Professor Kumar Bhatt, founder and head of Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), and Rob Meakin, a personnel director at Marconi, have developed a partnership to train engineers and managers to become e-literate. The New Knowledge Partnership will include a team of 40 Marconi managers in what Professor Bhatt calls electronic engineering management or E2. A wide range of engineering and non-engineering companies has expressed interest in these exciting programs.
Professor Bhatt believes that e-commerce is changing the business environment to a huge extent. Many chief executives do not understand the power of the new technologies and, in some cases, are actually resisting change. He says, "as long as enough industry leaders realize its potential benefits, e-business will make possible a second productivity revolution in Britain. This could take the economy close to eliminating the still substantial competitiveness gap with its main rivals. Over the last five years in the US there has been a 30% improvement in manufacturing sector productivity because of information technology. In Britain we can achieve more than that and successful e-business will be worth billions to the UK economy. " Already Britain makes more use of computer-aided design and manufacture (CAD/CAM) and management information technology systems than other European countries, and has a government. that actively promotes e-business.
But, observes Professor Bhatt, Britain has never used technology as a growth driver. "The thing about electronic engineering management is that you can keep your legacy systems; you just need to link those systems with an information engine. At the touch of a button it will allow project managers to see the status of a project, identify problems precisely and make virtually immediate decisions based on information that will be much more complete than in the past. "
The E2 program is the result of an alliance by the Warwick Manufacturing Group with America’s leading e-commerce study center, Carnegie Mellon. The latter will be responsible for training many of the Marconi managers in America, where the group has half its business. In Britain, Professor Bhatt has linked up with Sun Microsystems, Oracle and Parametric Technology, to set up a multi-million pound E2 design and manufacturing center at the university which will be used for training and research.
Professor Bhatt believes that e-commerce is changing business to such an extent that WMG is likely to be renamed Warwick Electronic Manufacturing Group. But, he warns "The move to globalize because of e-commerce is racing ahead. Although the net allows British industry to overtake their European peers, it also offers Asian countries to leapfrog (跃过) the West. For the first time it is not the privilege of the western world because this technology is universal. \
According to the passage, what do you know about e-business in Britain

As you can imagine, organic agricultural practices are quite distinct from those of "conventional" fanning.
Organic farmers:
feed soil and build soil matter with natural fertilizer to grow their crops use insect predators, mating disruption, traps and barriers to protect crops from pests and disease make use of crop rotation, mechanical tillage and hand-weeding, as well as cover crops, mulches, flame weeding and other management methods to control weed growth.As a last resort, organic farmers may apply certain botanical or other non-synthetic pesticides. Conventional farmers:,
apply chemical fertilizers to the soil to grow their crops spray with insecticides to protect crops from pests and disease use synthetic herbicides to control weed growth.
How Do I Know if a Food is Organic
Look for the word "organic" on vegetables or pieces of fruit, or on the sign above the organic produce display. The word "organic" may also appear on packages of meat, cartons of milk or eggs, cheese and other single-ingredient foods. Foods labeled "100 percent organic" must contain only organic ingredients. Products containing at least 70 percent organic content can be labeled "made with organic ingredients". Those foods labeled simply "organic" must have at least 95 percent organic ingredients, by weight or fluid volume, excluding water and salt. Anyone who knowingly sells or labels a product "organic" that is not produced and handled in accordance with these regulations can face a civil penalty of up to $10,000.
Foods grown and processed according to the federal standards will in most cases bear the seal "USDA Organic". As its use is voluntary, companies may choose not to display the seal.
Why Should I Care if a Food is Organic According to the USDA, organic food production allows farmers to lower input costs, decrease reliance on nonrenewable resources, capture high-value markets and premium prices, and boost farm income. Organic agriculture also has many important environmental, benefits:
It promotes sustainability by establishing an ecological balance to prevent soil fertility or pest problems. In the long run, organic farms tend to conserve energy and protect the environment by maintaining ecological harmony.
It enhances biodiversity, or the presence of multiple plant and animal species. Having a highly diverse genetic pool becomes useful in the future when beneficial characteristics can be tapped.
Because organic agriculture utilizes practices such as crop rotations, inter-cropping, symbiotic associations, cover crops and minimum tillage, the length of time that the soil is exposed to erosive forces is decreased, which minimizes nutrient losses and boosts soil productivity. By not using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, organic agriculture-reduces pollution of groundwater.
Organic agriculture helps to minimize the greenhouse effect and global warming through its ability to keep carbon in the soil.
Why is Organic Food So Expensive
Prices tend to be higher for organic titan conventional products. As stated on the Web site of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), certified organic products are generally, more expensive than their conventional counterparts because:
The organic food supply is limited as compared to demand. Production costs for organic foods are typically higher because of greater labor input and because farmers don’t produce enough of a single product to lower the overall cost.
Post-harvest handling of relatively small quantities of organic foods results in higher costs because organic and conventional 0roduce must be separated for processing and transportation.
Marketing and the distribution chain for organic products are relatively inefficient, and costs are higher because of relatively small volumes.
The FAO also notes that as the demand for organic food and products increases, technological innovations and economies of scale should reduce costs of production, processing, distribution and marketing for organic produce.
Is Organic Food Better than Conventional Food
Organic and conventional food must meet the same quality and safety standards. Organic food differs from conventionally produced food simply in the way it is grown, handled, and processed. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that it is more nutritious or safer than conventional food. A recently published report indicates that organic food is less likely to contain pesticide residues than conventional food. Yet, according to the National Research Council, the traces of pesticides left on conventionally grown products are unlikely to cause an increased cancer risk. Also, if fruits and vegetables are properly washed, most of the chemicals can be removed. As for taste, that’s up to you to decide what you like best. In general, people tend to find that the fresher a food is, the better it tastes, regardless of how it was produced.