E-Business and its Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

E-Business and its Rules - Essay Example Then PCs are assembled on customer demands and shipped-sufficed- in 5-10 days (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Payments are also done online. This paper will seek to describe rules of e-commerce in light of Dell Inc and e-business current trends with their impacts on e-logistics. E-Business Rules Due to the need for companies to have wide, fast and flexible communications there has been the need to implement e-logistics. In the process of implementation of e-logistics, there are some rules of e-business that are to be followed. To illustrate these rules let us consider Dell Inc. In e-business technology is no longer just used to create and offer products but also as a means to make their business more effective in delivering services and products to their clients. Dell in its quest to implement e-logistics has redesigned its business model from the physical retail stores to the application of technology in an online supply channel. This enables it to conducts most of its transact ions with customers with the aid of their website platform where customers can order PCs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.16); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). ... This has been achieved after it streamlined its supply chains and started selling PCs directly to customers. This has enabled Dell to collect their customer’s preferences and needs information, thus enhancing better-personalized customer services (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.14); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Companies willing to implement e-logistics must create flexible grouping through integration. This will facilitate efficient customer service as well as reduce expenditures. Dell has benefited much through integrating its transactions on their website. This has led to the reduction of costs outlay in terms of inventory as through the online website they can aggregate their inventories by geographical locations. Since there are no physical retail stores the company reduced its facility and information costs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.24); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Firms willing to engage in e-logistics must be willing to do away with ineffective traditi onal business models which are detrimental to their success. This calls for business managers to reorganize and plan their business models all over again to succeed in the e-business. Dell Inc. in order to successfully implement e-logistics it had to leave its old retail supply chain model where it used to assemble PCs and store them waiting to be sold. Currently, it receives orders online from customers and then assembles PCs and ship them (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.10); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Although Dell Inc. has succeeded in implementing e-logistics, it still experiences hindrances.This is because customers after placing their order they have to wait for 5 to 10 days to receive PCs. E-commerce Trends Change is inevitable, and

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

Globalization - Essay Example Modern infrastructure development has helped bring the dream of globalization closer home. Today, Countries no longer make decisions on their own but guided by international policy. The collaboration between nation states of the world means that we are all responsible for the future of this world together. Globalization has economic grounds. Without the financial gain, there is no globalization. However, economies did not create globalization but globalization largely depends on them. Because of technological advancement, globalization is achievable today. International business can be done all thanks to technological progress easily. Technology infrastructure has improved the way we do business and has positive effects on globalization. (Castells, 2006) Business outside the global perspective kills the business driving home the point each company aims at achieving international standards. The nation state is central to regulating the approach to globalization. The world of today is marred by lots of problem. Most of these problems are an identity-related crisis. Religion is as a platform for the war in the Middle East. Religion is but one of the avenues for globalization and cannot be used to advance national let alone international agendas. It is impossible for a nation to read from a confined script on matters nation and at the same time embrace globalization. The Middle East continued conflict is as a result of shutting off globalization and embracing religious backdrops in everything they do. Such restrictions and backgrounds breed resistance not towards religion alone but fundamentalism Europe and America appreciate the fact that slavery helped built the societies we see today in Europe. Slaves from West Africa worked on sugar plantations in the Caribbean Islands. While the slaves provide the labor, the French provided capital and the English machinery and industry. The three worked hand in hand and eventually saw the industrial revolution.

Effects of Website Attributes on Customer Satisfaction

Effects of Website Attributes on Customer Satisfaction ABSTRACT This study investigates the important attributes of online web stores in e-commerce by examining the possible website elements that determine different aspects of the association between customers satisfaction and e-commerce website attributes. A questionnaire consisting of 24 items was completed by 60 respondents. The instrument for this study was developed on the basis of â€Å"SERVQUAL† using a 5 point Likert scale. There were five independent variables used in the study out of which two were included as a result of stepwise multiple regression model which are: websResponse (accounting for 26.3% of the total variance); and webCustomization (accounting for 5.1% of the total variance). Results of a stepwise regression indicated that two website attributes significantly predict customer satisfaction (31.4% of the combined explained variance). Within the five website attributes in E-commerce website dimension, â€Å"website response† correlated highly with customer satis faction (26.3% of the explained variance). The results of the study indicate that the two website attributes of e-commerce (website response and website customization) impact the customers satisfaction and other three do not have a significant influence. The study concludes with related implications and design guidelines to enhancing customer satisfaction of e-commerce. Effects of website attributes on customer satisfaction in E-commerce SECTION 1: 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. 1.1 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 vital and important part to encourage selling products and services online which makes life convenient for the audiences, 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 seeks to add revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency. E-commerce has given rise to the concept of completely online shops selling products and services, efficiently catalogued and available for the shoppers convenience. There are several websites that stock everything from lifestyle items, collectibles, books, electronic appliances etc. The level of e-commerce use can be measured by using an e-commerce capability indicator. E-commerce capability indicator by Molla 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 customized 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 1.1.1 Online Shopping Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the services over the web. Online shopping is a type of 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). 1.2 service quality The level of service received on a web site. Dependent on reliability, responsiveness and availability of staff and the web site service. Service quality is comprised of five dimensions. These are:  § Tangibles: appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and written materials (Zeithaml, Bitner Gremler, 2006).  § Reliability: ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.  § Assurance: employees knowledge and courtesy and their ability to inspire trust and confidence.  § Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.  § Empathy: caring, individualized attention given to customers. 1.2.1 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. 1.2.2 service quality framework (SERVQUAL) SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality: 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 detractors 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. 1.2.3 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 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. 1.3 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: 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. 1.4 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 your site. 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: now there are many types of e-commerce payment methods available online. If your credit is bad and you cannot afford a merchant account, there are alternative methods of payments on e-commerce websites which can help you. The e-commerce systems give customers controlled access to the data they need. In other words, not only are you managing your relationship with your customers, you are giving your customers the tools to manage their relationship with you. 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 methodology 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. 1.5 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. 1.6 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. 1.6.1 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. 1.7 HYPOTHESES H1: Website structure has a significant association with customer satisfaction. H2: 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. SECTION 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 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 et al. 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 and Spiller 1998). This is because of the recent arrival of new design factors resulted by an increase in the interest of Internet (Selz and Schubert 1997). 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 (JINWOO KIM and JUNGWON 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 et al (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 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. 2.2 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. (Parasuraman et al. 1985, 1991, Pit et al. 1995). The tool that is being used in this study to measure the dimensions of service quality is SERVQUAL According to Brown et al. this instrument has been proved valid and reliable and hence used in various domains. (Brown et al.1993, Fisk et al. 1993, Parasuraman et al. 1985, 1993). On the basis of previous researches, service quality despite being a main interesting field in services marketing for the past two decades (Zeithaml et al., 2000); electronic service quality is still in its early stages in research area. Reil el al in 2001concluded 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. In early stages of service quality research, researcher were required to find out what is service quality from customers perspective (Sasser et al.,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 Parasuraman Zeithaml (2000) and Berry (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 als, 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). Initially the concept of services were created to capture the nature of service encounters (Meuter et al., 2000) which may not be sufficient to capture the characteristics of customer interactions with self-service technologies such as e-services (Dabholkar et al.,1996). Later on, many approaches have been proposed to study online service. (Gilbert, 2000; Gronroos et al., 2000; Parasuraman and Grewel, 2000; Kaynama and Black, 2000; Zeithaml, et al., 2000; ONeill, et al., 2001) 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; van Riel, et al., 2001; Wang and Tang, 2001; Ruyter et al., 2001). Third type develops information systems and web quality theory (Barnes and Vidgen, 2000; 2001; 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 in 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 and Pearson (1983) 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. 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 et at. 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. 2.3 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. (Ki-Han 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 and Hinrich 1996, Kim et al 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 (Ki-Han and Shin, 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 et al., 2002). Cook and 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 et al., 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 (JINWOO KIM and JUNGWON LEE, 2002). Parasuraman, Zeithaml 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 (D. HORN, R. FEINBERG and G. 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 (D. HORN, R. FEINBERG and G. SALVENDY, 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/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 dissatisfi

The Ostler by Wilkie Collins and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck :: English Literature

The Ostler by Wilkie Collins and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. 'The Ostler' was written by Wilkie Collins (1824-89), a Victorian novelist. Collins' work became popular because he wrote plots that often included mystery, suspense and crime. His stories always had extremely well constructed plots. Collins also reflected the Victorian era's interest in gothic stories. These are stories that contain supernatural or horror themes. Readers at this time enjoyed stories like 'The Ostler' and other work by Wilkie Collins like 'The Moonstone' and 'The Woman in White', although sometimes the events were a little far-fetched and improbable.'The Ostler' supports this, as it is improbable that a hallucination could in fact come to life. John Steinbeck (1902-68) was born in California and used the state as the background to his early stories and novels. Steinbeck, like his characters George and Lennie, had worked on a ranch like the one in 'Of Mice and Men'. He was shocked by the plight of many agricultural workers, whose lives were thrown into disorder during the depression in farming. This occurred in California, during the 1930's. Steinbeck's novella, 'Of Mice and Men' is effective as he was able to describe in depth the emotions that those who worked hard on the land felt. He was able to empathise with his characters, as he had experienced these hardships himself. This means that readers are able to sympathise with the workers far more. The book, at the time, was an extremely successful way to draw attention to a serious issue. Although the book doesn't dictate the rights of workers, nor bombard you with figures, the situation of the men on the ranches is still portrayed effectively. The message still gets across due to Steinbeck's excellent use of the emotions and empathy. Both 'Of Mice and Men' and 'The Ostler' begin with journeys in unpleasant circumstances. In 'The Ostler', the reader first learns of Isaac Scatchard and his 'ill luck'. In fact, Isaac is famous for this and in the story we are told of how Isaac had missed out on another job. Isaac had walked to a large manor house to apply for the job of stable hand. However, Isaac arrived at his destination late at night and thought it best to lodge at an inn. On presenting himself to the gentleman he found that "Only a day before, the stable-helper's place had been given to another man." As Isaac returns to his mother on the long journey home, "The rain came on and the wind began to rise." This is an example of pathetic fallacy. In this case the change in the atmosphere of the text is one towards darkness, of bad and evil.

Maureen Frye Essay

Marureen Frye made numerous mistakes in trying to implement her plan, a plan that was going to directly affect the salespeople of Quaker Steel Company as well as the District Sales Managers (DSMs), among other departments in the company. Her major mistake was sending a short-descriptive memo to the sales representatives. Why was this a major mistake? For one, Frye is trying to change the way the sales people allocate their time between big and small accounts, and yet she has not spend enough time in the field and with these salespeople. Although her simulations to optimize sales efforts might be correct, they are based on cold numbers and computations, sitting behind a computer, without taking into account the human factor that goes into those sales efforts. She does not have a feel for how they operate, where does their current success come from, what do they think and feel about how they are doing their job, and above what do they think it can be improved. Not only did Frye ignore the salespeople but she did not make good use of the relationship she thought she had with the DSMs. In fact, she had discussed her project with the Chicago DSM and he had seems to like to idea, with indicates that if more effort was put to introducing her plan to the other DSMs, using her good relationships with them, they could possibly perceive the idea well too idea of using the middle man. If she had no time to spend on the field and get to know the salespeople better, she made the mistake of not taking advantage of the relationship between the DSMs and the salespeople. Due to the hierarchical level of the DSMs, she is probably closer to them. As it is mentioned in the article, the DSMs leave a lot of free space to the salespeople which means that they are used to making their own decisions. This fact shows that the DSMs and the Salespeople have a special communication to understating each-other and to get the work done well. Thus, if a new project needs to be implemented, the DSMs are the most probable people to get through the salespeople and having them on board about this project is significantly important. This powerful link should have been taken advantage by Frye. Not having considered the above-mentioned steps, thus working in person with the salespeople or/and lobbying with the DSMs, Frye should have at least used the power of her superiors, Israel and Bethancourt, not only by  approving it but also as means of enforcement. For example, have them sign the memo she sent or give a direct order to the DSMs for its application. However, needs to be emphasized that this solution used on its own, is a last resort one just because she didn’t make use of the other options. This option would definitely be interpreted as a scare tactic, however it might have worked. As a manager or as the leader of her project, Frye first needs to find the authority from within and then also use the power given to her from her bosses. This option could be best used in collaboration with the previous options.

Discuss the importance of dreams Essay

He compares them with other people who had dreams of owning a farm. â€Å"I see hundred of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches †¦ ; an’ every damn one of ’em got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never God damn one of ’em ever gets it. † He believes Lennie is crazy. Notice that unlike the other workers, Crooks job is stable and secure. When Candy comes in and starts talking about the dream and how they have most of the money for the dream, he changes his mind and wants to be a part of it â€Å"†¦ want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand. I ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to†. And because of this, his confidence has built up and feels he can do anything. Curley’s wife comes in into the scene and reduces Crooks’ confidence by saying she is going to put him into trouble. She feels she is better than him because of his colour. â€Å"Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on the tree so easy it ain’t even funny† And this makes Crooks lose all hope of becoming a part of the dream because he thinks that is the way George and Lennie will possibly treat him when he works on the farm. â€Å"†¦ well jus’ forget it, ‘I didn’t mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’t want to go no place like that†. Notice what Crooks says about people having dreams but not being able to fulfil them, he knows that people have other priorities and problems and the dream only remains a dream. This reflects on what Lennie does and how the dream is destroyed. Curley’s wife also had a dream but her dream was unlike the other characters that had dreams. Her dream was to become a famous actress and be in the cinemas, and she believes everything other people tell her about her talent â€Å"Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes†¦ an’ had pitchers taken of me†¦ † She confessed to Lennie that she did not like her husband Curley and that she just married him to get away from her boring life because she thought getting married would provide new experiences for her â€Å"So I married Curley. Met him out to the Riverside Dance Palace that same night†. She has this dream because the people in the movies had a life of glamour and she wanted to live like that. She also has this dream because she is not treated fairly on the ranch and has no-one to talk to (apart from Curley) â€Å"Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways? †¦ † So because of this, she is always seeking attention in the wrong places which eventually lead to her death. Her dream was shattered when she let Lennie stroke her hair. In death, she look very peaceful unlike when she was alive and had problems. The characters of the book â€Å"Of Mice and Men† have dreams at some time of their life. They have these dreams so as to escape the hardship of life in the 1930’s. They also had dreams for the urge for something good that could make them feel very good about themselves. Some of the dreams maybe were not meant to come true (Curleys wife’s dream) but we come to see how close George and Lennie come to achieving theirs. If Curley’s wife didn’t seek for attention and Lennie did not have the fascination for soft things, they would have had the chance to have another way of life. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.

African Americans in media Essays

African Americans in media Essays African Americans in media Essay African Americans in media Essay African Americans in media BY aman2525 Race and Mass Media Representation Race is a large part of American Society today, and the United States media plays a large factor in how people perceive African-American males and females both. There have been many surveys taken to see how people perceive the portrayals of African- Americans in the media, and these surveys do not always match up with the true statistics. These portrayals in media can directly affect the stereotypes people have on African-Americans, and these stereotypes can create racial differences that results n violence. African Americans are portrayed poorly in the mass media, and with early education on race and better representation in the media, these portrayals will no longer affect the stereotypes people have on African-Americans. There are many different reasons why the mass media representation of African Americans is poor in the United States. The mass media has separated the working class, and young African-American males are being stereotyped as drug dealers or gangsters. Mostly the media centers on the negative characteristics and actions of the African- American community. Characteristics and actions such as engaging in drug use, criminal activity, and welfare abuse (Sanders 20). This representation has affected African-American males ability to find future employment or promotions, and this can affect them for the rest of their lives. In Sanders online survey, 466 respondents were asked how African American males are generally portrayed in the media overall. Ninety-nine percent of the respondents stated they believe coverage in the media focused more heavily on topics that involve crime (Sanders 28). In addition, ninety-six ercent of the respondents believe that the media coverage is negative (Sanders 28). In a study done by Thomas Stevenson, media coverage was broken down into eight categories, and crime was the leading topic. Of the articles that included African- Americans, thirty-six percent of the articles center point was on crime (Stevenson 7). However, for television broadcast, sixty-four out of seventy-four stories that African American males were involved in focused on crime (Stevenson 7). These results go to show how much ones stereotype of another can be affected by the media. In reality, tatistics shows that there are more whites than African-Americans in prison, sixty percent to forty percent (Stevenson 12). This shows that the media portrayals are wrong and are affecting the stereotypes of African-American males strongly. African- American females are portrayed quite differently in mass media than males. They are portrayed as gold diggers, Jezebels, and baby mamas according to a survey with more than twelve hundred respondents done by Richard Prince. According to this survey, these were three different types of African-American females that are most ortrayed in the media. On the other side, there were six different descriptions of African-American females that there isnt enough portrayal of in the media. These being young phenoms, real beauties, individualists, community heroines, girls next door and modern matriarchs (Fujioka 58). Eighty-Five percent of respondents stated the media portrays African-American females as baby mamas. A baby mama is a term used to define an unmarried young woman who has had a child. In addition, only forty-one percent of the respondents stated that the media portrays African- Americans as real beauties (Fujioka 58). Again, eighty-five percent of respondents stated they feel the six descriptions above fit African-American females more than the baby mama, gold digger, or Jezebel descriptions. Most African-American women want to be looked at positively in the media, and want their children to grow up with positive images and role models. They should be able to turn on the television without worrying about the negativity that could possibly be said about their culture. These issues with mass media representation of African-Americans needs fixed, and t will not be easy. These issues with the portrayals of African-Americans in the media, and how it affects the stereotypes of African-Americans can be fixed. However, the fix can take a long time to take place. The first action that can be taken to help the problem is teaching equality among races, in this case African-Americans, early in childhood. If this is taught at a young age, then there would be less hate among races. With this less hate, there would be much less negative stereotypes in the media. In addition, with less negative stereotypes in the media, there would be less iolence as well. This less violence would also decrease negative stereotypes in the media. The second action that needs to take place is the media needs to do better at representing African-Americans. The media needs to present them for who they really are, instead of presenting only the negative aspects. This will all take time and effort, however if done, it will have a positive influence on American Society. Again, African-Americans are portrayed in mass media very negatively in the United States, and this directly influences the stereotypes on African-Americans. Not only do other races see this negativity towards African-Americans in the media, but African- Americans see this portrayal as well. This portrayal has a negative effect on society by causing more violence in the streets, and the media giving the wrong interpretation of African-Americans. However, with much effort and time, these stereotypes can become more positive and the media can portray African-Americans for who they really are. Fujioka, Yiki. Television portrayals and African-American stereotypes: Examination of television effects when direct contact is lacking. Journalism Mass Communication Quarterly 76. 1 (1999): 52-75. Print. Sanders, Meghan S. An Examination Of African Americans Stereotyped Perceptions of Fictional Media Characters. Howard Journal Of Communitcations 23. 1 (2012): 17- 39. Business Source Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013 Stevenson, Thomas H. A Six-Decade Study Of The Portrayal Of African Americans In Business Print Media: Trailing, Mirroring, Or Shaping Social Change?. Journal Of Current Issues Research In Advertising (CTC Press) 29. 1 (2007): 1-14. Business source complete. web. 25 NOV. 2013.

Amazon Self-Publishing Royalties Heres What You Need to Know

Amazon Self-Publishing Royalties Heres What You Need to Know Amazon Self-Publishing Royalties and Costs: Here's What You Need to Know If you’re reading this post, you’re probably already familiar with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Amazon’s self-publishing service for indie authors. But you may be somewhat less familiar with the mechanics of Amazon self-publishing royalties: how much authors get paid, when they receive payments, and of course, how much Amazon takes out of those payments for things like printing/delivery costs.We’ll answer cover all these topics and more in our pithy primer on Amazon self-publishing costs and royalties! Let’s start with one of the most commonly asked questions, for KDP authors wondering when they can expect their share of profits. Everything you ever wanted to know about Amazon royalties! 🠤‘ When does Amazon pay royalties to authors? 🕑Amazon starts paying royalties 60 days after the first sale is made, with further payments coming through every month. Depending on where you do your banking, you can elect to be paid through direct deposit - also known as Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) - wire transfer, or check. However, no matter which avenue you go down, there’s no way to receive your royalties any sooner than 60 days. So if you have bills to pay, make sure you’re not counting on your royalties coming in right away.In terms of which payment method is best for you, you should know that there’s no payment threshold for direct deposit. For check and wire payments, you’ll be paid only after you make a certain amount in royalties (for instance, $100 in USD and CAD and  £100 in the UK). See the full list of payment thresholds here.Now let’s talk about the program’s ebook and print royalty plans - which, as you can imagine , are pretty different from one another.How do ebook royalties work? 📠±Amazon offers two ebook royalty plans: the 70% option and the 35% option. To be eligible for the 70% plan, you’ll need to do all of the following:Publish something that’s not in the public domain.Price your ebook between $2.99 and $9.99. This price also needs to be at least 20% lower than the lowest list price for a print version.Pay for file delivery. This doesn’t require any extra effort on your part - the delivery fees are automatically deducted from your royalty payments.Keep in mind that only books sold to customers in certain countries are eligible for the 70% plan. Additional copies sold outside those territories will go on the 35%. Don’t worry, the 70%-eligible territories include all the big Anglophone markets - the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - in addition to several others, primarily in the EU. If you enroll in KDP Select, the list expands to include Brazil, India, Japan, and Mexico.How do print royalties work? 📘For those thinking about self-publishing a print book, Amazon offers two distribution tiers for self-published paperbacks. Each comes with its own royalty structure, and in both cases, the cost of printing the book is deducted from royalty payments.If you go through the regular Amazon-only distribution channels, you can expect 60% of the list price for every paperback sold. But if you distribute your book through Amazon’s Expanded Distribution plan to non-Amazon retailers, like Barnes Noble and Books-a-Million, you’ll be looking at 40% instead. (In lieu of opting into this plan, we recommend using IngramSpark for expanded distribution. You can read more about why here.)The cost of self-publishing on Amazon 💠°Unlike vanity presses, which make authors pay for publication, Amazon won’t charge you any money upfront to self-publish your book. Instead, delivery costs (for ebooks) and print ing costs (for paperbacks) are subtracted from your royalties. Let’s break the cost of Amazon self-publishing down below.What are the ebook delivery costs?If you’re on the 70% royalty plan, ebook delivery costs will be deducted from your royalty payments. They vary depending on the currency used. For instance, you’re looking at $0.15 per megabyte in USD and CAD, and  £0.10 per megabyte in GBP. This cost is waived if you select the 35% royalty plan - which may be a boon if you want to set a high price for your book anyway (as the 70% royalty plan requires it to be lower than $9.99).What are the paperback printing costs?As for the printing costs associated with self-published paperbacks, those depend on A) your book’s page count, and B) whether you choose to print in black-and-white or in full color. Don’t worry, you won’t have to figure this out yourself - Amazon calculates your printing cost and displays it for you as you’re uploa ding your book to the platform. It will also suggest a minimum list price to ensure that your book sells for enough to cover the cost of printing.Your printing cost is calculated according to the following formula (where fixed cost depends on your page count and ink type):Fixed cost + (page count x cost per individual page)You can find fixed costs in USD in the following table:Paperback specificationsFixed costAdditional cost per pageBlack ink with 24-108 pages$2.15 per bookNoneBlack ink with 110-828 pages$0.85 per book$0.012 per pageColor ink with 24-40 pages$3.65 per bookNoneColor ink with 42-500 pages$0.85 per book$0.07 per pageTo give you a sense of how the calculation works, Amazon would charge $4.45 per copy to print a 300-page paperback in black-and-white, because $0.85 + (300 x $0.012) = $4.45. You can read more about Amazon printing costs here.What about other costs?Of course, the print and delivery costs that come out of your royalties don’t include all the optional expenses you may incur if you want to put out a high-quality, professional-looking volume. The full suite of services like editing and cover design can set you back a couple thousand dollars. And that doesn’t even factor in marketing costs - which can include Facebook advertising, Amazon’s native ads, and any other external promotions you want to run.This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to save when self-publishing. For instance, while you may have had to pay for typesetting previously, apps like the Reedsy Book Editor allow you to format your book for free. There are also some book promotion services that will list your book free of charge, though keep in mind their submissions can be competitive. If you really want to cut costs, you can even self-edit and design your own cover, though we wouldn’t recommend this unless you already know a lot about design.At the end of the day, the best way to save on self-publishing is to stay informed. The more yo u know about the costs, royalties, and other aspects of various publishing plans, the more cost-effective (and generally effective!) your path will be. To that end, here are a few more resources you might want to check out:How Much Does It Cost to Self-Publish a Book in 2019?The 13 Best Self-Publishing Companies of 2019What Is the Best Service for Print on Demand Books?The Complete Guide to Ebook DistributionWe hope this post helped you understand Amazon self-publishing royalties and costs a little better! However, if you still have questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll answer to the best of our ability.

Cancer

Cancer My friend Matt was diagnosed with cancer in May 2002. When Matt 's girlfriend, Amber told me he had cancer, I was shocked when Matt was only 23 years old when he was diagnosed. The type of cancer that mat suffers is called leukemia, or white blood cell cancer. This cancer occurs in the bone marrow, but it may spread to blood, lymph nodes, spleen, liver, central nervous system, and other organs afterwards. Cancer is affected by many people every year, including grandmothers with cancer, and is now one of my close friends. First of all, what does cancer mean? Cancer is not sick. There are various types of cancer, all of which are different. For example, there are common cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and the like. There are various kinds of leukemia and blood cancer such as lymphoma. They are different, but there are also some common features. I would like to discuss these common functions. It is li ke talking about professional sports. You can say that football, football, hockey, fencing, and baseball are all different, but in general they all can be thought of together. Despite all the differences, all of this involves some kind of competition and physical skills. Likewise, cancer has many things in common. One of the most cited articles in oncology (cancer research) is the classical Weinberg paper detailing the eight general features. I will explain in detail later. In 2000, cancer biologists Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan announced an article titled The Mark of Cancer. Although they are aware that cancer occurs through a series of mutations occurring in any of a number of genes. Nonetheless, they point to six fundamental changes in cellular physiology of malignant features. According to the American Cancer Society, about 11.4 million Americans had cancer history in 2010. In the United States, the death of one in four people is due to cancer. The mortality rate of males in 2010 was 229.9 people per 100,000 people and the mortality rate of women was 157.8 persons per 100,000 people. The incidence of males is 556.5 persons per 100,000 people, and the incidence of females is 414.8 people per 100,000 people. In the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths by men and women. (Source: American Cancer Society) As mentioned earlier, most cancers are not affected. The mortality rate of cancer continues to rise. We know that there are many gene mutations in cancer. There is no doubt that the genomic map of cancer proves this. The problem is that you can not find a mutation. There are even different mutations in the same cancer. Despite investing a lot of time, money, and intellectual investment in this new genetic paradigm, we do not see the corresponding benefits. Genetic defects are not the ultimate cause of cancer - they are still only mid-stage and close causes. What we need to know is the reason for causing these mutations. Cancer Recently, cancer incidence in the world has risen. It is currently one of the top ten causes of death in middle-income countries around the world (World Health Organization, 2008). In Singapore, cancer surpasses cardiovascular disease and is the largest death in the past three years (Ministry of Health, 2007). Breast cancer is ranked top of women in Singapore (Health Promotion Council, 2007). Every year thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer and about 270 people die each year (Jara - Lazaro et al., 2010). First of all, what does cancer mean? Cancer is not sick. There are various types of cancer, all of which are different. For example, there are common cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and the like. There are various kinds of leukemia and blood cancer such as lymphoma. They are different, but there are also some common features. I would like to discuss these common functions. It is like talking about professional sports. You can say that football, football, hockey, fencing, and baseball are all different, but in general they all can be thought of together. Despite all the differences, all of this involves some kind of competition and physical skills. Likewise, cancer has many things in common. One of the most cited articles in oncology (cancer research) is the classical Weinberg paper detailing the eight general features. I will explain in detail later. In 2000, cancer biologists Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan announced an article titled The Mark of Cancer. Although they are aware that cancer occurs through a series of mutations occurring in any of a number of genes. Nonetheless, they point to six fundamental changes in cellular physiology of malignant features. According to the American Cancer Society, about 11.4 million Americans had cancer history in 2010. In the United States, the death of one in four people is due to cancer. The mortality rate of males in 2010 w as 229.9 people per 100,000 people and the mortality rate of women was 157.8 persons per 100,000 people. The incidence of males is 556.5 persons per 100,000 people, and the incidence of females is 414.8 people per 100,000 people. In the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths by men and women. (Source: American Cancer Society) Cancer Cancer Introduction In the American community, cancer is the most common disease for most people in the United States. Cancer is well known throughout history. In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases have been reported every year around the world, more than 4 million people have died. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown rapidly since the spread of smoking in the country. Stomach cancer is the second major form of cancer in men following lung cancer. First of all, what does cancer mean? Cancer is not sick. There are various types of cancer, all of which are different. For example, there are common cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and the like. There are various kinds of leukemia and blood cancer such as lymphoma. They are different, but there are also some common features. I would like to discuss these common functions. It is like talking about professional sports. Yo u can say that football, football, hockey, fencing, and baseball are all different, but in general they all can be thought of together. Despite all the differences, all of this involves some kind of competition and physical skills. Likewise, cancer has many things in common. One of the most cited articles in oncology (cancer research) is the classical Weinberg paper detailing the eight general features. I will explain in detail later. In 2000, cancer biologists Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan announced an article titled The Mark of Cancer. Although they are aware that cancer occurs through a series of mutations occurring in any of a number of genes. Nonetheless, they point to six fundamental changes in cellular physiology of malignant features. According to the American Cancer Society, about 11.4 million Americans had cancer history in 2010. In the United States, the death of one in four people is due to cancer. The mortality rate of males in 2010 was 229.9 people per 100,000 pe ople and the mortality rate of women was 157.8 persons per 100,000 people. The incidence of males is 556.5 persons per 100,000 people, and the incidence of females is 414.8 people per 100,000 people. In the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths by men and women. (Source: American Cancer Society) Cancer Cancer My friend Matt was diagnosed with cancer in May 2002. When Matt 's girlfriend, Amber told me he had cancer, I was shocked when Matt was only 23 years old when he was diagnosed. The type of cancer that mat suffers is called leukemia, or white blood cell cancer. This cancer occurs in the bone marrow, but it may spread to blood, lymph nodes, spleen, liver, central nervous system, and other organs afterwards. Cancer is affected by many people every year, including grandmothers with cancer, and is now one of my close friends. First of all, what does cancer mean? Cancer is not sick. There are various types of cancer, all of which are different. For example, there are common cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and the like. There are various kinds of leukemia and blood cancer such as lymphoma. They are different, but there are also some common features. I would like to discuss these common functions. It is li ke talking about professional sports. You can say that football, football, hockey, fencing, and baseball are all different, but in general they all can be thought of together. Despite all the differences, all of this involves some kind of competition and physical skills. Likewise, cancer has many things in common. One of the most cited articles in oncology (cancer research) is the classical Weinberg paper detailing the eight general features. I will explain in detail later. In 2000, cancer biologists Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan announced an article titled The Mark of Cancer. Although they are aware that cancer occurs through a series of mutations occurring in any of a number of genes. Nonetheless, they point to six fundamental changes in cellular physiology of malignant features. According to the American Cancer Society, about 11.4 million Americans had cancer history in 2010. In the United States, the death of one in four people is due to cancer. The mortality rate of males in 2010 was 229.9 people per 100,000 people and the mortality rate of women was 157.8 persons per 100,000 people. The incidence of males is 556.5 persons per 100,000 people, and the incidence of females is 414.8 people per 100,000 people. In the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths by men and women. (Source: American Cancer Society) As mentioned earlier, most cancers are not affected. The mortality rate of cancer continues to rise. We know that there are many gene mutations in cancer. There is no doubt that the genomic map of cancer proves this. The problem is that you can not find a mutation. There are even different mutations in the same cancer. Despite investing a lot of time, money, and intellectual investment in this new genetic paradigm, we do not see the corresponding benefits. Genetic defects are not the ultimate cause of cancer - they are still only mid-stage and close causes. What we need to know is the reason for causing these mutations. Cancer Cancer Introduction In the American community, cancer is the most common disease for most people in the United States. Cancer is well known throughout history. In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases have been reported every year around the world, more than 4 million people have died. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown rapidly since the spread of smoking in the country. Stomach cancer is the second major form of cancer in men following lung cancer. First of all, what does cancer mean? Cancer is not sick. There are various types of cancer, all of which are different. For example, there are common cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and the like. There are various kinds of leukemia and blood cancer such as lymphoma. They are different, but there are also some common features. I would like to discuss these common functions. It is like talking about professional sports. Yo u can say that football, football, hockey, fencing, and baseball are all different, but in general they all can be thought of together. Despite all the differences, all of this involves some kind of competition and physical skills. Likewise, cancer has many things in common. One of the most cited articles in oncology (cancer research) is the classical Weinberg paper detailing the eight general features. I will explain in detail later. In 2000, cancer biologists Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan announced an article titled The Mark of Cancer. Although they are aware that cancer occurs through a series of mutations occurring in any of a number of genes. Nonetheless, they point to six fundamental changes in cellular physiology of malignant features. According to the American Cancer Society, about 11.4 million Americans had cancer history in 2010. In the United States, the death of one in four people is due to cancer. The mortality rate of males in 2010 was 229.9 people per 100,000 pe ople and the mortality rate of women was 157.8 persons per 100,000 people. The incidence of males is 556.5 persons per 100,000 people, and the incidence of females is 414.8 people per 100,000 people. In the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths by men and women. (Source: American Cancer Society) Cancer Cancer Introduction In the American community, cancer is the most common disease for most people in the United States. Cancer is well known throughout history. In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases have been reported every year around the world, more than 4 million people have died. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown rapidly since the spread of smoking in the country. Stomach cancer is the second major form of cancer in men following lung cancer. First of all, what does cancer mean? Cancer is not sick. There are various types of cancer, all of which are different. For example, there are common cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and the like. There are various kinds of leukemia and blood cancer such as lymphoma. They are different, but there are also some common features. I would like to discuss these common functions. It is like talking about professional sports. Yo u can say that football, football, hockey, fencing, and baseball are all different, but in general they all can be thought of together. Despite all the differences, all of this involves some kind of competition and physical skills. Likewise, cancer has many things in common. One of the most cited articles in oncology (cancer research) is the classical Weinberg paper detailing the eight general features. I will explain in detail later. In 2000, cancer biologists Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan announced an article titled The Mark of Cancer. Although they are aware that cancer occurs through a series of mutations occurring in any of a number of genes. Nonetheless, they point to six fundamental changes in cellular physiology of malignant features. According to the American Cancer Society, about 11.4 million Americans had cancer history in 2010. In the United States, the death of one in four people is due to cancer. The mortality rate of males in 2010 was 229.9 people per 100,000 pe ople and the mortality rate of women was 157.8 persons per 100,000 people. The incidence of males is 556.5 persons per 100,000 people, and the incidence of females is 414.8 people per 100,000 people. In the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths by men and women. (Source: American Cancer Society) Cancer Cancer Introduction In the American community, cancer is the most common disease for most people in the United States. Cancer is well known throughout history. In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases have been reported every year around the world, more than 4 million people have died. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown rapidly since the spread of smoking in the country. Stomach cancer is the second major form of cancer in men following lung cancer. First of all, what does cancer mean? Cancer is not sick. There are various types of cancer, all of which are different. For example, there are common cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and the like. There are various kinds of leukemia and blood cancer such as lymphoma. They are different, but there are also some common features. I would like to discuss these common functions. It is like talking about professional sports. Yo u can say that football, football, hockey, fencing, and baseball are all different, but in general they all can be thought of together. Despite all the differences, all of this involves some kind of competition and physical skills. Likewise, cancer has many things in common. One of the most cited articles in oncology (cancer research) is the classical Weinberg paper detailing the eight general features. I will explain in detail later. In 2000, cancer biologists Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan announced an article titled The Mark of Cancer. Although they are aware that cancer occurs through a series of mutations occurring in any of a number of genes. Nonetheless, they point to six fundamental changes in cellular physiology of malignant features. According to the American Cancer Society, about 11.4 million Americans had cancer history in 2010. In the United States, the death of one in four people is due to cancer. The mortality rate of males in 2010 was 229.9 people per 100,000 pe ople and the mortality rate of women was 157.8 persons per 100,000 people. The incidence of males is 556.5 persons per 100,000 people, and the incidence of females is 414.8 people per 100,000 people. In the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths by men and women. (Source: American Cancer Society)

The Major Factors of the Credit Agricole Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

The Major Factors of the Credit Agricole - Essay Example Credit Agricole is one of the largest retail banking groups in the world and is the largest banking group in France. The overall structure of the firm is such that it is owned by many smaller retail banks in France and is offering retail banking services not only in France but at international level also. Primarily focusing on the rural areas as its target market, the bank has also the presence in the cities and is now operating in more than 60 countries of the world. Such huge international presence, therefore, outlines a very significant expansion of the firm in the international market. The overall strategy of the firm in terms of international expansion has largely been focused on the acquisition of smaller banks in different European countries as well as countries from other parts of the world. Such expansion strategy outlines that the firm has taken an aggressive approach to extend its presence in the international market. Credit Agricole is considered as the green bank of France because of its support and stronger roots in the agriculture sector of the country. It is also because of its overall business philosophy that the firm mostly operated in the rural areas of the country with little presence in the urban areas. Credit Agricole is unique in the sense that its ownership structure is really different and its owned by many smaller banks. Bank’s historical roots are relatively richer given the fact that it was established in order to allow the extension of credit to the farmers so that they can boost their productivity. One of the reasons as to why the agriculture was lacking in productivity in France was the lack of credit to the farmers and as such, they were unable to purchase better seeds and other tools in order to better cultivate and increase their productivity.  Ã‚  

Business Finance - SOURC ES OF FUNDS AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE Research Paper

Business Finance - SOURC ES OF FUNDS AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE - Research Paper Example In this type of funding, the hire purchaser or hirer receives the property or good instantaneously after signing the purchase agreement. However, the ownership gets transferred fully after finishing the last instalment payment. Leasing The procedure of lease financing includes procurement of various assets by means of taking lease. Lease means one contract in which the ownership, the funding linked with the asset or the equipment and the risk taking are totally separated and shared by two or greater than two parties. In case of lease financing the lessor finances and the lessee accepts the risk, involved by utilization of the asset or equipment taken on lease, whereas a third party actually owns it. Another alternative way is that the lessor would own as well as finance the asset or equipment, whereas the lessee would enjoy using it along with bearing certain amount of risk. This type of transaction includes commercial arrangement in which the equipment owner possesses the right to t he asset or equipment user for utilising it in return of fixed rental. Long term sources of funds Long term sources of raising funds mainly include those sources which are needed for longer span of time. These types of financing activities are mainly associated with fund expansion projects. These projects are complex in nature and need huge sources for the funding activities. It is because of this reason that the organizations use long term sources for raising the funds. In many cases, the organizations do not make use of one single source of financing. The main long term sources of raising funds are: Equity Shares The equity shares form an essential part while considering the ownership of any particular company (Walter 3). When any business decides to expand its operation, it issues high number of shares, in order to raise the fund needed for effective implementation of the desired plan. This type of investment is an important source of raising the funds and it provides the investo rs with a certain portion of company’s profit along with taking part in taking company’s decisions (Hafer and Hein 15). This strategy of rising the funding by an organization out-performs all other strategies (Fontanills and Gentile 1; Rosen 8). When the earnings of a company are high, the stock prices increase resulting in higher profitability for the company as well as the investors. If the company originates from growing market then raising of fund by issuing its equity shares turns out to be highly profitable. However, when there is economic downturn the shares of the companies remain at high risk in spite of their high brand value and strong management. Preference shares Issue of preference shares is another way of raising fund where the dividends are payable on the shares at the fixed rate and paid only in case of earning of profit by them. Thus, there remains no obligatory burden for the company (â€Å"Methods of Raising Capital†). But these shares do not possess voting rights. Debentures The companies have power of

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Taxation - Essay Example However, the unrecovered rent of two months that the previous tenant totaling  £1,000 will not be deducted in deriving the taxable profit since the amount is not an expense entitled to the property owner for immediate deduction under the Inland Revenue provisions (Lunt, 2009). Similarly, the  £600 rent paid in advance has to be reflected in property income assessment. Under the Inland Revenue rules, rent advances have to be reflected in the year the financial year the rent income has been received (Segal, 2011). This implies that the 2013-2014 property income assessment that runs up to 30 June of 2014 has to cater for all rental income even if it is not meant for a month falling in the given financial year. Furthermore, the rent income that was collected from the previous tenant before defaulting has to be included in the property income assessment provided to the Inland Revenue authority (BLS.com, 2014). Consequently, client A’s profit that will be taxed by the Inland Rev enue authority is the derived after deducting the three identified expenses from all rental income received within financial year of 2013-2014. Undeclared property income has the consequence of imposing penalty charges on the property owner for defaulting to remit the tax returns for the given financial years (Gilbertson, 2009) (James, 2009). However, client B has the potential of saving the money charged by HMRC by reporting the undeclared property rental income. The opportunity is available to client B by registering for self-assessment in declaring income that has not been taxed for the last four years (Warren, Reeve, & Duchac, 2012). The tax return is filled in different tax return to cover for each of the undeclared tax. In addition, the HM Revenue and Customs provides that if one has registered for Self Assessment but has failed to declare all their income generated in previous years, he

Internet and Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Internet and Education - Essay Example 12). While this technology, in this instance the Internet, is argued to fundamentally shape the nature of knowledge, it does not mean it does so in a positive or effective way. One of the fundamental functions of Internet technology is the immediate access to large sums of information; such access shifts understandings of education such that people feel they have a sort of false wisdom, when in reality they have not truly digested the information available. For Postman, such a notion means that Internet technology has not increased our knowledge in a significant regard, as new technologies do not add wisdom, instead the nature of education has been structurally changed (Postman, p. 18). Ultimately, for education this does mean that our classroom thoughts, ideas, and interests have been significantly altered. The extent that such a shift is positive or negative remains one of subjective

Compare and contrast components and purposes of Information Technology Essay

Compare and contrast components and purposes of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) in organizations - Essay Example Web servers, codes that manage the server, storage facilities, information transfer facilities, and many others are examples of information technology which when combined forms an information system. This paper focuses on the components and purposes of information technology and information systems in an organization (Stair, 2011). Components of an information system include hardware, software, data, procedures, and people. For instance, each system needs people for its functionalities and maintenance. In most cases, people are not part of the system but they contribute to either its success or failure. Procedures are the rules and policies that guide in the operation of the information system. These procedures are implemented using information technology techniques in form of lines of code. For example, web-based systems’ procedures implemented using programming languages like PHP and other styling and scripting languages. These languages are the technologies that make up the se information systems (Stair, 2011). In addition, data as used by programs for processing to produce information used in the systems. These data is stored in disks until needed by the system. The process of storing and the tools used to store are the information technologies while the system that extracts the data from these storage devices is the information system that manipulates the data. ... Software is another example of information systems component. Computer programs and manuals supporting these programs are the software in a system. These programs give instructions to the interaction of hardware components of an information system to process data to produce useful information. In an information system, these programs are stored in a disk and installed in a way that the hardware can detect and use them. They control the interaction of hardware parts in the processing of information, for instance and operating system is software that controls the whole functionalities of the system and coordinates the hardware components for functionalities. The programs are lines of code written using a certain specific technology based on the required functionality of the system. Some technologies includes, java programming language, PHP, C#, visual basic and many other languages used to write these commands which forms a software (Reynolds, 2010). Furthermore, information system is composed of hardware that is the machineries and the computers. Hardware components include displays, keyboards, storage disks, printers, scanners, chips, and barcode readers among many others, which are the tangible parts of an information system. These hardware tools made using different technologies and when combined together they form an information system with specific functionalities. The execution of data triggered by either a program or people through hardware and processed using both the software and hardware in a system the communication between hardware and software controlled by the operating system (Mahr, 2010). Information systems have different purposes in a firm, for instance, some are for communication, data management, inventory

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Taxation - Essay Example However, the unrecovered rent of two months that the previous tenant totaling  £1,000 will not be deducted in deriving the taxable profit since the amount is not an expense entitled to the property owner for immediate deduction under the Inland Revenue provisions (Lunt, 2009). Similarly, the  £600 rent paid in advance has to be reflected in property income assessment. Under the Inland Revenue rules, rent advances have to be reflected in the year the financial year the rent income has been received (Segal, 2011). This implies that the 2013-2014 property income assessment that runs up to 30 June of 2014 has to cater for all rental income even if it is not meant for a month falling in the given financial year. Furthermore, the rent income that was collected from the previous tenant before defaulting has to be included in the property income assessment provided to the Inland Revenue authority (BLS.com, 2014). Consequently, client A’s profit that will be taxed by the Inland Rev enue authority is the derived after deducting the three identified expenses from all rental income received within financial year of 2013-2014. Undeclared property income has the consequence of imposing penalty charges on the property owner for defaulting to remit the tax returns for the given financial years (Gilbertson, 2009) (James, 2009). However, client B has the potential of saving the money charged by HMRC by reporting the undeclared property rental income. The opportunity is available to client B by registering for self-assessment in declaring income that has not been taxed for the last four years (Warren, Reeve, & Duchac, 2012). The tax return is filled in different tax return to cover for each of the undeclared tax. In addition, the HM Revenue and Customs provides that if one has registered for Self Assessment but has failed to declare all their income generated in previous years, he

Compare and contrast components and purposes of Information Technology Essay

Compare and contrast components and purposes of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) in organizations - Essay Example Web servers, codes that manage the server, storage facilities, information transfer facilities, and many others are examples of information technology which when combined forms an information system. This paper focuses on the components and purposes of information technology and information systems in an organization (Stair, 2011). Components of an information system include hardware, software, data, procedures, and people. For instance, each system needs people for its functionalities and maintenance. In most cases, people are not part of the system but they contribute to either its success or failure. Procedures are the rules and policies that guide in the operation of the information system. These procedures are implemented using information technology techniques in form of lines of code. For example, web-based systems’ procedures implemented using programming languages like PHP and other styling and scripting languages. These languages are the technologies that make up the se information systems (Stair, 2011). In addition, data as used by programs for processing to produce information used in the systems. These data is stored in disks until needed by the system. The process of storing and the tools used to store are the information technologies while the system that extracts the data from these storage devices is the information system that manipulates the data. ... Software is another example of information systems component. Computer programs and manuals supporting these programs are the software in a system. These programs give instructions to the interaction of hardware components of an information system to process data to produce useful information. In an information system, these programs are stored in a disk and installed in a way that the hardware can detect and use them. They control the interaction of hardware parts in the processing of information, for instance and operating system is software that controls the whole functionalities of the system and coordinates the hardware components for functionalities. The programs are lines of code written using a certain specific technology based on the required functionality of the system. Some technologies includes, java programming language, PHP, C#, visual basic and many other languages used to write these commands which forms a software (Reynolds, 2010). Furthermore, information system is composed of hardware that is the machineries and the computers. Hardware components include displays, keyboards, storage disks, printers, scanners, chips, and barcode readers among many others, which are the tangible parts of an information system. These hardware tools made using different technologies and when combined together they form an information system with specific functionalities. The execution of data triggered by either a program or people through hardware and processed using both the software and hardware in a system the communication between hardware and software controlled by the operating system (Mahr, 2010). Information systems have different purposes in a firm, for instance, some are for communication, data management, inventory

Social media negative impact on teenagers Essay Example for Free

Social media negative impact on teenagers Essay Many types of social media display a ‘bad boy’ image which consists of addiction to substance abuse (drugs and alcohol), violence, emphasis on luxurious material possessions and lack of moral values. It is this ‘bad boy’ image that severely impacts the minds of teenagers. It is very common to find a video of a celebrity portraying a character that is addicted to substance abuse. For instance, Youtube is filled with plenty of music videos, movies and pictures that display celebrities with numerous addictions to substance abuse. Examples of such celebrities include, Nicolas Cage (alcohol addict) in the movie Leaving Las Vegas and Leonardo DiCaprio (drug addict) in the movie The Basketball Diaries. When a celebrity plays a fictional role of an addict, many teenagers pick up the addiction. Teenagers tend to think that such types of addictions are ‘cool’ as their icons engage in such addictions. In addition, social media portray a lot of violence that amuse teenagers. For instance, cp24.com shows videos and pictures of gangsters and thieves shedding blood of innocent people. In such situations, culprits are often seen settling problems through violence rather than through peace. Teenagers pick up on this depiction of brutality and think that it is better to solve a conflict through violence in order to gain a popular image in society. Also, social media is actively engaged in promoting exquisite materialistic goods. For instance, Facebook displays many pictures of celebrities endorsing expensive products. Examples of such endorsements include Michael Schumacher (Ferrari, Lamborghini) and Jessica Simpson (Gucci, Prada). Teenagers that look up to their icons come to the conclusion that in order to be popular one must acquire such luxurious goods. Moreover, social media places a great emphasis on acting immorally. For example, etonline.com shows real life situations of celebrities lying, stealing, and taking part in scandalous affairs. Teenagers are often taken into believing that such irresponsible acts are normal and expected to be followed. Thus, it is fairly evident that social media plays a vital role in exerting a strong negative influence on teenagers.

Structure and Features of the Arabic Language

Structure and Features of the Arabic Language The Arabic language is a semantic language with a complicated morphology, which is significantly different from the most popular languages, such as English, Spanish, French, and Chinese. Arabic is an official language in over 22 countries. It is spoken as first language in North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan), the Arabian Peninsula (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen), Middle East (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria), and other Arab countries (Mauritania, Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia). Since Arabic is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, it is also spoken as a second language by several Asian countries such as: Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Malay[52]. More than 422 million people are able to speak Arabic, which makes this language the fifth most spoken language in the world, according to[53]. This chapter give brief description about the relevant basic elements of the Arabic language. This covers Arabic language structure, and the features of the Arabic writing system. The morphology of Arabic language and the Arabic word classes, i. e. nouns, verbs, and particles are presented in this chapter. The Arabic language challenges are also discussed in the last section of this chapter. 2.1.Arabic Language Structure The Arabic language is classified into three forms: Classical Arabic (CA), Colloquial Arabic Dialects (CAD), and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). CA is fully vowelized and includes classical historical liturgical text and old literature texts. CAD includes predominantly spoken vernaculars, and each Arab country has its dialect. MSA is the official language and includes news, media, and official documents[16]. The direction of writing in the Arabic language is from right to left. The alphabet of the Arabic language consists of 28 as shown in Table 2-1. Table 2‑1: The alphabet of the Arabic language No. Alone Form Transliteration Initial Form Medial Form End Form 1 Ø § a Ø § Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ § 2 Ø ¨ b Ø ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ 3 Ø ª t Ø ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª 4 Ø « th Ø «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ « 5 Ø ¬ j Ø ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ 6 Ø ­ h Ø ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ 7 Ø ® kh Ø ®Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ® 8 Ø ¯ d Ø ¯ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ 9 Ø ° th Ø ° Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ° Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ° 10 Ø ± r Ø ± Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± 11 Ø ² z Ø ² Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ² Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ² 12 Ø ³ s Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ 13 Ø ´ sh Ø ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ 14 Ø µ s Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ µ 15 Ø ¶ tha Ø ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶ 16 Ø · ta Ø ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ · 17 Ø ¸ tha Ø ¸Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¸Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¸ 18 Ø ¹ aa Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ 19 Ø º gh Ø ºÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ º 20 Ù  f Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  21 Ù‚ q Ù‚Ùâ‚ ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 22 Ùƒ k ÙƒÙâ‚ ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ 23 Ù„ l Ù„Ùâ‚ ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ 24 Ù†¦ m Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 25 Ù†  n Ù† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   26 Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ h Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ 27 Ùˆ w Ùˆ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  28 ÙÅ   y ÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   The formulation and shape are different for the same letter, depending on its position within the word [24]. For example, the letter (Ø ¹) has the following styles: (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬), if this letter appears at the beginning of the word, such as in Ø ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ that means general; (Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬), if this letter appears in the middle of the word, such as in ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  that means know; (Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹), if this letter appears at the end of the word, such as in ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ that means hear. Finally, the letter (Ø ¹) can appear as (Ø ¹) if this letter appears at the end of a word but disconnected from the letter before it such as in Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ that means fast see Figure (2-1). Figure 2-1: The Formulation and Shape for the Same Letter Thus, a three-letter word may start with a letter in beginning form, followed by a letter in medial form and, finally, by a letter in an end form such as: [Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾] Instead of: [Ø ¹ Ù†¦ Ù„] But the reality is even worse since a letter, in the middle of a word, may have the final or the initial form as in [Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³] Because some letters do not connect with any character that comes after. They have only two forms: isolated (which is also used as initial) and final (also used as middle). These letters are (Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø °ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø ±ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø ²ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ùˆ) for example: [وؠ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©] For the purpose of this thesis, we have defined our own transliteration scheme for Arabic alphabets, which is presented in Table 2.1. Each Arabic letter in this scheme is mapped to only one English letter. Wherever in this thesis, any Arabic word is annotated as a triple attribute to be more clear for a non-Arabic reader. The first attribute for the Arabic word itself which is written in Arabic scripts between two square brackets, the second attribute for an English transliteration which is written in italics, while the third one for English translation which is written between two quotation marks. Figure 2-2 shows an example. Figure 2-2: An Example of Annotated Arabic Word Three letters from the twenty-eight letters appear in different shapes, which are they: Hamza [Ø ¡]: This shape can be: on Alef [Ø £], below Alef [Ø ¥], on Waaw [Ø ¤], on Alef Maqsura [Ø ¦], or isolated [Ø ¡]. Taa-Marbuta [Ø ©]: This is a special form of the letter [Ø ª], it always appears at the end of the word. Alef-Maqsura [Ù†°]: This is a special form of the letter [Ø §], it always appears at the end of the word. The above three letters pose some difficulties when building morphological systems. Many of the written Arabic texts and Arabic web sites ignore the Hamza and the two dots above the Taa-Marbuta. For example, the Arabic word [Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©] (mdrst, school) may appear in many texts as [Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡] (mdrsh) (which means school or his teacher) without two dots above the last letter. When comparing the last letter in the two previous words, we found it was [Ø ©] in the first word, while it was [Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬] in the second word. Twenty-five of Arabic alphabets represent consonants. The remaining three letters represent the weak letters or the long vowels of Arabic (shortly vowels). These letters are: Alef[Ø §], Waaw[Ùˆ] and Yaa[ÙÅ  ].   Moreover, diacritics are used in the Arabic language, which are symbols placed above or below the letters to add distinct pronunciation, grammatical formulation, and sometimes another meaning to the whole word. Arabic diacritics include, dama (Ù ), fathah (ÙÅ ½), kasra (Ù ), sukon (Ù’), double dama (ÙŒ), double fathah (Ù†¹), double kasra (Ù ) [54]. For instance, Table 2-2 presents different pronunciations of the letter (Sad) ((Ø µ: Table 2‑2: Presents different pronunciations of the letter (Sad) (Ø µ) Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…’ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¹ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã… ½ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚  /s/ /sun/ /sin/ /san/ /si/ /sa/ /su/ In addition, Arabic has special mark rather than the previous diacritics. this mark is called gemination mark (shaddah (Ø ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©) or tashdeed). Gemination is a mark written above the letter (Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ) to indicate a doubled consonant while pronouncing it. This is done when the first consonant has the null diacritical mark skoon (Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢), and the second consonant has any other diacritical mark. For example, in the Arabic word (كؠ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±) (kssr, he smashed to pieces), when the first syllable ends with (Ø ³)(s) and the next starts with (Ø ³) (s), the two consonants are united and the gemination mark indicates this union. So, the previous word is written as (كؠ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), and it has four letters {Ùƒ Ø ³ Ø ³ Ø ±}[55]. The Arabic language has two genders, feminine (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¤Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ «) and masculine (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ °Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±); three numbers, singular (Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯), dual (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ °), and plural (Ø ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹); and three grammatical cases, nominative (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹), accusative (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨), and genitive (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±). In general, Arabic words are categorized as particles (Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª), nouns (Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡), or verbs (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾). Nouns in Arabic including adjectives (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª) and adverbs (Ø ¸ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ) and can be derived from other nouns, verbs, or particles. Nouns in the Arabic language cover proper nouns (such as people, places, things, ideas, day an d month names, etc.). A noun has the nominative case when it is the subject (Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾); accusative when it is the object of a verb (Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾) and the genitive when it is the object of a preposition (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±) [56]. Verbs in Arabic are divided into perfect (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦), imperfect (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ µ) and imperative (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±). Arabic particle category includes pronouns(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), adjectives(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª), adverbs(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã ƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾), conjunctions(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ), prepositions (Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), interjections (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨) and interrogatives (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) [57]. 2.2.Arabic Morphology The Arabic language is one of the highly sophisticated natural languages which has a very rich and complicated morphology. Morphology is the part of linguistics that deal with the internal structure and formation processes of words. A morpheme is often defined as the smallest meaningful and significant unit of language, which cannot be broken down into smaller parts[58]. So, for example, the word apple consists of a single morpheme (the morpheme apple), while the word apples consist of two morphemes: the morpheme apple and the morpheme -s (indication of plural). In Arabic language for example, the word (Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦, he asked them) consists also of two morphemes the verb (Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, he ask) and the pronoun (Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦, them). According to the previous examples, there are two types of morphemes: roots and affixes. The root is the main morpheme of the word, supplying the main meaning, while the affixes are added i n the beginning, middle or end of the root to create new words that add additional meaning of various kinds. In more general morphemes could be classified as: (1) roots morphemes and (2) affixes morphemes, Figure 2.3 illustrated this classification. Figure 2-3: Morpheme Classification Root is the original morpheme of the word before any transformation processes that comprises the most important part of the word and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. In other words, it is the primary unit of the family of the same word after removing all inflectional and derivational affixes which can stand on their own as words (independent words). The root morphemes divided into two categories. The first category is called lexical morphemes, which covers the words in the language carrying the content of the message. Examples from English language: book, compute, and write, while examples from Arabic language: (قؠ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ £, read), (لؠ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨, play), and (كؠªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨, write). The second category is called stop words morphemes, which covers the function words in the language. The stop words include adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions. Examples from English language: on, that, the, and above. Examples from Arabic language: (Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  , in), (Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, above), and (Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª, under). Affixes morphemes are also units of meaning; however, they cannot occur as words on their own; they need to be attached to something such as root morphemes. There are three types of affixes in Arabic language: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. In some cases, all of these affixes can be found in one word as in the word[وؠ§Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ] (and the warriors). This word has ten letters, three of them are root-letters, while the others are affixes. The root of this word is [Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨] (war). The example in Figure 2.4 can clearly deduce the differences between the three main terms used in computational linguistics: roots, stems and affixes. Figure 2-4: The Decomposition of the Word [وؠ§Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ]. 2.3.Arabic Language Challenges Arabic is a challenging language in comparison with other languages such as English for a number of reasons:   In English, prefixes and suffixes are added to the beginning or end of the root to create new words. In Arabic, in addition to the prefixes and suffixes there are infixes that can be added inside the word to create new words that have the same meaning. For example, in English, the word write is the root of word writer. In Arabic, the word writer (كؠ§ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨) is derived from the root write (كؠªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨) by adding the letter Alef (Ø §) inside the root. In these cases, it is difficult to distinguish between infix letters and the root letters. he Arabic language has a rich and complex morphology in comparison with English. Its richness is attributed to the fact that one root can generate several hundreds of words having different meanings. Table 2-4 presents different morphological forms of root study (Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³). Table 2‑3: Different morphological forms of word study (Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³). Word Tense Pluralities Meaning Gender Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Past Single He studied Masculine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª Past Single She studied Feminine ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Present Single He studies Masculine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Present Single She studied Feminine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Past Dual They studied Masculine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ § Past Dual They studied Feminine ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Present Dual They study Masculine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Present Dual They study Feminine ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Present Dual They study Masculine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Present Dual They study Feminine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Past Plural They studied Masculine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Past Plural They studied Feminine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Present Plural They study Feminine Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Future Single They will study Masculine Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Future Single They will study Feminine Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Future Dual They will study Masculine Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Future Dual They will study Feminine Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Future Plural They will study Masculine Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Future Plural They will study Feminine Some Arabic words have different meanings based on their appearance in the context. Especially when diacritics are not used, the proper meaning of the Arabic word can be determined based on the context. For instance, the word (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) could be Science (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦), Teach (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢) or Flag (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢) depending on the diacritics [46]. Unfortunately, Arabic people do not explicitly mention the gemination mark in their writing. They depend on their knowledge of the language to supply the missing letter and write the words without it. In consequence, this is make the morphology process of such words is not an easy task [55]. Another challenge of automatic Arabic text processing is that proper nouns in Arabic do not start with a capital letter as in English, and Arabic letters do not have lower and upper case, which makes identifying proper names, acronyms, and abbreviations difficult. In English language, a word is a single entity. It may be a noun, a verb, a preposition, an article, , etc. While in Arabic language a single word could be a complete sentence. For example, Table 2.4 shows some single Arabic words and their equivalent English translations. Table 2‑4: Example: An Arabic Word could be a Complete English Sentence Arabic Word English Sentences Ø °Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª She go Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ I will read it Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ We hear him Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   He told me Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Then he departed There are several free benchmarking English datasets used for document categorization, such as 20 Newsgroup, which contains around 20,000 documents distributed almost evenly into 20 classes; Reuters 21,578, which contains 21,578 documents belonging to 17 classes; and RCV1 (Reuters Corpus Volume 1), which contains 806,791 documents classified into four main classes. Unfortunately, there is no free benchmarking dataset for Arabic document classification. In the Arabic language, the problem of synonyms and broken plural forms are widespread. Examples of synonyms in Arabic are (Ø ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦, Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, Ø £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) which means (Come), and (Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ²Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±, Ø ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª, Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ) which means (house). In the Arabic language, the problem of broken plural forms occurs when some irregular nouns in the Arabic language in plural takes another morphological form different from its initial form in singular. For example, the word (Doctors, Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡) is a broken plural of the masculine singular (Doctor, Ø ·ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨). In the Arabic language, one word may have more than lexical category (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) in different contexts such as (wellspring, Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡), (Eye, Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ), (was appointed, Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ § للØ ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡). In addition to the different forms of the Arabic word that result from the derivational process, there are some words lack authentic Arabic roots like Arabized words which are translated from other languages, such as (programs, Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ ), (geography, Ø ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©), (internet, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª ), etc. or names, places such as (countries, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ), (cities, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ), (rivers, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), (mountains, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾), (deserts, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ °), etc. 2.4.Summary Arabic language is an international language belonging to the Semitic languages family (different from Indo-European languages in some respects). The Arabic alphabet consists of twenty-eight letters in addition to some variants of existing letters. Each letter can appear in up to four different shapes, depending on the position of the letter in the Arabic word. Twenty-five of Arabic letters represent consonants. The remaining three letters represent the long vowels of Arabic. The Arabic writing system goes from right to left and most letters in Arabic words are joined together. Arabic has a rich and complex morphology. In many cases, one orthographic word is comprising many semantic and syntactic words. Traditionally there are two types of morphology in Arabic language: roots morphemes and affixes morphemes. The root morphemes divided into two categories. The first category is called lexical morphemes, which covers the words in the language carrying the content of the message. The second category is called stop words morphemes, which covers the function words such as adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions. Affixes morphemes cannot occur as words on their own; they need to be attached to something such as root morphemes. There are three types of affixes in Arabic language: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. All Arabic words could be classified into three main categories according to the part-of-speech: noun, verb, and particle. The noun and verb in Arabic might be further divided according to: number (singular, dual and plural), and case (nominative, genitive and accusative). Arabic. The Arabic language is a challenging language in comparison with other languages and has a complicated morphological structure. Therefore, the Arabic language needs a set of preprocessing routines to be suitable for cl