How does term accountability from a legal viewpoint impact higher Research Paper

How does term accountability from a legal viewpoint impact higher education - Research Paper Example Because the legislators are mandating these measures, and, as such, has the means for enforcing the measure, this would be considered to be legal accountability. This is in contrast to constitutional accountability, which means that the higher education institutions are not only accountable to the legislature and courts but also to myriad stakeholders who enforce accountability. The constitutionally accountable higher education institutions tend to have more autonomy from state legislatures than the legally accountable institutions. This paper will focus mainly on the legal aspects of accountability, and how this impacts higher education. 2. What is accountability? To understand how accountability occurs, in general, in a higher education setting, first the standard definition must be examined. According to Burke (2005), accountability is â€Å"an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions† (Burke, 2005, p. 2). Burke also said tha t the term accountability places six different demands on the higher education institution. The first demand is that the institution can show that their powers were properly used. The second demand is that the institution can show that it is working to achieve the priorities that are set by the organization. The third demand involves transparency, in that the institution must report on its performance. The fourth demand involves efficiency and effectiveness, in that the organization must demonstrate that they can account for the resources that they use and the outcomes that they create. Fifth, the university must account for the quality of the programs and services that it produces. Sixth, and last, the university must demonstrate that it caters to the public needs (Burke, 2005, p. 2). So, generally, a university is held accountable by being transparent with its mission, goals and effectiveness, and must answer to a variety of stakeholders, including the public and the student body. Similarly, Leveille (2005) states that accountability has three prongs. The first is performance. This simply means results, with absolute performance as a benchmark for accountability. The second is transparency. For Leveille, this means that the public is made aware of the university and college performances, and the way that these institutions do business is similarly subject to public scrutiny. This enables key stakeholders to ascertain how well a certain institution of higher education is doing, and how their business is conducted. The third prong of accountability, according to Leveille, is culture of evidence. This simply means that the higher education institutions consider routine evidence at all levels when contemplating and planning action. Thus, the culture of evidence prong is satisfied when an university uses its accountability practices to learn about itself, its strengths and weaknesses, and uses this knowledge to improve itself and its operations, taking its missio n and stakeholder values into account (Leveille, 2005, pp. 9-10). 3. The concept of legal accountability Mortimer (1972) states that there should be a delineation between legal accountability and constitutional accountability. Legal accountability means that accountability is enforced through legal means – the courts and disciplinary control of departments. On the other hand, constitutional accountability means that universities and colleges are not necessarily only beholden

Future trends in electronic commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Future trends in electronic commerce - Essay Example The Internet revolution causes with the latest growth figure among the some 160 million users, while others, remind marketers that this constitutes only a tiny minority of a few per cents of the world population. Expanding from this point, impact will be sought in the evolution of the applications used. Thus a sector where the number of firms which use a combination of Internet, intranet, extranet and telework is 'important' will thus display a higher impact of the Internet (Wagner 2007). Moving further ahead, one will consider which functions or activities the Internet is used for and thus see a greater impact of the Internet when home, social and productive functions are carried out through the Internet (Regan, 2007). In a year, there will be changes in the resources, behavior, organization, achievements and skills in different sectors. More and more companies will use e-commerce as the main tool of marketing communication and interaction. On the other hand, and more importantly, it appears that the use of e-commerce tools and techniques, or of information in general, is not likely to have any effect unless the appropriate combination of attributes and external factors exist. In a year, companies will use e-mobile service and mobile retailing more often. ... The further back in this chain companies and customers can go, the earlier they will be able to have an impact on sales. "Catalogs and stores can greatly buoy the online company to weather the storms that are inherent in technology and technology-based marketing, as a simple change in the technology environment can decimate the business model of an online company based solely on online marketing" ("Why one web merchant", 2006). In five years, there will be a great shift in customer service and information delivery systems. Critics state that "Online commerce market to grow to $300 billion over the next four years. But NOW is when consumers are forming their online shopping habits and developing buying loyalties" ("Understanding the Consumers", 2007). This is true of any new product or service, but, so far as the Internet is concerned, such fears are compounded because consumers will be purchasing goods via a system that they do not fully understand. In fact, consumers are already worried about the security aspects of the Internet. The first and most important lesson that has to be learnt when considering trading on the Internet is that sales that depend on geography will no longer work. Supermarkets, for example, with their departments that examine in great detail the demographics of an area before a new store site is developed, have no advantage in cyberspace. Any site can be accessed from anywhere in the world (Regan, 2007). Equally, any site can also be ignored from anywhere in the world. There is, however, an even bigger issue with marketing on the Internet. Not only is it difficult to select and purchase a prime site, in a good demographic area away from your competitors, that virtually guarantees you sales, but it is also increasingly difficult to