Customer Relationship Management A Strategy Of Managing...

CRM is Customer Relationship Management: A strategy of managing customer relationships based on the integration of customer information throughout a company in order to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and retention. CRM process is to collect, store, and analyze customer interaction information (customer knowledge), transforming the practice of marketing research. Marketing intelligence: The use of real-time customer information (customer knowledge) to achieve a competitive advantage. In short, Market Intelligence seeks completive advantage based on real-time customer information. MI begins with the nation of customer knowledge, a company cannot meet its customer needs and wants and thereby offer value, unless it understands the evolution of the customer. Customer Knowledge –What kind of relationships will add value will add value to customers-loyalty programs, Value perception of the customer segment and how can the value be enhanced. To create customer profiles includes customer profiles customer demographics, psychographic data, and direct and indirect communications with the company in order to develop product, service offerings, marketing campaigns, growth and retention. Granular data-Highly detailed, highly personalized data specifically structured around an individual customer. Big companies embrace the vision and long –term goal of capturing and retaining customers. With granular customer information, market intelligence helps them and other companiesShow MoreRelatedCustomer Relationship Management ( Crm )1583 Words   |  7 PagesTheoretical Study Chapter 2 : CRM study 2.1 Defining CRM Customer relationship management (CRM) is an approach that company’s use to manage, analyze and interact with customers. It refers to the practices, strategies and the technologies used by companies to understand the customer’s needs and behavior in order to create and build relationships with customers and to follow them throughout the customer lifecycle with a focus on increasing retaining customers with driving the sales growth. The idea of aRead MoreCustomer Relationship Management : A M University Commerce1056 Words   |  5 Pages Customer Relationship Management Courtney Crouthers Texas AM University-Commerce Customer Relationship management is the strongest and the most efficient approach in maintaining and creating relationships with customers. It is an upright concept or strategy to solidify relations with customers and at the same time reducing cost and enhancing productivity and profitability in business. CRM is not only pure business but also ideate strong personal bonding within people. There are twoRead MoreThe Blossoms Garden Center ( Bgc )1521 Words   |  7 Pagesexamines a number of strategies could be used efficiently and effectively in BGC. Finally, it will evaluate those strategies that appear to yield the best results. 2: Problems for BGC During the developing process, a number of problems in BGC increasing broadly such as customer service quality, managing operation, internal relationship and finance. Specifically, managing external relationship is a significant problem for the company. According to Casledine (2015), customers are the heart of anyRead MoreCompany and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships1465 Words   |  6 Pagescompanywide strategic planning in its four steps 2. Discuss how to design business portfolios and develop growth strategies 3. Explain marketing’s role in strategic planning and how marketing works with its partners to create and deliver customer value 4. Describe the elements of a customer-driven marketing strategy and mix, and the forces that influence it 5. List the marketing management functions, including the elements of a marketing plan, and discuss the importance of measuring return on marketingRead MoreSemaconnect Is The Leading Provider Of Electric Vehicle Amenities For The North American Commercial Residential Property Market Essay1229 Words   |  5 Pagespursued a strategy of aggressive RD to develop new products as well as process improvement and cost reduction measures. SemaConnect has aggressively marketed the superior performance of their products which has allowed them to gain market share at an impressive rate. Governor O’Malley announced his Smart, Green, and Growing legislative agenda in 2009, acknowledging SemaConnect as a Maryland-based company that develops and produces networked PEV charging stations and station management software.Read MoreCustomer Relationship Management As A Philosophy1253 Words   |  6 Pages1.1 Background Customer Relationship Management as a Philosophy started in the 70s. Peter Drucker, a well-renowned management consultant, stated that The true business of every company is to make and keep customers. Today, the concept of CRM has grown in a global scale. Companies have evolved to focus products solely based on customer’s demands. Over the years, the CRM model does not limit to just being about customer centric but also to use customer profitability as a catalyst in making decisionsRead MoreSales, Communication, Client Relations, Business Development, And Account Management916 Words   |  4 Pagesyears of comprehensive experience offering leadership in advanced Sales, Marketing, Analytics, Client Relations, Business Development, and Account Management. While I worked with Kraft Heinz for twelve years, the last position was as a sales and business development manager successfully managing multi-million-dollar distributors and key account customers. The products included s elling ketchup, condiments, sauce categories along with portion control and frozen soups. The territory encompassed GeorgiaRead MoreDifference Between A Consumer Market And Business Market949 Words   |  4 Pagesmarketing strategies in order to attract business. In addition, both should have a good focus on new-product development and identifying new trends in order to attract costumers and businesses. One difference in between the consumer market strategy and the business strategy is cost. The individual consumer wants a lower price, but many are more concerned about the value they receive. For a business, providing the lowest cost is extremely important in order to keep a business relationship. It isRead MoreSummary Kotler Keller1275 Words   |  6 Pagesfunction and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value. Marketers are skilled at managing demand: they seek to influence its level, timing, and composition for goods, servicesRead MoreCustomer Relationship Management ( Crm ) Practice1497 Words   |  6 Pages To find the most profitable customers in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) practice is an ongoing process where many companies fail to deliver the answer. This paper outlines various definitions of CRM, strategies, processes and the use of technology along with the various paradoxes that accompany Customer Relationship Management. Defining CRM is not straight-forward as there are numerous definitions, taking three recent definitions the basic framework of CRM is, an overall process of building

Ted Talk Video Analysis for Philosophical Nature- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theTed Talk Video Analysis for Philosophical Nature. Answer: Ted talks is known to be one of the most influential talk show currently in the television and it has gained immense popularity due to excellent philosophical nature of the speeches. Speakers are invited from various walks of like to speak about certain issues and express their knowledge about life. They share their knowledge in such a way that it enlightens the entire audience and leaves a motivating impact on them (Romanelli, Cain McNamara, 2014). The way the people think is constantly challenged in this show and the speakers try to mend the thought process constantly so as to make sure that their speeches connect with the soul of those present in the audience. The video by Paul Bloom on Prejudice was chosen for the assignment because the issue of prejudice is something that has been ruling the thoughts of every individual for decades. The idea of prejudices has engulfed every person and has made it sure that people are constrained in their communication with a person or a group. Ted talks stages some of the most inspirational and motivational speakers and Paul Bloom is someone who is best in class when it comes to speaking words that can create an impact. The video speaks of prejudices and explains the logical reasons behind it. The video was selected more because of the unique way the idea of prejudices has been justified by Paul in the video. The strength of the video lies in the way the psychology of the human is defined and how the idea of prejudice is justified without hurting any sentiments or emotions. The issue of prejudice often ends up hurting people but in the video it is seen that Paul successfully retains the audiences attenti on and makes sure that their emotions are not hurt and they enjoy as well as understand the depth of the issue. The idea of prejudices has been defined in the video in a way that completely gives a new perspective to the idea of prejudices. The speaker has defined the point in such a way that the fact that diversity is present in the world is well explained and justified. The concept of diversity has to be understood in a different light in the society so that the issues and conflicts that take place can be avoided and peace can be achieved in the society (Bloom, 2018). The speaker emphasizes that it is human nature and psychology to differentiate between certain things and hence come to a prejudged conclusion which is often correct. However such conclusion and prejudices can go completely wrong at times when things are different in nature. It actually depends on the individual perception of people about how they look towards an event and how they perceive it in their mind. Every person has a difference in the interpretation that is made for an occurrence and such interpretation clearly descri bes the kind of perspective that the person has regarding the society. The idea of conflict among people is mostly due to certain prejudices that the people hold for each other, such conflicts can be completely avoided if the perception is changed and diversity is seen as a common phenomenon in the society. The content of the video is relatable due to the way such a sensitive topic is brought forward by the speaker. Every person has faced or participated in practicing prejudices and hence it is relatable to understand the basic idea behind the practice (Kite Whitley, 2016). There are times when a product is selected to be purchased due to the advertisement that is seen on the television. The decision is made due to the look and feel of a product but actually after using it, the quality of the product is understood as poor. Certain prejudices lead to taking of such decisions, the people tend to favor products that have a western inkling to them. Such prejudices are taken up and this leads to decisions being taken on an impulse. The impact that diversity has on the people is immense and it seen that the people often take decisions based on their attitude on diversity. The people instantly can negate an idea if it is represented by an African black but will accept the same idea if it is r epresented by an American white (Lauren, 2018). Such prejudices are in plenty and it makes it sure that notions of prejudgments continue to exist in the society. The message in the video is agreeable as it rightly says that prejudices are deep in the psych of an individual from the very early stages of life. It is a human nature to differentiate and deliver a judgment based on certain things that are not according to their perception. Such a notion is common and hence the speaker is absolutely right in making sure that the prejudiced thoughts are natural rather than imposed or influenced. Previously the belief was that prejudice was a thought process that was induced by the society and the effects of such prejudices were worst and greater in its impact (Bar-Tal et al., 2013). The idea was completely changed after watching the video as it the speaker clearly explains that the prejudiced thoughts are an attribute that is natural to the human beings and it is from the very early stages of life that such ideas or preferences enter into the mind of people. The general belief was that prejudgment leads to the creation of differences but after watching the video it is clear that it is not something that is backed by conflict rather it is a common trait in every individual and it has been prevalent from time immemorial. The message that has been given in the video is powerful as it strikes the right chord in the minds of those who are listening to it. The message is loud and clear that every individual is aware of certain things that are needed to be done so that the best is achieved in life. The people are selfish to a certain extant and this helps them in understanding what is good for them and what is not. The video removes all kind of prejudices attached to the idea of prejudices and justifies it in accordance to the general human nature and psychology. It is defined in the video that it is human nature to differentiate and hence it is a phenomenon that is natural. The video challenges the existing that prejudice is a biased practice and establishes the fact that it is human nature rather than influence. The ted talk episode dealt with prejudice and its various aspects that are related to the human psychology. The human nature is designed in a way that it has inkling towards certain choices than the others. The choices of individual are dependent on the atmosphere they are brought up in and the thought process they follow. It is to be understood that the psychology of a person is a reflection of the nature of a person. The nature of every human being is to serve the best interest of the self and in order to do that they involve in practicing certain prejudices that may seem derogatory in nature. Reference Bar-Tal, D., Graumann, C. F., Kruglanski, A. W., Stroebe, W. (Eds.). (2013).Stereotyping and prejudice: Changing conceptions. Springer Science Business Media. ISBN 1461235820, 9781461235828 Bloom, P. (2018).Can prejudice ever be a good thing?.Ted.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_bloom_can_prejudice_ever_be_a_good_thing#t-964017 Kite, M. E., Whitley Jr, B. E. (2016).Psychology of prejudice and discrimination. Psychology Press. ISBN 1317227239, 9781317227236 Lauren, P. G. (2018).Power and prejudice: The politics and diplomacy of racial discrimination. Routledge. ISBN 9780429961069 Romanelli, F., Cain, J., McNamara, P. J. (2014). Should TED talks be teaching us something?.American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education,78(6), 113.

Canada’s Bail Reform Act Essay Example

Canada’s Bail Reform Act Essay Canada’s Bail Reform Act has proven controversial because of its perceived leniency toward dangerous suspects.   The act severely limits police officers’ ability to arrest suspects without warrants, which has caused some Canadian citizens to demand further reforms and tougher laws granting the police more power to arrest and detain accused persons.   Though intended to respect the rights of the accused, suspects released under its provisions have committed serious crimes in recent years (including several murders), and public demands for increased public safety have targeted the act. Before the Bail Reform Act’s passage in 1971, â€Å"a number of the civil liberties of Canadians were being systematically ignored and abused by the police† (Brannigan).   Suspects in Canada had to demonstrate why they should not be detained until trial, which frequently meant that those accused of dangerous violent crimes remained in custody.   According to the Legal Information Institute, â€Å"Prior to the Bail Reform Act, [suspects] could have been arrested on reasonable and probable grounds that they had committed the offences charged† (Canadian Legal Information Institute).   The act intended to grant the accused more civil liberties, especially preventing the unnecessary detention of suspects.   It limits the police’s arrest powers (in the absence of a warrant) by requiring suspects’ release if the they have no reasonable grounds to believe that the public interest or safety would be in jeopardy.   The Act also empowers the police o fficer in charge of lock-up to release a suspect in accordance with the Criminal Code. We will write a custom essay sample on Canada’s Bail Reform Act specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Canada’s Bail Reform Act specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Canada’s Bail Reform Act specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The act does not require that a judge preside over a bail hearing, and a suspect may be released with as little as a single signature on a court document, with little or no money posted.   This is true for virtually any crime, including those involving violence.   The logic behind the law, according to the Canadian government, â€Å"is to establish a presumption that [the accused] . . . should not be arrested or held in police custody or detention unless this is necessary in order to conduct a legitimate criminal investigation, to ensure attendance of an accused in court, or to protect the public and then, for no longer than is necessary† (Department of Justice Canada).   However, while this has certainly prevented many accused persons from being held needlessly (especially the innocent and falsely accused), it has also been applied too leniently to dangerous criminals, some of whom later committed violent crimes while on bail. The law is rather difficult to navigate and creates problems for the police, who must have concrete evidence that a suspect has or is about to commit a serious crime; without it, suspects must be released, and in some cases commit more serious offenses.   Currently, Canadian police can make arrests without warrants only if they are certain or have probable grounds to believe the suspect has committed or is about to commit a crime, is committing a crime in a police officer’s sight, or already has an outstanding warrant.   According to the Canadian legal system itself, â€Å"[the] main sections of the Criminal Code which constrain the police use of discretion with young persons as with adults are the rather tortuous provisions governing arrest, detention and release in Part XVI† (Department of Justice Canada). With very few exceptions, the Bail Reform Act of 1971 forbids police from making warrantless arrests unless they believe that suspects will not appear for trial or if it is required in the public interest.   This puts the police into a difficult situation, because they are unable to hold suspects without warrant or very clear cause.   Also, the police cannot freely assume that a suspect will automatically commit a more serious crime while on bail.   The law clearly favors the accused, which can work against the police and create the perception that they are unable to protect the public.   According to Canadian sociologist and legal expert Gus Brannigan, the act â€Å"puts the onus on the state to show why an arrested person should be confined to jail before trial. Consequently we only rarely find people incarcerated ‘three or more days’† (Brannigan).   In the eyes of the police, this does not always give police and prosecutors sufficient time to gather n ecessary information about a suspect’s records and current criminal status. For years, the Canadian government has considered changing the Bail Reform Act’s lenient policies to hold suspects long enough to determine whether they should be released from custody, especially in the face of public demands for greater public safety.   In the 1990s, over 2.5 million people signed the de Villiers petition, which called for changes to make the law tougher in the wake of several brutal murders of young women between 1983 and 1993.   In its support, parliament member Howard Hilstrom told the speaker in 1998, â€Å"Petitioners are asking for changes to the Bail Reform Act to make this a safer country [and] . . . impose harsher penalties for crimes of violence and that release not be quite so quick† (Parliament of Canada).   In November 2003, Manitoba’s provincial Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh proposed revamping Canada’s bail laws so that â€Å"people with criminal records would be automatically denied bail. The rare exceptions woul d come when a defence lawyer makes an argument that a judge feels is particularly compelling† (Owen and McIntyre). Changing the Bail Reform Act would grant police more power to hold suspects they consider dangerous, which in turn may make the public feel better protected from violent criminals.   In addition, it would speed prosecutors’ and judges’ access to suspects’ parole history, so that bail would be tougher for suspects in violent crimes to attain.   The legal challenge is determining a proper balance between the rights of the accused and the courts’ and law enforcement officials’ ability to determine how great a risk a suspect proposes to the public. REFERENCES Anonymous.   â€Å"Chamber Business.†Ã‚   19 October 1998.   Parliament of Canada.   5 October 2005.   http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/1/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/137_1998-10-19/han137_1530-e.htm. â€Å"The de Villiers Petition.†Ã‚   The Caveat: Canadians Against Violence.   5 October 2005.   http://www.caveat.org/history/petition.html. â€Å"Youth Justice Police Discretion with Young Offenders Environmental Factors Affecting Police.†Ã‚   8 July 2004.   Department of Justice Canada.   5 October 2005.   http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/yj/research/carrington-schulenberg/environmental/legal.html. Brannigan. A. (Gus).   â€Å"Civil Rights and Limits to State Powers.†Ã‚   Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Calgary.   7 October 2005.   http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~branniga/rights.html. Owen, Bruce and Mike McIntyre.   â€Å"Bail courts need better access to accused’s past.†Ã‚   3 January 2005.  Ã‚   Garry Breitkreuz, Member of Parliament Yorkton – Melville.   7 October 2005.   http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/Article516.htm.

Free Essays on Cronan Paul

PAUL CRONAN CASE Ethics deals with questions and subjects at all levels. Its subject consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision making, and its major concerns include the nature of high values and the standards by which human actions can be judged by right or wrong. This is based on areas such as culture, socio-economic, community, and religion. The terms ethics and morality are closely related. We now often refer to ethical judgments or ethical principles where it once would have been more common to speak of moral judgments or moral principles. Academically, however, the term refers not to morality itself but to the field of study, or branch of inquiry, that has morality as its subject matter. In this sense, ethics is equivalent to moral philosophy. I will examine the case from the point of view of the corporate entity. The corporation or company will often be under the specific â€Å"spotlight† per say, although all agents of the organization will deal with such situations as in the Paul Cronan Case. This would especially be the case when dealing with an individual discrimination issue or ethical situation. Larger areas such as environment ethics most often would point the finger or involve the company as entity from the beginning of the issue. Then the company itself may find revelation within its ranks. 1) The key ethical issues in this case would be privacy of the employee and medical records, discrimination, and occupational safety or the safety of others. 2) There was no continuity between policy and accountability for employee absence when addressing the medical records events that where recorded. Paul Cronan’s supervisor allotted two appointments in the spring for medical appointments. Afterwards or the next time the medical condition needed to be disclosed first before getting an appointment. Paul’s supervisor stated that he would need to accountability for his absence, and needed the inf... Free Essays on Cronan Paul Free Essays on Cronan Paul PAUL CRONAN CASE Ethics deals with questions and subjects at all levels. Its subject consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision making, and its major concerns include the nature of high values and the standards by which human actions can be judged by right or wrong. This is based on areas such as culture, socio-economic, community, and religion. The terms ethics and morality are closely related. We now often refer to ethical judgments or ethical principles where it once would have been more common to speak of moral judgments or moral principles. Academically, however, the term refers not to morality itself but to the field of study, or branch of inquiry, that has morality as its subject matter. In this sense, ethics is equivalent to moral philosophy. I will examine the case from the point of view of the corporate entity. The corporation or company will often be under the specific â€Å"spotlight† per say, although all agents of the organization will deal with such situations as in the Paul Cronan Case. This would especially be the case when dealing with an individual discrimination issue or ethical situation. Larger areas such as environment ethics most often would point the finger or involve the company as entity from the beginning of the issue. Then the company itself may find revelation within its ranks. 1) The key ethical issues in this case would be privacy of the employee and medical records, discrimination, and occupational safety or the safety of others. 2) There was no continuity between policy and accountability for employee absence when addressing the medical records events that where recorded. Paul Cronan’s supervisor allotted two appointments in the spring for medical appointments. Afterwards or the next time the medical condition needed to be disclosed first before getting an appointment. Paul’s supervisor stated that he would need to accountability for his absence, and needed the inf...

Portfolio 02243 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Portfolio 02243 - Essay Example Thus, our family have to learn English for meeting the global requirement. However, being the native peoples we were facing the challenges of speaking English correctly. In terms of learning English or other foreign languages like German and Spanish my Mandarin pronunciation got inaccurate and my parents helped me a lot to rectify the languages (Grainger, 2014). My education emphasised on the first language Mandarin which is my native language. I have faced multilingual issues in the Jiangsu are different languages are used by the local peoples. I observed that the maximum peoples of my school are using Mandarin languages, some of them using English, German and Spanish to communicate with the others. From the age of 12, I selected German as my second foreign language. However, I faced intense complexity in learning the foreign language in classrooms. Major I faced problem was the accent of German language. Very less number of peoples was using the language thus I did not have the scope of learning the methods of oral communication. Teachers were just teaching us the methods like paraphrase of Chinese and German, and some basic grammars. I have started to communicate with European classmates to improve my accent of English and German. Discussion helped me to gain insight on various critical incidences and cross cultural traits. The discussion of CT 5 provided me with the details of Mr J and Mr S. From the discussion it is observed that Mr J is working in a foreign country which unfamiliar to him as per the culture and languages. Mr J took the help of the Mr S to understand the culture of the new country. However, it is also observed that the culture of Mr S is empowering the hangouts and spending time with friends and acquaintance. They can interact with the immigrant or the foreign country members very easily and they are very helpful (Beausaert, Segers and Gijselaers, 2011). Culture of the country

Better Place Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Better Place Company - Essay Example In essence, the objective of this company was to reduce and eventual riddance of automobile industry’s over dependence on oil. The mission of Better Place Company is to make the world a better place by 2020 through successful adoption of electrical vehicles use. The intended change will create a significant difference in the environment by reducing the amount of emissions. The automobile industry stands to gains from Better Place Company in numerous ways, which include providing flexible and readily available products for the consumers such as service plans, accessible charge spots and switching stations. Moreover, the absence of Better Place Company in the automobile industry will significantly reduce and weaken the inter connections amongst the primary players in the industry. 1.3 Stakeholders Better Place Company enjoys an intensive niche of stakeholders in the electric vehicle manufacture and marketing environment across numerous countries, which include Israel, United States, Denmark, Canada, Australia, and Japan. Some of the Better Places’ stakeholders include diverse governments, national electric utility, and venture capital and battery firms. In addition, the car manufacturers and the corporate sector forms part of the Better Place Company’s stakeholders base. 1.3.1Significance of the Stakeholders The company depends on the stakeholders to run its activities. Running financial activities of any company requires capital and from the case study, Better Place Company gets its capital from the stakeholders. For instance, in 2007, the company raised $200 million from venture capital funding and $350 million in 2010 from different governments across the globe. The amount summed up to $1.25 billion making it the second largest start-up in th e history of company venture capital funding. On equal measure, stakeholders such as utility, battery and manufacturer companies play a significant role in helping Better Place in achieving its objective of widespread of Electric Vehicle adoption. The companies link the consumers with the car companies consequently reducing the hurdle of limited mobility, which undermines the adoption of electric vehicles. This linkage influences the consumers’ mindset to adopt the electric vehicles (JOHNSON, SCHOLES, & WHITTINGTON, 2008). Moreover, the linkage creates easy platform of improving services offered to consumers due to the competition amongst the firms. The healthy interdependence between the company and the stakeholders propels the growth of the company factors such as competition from other small companies motivate Better Place to offer exemplary services to maintain its market niche. Consider the following diagram indicating the interdependence between the stakeholders and the Better Place Company. Better Place Stakeholders On the other hand, the government through its policies influenced the standards and incentives, which enhanced provision of the bulky of increased activity in both the hybrid and EVs markets. In other words, the governmental incentives to the service companies such as Better Place expanded the respective market niches, consequently market competition. This move enabled the Better Place company to achieve its objective of wide spread adoption of EVs. 2.0 Industry and scenario analyses The steam engine technology, initially developed and adopted for industrial applications was progressively tailored to personal vehicles by middle of 18th century into the automobile industry due to increased population in cities. Increased demand for

South Africa Strenght and Weaknesses Notes Essay Example for Free

South Africa Strenght and Weaknesses Notes Essay As a nation, South Africa possesses economic and social strengths that can help it develop a successful IT industry within the country. However, its weakness can derail its success quite easily. Luckily, South Africa has the opportunity to reduce those weaknesses through government policy and increased financial support for IT development. However, should South Africa choose not to take advantage of that opportunity, those weaknesses have the potential of thwarting the nations attempt at competing in IT marketplace. In my analysis, I found the following to be IT strengths and weaknesses of South Africa: Strengths * Large population * High literacy rate * Current South African intellectual property laws * Increasing levels of E-Business and electronic commerce * Telecommunications infrastructure * Targeting the industry via government studies and initiatives * Increasing computing and Internet diffusion * Privatization of telecommunications industry Weaknesses * Inadequate domestic funding for projects * Reliance on foreign aid * Small number of workforce involved in ICT * Poor enforcement of intellectual property laws * High piracy rates * Lack of clear directive from government * Laws that are unresponsive to new issues in e-commerce and e-government nalysis While much of the world staggered in the wake of the global financial meltdown, South Africa has managed to stay on its feet – largely due to its prudent fiscal and monetary policies. The country is politically stable and has a well capitalised banking system, abundant natural resources, well developed regulatory systems as well as research and development capabilities, and an established manufacturing base. Ranked by the World Bank as an â€Å"upper middle-income country†, South Africa is the largest economy in Africa – and it remains rich with promise. It was admitted to the BRIC group of countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China (known as BRICS) in 2011. With a world-class and progressive legal framework, South African legislation governing commerce, labour and maritime issues is particularly strong, and laws on competition policy, copyright, patents, trademarks and disputes conform to international norms and standards. The countrys modern infrastructure supports the efficient distribution of goods throughout the southern African region. The economy has a marked duality, with a sophisticated financial and industrial economy having grown alongside an underdeveloped informal economy. It is this â€Å"second economy† which presents both potential and a developmental challenge.