Children With Mental Retardation And Self Esteem Psychology Essay

Children With Mental Retardation And Self Esteem Psychology Essay The World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations Organization (UNO) in the International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems defines Mental Retardation as A condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind, which is especially characterized by impairment of skills manifested during the developmental period, skills which contribute to the overall level of intelligence i.e., cognitive language, motor and social abilities. Retardation can occur with or without any mental and physical condition. (ICD-10, 1992, p176) This condition is also referred as Intellectual Disability or Developmental Disability. In India Mental Retardation means a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person which is specially characterized by subnormality of intelligence (Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, p 5). Intelligence is a general mental capability. It includes reasoning, planning, solving problems, thinking abstractly, comprehending complex ideas, learning quickly, and learning from experience. Limitations in intelligence should be considered in the light of four other dimensions; Participation, Interactions, and Social Roles; Health; and context Adaptive Behaviour. Intelligence in conjunction with adaptive behaviour helps in categorization of the degree of Mental Retardation which is conventionally estimated by standardized intelligence tests and supplemented by scales assessing social adaptation in a given environment. It provides a more comprehensive understanding of how a child is able to function within his/her environment. Assessments of adaptive behavior typically focus on domains such as communication, self care skill, and interpersonal relationships. Further, these change overtime, and, however poor may improve as a result of training and rehabilitation. By these measures an approximate indication of the degree of mental retardation can be diagnosed viz., Mild Mental Retardation approximate IQ range of 50 to 69 (in adults, mental age from 9 to under12 years); Moderate Mental Retardation approximate IQ range of 35 to 49 (in adults, mental age from 6 to under 9 years); Severe Mental Retardation approximate IQ range of 20 to 34 (in adults, mental age form 3 to under 6 years). Profound Mental Retardation IQ under 20 (in adults, mental age is below 3 years). (ICD-10, 1992) Behaviour involves action which is observable, measurable in terms of motor, cognitive and emotion (Peswaria and Venkatesan, 1992). Some of the behaviour is directly observable, while some are not directly observable as they are abstract and can only be interpreted. For example, happy cannot be seen directly, but it could be interpreted through behaviour, such as smile, laugh, etc. Some of our behaviour is directly measurable can be directly counted or numbered then it is measurable, while some are not directly measurable. Behaviour is seldom function of only one stimulus. But, it is a function of many stimuli converging upon the organism at any given time. These many stimuli and their related traces interact with one another and their synthesis determines behaviour. All the socially accepted behaviour has the cognitive, motor and emotional component, which help to lead a better adaptive behaviour. Adaptive behaviour has become and increasing important concept in the assessment and treatment of individuals with cognitive disabilities. In simple words adaptation means change over time to improve fitness or accuracy. It dependent upon both developmental status and cultural expectations e.g. assess performance in school, the ability to care for once self at home, interacting with peers and adults, and levels of independence in a variety of settings. It draws together a persons cognitive and personality characteristics. This is the collection of conceptual, social and practical skills that have been learned by people in order to function in their everyday lives. It can be understood as the functioning of an individual in his or her environment. It involves socialization process by establishing satisfactory relationship with other people and conforming to the cultural standards. It also involves learning that other people are necessary and becoming dependent on them. Almost as soon as this awareness develops, however, infants must begin to move in the direction of establishing independence. Social immaturity in adults is both a societal problem and also a personal problem for affected individuals, their families, and their employers. Social immaturity either plays an important role in maintaining multiple mental disorders or is in fact what defines those disorders. This is particularly true of the dramatic-erratic personality disorders, including Narcissism, Borderline, Histrionic and probably also Antisocial Personality Disorders. Social immaturity is also quite frequently associated with long term alcoholism and/or drug abuse which began in youth, and is frequently encountered by therapists treating clients who have been a bused as children. In short, Adaptive behaviour is the process through which the new born child is molded in to cultureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and hence become an acceptable person in the society (AAMR, 2002). In addition, we have observed most of parents having child with mental retardation have came across such incidences in their life facing some or the other difficulties due to the adaptive behaviour of their children. Whenever, these difficulties either solved or not resoluted, people around us start pulling our legs. We can react differently to these situations depending on our individual differences. One can get aggressive and start abusing or other can gently smile and accept the incident and reply accordingly for e.g. walking on the road you met a stranger who is very young and humble gentleman in his conversation, gets comments that you are old man. In these situations this gentleman should start using abusive language but he smiles gently and replies Thank you! For calling me an old man, because this contains the wisdom of Life. It reveals his high Self Esteem. Self esteem is a personal judgment of worthiness expressed in the attitudes of a person holds toward the self. When it comes to the parents having children with mental retardation most of them are depressed due their child condition, without accepting the fact that their child is special. Self esteem is considered to be the central aspect of psychological functioning (Taylor and Brown, 1998; Wylie, 1979; Crocker and Major, 1989). It reflects a persons overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. This encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. A persons self-esteem is revealed in their behavior, through assertiveness, shyness, confidence or caution. It is distinct from self-confidence and self-efficacy, which involve beliefs about ability and future performance. Rosenberg (1960) and social-learning theorists defines self-esteem in terms of a stable sense of personal worth or worthiness; this became the most frequently used definition for research, but involves problems of boundary-definition, making self-esteem indistinguishable from such things as narcissism or simple bragging. Self esteem is strongly related to many other variables (Diener, 1984; Crocker and Major, 1989). Behaviour and self esteem are closely linked. Better adaptive behaviour leads to better self esteem (Crocker and Major, 1989). If any deficit in the adaptive behaviour which ruptures the self esteem influences the quality of life, self image, body image due to which an individual goes into feeling of negativity. Dependency on others leads to depression, behaviour problem and antisocial behaviour hence affecting the Self Esteem. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Zigman, Schupf, Urv,  Zigman and Silverman (2002) have discovered significant decline in adults with Down syndrome increased from less than .04 at age 50 to .67 by age 72, and in adults with mental retardation without Down syndrome increased from less than .02 at age 50 to .52 at age 88. Moreover, adults experience overall decline in behaviors which were identified based upon the sequence and magnitude of changes, suggesting a pattern of loss not unlike that is noted in the population without mental retardation with dementia. Fidler, Hepburn and Rogers (2006) explained similar patterns in kids and adult with down syndrome on relative strength and weakness which includes stronger social skills, weaker expressive language, and poor motor coordination. Socialization strengths differentiated the Down syndrome group from the mixed developmental disabilities group. Prasher and Haque (1998) have examined the underlying factors for age-related decline in adaptive behavior for over a period of 3 year and the presence of dementia was the only determining factor, but difference in trend over time as compared to subjects without dementia was not significant. There no association was found between gender, sensory loss, severity of mental retardation, or place of residence and also no decline was seen between the subjects not having any significant physical or psychological disorder. Mervis, Tasman, Mastin (2001) have revealed that the domains of socialization and communication are correlated highly whereas daily living skills and motor skills are relatively weak. Further, it was found that socialization skills was more advanced than communication skills, and that within the socialization domain, interpersonal skills is stronger than play/leisure or coping skills. Adaptive behavior standard score was not related to chronological age. Hatton et al. (2003) have revealed that adaptive behavior skills increased steadily and gradually over time among children with less autistic behavior and higher percentages of FMPR expression showed better performance on all areas of adaptive behavior. Children without autistic behavior displayed higher scores and rates of growth on the Daily Living Skills domain, with the lowest scores in Socialization. Campbell, Adams and Dobson (1984) studied a non clinical group of families and concluded that in families where there were low levels of independence and high levels of emotional connectedness, young adults tended to readily adopt family values with little exploration in career and relationships decisions, they referred to these phenomena as identity foreclosure or premature commitments. Barber and Eccles (1992) explored that there is small differences between children in divorced and intact families in cognitive performance, delinquency and self-esteem, these differences frequently disappear when confounding and mediating variables are controlled. Further, they explained that family interaction impact on identity consolidation which is linked to educational, occupational goals and gender role related behaviors associated with marriage, family and job plans. In addition, possible benefits as well as potential costs of living with a single mother are influenced by maternal employment, family process differences, parental attitudes and expectations. THE PRESENT STUDY Age appropriate developed child increasingly becomes independent as they grow older acquiring the self-help skills through a combination of imitativeness and iron willed determination to be independent. For the handicapped child however, the acquisition of these skills may not be so easy; without special teaching he may remain dependent on help from others at almost every moment of an ordinary day. A child with better adaptive skills makes the child lives independently and their parents to be in high self esteem state. The significance of the study will emphasize the need to raise our eyebrows and call for concrete steps to improve their self Esteem and help them to alienate their feeling of negativity and helplessness. This would help them to make efforts for the betterment of their life. Participation in such efforts of both governmental and non-governmental agencies at macro and micro level is essential. In addition, researcher had observed based on the review of literature availability of research on adaptive behaviour and self esteem documented in the literature in western context. But, hardly able to discover any study related to the adative behaviour and self esteem in Indian context, which proposes the gap needed to fill. The investigator came up with the research problem to study the relationship of adaptive behaviour of Children with Mental Retardation and Self esteem of their Parents. Objective To study relationship of adaptive behaviour of Children with Mental Retardation and Self esteem of their parents. To study differences in self esteem among the parent with respect to their gender. To study effect of childs level of retardation on self esteem of their parents. To study effect of child gender on self esteem of their parents. Hypothesis There will be no significant relationship between adaptive behaviour of Children with Mental Retardation and Self esteem of their parents. There will be no significant difference in self esteem of the parent with respect to their Gender. There will be no significant effect of childs level of retardation on self esteem of their parents. There will be no significant effect of child gender on self esteem of their parents. METHOD Participants It will include all the children with mental retardation and their Parents who are coming to visit autonomous government institutes, non government organizations working in the field of disability rehabilitation. The elements considered for the sample will include individual diagnosed as mental retardation and assessed on standardized Intelligence test by self or by an expert working in the field of disability rehabilitation and their Parents having high or low self esteem. The size of the sample comprises of 200 children with Mental Retardation and their Parents with high or low self esteem. Age range of children with mental retardation will be between 6 to 18 years. In addition, student below 6 years and above 18years associated psychiatric or medical conditions and persons with learning disabilities, cerebral palsy and locomotor disability will be excluded from the study. The study will use multi-mixed method and it will be cross-sectional in nature where it primary aims is to see the effect and establish relationship between variables. Multiple methods help to give complete analysis of the research as almost all the aspects can be covered through it (Silverman, 2000). Non-Probability Judgemental sampling technique will be employed. Procedure Ethical issues regarding the data collection and participation of the subject will be considered. Data will be collected from the children with mental retardation and their parents using adaptive behaviour scale and self esteem inventory respectively. The data from the sample will be collected in two phase. Phase -I the children will be assessed for their Retardation, Adaptive Behaviour and Level of Retardation or already diagnosed by an expert will be assessed on adaptive behaviour and their parents will be employed on the Self esteem Inventory. Phase -II parent of children with mental retardation having no self esteem or not responded to the questions will be eliminated from the study, only with high or low self esteem will be included in the study. Measures Developmental Screening Test (DST). This was adopted by Dr. Bharat Raj (1977) form Denver Developmental Screening Test (1969), at All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysore. It measures mental development from birth to 15 years. It is a dependable assessment without requiring the use of performance Test. Appraisal is done by a semi structured interview with the child and parent or a person well acquainted with the child. It has 88 items distributed according to the age scale viz. 3, 6, 9, 1year 6 month, 2 year to 13 year and finally 15 year. At early stage motor behaviour items are kept. It signifies neurological and integrative behavioural implication which constitutes the natural starting point for development itself. Items of Adaptive Behaviour represent sensory-motor adjustment to object, person and situation. Binet- Kamet Test of Intelligence (BKT). This is adopted by Kamet (1934) from Stanford-Binet Scale of Intelligence. Burt (1939) comments that Binet scale is more efficient for the diagnosis of mental retardation more than any other test of intelligence. Its correlation co-efficient is higher than 0.7 and validity was found by comparing the IQ as measured by this test with estimated IQ by the teacher is 0.5. It is an age scale which extends from 3 years to 22 years as follows- 3 years to 10 years then 12 years, 14 years, 16 years, 19 years and 22 years. It measures ability that increase with age during childhood and adolescence. The test consists of 14 set for different age with 6 items and alternatives ranging between 1to 3. The test is administered individually to each subject. It measures the factors viz., Vocabulary, memory, imagery, reasoning, practical judgments, sensation, comprehension, perception of form, similarities, comparisons, and identical judgments (Madhavan, Kalyan, Naidu, Peshwaria and Narayan, 1989) Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS). It is adopted from Doll (1935) by A. J. Malin for measuring adaptive behaviour of children between 1yr -15 yrs for Indian population. Scale consists of 89 items spread in the age range of 0-15 year. It has 8 domains and assesses the childs adaptive behaviour. The administration is carried out in the semi structured informal atmosphere. Experiments have shown a consistent and high correlation between VSMS Social Age (SA) and a Binet Mental Age. Doll (1935) reported a correlation of .96 on a sample of normal children. The subscale is: -Self-Help General, Self-Help Eating, Self- Help Dressing, Self Direction, Occupation, Communication, Locomotion, and Socialization. Self Esteem Inventory (SEI). Developed by Coopersmith (1986), is designed to measure evaluative attitudes toward the self in social, family and personal areas of experience. It has three forms viz., adult form, School Short Form and School Form. It consists of 58 items: 50 self esteem items and 8 items constitute the Lie Scale. The self-esteem items yield a total score and if desired, separate scores subscales General Self, Social Self etc. The subscales allow for variances in perceptions of self-esteem in different areas of experience. The present study uses the adult form. Data Analysis Data analysis will be carried out by using SPSS software16 version. The self esteem inventory will be standardized to use in Indian context, through various methods such as item to item total correlation will be applied to check the internal consistency of the questionnaires. Reliability test will apply to measure the reliability of the questionnaires. The relationship of adaptive behaviour of children with mental retardation and self esteem of their parents will be measured by correlation, single linear Regression. The comparison of self esteem among male and female will be measured through t- Test. Differences with respect to level of retardation will be measured through ANOVA. REFRENCES A manual of american association for mental retardation (AAMR), 2002 Barber, B.L. Eccles, J.S. (1992). Long term influence of divorce and single parenting on adolescents family and work related values, behavior and aspiration. Psychological Bulletin, 111 (1), 108 126 Campbell, E.; Adams, G.R., Dobson, W.R. (1984). Familial correlates of identity formation in late adolescent: A study of the predictive utility of connectedness and individuality in family relations. Journal of Youth and Adolescents, 13, 509-525. Coopersmith, S. (1986). Self Esteem Inventories Manual (4th Ed.). Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. Palo Alto, California. Crocker, J. and Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self esteem: The self- protective properties of stigma. Psychological Review, 96 (4), 608-630. Deiner, E. (1984). Subjective well being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575. Fidler, D.J., Hepburn, S., Rogers, S. (2006). Early learning and adaptive behaviour in toddlers with Down syndrome: evidence for an emerging behavioural phenotype. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 9, 37-44. Hatton, D.D.,Wheeler, A.C., Skinner, M.L., Bailey, D. B., Sullivan, K.M., Roberts, J.E., Mirrett, P., Clark R.D.(2003). Adaptive behavior in children with fragile x syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 108, 373-390. Madhvan, T., Kalyan, M., Naidu,S., Peshawaria, R.,Narayan, J. (1989). Mental retardation: A manual for psychologists. National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad. Malin,A.J. (1965), Manual of vineland social maturity scale. Mervis, C.B., Tasman, B.P.K., Mastin,M.E. (2001). Adaptive behavior of 4- through 8-year-old children with Williamss syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 106, 82-93. Prasher, V.P., Haque, M.S. (1998). Longitudinal changes in adaptive behavior in adults with Down syndrome: interim findings from a longitudinal study. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 103, 40-46. Person with Disability Act, (1995). The gazette of India, 5 Peshawaria, R., Venkatesan, S. (1992). Behaviour in children with mental handicap behavioural approach in teaching mentally retarded children: A manual for teacher. National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad. Raj, B. (1977). A manual of developmental screening test. Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and adolescent self-esteem. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. Silverman, D. (2000). Doing qualitative research. A practical handbook. London: Sage Publications. Taylor, S. E. Brown, J. (1988). Illusion and well being: Some social psychological contribution to a theory of mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210. Zigman, W.B, Schupf, N., Urv, T. , Zigman, A. and Silverman, W. (2002) Incidence and temporal patterns of adaptive behavior change in adults with mental retardation. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 107,161-174. World Health Organization (1992), International Classification of Diseases and related health problem: Tenth revision (ICD-10), Geneva. Wylie, R. (1979). The Self Concept (Vol. 2). Lincon: University of Nebraska Press.

Plagiarism :: Computers Technology Cheating Essays

Plagiarism Plagiarism has been present in society for longer than one might like to think. But what is even more upsetting is the fact that it is a recurring problem in innumerable school systems across the country. By definition, plagiarism is the â€Å"unacknowledged and inappropriate use of ideas and wording of another writer† and can be considered â€Å"a grave violation of academic integrity† (http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/writing/tools/plagiarism.html). This may seem slightly harsh, but it is indeed true. However, to put in layman’s terms, an act of fraud or deception is committed when someone plagiarizes, either from a textbook or the internet. And, as with every mistake, consequences arise that affect the individual greatly. The general public conveys plagiarism to be â€Å"the capital intellectual crime† and in addition, is most often used by students and professors whose â€Å"undetected plagiarisms disrupt the system of student and scholarly evaluation† (http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/posner-r-plagiarism.html). Such actions can become the cause of expulsion of a student or the halt of a professor’s career. Because this is a major offense and requires immediate discipline, several American universities have established guides indicating the types of plagiarism that exist. One prime example is California State’s Eagle Guide. Within it, three categories of various plagiarisms are presented with the first titled Turning in Someone Else’s Paper, also known as Type I. Basically, the individual was either too lazy or lacked the confidence in himself to compose the paper. â€Å"This is the worst type of plagiarism because fraud is committed that undermin es the entire educational system. The material was not learned, writing skills did not improve, and the grade is based on deception. All in all, the person’s education is a fraud.† (http://web.calstatela.edu/centers/write cn/plagiarism.htm). Furthermore, Type II is the Internet â€Å"Pastiche† which is a â€Å"literary work composed of various sources† (Macmillan Dictionary, 1984). In this instance, the paper is assembled by the â€Å"writer† out of other texts. Paragraphs are â€Å"grabbed† and are carefully placed to form a final draft. Lastly, Type III is improper paraphrasing. This transpires when an author’s idea(s) are rewritten into other’s words and original sentence structure is used. Type III is the least hostile because it can easily be corrected with few practices.

Wal-Mart Scandal

New York Times reporter David Barstow uncovered a shocking story against retail giant, Wal-Mart. His investigation started after Wal-Mart shut down its internal investigation over the possible bribery of Mexican officials. Wal-Mart used these bribes to accelerate growth in their Mexican zoning areas. These allegations surfaced when a Hispanic lawyer contacted Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville Arkansas. This lawyer had inside information on Wal-Mart’s bribes, as he represented them in their acts. He was used as a middle man for Wal-Mart’s payoffs to these officials.Wal-Mart took action in defending its image. In 2005 the company launched an internal investigation that dug into the operations of Wal-Mart de Mexico. The reports put together obvious signs that the company had, in fact been bribing the city officials to open up zoning areas and to swiftly create building permits. These bribes reported to total above $24 million. Wal-Mart’s lead investigator had thi s to say after the investigation was conducted, â€Å"There is reasonable suspicion to believe that Mexican and USA laws have been violated. When Wal-Mart’s leaders were faced with the decision to continue the investigation, they gave it to Wal-Mart de Mexico to investigate; it was shut down. Wal-Mart didn’t notify Mexican or American law enforcement with the information and none of these wrong doings were brought to the public eye until the publication of Barstow’s article. Wal-Mart would obviously face critical examination by the public if the allegations were true; reasoning behind closing the investigation. Wal-Mart told the justice department that the investigation was unnecessary and the cases were minor where they did occur.The Time’s had a view in their investigation as they found substantial evidence supporting the bribes taking place. It’s believed that these bribes were the jump start Wal-Mart needed to gain its huge standing in Mexican society. 1 in 5 Wal-Mart’s are located in Mexico. The Times interviewed Sergio Cicero Zapata, who resigned from Wal-Mart de Mexico in 2004. Cicero told them of personal instances of him giving lawyers envelopes of money to pay off government officials. Cicero said that he had done these deals for years while working for Wal-Mart. Along with the information they received from Mr.Cicero, the times also found government documents with evidence of payoffs. These documents showed that within days of the money being given to the lawyers the permits were granted. The Times have published new stories exposing the company further with deeper information that they have gained through their investigation. Some of the information includes: * Wal-Mart pays $341,000 to officials in Mexico City to build a Sam’s club. The building was put in a densely populated area, and was done without a construction license, or an environmental permit or and urban impact assessment, or a traffic p ermit. Wal-Mart bribes officials to build â€Å"a vast refrigerated distribution center in an environmentally fragile flood basin north of Mexico City in an area where electricity is so scarce that many smaller developers turned away. † The bribe for this case was $765,000. * A zoning situation in Teotihuacan caused Wal-Mart to make a payment of $52,000 to enable them to build a store near a famous pyramid site. The citizens were enraged by the location of the store but the protests were ignored and the Wal-Mart was built.The mayor of Teotihuacan spent $77,000 buying and renovating a ranch the next year. Unexpected on a $47,000 yearly salary. * There have also been reports of Wal-Mart building on ancient ruin sites. They have been obtaining the permits to do so illegally. Now that the statements have been made public, Wal-Mart de Mexico has been under investigation by the U. S. and Mexican governments. The leadership is questionable within both Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart de Mexico . The high members of Wal-Mart de Mexico made a choice to shut down the investigation to cover up their tracks.The consequences of being discovered breaking the law to this extreme would put a huge chip on all of the Wal-Mart leaders’ shoulders. The growth of their business is also at stake. Apparently these bribes played a major role in the expansion of Wal-Marts across Mexico. The leaders located in Arkansas will more than likely be held accountable for irresponsible actions as well. If the allegations are true they could be found out for knowing about the illegal bribes. Ethical issues do not look good for leaders; it can dramatically impact the way the company is viewed.The actions of Wal-Mart making deals in Mexico could greatly affect the way the company is viewed and its overall standing to the public. With the investigation still ongoing it has yet to be clear what leaders at Wal-Mart are tied to the bribes in Mexico but it is undoubted by the New York Times that ther e are several people accountable for the actions. It is also possible that Wal-Mart has been doing this in other countries as well, but will only be confirmed when and if the government can obtain the information they need to prove wrong doing against Wal-Mart. Works Cited City. David Barstow; Alejandra Xanic Von Bertrab And James C. Mckinley Jr. Contributed Reporting From Mexico. â€Å"Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle. †Ã‚  The New York Times. 22 Apr. 2012. The New York Times. 04 Mar. 2013 . Radcliffe, Dana. â€Å"Leadership Lessons From Wal-Mart's Bribery Scandal. †Ã‚  The Huffington Post. 16 July 2012. TheHuffingtonPost. com. 04 Mar. 2013 .

Lord of the Flies6 essays

Lord of the Flies6 essays In the book The Lord of the Flies the beast turns out to be the boys worst enemy even though it never really existed. The beast turned out to be the boys themselves. They were all scared the beast would kill them, but they ended up hurting or killing themselves just by defending themselves from the The first sign of the beast was when the boys were first scared. When the little boy told the rest of the boys about the snake-thing he saw in the woods he refers to it as the beastie. None of the boys really believe him, but in all their minds it gets them thinking and worring about whats on the island, and if there are any beasts of some sort. The beast occurs any time the boys are frightened. If they hear a noise in the woods it must have be the beast. If they see something that scares them it must be the beast. This freightenment works the boys up so much that their primary goal is to kill the beast. In the end they kill themselves, and they realize that they were running from themselves. The beast never existed I think the author, Golding, felt the same why when he wrote the book. The beast is the boys, and it ends up being their worst nightmare, and they dont even know it. That interpetation of the beast changed throughout the book and i began to realize what the author meant by the beast. ...

relationship Athens + Sparta essays

relationship Athens + Sparta essays Asses the relationship between Athens and Sparta between 500BC 470BC The relationship between Athens and Sparta during the period in question was initially quite cordial. However, as Athens began to emerge as an economic and military power, rivalry between the two city-states developed and the relationship became increasingly, typified by friction due to contrasting political and cultural perspectives. This will be seen in the following analysis of the issues arising out of the Ionian Revolt, the contrasting foreign policy objectives of Athens and Sparta through the period of the Persian wars and finally, the emergence of Athens as a rival co-leader of Greece under the leadership of Themistocles and the establishment of the Delian League. Up to 500BC the relationship between Sparta and Athens had been quite cordial. There were no obvious signs of contention between the two city-states and Sparta especially was contented, to maintain the policy of isolationism within the Peloponnese. Due to Spartas overprotective and inward looking attitude, trade and cultural exchange was limited with Athens. Friction first begins to occur between the two as a consequence of Athens involvement in the Ionian Revolt. By 500BC the Ionian Greeks discontent with Persian domination was widespread, which ultimately led to revolt. The Athenians already on bad terms with Persia, agreed to support the revolt. Fine (historian) suggest that Athens joined the revolt for economic reasons Persian control of the Hellespont was interfering with Athenian Black Sea trade. Athens initiation in the revolt angered the Spartans, as the Ionian revolt is the event that embroiled the Greeks and Persian in what is known as the Persian wars. As a consequence, rivalry between the two city-states emerged. The contrasting foreign policy objectives of Athens and Sparta through the period of the Persian wars and the div...

The Strategic Role of Global Information Systems Essay

The Strategic Role of Global Information Systems - Essay Example Introduction The relationship between corporate strategy and information systems functions was not a central interest for the top management of organizations for some time. Information systems were primarily synonymous with corporate data processing and regarded as back-room operations to support the day-to-day operations (Ezingeard, McFadzean, and Birchal, 2007:99). However, the 80s and the 90s saw a growing realization of strategizing information systems for the organization. Interestingly, information systems have been present since the beginning of time, but the integration with information technology is a newcomer to the field. The functions of IT-based information systems have had significant impacts to organizations and people such that only a few (if any) company can afford the risk of ignoring these functions despite the fear and frustrations they evoke sometimes (Currie and Galliers, 2002:76). Some organizations regard information systems as unavoidable to remain in busines s, while others perceive the systems as a strategic opportunity that may proactively identify strategies to gain a competitive edge against competitors. Regardless of an organization’s stance, embarking of investment on information systems proves to be a non-reversible decision. Information technology has become powerful and cheap, and its use in organizations has spread at a rapid rate. Different management levels are using IT-based information systems in contrast to the earlier application at the operational level only. However, more organizations are focusing on improving efficiency and maintaining business effectiveness, as well as strategically manage organizations (Irani, Love, and Hides, 2000:23). The increasing complexity of managerial tasks translated to the complex nature of information systems required: from routine, structured support to unstructured, complex, ad hoc enquiries at the peak level of management. Information systems has the potential to change the way organizations work and the very nature of their business. In the information technology world, there has been introduction of electronic markets, where buying and selling occurs in a matter of seconds, disrupting the conventional distribution and marketing channels (Lacity and Willcocks, 2000:31). The advent of Electronic Data Interchange has not only increased transaction speed but also ensures subscribers of accuracy of information they receive from buyers and suppliers and perhaps reap cost reduction benefits using automated reordering processes. On higher strategic level, an organization may pass information to its customers or suppliers to provide or gain better service. Providing higher quality services to the customers than the competitors may result to the differentiation required to gain a competitive edge on a short term. However, continual improvement to the quality of services offered may enhance the competitiveness of an organization on a long-term basis (Magdaleno et al., 2008:305). However, the unprecedented and rapid change in information technology has profound impacts on IT-based informat

Strategic Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Analysis - Essay Example It was founded in 1978 and has grown to become the fastest growing retail store in America. This analysis evaluates this plan using the SWOT analysis tool, to identify the company’s strengths (S), weaknesses (W), its opportunities (O), and what threatens its sustainable growth (T). Home Depot was founded on the intention of being the largest home improvement facility in America. The company’s mission statement comprises of its core values which are: taking care of people, giving back to the community, doing the right thing, excellent customer service, building strong relationships, creating value to the shareholders, respect for all, and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit (Floor, 2006). This reveals the high value the company has placed in people and clearly shows the purpose of the business. It is very elaborate and is a plus for the company. Home Depot is now the largest chain of retail store in the county, and is a brand name. This is an achievement of its vision . The company has been actively involved in various corporate social responsibility initiatives, spending over $200 million in a number of causes. The key strength is their customer service and affordable costs. The three top priorities in Home Depot’s strategic plan are to offer goods and services that are targeted at the low cost market, to open more outlets, and to increase their range of products. Besides this, Home Depot also aims at being the exclusive supplier of building materials to licensed contractors. These three capture the core objectives of the company, established on the company’s values and in line with its vision. For example, the company seeks to focus its operations on improving customer satisfaction, by offering a variety of products and providing innovative products at competitive prices. This goal supports the company’s mission to deliver excellent customer service and to take care of people. According to Floor (2006), Home Depot has a uni que strength in the market, as it has built a reputation by offering high quality goods. By expanding its range of products, the company will be tackling one of its weaknesses. The company has for a long time been criticized for providing products of the same type and design. This company faces this challenge because it purchases its supplies from other manufacturers, a factor that limits its control on the features in a product. Product monotony has given the other competitors in the market an edge over Home Depot. The company’s image has also suffered considerably due to various products being recalled by the management after complaints from consumers. To its shareholders, the company strives to give them value for their investment. In order to remain profitable and be able to pay dividends, the company seeks to continually open new outlets and reach new markets. Home Depot now has thousands of outlets in the US and has opened 180 stores in Canada, about a hundred in Mexico , and a few in China and Britain. The company is also aggressively promoting its products to customers by establishing extra supply channels. To increase its earnings, Home Depot is reducing its cost of doing business significantly and investing heavily in its R & D. Home Depot has partnered with contractors in the growing home improvement industry and housing market. These collaborations although few, are among the many core competencies of this company, which