List Of Top Accounting Software For Your Business

Simply put, accounting is the lifeline of a business. Accounting deals with summarizing, analyzing and reporting the financial data and information about a business. An accounting software records and processes the accounting transactions of a business within its functional modules. Financial statements consisting of the balance sheet, profit and loss account, and statement of changes in financial position can be easily prepared with an accounting software.

An accounting software is all about the various functional modules that it has. Some of them are- General ledger which takes care of the company's financial dealings; Accounts Payable where the company enters its bills and pays the money it owes; Accounts Receivable where money received is entered.

The different categories or types of accounting software are as follows:

List Of Top Accounting Software For Your Business

a) Small business/personal accounting software which are mainly meant for home users. They are simple and inexpensive with simple functioning such as management of budgets.

b) Low end accounting software are for small business markets that are capable of serving a single national market. Such software are characterized by 'single entry' products.

c) Mid market accounting software are for companies with large businesses. These software are capable of serving the needs of multiple national accountancy standards and facilitate accounting in multiple currencies.

d) High end accounting software are complex and expensive business accounting software that are also known as Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP software.

However, you have to keep certain things in mind before buying an accounting software, like the prices of the software, its different features, its after-sales support and alike. Most of the accounting software include all the important accounting modules. The more specialized features a software has, the more expensive it becomes. Your software features must be compatible with your business. Also, the after-sales support is important like FAQ package, local service center and others.

There are a lot of top accounting software available in every category. So, it is not easy to select the best ones. Below are top five accounting software in every category.

A. Small business/personal accounting software:

1.ePeachtree (Best Software)

2.MYOB Plus for Windows (MYOB Software)

3.Peachtree Complete Accounting (Best Software)

4.QuickBooks Online (Intuit)

5.Small Business Manager (Microsoft)

B. Low-End Accounting Software:

1.BusinessVision 32 (Best Software)

2.MAS 90 & MAS 200 (Best Software)

3.QuickBooks Pro 2003 (Intuit)

4.ACCPAC Pro Series (ACCPAC International)

5.Vision Point 2000 (Best Software)

C. Middle-Market Accounting Software:

1.ACCPAC Advantage Series Corporate Edition (Best Software)

2.Great Plains (Microsoft) MAS 90 & MAS 200 (Best Software)

3.Navision (Microsoft)

4.SouthWare Excellence Series (SouthWare)

5.SYSPRO (SysproUSA)

D. High-end accounting ERP Market:

1.Axapta (Microsoft Software)

2.e-Business Suite (Oracle)

3.MAS 500 (Best Software)

4.Solomon (Microsoft)

5.ACCPAC Advantage Series Enterprise Edition (Best Software)

In compiling the above list, a variety of factors such as feedbacks from customers, scalability of the software, and after-sales support are used. Also, the different attributes for different categories have been considered like for ERP software, attributes such as manufacturing solution, supply chain solution and database solution. The above compilation may not be all inclusive and some people might choose to differ with it but it is almost near to perfect list.

List Of Top Accounting Software For Your Business
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To get more information about accounting, types of accounting software and accounting software myths visit http://www.managemyaccounting.com/

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15 Ways You Can Spot Fake or Fraudulent Crude Oil Sellers In Today's International Crude Oil Selling

Many knowledgeable observers and respected analysts of the industry have noted, for example, that particularly in these hard global economic times, many crooks, scammers and fraudsters with actually no real crude oil to sell, have trooped into the international crude oil selling business in tremendous numbers, seeing it as a fertile ground for them in which, many of them think, they can "strike it big" by scamming unsuspecting or gullible international crude buyers, aided and made easier for them by the Internet and the easier cover of anonymity that it provides. Consequently, clearly, a well-established and settled FACT in the world of international crude oil buying and selling business today, is that that whole terrain is literally teeming and crawling with congenital scammers, and pathological crooks and fraudsters who parade themselves, especially on the Internet, as crude "sellers." (See, for an example, another article by this writer published by EzineArticles.com, titled "Buy Nigeria Crude Oil Without Fraud: How Authentic Crude Oil Sellers Can Find Ready Buyers.").

CLUES & SIGNS FOR SPOTTING POTENTIAL CROOKS AND SCAMMERS

Given the above-described distinct reality today, are there ways in which you can spot or detect crude "sellers" who are not LEGITIMATE, or those who are most likely simply scammers and fraudsters with no real crude allocation or crude to sell?

15 Ways You Can Spot Fake or Fraudulent Crude Oil Sellers In Today's International Crude Oil Selling

The following are some of the ways and signs:

1. THE "SIGN THE SPA," "SIGN THE CONTRACT" GAME.

Often, a Buyer may get a seller or his agent who aggressively pushes and presses that the buyer should simply "just sign the contract, just sign the SPA," and that everything else will work out for the buyer after that. Typically, such seller or the agent will promise virtually heaven and earth, and commit to providing the buyer virtually any and everything whatsoever the buyer asks of him, PROVIDED that the buyer just signs the contract. He will, the buyer will be promised, be immediately provided satisfactorily verifiable POP, or the 2% Performance Bond, or get the seller's profile, his proof of past track record or past performance in the selling of crude oil or of his creditworthiness, etc., etc - but only "after" the buyer has signed the contract!

Watch out for such scenario by sellers or sellers' agents! Many supposed sellers like that probably don't really have any oil allocation or available oil to sell. However, for them, the trick is simply to get some gullible buyer to sign the SPA or Contract. And then once that is done, such fraudsters will often deliberately fault the agreement in some way or the other, and employ that as a ruse to demand a hefty penalty fee of upwards of 0,000 or more from the buyer. The buyer will thus be forced either to pay for a deal that never occurred, or else, to have the buyer's Letter of Credit tied up, at perhaps greater cost and expense to the buyer, until perhaps he succumbs and pays up the scammy seller's "penalty."

2. A SELLER WHO WANTS YOU TO MOVE/PAY FIRST

A good sign that you better employ caution, is when a seller wants you to make the move first on the sensitive FINANCIAL aspects of the deal, such as requiring that you (the buyer) issue the Letter of Credit first before the seller will then issue the customary 2% Performance Bond to activate that LC. A less scam-prone way would be for the buyer (unless it is a well-known seller that's involved) to have the seller move FIRST by issuing the PB from a reputable international bank, as this will guarantee that the seller has the financial capability to be able to put up the PB before the buyer goes through the hassle of putting up an LC, which could be quite an expensive proposition for any buyer. Scammy sellers are notorious for not being able to put up the 2% PB after the buyer might have first put up the LC simply because, being usually a small, obscure or sometimes even non-existent operation, such "sellers" often lack the funds to afford the PB, thus leaving the buyer with huge expense in banking costs for posting the LC.

3. REFUSAL TO HAVE A TTM WITH BUYER

Buyers may sometimes stipulate that there be a TTM (Table Top Meeting), which is a meeting between the buyers (or their top representatives) and the seller, to be held at a mutually convenient time and place at which place the parties will personally meet, discuss the terms of the deal, and sign the contract. It is not uncommon to find some sellers strenuously resist or refuse that, giving all manner of reasons and excuses for not wanting it.

Watch out though for such! Such posture often arouses suspicion and serious doubt in the minds of skeptical buyers as to what might be the underlying motives of the seller for doing that, and the true character and authenticity of the seller.

4. ONLY NIGERIAN-BASED, NON-FOREIGN SOURCES OF VERIFICATION

When a seller provides a buyer ONLY Nigerian-based sources for verification of supposed crude allocation bona fides or cargo documents, with no credible foreign-based, non-Nigerian sources or authorities provided, that could be a serious warning sign of potential scam. Verification through Nigerian sources (NNPC Abuja or Bonny, the Ministry of Petroleum, Abuja, and the like), are often viewed by international buyers with grave suspicion as notoriously unreliable and subject to forgery, and to manipulation and corruption of the facts and materials.

5. NO VERIFIABLE EVIDENCE OF PAST TRACK RECORD.

In general, unwillingness, reluctance, or inability on the part of the Seller, to provide verifiable proof of past track record and ability to perform, such as credible evidence that seller had ever posted a 2% Performance Bond in any deal in the past, or proof of any previous deals confirmable from a credible foreign, non-Nigerian source, showing where the seller has actually shipped and successfully delivered any crude oil to anybody, and the like. This should at least sound a warning alarm bell.

6. REFUSAL TO PROVIDE SELLER'S PROFILE

When a Seller is adamant against providing a statement of the seller's profile (for the seller's company as well as its principal officers). A person who claims that he (or she) really has legitimate crude allocation for which he wants a prospective buyer to pay some humongous sums to him in the several hundreds of millions of dollars, but is reluctant to provide that prospective buyer some profile of himself for some idea of who the Seller is, arouses serious suspicion in a lot of buyers' mind. This is more so today, especially, in the present climate of international crude oil buying and selling trade, which by all accounts has become ubiquitously populated by fraudsters and scammers.

7. NO EVIDENCE OF ABILITY TO POST PERFORMANCE BOND

Often, some sellers may quickly pledge to a buyer that they will post a 2% Performance Bond as a means of assuring the buyer that they'll perform the contract, claiming that they'll do so "once the contract is signed," but would adamantly bark at any proposal by buyer for them to show the buyer, in advance of the parties entering into the contract, some independently verifiable evidence that the Seller actually has the funds capability to be able to fulfill this 2% PB pledge upon the agreement being signed. As a prospective buyer, watch out! That is frequently a signal that the seller simply lacks the funds, and that he will not be able to post the PB if a contract were to be signed with this seller.

8. IINSISTENCE ON AN RWA

Sometimes, a Seller who says he will post a 2% Performance Bond insists that he'll do so only on the condition that the Buyer, through the buyer's bank, will first send a request to the Seller's bank for an RWA (Readiness, Willingness, and Ability), such as an MT799, requesting formally for the Seller to place the said PB. Watch out! At the very least, this is an indication that this seller is probably not banking with a reputable financial institution that is of the caliber that maintains the highest or world-class ethical banking and financial standards, such as one that is ranked among the top 25 international banks. Among most of such top 25 international banks in the world, doing such RWA is regarded as "solicitation" in international banking protocols, and is viewed in such circles as illegal and hence something they will not engage in under any circumstances. Even more importantly, use of the RWA is viewed in such highly ethical circles as a tool employed by sellers who lack the funds required for the posting of the 2% Performance Bond to get buyers to "sign contract, sign contract," only for these sellers to rely on financiers by showing them the NEWLY-SIGNED SPA, which financiers will then impose unrealistic conditions that usually cannot be even touched by any reputable top 25 international banks.

9. MANIPULATION OF LETTER OF INTENT (LOI).

Persons who claim to be crude Sellers (or represent themselves as seller's agent or mandate), but as yet have really shown nothing tangible to demonstrate that they are truly legitimate sellers, but persistently demand that prospective buyers issue them an LOI (Letter of Intent) right upfront even before the buyer can find out who they are or anything about them. Watch out here! Many a time, especially in a case involving a supposed seller who is either a fake seller or does not actually have the supposed crude in hand, or, an unscrupulous aspiring seller's agent who actually has not acquired a crude supplier (seller) yet, buyers may issue an LOI only to find out that there is no seller on the other end. This happens a lot in situations where you have an hungry agent or facilitator who is still struggling to get a real supplier, and by getting this LOI from an unsuspecting buyer, this facilitator can commit the buyer only for him then to start hustling for a seller.

10. NAMING SHELL SCREEN & LLOYD OF LONDON AS THE SELLER'S VERIFICATION SOURCE.

A seller who names sources like the so-called NNPC "Shell Screen" or so-called "Lloyd of London" as the means by which the buyer may do his verification for the ATS or POP. These entities are FAKE and non-existent, and do not verify anything.

11. DeMAND FOR PAYMENT BEFORE Q & Q.

A supposed seller that asks you to pay any form of money upfront at any time before the buyer conducts the Q & Q. Why should you have to pay for a product when you have not confirmed the product is even there, or its quantity and quality specification? Serious, credible or successful sellers do not have any need to collect fees or payments upfront. As one analyst observed, "Only scammers want to see your money first, because their business is to collect these fees, not to sell oil."

12. REFUSAL BY SELLER'S AGENT OR SELLER TO ALLOW SOME PHONE CONTACT WITH BUYER

Certain Buyers would often ask the agent of the seller that he arrange a 3-way phone conference with the end-seller so that the buyer can at least establish a contact or verbal communication with the end-seller. This could be very important for a buyer because it may be informative for him to have a verbal communication with the seller. A savvy buyer will be able to assess, just from having this phone conversation and "feeling the pulse" of the seller, a lot about the seller and his familiarity with the business, and a clearer picture of whether the seller can actually deliver what the buyer wants. A seller (or a seller's agent) who refuses such access to a prospective buyer, however, arouses suspicion in the mind of the buyer as to the agent's motives and intentions, or the legitimacy of the seller.

13. REFUSAL TO PROVIDE LOADING VESSEL DOCUMENTS

A seller who claims that the cargo has been cleared, but refuses to provide the cargo's CPA (Charter Party Agreement), ATL (Authority To Load), and Q88 vessel details, should be a cause for suspicion as to whether such a loaded vessel ever actually exists.

14. GENERALLY, UNWILLINGNESS BY SELLER TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE & TRANSPARENCY.

In general, unwillingness, reluctance, and inability on the part of the Seller, to provide some routine practical evidence, or general signs of secrecy and lack of transparency or authenticity - e.g., the purported "seller's" profile, his past track record of performance in oil sales, being forthcoming with facts and information, showing ability and readiness to post Performance Bond, ready provision by seller of verifiability, and things like that.

15. EXESSIVE CLAIMS AND WORDS, BUT WITH NO SUPPORTING PROOF

In general, purported "Sellers" who only engage in big "talk, talk, talk," and big claims merely by means of the Internet, but provide little or no "showing" of anything - no PROOF or EVIDENCE about the heaven and earth they claim!

FOR A FOLLOW UP

For a follow up on a specific plan of action by which, exactly, you can spot scammy, crooked crude oil sellers of Nigeria and other crude, please see the instructional information in the author's resource box below.

15 Ways You Can Spot Fake or Fraudulent Crude Oil Sellers In Today's International Crude Oil Selling
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Author Benjamin O. Anosike, Ph.D., is an acclaimed author and a leading expert on international oil trading procedures. Anosike's latest book, titled "The Only Way the Commodities Intermediary Can Close a Petroleum Deal Today," is billed as the most detailed, comprehensive, authoritative step-by-step guide ever written and available today for using the correct and most appropriate trading rules and procedures suited for the modern Internet era to find authentic, scam-free petroleum suppliers and opportunities.

FOR A COPY OF THIS BOOK, CLICK ON: http://www.ReliableOilDealsConsultancy.com TO OBTAIN THE AUTHOR'S CONSULTING & MANDATESHIP SERVICES FOR A DEALER TO GET A LEGITIMATE & CREDIBLE BUYER OR SELLER, CLICK ON: http://www.ReliableOilDealsConsultancy.com/services.html

Anosike is an Oil Buyers/Sellers' Mandate for several giant U.S. and European crude oil and petroleum products buying houses and refineries, and a Consultant, as well, to private investors, entrepreneurs and corporations on how to obtain genuine crude allocation and license with the Nigerian authorities to become an authorized seller of Nigerian crude oil. He has been severally dubbed the "unofficial anti-scam czar" and the "conscience of the business" in the modern Internet petroleum trading market.

Educated and resident in the United States, Anosike holds several advanced degrees, and a Ph.D. degree in jurisprudence.

An acclaimed national expert in American self-help law and consumer finance and savings techniques, and a widely acknowledged pioneer in the subject matter, Dr. Anosike is the author of some 26 self-help law books, including 4 comprehensive volumes on bankruptcy, covering the principal areas of Chapter 7, Chapter 13 and Chapter 11, and literally countless number of articles on a wide range of topics, ranging from will-making, U.S. immigration, incorporation, business and personal bankruptcy, to legal adoption, probate, estate planning, and international economic, political and legal issues.

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Role of Banks in International Trade

It is impossible to be in international trade without involving your bank for all the services they provide such as advice on financial issues and the potential risks involved. It is true that one critical hurdle for SMEs is the lack of information on international trade processes, documentation and banking procedures necessary to carry on with business abroad. For result oriented and cost effective international trade, you will very definitely need access to accurate and timely information and a sound knowledge of banking.

Payment Options in International Trade

Quite obviously all payments in an international trade are made through bank either by way of wire transfer or check with the latter not being preferred for not being the quickest. The following are some of the common ways of payment modes in international trade.

Role of Banks in International Trade

1. Banker's Draft is a cheaper option and easier to obtain but there is a risk of loss in transit. The only advantage it has against check is quicker credit that the exporter gets.

2. Letter of Credit. This international trade instrument is mutually convenient for both the parties. The exporter gets paid once he produces the copy of BoL (bill of lading) which he receives from the shipping company and the LoC, to the bank, regardless of whether the consignment as arrived at destination or not.

3. Wire transfer is by far the fastest and the cheapest option in which the importer will instruct his bank to transfer the amount to the exporter's bank account. The first time, the transfer happens in about 10-15 days depending on the destination country and the routing bank. International wire transfers are made through intermediary banks/correspondent banks.

4. Although not in a big way, some China manufacturers accept Paypal for smaller amounts such as US,000 but require 3% extra to compensate for the charges. Paypal is the quickest and easiest mode of payment in international trade.

Banks that are serving international trade, understand the crucial role they are required to play. Many large banks maintain worldwide correspondents to provide quick delivery of actual currency, wired money or drafts. You may choose your bank for international trade account on the basis of whether the bank can extend advances against the account receivables. Bank may, however, require your account secured through export credit insurance provided by Export Import Bank of United States. Banks also let you enter into forward exchange contract with your bank and fix the amount of the foreign exchange you receive when you are dealing in convertible currencies. You need your bank to be with you as long as you are in international trade.

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Role of Banks in International Trade
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Ford Motor Company - Case Study

Background (General Facts)

Ford Motors is one of three leading automotive manufacturing companies in the United States. Based in Michigan in 1903 by Henry ford and grew to reach revenue of 0 billion and more than 370,000 employees by 1996 [1]. In the 1970's, the automobile market for the major auto makers - General Motors (GM), Ford, and Chrysler- was crunched by competition from foreign manufactures such as Toyota and Honda. In 1999, Ford acquired the Swedish Volvo model in an attempt to compete in the foreign market and expand to other regions. Furthermore, Ford launched a full organization re-engineering business process plan called "Ford 2000" aiming at reestablishing the company's infrastructure. The process meant reduction in their Vehicle Centers (VCs) to only five covering the operations that spanned 200 countries. It also meant cutting redundancies and requiring Information Technology (IT) to be the driving force and the link between Ford centers worldwide.

In building Ford's IT infrastructure, the company focused on implementing a setup that supported the TCP/IP communication protocol based on the U.S. department of Defense requirements. At those days, Ford internal network was meant to serve files transfer unlike most companies that used the network mainly for email communications. Throughout the 1990's, Ford developed a cost effective Global Enterprise Network Integration (GENI) process to link all its locations compromising on the type of the connection and the cabling in favor of full coverage. During the same time, Ford started building its Web Farm, which was basically a set of hardware and software managed by a team for building Ford's public website. The work started by publishing documents for technical references and moved to more advanced images from a live auto show. As a result, the website received 1 million visits a day in less than 2 years after its official launch. Throughout the end of the 90's, Ford established its web services by increasing the amount of information published, building more intelligent and standard web application in 12 weeks period, purchasing more Netscape browsers for setup on its users' machines, and creating a B2B server to allow the suppliers secured access to Ford's Intranet.

Ford Motor Company - Case Study

In the path towards service cost reduction and bringing more business through the web, Ford worked closely with its competitors in the U.S. market GM and Chrysler to establish what came to be known as "Automotive Network Exchange" (ANX) certificate. The protocols aimed at providing a unified communications standard through the Internet to enable suppliers to provide common technology for all manufacturers. Moreover, Ford focused on making information on its web site more accessible and useful by deploying a team to manage the process of adding and updating information based on an analysis of how humans deal with information. One final aspect of Fords endeavor was to try to build a model through its infrastructure that benefited from the model implemented by Dell computers to improve their supply chain and delivery process. The direct model would not work well for automotives as it would with computers, as a result Ford worked on its retailing network remodeling and identifying what would eventually give it the extra edge in delivery time.

Enterprise Architecture Issues

Ford's regional expansion to address the competition for market shares demanded cost management for the infrastructure upgrades IT infrastructure places limitations on the type of application development based on the platforms Easy access to information and prompt delivery of vital data to key individuals requires proper knowledge managementOrganizations reengineering and process remodeling is necessary when adapting new technologies to maintain the cost and increase efficiency Supply chain errors and delays can severely affect the progress of the business and the market value of the corporation
Analysis

Infrastructure Upgrade

Since the inception of the Internet in the 1960's, much effort has been made in standardizing how computers connect to it. In 1982, the International Organization for Standards (ISO) realized that during that period many ad hoc networking systems were already using the TCP/IP protocol for communications and thus adapted it as a standard in its model for the Internet network [2]. The main driver for IP convergence, at that period, was the growth in data traffic through wide area networks (WANs) established by local companies. Furthermore, in 1991, the Internet was open for commercial use, and that demanded a reduction in the total cost of operating the network to cope with 1 million Internet hosts that materialized in only 1-year time. Telecommunications companies like AT&T understood the potential and worked on standardizing the network offering voice services over IP networks that managed the separation between voice and data transmission [3].

At the same time, Ford had launched its plan to update its infrastructure, and seized the opportunity brought by the global movement of integrating the voice, fax transmission network with data transmission and expanded its WAN to include its offices in Europe and elsewhere. The financial benefits also came from the fact that Ford adapted the TCP/IP protocol from the beginning and made sure that all its technical infrastructure upgrades adhere to the standards. This made the transition of its system to the Internet as cost effective as it could be.

Web Technologies

Intranets employ the hypertext and multimedia technology used on the Internet. Prior to 1989, when Tim burners-Lee invented the Web [4], most applications used standard development languages such as C and C++ to create desktop applications that were proprietary and dependent on the platform. For example, applications running on a command-based operating system such as UNIX would not run under Windows, and those working for PCs might not work on Apple computers and vice versa [5]. The invention of HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) introduced a new model for applications that conform to the standards provided by a single program, the "Web Browser". Unlike standard applications, the browser brought a unified interface that had a very fast learning curve. Users seem to require no additional training to work with web browsers. Furthermore, system administrators did not have to spend time installing upgrades on users' machines, since the Intranet client/server architecture facilitated all the updates through the connection with the web server [6].

Since Ford established its Intranet, it was aiming at building web applications through the initial analysis of "Mosaic", the early form of web browsers. The technical department at Ford used web languages to create the first web site in 1995. In 1996, the team started building applications making use of the unified "Netscape" browser that was deployed on all machines at the company, and working on a standard template to cut on the development life cycle. There was a substantial cut in training cost due to the user-friendly interface of web applications. Furthermore, the speed of development made vital applications available to different individuals across the company. For example, the B2B site allowed suppliers remote and secured access to various sections of Ford's Intranet. In addition, the development team created an application as a virtual teardown on Ford's website where Ford's engineers could examine parts of competitors' cars and evaluate any new technologies. The alternative would have been an actual trip to a physical location where Ford tears down cars to examine the parts.

Knowledge Management

While there are many definitions for knowledge, each company might adapt its own based on how it analysis data and information to acquire knowledge. The University of Kentucky, for example, defines knowledge as "a vital organization resource. It is the raw material, work-in process, and finished good of decision-making. Distinct types of knowledge used by decision makers include information, procedures, and heuristics, among others... " [7].

Organizations go through different activities to manage the amount of information they collect to form the knowledge base of the company. Activities include creating databases of best practices and market intelligence analysis, gathering filtering and classifying data, incorporating knowledge into business applications used by employees, and developing focal points for facilitating knowledge flow and building skills [8].

Ford was excited about the traffic it was receiving on the Web site and everyone was publishing all the material they have on desk on the Intranet. Nevertheless, there was a growing concern about the usability and usefulness of the material people were adding. As a result, Ford created a "Knowledge Domain Team" to build complete information in nine areas that were identified as vital to the business. The process Ford took was based on surveys and specialists input in how people perceive information, and what is considered vital and what is distracting in the structure of Ford's website. The aim behind the initiative was to reduce the time individuals spent in searching for information through proper indexing of the website content, and making sure that what was important could be accessed in due time, and what is trivial did not overwhelm the researcher with thousands of results.

Business Re-engineering

In the area of organization's re-engineering process innovation is the set of activities that achieve substantial business improvements. Companies seeking to benefit from process innovation go through the regime of identifying the processes, the factors for change, developing the vision, understanding the current process, and building a prototype for the new organization. History shows that organizations who define their processes properly will not have problems managing the issues and developing the change factors [9]. When introducing technology, business redesign is necessary. The industrial fields have been using Information Technology to remodel processes, control production, and manage material for generations. However, it is only recently that companies recognized that the fusion of IT and business would go beyond automation to fundamentally reshaping how business processes are undertaken [10].

When foreign companies were allowed to compete in the U.S. market, Ford understood that to succeed in business in a competitive arena it needed to implement strategies that competitors find difficult to imitate [11]. As a result, Ford bought Sweden Volvo to enter the European market, and partially owned Mazda to have a competitive edge with Japanese cars1 [12]. To achieve that it re-engineered its production development activities and global corporate organization and processes for dramatic cost reduction. Furthermore, it understood that expansion requires collaboration and alignment, and thus planned to establish the IT infrastructure through a WAN that connected all the offices. In the process of innovation and re-engineering, Ford has set policies to manage the cost of establishing the network, built models for continuous implementation, and organized global meetings to align all parties with the process. Adding to that, when it came to managing the website, Ford facilitated an awareness campaign for all the branches to understand that Ford is using the web to collaborate and research and adapting information technology as a way to maximize its business value. The goal for Ford was to maintain its leadership in the market and to do that in the most efficient and cost effective method that is there.

Supply chain management

Supply chain management (SCM) is about coordinating between suppliers, manufactures, distributors, retailers, and customers [13]. The basic idea that SCM applications revolve around is providing information to all those who are involved in making decisions about the product or goods to manage delivery from the supplier to the consumer [14]. Studies show that reducing errors in supply chain distribution, increases revenue, enhances productivity, and reduces the order-to-fulfillment period [15].

Ford often compared its supply chain process to that of Dell's, in an attempt to close the gaps in its own process and reach the level of success Dell has reached. The difference in the distribution model between Dell and Ford lies in the middle link of using retail shops. Since Ford cannot skip retail as a focal distribution point, it worked on establishing a network of retail shops that it owned. Ford made sure shops are not affecting each other in terms of sales, and gave them all a standard look and feel to establish itself in the consumer's market as a prestigious cars sales retail company. Furthermore, extensive re-engineering initiatives were undertaken to enhance Ford external network by eliminating the correlation with smaller suppliers. In that way, Ford made sure that key suppliers have access to forecasting data from customers' purchasing trends and production information to enable a faster order-to-delivery cycle. Ford vision was to create a model that allowed flexibility, predicable processes and delivered the product at the right time to the right consumer.

Conclusions

Ford is an example of how traditional organizations can mature to adapt what is current and maximizes the business value. The process that Ford went through necessitated the continuous support from management. In addition, it depended on alignment between those involved as a key for success. The correlation was not restricted to internal staff; it extended to cover competitors to reach mutual benefits, to work with suppliers to maintain similar grounds and adequate infrastructure, and to create training programs to educate all on the vision and organization's objectives.

Ford technical progress came at a time where the Internet was yet to reach its full potential. The introduction of Fiber-optic cables in the late 90's and the substantial increase in bandwidth would have helped Ford and cut on the cost in endured connecting its own offices. Furthermore, the ISP services that provided hosting servers were limited to only few players, which explained why Ford preferred to manage its own web server and maintain the overhead of the 24 hours uptime and backup.

From this case study, I understood the level of commitment large firms have to maintaining their position in the market. These companies know the revolving nature of business in the sense of how easy it is to fall back if they did not keep up with the change. The Ford process also shows the need for quick and resourceful thinking when faced with situations that might seem to be unfavorable. The way Ford ventured into the foreign market by acquiring local manufacturers was a strategic decision that did not only enabled Ford to merge with different technologies, but it also saved it the additional cost of establishing production centers in Japan and Europe.

Recommendations

Maintaining leadership in the market requires innovative organizations willing to reengineer to succeed. IT fusion with the business means restructuring and remodeling to understand the role IT would play to meet the business objectives Planning and modeling is vital when coordinating work with large teams. Constructing websites is not about content; it is about understanding what adds value and how humans interact with information. Knowledge management is a plan that companies need to develop as part of their initial business process modeling It is not wrong for large firms to try to adapt to successful processes implemented by other firms.
References

Robert D. Austin and Mark Cotteleer,"Ford Motor Co.: Maximizing the Business Value of Web Technologies." Harvard Business Publishing. July 10, 1997. harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=WDARNHINBSYKSAKRGWCB5VQBKE0YOISW?id=198006 (accessed July 30, 2008). Computer History Museum, Internet History 80's. 2006. computerhistory.org/internet_history/internet_history_80s.shtml (accessed July 30, 2008). Darren Wilksch and Peter Shoubridge, "IP Convergence in Global Telecommunications." Defense Science & Technology Organization. March 2001. http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/publications/2400/DSTO-TR-1046.pdf (accessed July 30, 2008). Computer History Museum, Internet History 80's. H. Joseph Wen, "From client/server to intranet." Information Management & Computer Security (MCB UP Ltd) 6, no. 1 (1998): 15-20. R. Boutaba, K. El Guemioui, and P. Dini, "An outlook on intranet management." Communications Magazine (IEEE), October 1997: 92-99. Joseph M. Firestone, Enterprise Information Portals and Knowledge Management (OXFORD: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002), 169. David J. Skyrme, "Knowledge management solutions - the IT contribution." ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin (ACM) 19, no. 1 (April 1998): 34 - 39, 34. Thomas H. Davenport, Process Innovation: Reengineering Work Through Information Technology (Watertown,MA: Harvard Business Press, 1993), 28. Thomas H. Davenport "The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign." Sloan Management Review 31, no. 4 (Summer 1990): 11-28, 12 Gary M. Erickson, Robert Jacobson, and Johny K. Johansson, "Competition for market share in the presence of strategic invisible assets: The US automobile market, 1971-1981." International Journal of Research in Marketing (Elsevier Science) 9, no. 1 (March 1992): 23-37, 23. Austin and Cotteleer, "Ford Motor " , 2. Henk A. Akkermans, et al. "The impact of ERP on supply chain management: Exploratory findings from a European Delphi study." European Journal of Operational Research 146 (2003): 284-301, 286 Thomas H. Davenport and Jeffrey D. Brooks, "Enterprise systems and the supply chain." Journal of Enterprise Information Management 17, no. 1 (2004): 8-19, 9. Kevin B. Hendricks, Vinod R. Singhal, and Jeff K. Stratman. "The impact of enterprise systems on corporate performance:A study of ERP, SCM, and CRM system implementations." Journal of Operations Management 25, no. 1 (January 2007): 65-82.

Ford Motor Company - Case Study
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Sally Ahmed is a webmaster , web technology analyst, and a developer for more than 7 years. Earned the Certified Web Professionals title from the International Webmaster Association in 2001. Worked as a technical Internet instructor at New Horizons computer learning center. Worked in several companies where she developed and planned over 20 websites . Holds a Masters degree in web technologies from the University College of Denver, CO. Currently working as a web technology consultant and an E-commerce manager for several local companies.

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The Importance of Email in Your Business

Emails has been a very essential communication tool in this age of technology, and with the growing number of businesses doing transactions online, the email is indeed a great tool in managing your business.

Even for personal use or organizational use, it has become a part of our everyday lives - from communicating with friends to closing a deal, to applying for a new job or for almost any other transaction we do online. In fact, most services on the internet, even social networking sites, would ask you your email address before you could use their services. Indeed, the importance of email is everywhere.

To understand more about the importance of email, particularly in your business, here are specific things that you can do with your email and some of its advantages.

The Importance of Email in Your Business

- Free communication. In any business, communication is an essential factor in any transaction, planning or organizing and emails are free for you to use to communicate with your employees, your clients, as well as your potential customers.

- Emails also have a wide reach. Telephones and mobile phones sometimes require you to have international sim cards to reach to other parts of the world, not to mention that it can also be very costly.

- Aside from its convenience in sending communication, the importance of email especially in businesses is to keep a record of the transactions of the businesses. Keeping an archive of your mails can be very useful in rechecking past information and transaction. It can also serve as repository of files, purchase orders, contracts, requests and other files that are attached in emails, as they can all be recovered later.

- For businesses who advertise online, one useful way of getting potential customers is by email, and in fact, getting an email is one important thing you need to have to introduce your product online and in availing into some online services and tools. A business website or an online store should have contact information like email to build credibility and trust for your clients and customers. It is also a good tool to deal with customer queries and feedback.

- Monitoring and managing your business even if you are not on the business site is also another importance of electronic mails. With portable gadgets able to send and receive emails, you can actually manage your business even if you are traveling or in another place.

- Emails are also great storage of your client's addresses, potential customers, friends, employees and people you use to work together with. This database of contact information can also be conveniently retrieved anytime in your address book.

- You can also make use of an auto-responder to be able to get in touch with your clients, your potential customers, your contacts even without being always checking on your mails. This can help you manage your customers in a fast and convenient manner.

Aside from these main uses of email, you can also manage your tasks with the calendars and scheduled tasks. Indeed, email has been indispensable in managing your business and because of the importance of email in managing your business, it is also important to be able to troubleshoot common email problems that may arise.

The Importance of Email in Your Business
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Barriers to International Business

Firms desiring to enter international business face several obstacles; some are much more severe than others. The most common barriers to effective business are cultural, social, and political barriers, and tariffs and trade restrictions.

The first one to effective business is the cultural and social barriers. A nation's culture and social forces can restrict international business activities. Culture consists of a country's general concepts and values and tangible items such as food, clothing, and building. Social forces include family, education, religion and customs. Selling products from one country to another is sometimes difficult when the cultures of the two countries differ significantly. For example, when McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Rome, it was met with protest. The people of Rome objected to the smell of hamburgers frying. McDonald's overcame this objection by changing the exhaust system of the restaurant.

The second barrier is the social forces that can create obstacles to international trade. In some countries, purchasing items as basic as food and clothing can be influenced by religion. In many nations, individuals do not have the same choices in food, clothing, and health care.

Barriers to International Business

The third one is political barriers. The political climate of a country can have a major impact on international business. Nations experiencing intense political unrest may change their attitude toward foreign firms at any time; this instability creates an unfavorable atmosphere for international trade.

The last one is the tariffs and trade restrictions. Tariffs and trade restrictions are also barriers to international business. A nation can restrict trade through import tariffs, quotas and embargoes, and exchanges controls.

Barriers to International Business
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