Impact of Modern Day Terminals in the Success of an Air-Cargo Assignment

Impact of Modern Day Terminals in the Success of an Air-Cargo Operation - Assignment Example This has resulted in an increased preference for air travel due to the urgency of travelers and nature of goods which favors faster and efficient means of transport (Hanley, 2003). The modern airport terminals are therefore designed to handle increasing demand for passenger and cargo travels efficiently. Modern air cargo terminals are equipped with current facilities to handle different types of commodities. For example, there are cold rooms for storing fresh commodities such as agricultural produce which requires proper handling (Edwards, 2005). They are also equipped with compartments for handling live animals. Other equipment fitted to improve delivery of services includes well-secured rooms for valuable commodities to ensure their safety, and separate stores for items which release emissions, and others for storage of chemicals (Cambridge Systematic, Inc. Landrum & Brown, 2011). The modern terminals have well-trained staff which ensures smooth operations at the terminals. Their activities include handling of commodities, documentation, and verification of procedures. Since most of the terminals are automated, these processes are easier to implement online, therefore doing away with undue delays at the terminals (Edwards, 2005). Different airports have improved communication services both internal and externally to improve control of aircraft and ensure there are no interruptions due to two or more planes arriving at the same time (Hanley, 2003). This has also helped in reducing cases of accidents from plane crashes. Terminals capacities have been expanded to handle increasing demand for storage of goods and reception of passengers. They are fitted with different sections for handling imports and other for exports (Edwards, 2005). This separation of activities has eased unnecessary delays which otherwise occurs due to poor coordination of processes.

The Future is Personalized Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Future is Personalized Medicine - Essay Example Pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics, which are expected to be at the core of PM, combine to offer several advantages over conventional clinical methods. For example, while pharmacogenomics is limited to identifyng 'inheritable response' to medication across the whole genome, pharmacogenetics studies the effects of medication at the level of individual genes (the chart below outlines how it operates). The former also tries to reveal important links between genomic patterns and clinical responses. Such links are crucial sources of medical knowledge, as they empower clinicians to choose a particular treatment option based on individual patient condition as opposed to adopting a formulaic trial-and-error approach. (Hood, 2003, p.582) The Human Genome Project (HGP), initiated and supported by former American President Bill Clinton was pivotal to subsequent breakthroughs in Personalized Medicine. With the help of advanced computing power, already more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA hav e been successfully mapped. With the completion of the HGP in 2003, new possibilities for PM have been opened up. Working expeditiously to make Personalized Medicine a reality in the near future are such organizations as the International HapMap Project, the NIH Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE), the Roadmap Epigenomics Program, etc. (Cox, et. al., 2007, p.112) In order to understand the scope and effectiveness of Personalized Medicine, let us take a hypothetical case. For instance, in the case of oncology treatment, where presently oral-intake medicines can cost hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars per year for the afflicted patient, understanding the intricate 'genetic pathways' (which is unique to each individual) is important in order to determine the probable efficacy of a particular therapy course. It is a sign of progress that in the United States today â€Å"there are 6 drugs for which FDA requires diagnostic genetic testing before prescription, about 30 for which a d iagnostic test is recommended, and another 200 with pharmacogenomic information on the labels.† (Hesselgrave, 2010, p.16) Moreover, traditional healthcare provision adopts an one-size-fits-all approach. Whereas, under Personalized Medicine, this practice will be dismantled and unique prognostic courses would be designed based on the patient's genetic make up. Powerful technologies that try to understand the working of the human body down to the cellular level will be part of future PM treatments. These technologies include genomics, proteomics (the study of proteins), and metabolomics (the study of metabolites) amongst others. Metabolomics is of special interest to physicians as it has the potential to provide key information about individual patients. While the purpose of proteomics research is to identify abnormal protein patterns in patients, the purpose of metabolomic research is to identify abnormal metabolite patterns. Scientists are of the view that human bodies contain more than 3,000 metabolites that play a crucial role in proper growth and development of various organs. Apart from these primary metabolites there are secondary metabolites which strenghthen the immune system and helps reduce mental and physical stress. Of particular interest to the medical community are low-molecular-weight metabolites

Historical Analysis Of Almayers Folly English Literature Essay

Historical Analysis Of Almayers Folly English Literature Essay The novel Almayers folly is a story of an eastern river that many readers find as an intriguing text. It was Joseph Conrads first novel that opened the door for many more novels to come. Within the novel Almayer, his wife and his daughter all seek out different paths. Almayer wishes to return to Europe, which he perceives as his origin, his wife Mrs. Almayer wishes to return to a pre-colonial Sambir and then his daughter Nina wishes to return to her Malay roots. In the novel we learn about the two dominant cultures of Sambir which are White and Malay but what we dont understand is that by separating the two dominant cultures and returning Sambir to its original state would right an imperialist wrong. There are many controversies against joseph Conrad and his works of writing. It starts off with the question of Is joseph Conrad against or for imperialism? After reading Almayers folly and the other works on reserve I believe it is safe to say that Joseph Conrad was against imperialism. A good author writes what they know, and joseph Conrad used his books and other pieces of work to subliminally talk about his views of imperialism without becoming an outcast is his society. In the introduction of the Historical Guide to Joseph Conrad I read about how authors are shaped by their environment and their historical and cultural surroundings. This point supports how Conrad act as if he is an insider and an imperialist but secretly he feel like an outsider in his society and does not share the same views as everybody else . Almayer`s Folly takes on a special meaning in its characters lives. It is a story about quest and how each character must take on different challenges that make it exciting and interesting. In the novel, Almayer`s Folly, is the quest of the main character Kaspar Almayer but after researching Conrad we see pieces of himself in his main character. The story first takes place on an island called Borneo in the nineteenth century. He is a Dutch colonial who opened up a trading post on the island of Borneo. However, Almayer finds himself wanting to go back to his European routes, he its tired of his unfulfilling island life and rather be back in Amsterdam. Conrad also immigrated from Ukraine to England and was a sailor just how Almayer immigrated from Amsterdam to Borneo and was a sailor. Almayer had two major dilemmas which happened to be from his failed business and his mental suffering due to his failed marriage. In 1878 Conrad attempted suicide; in the story, Almayer was starting to be driven crazy by the long days and the surroundings of the island. He started to feel isolated and depressed and if it was not for his beautiful daughter Nina, Almayer would have taken his life as well. Conrad does not write about suicide because it is not accepted in his social class and since the men who will read his novels are most likely rich and imperialists he must abide by their rules. Almayer wished to have his freedom back just how Conrad wished to have freedom of speech. He absorbs himself in his dream of wealth and power away from this coast where he had dwelt for so many years, forgetting the bitterness of toil and strife in the vision of a great and splendid reward. This quote gives us a look at how Almayer was taken into a dream state wanted to go to a better place. At the beginning of the story, Conrad said Almayer had left his home with a light heart and a lighter pocket, speaking English well and strong in arithmetic; ready to conquer the world, never doubting that he would. This shows how Almayer connects to Conrad in the real world because Conrad did a similar thing but he traveled to England instead of Borneo. Almayer suffered through overwhelming odds in his twenty-five year long struggle. Almayers wife was jealous of how much Nina loved her father. His wife had soon commenced to treat him with a savage contempt expressed by sulky silence, only occasionally varied by a flood of savage invective. Conrad uses the word savage, but he is not referring to a Native American in this text, he is referring the Almayers actions. In the nineteenth century it was not uncommon to call natives savages, because we as humans are scared of what we dont know and dont understand. Conrad, being the anti-imperialist decided to use the word savage without offe nding natives and their culture but while doing so he gives off the impression of still being a part of the social norm. Further in the story we see a character awakening on a very personal level. Nina realizes she is not of pure European blood, she realizes that she will never be accepted as an equal within the Europeans or the whites since she is a half-breed. It is for this reason that Nina chooses to live with the natives. Almayer is an example of someone who is stuck for he stays where he is and he realizes that he is going nowhere which turns out to be his real Folly. Conrad pushes the limits of the social norm when he writes about Nina joining the natives. Being a half-breed in the nineteenth century, you would not be accepted for who you are. Conrad uses this to subtly hint that the way of living is wrong and everyone should be accepted for who they are no matter their breeding background or the colour of their skin. In the summary of Almayer`s Folly we have seen that Conrad has not written in an imperialistic way. It is important to note that Forster, along with Conrad and Lawrence,  is one of the few writers of this time period who treats the members of a backward country with the seriousness and sympathy considered necessary for an anthropological understanding by modern standards. This quote from savage and literature explains why we do not see the imperialistic views in Conrad`s novel Almayer`s Folly. Work Cited Conrad, Joseph. Almayers Folly. Great Britain: Wordsworth Editions, 1996. Print. Peters, John G. A Historical Guide to Joseph Conrad. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print. Street, Brian V. The Savage in Literature: Representations of primitive Society in English Fiction, 1858-1920. London: Routledge K. Paul, 1975. Print.

Stress :: essays research papers

This report is on stress, what causes it, how and why, and how it can be cured. It will tell you all about stress, why it's important for people to understand, and what it can do to you and other people. Stress affects everyone and everything, that's why it's important that we all be properly educated on it. First we need to understand what stress is. Stress is basically the body's nonspecific response to any demand. Another way of describing stress is any nervousness or anxiety. Almost all people relate the word stress to discomfort or pressure. What they are actually thinking of is distress, which is often referred to as stress. There are many things that cause stress. In my opinion, this is the most important part of this whole report because knowing the cause for stress can help you avoid stressful situations. Just about any problem using thought can cause stress. One of the most stressful of all things, especially for teenagers, are social events. Popularity, friends, relationships, and looks are more stressful things to teenagers than parents. However, adults tend to face such stressors as meeting deadlines, fear of failure, anger, and frustration at the workplace. Everybody is effected by stress when it comes to things like wars, pollution, poverty, overcrowding, and crime. It is important to learn how to live with these situations, because it is nearly impossible to get through life without encountering them. Most people know that stress could be bad, but how bad? Physicians have proven that stress-related disorders, diseases brought on or worsened by psychological stress, are more likely to happen to people with very busy lives. The sad results of too much stress can be: depression, drug use, crime, dropping out of school, accidents, and even suicide. These psychosomatic disorders commonly involve the autonomic nervous system, which controls the body's internal organs. Some kinds of headache and back and facial pain, asthma, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, and premenstrual stress are examples of stress-related disorders. (Funk & Wagnall's.) Respiratory disorders also can be affected by stress. Most common of these is asthma which may be caused by emotional upsets. (Funk & Wagnall's.) In addition, emotional stress can cause or aggravate many skin disorders, from those that produce itching, tickling, and pain to those that cause rashes and pimples. Treatment of stress-related disorders is sometimes limited to relieving the particular physical symptom involved; for example, hypertension may be controlled with drugs. (Funk & Wagnall's.) Psychological treatments are attempts to help the person to relieve the source of stress or to learn to deal with it. Combinations of physical and psychological treatments are often recommended. There are many type of "toys," that help deal with stress also,

Educating Inmates: They Are Still Human Too Essay

Introduction We live in a modern society that still hold traditional morals and beliefs. Prisoners are seen as inhumane animals who bring nothing but misery and cruelty to the world. An education is one of the most important things one may ever receive in their lives. One can no longer gain any type of employment without a high school education and even college hours, so why would society care to hold anyone back from getting an education? Prisoners are having a hard time receiving education in the prison system today. No one seems to care or support prisoners in the challenging process it takes to change their lives. County jails do not offer education programs, and in prison facilities there are many limitations and restrictions that make receiving the sub-par education that they offer a challenge to receive. An evaluation needs to take place to determine the crux of education limitations are in prison. There are many people who have been to prison or who have family and friends who have been to prison and have some sense of understanding as to the challenges inmates face. Who is standing up and being the voice for inmates who rarely are heard, and who is pushing the envelope against society and stressing the importance of education. Inmates who will be released one day must have a backup plan other than a life of crime, so their needs to be a system or program in place to reform inmates before their release. Background In researching about education everything found seems to enhance the knowledge on education in prison. It has become astoundingly clear that society does not promote a positive change for people who are incarcerated. Society has an outdated view of people incarcerated and do not seem interested in changing it. No one plans life with the idea in mind that  prison will be a part of it. With family and friends who have been incarcerated, I will be the first one to say that not all imprisoned people are innocent, but mistakes do happen. Society feels that bringing education into the correctional system is a waste of time and effort. Many students feel that inmates should not be offered for free what they have to pay for, but what most people do not realize is that not only do the inmates pay for education just like most, but they are also receiving a below average education. Although education has been in the prison system for over a century, society deters from education socially, pol itically, and economically (Palmer, 2012). In the long run however, it creates more setbacks for an inmate upon release seeing as though many jobs require post-secondary education. The decision to evaluate education in the prison system is to get a better understanding as to why there is not a nationwide push on inmates bettering themselves and staff support to follow as well. There are several barriers that prevent inmates from successfully completing programs while incarcerated. Some factors are due to environmental circumstances and other factors are due to personal circumstances. Conflicts between officers and inmates as well as transfers can lead to inmate’s incompletion of their education program. Also inmates who are released have no after plan set up between them, the prison system, and other sources to assist with the completion of an education started while incarcerated. There is no assistance for released inmates that encourages them to continue pursuing education. Psychological disorders and the stress of s chool itself may lead to an inmate dropping out or incompletion of the program. When inmates become depressed or discouraged they give up and education falls to the bottom of their list of priorities. Mental disorders that inmates receive medication for, may affect their ability to learn and the stress of how to cope and manage may cause an inmate to quit rather than deal with the obstacles at hand. Economic barriers such as funding and limitations in academics and teachers also prevent inmates from starting or completing a program. Despite the barriers that restrict education in the prison system, the government and society ultimately fail to realize that more education inmates receive the more the cost for prison funding decreases. When the Federal Pell Grant was introduced there was a relief and an increase in enrollment for inmates  because they could now afford tuition, but some political figures did not agree. Politicians tried a hand at a fear tactic where inmates were perceived to be unrepentant people who would continue to commit crimes all of their l ives so why educate them and waste money. The tactic worked and in 1994 a law was passed that took federal funding out of prisons and caused many prisons to close their education departments, an estimated 350 programs decreased to 10 or less. Many courts have helped to hold merit behind politicians tactics because many courts have also deemed education in prison has no constitutional entitlement and therefore does not have to be enforced or supported (Lockard et al., 2011). In the 21st century, despite all obstacles, enrollment for post-secondary education has steadily increased. Another factor that prevented inmates from enrolling in classes was that when the federal funding was in the prison system was that inmates who were over the age of 35 were ineligible and inmates who were convicted on drug related charges. It seems as if there are many obstacles that are preventing inmates from receiving education and not many people are fighting to change it. Education in the prison system not only helps inmates but it reduces inmate misconduct as well. Inmates who were educated prior to incarceration and continue education while incarcerated are more likely to keep their behavioral problems to a minimum. An education not only b uilds someone up mentally, it builds self-esteem and self-worth. Denying someone an education in prison becomes just the premise of a bigger mental denial that they will deal with long after they are released. Inmates get a sense of confidence that being incarcerated can sort of strips someone of. An education helps an inmate to think reasonably and acutely of what they are doing before their behavior takes a turn for the worse and not only lengthens their sentence, but start a habit of destruction. An educator believes that whether the inmate is enrolled to pass time or build up their resume for employment upon release hopefully someone will learn something useful and take that away with them and that it will be valuable to them later on in life (Rafay, 2012). There is a belief that making sure an inmate leaves prison more well of than they came should be a moral obligation that officers have. Everyone should want to reduce crime and improve the overall quality of life for everyone. Receiving an education while incarcerated also helps decrease the likelihood that a person while be subject to re-arrest  once they are released from prison. There are also several outside barriers that prevent education from being introduced into the correctional system. Factors such as academic curriculum and prison facility guidelines prevent inmates from getting an education, not to mention that the United States is lagging behind every other country in education in prison programs (Lockard et al., 2011). The teachers may also have a problem with the consistent bag searches and invasion of privacy. Inmates who may struggle with learning are not afforded the opportunity to have extended time after class to intimately receive further assistance. The education programs that are offered limited to sub-par classes that can be received from community college and the most they can leave prison with is an associate’s degree. Also, inmates who are held in the jails are never affo rded the opportunity to get and education. County jails don’t have educational programs, but ironically an inmate can spend majority of their sentence in a county facility. Due to overcrowding in prisons, pre-trial, sentencing and violations many offenders spend a lengthy time in jail and are released with not so much as a GED to show that they attempted to change their old behavior. An evaluation needs to be conducted to determine why there is such a carefree and careless attitude among society when it pertains to incarcerated human beings receiving and education. There does not seem to be enough advocates in America who are pushing to make sure that incarcerated humans are released with a better quality of life than the one they had upon arrest. There is no difference between someone incarcerated and someone in the â€Å"free world† except a mistake. Liberty and justice for all does not just apply to the law but for equality among all of society no matter the circumstance. Everyone deserves to receive education and the opportunity to turn their lives around. Why does it seem as if no one cares enough to stress the subject enough? Methods A questionnaire should be sent to 20 random citizens of random gender, age, and ethnicity in the top 5 metropolitan areas of the U.S. (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and Washington D.C.) to gauge society’s opinion of education in the prison system. It should have questions that will help the evaluator understand exactly how people feel about why they do  or don’t support education in the prison system and their ideas on what can be done to change or fight to keep the current program in place. I also believe that the questionnaire should be 3-5 pages long and leave room on the last page to allow each person to give their own feedback. The data should be collected by an assigned to one elected person in each city (particularly someone who works in an prison in the city with a high position of power) and reviewed, documented, and summarized, then submitted to the researcher to be reviewed. The questionnaire should be designed with no bias in mind, but to gain an understanding on why society does or does not support education. The results should reflect that society is now becoming modern and accepting that inmates should receive education as if they were in the free world. The information should be reviewed by the board of education for the prison facility and make an effort towards implementing the ideas that they have received from society. It may be easier for the Board to absorb feedback from society because it is a general census compared to inmates whose intentions may or may not be for the best. The only concern that can be foreseen is that the 20 random citizens will not be able to provide the Board of Education for the prison facility with enough similar feedback to gather a general and collective consensus on how society feels. Discussion Americans have traditional values when it comes to how society works and a general consensus of what is moral and just. Education is seen as the ultimate strive that one makes to become better in life, and one of the most important things needed to succeed in life. Prisoners are seen as cruel inhuman beings who have no care or empathy for anyone or anything, so naturally society would feel that inmates only want to do their time and be released to commit more crime. Inmates are human though as well, and they desire the same things as anyone else. An education should be provided for them just like it is provided for citizens who are not incarcerated, and inmates need someone to stand up and fight for them to receive just that. References Lahm, K. F. (2009). Educational Participation and Inmate Misconduct. Journal Of Offender Rehabilitation, 48(1), 37. Lockard, J., & Rankins-Robertson, S. (2011). The Right to Education, Prison-University Partnerships, and Online Writing Pedagogy in the US. Critical Survey, 23(3), 23-39. Palmer, S. M. (2012). Postsecondary Correctional Education. Adult Learning, 23(4), 163-169. Rafay, A. (2012). An â€Å"Impossible Profession†? The Radical University in Prison. Radical Teacher, (95), 10-21. Sedgley, N. H., Scott, C. E., Williams, N. A., & Derrick, F. W. (2010). Prison’s Dilemma: Do Education and Jobs Programmes Affect Recidivism?. Economica, 77(307), 497-517.

How accurate is Source A when applied to the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organisation under Yasser Arafat since the 1960s ?

Official Question: â€Å"How accurate is Source A when applied to the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organisation under Yasser Arafat since the 1960s ?† Remember: you can use the Sources but must NOT cop out my suggestions. You CAN use this set of notes to form an outline of your answer. Yoru answer does NOT have to be very long as you are only asked to COMMENT on four small Pieces of Evidence. You must end up with a Conclusion in which YOU say whether what Source A says is â€Å"Accurate† or â€Å"Inaccurate†, so you need to start of your answer by saying what â€Å"Accurate† means to an historian THIS COURSEWORK IS EASIER THAN IT LOOKS AT FIRST!! Source A: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun [By Mao-Tse-Tung, Communist leader in the Civil War in China in the 1930s. He wrote this line in a book in 1938. In 1948 he took over all of China and became its leader. He was never elected] Source B: Since the 1980s, Yasser Araft has tried hard to change his image from that of â€Å"freedom fighter† to the idea of a sensible, moderate statesman. In 1988 he agreed that Israel had the right to exist [before he had wanted to wipe the whole country off the map]; in 1993, after secret meetings, he signed a peace deal with Israel. This gained some home rule and freedom for some Palestinians, but then people inside his own party, the PLO, began criticising him for doing a deal with the enemy. One group split away and formed a â€Å"terrorist† group named Hamas† [From a school text book published in 1997. Hamas still exists. The suicide â€Å"terrorist† bombers killing people in Israel today are from Hamas] Source C: When we hijack a plane it is more effective than killing 100 Israelis in war. The whole world now notices us, whereas before the world ignored us. The world is talking about us now [From interviews with PLO members in the 1970s, written up in a book published in 1997] Source D: Democratic governments will never give in to blackmail, violence and terror. Appeasement [being nice to the enemy] will only encourage more terror and bring more death [From a British newspaper in 2001 after Arab â€Å"terrorist† supporters of the Palestinians had tried to blow up the World Trade Centre in New York. This was before the September 11th attack on the Two Towers] Most countries in the world now change governments by having elections and votes. This was not always the case. In the 1930s the Mao-Tse-Tung said that elections were a waste of time and that if you wanted to get into power you had to use violence [See Source A] Once he had seized power in China he banned all elections [in case he lost !} and China is still a Communist country even today. So his Plan worked !!! You can see why it would seem attractive to small, unhappy groups of people such as the Palestinian Arabs, many of whom had been thrown out of their â€Å"own† land after the return of the Jews and after Israel had been set up as an independent country in 1948. Under its leader Yasser Arafat the PLO avoided fighting the Israelis face-to-face [there have been 4 Arab-Israeli wars, and the Israelis won all 4] and began to use what they called â€Å"guerrilla† or â€Å"freedom† fighting ideas [such as ambushes, bombings, assassinations etc] but which the Israelis and their powerful American allies still call â€Å"terrorism† [Remember George Bush calls the fighting in Iraq part of his struggle against â€Å"the world of terrorism†. The PLO claimed it was only using the same methods the Jews had used against the Romans 2000 years ago and also against the British army between 1945-1948, when some Jews killed British soldiers to try to get the British government to give the Jewish people their own homeland. So, said the Palestinians, if it was alright for you to use nasty ways of fighting to gain your freedom, then we can use the same ways ourselves. The problem is the use of the word â€Å"terrorism†, which is a word always used by one side to claim the other side is not fighting â€Å"decently† and â€Å"fairly†. A MODEL ANSWER [Do NOT copy this] Official Question: â€Å"How accurate is Source A when applied to the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organisation under Yasser Arafat since the 1960s ?† When a historian writes about the past he/she always tries to use evidence and sources to write a book that is â€Å"accurate†, by which he/she means does it tell the truth, or as near as we can get to the truth. The trouble is that there are always at least two sides to any argument [often many more] and even people on the same side will disagree with their own side, and sometimes start little civil wars. Also, people's ideas change: if their original plans do not work, sensible political leaders change their plans. This is what seems to have happened in the middle east situation, where both Palestinians Arabs and Israeli Jews claim the same piece of Land is â€Å"theirs†. By the 1960s the Palestinian Arabs were desperate. They claimed they had been thrown out of â€Å"their† homeland, where they had lived for 2000 years, by the Israeli Jews who had themselves been thrown out by the Romans 2000 years ago. These Jews had been moving back since the beginning of the 20th century, but huge numbers moved in after WW2 saying they wanted a land of their own where such horrors as the Nazi gas-chambers could never happen again. The Palestinian Arabs were sorry about what the Germans had done to the Jews, but said it had nothing to do with them. Even so, in 1948 a brand new country called Israel came into existence, and many thousands of Palestinian Arabs lost their land. The problem is still going on right now. Between 1948 and 1973 there were four Wars between the Israelis and the Arabs, trying to get the Palestinian Arabs back â€Å"home†, but the Arabs lost all four. So young Palestinian Arab men, lead by Yasser Arafat, set up the Palestine Liberation Organisation to win â€Å"freedom† [that's what Liberation means] for their people, this time using different ways of fighting: ambushes, bombings, sabotage, assassination, which they claimed they had copied from the Jews themselves. They based these plans on the words of the successful Chinese leader Mao-Tse-Tung [See Source A] but, basically, they didn't work. The world took no notice. So the PLO switched to blowing up targets outside Israel, in countries friendly to Israel: this was to get the world to at least notice there was a problem [see Source C]. Then, having got the rest of the world [especially the USA] to take some interest, Arafat switched his plans and starting talking to the Israelis, just as if he had always been a normal leader. The Israelis wanted peace [they said] so a peace deal was signed [see Source B]. But some PLO members said that Arafat had sold them out by talking to the enemy Israel, and they continued with their ideas of â€Å"terrorism†, even attacking their old friends in the PLO and, as we know now, committing acts of â€Å"terrorism† in other countries [see Source D]. Remember the connection between the Palestinian people's problems and the attacks in New York and Washington DC on 11/9/2001 by Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. So Source A was accurate once: â€Å"terrorism† used to work. But eventually both sides agree that it is better to sit down and talk, with both sides making a deal. [This is what is happening in Northern Ireland, where the IRA and the British are working with each other, while 20 years ago they were killing each other]. The problem in the Middle east is to convince people who have hated each other on-and-off for thousands of years that they can sit down, talk, and possibly even live side-by-side.

Nuclear Stalemate essays

Nuclear Stalemate essays The biggest problem facing the world today is solely the fact that giving up all nuclear weapons is virtually impossible. If attempts were made at mutual disarmament three problems would occur. One being that, ists and ist nations are seeking to acquire nuclear weapons for ist acts. Another being that, a stalemate has developed between the superpowers, in which if one country attacks another then they are assured mutual destruction. Lastly, if one is needed tactically none are available to prevent more shed. Lets say there was an agreement for mutual disarmament. Russia, China, England, the U.S. and every other nuclear power gave up there weapons. All those superpowers did was make themselves vulnerable to the ists that have no desire for peaceful disarmament. ists defiantly would not give up their nuclear weapons. Then it would be impossible to disarm them. We have them, not to use them. They on the other hand, would have them to use them. Because ists dont care whether or not they live, giving them the advantage in nuclear power would threaten the defenseless superpower greatly. Shortly after WWII, five countries obtained nuclear capability and the arms race began. With the threat of total destruction, due to armament of superpowers, an unwritten understanding between superpowers came about that nuclear weapons wouldnt be used tactically, but they would only be used strategically. They wouldnt be used tactically, meaning, they wouldnt be used in conventional warfare. They would be used strategically, meaning, I wont blow you up if you dont blow me up. This created a stalemate that, if disrupted, could create mass destruction. If we study history, we can observe that it tends to repeat itself. Millions of lives were saved by the tactical use of nuclear in Japan at the end of WWII. If this hadnt been done, millions of Ja...

Build a Bear Essays

Build a Bear Essays Build a Bear Essay Build a Bear Essay Fitzsimmons, M. J. 2008) the role of technology in the service encounter are technology- free service encounter, technology- assisted service encounter, technology- facilitated service encounter, technology- mediated service encounter and technology- generated service encounter. Figure 5. 1, (pg4) displays the five modes in detailed. The A mode is called technology- free service encounter, where the customer is in physical proximity to and interacts with a human service provider. This mode represents the traditional high- touch service that we experience at a hairdresser salon or chiropractor in which technology does not play a direct role. Most personal care service falls into this category, along with some professional service such as law, consulting, and psychiatry. The B mode is called technology-assisted service encounter, because only the service provider has access to the technology to improve the quality of face- to- face service. A health care procedure such as an MRI scan or office visit to an optometrist falls into this mode. Traditionally, airline representatives used a computer terminal to check- in passengers, represented by mode B, but today passengers are encouraged to use check- in kiosks represented by mode E. The C mode is called technology- facilitated service encounter, because both the customer and service provider have access to the same technology. For example, a financial planner in consultation with a client can refer to a financial model on a personal compute to illustrate projected returns for different risk profiles. The D mode, called technology- mediated service encounter, the customer and human service provider are not physically together and thus the service encounter no longer is the traditional face- to- face contact. Communication is usually enabled by a telephone call to access service such as making a restaurant reservation or getting technical help from a distant call center. Consider, also, how clever use of remote monitoring using GPS (global positioning satellite) helps keeps track of the movements of parolees. Finally, in mode E, called technology- generated service encounter, the human service provider is replaced entirely with technology that allows the customer to self- service. This mode is becoming more common as firms attempt to reduce the costs of providing service. Examples are ubiquitous- bank ATMs, checkout scanning, airport kiosks, and Website- based information sources. 3. What is the search attributes? Search attributes are those tangible characteristics that allow customers to determine and evaluate a product before purchasing it. Search attributes can help customers to understand and evaluate what they will receive in return for their money. Besides, the sense of uncertainty and perceived risk of the purchases also can be reduced. Search attributes are such as brand name, price, style, color, texture, taste, and sound. All these attributes allow potential customers to try out the product like clothes, furniture, electronic equipment, and taste test the foods or even test drive a car before make any purchases. 4. What is the experience attributes? Experience attributes are those attributes that cannot be evaluated before purchase. It can be discerned, evaluated and experienced only after purchase or during consumption. Experience attributes are such as fun, emotion and entertainment value like vacations, live entertainment performances, sporting events, theme parks and restaurants. . What is database? A database is a structured collection of records or data in a computer which relies upon software to organize the storage of data. (Wikipedia, 2008) Database is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed and updated rapidly for various uses. (SearchSQLServer. com, 2008) Computer databases typically contain aggregations of data records or files, such as sales transaction, product catalogs and inventories, and customer profiles. 6. What does it mean by strictly seasonal? Strictly seasonal in the case refers to a particular store that offer or provide products and services occurring at or dependent on a particular season. This means those products and services of the store that being provided in this season will not be available in another season. The case mentioned that a toy store tend earn most of the profits only during a certain period such as holiday season. However Build-A-Bear Workshop manages to gain profits throughout the whole year. 7. What is the meaning of the sentence ‘They also peak inventory at a different time from the traditional toy store’? The above sentence stated that Build-A-Bear Workshop is unlike other traditional toy stores in achieving the greatest demand of the guests. Usually, the highest level of sales attainable by a toy store is during the holiday season, but Build-A-Bear Workshop achieved their highest sales all over the year. This is because they did not provide products and services on a strictly seasonal basis; in fact they treat everyday as holidays. 8. What is demographic information? Demographic refers to selected population characteristics as that used in government, marketing and opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research. demographic information that commonly used are such as race, age, income, disabilities, mobility, educational attainment, home ownership, employment status, and location. (Wikipedia, 2008) 9. How important is store’s visual environment? Visual environment is the visual effect that aims to create a positive image for the retail store through the store design, for examples, lighting, and colors. More and more retailer realizes the importance of store’s visual environment; as the competition of retail grow, a good design of visual environment not only provide comfortable environments to the customer, we also want to impress our customer as they entered the store, and create an atmosphere that customer will want to come again and again. Build-A-Bear Workshop highly visual environment which filled with teddy bear theme, is aim to let the guest build a lasting memory with their friends and family in this wonderful and fantasy special place. 10. What is retail experience? A retail experience is the result of all of the touch points a retailer has with their customer including staff interaction, merchandise, product selection, signage, in-store marketing, branding, music, smells, and other elements. Focusing on the customer experience is the best opportunity for many retailers to create a point of differentiation and succeed in todays competitive marketplace. Customers who receive above average experiences are more likely to purchase, be a loyal customer, and recommend the retailer to family and friends. Retailers have increasingly turned their attention to creating memorable retail experiences, For example, in 2001 Apple changed direction and initiated the retailing of experience offer through the Apple Store Experience. With the aim of switching customers to Apple (as well as enhancing the relationship with current consumers), the themed stores allow customers to interact, learn and experience the values of the brand through in-store design features and staff service. More importantly, rather than having products arranged via category (i. e. rinters, software, digital camera, iPods, monitors, cases, etc. ), merchandise is combined and arranged according to how consumers might use the equipment in their everyday life, thus seeking to locate the brand in realistic consumer settings. The aim of such experiential retail stores is to create outlets that capture and represent the brand’s essence, while balancing both the functional components of the product (what it does) with its emotional goals (how it makes me feel) (Pine Gilmore 1999; Schmitt 2003). 11. What is experiential blueprint? A blueprint is a photographic which is reproduced in white on a blue background, as of architectural or engineering plans. It also can be any exact or detailed plan or outline. When designing a blueprint, we need to have an experience on what a customer actually sees, smells, tastes, touches, and hears from their perspective. Experiential blueprint is one of the methods that we use for understanding the customer’s experiential perspective. According to Metters, Metters, Pullman (2006), a basic process design tool from service blueprinting can be modified to evaluate experience design. We can look at every experiential aspects or clues of the process and evaluate it for conformance to key themes, sensory impact, resource requirements, and improvement. For example, an experiential blueprint for a tourist arrival at a hotel would start with the airport transportation and proceed through all the steps until he is settled in his room. This type of blueprinting and clue design form is useful for designing new experiences so that the managers are aware of the importance of simple things such as lighting the candles in the lobby at night and changing the music to convey a different mood. 2. What is tracking system? A tracking system is a generally a system that renders virtual space to a human observer while tracking the observers body coordinates. A tracking system is to determine the location or direction of a target on a near to continuous basis. (Tracking Systems, n. d. ) An ideal tracking system keeps contact and updates the targets bearing, range and elevation const antly. The output of the tracking system will be sent to a fire control system that stores the information and derives the targets motion and its future position. Furthermore, tracking systems not only provide an automatic target following feature but also determine the targets position sufficiently and accurately. There are various type technologies being implemented within the tracking systems such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) which depending on how often the data is refreshed, bar-code systems which require a person to scan items, automatic identification (RFID auto-id), and so forth. 13. What is Customer Experience? Customer Experience can be defined as the quality of the experience as apprehended by a customer resulting from direct or indirect contact with any touch point of a company. Customer experience is also the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods or services, over the duration of their relationship with that supplier. It can also be used to mean an individual experience over one transaction; the distinction is usually clear in context. In other words, the customer experience is the impression created on the customer as the results of contact with a company through any touch point, whether through marketing, branding, customer service, support, in-store experience, usage of a product, service or Web site, etc. Customer experience in this broader sense also includes User Experience, which as the name suggests, is concerned with, and limited to, direct usage of a product. The quality of the customer experience at any touch point individually can affect the overall relationship a customer has with a company. For example, a customer with a very high opinion of a company and its products may have a complete turn-around after a negative post-sales service customer experience. Or a company with an otherwise fine track record at many customer touch-points may create a negative experience through a poorly executed marketing communication piece or practice. 14. What are eight fun bear-making stations? Eight fun bear-making stations are Build-A-Bear Workshop’s stuffed animal-making assembly line; it concluded eight processes which are Choose Me, Stuff Me, Hear Me, Stitch Me, Fluff Me, Name Me, Dress Me, and Take Me Home. The entire process takes approximately 20 minutes; each station required guest to participate in order to create their furry friends, they will proceed to next stations after complete one and another. Choose MeGuests are introduced to all the furry characters in the store and soon will become their new furry friends. Depending on seasons, there are 30-35 varieties of stuffed animals including bear, bunnies, dogs, cows, and even Beary limitedâ„ ¢ edition collectible bear. Build-A-Bear Workshop stuffed animal price are affordable, ranging in price from $10-$25. Hear MeGuest can personalized their new furry friend from selecting several sounds and song, and placed inside their stuffed animal. Build-A-Sound, a recorded-your-own message sound chip is inserted during the stuffing process. The pre-recorded sounds included giggles, yawns, bark, or other animal sounds, and messages like â€Å"I love you†, or song like† Let me call you sweetheart†. Stuff MeWith the help of Master Bear Builders, guest can give their bear a right amount of stuffing and give their bear a hug test. A very special process which is the Heart Stuff, each guest select their small satin bear’s heart, warm it in their palm or hands, make a special wish, and place the heart into the bear, it is a melting experience to everyone regardless their ages or gender, and the bond between the owner and the bear is secured. Stitch MeThe last seam is neatly pulled shut in this process, before the closing, the Master Bear Builder associate insert a barcode, allowing it united with its owner if ever lost or return to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Thousands of furry friends have been united through Find-A-Bear ID tracking systems. Fluff MeGuest will give their furry friends an air bath, and brush the fur. It adds more fun to the process as the guests creating the final look for their bear, and to make their friends well groomed and perfectly huggable. Name MeA computer will asked the guest a series of questions of their new friends, such as the bear name, and birth date, and prints a short storybook or birth certificate. Through its proprietary computerized naming system, Builds-A-Bear workshop has built a huge database and the extensive demographic information helps the retailer to serve its customer better. Dress MeGuest may dress their bear in the beary latest furry fashions. The bear apparel boutique features clothes and accessories for all occasions, clothing includes casual wear, formal wear, costumes, guest even can dress their bear like Batman. There even have Pawsonal shoppers which will assist the guest to select the perfect outfits and accessories for their new friends. Build-A-Bear Workshop even has their own fashion experts Pawlette Courfur Fashion Advisor to the furry famous. Take Me HomeGuest concludes their bear-making process in this station, where they are given their customized birth certificates and a special But Stuff Club card to apply towards future purchases. Each new furry friend is then placed in their very own Cub Condo carrying case, which is designed as a handy travel carrier, also as a new home for their friend. The Cub Condo has also become collectible. 2. 0 Current Scenario Build-A-Bear Workshop is an interactive entertainment stuffed animal retailers that marketing â€Å"make your own† stuffed animal especially teddy bear. With its unique and exceptional approach, teddy bear theme carried throughout the store, guest build memory with their friends and family in the highly visual environment store by sharing experience with the store employee in the each phase of bear-making process. Build-A-Bear Workshop different from traditional toy store; its tradition is to introduce a New Limited item on the day after every holiday; customer is attracted to the store because of the newness and isn’t driven by discount. Guest participates in the bear-making process which consist 8 stations. At Choose Me, guest chooses their new furry friends. Proceed to Hear Me; guest personalized their bear with prerecorded sounds. At Stuff Me, employee help the guest to fill in right amount of stuffing, and give a hug test. It also consist a special process which is Heart Stuff. Stitch Me finalizes the technical part. At Fluff Me, guest takes part in creating the final look of their bear. At Name Me, a computer will ask the guest to give their bear a name and date of birth, and all the bear entered the Find-A-Bear tracking system, and has build a huge extensive database. At Dress Me, guest chooses the apparel and accessories for their bear. Finally at Take ME Home, guests are given their bear customized birth certificates, and a Cub Condo as a carrying case. www. buildable. com is an online version of the store with interactive activities, it allow Build-A-Bear Workshop stay connected with their guests and communicate with them through email. Build-A-Bear Workshop had implanted an innovative Guest Satisfaction program that rewards managers based on the satisfaction of customers. A store does not qualify for a sales bonus unless it reaches a minimum predetermined Guest Satisfaction scores which are reported weekly, it aim to increase the guest satisfaction. 3. 0 Answer to Questions 3. 1 Question 1. Utilizing the customer experience model of Pullman and Gross (2002), provide your comments pertaining to the guest experience at Build-A-Bear Workshop. Illustrate your answers with relevant examples. Customer Experience model are divided into 3 components: engagement, context and time. In the engagement level of the experience Build-A-Bear Workshop uses Edutainment. Edutainment is a combination of playing and learning. Engagement component including get guests to stay/ return, make the experience to be fun, connect emotionally with customers, and increase thrill, surprise, or delight. Context refers to place where the customer consumes the service and everything that the customer interacts with in that setting. A Provider should design a setting in which the meaning of the experience is created in favorable way for individual customer. Context is defined by six dominant elements: theme, learnable and usable, mutable, layout, sensory, and social interaction. Good experiences are hard to be copied and discourage switching. If all activities within the time frame of the experience are carefully orchestrated, they stay in the customer’s memory, but the customer must also discover ways to build on his or her experience with the organization. Management needs to consider three keys elements in relation to time: memorabilia, continuity, and dynamic. Engagement: Education and Entertainment Get guest to stay / return The company currently operates more than 375 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide, including 321 company-owned stores in U. S. , Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. And 53 franchised retail stores in International locations – Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, India, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan and Thailand. Build-A-Bear Workshop are continually evaluating additional retail opportunities and expect to continue their expansion into other concepts and product lines in the future. For example, in 2006, Build-A-Bear Workshop has opened their first store within a third-party restaurant concept, Build-A-Dino store under a licensing agreement with T-REX Cafe (owned by Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. ). In 2007, The Company added the Build-A- Dino concept to Build-A-Bear Workshop stores in two highly trafficked tourist locations, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and their flagship store in New York City. Also in 2007, the company has opened three Build-A-Bear Workshop stores within Rainforest Cafe restaurants, under a licensing agreement with Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. As there are more Build-A-Bear Workshop outlets open in the market, guest always can easily go back to the store to purchase item. Make experience fun Build-A-Bear is one of the largest companies to offer an interactive make-your-own stuffed animal retail-entertainment experience. In Build-A-Bear Workshop’s stuffed animal-making assembly line, guest participate in the bear-making process with the Bear Builder associates, guests will select the furry animal they want to make, choose the sound the creature will utter and then stuff, stitch, fluff, name, and dress their new friends. The entire process takes approximately 20 minutes. By building their own stuffed animal bears, kids can be creative, play, and experience joy and fun. Build-A-Bear Workshop offers a Build-A-Party program. This exclusive service allows Guests to plan and customize their own party with pre-selected animals, clothes and accessories. For birthday parties of six or more, the Guest of Honor receives a free gift, and all party Guests receive a party favor. Connect emotionally with customer Since the introduction of Build-A-Bear workshop On Tour in 2005, it has traveled more than 10,000 miles to reach Guests at various sporting and family entertainment venues across the country. Build-A-Bear Workshop On Tour allows Guests to participate in the same bear-making process that can be found at any of the mall-based store locations. Like those stores, Guests of all ages will enjoy the highly visual environment, the cheerful sounds and the fantasy of Build-A-Bear Workshop, while creating memories with their family and friends throughout their entire experience. Through the tour, Build-A-Bear Workshop are connected to the guest in more initiative way. Increase thrill, surprise, delight Build-A-Bear Workshop offers a Build-A-Party ® program. This exclusive service allows Guests to plan and customize their own party with pre-selected animals, clothes and accessories. Context: Theme The teddy bear theme is carried throughout the store with original teddy bear fixtures, murals and artwork. Every guest who visit to Build-A-Bear Workshop stores enter a teddy bear themed environment that consisting of eight stuffed animal making stations: Choose Me, Hear Me, Stuff Me, Stitch Me, Fluff Me, Dress Me, Name Me, and Take Me Home. To attract their target guests, Build-A-Bear Workshop have designed their stores to provide a â€Å"theme park† destination in the mall that is open and inviting with an entryway that spans the majority of their storefront and highly visual and colorful teddy bear themes and displays Guest will feel like enter a stuffed animal kingdom, and feel more enjoyable in the store. Learnable and usable Build-A-Bear Workshop has established their store as a place where children can have a hands-on experience, express their creativity and use heir imagination. Build-A-Bear Workshop offer an extensive and coordinated selection of merchandise including approximately 30 to 35 varieties of animals to be stuffed, as well as a wide variety of other clothing and accessory items for the animals. All the clothing is inspired by human fashion and includes authentic details such as functional buttons, working pockets, belt loops and zippers and has child friendly, easy-to-dress details such as an o pening for the stuffed animal’s tail and adjustable closures to help fit any size animal. All Build-A-Bear Workshop store managers receive comprehensive training through their Bear University program, which is designed to promote a friendly and personable environment in their stores and a consistent experience across the stores. The first moment guests walk in the door, they will greeted by a Bear Builder associate who will guides the guests through all the bear making. Mutable Build-A-Bear Workshop’s service can give a lot of customer experience to their guest by involving them in the bear-making process. In the bear-making process, guest can create their furry friends according to their preference, or even asking help from employee. For an example, in the Dress Me, guest can either chooses apparel for their bear, or even ask Pawsonal Shoppers for advice to select perfect outfits and accessories for their bear. Service are provided differently according the request of guest, and the Bear Builder associates will assist them in the process. Layout Build-A-Bear Workshop stores average approximately 2,750 square feet in size and have a highly visual and colorful appearance, including custom designed fixtures featuring teddy bears. Build-A-Bear Workshop offer an extensive and coordinated selection of merchandise, including over 30 different styles of animals to be stuffed and a wide variety of clothing, shoes and accessories for the stuffed animals. In early 2005 the company introduced Build-A-Bear Workshop On Tour, a 53-foot tractor trailer that opens into a complete 800 square foot Build-A-Bear Workshop store. This bright yellow and bear-covered mobile store brings the Build-A-Bear Workshop brand and experience to places outside the mall where families go to have fun. Sensory Guest are immerse in an experience of creating their furry friend, which is a memorable experience in their life. When they came in to the store, from the highly visual environment, teddy bear theme all over the store with teddy bear fixtures, murals and artwork, guests are fully enjoying this wonderful place with their friends and family. In the process of bear-making, customers can touch the bear at Stuff Me to have a hug test whether it is comfort to be hugged. Social interaction Build-A-Bear Workshop has implanted Guest Satisfaction program, which reward the manager based on the performance of the employee, by evaluating the effort of satisfying customer. The goal of Build-A-Bear Workplace is to make the guest smile, so the employees are enthusiastic to provide excellence service to their guest. Time: Memorabilia Guest who visits a Build-A-Bear Workshop store enters a lighthearted teddy-bear-themed environment consisting of fun bear-making stations. Instead of ready-to-buy merchandise, guests are offered the opportunity to make their own customized, plush friends. With guidance from specially trained Bear Builderâ„ ¢ associates, young visitors and their parents select a bear or other stuffed animal friend, proceed to an interactive stuffing station, then choose from a huge array of clothing and accessories, including merchandise manufactured under license from the major sports leagues and fashion partners. At the Name Me station guests register their new stuffed animal in the unique Find-A-Bear ID system, which allows lost friends to be scanned and returned to their owners. There’s even a signature Cub Condo carrying package that protects the new friend on its trip home while reinforcing the brand. The whole process is an engaging interactive experience that not only turns toys into treasures; it also turns guests into customers for life. The full-featured, 600-square-foot mobile store is an 18- wheeled transport with a 53-foot trailer that pops down in front and expands at the sides. It contains all the elements found in a Build-A-Bear Workshop mall-based store, from the stuffer to the apparel and naming stations, plus a photo booth where guests can have their picture taken with their new furry friends. The photos can be downloaded later from www. buildabear. com with a unique, assigned password. Not only bear-making memories, Build-A-Bear Workshop store has launch The new Build-A-Bear Workshop virtual world – buildabearville. com – which enable guests to start a new friendship adventure with their furry friends when they get home. Here, guest can bring their new furry friend to life online to play together, create their own online character, play games and earn points to buy cool virtual stuff, chat with friends and more. Build-A-Bear Workshop store helps and ensure their guests always enjoy the fun and relive the bear-making memories. Continuity Build-A-Bear Workshop will have their customers profile stored in their database. When there is a new product released, they will send catalogue to customers by email. Besides that, they also can create customers awareness through TV and radio commercials, printed and online advertising as well as features specific new product introduction and promotion as a call to action to visit their store. The high quality customer services from the store employees gives good impression to customers and lead them visit to the store again. For example, the experience that children have during the eight bear making process will give a great fun for them and create their intention to visit the store again next time. Dynamic Among many the many stages of the bear-making process, there a climax among them, the Heart Stuff. It is a heart melting experience which requires the guest to select their small satin bear’s heart, warm it in the palms of their hands, make a special wish, and place the heart into the bear. It was a very special event, guest will remember this moment forever which strengthen the bond of guest and the bear. 3. 2 Question 2. Based on Maxine Clark’s statement of â€Å"With each child that enters our store, we have an opportunity to build a lasting memory,† she says. â€Å"Any business can think that way, whether you’re selling a screw, a bar of soap, or a bear. † Justify her emphasis on the significance of providing experience attributes rather than relying merely on search attributes to satisfy and retain the guests of Build-A-Bear Workshop. Maxine Clark’s emphasis on the importance of providing experience attributes rather than relying merely on search attributes to satisfy and retain the guests of Build-A-Bear Workshop can be clearly shown based on the store’s concept and its offering. Build-A-Bear Workshop offered interactive entertainment experience to the guests especially during the bear-making process, and this entertainment value could not be evaluated before purchase and experience it. Guests might have no idea and unable to evaluate the product before purchase from the store through search attributes. They can only feel and experience the bear-making process to know what they are getting after the purchase. That is why Build-A-Bear Workshop is differentiating themselves among the retailers. They are not just purely selling teddy bears to the customers, in fact the store associates are involved together and sharing the bear-making experience with the guests at each phase of the process. Maxine Clark prefers encouraging her guests to participate and enjoy the experience in the store. So from here we can see her effort in creating an entertainment tore that uses underlying goods and services as props with the goal of engaging the guests in a way that builds a lasting, unique and memorable experience with the store. Besides Maxine Clark’s emphasis on providing guests the experience attributes can be shown through the eight fun bear-making stations: Choose me, Stuff me, Hear me, Stitch me, Fluff me, Name me, Dress me, and Take Me Home. All these bear-making stations have their u nique features which able to stimulate guests’ senses and create a higher level of emotional connection. For example Heart stuff, it is one of the special processes at Stuff me station. Each guest has the opportunity to place a small satin bear’s heart into the bear after select, warm it in the palms of their hands, and make a special wish. That is how the guest will go through the heart melting experience and creates a special bond between the guest and the bear. This is an experience that cannot be gained from the search attributes. There is no way of obtaining such experience and making any evaluation on how might it feels before purchase and involved in the bear-making process. Maxine Clark had designed an interactive entertainment retail store that allow families and kids to buy, use, participate, engage, or join together to have fun and build a lasting memorable experience. Although this is all about bear-making experience but it somehow will have a significant life changing impact on the customer perception. That is why providing experience attributes is better than search attributes in terms of satisfy and retain the guests of Build-A-Bear Workshop. 3. 3 Question 3 Discuss the role of technology in the customer encounter with www. buildabear. com. Can Build- A – Bear Workshop create a memorable online encounter with its guests as compared to its physical store? How? Q3 (i) Discuss the role of technology in the customer encounter with www. buildabear. com. The role of the technology in the customer encounter with www. buildabear. com is technology- generated service encounter. Technology- generated service encounter is the human service provider is replaced entirely with technology that allows the customer to self-serve. It is becoming more common as firms attempt to reduce the cost of providing service. ( Fitzsimmons,J. A. , Fitzsimmons, M. J. ,2008). Based on the case, Build –A- Bear website replaced Build- A- Bear physical store to allow the customer shop online, play online games, printable greeting cards online, invitations to parties online and even can communicate with the guest through email. It’s another easy and economical way to interact and engage guests. Q3(ii). Can Build- A- Bear Workshop create a memorable online encounter with its guests as compared to its physical store? How? Yes, I agree that Build- A- Bear Workshop can create a memorable online encounter with its guests as compared to its physical store. In Build- A- Bear online store, it’s provided a huge selection of their products such as Quick Gifts, Bears and Furry Friends and many more that are inclusive in the physical store. We can order the products, search the information about the products and view the image clearly and also make a purchase that we preferred anytime and everywhere without driven to the physical store. It was more convenient, fast and easy. Although Build- A- Bear Workshop are not available in Malaysia but we still can buy the products through the Build- A- Bear website that let us encounter the different experiences. Other than that, Build-A- Bear website is an online version of the store with interactive games such as Build-A-Bearville! It can take your real-life furry friend into the virtual world. You can go on quests and play games with your furry friend and other users through the website without additional fees or hidden sign up costs. Because of the online chat can be a touchy subject so they have worked with parents and industry experts to develop a safe system where we are in control of setting chat options for the users especially child. And the site is monitored for safe socialization. In this games, we will be challenged with educational quests and adventures, learn lessons about being responsible citizens of the world and have good real world behaviors reinforced, all in a beary fun new way. Beside that, Build- A- Bear website allow users to print and design their own greeting cards to send to their family and friends to stay connected with each others So it is another way to let someone know that you care them rather than send letter or send instant messages. Another way which Build-A- Bear Workshop creates a memorable online encounter with its guests is enables the retailers communicate by email. If the consumer faced a problem or need additional information about the products and services, they can communicate through email rather than contact the company. On the other hand, we can send email from the Build- A- Bear website to tell a friend about an item you found on the site. It’s another easy and economical way to build a good relationship with the customers. Build- A- Bear website not only has used technology to personalize the customer experience, but it also has designed its site with customer in mind. The pages are easy to use and its graphics are colorful that are consistent with the theme of their store and easy to understand. Besides, a powerful search engine is another feature of the website. For instance, if you are having trouble finding an item on the site use the beary helpful site search feature found in the upper right corner of the screen. Enter a keyword, item number or a brief description of the item you are looking for and you will receive a search results page with all items that match the criteria you entered. You can then refine your search using the advanced search features. The ‘Wish List’ is another memorable service that Build-A-Bear online store offer. A ‘Wish List’ lets us keep track of all the wonderful stuff we would like to have from the store. We simply shop as we normally would; only instead of adding items to our ‘Basket’ we add them to our ‘Wish List’. Our ‘Wish List’ is then saved under our account and we can access it and add to it whenever we want. We can even send it to our friends and family so they know exactly what we want for our birthday or other special occasion! Due to the changing world, the internet is a no longer a niche technology. It is a mass media. Almost no aspect of our life remains untouched by online media. As our life become more fractured and cluttered, it isn’t surprising that consumer now- a- day’s turn to the Internet when it comes to buying products. Consequently, buildabear. com should builds customer relationships by customizing its service and involving its website visitors in the service to create more memorable online encounter with its guests. I recommend that buildabear. com should focus on customer need and want to develop customer loyalty. For instance, design orders as gifts. Most of the Build- A- Bear customer purchases the products as a gift to someone. In this advanced service, users can order the gift online and directly send it to the recipients. In the process, Build –A- Bear Company should not include the price of the items on the packing slip included with the order and help the consumer to wrap the gift and the buyer can add the gift message as they like. Other than that, buildabear. com should not only wait for customers to come to its site to provide its service. If a customer doesn’t visit the site in a certain length of time or the special day such as Mother Day, Father Day, Teacher Day or even is the customer’s birthday, buildabear. om should sends an email encouraging or remind them to visit buildabear. com. Beside that, builabear. com can send some information about the new products and events that are related to the company. This is an economical way to let the consumer remember the store and increase customer loyalty. Online shopping is inherently more environmentally friendly than traditional re tailing, and at buildabear. com, they can constantly looking for ways to further reduce the environmental impact. According to H. Scott Matthews and Chris T. Hendrickson (2001), the sale of the products on the Internet is beneficial to the environment. For example, emission from vehicles driven to shopping malls can be avoided, retail space can be reduced, and inventories and waste can be reduced. To reduce the environmental impact, buildabear. com can made significant progress to reduce excess packaging in its shipments to customers and introduced additional types of recyclable packing materials to protect items while in transit. Beside that, they can introduce paper packing materials that are 100% recyclable. This may increase the competitive advantages and the consumer can have a unique experience while shopping online. To help the online consumers keep up-to-date on the latest popular products, buildabear. com can offer Bestsellers, Hot New Releases, and Movers Shakers lists. These can updated hourly just like the lists on the website. The online consumers can subscribe to these by navigating to the list page that they interested in. 3. 4 Question 4 Using the experiential blueprint method, recommend how Build- A- Bear Workshop can enhance the customer experience. Clue Description: Build-A-Bear Workshop Intended Experience or Emotion Connection from this Clue: enduring love and friendship, build memory, enhance customer experience Senses Impact(high, medium, low)Resources needed to maintain Clue($, time, logistics) Who is responsible? How does the clue align or not align with above metaphor or descriptive words? What can the business do to change or improve this clue for better alignment? TasteNone The store is well aligned with a sense of enduring love and friendship. It builds a lasting memory by inviting customers’ participation in the process of bear making. It also makes the customers smile based on the concept of retailing as entertainment and the store as a theater. 1)The store employees should provide high quality of customer service. 2)Emphasize on the bear themed in the store. 3)Let customers to design the apparels and accessories they prefer. TouchHigh $: Labor, stuffing materials Resp. : Front liner, Master Bear Builder associates SmellNone SightHigh$: Materials, bear apparel and accessories Resp. : Front liner, Master Bear Builder associates Hearing Medium $: Labor, sound chip Resp. : Master Bear Builder associates Figure 1: Clue Design for Build-A-Bear Workshop According to the table above, the sense of touch will have a high impact on customer experience. At Stuff Me, the Master Bear Builders help customers to fill their bear with the ideal amount of stuffing and let the customers give their bear a hug test. Each customer selects a small satin’s heart, which is the trademark of Build-A-Bear Workshop then make a wish and place into their new friend. Proceeding to Fluff Me, customers give their new friend an air bath and brush its fur to create its final look as well as to make sure that it is perfectly huggable. Furthermore, the sense of sight will also have a high impact on customer experience. Build-A-Bear Workshop store has a lighthearted teddy-bear environment which consists of eight bear-making stations: Choose Me, Stuff Me, Hear Me, Stitch Me, Fluff Me, Name Me, Dress Me, and Take Me Home. At the entry of the store, there will have two animated bear’s sentries to greet the customers. At Choose Me, customers are introduced to all the furry characters and choose one that they like the most to become their new friend. At Dress Me, customers can put the latest furry fashions on their new friend as there are feature clothes and accessories are available at the bear apparel boutique. Besides that, the sense of hearing has a medium impact on customer experience. At Hear Me, customers can choose a sound or song to place inside their new friend in order to make it special or unique. In addition, Build-A-Sound, a voice recording chip, helps customers to insert their own message sound clip inside the bear. Finally, we have some recommendations for Build-A-Bear Workshop to enhance the customer experience. The store employees should provide high quality of customer service to enhance the customer experience as well the customer satisfaction. The store employees should be nice and friendly to serve their customers. For example, the store employees should greet customers politely when they enter the store. Moreover, the store environment should be enhanced by emphasizing the theme of the store which is bear themed so that customers can see bears everywhere in the store. Finally, the store can let customers to design the apparels and accessories they prefer in stead of providing apparels and accessories for customers to choose for their bear. For example, they can let customers to design the size of the bear, pattern for the apparels and accessories.

A Cross-Cultural Study of British, Indian, and Portuguese College Students Essay Example for Free

A Cross-Cultural Study of British, Indian, and Portuguese College Students Essay College (1014) , Cross-cultural (58) , College Students (39) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints ? Love Styles: A Cross-Cultural Study of British, Indian, and Portuguese College Students Love is a feeling known to many people. Sometimes, it becomes a goal for different individuals to find their love through different ways. Moreover, love is a feeling which helps individuals to be compassionate to other people. Hence, love is not a mysterious thing yet no one has really attempted to study such topic for its very vague concept. However, there is a study which presented varying aspects regarding love. The article Love Styles: A Cross-Cultural Study of British, Indian, and Portuguese College Students. Furthermore this article provides a very significant understanding towards the subject of love. Therefore, as stated by the author is categorized into six different types of love. The types of love which were mentioned are Eros, Ludus and Storge which are categorized as the primary styles of love. The secondary styles are Pragma, Mania and Agape. These are all composed of different categories which mostly provide the concept of love in the current society. Eros is known to be the romantic and passionate type of love. Ludus is known to be the game playing love. Storge is a love which is based on friendship. Pragma is meant to name the practical kind of love. Mania is the possessive or dependent kind of love while Agape is the unselfish kind of love. Thus, all of these kinds of love is dynamic that could interchange or develop through time (Neto, 2007). Hence, the author was able to create a study which does not focus on the concept of romantic love but also the varying kinds of love in the society. Hence, in order to understand the concept of love, the author view various culture such as the British, Portuguese and the Indians in order for to attain the accurate results of the data. In the conclusion, the author realized that the need to view love must go through a gender, cultural and psychological aspects for there are great differences in the ethnicity of varying individuals. The research question in the author’s mind is definitely leaning on the concept of love through utilizing the concept of Lee on various students from India, Britain and Portugal. Hence, this is the main basis utilized by Neto in order to derive to such study. In order to get the accurate data, the author used various students of different nationalities such as Indians, British and Portuguese that shall provide different view points of the study. The study was composed of 562 individuals who are not equally divided between male and female. The results stated that different cultures of people are important in predicting the kind of styles of love which they make. Furthermore, the cultural perspective mainly predicts what kind of love the participants wanted to experience. Moreover, the gender of the students who participated is significant in the study. Therefore, there are studies which show that Eros is important to both genders. Hence, in the study Indians is much leaning into three secondary type of love such as Pragma, Mania and Agape (Neto, 2007). Thus, the Portuguese and British participants are much active in the Ludus kind of love. In the whole study, I view that all the information provided is very interesting. The kind of love that is being practiced by different individuals from varying countries is truly affected by the culture and environment they have experienced. Furthermore, I find it very interesting that Indians tend to have a Mania style of love. Although I have learned their culture, I do not believe that Indians’ love style could lead into a very deep and possessive state. I have learned that although love is needed by everyone, the types of love could be different. Love is not only defined through an Eros relationship but also through different kinds of love such as Storge or Agape. Most people see love as a serious relationship that could end up in marriage. Friendly relationships and companionships are also love but with limitations. References Neto, F. (2007). â€Å"Love Styles: A Cross-Cultural Study of British, Indian, and Portuguese College Students. † Journal of Comparative Family Studies. Retrieved on May 13, 2010 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_hb3248/is_200704/ai_n32226385/? tag=content;col1 A Cross-Cultural Study of British, Indian, and Portuguese College Students. (2016, Sep 19).

Current Event Review 4 Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Current Event Review 4 - Article Example I believe this is a very encouraging measure taken by the European Union. This is because in recent years health threats caused by technology have been mostly sidelined with greater importance given to security. On the other hand, TSA of the United States has tried to offset the alarm rung by the EU decision through biased statistics which demonstrate the improved security resulting from the use of X-ray body scanners. A lately released ProPublica document highlights the hazards of X-ray body scanners stating that up to hundred Americans may possibly fall prey to cancer because of these machines. However, FDA was quick to come up with contrary evidence that cancer risk exists in just 1 among 400 million, thus, playing in the hands of TSA and overlooking the health risks. In my opinion, TSA is not giving due respect to ethics, health and safety of the people. This is because despite of the ruling of EU and reports by ProPublica, it has planned to install further X-ray body scanners in coming times. This is a violation of the Business ethics owing to the fact that the health and the safety of the consumers is the responsibility of the organizations. The installation of these scanners despite of the presentation of the risks of these X ray scanners explains the fact that the health and safety of the people is being compromised. I believe that security is of utmost importance and proper security measures are essential but this should not put the health of people at stake. Instead, safer measures should be opted for so that the purpose of security is fulfilled and at the same time the health of the individuals is not risked. DiSalvo, D. (2011, November 15). â€Å"Europe Bans Airport Body Scanners For "Health and Safety" Concerns.† Forbes. Retrieved from:

Comparing and Contrasting 2 teams together (one good and one bad) Essay

Comparing and Contrasting 2 teams together (one good and one bad) - Essay Example One good example to distinguish the kind of teams with two types of relationship based on communication is the show The Apprentice 1. The show was played in United States in 2004, and it ran for almost 16 weeks. The show's theme was to find an apprentice for the man himself, Trump. There were series of entrepreneurial skills needed to be tested among the contestants, and they were executed in the form of survival games in enterprise settings. The one who will ultimately survive the series of games and tasks directed by Trump will be the one he will finally hire. The first season of the US series employed Bill Rancic as the apprentice in 2004. Although the achievements of the contestants were based on the individual scores of the performance, they were grouped into two "corporations" that were initially based on genders. The women were the team Protg Corporation, and the men named their team Versacorp. There were 16 contestants in all, and during the course of the show, they were accommodated in the 4th floor of the Trump Tower in Manhattan. Their communal lifestyle during the show were mostly aired live and trailing it along as semi-reality drama while carrying out the tasks given to them. These 16 contestants were consisting of experienced in various enterprises they were successfully working with within the United States. They were eight men and eight women that worked in real estate, sales, political consulting, and restaurant management.The show focused on the tasks given to them each week and each team was expected to work as a real working corporations. The whole duration of the carrying out of the tasks by each team was then assessed based on their performance, and their achievements. The weakest among the members upon the assessment will then be "fired" by Trump and his associates in each conclusion of the week's episode; this usually came from the losing team as they will face Trump in a boardroom showdown. On the contrary, the winning team each week will be getting a reward. In summary the Protg Corporation won over the Versacorp. The ultimate winner could be from Versacorp initially, but on the proceeding of the show, the two teams reshuffled with their remaining members. The Protg Corporation won the challenges as they worked as team - a good team. Leadership on the group varies each week and each task. Thus, almost every contestant, aside from the ones who got fired without their turn, had a chance to lead their corresponding teams. In each winning team every week, it was observed that coming up with a good strategy helps a team to function effectively, not just focusing on the Protg Corporation alone. To be able to come up with a good strategy, upon observation as well, good communication is needed. An example is the 2nd week of the

Future of HR (just paraphrase) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Future of HR (just paraphrase) - Essay Example Thus, HR managers have a huge variety of responsible roles and functions in an organizations. One of the most important tasks is to ensure that the future human resource leaders are fit to take over. For this, HR managers need to maintain their credibility in the organization to gain the trust of the staff and set an example for the future HR leaders. Such an endeavor would be possible through the maintenance of behavioral integrity. The quality of HR of an organization makes a huge difference to the success of the organization. In most instances, organizations easily overcome difficult situations solely because of their HR. For instance, as Nick Holley points out, during the recession it was seen that within organizations, some business units were found to benefit from the recession while other business units suffered. He cites the example of Primark to explain this phenomenon (AllBusiness.com, 2010). According to Holley, recession has wrongly been taken as an excuse for â€Å"an underperforming HR function† and as research suggests, the success or failure of the organization depends on its HR function, which should be driven based on the â€Å"specific needs of the business† and rather than difficulties such as recession and success strategies of other organizations (AllBusiness.com, 2010). HR managers should focus on inculcating behavioral integrity in their organization and promote ethical prac tices among employees. It is essential for corporate managers to win employee trust, and this has been found to be a significant predictor of productivity, turnover, and profitability for the organization (Krell, 2006). Maintenance of behavioral integrity by corporate managers ensures that trust. Krell lists six ways to build employee trust in an organization. Firstly, by â€Å"translating corporate values into behaviors†, and by encouraging and training the employees to maintain those behaviors, employee trust can

Analysis of the demonstration of philosophy in Platos Alcibiades Essay

Analysis of the demonstration of philosophy in Platos Alcibiades - Essay Example The dialogue provides the reader with an insight to the truth of ethics. The dialogue serves as the best means of discussion about such an abstract term as â€Å"ethics†, because the reader gains the most rational understanding of ethics based on his/her personal analysis of each and every aspect of the whole dialogue instead of the author convincing the audience by imposing his/her beliefs on it through the text. The articles presents a dialogue between Alcibiades, a young and energetic man, and Socrates who astonishes Acibiades by making him contradict his own beliefs, based upon which, Alcibiades was all set to guide the Athenians. Socrates expresses his lack of faith in Alcibiades’ premature assertions, realizing which Alcibiades makes an attempt to address the query of Socrates. Socrates first makes Alcibiades think of the division between just and unjust, and then between just and expedient. Alcibiades feels very confident in his concepts of these terms but looses his confidence as Socrates plays with words to turn the meanings opposite. This leads both of them to an argument in which Socrates confuses Alcibiades with concepts, beliefs and experiences in such a way that Alcibiades feels like loosing his argument to Socrates in the end, and makes a confession that he knows too little to influence the Athenians, and chooses Socrates as his â€Å"master†. An in-depth analysis of the dialogue suggests that Socrates’s arguments were too generic and often misleading, though Alcibiades did not realize it in the heat of discussion. Socrates’s arguments reflect idealism. He tends to draw conclusions by slithering the concepts through such paths which were full of pitfalls.

Adults Returning to College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adults Returning to College - Essay Example 'Adults returning to college', is essentially a transition beyond the ordinary.Foremost, it is a social conversion for the adult; jumping into an era that was, at least theoretically, long gone. It is time travel in a very crude and possibly uncomfortable way. Regardless of the academic value and professional excellence that education may provide, the impact of identifying with the fact that the peers shall no longer be of the same age group, a feeling of being a misfit is created. This generates a social challenge that can only coped with successfully if time and understanding friends stick by. Other than that, one should remember the primary concern for re-entering the college. It may be for educational superiority, for professional excellence, for career searching, or merely to relive a once imagined dream. Whatever the preference, it should, by all means, supersede the social challenge.Another relevant issue is that of changed domestic commitments. Years back, when one would have been single, independent and free of domestic liability, college could have seemed much more feasible. However, with a job, a spouse and a couple of children (who themselves require adequate education), the picture seems in a totally different frame. This one factor alone probably deters many middle-aged individuals from returning to college - the myth of not being able to cope with family and studies together is just too strong to be broken with ease. With the work-at-hand and other personal commitment in modern times, the time spent with the family is already less than desired in many cases. Considering college in such circumstances becomes a real challenge. An associated problem to the one just mentioned, which only those can appreciate to the fullest who have gone through it, is child bearing and rearing. Largely for working single parents and even with professionally occupied couples, adequate care giving for their children is always a thwarted goal - something they feel to be missing out on every day of their life. Add college studies to this, and you can just forget about giving your child any time at all; at least till where they assume! However, for infants and even slightly older children, many community colleges offers daycare centers and customized child care services that actually help the student (whatever the age) to organize their course work and manage their domestic life in a better manner than they were doing before. A feeling of being intellectually rusty is another great demeanor for those who seek to go back to college at a later stage. Somehow, they rate intellect and creativity to youth; quite ironically, youngsters consider elders as more intelligible on the simple premise of maturity. This stark contrast, however, affects the adults more adversely than it does the young ones. For one, the youth feel that they might grow up one day to 'that' particular level of maturity. Whereas the elder person does not have that hope, as he has been through both phases and knows his/her correct standing. According to the Education and Employment Information Center, "Adult learners tend to be highly motivated and tend to approach learning in a mature manner". The psychological issue of being inferior, an under-achiever and out of sorts is also a hidden yet potent factor. Even if a person has the ability to learn and excel, the factor of being 'left behind' one's own friends, and to be amongst those of a different era gives rise to a series of timid ideas and mediocre feelings about

Future of HR (just paraphrase) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Future of HR (just paraphrase) - Essay Example Thus, HR managers have a huge variety of responsible roles and functions in an organizations. One of the most important tasks is to ensure that the future human resource leaders are fit to take over. For this, HR managers need to maintain their credibility in the organization to gain the trust of the staff and set an example for the future HR leaders. Such an endeavor would be possible through the maintenance of behavioral integrity. The quality of HR of an organization makes a huge difference to the success of the organization. In most instances, organizations easily overcome difficult situations solely because of their HR. For instance, as Nick Holley points out, during the recession it was seen that within organizations, some business units were found to benefit from the recession while other business units suffered. He cites the example of Primark to explain this phenomenon (AllBusiness.com, 2010). According to Holley, recession has wrongly been taken as an excuse for â€Å"an underperforming HR function† and as research suggests, the success or failure of the organization depends on its HR function, which should be driven based on the â€Å"specific needs of the business† and rather than difficulties such as recession and success strategies of other organizations (AllBusiness.com, 2010). HR managers should focus on inculcating behavioral integrity in their organization and promote ethical prac tices among employees. It is essential for corporate managers to win employee trust, and this has been found to be a significant predictor of productivity, turnover, and profitability for the organization (Krell, 2006). Maintenance of behavioral integrity by corporate managers ensures that trust. Krell lists six ways to build employee trust in an organization. Firstly, by â€Å"translating corporate values into behaviors†, and by encouraging and training the employees to maintain those behaviors, employee trust can