Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

A mother duck hatches a brood of ducklings. All are sweet little yellow babies--all but one, who is very large, very gray, and very ugly. The poor ugly duckling is teased and tormented by everyone he meets, even his own mother, brothers, and sisters. Driven from his home in the barnyard, the unhappy duckling wanders the world alone, suffering hardships, cruelty, and ridicule wherever he goes. This exquisite tale of rejection and redemption has been a favorite with children since its first publication in 1845. The hapless duck's plight, and his ultimate triumph, is especially relevant in today's image-conscious world--as are all the tales in this treasury of classics.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Preface(p. ix)
• Acknowledgements(p. xiii)
• Introduction
• The final frontier for electronic trade(p. 1)
• Open markets: a second tier of electronic trade(p. 2)
• Secure electronic marketplaces open to any seller?(p. 4)
• Could electronic commerce ever deliver this theoretical potential?(p. 6)
• Government's role as initiator of new technology(p. 9)
• Competition between governments: a coming force in electronic trade?(p. 12)
• Notes(p. 16)
• Section 1 The ultimate potential of e-trade: how open public markets might work(p. 17)
• 1 Demonstration: booking overnight accommodation in a GEM(p. 19)
• Market entry(p. 20)
• Complaints procedures(p. 25)
• 2 Growing the new markets(p. 27)
• Market overviews(p. 27)
• A market in everything(p. 28)
• 3 The system's relationship with users(p. 30)
• 4 Demonstration: connected transactions--hiring a van and driver in GEMs(p. 33)
• A new world of work(p. 35)
• 5 Contractual chains(p. 39)
• More complex packages(p. 40)
• 6 Easy access to capital(p. 43)
• A flexible money market(p. 45)
• 7 Would populations start to use a GEMs system?(p. 47)
• Would sellers enter such a competitive marketplace?(p. 50)
• Notes to section one(p. 53)
• Section 2 A new democratic capitalism: the impact of public electronic markets(p. 55)
• 8 The effect of GEMs on business: a decline in big institutions(p. 57)
• 9 GEMs and employment: the rise of portfolio working(p. 63)
• A new market in local services(p. 70)
• The rise of sole traders(p. 71)
• Starting work in public electronic markets(p. 73)
• Training: out of the classroom into the community(p. 77)
• What impact would GEMs have on overall levels of work?(p. 79)
• 10 GEMs and society: new initiatives made easy(p. 81)
• A national parallel economy(p. 81)
• Community organisation(p. 85)
• Grass roots initiatives to replace government provision(p. 86)
• Social networks: using computers to increase human contact(p. 94)
• Universal legal services(p. 95)
• Electronic voting: 'participative democracy'(p. 96)
• User boycotts: forcing the supply chain(p. 100)
• 11 GEMs' impact on parliament: technologically literate politicians and small government(p. 102)
• Government control of a GEMs economy: precision and imagination required(p. 105)
• Tax and social policy(p. 106)
• Environmental policy(p. 109)
• People on benefits(p. 111)
• 12 A country with GEMs in a global economy: international advantage(p. 114)
• Notes to section two(p. 118)
• Section 3 The battle for public markets: electronic trade becomes politicised(p. 121)
• 13 Could there be a backlash against electronic shopping?(p. 125)
• The disproportionate benefits of online trade for large sellers(p. 125)
• Market force: the black arts available to online marketeers(p. 129)
• The potential impact of uncoordinated electronic commerce on society(p. 133)
• Government's response to maturing e-trade(p. 139)
• 14 How a government could instigate GEMs(p. 142)
• What do governments have to offer a winning consortium?(p. 143)
• What concessions might politicians extract from a winning consortium?(p. 145)
• 15 Opposition to public markets(p. 149)
• Points of opposition(p. 150)
• Likely tactics of the opposition(p. 156)
• 16 Which countries would have most to gain from a GEMs launch?(p. 160)
• Notes to section three(p. 165)
• Section 4 How might businesses respond to the rise of public electronic markets?(p. 169)
• 17 Innovation becomes decisive(p. 173)
• Constantly experiment with product range(p. 173)
• Consider expansion into previously unthinkable sectors(p. 179)
• Service industry innovation might acquire a new importance(p. 179)
• 18 Prepare to let go of customers(p. 181)
• 'Customer owning' would be an option, but would probably not be worthwhile(p. 181)
• Expect a rise in ideological customers(p. 182)
• 19 Exploit the flexibility now on offer(p. 183)
• Reassess the importance of a fixed supply chain(p. 183)
• Start rostering employees and assets on the system(p. 184)
• Be prepared for the business to erode to a core activity(p. 185)
• Notes to section four(p. 187)
• Conclusion: Electronic markets as a public utility(p. 189)
• Appendix 1 Principles governing GEMs(p. 192)
• Appendix 2 A business model for initiating GEMs(p. 209)
• Index(p. 237)