other that you cannot easily access the equipment when you’re not in home or away from your car. This project study able to provide a solution for security and electronic devices conveniences. Design of sound activated remote control and alarm system utilizing mobile phone has been developed for security purposes and safety conveniences of electrical and electronic equipments with no phone call charges. The proposed design consists of the designed interface board and two cellular phones: one as a controller and the other as a transceiver. Whenever the status of the alarm changes, an automatic dial triggering of transceiver mobile phone will activated to alert the controlling mobile phone. Alternatively, the controlling mobile phone can turn on and off the equipment that connected to system by calling the transceiver mobile phone from any place that have mobile phone signal coverage. Findings of the project study showed that the design and developed circuit of mobile phone that used available local parts in the market is working properly for safety conveniences. It was user friendly through cellular communication and it effectively turns on and off electrical equipments through missed call triggering where you can easily access your equipments even if you’re not in the house or in holiday vacation. It proves that the ring detection circuit of the proposed project avoids phone call charges to the caller resulting to low cost maintenance compared to other commercial system that capable of performing similar functions but with relatively high cost. Based on the data collected the researcher concluded that the project is proven feasible, cheaper maintenance and easy to use and integrate. This was very reliable and worthy as an equipment remote control and alarm monitor system during its operation. In comparison to similar devices the developed system had able to perform similar functions without even software or programming involved. It was very effective and advisable for controlling equipments that are beyond the reach of the user without phone charges to the caller This project study is highly recommended to used for the community to activates their electrical and electronic equipments from any location that within the coverage area. These add up to their security and handiness of the equipments. For the students and future researcher with the same field of study should made research also to complement the information provided in this study. For the improvement of the design automatic charging of the mobile phone unit should take in consideration and the design system must be properly encapsulated to eliminate any unwanted signals that might trigger the system.

Essay on Human Trafficking in the United States - 1362 Words

Human trafficking is an issue that no one really wants to talk about. The media portrays this horrible crime as something that only happens in foreign lands. Americans do not want to believe that something so heinous could happen on our own soil. However when survivors of human trafficking come forward, people are forced to confront the reality that this issue is not that far from home. Some individuals still choose to deny that this is a real issue. However the facts make it extremely hard to deny that human trafficking happens on American soil. The Super Bowl is one of the most exciting events of the entire year. Each year, fans spend hundreds of dollars to be able to travel to the city is hosting the Super Bowl and even more money†¦show more content†¦1). Ms. Greenlee is one of the most identifiable survivors of this type of tragedy. Greenlee told Ms. Martin (2013), â€Å" she was forced to go through anywhere from 25 to 50 men a day or she would receive unimaginable punishments,† (para. 3). Greenlee told Martin (2013), â€Å"punishments were beyond severe, if she was not able to go through the number of customers they told her to she would pay with beatings, multiple rapes by multiple men, or even worse they would force her to watch as they tortured one of the other women they had kidnapped as her punishment,† (para. 6). Martin (2013) reports that, â€Å"Greenlee, who was kidnapped at age 12, was part of about eight girls who were kidnapped by a group of men who injected them with heroin and sometimes handcuffed them to the bed,† (para. 4). The tortures that Ms. Greenlee faced are unimaginable. She is one of the few women who have been able to escape from that world and talk about it openly. Even with accounts such as the one above (about the unimaginable horrors that victims of have had to face) and the testimony of how much worse it gets during big events such as the Super Bowl there are still those who believe that human trafficking is a myth. One writer named Anna Merlan (2014) writes very sarcastically, â€Å"it’s almost Super Bowl time and you know what that means: sex slaves, thousands of them, flooding into the area around New Jersey’s MetLife stadium to be raped by morallyShow MoreRelatedHuman Trafficking And The United States1066 Words   |  5 PagesHuman trafficking has always been a though subject. Most Americans prefer to believe that this is a problem of the past, that it simply does not occur anymore. Others accept the fact that human trafficking exist, but in a far away reality, an incident homed only in poor, third world countries. This couldn’t be farther away from the truth. Human trafficking is a real and current problem in th e United States, California being a hotspot for this issue, and with the Super Bowl in 2016 the problem willRead MoreHuman Trafficking And The United States1417 Words   |  6 PagesEach year about 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States and become victims of human trafficking. Every country has this problem and it has become the 3rd largest illegal industry worldwide. Human Trafficking is the trade of humans mainly for sexual slavery, but also forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker and sometimes others who take part in this act. Human trafficking is also used for organs or tissues, including surrogacy, ova removal, or making theseRead MoreHuman Trafficking And The United States962 Words   |  4 Pagestakes for cases to be prosecuted and to gain protections is very extensive. Intensifying the existing laws to better defend human trafficking victims is critical.The United States Government, in 2000, certified the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. This act helps prosecute traffickers and support victims. Since then the number of recognized victims of trafficking has risen as well as trials and social service providers working with survivors. Because of this it gives researchers anRead MoreHuman Trafficking And The United States Essay1585 Words   |  7 PagesLooking the other way while close to 50% of the human trafficking in the United States end up in prostitution, what is going on in these states. The over sexed country does not help to stop it when we constantly promote sex in almost every aspect of life. People are losing their life to find a way to get to the United States through different forms of smuggling. Are these the people that we should be letting get in this country? Right under our nose the women, girls are being coerced into prostitutionRead MoreHuman Trafficking : The United States1740 Words   |  7 PagesHUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES: WHY SOME STATES HAVE MORE HUMAN TRAFFICKING CALLS THAN OTHERS INTRODUCTION Human trafficking is a growing endemic affecting an estimated 35.8 million men, women, and children around the world annually, as reported by the Global Slavery Index (GSI). The United States is not immune to this problem and has successfully identified 21,434 cases of human trafficking through the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline since 2007. As with crimes of thisRead MoreHuman Trafficking : The United States1250 Words   |  5 Pagessomeone talks about child trafficking? Do you think of children from third world countries being kidnapped or sold into the black market of human trafficking? Most of us probably think of human trafficking as being an issue that poor countries just have but, that isn’t the case. Human trafficking is alive and sadly thriving in the United States. According to Trafficking Source Center, 5,544 cases of human trafficking were reported in the United States in 2015. With human trafficking being around for soRead MoreHuman Trafficki ng And The United States Essay751 Words   |  4 PagesFACT SHEET Human trafficking in the United States Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons or modern day slavery, is an affront to the most basic of human freedoms. Human trafficking is a crime that strikes at the very heart of the American promise: freedom. In response to this abhorrent crime, government agencies and nongovernmental organizations have formed strong and growing partnerships aimed at ending this violation of fundamental civil rights and human dignity. 1. WhatRead MoreHuman Trafficking in the United States1603 Words   |  6 Pagesother countries to people in the United States. Imports and exports to and from the U.S include products as wide ranged as food, clothes, and even people. Human trafficking is a worldwide problem, including the United States. Currently, there are approximately 20.9 million people enslaved throughout the world with 2.5 million located in the United States. About 14,500 - 17,500 of foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States every year (Human trafficking statistics). These statistics showRead MoreHuman Trafficking in the United States2403 Words   |  10 PagesHuman Trafficking The United States has always been known for sticking their nose in places where it does not belong. America has been part of wars that could have been avoided, scandals that had nothing to do with the United States. Millions of lives over the years could have been spared if America would have just simply stayed where they belong. What if though, America feels like they have to get involved in forging affairs if they think it can cause or is causing a problem on American soil orRead MoreHuman Trafficking : The United States2136 Words   |  9 PagesHuman trafficking is a prominent problem within the United States that is often overlooked. The definition of human trafficking is, â€Å"Human trafficking - the illegal practice of procuring or trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation† (â€Å"Human trafficking†). People in the United States believe that human trafficking is a problem that occurs in other less dev eloped countries compared to the United States. What these individuals do not realize