Benefits Of Self-Publishing

So you've just finished writing your first manuscript and you think it's ready for the world. Congratulations! Not many aspiring authors get to this point. Your next step now is to publish it. But you know how hard this part can be. There is too much competition from veteran writers and if it's your first time, there's a slim chance you'll get traditional publishers' nod. Even when you decide to hire an agent, it still won't be easy because even agents rarely work with first-time authors. So what seems to be the solution? Try self-publishing.

Publishing your own novel may not give you as much prestige as having a mainstream publisher take on your work, but it's a good start. A lot of these companies take notice of first-time writers after they've self-published good material. Besides, there are many advantages to self-publishing, including the following:

TIME

Benefits Of Self-Publishing

To put it simply, self-publishing will have your book printed fast. There are many self-publishing companies that allow you to do this. They will automatically upload your work online and it can take as little as a month and a half for it to reach retailers. This means you can have a clearer picture as to when you can expect your novel to be released. When you are writing something that is significantly related to a particular time of the year, such as the opening of another school year or the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, you know just how to set your schedule so that your work is released in perfect timing.

CONTROL

Obviously, when you self-publish your work, you only have yourself to make it better. No need to deal with publishing company editors who can practically manipulate your work according to how they see fit. They'll even get to decide what to put on your book cover. These may feel synonymous with giving up your full freedom as a literary artist. After all, the reason you write is because you have your own way of telling reality as you see it from your eyes, even when you've written fiction. To have someone else take that freedom away is defeating the essence of your artistry.

PROFIT

Remember that if a publishing company decides to publish your work, it's theirs and they'll only pay you about 10% in royalties from your book sales. And if you have an agent, that 10% will even be entirely yours. With self-publishing, everything your book earns is your own.

Benefits Of Self-Publishing
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Would you like to read an online romance novel? You can find inspiration for your romance book by visiting NowandForeverBooks.com.

Definition of Mass Media

According to YourDictionary.com, the definition of Mass Media is those means of communication that reach and influence large numbers of people, especially newspapers, popular magazines, radio, and television.

In my own personal estimation, Mass Media goes along with Information and Communication Technology in this day and age so as to mold a new-fangled way of life to the majority living in this global generation.

Mass Media are those media that are created to be consumed by immense number of population worldwide and also a direct contemporary instrument of mass communication.

Definition of Mass Media

Nonetheless, Mass Media is considered as the fourth estate of the society as well. It is the fourth branch of the government. The voice and weapon of the people and the society as whole.

Then again, by and large when we speak about Mass Media, we immediately perceive that these are communications media that reach the mass of people. From Audio recording and reproduction like records, tapes, cassettes, cartridges, CDs, to Broadcasting Media such as Radio, Television, Cable, to Film or Motion Pictures whether in Cinema or in DVDs, and the Digital Media, the Internet, Mobile Phones, Satellite, and ultimately the Publishing or Print Media which includes Books, Newspapers, Magazines and the run-of-the-mill marvelous Video games.

Needless to say, whatever we have in mind about Mass Media, on th whole, it is all about innovation and modernity that is continually evolving and producing ways to speed up the way humanity is subsisting.

On the whole, I consider the following as the various definitions of Mass Media. Hence, it is now your turn, I urge each and every one right now if what is your definition of Mass Media.

Speak your mind and spread the word!

Definition of Mass Media
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Francis Lloyd Sauza is blogger who loves music, arts, geography, history and communication. He likes surfing the web, writing, reading, singing, traveling, listening to music. He's also a Visual Artist and having his area of expertise in Computer Graphics Lay outing, Designing, and Painting, he truly love the outdoors.

Using the Five Senses to Enhance Your Writing

Sight

This is the one sense that provides most of the detail for our stories. Our words become our readers' eyes, giving us a blank canvas upon which to paint a picture to tell our story. From the sight of a common fear, such as a spider creeping silently along the floor to the glimpse of a shadow on the stairway... sight is our greatest source of horror inspiration and description. When describing the sight of something terrifying there's a huge resource at the writer's disposal, because we can use our other senses to add glorious, gory detail to our descriptions. Here's an example of how all five of our senses can be used to describe a simple scene:

The apple was bright green, its skin polished and shining as it nestled in the fruit bowl (sight). The scent was fresh, as though the fruit had just been plucked from the tree (smell). She took it from the bowl, her fingers closing around the firm smooth skin (touch) as she lifted it to her lips. The apple crunched loudly (sound) as her teeth cut through the skin into the tart, juicy flesh (taste). As the fresh juice ran down her throat she noticed a small black speck moving slowly in the creamy flesh. Closer inspection revealed that she hadn't just taken a bite from the apple - she'd bitten through a fat, juicy worm.

Using the Five Senses to Enhance Your Writing

Sound

Remember when you were a small child, and your parents put you to bed? Perhaps there was no nightlight, and the TV room was at the other end of the house...

You're lying in your bed. All alone. Desperately waiting for your eyes to accustom to the dark you hear it - a soft, scratching noise - and it seems to be coming from under the bed. It lasts only a moment before it stops. You wonder if you were hearing things, and you're so desperate for the darkness to lighten you forget to blink. The blackness seems to swirl around you, cloaking you in a thick, black fog through which no light can penetrate. Suddenly it's there again, only this time the scratching seems closer. And louder. It seems to last a bit longer this time. So you hold your breath, because that darkness doesn't seem to be lifting. You've lost the sense of sight, so by not breathing you hope to hear the sound more clearly, and identify its location...

The description above relies on the complete absence of the sense of sight. This is where fear comes in and can play a major descriptive role - in this case blind fear. To compensate for loss of sight the sense of hearing becomes more acute, so the writer can introduce other horror-inducing thoughts and impressions. Where is the sound coming from? How close is it? Will I be able to feel it if it decides to climb on the bed? When will my eyes get used to the darkness? Should I start panicking now? If I get out of bed will it jump on top of me?

Touch

This sense conjures up description of things most us will probably try to never touch, like slime, frogs and warty skin. All these items are perfect for the horror/scary genre, but writers can also take the more ordinary touch phobias and use those items to horrific effect. Some people cannot bear to touch velvet, while others are terrified of touching paper. Still others find their skin crawls when they encounter cotton wool...

Opening the wooden box in the hotel bathroom, she recoiled in horror. Nestling quietly in the bottom of the box, white and shining, was a cluster of cotton wall balls. She stepped back, collapsing on the side of the bath. The mere thought of feeling those soft fibres squeaking as the ball pressed against her skin was enough to induce goosebumps. She wrapped her arms around herself in a subconscious effort to protect her body from the fear she'd had her entire life. Just thinking about cotton balls made her skin crawl. She moaned quietly, remembering the silent noise they emitted when squeezed; a noise that seemed to pass right through her skin. Through her panic she wondered if she'd remember to pack her facial sponges...

Descriptions of this particular sense can been embellished with the use of physical reactions to feeling certain items; goosebumps, stepping away from the source of horror, collapsing with fear, subconscious act of defence (hugging the body) and a noise of fear (moaning). All these reactions add to the reader's imagination, while adding to the picture your words are "painting".

Smell

Bad smells in the horror/scary genre usually mean something bad is about to happen or has already happened. The smell of rotting or burning flesh is probably the most common description applicable to this genre, and the description of the smell can also be used to indicate how the death occurred. Bad household smells range from two week old pizza languishing in the refrigerator to potatoes burning in a pot on the stove. Adjectives include: smelly, reeking, fetid, malodorous, rank, putrid and noxious.

As she applied the finishing touches to the client's hair, a sharp smell suddenly assaulted her nostrils. It was a smell she hated and dreaded, because it was an odour so terrible the memory remained burned into the subconscious forever. She froze as the acrid stench filled the air, assaulting her nostrils and her throat with its foul flavour. An instant later her salon filled with gasps and shrieks of horror. She turned towards the three ladies seated underneath the dryers. Mrs Hamilton and Mrs Edgar had managed to wriggle out from underneath their dryers, but poor Mrs Smith was unable to move. One of the pins from her rollers had obviously caught in the dryer, and ignited her hair. Smoke was seeping out of the top of the machine, which had started to spark. Placing her hand over her mouth and nose in a attempt to banish the malodorous scent she started to move towards Mrs Smith, who screamed as flames began flickering out of the dryer..."

Taste

Most, if not all of us, have an aversion to a certain food. We don't like to eat it and the taste of it makes us feel sick. Perhaps the mere thought of tasting it is enough to induce some horrible thoughts and feelings.

The candlelight caught the designs on the wineglass, casting a dark crimson glow on the table. He lifted the glass to his lips, the rich musky flavour of the cabernet sauvignon still drifting over his taste buds. At the first sip of the wine he almost choked. There was obviously something wrong with this new bottle of wine, for the liquid in his mouth had a bitter, sour taste. Although the consistency was the same as the previous glass, there was an acidic flavour he could not identify... although it seemed vaguely familiar. He swirled the liquid around in his mouth before swallowing it. It seemed to sting his tongue and burn the roof of his mouth, and when he swallowed the acrid liquid his throat tingled. Suppressing the urge to cough he reached for the glass of water next to his plate and took a sip. As the cool water cleansed the tart taste from his palate his hostess lifted the bottle he'd used to fill his wineglass... and poured balsamic vinegar over her plate of salad.

Writers have a magnitude of adjectives at their disposal when describing the horror of tasting unappetising food. These include: pungent, sour, acrid, bitter, fetid, stinking, putrid, decaying, rancid, reek, stale and bad.

Real life can be far more fascinating than fiction, and using our senses in our writing proves this truth. So the next time you sit down in front of your keyboard tap in to those five senses, and see just how they can colour your words!

Using the Five Senses to Enhance Your Writing
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The writer was born in Africa, and lived there for the first 38 years of her life. She worked in the world of public relations for over five years, running her own PR company and dealing extensively with the world of journalism and the print media. She is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/, a site for Writers. Her blog can be visited at: http://www.writing.com/authors/zwisis/blog

Self-Publishing - Publish a Book Today

Why Self-Publishing?

The obvious reasons would be that its fast easy to do and very cheap. Anyone trying to publish using a big publishing company will see that it not only takes time and money to get a deal up and running, you need more than basic knowledge of the business and its rules and regulations. Leaving a publishing deal with a big publisher feeling unsatisfied is something a lot of wannabe authors have experienced.

So, instead of taking the step into the shadows of real publishing, you choose the option of self-publish your new masterpiece. You'll get all the numbers up front and have a complete control of what happens, pricing, where to sell and the book itself. You can of course get professional help with anything involved in the self-publishing deal if you need to, but that will of course add some costs to your publishing adventure.

Self-Publishing - Publish a Book Today

Become a Self-publishing Bestseller

You dream about becoming the next big, bestselling author around the world and happily self-publish your new 98page book about cactus smoothies. Soon after the release of your book to the world market you sit by your computer, late at night with all the lights out in your house, your family in bed sleeping and only the flickering light of the screen playing over your sad face as you check the sales stats showing no sales of your book.

A lot of people jump into self-publishing with the hopes and dreams of becoming the new Stephen King, only to find that the real world is much harder than they thought. Just because you can publish a book, offer it to almost every living soul on the internet, doesn't mean you will sell any copies of it. Having this in mind can make your publishing less painful.

What can Self-Publishing Do for You?

Once you have published your book you can of course call yourself published author. Technically this is correct but the term published author used by self-publishers is something frowned upon by "real published authors" having their printed books published through a publisher. This doesn't mean you can't say it!

Book quality is something some may care about and others not. If you're going for a published book and nothing more, take some written material you may already have and string your texts together using a program like OpenOffice. Once you have enough pages just slap an image of a cat on the front, give it a name, save it as a PDF and your ready to publish. No one will like the book and it will look like something the cat dragged in. This type of self published books only results in your name and reputation being connected with low quality work, and that is not a good thing.

My advice is without any doubt that you should put in some good hours of work, at least trying to create something useful. You might not have the best book out there nor the most innovative but if you at least format it well, create a table of contents, fabricate a good front page and do it all with some sense of criticism of what you're doing, you'll at least end up with a book readers can see you cared enough about to put in some work.

The best is of course if you can go all the way. Come up with a good idea, do research, plan the book, gather material, write and format and keep the quality up all the way through.

How to do Self-Publishing?

There are a number of sites online specializing in self-publishing. They offer you all the services you may need and can take care of your every need. Self-publish using them is so easy that anyone can do it in a matter of hours from deciding to try it out.

My advice is for you to take the step and see how it's done. You may find that it's even easier than you thought. And hey, who doesn't want to call themselves, a published author!

Self-Publishing - Publish a Book Today
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Kenth "The Designer" Nasstrom, Sweden
Visit the site Free Newsletter Templates for more information about Newsletter Creation in general and how to self-publish your books.

Publishing Scams: Six Red Flags That Scream "Rip Off"

It's heartbreaking. You go to a local fair and there at the author's table is a row of smiling hopefuls, eager to sell their books. A few are beautiful books, either self-published or produced by traditional publishers. But so many are poorly written, poorly produced, with amateurish covers and cheap bindings. The author's smiles are wearing thin as they realize that the world isn't flocking to buy their books, and they're just beginning to wonder if there's something wrong with this picture.

Score another for the vanity presses. The poor authors, with no knowledge of the business end of publishing, have been snookered out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars and now have cases of unmarketable books serving as very expensive doorstops.

In these days of POD (publish-on-demand) technology, the vanity presses may promise to ship the books when they are ordered, which at least relieves the author of having to warehouse the books. But the vanities still charge large amounts of money and the author is still left with an empty bank account and shattered dreams.

Publishing Scams: Six Red Flags That Scream "Rip Off"

Or worse. Some scammers take money from hopeful authors and deliver nothing at all.

The good news is that with a little knowledge, it isn't too hard to spot a scam. Here are some obvious red flags to look for:

Red Flag #1: "We'll publish your book for ONLY 5!"

Remember this one rule above all: legitimate publishers pay YOU for the rights to publish your book. You should never have to pay anyone to publish your work unless you choose to self-publish.

To get a book published, you have to write the very best book you can. You must study the market, and use a current market guide to select the most appropriate publisher. You submit your manuscript using a standard manuscript format, which is described in most good books on writing and publishing. While you wait for a reply, you go to work on your next project. If a publisher is interested, an editor will contact you and make an offer. The publisher will pay you an advance against royalties, and once the advance is earned back, you will earn royalties on further sales. You or your agent may also sell other subsidiary rights, such as foreign translation rights or movie rights. Chances are high, however, that your manuscript will be rejected. If that happens you select the next publisher on your list and send the manuscript there, then go back to work on your next project.

If you want to self-publish, the best way to go about it is to create your own small publishing company. You give your company a name, you choose a good printing service, you buy the ISBN number and file for copyright. If you pay for "publishing," but the book bears the imprint of another publisher, that company is a vanity publisher. A good printing service will encourage you to use your own imprint. You have a much better chance of getting a distributor to carry your books if you use your own imprint. Most distributors steer clear of vanity publishers.

If you want only a few copies, such as a memoir meant only for family, look for a good book binding service.

Red Flag #2: "Authors wanted by major publisher!"

No legitimate publisher ever has to advertise for authors. All major publishers have gigantic slush piles stacked high with far more manuscripts than they will ever be able to use, most of which are of poor quality. If you see an ad in the back of a magazine that offers to "publish" your book, or suggests that they "need" authors, chances are high that it is a vanity press.

Red Flag #3: "We know the secret for instant success!"

There is no "instant success" in the publishing world. Most famous authors worked hard for years to become an "overnight success." Sometimes a lucky break will propel a new author to the top of the bestseller list, but remember, their story is just one out of millions. Most authors never get that kind of fame. If the opening page of the site talks about how your book could be a best-seller, be cautious. Real publishers don't make those kinds of promises, because they know the reality of the publishing business.

Red Flag #4: "Traditional publishing is dead/a rip-off/not worth your time."

A publishing company that disparages traditional publishing is almost certainly either a vanity publisher or an outright scam. What they are disparaging are long-established honest businesses that carefully select the manuscripts that are most likely to sell and pay the authors for the rights to publish these works.

Red Flag #5: "We'll list your books on Amazon.com!"

Getting your book listed on Amazon.com is as easy as going online and filling out a form. Anyone can do it. And a listing on Amazon isn't a guaranteed path to success. Even in this day and age of online commerce, something less than 10% of all books sold are sold online. The vast majority of books are sold through bricks-and-mortar bookstores. While you may possibly be able to talk your local bookstores into carrying your self-published book, the only way to get it into bookstores across the nation is by getting a distributor to carry it. That can be expensive (which is one reason that the vanities don't bother with distribution), and distributors won't touch vanity books (which is the other reason). Distributors and bookstores also don't like POD (publish on demand) books, because they can't be returned if they don't sell. Booksellers, unlike most businesses, expect to be able to return or destroy unsold books and get their money back. It sounds crazy to other businesses, but that's how it is. If the publisher can't offer distribution services to get your book into bookstores, it's not a publisher that will serve you well.

Red Flag #6: Bad review on Preditors and Editors and Writer Beware

Yes, it's really spelled that way, for alliterative purposes. Preditors and Editors is a website chock full of scam warnings and wise advice to writers. Writer Beware, on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website, has a list of current scam alerts. Both are useful when researching a potential publisher. If any publisher disparages either of these sites, beware!

If you can spot these red flags, you can avoid most publishing scams. The best way to protect yourself, though, is to educate yourself about the publishing industry. Read as many books on writing and publishing as you can get your hands on. Find out how the industry works, and find out how to market your work in the genre you are writing for. Stay abreast of industry trends by reading Publisher's Weekly or visiting their website. With a little education, you can help put the scammers out of business.

Publishing Scams: Six Red Flags That Scream "Rip Off"
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Karen E. Bledsoe is a children's book author, and has written many books for the school and library market. For more information on writing for children, see her website at http://www.gkbledsoe.com

The Three Top Abdominal Exercises for Women

Everyone admires beautiful abs. Women and men alike consider ab exercises to be some of the toughest exercises of all. However, this is not true. Abdominal exercise can be easier than you think. Both the upper and lower abdominal muscles need to be worked to get the best overall look and strength. There are a variety of crunch positions that will work but here are three of the best ab exercises for women who want to get great results.

Exercise ball crunches - This is a good one if you are just starting to exercise.

- Step 1 - Sit on the ball and place your hands on the back of your head and walk your legs out lowering your body on to the ball until your upper back and shoulders are all that remain on top of the ball. Legs should be shoulder width apart.

The Three Top Abdominal Exercises for Women

- Step 2 - Lift your pelvic to straighten your lower back and tighten your buttocks and contract the abdomen muscles.

- Steps 3 - Keeping your elbows pointing out to the side slowly raise the shoulders slightly being careful not to pull the neck. You should feel the crunch in the abdominals; the thighs and buttock muscles will be working too.

- Step 4 - Hold the position for a moment then slowly lower the shoulders to the ball and repeat for as many times as you can perform the exercise without straining.

Rest for 30 seconds or less between sets. Do 2 or 3 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions every other day.

Floor bicycle movement - This exercise does not require any equipment.

- Step 1 - Lie on your back with your hands behind your head and legs straight out.

- Step 2 - Contract your abdomen muscles and lift one leg bending your knee while raising your shoulders slightly off the floor without pulling your neck.

- Step 3 - Bring your elbow and knee together bending so that the elbow and knee just touch.

- Step 4 - Lower and then change sides so the alternate legs in a bicycle movement touching knee to elbow. Repeat.

Move through the positions slowly. You can vary this ab exercise by bringing the knee and elbow of the opposite sides together requiring the upper body to turn slightly from side to side. This maneuver is very effective and works the oblique as well as both the upper and lower abdominals.

Hanging Knee Raises - This is a most effective exercise but needs gym equipment (Captain's Chair. )

- Step 1 - The body is held upright by the arms resting on padded arm bars with the feet handing down. The lower back is straight and supported by a back rest.

- Step 2 - Contract the abdominal muscles and lift both knees slowly up toward the chest,

- Step 3 - Pause and then slowly lower the legs back down to the starting position. The muscles are constantly contracted throughout the exercise.

This abdominal workout is the most effective because it works both the upper and lower abs, back and arm muscles for an overall core strengthening exercise.

The Best Results

It's not enough to just focus on doing abdominal exercise. For women especially, - you can have rock hard abdominal muscles, but if there is body fat covering them you won't be able to see them. To make these exercises not only pay off but really show off you need to consider the following;

- Eating a well balanced diet low in saturated fats

- Doing a cardio or Aerobic warm-up before a workout

- Stretching both before and after exercise for increased flexibility

- Making regular exercise part of your lifestyle

Diet Is Important

Pay attention to what you eat and when you eat. It is as important as exercising if you want to lose weight or maintain an ideal body weight. If you want results you have to do the things that are needed to get the results. It is as simple as that. Once you get started in any exercise program it will become second nature and a part of your everyday routine. So suck in that stomach and get the beautiful abs you always wanted.

Watch The Videos...

The Three Top Abdominal Exercises for Women
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You can see the videos of these ab exercises at Best Abdominal Exercises

Deborah is a partner and co-author of Ipcor Publishing and Personal Logs.com. She is publisher of the website Get In Shape

Ford Motor Company - Case Study

Background (General Facts)

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

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

Ford Motor Company - Case Study

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

Enterprise Architecture Issues

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

Infrastructure Upgrade

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

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

Web Technologies

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

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

Knowledge Management

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

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

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

Business Re-engineering

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

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

Supply chain management

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

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

Conclusions

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

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

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

Recommendations

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

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

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

The History of Body Piercings - Ancient and Fascinating Around the World

Body piercings have seen a resurgence of interest in the last ten to twenty years and are becoming more and more a part of the mainstream Western culture. Take a look at any fashion or entertainment magazine and you'll see plenty of well-known celebrities with body piercings like navel rings or a labret. You might be surprised to find out that piercing is actually an ancient form of expression that most cultures have practiced at some time or other for thousands of years. Egyptian body piercings reflected status and love of beauty The earliest known mummified remains of a human that was pierced is over 5,000 years old. This worthy gentleman had his ears pierced with larger-gauge plugs in his ears, so plugs may be one of the oldest forms of body modification there is! We also know that the Egyptians loved to adorn themselves elaborately, and even restricted certain types of body piercings to the royal family. In fact, only pharaoh himself could have his navel pierced. Any one else who tried to get a belly button ring could be executed. (Tell that to Britney Spears!) Almost every well-to-do Egyptian wore earrings, though, to display their wealth and accent their beauty. Elaborate enameled and gold earrings frequently portrayed items in nature such as lotus blossoms. Body piercings are also mentioned in the Bible. In the Old Testament it's obvious that body jewelry is considered a mark of beauty and wealth, especially for Bedouin and nomadic tribes. In many cases, body jewelry was given as a bridal gift or as part of a dowry. It is clear that piercing was a sign of status and attractiveness in Biblical times. Romans were practical piercers Romans were very practical people, and for them piercing almost always served a purpose. Roman centurions pierced their nipples not because they liked the way it looked, but to signify their strength and virility. It was a badge of honor that demonstrated the centurion's dedication to the Roman Empire. As a symbol, it was important and served a specific function, unifying and bonding the army. Even Julius Caesar pierced his nipples to show his strength and his identification with his men. Genital piercing through the head of the penis was performed on gladiators, who were almost always slaves, for two reasons. A ring through the head of the penis could be used to tie the organ back to the testicles with a length of leather. In gladiatorial combat, this prevented serious injury. With a large enough ring or bar, it also prevented the slave from having sex without the owner's consent. Since the gladiator was "property," a stud fee could be charged to another slave owner for the highly prized opportunity to raise the next generation of great fighter. Making love or war, piercing makes it better Going across the ocean at around the same time, the Aztecs, Maya and some American Indians practiced tongue piercing as part of their religious rituals. It was thought to bring them closer to their gods and was a type of ritual blood-letting. The Aztec and Maya were warrior tribes, and also practiced septum piercing in order to appear fiercer to their enemies. Nothing looks quite as frightening as an opponent sporting a huge boar tusk thrust through his nose!

This practice was also common among tribes in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Some of the materials commonly used were bone, tusks and feathers. Hundreds of years later, French fur trappers in Washington State discovered American Indian tribes who wore bones through their septum and called them the Nez Perce, meaning "Pierced Noses" in French. It's interesting that civilizations separated by thousands of miles and even centuries often developed a love for the same kind of body piercings to enhance certain features, isn't it?

In Central and South America, lip labrets were popular for purely aesthetic reasons - women with pierced lips were considered more attractive. In fact, the holes were often stretched to incredible size as progressively larger wooden plates were inserted to emphasize the lips as much as possible. (Kind of like collagen today). The Aztecs and Maya also sported lip labrets of gold and jade, many of them elaborately carved into mythical or religious figures or sporting gemstones. These were seen as highly attractive and to enhance sexuality. As the world moved into the dark ages, interest in piercing died down somewhat and the medieval church began to condemn it as sinful. For a few hundred years, Western civilization abandoned the practice. As the Renaissance went into full swing, however, interest in piercing began to pick up again. A new era and a new interest in body piercings Sailors became convinced that piercing one ear would improve their long-distance site, and so the site of a sailor with a gold or brass ring became common. Word also spread that should a sailor be washed ashore after a shipwreck, the finder should keep the gold ring in exchange for providing a proper Christian burial. Sailors were both religious and superstitious, so they generally spent a lot for a large gold earring to hedge their bets. Men became much more fashion-conscious during the Renaissance and Elizabethan eras, and almost any male member of the nobility would have at least one earring, if not more. Large pearl drops and enormous diamond studs were a great way to advertise your wealth and standing in the community. It could also designate royal favor if your earring was a gift from a member of the royal family. Women, not wanting to be outshone by the men in all their finery, began to wear plunging necklines, with the Queen of Bavaria introducing the most outrageous, which consisted of not much at all above the waist. In order to adorn themselves, women began piercing their nipples to show off their jewelry. Soon they began wearing chains and even strands of pearls draped between the two.

The History of Body Piercings - Ancient and Fascinating Around the World

Men and women both discovered that these nipple piercings were also delightful playthings in bed, adding sensitivity to the breasts and giving the men both visual and tactile stimulation. Men began getting pierced purely for pleasure as well. While not entirely mainstream, piercing of the nipples and, occasionally, the genitals, continued to hold interest for members of the upper crust of society in Europe on and off for the next few hundred years. The next resurgence of interest was, surprisingly, during the Victorian age, which is usually seen as very repressed. Prince Albert, future husband of Queen Victoria, is said to have gotten the penis piercing that is named after him in order wear the tight-fitting trousers so popular at the time. The ring could then be attached to a hook on the inside of one pant leg, tucked safely away between the legs for a neat, trim look. Although we have no record of Victoria's response to the piercing itself, there is ample evidence she was wildly in love with her husband and almost never left his side after their marriage! Soon, Victorian men were getting Prince Albert's, frenums and a variety of other piercings purely for the pleasurable sexual effects, and women were doing the same. By the 1890's, it was almost expected that a woman would have her nipples pierced. In fact, some doctors at the time suggested it improved conditions for breastfeeding, although not all agreed. It was an interesting double standard -- plenty of people were doing it, but no one was talking about it. Modern-day body piercings In the last hundred years or so, body piercings in the Western world have mostly been limited to the ears, a standard hold-over from the fact that both men and women wore earrings during Elizabethan times. The Puritan movement did away with men wearing earrings, however, and it didn't really regain popularity until recently. Nose rings found new interest when young people (they were called hippies then) from the U.S. began traveling in India extensively looking for enlightenment in the 1960's. They noticed the nostril rings that most women had been wearing there since the sixteenth century. In India, this was a form of traditional, accepted adornment and was often linked to an earring by a chain. For rebellious teens from America, it was a great form of rebellion. After bringing nose piercings back to the U.S., the interest in body piercings of all kinds quickly caught on during the 1980's and 1990's. Celebrities, sports stars and singers all began sporting a variety of piercings. Soon, high school students and even stay-at-home moms were flashing new body piercings. And the rest, as they say, is history! This article on the "History of Body Piercings" reprinted with permission.
Copyright 2004 Evaluseek Publishing.

The History of Body Piercings - Ancient and Fascinating Around the World
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About the Author:
Lori Wilkerson is a full-time freelance writer who loves her work because it gives her the opportunity to learn more about the world every day. Right now, she knows a little bit about almost everything, and a lot about body jewelry, belly button rings and tongue rings. She has two dogs who are spoiled and one teenager who is not.

Due Diligence Checklists - For Commercial Real Estate Transactions

Planning to purchase or finance Commercial or Industrial Real Estate? Shopping Center? Office Building? Restaurant/Banquet property? Parking Lot? Storefront? Gas Station? Manufacturing facility? Warehouse? Logistics Terminal? Medical Building? Nursing Home? Hotel/Motel? Pharmacy? Bank facility? Sports and Entertainment Arena? Other?

A KEY to investing in commercial real estate is performing an adequate Due Diligence Investigation to assure you know all material facts to make a wise investment decision and to calculate your expected investment yield.

The following checklists are designed to help you conduct a focused and meaningful Due Diligence Investigation.

Due Diligence Checklists - For Commercial Real Estate Transactions

Basic Due Diligence Concepts:

Commercial Real Estate transactions are NOT similar to large home purchases.

Caveat Emptor: Let the Buyer beware.

Consumer protection laws applicable to home purchases seldom apply to commercial real estate transactions. The rule that a Buyer must examine, judge, and test for himself, applies to the purchase of commercial real estate.

Due Diligence: "Such a measure of prudence, activity, or assiduity, as is proper to be expected from, and ordinarily exercised by, a reasonable and prudent [person] under the particular circumstances; not measured by any absolute standard, but depending upon the relative facts of the special case." Black's Law Dictionary; West Publishing Company.

Contractual representations and warranties are NOT a substitute for Due Diligence.

Breach of representations and warranties = Litigation, time and money.

WHAT DILIGENCE IS DUE?

The scope, intensity and focus of any due diligence investigation of commercial or industrial real estate depends upon the objectives of the party for whom the investigation is conducted. These objectives may vary depending upon whether the investigation is conducted for the benefit of (i) a Strategic Buyer (or long-term lessee); (ii) a Financial Buyer; (iii) a Developer; or (iv) a Lender.

If you are a Seller, understand that to close the transaction your Buyer (and its Lender) must address all issues material to its objective - some of which require information only you, as Owner, can adequately provide.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:

(i) A "Strategic Buyer" (or long-term lessee) is acquiring the property for its own use and must verify that the property is suitable for that intended use.

(ii) A "Financial Buyer" is acquiring the property for the expected return on investment generated by the property's income stream, and must determine the amount, velocity and durability of the revenue stream. A sophisticated Financial Buyer will likely calculate its yield based upon discounted cash-flows rather than the must less precise capitalization rate ("cap rate"), and will need adequate financial information to do so.

(iii) A "Developer" is seeking to add value by changing the character or use of the property - usually with a short-term to intermediate-term exit strategy to dispose of the property; although, a Developer might plan to hold the property long term as Financial Buyer after development or redevelopment. The Developer must focus on whether the planned change is character or use can be accomplished in a cost-effective manner. A developer conducting due diligence will focus on issues involving market demand, access, use and finances.

(iv) A "Lender" is seeking to establish two basic lending criteria:

1. "Ability to Repay" - The ability of the property to generate sufficient revenue to repay the loan on a timely basis; and

2. "Sufficiency of Collateral" - The objective disposal value of the collateral in the event of a loan default, to assure adequate funds to repay the loan, carrying costs and costs of collection in the event forced collection becomes necessary.

The amount of diligent inquiry due to be expended (i.e. "Due Diligence") to investigate any particular commercial or industrial real estate project is the amount of inquiry required to answer each of the following questions to the extent relevant to the objectives of the party conducting the investigation:

I. THE PROPERTY:

1. Exactly what PROPERTY does Purchaser believe it is acquiring?

(a) Land?

(b) Building?

(c) Fixtures?

(d) Other Improvements?

(e) Other Rights?

(f) The entire fee title interest including all air rights and subterranean rights?

(g) All development rights?

2. What is Purchaser's planned use of the Property?

3. Does the physical condition of the Property permit use as planned?

(a) Commercially adequate access to public streets and ways?

(b) Sufficient parking?

(c) Structural condition of improvements?

(d) Environmental contamination?

(i) Innocent Purchaser defense vs. exemption from liability

(ii) All Appropriate Inquiry

4. Is there any legal restriction to Purchaser's use of the Property as planned?

(a) Zoning?

(b) Private land use controls?

(c) Americans with Disabilities Act?

(d) Availability of licenses?

(i) Liquor license?

(ii) Entertainment license?

(iii) Outdoor dining license?

(iv) Drive through windows permitted?

(e) Other impediments?

5. How much does Purchaser expect to pay for the property?

6. Is there any condition on or within the Property that is likely to increase Purchaser's effective cost to acquire or use the Property?

(a) Property owner's assessments?

(b) Real estate tax in line with value?

(c) Special Assessment?

(d) Required user fees for necessary amenities?

(i) Drainage?

(ii) Access?

(iii) Parking?

(iv) Other?

7. Any encroachments onto the Property, or from the Property onto other lands?

8. Are there any encumbrances on the Property that will not be cleared at Closing?

(a) Easements?

(b) Covenants Running with the Land?

(c) Liens or other financial servitudes?

(d) Leases?

9. Leases?

(a) Security Deposits?

(b) Options to Extend Term?

(c) Options to Purchase?

(d) Rights of First Refusal?

(e) Rights of First Offer?

(f) Maintenance Obligations?

(g) Duty on Landlord to provide utilities?

(h) Real estate tax or CAM escrows?

(i) Delinquent rent?

(j) Pre-Paid rent?

(k) Tenant mix/use controls?

(l) Tenant exclusives?

(m) Tenant parking requirements?

(n) Automatic subordination of Lease to future mortgages?

(o) Other material Lease terms?

10. New Construction?

(a) Availability of construction permits?

(b) Utilities?

(c) NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Permit?

(i) Phase 2 effective March 2003 - Permit required if earth is disturbed on one acre or more of land.

(ii) If applicable, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) is required.

II. THE SELLER:

1. Who is the Seller?

(a) Individual?

(b) Trust?

(c) Partnership?

(d) Corporation?

(e) Limited Liability Company?

(f) Other legally existing entity?

2. If other than natural person, does Seller validly exist and is Seller in good standing?

3. Does the Seller own the Property?

4. Does Seller have authority to convey the Property?

(a) Board of Director Approvals?

(b) Shareholder or Member approval?

(c) Other consents?

(d) If foreign individual or entity, are any special requirements applicable?

(i) Qualification to do business in jurisdiction of Property?

(ii) Federal Tax Withholding?

(iii) US Patriot Act compliance?

5. Who has authority to bind Seller?

6. Are sale proceeds sufficient to pay off all liens?

III. THE PURCHASER:

1. Who is the Purchaser?

2. What is the Purchaser/Grantee's exact legal name?

3. If Purchaser/Grantee is an entity, has it been validly created and is it in good standing?

(a) Articles or Incorporation - Articles of Organization

(b) Certificate of Good Standing

4. Is Purchaser/Grantee authorized to own and operate the Property and, if applicable, finance acquisition of the Property?

(a) Board of Director Approvals?

(b) Shareholder or Member approval?

(c) If foreign individual or entity, are any special requirements applicable?

(i) Qualification to do business in jurisdiction of the Property?

(ii) US Patriot Act compliance?

(iii) Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering compliance?

5. Who is authorized to bind the Purchaser/Grantee?

IV. PURCHASER FINANCING:

A. BUSINESS TERMS OF THE LOAN:

What loan terms have the Purchaser, as Borrower, and its Lender agreed to?

(a) What is the amount of the loan?

(b) What is the interest rate?

(c) What are the repayment terms?

(d) What is the collateral?

(i) Commercial real estate only?

(ii) Real estate and personal property together?

(e) First lien? A junior lien?

(f) Is it a single advance loan?

(g) A multiple advance loan?

(h) A construction loan?

(i) If it is a multiple advance loan, can the principal be re-borrowed once repaid prior to maturity of the loan; making it, in effect, a revolving line of credit?

(j) Are there reserve requirements?

(i) Interest reserves?

(ii) Repair reserves?

(iii) Real estate tax reserves?

(iv) Insurance reserves?

(v) Environmental remediation reserves?

(vi) Other reserves?

(k) Are there requirements for Borrower to open business operating accounts with the Lender? If so, is the Borrower obligated to maintain minimum compensating balances?

(l) Is the Borrower required to pledge business accounts as additional collateral?

(m) Are there early repayment fees or yield maintenance requirements (each sometimes referred to as "pre-payment penalties")?

(n) Are there repayment blackout periods during which Borrower is not permitted to repay the loan?

(o) Is there a Loan Commitment fee or "good faith deposit" due upon Borrower's acceptance of the Loan Commitment?

(p) Is there a loan funding fee or loan brokerage fee or other loan fee due Lender or a loan broker at closing?

(q) What are the Borrower's expense reimbursement obligations to Lender? When are they due? What is the Borrower's obligation to pay Lender's expenses if the loan does not close?

B. DOCUMENTING THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LOAN

Does Purchaser have all information necessary to comply with the Lender's loan closing requirements?

Not all loan documentation requirements may be known at the outset of a transaction, although most commercial real estate loan documentation requirements are fairly typical. Some required information can be obtained only from the Seller. Production of that information to Purchaser for delivery to its lender must be required in the purchase contract.

As guidance to what a commercial real estate lender may require, the following sets forth a typical Closing Checklist for a loan secured by commercial real estate.

Commercial Real Estate Loan Closing Checklist

1. Promissory Note

2. Personal Guaranties (which may be full, partial, secured, unsecured, payment guaranties, collection guaranties or a variety of other types of guarantees as may be required by Lender).

3. Loan Agreement (often incorporated into the Promissory Note and/or Mortgage in lieu of being a separate document)

4. Mortgage [sometimes expanded to be a Mortgage, Security Agreement and Fixture Filing]

5. Assignment of Rents and Leases

6. Security Agreement

7. Financing Statement (sometimes referred to as a "UCC-1", or "Initial Filing")

8. Evidence of Borrower's Existence In Good Standing; including

(a) Certified copy of organizational documents of borrowing entity (including Articles of Incorporation, if Borrower is a corporation; Articles of Organization and written Operating Agreement, if Borrower is a limited liability company; Certified copy of trust agreement with all amendments, if Borrower is a land trust or other trust; etc.)

(b) Certificate of Good Standing (if a corporation or LLC) or Certificate of Existence (if a limited partnership) or Certificate of Qualification to Transact Business (if Borrower is an entity doing business in a State other than its State of formation)

9. Evidence of Borrower's Authority to Borrow; including

(a) a Borrower's Certificate;

(b) Certified Resolutions

(c) Incumbency Certificate

10. Satisfactory Commitment for Title Insurance (which will typically require, for analysis by the Lender, copies of all documents of record appearing on Schedule B of the title commitment which are to remain after closing), with required commercial title insurance endorsements, often including:

(a) When available, Affirmative Creditors Rights Endorsement (extending coverage over policy exclusion 7 and policy exclusions 3(a) and 3(d) as they relate to creditor's rights matters)

(b) ALTA 3.1 Zoning Endorsement modified to include parking

(c) ALTA Comprehensive Endorsement 1

(d) Location Endorsement (street address)

(e) Access Endorsement (vehicular access to public streets and ways)

(f) Contiguity Endorsement (the insured land comprises a single parcel with no gaps or gores)

(g) PIN Endorsement (insuring that the identified real estate tax permanent index numbers are the only applicable PIN numbers affecting the collateral and that they relate solely to the real property comprising the collateral)

(h) Usury Endorsement (insuring that the loan does not violate any prohibitions against excessive interest charges)

(i) other title insurance endorsements applicable to protect the intended use and value of the collateral, as may be determined upon review of the Commitment for Title Insurance and Survey or arising from the existence of special issues pertaining to the transaction or the Borrower.

11. Current ALTA Survey (3 sets), [typically prepared in accordance with 2011 Minimum Standard Detail for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys, certified to the lender, Buyer and the title insurer.

12. Current Rent Roll

13. Certified copy of all Leases (3 sets)

14. Lessee Estoppel Certificates

15. Lessee Subordination, Non-Disturbance and Attornment Agreements [sometimes referred to simply as "SNDAs"].

16. UCC, Judgment, Pending Litigation, Bankruptcy and Tax Lien Search Report

17. Appraisal (must comply with Title XI of FIRREA (Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, as amended)

18. Environmental Site Assessment Report (sometimes referred to as Environmental Phase I and/or Phase 2 Audit Reports)

19. Environmental Indemnity Agreement (signed by Borrower and guarantors)

20. Site Improvements Inspection Report

21. Evidence of Hazard Insurance naming Lender as the Mortgagee/Lender Loss Payee; and Liability Insurance naming Lender as an "additional insured" (sometimes listed as simply "Acord 27 and Acord 25, respectively)

22. Legal Opinion of Borrower's Attorney

23. Credit Underwriting documents, such as signed tax returns, property operating statements, etc. as may be specified by Lender

24. Compliance Agreement (sometimes also called an Errors and Omissions Agreement), whereby the Borrower agrees to correct, after closing, errors or omissions in loan documentation.

It is useful to become familiar with the Lender's loan documentation requirements as early in the transaction as practical. The requirements will likely be set forth with some detail in the lender's Loan Commitment - which is typically much more detailed than most loan commitments issued in residential transactions.

Conducting the Due Diligence Investigation in a commercial real estate transaction can be time consuming and expensive in all events.

If the loan requirements cannot be satisfied, it is better to make that determination during the contractual "due diligence period" - which typically provides for a so-called "free out" - rather than at a later date when the earnest money may be at risk of forfeiture or when other liability for failure to close may attach.

CONCLUSION

Conducting an effective due diligence investigation in a commercial real estate transaction to discover all material facts and conditions affecting the Property and the transaction is of critical importance.

Unlike owner occupied residential real estate, when a house can nearly always be occupied as the purchaser's home, commercial real estate acquired for business use or for investment is impacted by numerous factors that may affect its use and value.

The existence of these factors and their affect on a Purchaser's ability to use the Property for its intended use and on the Purchaser's projected investment yield can only be discovered through diligent investigation and attention to detail.

The circumstances of each transaction will determine what degree of diligence is required. The level of diligence required under the circumstances is the diligence that is due.

Exercise Due Diligence.

Due Diligence Checklists - For Commercial Real Estate Transactions
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R. Kymn Harp is a seasoned attorney and trusted advisor to commercial real estate investors, lenders, and developers. He is a partner in the Chicago, Illinois law firm of Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd. and may be reached at (312) 456-0378 or rkharp@rsplaw.com. For more information, visit his website http://www.rsplaw.com