eBusiness in Apparel Retailing Industry - Critical Issues

The apparel industry has, like most other industries quickly started using the Internet to gain improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and marketing. In this report we briefly overview the developments of electronic commerce in apparel industry. We try to develop a framework for choosing the right technology and development options based on the business model and business orientation chosen. We illustrate the framework by four case companies, which have adapted different basic strategies and business models. The cases include companies with traditional operations with also physical retail outlets, as well as companies operating only on the Internet. There are still a number of unresolved problems related both to consumer-oriented e-commerce in general and to apparel industry in particular. Nevertheless, consumers are increasingly using the Internet to do extensive amount of research on products and fashion trends before purchasing through any media, also making more and more online purchase

Export profiles of small landlocked countries : a case study focusing on their implications for Lesotho

World Bank demographic and country characteristic statistics identify 16 small landlocked countries that are similar to Lesotho. The authors attempt to determine what useful policy information can be derived from the recent trade performance of these"comparators."Among questions they pose are whether the trade profiles of the comparators suggest potentially promising export ventures for Lesotho, do they indicate directions for a geographic diversification of trade, or do they suggest products in which Lesotho might acquire a comparative advantage. The authors also use U.S. partner country statistics to evaluate Lesotho's export performance in this major market. The U.S. data indicate Lesotho lost competitive export shares for about three-quarters of its major clothing products during the late 1990s. The data show these losses were primarily to the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries in the Caribbean. Lesotho was competing on basically equal terms and did not fare well. But it is generallyheld that the most efficient clothing exporters are in the Far East and not Latin America. Lesotho's difficulties in competing with the latter have worrisome implications for its ability to compete with East Asian exporters when the Multifiber Arrangement is phased out. The comparative advantage profiles of the landlocked comparator countries suggest Lesotho's options for a greatly needed export diversification may be wider than is assumed. One or more of the comparator countries developed a comparative advantage in 110 four-digit SITC (non-clothing) manufactures which are generally labor-intensive in production. Many of these goods should also be suitable for production and export by Lesotho. International production sharing often involves the importation and further assembly of components in developing countries. This activity can significantly broaden the range of new products in which a country can diversify. Statistics show many landlocked comparator countries have moved into component assembly operations, and it appears this activity could contribute to Lesotho's export diversification and industrialization. But the quality problems associated with Lesotho's trade statistics makes it impossible to determine the extent to which local production sharing is occurring. A special effort is needed to tabulate reliable statistics on Lesotho's current involvement in this activity. Finally, the authors attempt to determine how the commercial policy environment in Lesotho compares with that in other countries. Policymakers previously had difficulty in addressing this issue, but several recent efforts to compile comprehensive cross-country indices of the quality of governance and commercial policies now provide relevant information. These statistics suggest domestic commercial policies make Lesotho relatively less attractive to foreign investment than many other developing countries. Less than 20 percent of all Latin American countries have a domestic commercial environment judged to be inferior to that in Lesotho, while the corresponding share for East Asia is under 30 percent. Overall, almost 70 percent of all developing countries appear to pursue commercial policies that make them as, or more, attractive to foreign investment than Lesotho.Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Agribusiness&Markets,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy,Agribusiness&Markets

Preserving Europe\u27s Cultural Heritage in the Digital World

This paper examines the potential for preserving Europe\u27s cultural heritage in a digital world. After an extensive literature review on the economics of museums and the digitization of cultural heritage, it highlights national and international political initiatives to create cooperative cultural heritage systems. As a mean of achieving global integration while simultaneously keeping institutional independence, this work proposes \u27Digital Autonomous Cultural Objects (DACOs)\u27 as reference architecture. This paper illustrates the contribution of DACOs with two real-life projects serving as proof-of-concept. Finally, the paper offers some \u27Lessons Learned\u27 and an outlook to wider preservation of Europe\u27s cultural heritage in the digital world

A history of Beverly, Massachusetts (for use in junior high schools).

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Formulation of experimental data based model for oil press using human powered flywheel motor as energy source

Human powered oil press extracts oil from oilseeds.  The extracted oil can be used for eating purpose or even in laboratories where one can take different tests on the oil.  A machine was fabricated which will perform this pressing operation not by electric power but by human power.  It is seen that human power is sufficient enough to be converted into work.  The evolution of oil press by using human power is a complex phenomenon.  There are many factors affecting the performance of oil press.  To study man-machine interaction and human fatigue in various agricultural tasks, AICRP on HESA (All India Coordinated Research Project on “Human Engineering and Safety in Agriculture”) (1996) started by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, used experimental approach.  As a result of the continuous variation of speed of the process unit input shaft, understanding of the phenomenon of execution of the process cannot be logic based.  Hence it is necessary to adopt application of Methodology of Experimentation to such a process for formulating experimental data based model.  Hence Theory of Experimentation, provided by H. Schenck Jr. was applied.  In this paper, an approximate generalized data based model for such a human powered oil press is developed by varying independent parameters during the experimentation. Subsequently the optimization of the model was established.  Thus the results of this experimental research would be useful to farmers or small scale entrepreneurs in the rural area, where there is 10 to 12 hours load sheding of electricity, especially in rural Maharashtra (India).  This technology will not only improve the socioeconomic condition of the rural population, but also reduce the gap between supply and demand of edible oils. Keywords: Human powered flywheel motor, energy, oilseed, oil press, dependent variables, and independent variables 

Ensuring access to essential services : demand-side housing subsidies

This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of demand-side subsidy approaches for improving poor households'access to housing services. It begins with a discussion of the rationale for stand-alone housing assistance programs, and a description of the ongoing transition away from traditional supply-side housing assistance to demand-side subsidies. The paper presents model demand-side approaches, but also draws on real world examples to highlight various aspects of program design related to targeting, transparency, price distortion, institutional capacity, administrative complexity, and funding. It also describes how variations in the design of housing-related subsidy programs can appear in response to philosophical, political, and resource considerations. The paperconcludes with a discussion of the appropriateness of different subsidy approaches for various situations.Banks&Banking Reform,Housing&Human Habitats,Public Sector Economics,Municipal Financial Management,Public&Municipal Finance

The Montclarion, July 05, 2002

Student Newspaper of Montclair State Universityhttps://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/montclarion/2105/thumbnail.jp

Installment 2 of "Creating a Sustainable Food Future": Reducing Food Loss and Waste

Approximately one out of every four calories grown to feed people is not ultimately consumed by humans. Food is lost and wasted to a varying extent across the globe, across all stages of the food value chain, and across all types of food. As a result, overall global food availability is lower than it would be otherwise, negatively affecting food security and requiring the planet's agriculture system to produce additional food to compensate for the food that is not ultimately consumed by people. The potential benefits of reducing food loss and waste are large. As a strategy for closing the food gap between food available today and food needed in 2050 to adequately feed the planet's projected 9.3 billion people, reducing food loss and waste satisfies each of the development and environmental criteria we introduced in the first installment of the Creating a Sustainable Food Future series. While increasing food availability, reducing food loss and waste can alleviate poverty and provide gender benefits while reducing pressure on ecosystems, climate, and water. Reducing food loss and waste may be one of those rare multiple "win-win" strategies.How can the world go about reducing food loss and waste on a large scale? This installment of the forthcoming "World Resources Report Creating a Sustainable Food Future" addresses that question. This working paper, which will feed into that report, begins by clarifying definitions of food loss and waste, then quantifies the scale of the problem and explores the impact addressing the problem could have on the food gap. The paper then focuses on practical solutions for reducing food loss and waste and presents case studies of successful initiatives. It concludes by offering recommendations for how to scale up reductions in food loss and waste