Wilhelm Richard Wagner “Tannhäuser and the Song Contest on the Wartburg” Essay Example

Wilhelm Richard Wagner: â€Å"Tannhà ¤user and the Song Contest on the Wartburg† Essay At his death at the age of seventy, Leipzig-born Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was the acknowledged titan of operatic composition, the international monarch of musical innovation, and the most controversial composer ever to have appeared on the musical scene. Despite a life fraught with severe personal anxieties, a life buffeted by political and social upheavals, a life marked by continuous frustration in his artistic endeavors, Wagner fashioned an art form that advanced to the fore and permanently altered the thinking of creative and intellectual minds the world over (Henderson 14). The totality of design, content, format, structure, and execution in his musico-dramatic works was highly regarded in his own day and has remained an ever-present archetype and template that, in the modern era, continues to shape and flavor much of the creative work produced in the musico-theatrical world.If, however, Wagner realized both national and international fame during his lifetime, that suc cess was hard earned. The professional attacks upon him as an artist and the deep bitterness against him as a man were continuous and formidable. As a theorist on matters of drama and music, as a dramatist, and as a composer, he was vigorously vilified. His ideas on art, and later the works that exemplified his thoughts, were made the brunt of much ridicule and scorn by a significant cadre of critics, scholars, and artists. At the same time, his chaotic personal life, his ego-centered character, and his aggressive, often abrasive personality inspired social rejection, even unbridled hatred, in many with whom he came in contact. This multitude of detractors included individuals from the artistic, academic, business, political, social, and religious communities and, within each of these sectors, persons of all measures of knowledge, talent, and skill (Henderson, Newman).Despite this hectic and tumultuous life, which often brought Wagner to the last stages of mental and physical desper ation, his genius could not be denied. No one of his creative order ever before had made his way into public view. It was inevitable that his stamp was to be felt directly and indirectly throughout Western culture by those of all persuasions, even by those constantly in pursuit of his defeat (Newman 309).One of the greatest contributions that Wagner made to music was the tremendous development and perfection of the use of leading motives, more exactly known as leit motifs (Newman 369). Although he did not invent this technique, for it was known long before; but he did perfect its use almost to the point of exhaustion of its possibilities. The typical example of this thechnique, which is a large part of Wagners style of composition, is the Tannhà ¤user Overture.Before composing the Tannhà ¤user, Wagner was seeking the legend as source material for a dramatic poem. He turned to the many tales of his own land, to those of wholly German origin (Williams 43). Within six months of the c ompletion of Hollander, Wagner had begun the prose sketch of the poem in which he would join two popular but unrelated tales into a single story: the medieval legend of Dannheuser (Tannhà ¤user), the minnesinger who sojourns with Venus in her grotto in the Hà ¶rselberg, and the account of the great song tournaments that were held in the thirteenth century, in the castle of the Landgraves of Thuringia that had been built on the Wartburg, a hill that overlooked the city of Eisenach. Wagner first entitled his poem, which he completed in April 1843, Der Venusberg, but after some reflection on that title (literally, Mount Venus or mons veneris, mons pubis) Wagner changed it to that by which the work is known today, Tannhà ¤user und der Sà ¤ngerkrieg auf Wartburg (Tannhà ¤user and the Song Contest on the Wartburg). This grand romantic opera, whose score was completed in April 1845, concerned Tannhà ¤users life with Venus, his participation in one of the song contests at the Wartburg Castle, and subsequently, his repudiation of his worldly existence, his forgiveness, and his death (Bekker and Bozman 134-136).The Overture to Tannhà ¤user when heard in the opera house provides an appropriate introduction to the drama. When heard as is much more often the case apart from the opera, it is an exciting symphonic poem built around the inner conflict within the hero of the drama (Williams 43). As with much program music, knowledge of the drama is an aid to the fullest appreciation of the score.The knight Tannhà ¤user is torn between his love for Elisabeth, who represents all that is best in his nature, and the pagan goddess Venus. Surfeited with the goddess sensuous rites and revels, he tears himself away from her and returns to the world of mortals. The second act centers about the Tournament of Song in Wartburg, the Thuringian castle of Elisabeths uncle, in which each of the knightly minstrels sings in praise of love. When his turn comes, Tannhà ¤user, under the spell of the goddess, mocks the spiritual conception of love and sings the Hymn to Venus, a passionate dithyramb on the pleasures of voluptuous love. Finally realizing the depravity of his soul, he undertakes a pilgrimage to Rome to do penance. But the Pope, shocked at the enormity of his sins, tells him there is as much chance for his soul to win salvation as for his withered pilgrims staff to sprout leaves. Tannhà ¤user, returning home in deepest despair, is on the verge of giving himself over to Venus and eternal perdition; but the faith of Elisabeth, who dies with a prayer for him on her lips, recalls him to his better self and saves him. As he falls dead on her bier, the pilgrims returning from Rome bring news of a miracle: Tannhà ¤users staff has sprouted leaves, and the sinner has won salvation through the steadfast love and sacrifice of Elisabeth (Millington 59-64).As Wagner worked on Tannhà ¤user, he became even more aware that legend greatly appealed to his artistic an d creative instincts. The dramatic and musical liberty he had sensed during the preparation of Der fliegende Hollà ¤nder and the greater awareness of that independence that came with Tannhà ¤user aroused in him something more than simple artistic curiosity. His theatrical mind, combined with a natural inclination toward matters of a national flavor, spurred him to learn more of the popular foundations of his culture. His attention turned to Geschichte der poetischen Nationalliteratur der Deutschen (History of German National Poetry) (1835-1842) by Georg Gottfried Gervinus (1805-1871), a work that was to lay before him a necessary literary perspective. At the same time, he began a study of Jakob Grimms monumental work on German mythology, Deutsche Mythologie (1835), a work that was to influence him greatly in the choice of subject matter for his subsequent dramas (Williams 45-49).A study of Wagners music reveals that during the composition of his early works he was exploring the te chniques of musical phrases and themes. This experimentation can easily be noted by listening carefully to Wagners operas in the chronological order of their composition. In his first works Wagner developed musical fragments that essentially were merely leitmotifs of identification, usually that of the principal figures in a drama. He used these themes sparingly, and they were incorporated into the musical text at the appropriate points of the dramas only when their appearance did not detract from an even flow of the main body of the music. By 1845, Wagner completed the Tannhà ¤user, and begun to envision in the leitmotif something even more than a simple musical tag of identification (Dahlhaus 227-34).

Cross Cultural Miscommunication Essay Example

Cross Cultural Miscommunication Essay Example Cross Cultural Miscommunication Essay Cross Cultural Miscommunication Essay Case Studies in Cross Cultural Miscommunication When a company starts to do business in a foreign country, there are often many business practices that are different and difficult to understand. As a result, many companies experience cross cultural miscommunication that can inhibit business and break the trust between corporate headquarters and the foreign office. In this paper, we look at some real examples of communication problems between offices in two locations. This occurs both between vendors and their customers as well as internally in the same company between different sites. The problem with communication problems is that the cost can be very high. It can result in reduced productivity, lost opportunities and failure to execute on projects. However, the payoff can be very big if issues are addressed quickly and thoroughly. Case 1: Two Sets of Books An American company opened up a branch office in Japan to provide local access to the market. This office had access to the company’s intranet and used the same management software tools. The company has invested a significant amount of money in accounting software that provided a real-time access to accounting information at either location. During a visit to the branch office in Japan, an American manager noticed that when his Japanese counterparts accessed the accounting software, they also made entries into a paper copy. In fact, the paper system appeared to completely replicate the financials of the accounting software. When the manager returned to the United States and raised this issue, there was a lot of concern amongst the executives at the headquarters. Why did the branch office keep two sets of books? Were they stealing from the company? The executives decided that there was too much potential for fraud. They decided to launch an investigation. A team of accountants traveled from the United States to Japan to look into the problem. In the course of their investigation, the discovered that there was a rational reason for the remote office to keep two sets of books. Computer support was provided from a technical team in the United States. When the Japanese office experienced technical difficulties, the software support group was shut down for the day. This resulted in a 24 hour delay until a problem could be resolved. So the Japanese office would have to continue their business without access to the accounting software. They implemented a paper system to record transactions which allowed them to have access to financial information even when the accounting software was unavailable. When the computer system was back online, they would update the entries to capture every transaction that happened in the mean time. The accounting team returned to corporate headquarters in the United States and reported their findings. They explained to the executives that the computer downtime was very embarrassing to the managers of the Japan office. They sought to resolve the situation without exposing the problem to headquarters. Since they were able to adequately work around the problem, they considered the issue resolved. The company’s CIO moved quickly to provide a more optimum solution to the branch office’s computer support problems. He located a computer maintenance company in Australian which could provide real time support during the Japan office’s business hours. Subsequently, the branch office had immediate resolution to the computer issues that had been plaguing the network. They were able to cease their use of the paper bookkeeping and improve their efficiency at the same time. The lesson of this case is that we cannot always know the motives behind actions. The company in this example feared that the branch office was committing fraud. However, they found that there was a logical explanation and a simple remedy to the problem. Case 2: Silence on the Line A large telecommunications equipment supplier had set up an engineering branch in Shanghai China. The branch was tasked with developing hardware and software to support larger systems. It was staffed with very competent engineers with experience in their field. As the design center matured, the management at the headquarters often found that they did not have detailed status on projects. Clearly, the team in Shanghai was working on projects and tasks that were not visible to the business decision makers abroad. During a visit to Shanghai, one manager was working closely with the engineering team on a problem. During the course of the visit, there was a conference call to update management at headquarters. He was surprised when he observed silence from engineers when he was certain that they knew the answer. After the conference call, he started to investigate why the engineers seemed reluctant to speak up. After spending some time in discussion with many of the Chinese engineers, he concluded that there were several factors contributing to this phenomenon. First, even though the engineers were excellent English speakers, they had difficulty listening and understanding due to sound quality of the speakerphone and conferencing. Second, humility and modesty are deeply rooted in Chinese culture. The manager surmised that the engineers felt that responding to certain questions showed a lack of humility when they were forced to recognize their contributions. When the manager returned to the corporate headquarters, he discussed the situation with others there. They came up with a list of guidelines for employees to implement when communicating with the Shanghai group. These recommendations included a reminder for employees to speak slowly and clearly on conference calls. It also included suggestions for ways to phrase questions so that they would not embarrass the Chinese engineers. Conclusion There are always cultural differences between people in two countries. These differences can cause actions that are not well understood by one party or another. If these general issues are not well understood, they can lead to communication issues and general suspicion and ill will. In a worst case scenario, these issues will prevent business from being conducted at all. But in most cases, it merely prevents companies from reaching their full potential. The biggest challenge is that if the culture is not understood, then the problems are never understood and therefore they are never resolved. Careful attention should be placed on cultural differences and communication. It is necessary to work swiftly but judge slowly as appearances are not always what they seem. The two cases in this paper illustrate some of the challenges in maintaining relationships and communication. It also illustrates that these situations can be managed with careful attention and effort.

How Environmental Factors Can Affect the Business Organization Essay

How Environmental Factors Can Affect the Business Organization - Essay Example By 2005, it had over 80 employees and several customers, which ranges from supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, and households. The company will be used as a case study to answer the questions in the subsequent paragraphs. Open system approach to organizations An open approach system to organization implies that an organization interacts with its outside environment, which in turn influences the structure and operations of the organization. The fact that an open system interacts with the outside environment implies that an organization is an open system should always adapt to changes in the environment. For a long time, Icy Foods Ltd. has been operating on informal basis judging, by the way, operations are loosely divided into five departments with no clear-cut framework. Moreover, the company used to accept orders with less or no regard to quality or quantity specifications of the product. This lack of organization explains why the company lacked customers from major supermarket chains . The other apparent misgiving that characterized Icy Foods Ltd. is the lack of clear division of labor and specialization. This fact is inherent in the way the company conducts job rotations (Weiner, 2002). Job rotation is not a good concept because it does not give the employees the chance to gain experience in a given line of duty. The fact that the company did not embrace quality and efficiency in its operations negatively affected its business performance. Before the takeover by Megastores Plc., the company had adopted an organic organization structure in managing the various operations. The management, prior to the takeover, operated an open-door policy. The management was keen on hearing employee’s ideas on new products and operational improvements. There was also a flexible approach to handling employees’ issues such as working hours and leave. After the successful takeover, the management came up with a raft of new changes that were more bureaucratic as oppose d to the organic system that the management had used to all along. The company adopted strict operational procedures that all the workers were compelled to follow to the latter. The new management placed much emphasis on operational efficiency, and work was based on performance. Decisions at the company were made unilaterally by the management without any consultations whatsoever, with the stakeholders. The human-resource department was formed to manage the human-resource issues. This bureaucratic approach to management led to high turnover at the organization. Moreover, it resulted in low motivation levels among the employees (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009). It is worth noting that bureaucratic approach to management of the organization has one critical advantage, which is an improvement of efficiency in operation and management of the resources of the organization. Since the adoption of the bureaucratic leadership style at the organization, the efficiency at the organization has improv ed by a whopping 35%. How environmental factors can affect the business organization The year, 2005-2010 saw several changes in the business environment that adversely affected the business performance of Icy Foods Ltd. The fact that major supermarket chains dominated the ready foods market drove out of the market the smaller retail outlets from a business.  

Internet browser market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Internet browser market - Essay Example Google is another type of search engine which currently garners most of the global market share for search engines across the world. Google sites include Google Chrome. Mozilla Firefox, also a popular option for Internet users in the United Kingdom, is an open source web browser. The market shares of the Internet economy in the United Kingdom has undergone significant changes in the past five years. Prior to 2010, the dominant market leader was the Microsoft-owned, internet explorer. However, Google’s Chrome has come to surpass the internet explorer with most recent statistics depicting it as the leader (Haucap and Heimeshoff, 2014, p. 60). As of March 2015, according to statistics by StatCounter, the leading search engines in the internet economy of the United Kingdom is Google sitting comfortably at 50.03 percent followed by the former internet giant internet explorer that has 17.93% of the market. The third market leader is Mozilla Firefox that controls 16.83%of the market followed by safari that controls 9.93%.Opera browsing engine controls 1.68% of the market and is in the fifth position. The five comprise the five market giants with the other least known search engines garnering the remaining 4.6 percent. The type of market structure existing for the search engines in the internet economy of the United Kingdom is the imperfect type of market structure. This type of market economy can also be said to be a monopolistic type of structure. The reason is that the primary market controllers are few (i.e. the five companies mentioned above) with Google Company as the market leader. Furthermore, the number of internet users in the United Kingdom continues growing in number owing to the easy and cheap access to internet providing gadgets such as the mobile phone (Hidalgo and Oviedo, 2014, p. 39). The number is, therefore, Large in comparison to the few companies available that can provide the service. It, therefore, follows that the companies, mainly

Novel Ender's Game Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Novel Ender's Game Analysis - Essay Example The importance of compassion in the game of survival is also highlighted. The story throws light on science fiction elements often using phrases like gravity manipulation, buggers, two previous bugger wars, colonizing other planets, a global military organization etc. The question of survival has been the issue of top priority for the humankind and it is necessary to take all possible measures to achieve that objective. In the present day scenario, the physical strength and fitness of the fighting forces is given more importance. Soldiers execute the war-plans drawn up by the commanders, for whom planning war-strategies is the mind game. But in the Ender’s game planning the war strategies has reached the next stage. The readers are given to understand that, â€Å"We are the Third Invasion."(250) The mind has evolved into higher dimensions. This idea relates to the portals of higher intelligence. The words â€Å"learned skills,† are of importance. The process of acquiri ng the â€Å"learned skills,† is not possible in the ordinary course of learning, as part of the routine curriculum. Human beings undergo the eternal confusion between game and the reality. This unique game of survival of humankind has also been interpreted through the threat of the aliens. Through the games of Ender the author tries to highlight the difference between games and real-life situations and how one can convert each challenge of life into a game. Ender is unable to grasp the real meaning of his final game, until the damage is done. The first game that Peter makes Ender play is the simple one which the kids know, â€Å"buggers and astronauts.† In this game Peter makes known his hatred for Enders by inflicting physical pain on him as the game is in progress, and this is the one game Ender is unable to win. But that is a pre-decided plan against Ender. Peter gives his estimate of the plan thus: â€Å"With Ender, we have to strike a delicate balance. Isolate h im enough that he remains creative--otherwise he'll adopt the systems here and we'll lose him. At the same time, we need to make sure he keeps a strong ability to lead."(27) The two different types of games that Ender faces at Battle School convey the most important aspect of the game. In a nutshell, they throw light on the process of transformation, how the simple life lands into complications and the situations turn challenging, and the question of survival assumes importance. This game plan depicts the current scenario in the society deeply impacted by materialistic civilization. Research for new equipment and intensive military training are considered absolutely essential by every country. So is the case with Ender. The author writes, â€Å"We're going to make him the best military commander in history. And then put the fate of the world on his shoulders."(36)The research by the scientists goes on unabated, new weapons of destructions are created; no one is able to gauge the im pact of their destructive capacity; even on knowing, it is part of the game of power-politics and hence the negotiations are conducted behind the curtain. Ender is unable to come to terms with the changes that continue to happen in life. No authority exists to check the scientific discoveries that will have devastating consequences on the survival of humankind. The play games have turned into war games and the fun aspect in them has vanished, and they have become

Economic development in Caribbean

Economic development in Caribbean The Caribbean is known for its beautiful islands and breath-taking shores. There are numerous sites in this region of thousands of diverse islands. To list a few reasons as to why its a huge attraction to tourists from all over the world, then the coral reefs, colorful fruits, golf courses, sailboats and the wonderful sunsets at the beach are just the tip of the ice burg. Its the perfect place to relax with the family and a Caribbean holiday is the best place if anyone is seeking for a little adventure. The Caribbean seems to have everything for a great vacation from horse riding to hiking, wildlife tourism and much more. Everything from exploring the beautiful waterfalls, going kayaking upriver and even canoeing gives the Caribbean the top most position in tourism category. The Caribbean has both extinct and live volcanoes. It gives a definite adrenaline rush for tourists seeking it. Its tropical rainforests consists of rare and exotic animal species. It is by all means, absolutely beautiful. The Caribbean region consists of thousands of islands and to name a few that are of great tourists interest and as stated in http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_names_of_the_Caribbean_islands: Anguilla UK, Antigua Barbuda, Aruba ~ Netherlands, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe ~ France, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Martinique ~ France, Montserrat ~ UK, Netherland Antilles, Puerto Rico ~ US, St. Barthelemy, St. Kitts Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent Grenadines, Trinidad Tobago, Turks Caicos ~ UK and US Virgin Island. Its not only about the adventures but the Caribbean features cites of its rich heritage and unique architecture. If we were to take a look into the most popular tourist attraction in the Caribbean then this would definitely include the Barbados; a small island also called as little England during the British era. It is called so, because it still contains a part of the thriving British legacy, cricket, Anglo Saxon activity and high tea. We have Antigua Barbuda that has more than 356 beaches (representing one for every year). This too is another popular tourist attraction. Then there is Guyana which is a one of the independent members in the Caribbean. It is also known for its beaches and countless rivers and lakes. The best side to it is that gold deposits and diamonds can be found at the river bottoms and hillsides. This place is popular for yachting and sailing. Another beautiful island is ST Lucida. This island is known for its mountains that are covered with forests and the wildlife in it. Such other marvelous sites in the Caribbeans are St Martin, Trinidad, Cuba, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and much more. Situated in the Caribbean Sea is the Roatan Honduras Island that has brought the economy a constant dramatic increase due to the scuba diving fans. This place offers its visitors everything, ranging from marine wildlife to scuba lessons and even certification. It is know for its coral which is very diverse and can be seen easily. Here, tourism is well developed, hotels are well equipped and the resorts are numerous. This place is even called the Caribbeans best kept secret. It is no doubt one of the most beautiful sites and experiences to have. According to Gmelch, George (Behind the Smile: the Working Lives of Caribbean Tourism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 2003), the Caribbean governments welcome tourists with warm hearts because they realized that the Caribbean economy is completely dependant on tourism, also being referred to as the engine of their growth. Economic development in the Caribbean has benefited merchants, farmers, fishermen and many more. According to Pattullo, Polly. (Last Resorts: the Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean. London: Cassell, 1996), Tourism is a huge contributor to the economies of all Caribbean countries and the biggest contributor to many of them such as Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas and the Virgin Islands Yolande Wilson MBA 08 In the Caribbean Tourism Fueled by Hotel Development: The Good and the Bad, explains that the success of Caribbean tourism is probably because people have the thoughts of aqua blue waters, warm sand beaches and luxury images on their minds. It is these precise thoughts that play a large role in the tourism business in the Caribbean. This puts all the focus on the tourism companies, services industries and real estate development. Tourism in the Caribbean is as early as 1862 where Jamaica had health spas and cruises that ran to the island but now, the tourism industries in the Caribbean estimates an anticipated contribution of over 18.7 billion dollars by 2011. Another author named C. James Hospedales wrote about the importance of tourism to Caribbean development in (Healthy Tourism in the Caribbean) Saturday, 22nd September 2007. He explained that 25 billion dollars were the gross output in the Caribbean tourism with more than 12 million tourists arriving for stay in the Caribbean and more than 6 million cruise ships. Hotels were completely booked and tourism became very important to the Caribbean economy. Tourism in the Caribbean is even compared to oil in the Middle East. They have also made it a motto Caribbean development through quality tourism which made it clear that the economy will be completely dependant on tourism for the coming years. With the arrival of the internet on 1995 which made it possible to spread the word of all the good and bad news. It was an effective tool in informing the world about this ravishing country. There was also the European tour operators whom made it easy for the tourists to get to the Caribbean from the European countries. However, with the success of increasing arrivals of tourists that helped boost the countrys economy, it also brought in the possibility of diseases being imported from different parts of the world. Yet this did not stop the Caribbean tourism organization from making sure that such issues along with injuries are minimized to its lowest. Their vision was that the Caribbean to be the safest, happiest, and healthiest of comparable destinations in the world Its obvious that tourism has affected the economy of the Caribbean region. These effects are mainly due to the travel and tourism industries. Through Paul McDaniels point of view, an eHow contributing writer in The effects of Tourism in the Caribbean, the economy was affected both positively and negatively. From these effects, wed notice that it includes the Caribbeans utmost and complete reliance on tourism and travel industries. But because, most of these tourism companies are never usually based in a particular Caribbean island, much of the money made does not stay on the Caribbean. This may also appear as a disadvantage for the Caribbean. However, without the competing companies, the economy could also be highly affected. However, David Jessop wrote about Grasping the full economic impact of Caribbean tourism Sunday | September 23, 2007 and questioned if the governments truly understood the importance of tourism, which in his words is the industry that now underwrites the regional economy. He provided reports that were produced over the last 2 years that explained the positive impact tourism had on the economy. These reports were based on the studies produced, supported and encouraged by the Caribbean tourism organization and Caribbean hotel association. It was a clear demonstration to the government that tourism has become the dominant force in the Caribbean. In these reports, the Caribbean tourism is expected to get over 56.1 billion dollars economically with about 15% increase in tourism employment from 2007 to 2017. Basically these earnings are expected to grow over 3 percent per year. Therefore, from these readings its pretty clear that the Caribbean region is economically dependent on the touris m industry. However, if these industries do not remain competitive, then the economic boost could come to an end. The problems that face the Caribbean tourism industry are those of globalization as well as interdependence. Therefore the beauty and nature of the country will not be enough to make the regions case. It requires the government to play a role in supporting it to the fullest. Whether its decreasing the taxes, providing public health education or even changing the policies to fit the countrys increasing economy. In a pacific islands report written by Sir Ronald Sanders in the Benefits of Caribbean tourism must be shared, he wrote about another problem that could affect the tourism industry in the Caribbean which is surprisingly the racial division notion in the island. This existing problem causes constant discomfort among many hotel owners that are expatriates, managers and the citizens yet they dare not deal with it. These problems are being left depressed like the racial division between the ownership on one side and the workers on the other. This problem is expected to worsen in the future if not dealt with now. Given the growing size of tourists coming into the country every year, it would keep requiring a large size of financial investments for the resorts and hotels in the Caribbean. These investments are primarily funded by the white expatriates that own tourism companies and can build or own resorts and any other tourism aspects in the business. This may seem as a problem because th e profits in this case are sent abroad. The country does not benefit and the balance is disturbed. In an abstract written by Harry G. Matthews, 6 May 2009 Radicals and third world tourism: A Caribbean focus, he talks about the metropolitan tourism in third world countries that have brought to question the tourist industries in a more political and social way. He talks about how it could affect the country and in this case, the Caribbean. He believes that tourism is an intrusion which is of metropolitan type, developed by the white people into the world of non-white. He also believes that these are merely fantasies sold to the tourists, causing the rise of cultures in countries like the Caribbean. Therefore the solution lies with the government of these countries where they are trying to bring forth an increase in sophistication. However, it is uncertain of how this action would actually take place. A critique; Tom Womeldorff analyzes the Caribbean tourism in an interesting way in Caribbean tourism: A Critical analysis 10/14/2009. He writes about the western mentality of escaping to tropical islands with exotic animals, plants and warm sunsets. This fantasy is offered by the Caribbean tourism resorts and travel agencies that aim to fulfill the western dream. And recently, the market has included the catering of tourists whom want to experience the exotic island to the fullest. These tourism agencies are expanding to provide whatever desires that could have tourist dollars following it. Therefore these tourist industries carefully construct the hotels and resorts to meet the conceptions and needs of tourists. This perception to perfection however comes with a cost. Although it provides as a source of income to the Caribbean people, it has made them completely commoditized because it requires that they put all their focus in the tourism programme, to make every thing possible. In The state and tourism: a Caribbean perspective by Hilton McDavid, Diaram Ramajeesingh, the abstract mentions an important something to think about and its how the tourism industries are now the center of attention. This is because the country is now tourism dependant. But does the government do what it takes to make sure that the social and environmental needs are taken care off? In this journal, the writers believe that the government have to work harder in order to shape the tourism industries in a way that every sector in the Caribbean benefits. The Stabroek staff| February 5, 2010 inBusiness the Caribbean tourism industry raise an important question Will the 2009 nightmare push regional tourist destinations towards diversification. It is true that the Caribbean got caught up in the economic crisis that took away jobs, homes, savings and much more. The Caribbean people were beginning to wonder if they have to shift towards diversification for their economic incomes. The number of tourists drastically changed and Caribbean development bank activities showed a significant decline. Sharply declining tourist arrivals according to the CDB with other investments, the main transmission channels of the crisis to regional economies. However it appears that the Caribbean has settled down from all the economic problems and found its comfort zone where its reassured that the tourists will keep coming in. the CDG even reports that the growth is expected to return and is likely to become the same by 2011. Although the whole economy of the country, peoples jobs and welfare cannot wait till the crises associated with the whole world is recovered, diversification for a better economy should be considered. In Caribbean tourism looking toward an improvement in 2010 by Linda Hutchinson-Jafar, Jan 28, 2010, after the economic crises that effected the countrys economy due to the decline in tourists rate, the Caribbean tourism industry began improving despite criminal and tax problems in some of the islands. And the earthquake that hit Haiti did not affect the islands economy much. Chastanet said, during and annual event in the Caribbean We will probably end the year 5.6 percent down but were looking for a strong rebound in 2010 And a hotel owner Rene Seepersadsingh The economic situation globally impacted negatively on Tobago. Hotels reported as much as a 40 percent decline in stayover, particularly from the British and the German markets As for Jamaica, it was seeing a 4% increase in arrivals while the other islands were reporting a decline in 2009. This is probably because it was running ads on television across North America, tempting them to join the warm summers. They were very successful with their ads as Barlett who works at the airlines said For this winter season now beginning, we have a record 1 million (airline) seats which is the largest number we ever had. The unusual part is that Jamaica continues to attract tourists even though it is categorized as one of the most violent countries in the world. The murder and crimes rates were 1,680 last year alone. Barlett believes that Its a contradiction. The most iconic attraction in Jamaica is the people. It belies the crime statistics Finally the most spoke about topic in the Caribbean tourism is HARPOONING CARIBBEAN TOURISM: SWALLOWING A DEAD RAT by Sir Ronald Sanders Sunday, March 14, 2010. The new attractions that require full support by the Caribbean governments are the whale watching activities. There was an international meeting held in Martinique from February 18 to 21 on what they call Sustainable Blue tourism in the Caribbean, specifically urging the Caribbean government to not only support this attraction but to protect the marine wildlife and mammal population by providing sustainable jobs to the fishermen. This new attraction is bound too boost the economy situation and the exotic fantasies keep getting better. Thus the Caribbean keeps finding ways to attract tourists and its economy although highly dependant on tourism yet, very rich. References: Gmelch, George. Behind the Smile: the Working Lives of Caribbean Tourism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 2003. Pattullo, Polly. Last Resorts: the Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean. London: Cassell, 1996 Yolande Wilson MBA 08, Caribbean Tourism Fueled by Hotel Development: The Good and the Bad C. James Hospedales Saturday, 22nd September 2007, Healthy Tourism in the Caribbean The Importance of Tourism to Caribbean Development http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=1433 Paul McDaniel,eHow Contributing Writer, The Effects of Tourism in the Caribbean David Jessop Grasping the full economic impact of Caribbean tourism Sunday | September 23, 2007 http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070923/business/business2.html Sir Ronald Sanders, PACIFICISLANDSREPORT, BENEFITS OF CARIBBEAN TOURISM MUST BE SHARED Tom Womeldorff , 10/14/2009 Caribbean Tourism: A Critical Analysis http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2007/February/02-08-comm1.htm The Stabroek staff| February 5, 2010 inBusiness the Caribbean tourism industry The Caribbean tourism industry: Will the 2009 nightmare push regional tourist destinations towards diversification? LINDA HUTCHINSON-JAFAR | JAN 28, 2010, Caribbean tourism looking toward an improvement in 2010 http://www.eturbonews.com/14106/caribbean-tourism-looking-toward-improvement-2010 Sir Ronald Sanders. Sunday, March 14, 2010 HARPOONING CARIBBEAN TOURISM: SWALLOWING A DEAD RAT http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Sanders-Mar-14 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_names_of_the_Caribbean_islands In The state and tourism: a Caribbean perspective by Hilton McDavid, Diaram Ramajeesingh, Journal:International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Essay --

The older person’s population has increased substantially in Malaysia over the past several years. In 2000, 6.3% of the total population are older persons and was increased by 6.6% from the total population in 2005 (DOSM, 2005). The number of older persons by 2020 is projected to be 9.9% and 11% by 2025 (DOSM, 2008). This may keep on increasing for the following years due to the low rate of birth and death, which has resulted from the success of reproductive health care services (Rabieyah & Hajar, 2003). Being an older person was being viewed as a time of inevitable disease and frailty. Government and public health sectors would be enormous if the onset of disease and functional limitations could be postponed, since this group of population is more likely to be poses challenges such as increased vulnerability to disease, high medical cost, requirement for long term care and burden to the family members (Sjolund, Nordberg, Wimo & von Strauss, 2010; Nakasato & Carnes, 2006). In the scope of aging, falls are a major health problem for older person, with 30-35% of those who live in the community falling at least once a year (Granacher et al.,2011, Rubenstein and Josephson 2002). This situation is about three times higher in institutionalized older persons than those in the community (Cameron et al., 2010). Falls and fall-related injuries are a common health care problem, and represent important causes of morbidity and mortality in older populations. About one in three older persons who living in the community, will experience at least one fall each year, of which roughly half results in an injury (Masud, 2001; Rubeistin, 2006). There are several different causes for falls in older persons particularly involves psychological conditio... ... a study because it broadens results and therefore gives a better representation of the population as a whole. This study only studied on Malays races, which represent a major race in Malaysia. Unfortunately, this might contribute to bias and non-beneficial for other races. Future studies should involve a larger number of races and randomization. CONCLUSION An older person is a special challenge from the standpoint of exercise prescription due to the usual presence of balance disorder and fear of falls with their physical limitations. However, participation in physical activity and exercise will go a long way in preventing complications and extending the years of independence living. A combination of the behavioral program in exercise training is a great and cost-effective especially in managing older persons to improve their life and towards a successful aging.

Intersectional Analysis of Bend It Like Beckham

Intersectional analysis of Bend it Like Beckham. For this assignment, to make an intersectional analysis I decided to watch a movie. After searching and thinking for a while I picked the movie Bend it Like Beckham, since a lot of elements in this movie are applicable on my own life and I really could relate to one of the characters in the movie. As the title of the movie already implies, it is about football and takes place in England. Jesminder is a Sikh, Indian girl from a very traditional Indian family. She is not interested in fashion, boys and her looks; the only thing she is interested in is football.One time when she is playing in the park with her friends, who are all boys, Jules sees Jesminder play. Jules is an English, white girl who plays football. Jules askes if Jesminder wants to join the team, but Jesminder’s parents do not agree. She joins the team anyways and this causes a lot of friction in her own family. Parminder Nagra, who is in her real life also a member of the Sikh religion, plays Jesminder. She grew up in England and from an early age on she wanted to become an actress. Her parents wanted her to finish her education first before she was allowed to start acting.Bend it Like Beckham was her breakthrough film and got her a role in the popular TV-show ER. Keira Knightley is the actress who plays Jules in the movie. She is a white woman, born and raised in England. She started acting at a very young age. Bend it Like Beckham was also her breakthrough movie and she has played in countless of popular movies since, for example Pirates of the Caribbean, Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice. The director of the movie, Gurinder Chadha, is a woman from Indian decent, who is also a member of the Sikh religion, was born in Kenya but grew up in London.She studied journalism and ended up working as a reporter for the BBC and quickly realized she wanted to direct movies and documentaries. Most of her films focus on the differences between Indian an d English families and the inequality between them, mostly in a negative way for the Indians. Bend it Like Beckham is one of her most famous works. After describing the movie contents, the main actors and the director, I am going to apply intersectional analysis to this movie. Before starting the intersectional analysis the term intersectionality needs to be explained.Kimberle Crenshaw was the first person that mentioned the theory of intersectionality. This theory is a study that focuses on the different biological, social and cultural categories that define someone’s identity and place in society. All these categories are in relation with each other, for instance gender, class, race and sexual orientation combined define your place in society and sadly also the way people treat you. These so called axes all influence each other, there is not just one aspect that defines our place in society.Combinations of all the axes, the starting point of intersectionality, contribute to social inequality, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, but also religion-based discrimination. According to this theory the person who would be the most accepted is a white, straight male from a higher class. A black, gay woman from a lower class would take the lowest position in society, while a white, gay woman from lower class would stand above her, and a white, straight woman from lower class would even take a higher position in society.Now that I explained the theory of intersectionality I can apply it to the movie, but before I do that, I would like to make a point about football-movies in general, and also a point about the lead actresses of the movie. After watching this movie I decided to search for other movies about football. There are over hundreds of movies that focus on men’s football in one way or another, a team, the fans, a coach, but only a few movies, a total of seven, focus on girls that play football, and Bend it Like Beckham is the only one with the foc us on a girl who is not white.This shows that football is a sport that is still very gender-based, despite the fact that in the Netherlands alone already 120. 000 girls play football. Also race plays an important part, because all the other movies about girl’s football focus on white girls, while I know from my own experience there are a lot of girls from different races who play football. I myself played football for seven years, and I played in a team where half of the girls were non-whites. I will focus on this later on.The second point I would like to make is that despite this movie is the breakthrough for both main characters, Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra, Keira is way more successful than Parminder. I researched both their filmographies, and Keira got a lot of movie offers after this movie, while Parminder’s only offer was a role, not even a leading role, in the TV-show ER. Parminder played in a few small movies, and in every single one of them the focus w as on her racial background, while Keira Knightley got very divers movie offers, from playing a pirate to an historical person. The fact hat the role offers for both women depend on their race shows that in this case Parminder has a lower position in the society. She has very limited choices to pick from, while Keira has, because of her white skin-color, more choices. With that being said I can focus myself on the movie itself. This movie really focuses on gender and ethnicity, but sexual orientation is also a big part of it. Football is still seen as a men’s sport, and these girls in the movies are automatically a minority because they play football. I myself have encountered the same problems as these girls.I am a white, straight girl living in a western country, but when I told people, that I played football, their reaction was always: ‘a girl who plays football? That is so weird! ’ And without their knowledge of my sexuality, quite often people assumed I was a lesbian because I played football. Without knowing any axes of my life, I was automatically put in a lower position, just because I am a girl who played football. This also is seen in the movie. Jules has short hair, wears baggy clothes and plays football, and her mother overhears a conversation between Jules and Jess about love, but she misinterprets it and thinks Jules is gay.The mother is very upset about her daughter being gay and when Jules tells she is not gay, the mother is very relieved and then says there is nothing wrong with being gay. Even though she says that, she is still happy her own daughter is in fact not a lesbian. This shows certain stereotypes towards girls that play football, have short hair and wear baggy clothes. Football is such a gendered sport that it automatically leads to sexism, thinking girls who play football must be lesbian because they play a men’s sport.Lesbianism is also seen as something less good than being straight, seeing the mother i s relieved her daughter is not a lesbian. The coach of the team, a young, straight white man is ashamed to be the coach of a girl’s team. He had to stop playing football due to an injury, and he wanted to do something with football. He ended up coaching the girls team, but he has never told this to his father because he is afraid his father will get angry because ‘they’re just girls’. This also shows the gender-based thinking towards girls, but intersectionality becomes even clearer when race gets involved. When Jesminder first joins the team, the eaction of the coach is that he has never seen an Indian girl play football, and he is angry with Jules for bringing her to the team because he expects her to not be able to play football, because she is an Indian girl. He says this without even seeing her play. She turns out to be the best of the team. Without knowing anything about her he places her in a lower social position than white girls, just because of h er race, and he already places himself above girls. During a match a girl from the opponent calls Jesminder names, a specific word being used is ‘Paki’, which is a swearword used towards people from Indian decent.Even though it’s a girl who calls Jesminder this and probably has experienced the same gender and sexism problems as the other girls in this movie, she still places herself above Jesminder in the social hierarchy, only because Jesminder is from a different race. A different scene that shows the lower position of Jesminder is when her parents want her to focus on school instead of football. They literally say she needs the highest grades possible for a good future because her chances for a good job are smaller than the chances of an average white girl, whose chances are again smaller than those of a white boy.This sentence alone shows her chances of a good future are gender and racial based. The class she will belong to when she’s an adult depends on how good her job is, which again depends on her gender and race. This thus shows that women who are not white almost automatically end up in the lower classes of the society. A white woman has more chances to end up in a higher class, but still has fewer chances than a white man. Jesminder would make more chances for a good job if she were an Indian boy, because then only race would be a problem, while in her case it’s race and gender.As I said, in my own football team were a lot of non-white girls, and all of them, at least they parents did, belonged to the lower class, while the white girls in my team, including myself, were from a higher class than they are. There is one point in the movie where the lower position of the male is seen. Her best friend, a boy named Tony, confesses to her he is gay, but she must promise him she will not tell anyone about this. In the Indian religion it is not acceptable to be gay, that is his reason not to tell anyone. But if he would be o penly gay, his position on the social ladder would get lower, because he would be gay, Indian man. If Jesminder would be from a different ethnicity I do not think it would have made any changes for the movie. The main point is that a white skin colour in the western world means a higher place in society than any other skin colour. If Jesminder had been a lesbian it would have placed her even lower on the social ladder. This also applies for Jules, she is a white, straight female, so she is quite privileged in general, but I think if the director had made her a lesbian, the stereotypes towards girls that play football would be even clearer and also show more struggles of women in a society.Sexuality does play a part in the movie, since Jules’ mother thinks she is a lesbian, but yet she turns out to be straight. I think this movie really shows the importance of using intersectuality when it comes to determining someone’s position in the society. The struggles of girls th at play football to be accepted playing a men’s sport and overcoming typical stereotypes are shown, just as well the struggles of an Indian football-playing girl being accepted in the western society. This movie shows that football is still a very gendered sport and that a girl’s choice to play football influences her position.Gender, race and sexuality play an important part in this movie and combinations of these axes are shown really well. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Internet Movie Database, ‘Bend it Like Beckham (2002)’, http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0286499/? ref_=sr_1 [ 2 ]. Internet Movie Database, ‘Parminder Nagra’, http://www. imdb. com/name/nm0619406/bio [ 3 ]. Internet Movie Database, ‘Keira Knightley’, http://www. imdb. com/name/nm0461136/? ref_=tt_cl_t2 [ 4 ]. Internet Movie Database, ‘Gurinder Chadha’, htt p://www. imdb. om/name/nm0149446/? ref_=tt_ov_dr [ 5 ]. UCLA School of Law, ‘Kimberle W. Crenshaw’, http://www. law. ucla. edu/faculty/all-faculty- profiles/professors/Pages/kimberle-w-crenshaw. aspx [ 6 ]. E. Midden, Transnational feminism lecture, 12 February 2013. [ 7 ]. E. Midden, Transnational feminism lecture, 7 January 2013. [ 8 ]. Internet Movie Database ‘movies about soccer’, http://www. imdb. com/list/Rt0kVvuG_IA/ [ 9 ]. Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond, ‘vrouwenvoetbal’ http://www. knvb. nl/competities/amateurvoetbal/vrouwen) [ 10 ]. K.Crenshaw, ‘Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics’, University of Chicago Legal Forum (1989) 59. [ 11 ]. G. Wekker, and H. Lutz. , ‘High winds on a cold Plain’, Botman, Jouwe and Wekker, (eds. ) Caleidoscopische Visies, (2001), 2-4. [ 12 ]. K. Crenshaw, ‘Demarg inalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex’, 65. [ 13 ]. G. Wekker, and H. Lutz. , ‘High winds on a cold Plain’, 8-9. [ 14 ]. E. Midden, Transnational feminism lecture, 12 February 2013. [ 15 ]. G. Wekker, and H. Lutz. , ‘High winds on a cold Plain’, 14-16.

How to Convert Kelvin to Fahrenheit

How to Convert Kelvin to Fahrenheit Kelvin and Fahrenheit are two important temperature scales. Kelvin is a standard metric scale, with a degree the same size as the Celsius degree but with its zero point at absolute zero. Fahrenheit is the temperature most commonly used in the United States. Fortunately, its simple to convert between the two scales, providing you know the equation. Kelvin to Fahrenheit Conversion Formula Here is the formula to convert Kelvin to Fahrenheit:  ° F 9/5(K - 273) 32 or you may see the equation using more significant figures as:  ° F 9/5(K - 273.15) 32 or  ° F 1.8(K - 273) 32 You can use whichever equation you prefer. It is easy to convert Kelvin to Fahrenheit with these four steps. Subtract 273.15 from your Kelvin temperatureMultiply this number by 1.8 (this is the decimal value of 9/5).Add 32 to this number. Your answer will be the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. Kelvin to Fahrenheit Conversion Example Lets try a sample problem, converting room temperature in Kelvin to degrees Fahrenheit. Room temperature is 293K. Start with the equation (I chose the one with fewer significant figures):  ° F 9/5(K - 273) 32 Plug in the value for Kelvin: F 9/5(293 - 273) 32 Doing the math: F 9/5(20) 32F 36 32F 68 Fahrenheit is expressed using degrees, so the answer is that room temperature is 68 ° F. Fahrenheit to Kelvin Conversion Example Lets try the conversion the other way. For example, say you want to convert human body temperature, 98.6 ° F, into its Kelvin equivalent. You can use the same equation: F 9/5(K - 273) 3298.6 9/5(K - 273) 32 Subtract 32 from both sides to get:66.6 9/5(K - 273) Multiply 9/5 times the values inside the parenthesis to get:66.6 9/5K - 491.4 Get the variable (K) on one side of the equation. I chose to subtract (-491.4) from both sides of the equation, which is the same as adding 491.4 to 66.6:558 9/5K Multiply both sides of the equation by 5 to get:2,790 9K Finally, divide both sides of the equation by 9 to get the answer in K:310 K So, human body temperature in Kelvin is 310 K. Remember, Kelvin temperature is not expressed using degrees, just a capital letter K. Note: You could have used another form of the equation, simply rewritten to solve for the Fahrenheit to Kelvin conversion: K 5/9(F - 32) 273.15 which is basically the same as saying Kelvin equals the Celsius value plus 273.15. Remember to check your work. The only temperature where the Kelvin and Fahrenheit values will be equal is at 574.25. More Conversions For more conversions, see these topics: How to Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit: The Celsius and Fahrenheit scales are two other important temperature scales.How to Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius: Use these when you need to convert Fahrenheit to the metric system.How to Convert Celsius to Kelvin: Both scales have the same size of degree, so this conversion is super easy!How to Convert Kelvin to Celsius: This is a common temperature conversion in science.

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.