Consumer Buying Behavior on Online Shopping

Online shopping, also referred to as e-commerce, is a practice that has become more popular in our society as a result of technological advancements. It allows customers to shop online and have their purchases delivered to their homes or other preferred locations without having to physically visit a store. There are billions of online shoppers worldwide, and the future of online shopping is expected to be favorable in terms of growth. Consumer purchasing habits have changed as a result of online shopping throughout time, and experts are interested in exploring the contributing causes. The research project will use a conceptual framework to explore a number of aspects that affect customers' purchasing decisions. The research will provide light on the purchasing habits of Turkish university students with a range of degrees, because participation is restricted based on educational attainment. The purpose of this study is to comprehend the variables that influence Turkish university students' online shopping behavior

Three-dimensional femtosecond laser processing for lab-on-a-chip applications

AbstractThe extremely high peak intensity associated with ultrashort pulse width of femtosecond laser allows us to induce nonlinear interaction such as multiphoton absorption and tunneling ionization with materials that are transparent to the laser wavelength. More importantly, focusing the femtosecond laser beam inside the transparent materials confines the nonlinear interaction only within the focal volume, enabling three-dimensional (3D) micro- and nanofabrication. This 3D capability offers three different schemes, which involve undeformative, subtractive, and additive processing. The undeformative processing preforms internal refractive index modification to construct optical microcomponents including optical waveguides. Subtractive processing can realize the direct fabrication of 3D microfluidics, micromechanics, microelectronics, and photonic microcomponents in glass. Additive processing represented by two-photon polymerization enables the fabrication of 3D polymer micro- and nanostructures for photonic and microfluidic devices. These different schemes can be integrated to realize more functional microdevices including lab-on-a-chip devices, which are miniaturized laboratories that can perform reaction, detection, analysis, separation, and synthesis of biochemical materials with high efficiency, high speed, high sensitivity, low reagent consumption, and low waste production. This review paper describes the principles and applications of femtosecond laser 3D micro- and nanofabrication for lab-on-a-chip applications. A hybrid technique that promises to enhance functionality of lab-on-a-chip devices is also introduced

Consulting report - SIMA PERU

The current report is a consulting project that has been elaborated for Servicios Industriales de la Marina S.A (SIMA). The motivation behind the study is to analyze the current issues within the company in order to assess and recommend a list of possible solutions for the client. At present, the main problem plaguing SIMA is its low levels of competitiveness within the metalworking sector. The report therefore conducted a thorough analysis to remedy the issue through the recommendation of both short and long term solutions. The report also took into consideration the immediate opportunity available to SIMA through the Reconstruction Plan in the wake of the El Niño Southern Oscillation System this past summer. It is therefore pertinent that SIMA act on the recommendations given in this report so that they may enhance the competitiveness of their metalworking sector and become an industry leader. The report highlighted four root causes that have hindered the success of the metalworking line, and has therefore created four strategic implementation plans that will help SIMA to build up their heavy metal industry from 2017 until 2020. In the short-term, SIMA will focus on building up its marketing abilities through CSR initiatives, whilst simultaneously creating strategic alliances with civil practices and large-scale clients. The former refers to the utilization of the Obras por Impuestos framework, which will allow SIMA to build alliances with companies with large amounts of taxes in exchange for work, thusly being mutually beneficial to both parties. Furthermore, strategic alliances will help SIMA to create a more well-rounded portfolio when bidding for projects, that will increase their probability of winning contracts. In the long-term, SIMA must look to focus on technological modernization and strategic human resource management. The former can be broken down into three separate areas of focus, where the client must update its obsolete metalworking equipment, create the capacity for modular bridge construction, and develop an engineering division specific to new engineering software programming. The latter is composed of strategies related to employee recruitment and employee retention, and are utilized to help reduce the issue of staff turnover within SIMA. When integrated into one master plan, both the short and long term strategies will aid in improving the competitiveness of SIMA’s metalworking sector, and will help it to achieve leadership status within the Peruvian market. Both group of strategies, the short term and long term plans, compose what it is named the Industry Leadership Plan. The total cost related is estimated in US$3,363,553 and disbursed in a time-lapse of four years, which makes the plan feasible in the actual financial conditions of SIMA. The plan suggested would benefit SIMA enhancing their Public Image and Brand awareness with an affordable investment that represents positive Net Present Values (NPV). Moreover, The Industry Leadership Plan would allow SIMA to increase their Market share in their actual targeted market and, even more, suggest them to tackle the niche of projects under the contract modality of Obras por Impuestos. Finally, the plan is a sharedvalue proposal because it represents a win-win situation that benefits the company, the State, the Suppliers and, the Community; by developing the capabilities to generate very necessary projects focused on the National Reconstruction of the Country due to the effects of the last El NiñoEl presente reporte es un Proyecto de consultoría elaborado para Servicios Industriales de la Marina S.A. (SIMA). La motivación detrás del estudio fue el analizar los problemas actuales dentro de la compañía para así evaluarlos y recomendar una lista de posibles soluciones. En el Presente, el principal problema que aqueja a SIMA son los bajos niveles de competitividad dentro del sector de construcción metal mecánico. Este reporte desarrolla un análisis completo para remediar el problema a través de recomendaciones de corto y largo alcance. Este reporte también toma en consideración la inmediata oportunidad disponible para SIMA en el marco del Plan Nacional de Reconstrucción a consecuencia del Fenómeno del Niño sucedido el verano pasado. Por tanto es pertinente que SIMA tome las recomendaciones brindadas para así poder mejorar la competitividad de su línea de negocios en Metal mecánica y convertirse en el líder de la industria. El reporte resalta cuatro causas raíces que han dificultado el éxito de la línea de construcciones metal mecánicas y, de este modo, se ha creado cuatro planes estratégicos de implementación que ayudaran a que SIMA mejore esta línea de negocios desde el 2017 al 2020. En el corto plazo, SIMA se enfocara en mejorar sus capacidades de marketing a través de iniciativas de Responsabilidad social al mismo tiempo que crea alianzas estratégicas con empresas de construcción civil y clientes de gran envergadura. Lo anterior se refiere a la utilización del marco legal de Obras por Impuestos, que permitirá a SIMA el construir alianzas con compañías con grandes sumas de impuestos que intercambiar a cambio de proyectos, de modo que sea mutuamente beneficioso para ambas partes. Más aun, las alianzas estratégicas ayudaran a SIMA a crear un elaborado portafolio para cuando licite para proyectos incrementando su posibilidad para obtener contratos. En el largo plazo, SIMA deberá enfocarse en la modernización tecnológica y la gerencia estratégica de recursos humanos. Lo primero puede ser dividido en tres áreas de enfoque, en las que el cliente deberá mejorar su equipamiento obsoleto de construcciones metalmecánicas, crear la capacidad para la construcción de puentes modulares y finalmente desarrollar una división de ingeniería especifica al diseño a través de software de ingeniería. Lo segundo se compone de estrategias relacionadas al reclutamiento de empleados y a su retención. Estas estrategias son utilizadas para reducir el problema de retiros voluntarios entre los empleados de SIMA. Integrados en un plan maestro, ambas, las estrategias de corto y largo alcance ayudaran a mejorar la competitividad de la línea de negocios de construcciones metalmecánicas de SIMA y ayudarán a alcanzar un status de liderazgo en el mercado peruano. Ambos grupos de estrategias, las de corto y largo plazo, componen el denominado Plan de Liderazgo de la Industria. El costo total relacionado es estimado en US$ 3,363,553 y desembolsado en un lapso de tiempo de cuatro años, volviendo el plan factible en las actuales condiciones financieras de SIMA. El plan sugerido beneficiaria a SIMA mejorando su imagen pública y reconocimiento de la marca, a través de una inversión viable que representa positivos Valores Actuales Netos (VAN). Más aún, el Plan de Liderazgo de la Industria permitiría a SIMA incrementar su participación de mercado en el mercado actualmente enfocado y, además, sugiere el enfocarse en el nicho de proyectos bajo la modalidad contractual de Obras por Impuestos. Finalmente, el plan es una propuesta de valor compartido dado que representa una idea beneficiosa para todas las partes involucradas tales como la compañía, el estado, los proveedores y la comunidad; al desarrollar las capacidades de generar muy necesarios proyectos enfocados en la Reconstrucción Nacional del País a consecuencia de los efectos del último fenómeno del niñoTesi