Bead Bar Business Case

Bead Bar Business Case Free Online Research Papers The Bead Bar is company that has three divisions: (1) studios, (2) franchises, and (3) Bead Bar on Board. The studio division oversees the company’s six bead bar studios. Along with the original, there are now two studios in New York City, one on Long Island, one in Washington, D.C., and one in Boston, Massachusetts. The franchise division sells a complete beading supply package to businesses that want to open their own bead studio. The division is responsible for fulfilling franchisees’ supply requirements. The company still uses paper-based forms. The Bead Bar is now large enough that the paper-based system is inefficient and has caused some problems, including lost orders, incorrect invoicing, and fulfillment delays (Malaga, 2005). Information systems allow globalization. If the Bead Bar were to establish a website where people could purchase beading products, they could end up with larger profits. People from all over the world can purchase beading products easily and conveniently because the role of information allows the possibility to convert currencies and languages over the Internet. Information systems also allow each franchise to interact with each other or clients conveniently, as well, via email and/or teleconference, etc. Also, information systems allow for networking so that each franchise can share information with each other in a short amount of time. Information systems could also stop the Bead Bar from losing business. Since the Bead Bar is growing and yet still using a paper-based system, they will run into organization problems. The loss of orders, incorrect invoices, and delayed fulfillments will definitely cause unhappy customers. These unhappy customers will then tell others about their less than satisfactory service they received with the Bead Bar. Thus, giving the Bead Bar a bad reputation. Information systems allow a more organized and efficient way to handle customer orders, in a timely manner none-the-less. Information systems will also make it easier to handle finances and accounting, as well. DBMSs perform many functions for the business community. One of these functions is to manage data storage. Databases can hold a large amount of data, for companies. Companies use DBMSs to store all information on their customers, and their suppliers, as well. Databases can also manage inventory, which is essential to companies, so that they know when to order new products. This will allow companies to know which products are used most, or in retail, which product are best sellers. It will also be able to tell one which products are not selling enough to make a profit. This will tell the person who orders inventory what not to order again in the future. DBMSs also allow us to access this data relatively quickly, which is important. People want things done quickly, and they want their information retrieved quickly (Malaga, 2005), and DBMSs allows this to happen. Databases are imperative to the business community. I can only imagine that as businesses receive more and more information, they will need more and/or bigger DBMSs. Since the Bead Bar is going to be global they should use an enterprise DBMS. This will allow Bead Bar executives to hold a large amount of various data, provide security so that data cannot be compromised, and allow other Bead Bar executives to access the database and view data that they need to be aware of. The Bead Bar should use a distributed enterprise database since they have 5 franchises (especially if they plan to build more) and are about to start an online store. A distribute enterprise database is more reliable, and much faster than a centralized database. They will also permit each store to automatically know the prices that the main store sets. The local databases report their sales, inventory levels, and so on to the main store, which then sends price changes and the like to each database (Malaga, 2005). The Bead Bar should use a relational model database. The relational model is flexible and much easier to use than the network model (otherwise, I would have recommended the network model instead). I think that the relational model is best because each executive of the Bead Bar has a different use for a database, and the relational model will provide the tools they need for each of their uses. The relational model can also handle multiple tables and actually relate the tables to each other. This will prove to be a huge convenience for the Bead Bar. The Bead Bar is just beginning to really go global, and before they know if their business will really take off on the World Wide Web they should keep costs at a minimum. Therefore, I believe the Bead Bar should use a bus topology. In a bus topology, all of the devices on a network are connected to a common central cable called a bus or backbone. A backbone is the main portion of a computer network that is capable of carrying the majority of traffic on the network (Malaga, 2005). The backbone is commonly used to connect large networks or companies together. The major advantages of the bus topology are that it is relatively inexpensive and it is easy to add new devices to the network by simply connecting them to the bus. If the main cable fails, however, the entire network will shut down, and it may be difficult to determine why the cable failed. Due to its low cost and simple configuration, the bus topology would be the appropriate choice for the Bead Bar. I recommend a client/server type of architecture for the Bead Bar. It will help to control that can operate what feature, and will allow organized information from clients to be sent. In networks with a client/server architecture, certain computers act as providers of services, or servers, and others act as requesters of services, or clients. A server is a powerful computer with a fast processor and a lot of memory that is capable of handling simultaneous requests from clients. Some servers may be set up to provide shared data for clients, some handle only printing, and others might provide a variety of services (Malaga, 2005). Networking can be extremely complex. It takes a lot of planning and configuration, and the Bead Bar has a chance to make huge profits by going global. However, the Bead Bar executives cannot get ahead of themselves. They should invest in information systems, databases, and network topologies that are of low cost, and yet do the job that needs to be done. As the Bead Bar becomes more stable, and brings in a secure income then the Bead Bar should upgrade to more reliable information systems that would not fail as consistently, yet however, cost much more. If the Bead Bar waits for the stable income, they will be able to afford the upgrades without any financial troubles. References Malaga, R. (2005) Information systems technology. Prentice Hall. Pearson Education. Research Papers on Bead Bar Business CaseBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfOpen Architechture a white paperThe Project Managment Office SystemDefinition of Export QuotasIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic EngineeringResearch Process Part OneInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesStandardized Testing

Jenny Lind - Swedish Opera Singer Promoted By P.T. Barnum

Jenny Lind - Swedish Opera Singer Promoted By P.T. Barnum Jenny Lind was a European opera star who came to America in 1850 for a tour promoted by the great showman Phineas T. Barnum. When her ship arrived in New York Harbor, the city went crazy. A massive crowd of more than 30,000 New Yorkers greeted her. And what makes that especially astounding is that no one in America had ever heard her voice. Barnum, who relished being known as The Prince of Humbug, had managed to create incredible excitement based purely on Linds reputation as The Swedish Nightinagle. The American tour lasted for about 18 months, with Jenny Lind appearing in more than 90 concerts in American cities. Wherever she went, her public image of a virtuous songbird who dressed modestly and donated money to local charities gained favorable mentions in the newspapers. After about a year, Lind split from Barnums management. But the atmosphere created by Barnum in promoting a singer no one in America had even heard became legendary, and in some ways created a template for show business promotion that endures to the modern era. Early Life of Jenny Lind Jenny Lind was born October 6, 1820 to an impoverished and unmarried mother in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents were both musicians, and young Jenny began singing at a very early age. As a child she began formal music lessons, and by the age of 21 she was singing in Paris. She returned to Stockholm and performed in a number of operas. Throughout the 1840s her fame grew in Europe. In 1847 she performed in London for Queen Victoria, and her ability to make crowds swoon became legendary. Phineas T. Barnum Heard About, But Had Not Heard, Jenny Lind The American showman Phineas T. Barnum, who operated an extremely popular museum in New York City and was known for exhibiting the diminutive superstar General Tom Thumb, heard about Jenny Lind and sent a representative to make an offer to bring her to America. Jenny Lind drove a hard bargain with Barnum, demanding that he deposit the equivalent of nearly $200,000 in a London bank as an advance payment before she would sail to America. Barnum had to borrow the money, but he arranged for her to come to New York and embark on a concert tour of the United States. Barnum, of course, was taking a considerable risk. In the days before recorded sound, people in America, including Barnum himself, had not even heard Jenny Lind sing. But Barnum knew her reputation for thrilling crowds, and set to work making Americans excited. Lind had acquired a new nickname, â€Å"The Swedish Nightingale,† and Barnum made sure that Americans heard about her. Rather than promote her as a serious musical talent, Barnum made it sound like Jenny Lind was some mystical being blessed with a heavenly voice. 1850 Arrival in New York City Jenny Lind sailed from Liverpool, England, in August 1850 aboard the steamship Atlantic. As the steamer entered New York harbor, signal flags let crowds know that Jenny Lind was arriving. Barnum approached in a small boat, boarded the steamship, and met his star for the first time. As the Atlantic approached its dock at the foot of Canal Street massive crowds began to gather. According to a book published in 1851, Jenny Lind in America, â€Å"some thirty or forty thousand people must have must have been collected together on the adjacent piers and shipping, as well as on all the roofs and in all the windows fronting the water.† The New York police had to push back the enormous crowds so Barnum and Jenny Lind could take a carriage to her hotel, the Irving House on Broadway. As night fell a parade of New York fire companies, carrying torches, escorted a group of local musicians who played serenades to Jenny Lind. Journalists estimated the crowd that night at  more than 20,000 revelers. Barnum had succeeded in drawing enormous crowds to Jenny Lind before she had even sung a single note in America. First Concert in America During her first week in New York, Jenny Lind made excursions to various concert halls with Barnum, to see which might be good enough to hold her concerts. Crowds followed their progress about the city, and anticipation for her concerts kept growing. Barnum finally announced that Jenny Lind would sing at Castle Garden. And as demand for tickets was so great, he announced that the first tickets would be sold by auction. The auction was held, and the first ticket to a Jenny Lind concert in America was sold for $225, an expensive concert ticket by today’s standards and a simply staggering amount in 1850. Most of the tickets to her first concert sold for about six dollars, but the publicity surrounding someone paying more than $200 for a ticket served its purpose. People across America read about it, and it seemed the whole country was curious to hear her. Lind’s first New York City concert was held at Castle Garden on September 11, 1850, before a crowd of about 1,500. She sang selections from operas, and finished with a new song written for her as a salute to the United States. When she had finished, the crowd roared and demanded that Barnum take the stage. The great showman came out and gave a brief speech in which he stated that Jenny Lind was going to donate a portion of the proceeds from her concerts to American charities. The crowd went wild. American Concert Tour Everywhere she went there was a Jenny Lind mania. Crowds greeted her and every concert sold out nearly immediately. She sang in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Richmond, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Barnum even arranged for her to sail to Havana, Cuba, where she sang several concerts before sailing to New Orleans. After performing concerts in New Orleans, she sailed up the Mississippi on a riverboat. She performed in a church in the town of Natchez to a wildly appreciative rustic audience. Her tour continued to St. Louis, Nashville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and other cities. Crowds flocked to hear her, and those who couldn’t hear get tickets marveled at her generosity, as newspapers ran reports of the charitable contributions she was making along the way. At some point Jenny Lind and Barnum parted ways. She continued performing in America, but without Barnum’s talents at promotion she was not as big a draw. With the magic seemingly gone, she returned to Europe in 1852. Jenny Lind’s Later Life Jenny Lind married a musician and conductor she had met on her American tour, and they settled in Germany. By the late 1850s they moved to England, where she was still quite popular.  She became  ill in the 1880s, and died in 1887, at the age of 67. Her obituary in the Times of London estimated that her American tour had earned her $3 million, with Barnum making several times more.