Making Ebay Work

Table of Contents Introduction:2 PART A: Chapter Summary3 PART B: Background and Case summary5 EBay’s Background5 Case Summary: Making eBay work6 PART C: Case Questions7 Case Question #1:7 Case Question #2:10 Case Question #310 PART D: Implications and Recommendation12 Implications12 Recommendations13 Introduction: Strategic capabilities have become a source of competitive advantage for both small and large organization. Organizations that wish to survive and compete in today’s dynamic business world need to implement unique and high-value strategic capabilities. This paper takes you through in depth analysis of strategic capabilities and how it relates to the business environment. The organization in focus is eBay, an online sales company. EBay is one of the largest online sales and auction company with branches in over two dozen countries. Its unique resources and key competences are paramount to its ever-growing success in the industry. The first part of this paper will take you through the concept of strategic capability. This is the summary of the chapter 3 from the textbook, Exploring Corporate Strategy. This part will focus on definition of strategic capability, the importance of resources and competencies to achieving strategic capabilities, cost efficiency, and how strategic capabilities can lead to sustainable development. The second part focuses on the background of the case study company, eBay. There is a brief background about the company and summary of the case study. Part three seeks to answer the case questions. The questions are divided into three; the first talking about the analytical framework for analyzing eBay’s strategic capability. There are several analytical frameworks in the textbook, for in-depth and better understanding, the SWOT analysis was used. The second question seeks to know what kind of capabilities have provided eBay with competitive advantage. The last questions deals with managing capabilities such as new resources, investing and divesting in resources, and extending resources given new entrants in the marketplace and the changing nature of eBay. Each question has been answered by expert individuals with good knowledge of strategic capabilities. The paper concludes by taking into consideration possible lessons learnt from the chapter and case study. We also give recommendations for development in eBay or other organizations that seek to achieve the feat of successful organizations like eBay. PART A: Chapter Summary Strategic capability can be defined as the adequacy and suitability of the resources and competencies of an organization for it to survive, prosper and deliver in the future. The strategic capability contributes to the competitive advantage of an organization by creating and implementing strategies that competitors find difficult to imitate or match. Unique and rare strategic capabilities give organizations better reputation and goodwill when compared with their competitors. Importance of resources, competences, core competences and dynamic capabilities: An organization’s strategic capabilities mainly revolve around its resources. The resources are either tangible or intangible and they are grouped into four categories; an organization’s resources can be: Physical, Financial, Human, and intellectual. Physical resources include machines, building or production capacity of the organization. Financial resources are used in the day to day running of the business; they include capital, cash, debtors, creditors among others. Human resource includes the number and mix of people in an organization. Most organizations have human resource departments that help manage the welfare of the personnel in the organization. Intellectual resources are intangible resources that include patents, brands, business system, and customer database. Resources are important to an organization because they allow the organization to produce at lower cost or generate superior product or service. The resources in an organization are of no worth if they are not being utilized effectively. Organizations must utilize their resources by being competent. Competences in business policy are used to mean the activities and processes through which an organization deploys it resources effectively. Competences can either be threshold or core. Threshold competences are the essentials needed to compete in a given market, while core competences are the effective use of resources to gain competitive advantage. Importance of cost-efficiency: The management of cost-base of an organization can be a basis of achieving competitive advantage. Cost efficiency is driven by a number of cost drivers. [pic] How strategic capabilities can lead to sustainable competitive advantage: †¢ Value: Have resources that customers value in terms of products and services. Product or services must exceed consumer want and taste. †¢ Rarity: Having unique resources and competences in terms of personnel intellect, unique services rendered among other things. †¢ Robustness: A strong and well-built form of strategic capabilities that annot be imitated by competitors. †¢ Non-substitutability: Providing value to customers and possessing competences that are complex and casually ambiguous. Diagnosing Strategic Capability If organizations are to achieve competitive advantage by delivering value to customers, they need to understand how it is created. †¢ Value Chain: describes the activities within and around an organization whic h together create a product or service. †¢ Value Network: is the set of inter-organizational links and relationships that are necessary to create a product or service. Activity Maps: it shows how the different activities of the an organization are linked together †¢ Benchmarking: comparison of programs and strategic positions of competitors. †¢ SWOT: summary of key issues which affect the business environment. Managing and developing Strategic Capability: In order for managers to manage and improve the strategic capability of an organization, there are certain decisions and actions which can be taken which relate to the development of strategic capabilities within the organization and external environment. These include: Extending best practices: managers might identify strategic capabilities in one area of the business and then seek to extend this throughout all the business units. †¢ Adding and changing activities: this involves adding or changing capabilities so that they become more reinforcing of outcomes. †¢ Stretching competencies: managers may see the opportunity to build new products or services out of existing capabilities. †¢ Entrepreneurial Bricolage: strategic capability can be built by exploiting resources, skills, and knowledge which have been ignored: which is often what entrepreneurs who develop new business models do. Ceasing Activities: involves doing away with current activities not central to the delivery of value to customers. †¢ External Capability development: developing capabilities by entering into alliances and joint ventures. PART B: Background and Case summary EBay’s Background EBay is an online shopping and auction website where people and businesses buy and sell products and services. EBay was created in 1995 and they have over the years grown and expanded to over two dozen countries such as the United Kingdom, China and India. EBay recorded a profit of $367 million according to GAAP in their fourth quarter in the year 2008. Millions of collectibles, decor, appliances, computers, furnishings, equipment, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, and sold daily on eBay. In 2005, eBay launched its Business & Industrial category, breaking into the industrial surplus business. Some items are rare and valuable, while many others are dusty gizmos that would have been discarded if not for the thousands of eager bidders worldwide. Case Summary: Making eBay work The ‘Making eBay Work’ case study is divided into three sections namely; eBay’s business model, eBay’s management and Competition and cooperation. EBay’s business model A business model describes the structure of product, service and information flows and the roles of the participating parties. Therefore the business model in eBay’s case includes its products and services and the interactions between buyers and sellers. The business model includes Value in eBay which is created by providing a virtual market for buyers and sellers. EBay listens to its customers and organizes Voice of the Customer groups which involve flying in a new group of about 10 sellers and buyers from around the country to its offices every few months to discuss the company in depth. Technology allows every move of every potential customer to be traced. Workshops and classes are held to teach people how to make the most of the site. EBay is governed from outside and within in the sense that the company’s system has a source of automatic control in the form of buyers and sellers rating each other on each transaction. Sales of illegal products are dealt with by withdrawing the item on sale and then banning the seller. EBay’s management Meg Whitman, an ex-consultant joined eBay in 1998 and has seen then heavily influenced the company’s management. Meg Whitman met a collection of Information Technology (IT) geeks who were handpicked by eBay’s founder Pierre Omidyar as top management of the company. Meg Whitman felt she needed to reshuffle and change the management as most of the top executives understood more of the IT side of the company rather than understanding the business side of the company. Respected consultants were then assigned senior management roles. This change brought about the company becoming data and metric driven: ‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t control it. ’ This simply means that category managers made decisions based on measuring and acting upon the data within their fiefdom or departments. EBay has in time upgraded its ability to ensure that technology does not fail. The company’s website was plagued with outages in 1999 which shut down the site for a period of 22hours. The problems were as a result of software problems and lack of backup systems. Maynard Webb joined eBay to become the president of the company’s technology unit and has since then ensured a secure website by constantly upgrading the system. Meg Whitman is a manager who is known for leadership qualities such as understanding and flexible. She is a leader who buys into the company in more ways than one by auctioning some of her furniture from her ski condo in order to have an eBay selling experience. Competition and cooperation As the internet has become a more competitive arena, eBay has definitely not stood still. The company tries to be aware and flexible. EBay bought Skype, the internet telephony organization in 2005 at the cost of $2. 5 billion. A lot of controversy marked this acquisition as people considered it too risky and eBay fired back by saying the company can create an unparallel e-commerce engine, pointing to their 2002 purchase of the online payment system, PayPal. eBay also supported their action by saying three benefits would be realized as a result of the purchase; ‘the more members the company will acquire, the more valuable the company will become, and lastly the more likely eBay will become a world leader in managing network effects. In 2006, eBay announced a deal with Google and has since then become one of Google’s biggest advert customers. EBay also partnered with Baidu Inc, a Chinese web portal bought by eBay in 2002. Baidu promotes PayPal Beibao as the preferred method of payment on Baidu. Despite eBay success in the west, it is not as successful in the east. EBay had to pull out of Japan and is cur rently struggling in Taiwan and lagging behind a rival in China. GMarket in Korea had a less complex system and so had a larger market base; so eBay had to come up with eBay express to meet up to the customer needs in Korea. PART C: Case Questions Case Question #1: Analyze eBay strategic capability using an analytical framework from the chapter Strategic Capability can be defined as the resources and competences of an organization needed for it to survive and prosper. EBay’s case shows us the necessity of an organization having sustainable resources and competences. In analyzing their strategic capability, the SWOT framework (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) projects, clearly, the issues surrounding a business and deduces how this issues makes them strategically capable. Strengths: Bay’s greatest strength is that it is the first online auction site. Because of that, eBay is well trusted. The customer’s perception that he/she can buy a good without worrying, keeps him/her coming back. That is why, in 2006, eBay had 200 million customers. Out of that, 750,000 made their living from eBay. (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008) From the case study, you can see a strong rel ationship between the business-to-customer and customer-to-customer relationship. For example, when a category manager sees a customer is having difficulty selling a product, he helps the customer by improving their presentation of the product. Also, eBay organizes â€Å"Voice of the Customer† were a group of 10 sellers and buyer are flown in from around the world, to discuss the company in depth. In regard to the customer to customer relationship, customers help each other by creating rules and norms to keep themselves safe from fraud. They also have websites, offering advice on how to sell on eBay. This relationship seems little, but it is not. It has taken at least 13 years to build it; that is why it would be very difficult for another company to break in. Another major strength eBay has is Meg Whitman who is a unique resource. She is well experienced. She previously worked with Procter and Gamble, Hasbro and Stride Rite, and went to Harvard business school. When she came in, she multi-tasked, filling many of the senior management roles such as the head of the US business, head of international operations and vice president of consumer marketing with consultants. Through her eBay has been re-defined; eBay has over thirty categories now (you can buy items ranging from books, cars, antiques to houses), their sales have increased and have acquired several firm- like Skype and PayPal- strengthening eBay alive and keeping it flourishing. Weakness Although things seem perfect, eBay has a number of weaknesses: Because items are sold online you can’t be certain of the person you are transacting with. EBay customers suffer from other fraudulent activities by other customers. For example, another customer maybe selling a Gucci hand bag for a reasonable price. When you pay for it and receive the bag, you realize the bag is not original. Another case of fraud occurs when stolen goods are sold. Fraudulent situations affect the customer to customer relationship. In addition, according to the case, in 1999 the site was shut down for 22 hours courtesy of software problems. This is a major weakness because eBay’s site cannot function when the system breaks down; auctioning cannot take place. During these periods, a lot of profit will be lost, affecting the business and customers. EBay would be affected more because of the amount spent on repairing. In the past, even the payment system, PayPal, has been shut down. Opportunities Opportunities are lucky breaks entrepreneurs use to get ahead of competition. Acquisitions provide new business strategy opportunities. In 2005, according to the case study, eBay bought Skype. It is an online telephone company. EBay acquired the firm for $2. 6 billion. Skype's software lets PC users talk to each other for free and make cut-price calls to mobiles and landlines. A lot of critics didn’t see the essence but for eBay it was a great opportunity. They were strengthening their threshold and unique resources. Skype is a unique resource because not a lot of businesses can afford to imitate that feat (spending $ 2. 6 billion). It is a threshold resource because Skype helps customers communicate more effectively. Through Skype, customers can see and hear each other; reducing the rate of fraudulent activities. In addition, eBay has opportunities through new and emerging markets. EBay has over 30 sites, were language differs. For example, if you go to the Chinese site, it wouldn’t be in English. But it wasn’t always like that before. This opportunity occurs when a country becomes more modernized, like Singapore. When it happens, eBay has an opportunity to increase its market segment. This is how eBay has been able to grow, over the years. Also, a product produced 5 years ago can still be sold and found on eBay. In a way, eBay keeps products alive. You can find a first edition magazines and old models of cars on eBay. This is one of eBay’s core competences. EBay keeps Markets current. Threats As with many of the global Internet brands, success attracts competition. (SWOT Analysis: Lesson, 2008) Competition is a threat because it reduces the amount of customers you have. From the case study, eBay has a big threat in Korea. GMarket is the Korean version of eBay. It is partly owned by Yahoo. Although Yahoo’s auctioning unit isn’t as strong as eBay, it can become a threat in the future. Already, because of Yahoo in Japan, eBay has pulled out. It doesn’t do well in the East because international competitors have a cultural edge over them. Furthermore, some costs cannot be controlled by eBay, which is a threat. â€Å"It is a threat because if a customer doesn’t understand why he has to pay extra, for example delivery charges and credit card charges, he might feel cheated. If fuel prices were to rise, the cost is passed on to the consumer in terms of delivery and postal fees. This could make the overall cost of an auctioned item too expensive, making customer’s look for cheaper prices†(SWOT Analysis: Lesson, 2008) Also, individuals pretend to be eBay staffs, using their logos, the send illegal e-mails. Case Question #2: What are the capabilities that have provided eBay with competitive advantage and why? hjogdnfjuhfe Case Question #3 Using the concept of sustainability and dynamic capabilities how would you manage (creating new resources and competences, investing/divesting in others extending others) Given: New entrants to market and the changing nature of eBay. Concept of Sustainability: Concepts of sustainability and dynamic capabilities are major strategies that organizations use to capture competitive edge over competitors. Sustainability of strategic capability deals with the criterion that organizations use to achieve and maintain competitive advantage over a long and sustainable period of time. Three main factors influence sustainable strategic capabilities; Inimitability, Rarity, and Value. Inimitability refers to the robustness or sturdiness of the strategic capability. It involves â€Å"identifying capabilities that are likely to be durable and which competitors find difficult to imitate or obtain† (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008). Inimitability can be achieved through three main ways, they are; Complexity: Complexity of strategic capabilities is the quality of being intricate and compounded. When organizations like eBay have very complex strategies, it will be very difficult for new entrants to the market to imitate such strategies. An example of a complex strategy in eBay could be the internal linkages in the organization. These internal linkages deal with how eBay internally links activities and processes together to deliver customer value. Internal linkages can be in form of relationship between top-management, middle-management and lower management staff. EBay has a very good communication network that allows for efficiency which will in turn produce efficiency and increase customer satisfaction. Organization can also build external interconnectedness with its customers to make it difficult for their strategies to be imitated. When developing new resources, organizations can seek opinions or partner with their customers or clients to generate idea that will add value to the company and also generate strategic capabilities that are robust in nature. †¢ Culture and history: Culture and history are very unique to each organization. It is almost impossible to find two organizations with similar cultural background. When investing or divesting in resources, organization should make sure their investment is culturally inclined. When strategies are linked to cultural embeddedness, there is the â€Å"likelihood that such competences have developed over time and in particular way. The origins and history by which competences have developed over time are referred to as path dependency, are specific to the organization and cannot be imitated† (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008). Causal Ambiguity: Ambiguity deals with not being able to discern the meaning or cause of a particular effect. It is very difficult for organizations to imitate another organization when the former cannot easily discern the cause and effect of the latter’s success. Organizations like eBay have varying causal factors that affect its success in the industry that other competitors find hard to discern. Other factors that affect su stainable development include the rarity and value of the strategic capability. When an organization is seeking competitive advantage, it needs to make sure the resources it’s investing in have huge values to the customers and they should be very unique and rare capabilities. Unique resources and competences can include marketing strategies that are peculiar to the particular organization. Dynamic Capabilities The changing environment in the business world today calls for the implementation of dynamic capabilities. Dynamic capabilities are â€Å"an organization’s abilities to renew and recreate its strategic capabilities to meet the needs of a changing environment† (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008). Dynamic capabilities help organization to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address the ever changing environment. When an organization is developing, investing, divesting or extending in resources, it should be able to transfer and modify existing resources to keep competitive edge over its competitors. The organization should have intellectual skills that can easily implement new capabilities to foster development. PART D: Implications and Recommendation Implications The following are the implications of the case study Making eBay Work: Competitive and Cooperative: Competition and Cooperation are one of the major elements used to successfully excel in the business world. Form the case it is observed that eBay is very competitive and cooperative. Competitive in the sense that eBay bought companies like Skype, the internet telephony organization (http://www. skype. com/) and PayPal an online payment system (www. paypal. com/) in order for it to keep up with the evolving activities on the internet. GMarket in Korea had a less complex system; so eBay created eBay express to meet up to customer needs in Korea. Bay is cooperative in the sense that it partnerships with companies like Google, yahoo and Baidu in other for it to be more effective in its services. Customer Friendly: Some organizations do not pay attention to the needs or complaints of their customers and take the appropriate measures to satisfy them, but eBay listens to customers and tries to keep up with what they want to sell, buy and how they want to do it. This brings about profitability, good reputation and more customers. So every organization should try to be customer friendly because it serves as an advantage to them. The great importance of Technology: The basis on which eBay operates is technology that’s why it’s of great importance to them. eBay endeavours to up grade their systems to fit the latest technology, make sure the site is accessible at all times, ensure no fraudulent activity or illegal transaction is carried out in the site and also ensures that the site is virus free. This helps eBay to operate effectively. Staying Aware and Flexible: eBay tries to stay aware and flexible at all times. The company tires to get feedback from customers, complaints, suggestions and also take note of customer activity on the site. This helps eBay to make necessary adjustments in other to satisfy their customers. Nearly all of its fastest-growing new categories emerged from registering seller activity in the area and quietly giving it a nudge at the right moment. For example eBay noticed a few car sells on the site so the company created a separate site called eBay Motors which has special features such as vehicle inspection and shipping. Organizations should try and stay aware and flexible in running while running their business. Good management can make a positive difference in an organization: Having a good manager or management body in an organization can make the organization excel. When Meg Whitman came into eBay in 1998 she made eBay become data and metric driven and she also brought about strategies which made eBay work better. eBay had a software problem and this caused the site to be shut down for 22 hours. When Maynard Webb was brought into the company as the president of eBay he quickly upgraded the systems and make sure they are upgraded constantly and this makes the site function more effectively. Have a good knowledge about a particular market before entering it: It is observed from the case that eBay is not doing well in the east but is doing well in the west. It pulled out of Japan, is suffering in Taiwan and it lags behind a rival in China. This shows that eBay those not have the right strategy to excel in those areas so it is advisable to have a vivid knowledge and strategy about a particular market or area before entering it in order to excel. Recommendations The following are the recommendations for the case Making eBay Work. eBay is not doing well in the east, in order for eBay to do well in the east it should either buy GMarket or partnership with GMarket in other to be successful. Since GMarket is big and successful it would not allow eBay to buy them so if eBay partnerships with GMarket it will be more successful in that area. If eBay is very tactical they can be better than GMarket in the long run. Like the saying goes â€Å"If you can’t beat them join them †. So eBay will be better off if it partnerships with GMarket. eBay pulled out of Japan, is suffering in Taiwan and it lags behind a rival in China. In business it is advisable never to give up so eBay should reengineer its self so it can function better in countries like Japan, Taiwan and China. †¢ One of the lessons of the chapter 3 (Managing strategic capability) is that strategic capability often lies in the day-to-day activities that people undertake in organizations. So developing the ability of the people at eBay in other to recognise the relevance of what they do in terms of strategic capability of the organization is important. Bay should organize training and development in specific areas and also develop people’s awareness that what they do in their jobs matters. This will help achieve competitive success and increase their motivation. Bibliography Johnson, G. , Scholes, K. , & Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Essex: Prentice Hall. S WOT Analysis: Lesson. (2008, February 12). Retrieved March 23, 2009, from Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT): http://www. marketingteacher. com/Lessons/lesson_swot. htm ———————– Experience Supply cost Product/process design Economies of Scale Cost Efficiency

Appeals Process Essay

Many times within a sentencing, an offender is given a certain time to file an appeal within. If they don’t appeal a verdict or decision within 30-days for example, they must wait until the ‘next go-around’ so to speak. Many times a certain amount of time must be served before an appeal can be filed. This can be easily demonstrated in the process an inmate within a prison files an appeal. If he or she serves four-years of a 15-year sentence and files an appeal and follows the appropriate steps to do so, they can still experience the misfortune of having their appeal turned down. If that happens, they are often made to wait another year before they can file another appeal. The decisions from these appeals can be returned fairly quickly or they can take anywhere from a day or two, to a week or more. In the case of a parole board hearing an inmate’s appeal, they often render a decision the same day and within an hour or two from the end of the hearing at the longest. To relate a story, a very close friend of ours is serving time in a correctional facility in the state of Colorado, a sentence and a decision put him there that I firmly disbelieve. He has served six-years of a ten-year sentence and went before the parole board last November. His original sentence is Sexual Misconduct with a Minor. Again, this is a charge that I firmly disbelieve in relation to this specific person, but nonetheless he is serving it. His parole got denied and he filed an appeal, due to the fact that accusations were made regarding his conduct before arrest that weren’t related in the least bit to his original charge. An appeal was filed to contest the parole board’s decision and the accusations made by malicious involvement from former family members. The appeal was shot down and he was told to continue on with his sentence and he would be eligible for parole again in November of 2013. We pray that this one goes better! Appeals can be lengthy and can be costly, but they serve a purpose. It should not be an easy process that these offenders go through in order to be let out. The best and most effective way for improvements to be made in the appeals process is to vary the cost of such procedures. If an offender is Page: 3 esirous to file an appeal, the cost of said appeal should vary depending on the severity of the crime committed. If it was a first-time offense and a non-violent offense that put the offender behind bars, the cost of their appeal should not match that of an appeal from someone who was convicted of a brutal, violent and bloody murder of multiple victims where no remorse was shown at all. Offenders don’t pay these costs themselves, but rather the money to pay for such filings is shelled out by their families. In many cases, these families are suffering enough by having their loved one behind bars in the first place. The family shouldn’t have to suffer a financial drain as well as an emotional drain just because their relative decided to go hog-wild with a machete or some other equally violent crime. When an appeal is filed appropriately, it can also make the process much easier. Another often forgotten fact is that if an appeal is not filed appropriately and proper steps followed, it can often be turned down before it even gets seen by the right people. I feel that part of the process that shows an offender is serious about their appeal, should be to follow every step and every measure laid out before them. If the paperwork telling them how to file instructs them to quack like a duck while wearing yellow and pink polka dotted pants at a Dixie Chicks concert, all while wearing a sign that says ‘I love purple unicorns’ then they should follow that exact process. If they leave out a step, they were not serious enough and need to go back to the drawing board!

Mr Alex

Human science fragments everything In order to understand It, kills everything In order to examine It. † (Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace)l There has always existed the question whether human sciences are considered real sciences and if do they really follow the established guidelines of science. The argument is that the natural sciences take a different approach to results and have a strong dependence on the observer. This is due to the fact, that in some cases human sciences have to take into account concepts, which are hard to measure like peppiness or love.Likewise, the background knowledge and empathy of the observer affect the results of the experiment. When talking about human sciences is important to highlight that they don't prove a theory, as there is no 100% certainty in any of the experiments. They only add information to the understanding of a topic or concept. To further develop my argument that states that Human sciences are scientific, the Boob Doll Experiment will b e analyses to develop this claim. The Boob Doll Experiment was presented by Albert Bandeau to help prove his belief hat all human behavior was learned through copying and imitating, rather than through genetic factors.This experiment is still controversial to this day, as many debaters state that today's globalize society that promotes violence. Therefore children are more prone to violent behavior than in other generations. Dry. Albert Bandeau used children on his experiment, as they have less knowledge on rules of society and less prone on behaving as the society think is right. He had four hypotheses; the first one was that children witnessing aggressive behavior by adults loud replicate their actions even if adults were not nearby.The second one states that children who have observed non-aggressive behavior are less likely to be violent. Even less than the control group, who have not even seen an adult. (Role Model) The third one proposes that children are more susceptible to co py the actions of an adult of the same-sex. The last one suggested that male children would be more aggressive than the opposite sex. Ii The Experiment had a simple and clearly stated Dependent Variable and Independent Variable. Also it had a Control Group used as comparison with the other woo groups, the one with aggressive and peaceful adults.Moreover the experiment can be repeated to add up and compare the information; this is a scientific quality that complies with the scientific theory. Another Important aspect to take into account Is that each of the subjects was tested Individually to avoid other Individuals affecting the reactions of the subject. Ill On the other hand, the experiment had some clear flaws. For example It generalizes the results as Just a few children were part of the experiment, so the sample is very narrow and specific.

Leadership of Ghandi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership of Ghandi - Essay Example With all of India praying and fasting there was nobody to run the shops or the telegraph system so India was virtually cut off from any communication and trade from the rest of the world. The British army had to take over the telegraph system so that they could have at least one way to communicate. Gandhi was also a strong believer of 'Satyagraha' which means to use personal dedication to your cause, and which forces you to do what is right. More of Gandhi's methods to achieve his ultimate goal of an independent India were marching and making speeches. Gandhi took many followers to Darishima Salt Works, at which they made two lines formed of men while women were setting up hospital tents near by. Gandhi and another man were first to attempt to get through the gates, which only resulted in multiple beatings. But still the men marched up to the gate. Man after man beaten and taken away by the women to the hospital. Gandhi also made many important speeches. One very important one was when Gandhi told the Indians only to wear homespun. He told them to wear homespun He also spoke about boycotting British goods so that caused the British hardships. Gandhi fasted many times nearly until he was too weak to even speak. He would fast for days in order to prove to his people that fighting was wrong and that non-violence should be used.

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Ethics - Essay Example International Business Ethics These entail rules and regulations set forth to control the business between countries in the world in order to enhance trade between them, bringing out globalization. Globalization diminishes the set barriers between countries on the globe for trade to occur smoothly. Examples of transactions that fall within the ambit of international business ethics include fair trade movement and transfer pricing. The factors looked at to come up with significant international business ethics include the exchange rates, economic growth and rates, working environment, the government control involved and the social ethics involved (Casson 97). International corporations operating in host countries may be perplexed by the customs, rules and laws of the country, some of which conflict with cultural guidelines of their home states. This presents numerous ethical complexities universally; for example, the certain governments’ expectations. Different employees in the many departments in a foreign culture cannot be accorded same salary standards and promotional standards as the ones back home. This is due to different working conditions and environments in the different countries, and also various rules and regulations in conducting business in different countries. For example, economic status of developed countries tends to differ with that of developing countries and the currencies of countries have different values (Casson 97). Various theories of ethics involved include rationality, social ethics and communitarism. Rationality This is a concept used in business, which involves the reasoning of people involved in a business with the motive of solving a problem or achieving a goal in business. As noted by Casson, in international business, the concept of bounded rationality is a key element in the transaction cost theory version of Williamson’s (1975). It also underpins the Hedland’s (1993) arguments that favor the network firm ( Casson 98). Various countries’ representatives come together and discuss certain issues affecting international trade and come up with certain guidelines, which benefit each and every player involved in the international business. The various issues discussed include the exchange rates of different currencies of all world countries. In addition, there has been the formation of various organizations that maintain stability of the different world currencies. These include the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which assist countries in maintaining a superior economic position and help in times of economic crisis (Casson 98). Social ethics These include the appropriate behaviors of certain peoples as a whole, especially with regard to their different perspectives on things and beliefs in their various cultures. In such societies, the current principles and values dictate how people should act and deal with one another by setting certain behaviors or standards that s hould be followed by members of society. Factors considered within social ethics include language, race, gender, culture, religion and education, among others. In international business, social ethics is a vital issue as various countries have di

More Choice Is Desirable To Less Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

More Choice Is Desirable To Less - Essay Example This paper will use the rational choice theory to provide an explanation of the reasons why having more choices is beneficial, when compared to limited choices. The rational choice theory is a theoretical application which assumes that people will make good choices, that gives them the greatest satisfaction and benefit. These choices will always work, in accordance with their interests. It is important to explain that resources are scarce, and because of their scarcity, there is an increase in the demand of using these resources. Based on this factor, some of the services provided by stakeholders are limited; hence customers have little choices on the kind of service to choose or access. However, it is important to explain that expanded choices have the capability of creating the utility to people. Utility refers to the ability of a good or product to satisfy the needs and wants of people. The availability of more choices normally has an impact of creating utility, and this is becaus e people will have a variety of products to choose from, which in turn may help in the satisfaction of the needs of the people under consideration. Take for example; people may have different tastes in the movies that they watch. One individual may love different movies, at different times. For instance, after working hard for about one week, an individual may prefer to watch comedy for entertainment. On a Sunday, the same person may prefer to watch a serious drama. This is because he would achieve utility or satisfaction, only if he or she watches movies on these days. Based on these facts, movie theaters that offer a wide range of movies have the capability of satisfying these needs and wants. Based on the principles of rational choice theory, an individual would choose to watch a movie that best suits his or her needs.

Media Event Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Media Event - Assignment Example Her main objective is to find them suitable jobs or protective environment after graduation. This is to prevent them from landing in the streets. The director of this movie, Samantha Buck, demonstrates sensitivity in a dramatic way to those students with special needs as the camera keys rove in on Mimo’s reactions. Ms. Mimo is the star and a protagonist with a bright face that does not hide anything as she focuses on the audience’s emotions. The camera lingers on the students who have grown with frustrating experiences longer than comfort. The â€Å"Best Kept Secret† film is exemplary in the sense that, it never seeks to hide any truth from the framework of the narrative. This section will explore two Special Education Laws websites, and two special education court previous cases. The first website is wrightslaw.com (http://www.wrightslaw.com/caselaw.htm). This website explores various cases from the U.S Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and Noteworthy Cases. The first case mentioned in this website is the case of U.S Department of Justice Verses Day Care Centre in Oklahoma. The case was filed with the U.S Department of Justice. The statement of the case alleged that, the Camelot denied the person the right to participate in field trips, hence violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case was settled on the November 27th, 2013, the child in question, with Down Syndrome and toileting issues. The court ruled that, Camelot shall not discriminate any child on the grounds of disability. This includes full participation and enjoyment of goods, services, privileges, advantages and accommodation. The second website is the special education advisor.com (http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/special-education-laws/brief-history-of-special-education-court-cases/). The case was heard by the Supreme Court. The case was between the Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson Central School

The Ballets Russes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Ballets Russes - Research Paper Example Uniting different forms of art one artistic whole that organizes the material and spiritual environment is what artistic synthesis is all about. This concept implies the creation of a qualitatively and new phenomenon or art that cannot then be reduced to the sum of its original component sums. The new product becomes the imaginative, the compositional and the ideological unity of these components that form the various parts. Be they music, painting or dance. The Ballets Russes became the first internationally performing dance company that featured an intricate design by several outstanding artists, a variety of choreographers and a blend of music and beautiful synthesis of art. The common effect in space and time arrangements, the unity of the various components, their proportion, their coordination in scale and the rhythm generate several marvelous and variable artistic qualities. These enhance the apprehension of art and establish an idea that is developed on several planes. The sy nthesis of art has a comprehensive and emotional effect on the person who encounters it, appealing to several of his senses all at once. This concept has had many great educational and social possibilities that have been adopted by a number of productions and performances through the history of performance. There are various syntheses that have been practiced throughout the history of art. For instance, monumental art and architecture have always been united leading to the creation of an artistic synthesis where painting and sculpture, while still performing their own tasks, have also enhanced and interpreted the work of architecture in itself. This form of plastic and spatial synthesis sometimes also includes the decorative art that is applied to bring out the environment of man, his desires and pleasure. It is this aspect of art that the Ballet Russes maximized on. The Ballets Russes There has been a history of synthesis of the temporal arts such as poetry and music that are chara cterized by different genres of vocals such as: popular song, cantata, art song, opera, and oratio. There are several works that have utilized this concept to create an innovative form of art. These include motion picture, theater and of course ballet. Painting, music and dance are synthetic in their own nature. In uniting the creative works of the painter, the singer and the dance, a whole new world of art is aesthetically united (Jordan & Lopukhov, p. 24). These are the possibilities that were utilized by the Ballets Russes. The Ballets Russes, also known as the Russian Ballets, was a travelling ballet company from Russia that performed from 1909 to 1929 in several countries. It was directed by Sergei Diaghilev and is regarded as one of the greatest ballet companies, if not the greatest, in the 20th century (Brewer, Diaghilev’s Golden Age; Culture24.org). His work was based on the philosophy that â€Å"art is free and life is paralyzed.† It is important to note that by this time, Diaghilev had already enjoyed success in Paris a year before, in 1908 before his company originally started to perform. In that year, he presented to the Parisians a season of the Russian art, their music and opera. It is this presentation that got him the invitation the following year to present ballet and opera. The dancers of Ballets Russes came from the ballet school in St. Petersburg, the Imperial Ballet. After the Russian Revolution several Russians were exiled to Paris. This formed the training ground for the next generation of dancers. They featured a variety of works from a variety of artists. When the director died the company’s dancers scattered and its assets were claimed by creditors. It was later revived under the name Ballet Russ de Monte Carlo by Colonel Wassily de Basil and an associate Rene Blum in 1932. The company combined new art, dance and music and created a sensation that reached all the corners of the world.

Building Lasting Customer Loyalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Building Lasting Customer Loyalty - Essay Example The variable that drives customer loyalty the most is price. A company that has been able to build tremendous customer loyalty because they offer better price than the competition is Wal-Mart. A lot of customer supports private label brands because they offer greater value than national brands. The quality of the product is another important variable when a company is trying to build customer loyalty. Customers are willing to pay more for products of higher quality. Three additional variables that drive customer loyalty are location, selection, and service. Companies that are able to achieve customer loyalty obtain lower customer switching, increased profitability, and great word of mouth advertising. Six key elements of customer loyalty are: a) build on the foundation of a brand; b) use price to communicate a fair value; c) engage customers with great customer experience; d) recognize good customers; e) reciprocate customer loyalty; f) build intimate relationship with best customers (Bradner, 2007). If your customer has a business that offers items that your company uses it is a good idea to purchase from them to support the business of a client that is providing you with revenues. Marketers must pay close attention to their top customers to ensure customer retention of these key clients. Four types of loyalty tactics are price, experience, programmatic, and relationship loyalty. In the airline industry a company that has had success by offering low fares is RyanAir. s. Programmatic loyalty provides companies with discount and tcalled BK rewards that offers its customers a 5% credit towards the purchase of future food items. In the service industry having a good brand experience is very important to achieve a higher level of customer retention. Chapter 21 Summary The business world has become more interconnected than ever due to faster communication, transportation, and financial flows. The story of Red Bull is a great example of a company that was able to suc ceed in the foreign markets. Today Red Bull has penetrated over 100 countries worldwide. Corporations hold most of the wealth of the world. There are 200 companies that have more money than a quarter of the world’s countries. In 2003 international trade accounted for one-quarter of the U.S. GDP. A global industry is an industry in which the strategic positions of competitors of major geographic or national markets are affected by the overall global position. An example of a global industry is petroleum due to the fact that the majority of the automobile worldwide are powered by gasoline. A global firm is a firm that operates in more than one country. Five major decisions in international marketing are: 1) deciding whether to go abroad; 2) deciding which markets to enter; 3) deciding how to enter the market; 4) deciding on the marketing program; 5) deciding on the marketing organization. Many international markets offer opportunities to achieve higher profitability than the do mestic market in which the companies operate. Expanding into international market allow companies to achieve economies of scale. It also helps companies reduce their dependency on one market. When a company gets attack by international competition a good strategic option is to counterattack by penetrating the domestic market of the international competition. Prior to penetrating a foreign location companies must identify the risk involved with the decision. The company might not understand the foreign nation business culture. The regulation of the country must be understood prior to establishing a presence in a location. For example the environmental laws of the country might impose additional cost the company was not incurring in its domestic marketplace. The four

The Aviation Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Aviation Industry - Essay Example As the essay declares an industry for consideration would be the aviation business. The aviation industry is composed of all companies, private or otherwise, that partake in the air transport. This includes both passenger travel and cargo freight. It is a rapidly growing industry and being the fastest means of transport, it is the most preferred by many. The airline industry is demarcated into various sub-sections consisting of commercial passenger transport, private charter firms, cargo freight companies and, more recently, the introduction of emergency flying doctor services. Due to this, the delineation of boundaries for this industry poses a number of challenges to the industry players. As such, rifts may occur among industry players with each firm only associating itself with its niche and generally avoiding interaction with others outside its scope. This paper stresses that the negative impact comes evident when a firm supposedly offers services in a niche not considering its specialization. The other companies in that specialty would view this as territorial infringe. This often puts different industry players at war against each other. Moreover, the establishment of national air space also sets an avenue for differences among countries. Considering these, the delineation of boundaries in the aviation industry curbs affable relations among the industry players and this eventually means limited opportunities for progress and at times, keeping the consumers stuck with services that are not top-notch, hence it hampers competitiveness in the sector. Apart from the above, certain structural factors form the interplay of the industry leaders in an industry. Among these are advancements in technology. Therefore, in the aviation industry, technological dynamism is a critical factor that plays a significant role. The majority, if not al l, of customers or air travel fanatics are only thrilled by the prospect of boarding a

Globalization and Its Discontents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Globalization and Its Discontents - Essay Example Stiglitz proposed a common explanation with realistic assumptions: agents on one side of the market have much better information than those on the other side. Borrowers know more than the lender about their repayment prospects; the seller knows more than buyers about the quality of his car; and tenants know more than the landowner about their work effort and harvesting conditions (Ibid). In Globalization and Its Discontents, Stiglitz referred to larger players than mere agents of the market, landowners, and tenants - and these are the multilateral institutions and their principal shareholders in pressing developing countries - supposedly to liberalize their economies. In this controversial book, Stiglitz argues that although globalisation should be a powerful force for good, it has been badly mishandled by the West, especially with its lead institutions, the World Bank and the IMF. As Stiglitz contends, those concerned with economic development have seen economic openness and liberalization as panaceas. Instead of progress however, he argues, the result has all too often been devastation. What happens, according to him, is that developing countries open themselves to trade, deregulate their financial markets, and abruptly privatize national enterprise but then experience more economic and social disruption than growth. Foreign direct investment is said to have destroyed potentially viable domestic companies. And liberalized international finance has made emerging-market economies "more vulnerable to erratic shifts in investor sentiment" without giving out any visible benefits. Stiglitz is a respected economist who actually worked as a senior official at the World Bank. In this book, Stiglitz recounts his experiences in some places including Thailand, Indonesia and some other Asian countries, Russia and Brazil, and Argentina. He finds repeatedly that the International Monetary Fund puts the interests of its "largest shareholder," the United States, above those of the poorer nations it was designed to serve. In the end, he said these countries which had enthusiastically embraced free-market policies have been "engulfed in catastrophic financial crises, leading to bankruptcies, unemployment and social unrest". He also strongly criticizes the role that has been played by the U.S. Treasury in many of these crises and occasionally also criticizes the World Bank, an institution where he was once affiliated with as Chief Economist. His main criticism of these institutions is based on their closed-door debates, hence involving precious little participation from the host countries outside of their finance ministries and central banks. While the policies made by these institutions affect billions of people in the developing countries, they have little voice in the whole process, he said. Another point which he labours about in the book is about capital market liberalization, and how he argues that it contributes to "volatility of capital flows into and out of a country." In general, he finds fault with the manner liberalization and privatization has progressed in several of the new and transitional economies because they do not have "the right institutions that are an

HIV Vaccines Essay Example for Free

HIV Vaccines Essay A vaccine is a biological preparation intended to improve an individual’s immunity to a specific illness or disease. Most vaccines are composed of weakened or killed forms of an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism. A typically safe version of the pathogen, which is unable to cause the disease, is then produced by the altered or inactivated state. Once the vaccine is administered into the blood stream, the agent is recognized as a foreign body, which then triggers the process of active immunity, which in turn builds up antibodies to fight this particular pathogen (Wisegeek). Vaccination is intended to provide protection so that if the body comes in contact with the same type of disease in the future, the immune system will already have memory antibodies to fight the disease before symptoms occur. Since the introduction of vaccines for illness causing pathogens, diseases such as measles, polio and the common flu have greatly decreased in occurrence. With that being said, not all vaccines have been proven to be safe or effective. One virus that does not yet have an effective preventative vaccine is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV is a retrovirus that attacks the human immune system. Transmission of the virus can occur in many different ways; through contact of infected secretions of one person with the genital, oral, or rectal mucous membranes of another person. HIV can also be transmitted through blood and from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or through breast milk (Healthmagic, 2010). The virus is characterized by its two glycoproteins: gp120 and gp41. The larger of the two glycoroteins is gp120, this molecule is the primary site of attachment to CD4 receptors of the host cell and while also triggering inflammation when shed into the blood. Gp41 promotes fusion to a target cell while remaining on the cytoplasmic membrane. HIV infects four types of cells: helper T cells, macrophages, smooth muscle cells and dendritic cells. Attachment and entry of HIV into T cells and macrophages occurs in three steps. In the first step, gp120 binds to the CD4 (cluster of differentiation 4) molecules on a host cell; forming a complex known as gp120-CD4 complex. Second, this complex binds to a chemokine receptor, which removes gp120 from the virion. This process if finalized when the virion binds to a cell. Once bound to a cell, the virion’s envelope contacts and fuses with the cytoplasmic reticulum through the medium of the gp41. The HIV capsid then gets insinuated into the cytoplasm; however its covering of gp41 gets left behind and becomes part of the cells cytoplasmic membrane. With gp41 remaining on the cytoplasmic membrane, it is then able to fuse with over 500 cells to form a syncytium, which is a giant cell with multiple nuclei. This fusion is very dangerous because it allows HIV to move from cell to cell without being exposed to any antibodies that are in the blood. During synthesis, an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, transcribes the double stranded DNA using TRNA as a primer in the cytoplasm. Reverse transcriptase is prone to making a lot of errors during this process which generates an abundance of new antigenic variations of HIV. The double stranded DNA then enters the nucleus and is inserted into a chromosome by the enzyme integrase. Once the double stranded DNA is integrated into the cellular DNA it remains a part of it for life. Once the newly infected double stranded DNA is integrated into the chromosome, it cannot be changed or counter acted. However, there are various therapeutic vaccines to help regulate the virus (Bauman, 2011). Therapeutic vaccines are designed to help treat people who are HIV positive by controlling the virus. Those who are infected with HIV and live with it for an extended period of time, start to develop antibodies on a specific part of the glycoprotein 120, which is in charge of initiating the activation of HIV. This antibody, C5, is known to be crucial in producing certain antibodies that are able to control HIV by regulating its hyper action that destroys the human immune system. However, induction of these antibodies cannot occur unless GP120 is at the surface of the virus. In order for gp120 to be at the surface of the virus, gp41 and the antibody C5 must fuse. This is a process that is unable to occur on its own (Bionor Pharma, 2010). The therapeutic vaccine Vacc-C5, invented by Bionor Immuno, is an antibody-mediated vaccine that binds C5 and gp41 together so that the antibodies from C5 can be effective and help regulate the virus. A preventative vaccine is designed to prevent individuals from getting HIV. Over the recent years there have been many studies and attempts to create an effective vaccine to prevent HIV but unfortunately none have been proven to be successful. A good example of a preventative vaccine, that had hopeful prospects, is the AIDSVAX vaccine developed by Philip Berman. AIDSVAX is composed of a synthetic version of the glycoprotein 120, a part of the HIV’s envelope, which the virus uses as a mechanism to latch onto and enter the cell. This version of gp120 was meant to stimulate the production of antibodies against strains of HIV that it resembles, giving immunity to the strain of HIV. However, this vaccine was proven ineffective after the clinical trials. Near the part of the gp120 that attaches to the cell, there is a chain of a specific sequence of amino acids called the V3loop. The V3loop is the most variable part of the glycoprotein and in order for an envelope vaccine to produce an antibody response; it has to be against the exact strain of the virus (Brian Deer). HIV is a virus that has many different strains and is also constantly going under mutations within replication therefore preventing the AIDSVAX vaccine from halting the infection of the virus. The development of vaccines against HIV has not yet reached a point of success. HIV is a virus that has many characteristics that make it highly difficult to prevent and treat. HIV is capable surpassing immune response because of its ability of generating many antigenic variants; due to it being so highly mutable. Also, not only does HIV attack the various cells in the body that combat infections in the immune system but it can also spread through syncytia via formation by gp41, evading detection from immune defence all together. Vaccine development is still an important tool in healthcare because there are still millions of people who currently live with the disease and many who are at a high risk of contracting it. However, even with the many developments in medical research, the production of vaccines is still a costly procedure which also presents ethical and medical problems. In the meantime, the spread of infection must be slowed through the increase of awareness and availability, of information on the risks of contracting the disease. In order to avoid contraction, Health Care Providers must provide the public with information about safer practices, such as; safe sex and the proper use of sterile needles and syringes for injections. They can also promote proper blood screening procedures and spread information on medications, therapeutic vaccines and other ways an individual who already has HIV can prevent the spread of the virus as well.

Functional Analysis of Behaviour Clinical and Ethical Issues

Functional Analysis of Behaviour Clinical and Ethical Issues Discuss the clinical and ethical issues involved in  conducting a Functional Analysis of behaviour when  working with a client with a learning disability. What  evidence is there that this is an effective approach? Word count: Contents (Jump to) Introduction A Holistic approach The case for employing the functional analysis of behaviour approach Difficulties with functional analysis Functional analysis in everyday clinical practice Case study using functional analysis Ethical issues relating to the functional analysis approach Combining different approaches Conclusion References Faced with challenging behaviours shown by people with learning disabilities, the psychologist must decide which analytical approach – behavioural, biophysical, ecological or psychodynamic – will best facilitate appropriate therapeutic interventions. A number of wide-ranging reviews of the available literature, together with meta-analyses of this area, indicate that interventions based on the behavioural approach offers the most effective way forward. The behavioural approach advocates that all behaviour is learned, and that behaviours are functions of the interplay between an individual and various factors within his/her environment In his meta-analysis, Didden (1996) concludes that there is â€Å"a convincing level of change in terms of reducing challenging behaviour through systematically applied behavioural approaches†, and that behavioural approaches are much more effective than, for example, medication. The behavioural approaches used to tackle difficult/challenging behaviour fall into three main categories: [RZ1]â€Å"Differential Reinforcement† involves what is essentially a reward system, whereby an individual is encouraged to exhibit appropriate, rather than challenging, behaviour. â€Å"Gentle Teaching† aims to minimise or eliminate problematic behaviour by creating an environment in which bonding, ; interdependence and mutual respect are paramount, thereby eliminating the need for challenging behaviour. The teaching of functionally equivalent responses involves firstly a â€Å"Functional Analysis† of a particular problematic behaviour, followed by the teaching of more appropriate behaviour, which serves the same function. When attempting to decide on an appropriate intervention strategy, there is a body of evidence to suggest that the last of these three approaches – the functional analysis – can, if conducted properly, provide an invaluable pointer as to what type of therapeutic intervention might be appropriate. This essay will explore the clinical advantages and disadvantages of using a functional analysis of behaviour when working with clients with learning disabilities, examining the research in this area (much of which indicates that this is a generally successful approach) and look at the ethical issues arising from this particular psychological approach. Definition: Learning Disability A report from the British Psychological Society (BPS 2004), on Clinical Practice Guidelines for interventions for people with learning disabilities and Severely Challenging Behaviour â€Å"states that  ,if an individual is to be reasonably regarded as having a â€Å"learning disability the individual’s intellectual and adaptive/social functions must both be significantly impaired; and the condition must have existed before the onset of adulthood. An extremely broad-ranging group of learning-disabled individuals fall within these parameters. Definition: Challenging Behaviour The following definition by Emerson et al (1988) is widely regarded as a sound working definition: â€Å"Severely challenging behaviour refers to behaviour of such an intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is likely to be placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit or delay access to and use of ordinary community facilities.† The nature of the â€Å"challenging behaviour† (the causes and functions of which can be many and diverse) itself has been described as â€Å"behaviour which: places the individual or others in physical danger; results in destruction of their immediate environment; causes at least an hour’s disruption; or behaviour which limits or delays access to ordinary community facilities† (Scottish Office, 1998). Challenging behaviours may involve verbal or physical aggression, self-harm behaviour, and other non-injurious (but nevertheless undesirable) behaviours. Challenging behaviour is generally understood to be triggered by the interaction between variables within individuals themselves (mood, health, etc.) and variables within their social and physical environment.[RZ2] Functional analysis are comprises various methods, all with the aim of establishing the link between antecedents, behaviour and its consequences. (Kazdin,1994) More specifically, functional analysis are is a tools to reveal reinforcing conditions[RZ4], I am translating from Norwegian)..established operations and triggers for problem behaviour. (Vold, 2005) This information is then used for customizing interventions and treatment for the person in question. This definition includes all systematic methods that examine the root cause(s) of a certain behaviour. These methods include interviews and standardised tools like MAS (Durand, 1990) and FAI (O’Neill et al, 1997), different methods of observations of the person in his/hers environment, likce â€Å"scatter plot† (Touchette et al, 1985) and ABC charts ( antecedent-behaviour-consequence ) charts. (Bijou et al, 1968) In addition, we there arehave the experimental methods, also called analogue conditions. These methods consists of the a systematiccally testing and manipulation of events (or other factors[RZ5]), which are thought to be associated with the occurrence of problem behavior. It is therefore a means of formally examining the relationship between specific events and the particular problematic/challenging behaviors of an individual in a specific environment. (Iawata, et al, ,1982) These methods complement each other, but by using one – or a combination of them the â€Å"functional analyst† aims to have a much clearer idea of the triggers of, and the purposes served by, a specific behaviour. It should also be pointed out that functional analysis can be used in either a clinical application or as a valuable research method (Vollmer and Smith, 1996). Furthermore, Vollmer and Smith concluded that functional analysis could be used to identify individuals with the specific behavioural functions[RZ6] required enabling psychologists to pursue specific avenues of research (while bearing in mind that functional analysis does not always yield conclusive results). Rather than simply looking at the functional analysis as a means of dealing with challenging behaviours, Groden and LeVasseur 111posit a more holistic approach, which takes into account â€Å"the dynamic relationship between the individual, his or her skills and the environment, including the stressors, in which the behaviour occurs.† A behavioural assessment method, which has stood the test of timeme, is detailed in Groden et al (1996).[RZ7] Using this method, the behavioural assessment data for each individual is obtained from a number of sources. The procedure not only involves including a functional analysis of the target behaviour, but also an ecological inventory, a Stress Survey Schedule, and reinforcement surveys. The information is then placed in an illustrated A-B-C format, with each illustration designed to match the individuals intellectual abilities and reinforcers. It depicts the preferred mode of behaviour, which the person with a learning disability can use in a specific problematic scenario. In the early years of the use of the functional analysis by psychologists working with people with learning disabilities who exhibited challenging behaviour, four key functions were identified: attentionattention- seeking, escape (task or social avoidance),; sensory reinforcement, and tangible events (Carr, 1994). Functional analysis can uncover new functional properties of problem behaviour, but it is also necessary to develop additional strategies to address the complexities of an individual’s normal (i.e. non-experimental) environment. One such approach is the hypothesis-driven model developed by Repp et al (1988), which is based on both direct observation and the analysis of antecedent and consequent events. In the seminal paper â€Å"Psychological interventions for severely challenging behaviours shown by people with learning disabilities – Clinical Practice Guidelines†, the British Psychological Society established step-by-step â€Å"gold standard† guidelines for those who wish to employ the functional analysis of behaviour approach. (BPS, 2004) Having gained the appropriate consent[RZ8], the process should commence with the Pre-assessment, (a term first employed by Toogood and Timlin (1996)), at which stage the psychologist engages in initial information gathering, with a view to honing the initial focus of the psychological assessment. At the Assessment stage, the assessor collects and then evaluates all appropriate information about the person with a learning disability, the environment (both social and physical) and the challenging behaviour exhibited by the individual. These steps should enable the psychologist to collect the information required to create a well-structured psychological assessment and an appropriate intervention strategy, and to establish a baseline, which will enable the psychologist to measure the success of any intervention. At the Formulation stage, the psychologist draws up a hypothesis about the nature of the specific behavioural problem(s), thereby providing a guide to subsequent clinical activity as well as establishing key evaluation criteria. It will also specify the target of any intervention. At the Intervention stage, the psychologist will endeavour to change the individual’s problematic behaviour in an appropriate manner, utilising both technical psychological expertise as well asnd the detailed information previously accumulated about the individual and his/her environment. At the Evaluation stage, the success/effectiveness of the intervention(s) will be weighed up and carefully considered. The process is finalised at the self-explanatory Feedback stage (from and to all interested parties, first and foremost the person with a learning disability). In the course of their study, Vollmer and Smith (1996) concluded that functional analysis has its limitations. Most importantly, some interventions derived from functional analysis can be difficult to carry out while still maintaining non-intrusive procedural integrity. Martin et al (1999) demonstrated that there can be problems in interpreting the data arising from functional analysis in an experimental context. For the purposes of their study, the validity of a functional analysis was investigated using three different data-interpretation methodologies (two previously utilised methods, and â€Å"criterion Z† created by the authors). They ultimately concluded that all three methods were equally unsatisfactory as a way of establishing the function of a particular behaviour. [RZ9] It should also be remembered (Freeman, Special Connections website). that challenging behaviour does not always have a specific function. It is possible,; instead, that â€Å"internal sensory feedback† is responsible for triggering an individual’s challenging behaviour. Such behaviours tend to occur when the person with a learning disability is alone, or arise in many quite different and contrasting social scenarios, and may be the result of internal, rather than external, reinforcers.[RZ10] Lack of agreement about function across different methods After carrying out a thorough functional analysis, a psychologist (or other practitioner) should be in a position to identify the cause-effect relationship between an environmental â€Å"trigger† and a specific behaviour. However, different approaches to functional analysis appear to give conflicting results. Toogood and Timlin (1996) looked at the three approaches to functional analysis described above and found a low level of agreement between each of the different approaches in relation to their understanding of the target behaviours’ functions. The importance of identifying idiosyncratic variables A very wide range of stimuli can trigger challenging behaviour. Because a wide range of unanticipated variables can come into play, certain some of which may appear to be apparently insignificant, but which are in factin fact key, these variables can may be overlooked during the initial assessment, thereby giving rise to misleading results. An important study by Carr et al (1997) underlined the necessity of identifying specific â€Å"idiosyncratic† (or unanticipated) variables. In this particular study, each of the three clients was autistic (and regarded, broadly speaking, as learning disabled) and had exhibited problem behaviours such as aggression, self-harm and vandalism. Interviews and direct observations indicated that these challenging behaviours might serve the functions of attention gaininggaining attention or escape. On subsequent and closer examination using Carr’s ABC, narrative protocol, however, it became apparent that specific â€Å"idiosyncratic† stimulus variables (or the absence thereof) had a major influence on the results of the functional analysis. In the final stage of the study, the specific idiosyncratic stimulus variables which had been observed in a naturalistic environmental context (small hand-held objects, and the presence of puzzles/magazines in the room) were manipulated[RZ11] in an experimental context (a room with a two-way mirror that facilitated the video-taping of the proceedings) with a view to establishing their effect on the outcome of the functional analysis. While this study generally endorsed the usefulness of the functional analysis approach, it underlined the importance of meticulous attention to detail to ensure the accurate identification of behavioural-stimulus variables which that were not immediately obvious. Failure to do so would have significantly altered the outcomes of functional analyses. The authors concluded that that tailored guidelines should be in place when it is suspected (because there is a discrepancy between information arising from interviews and actual observed behaviours; when different results occur in different locations; or if the results differ from day to day) that idiosyncratic stimuli may be significant triggers for the behaviours being studied, e.g. .because there is a discrepancy between information arising from interviews and actual observed behaviours, or when different results occur in different locations, or if the results differ from day to day. Taking into account the above-described difficulties, together with the fact that a thorough functional analysis is time consuming,. pPsychologists in everyday clinical work are faced with a number of challenges. Some of these are of ethical nature and will be discussed later, whilst others are more practical issues. It follows from the initial definition of functional analysis used in this essay that the term is applied for different procedures, each presenting both the practitioner and the client with different challenges and benefits. In addressing the fact that time limitations can often compromise attempts to complete a thorough functional analysis in its more experimental design, Wallace and Iwata (1999) examined the extent to which variations in session duration (5,10five, ten, and 15 minutes) affected the outcome of a functional analysis. Their findings led to the conclusion that brief sessions did not give less clarity than longer sessions. An important study by Derby et al (1992) provided a analysis of the success of brief functional analysis. This study presents a summary of the results of 79 cases which used functional assessment procedures in order to determine how often the brief functional assessment successfully identified the triggers of aberrant behaviour, and whether the treatments based on the assessment were effective. Given that only 90 minutes were generally allocated to outpatient evaluations in the instructions of interest to the authors, Derby et al adapted the functional analysis procedures described by Carr and Durand (1985) accordingly. They went on to publish a report summarising the results of 79 cases in an effort to establish whether functional assessments correctly identified the â€Å"specific maintaining conditions of aberrant behaviour†,† and if subsequent treatments were effective. In each of the 79 studies, clients were, under pre-specified conditions, evaluated by direct observation of behaviour. Of the 63% of the cases studied in which functional analysis correctly identified the function of aberrant behaviour, 77% resulted in effective treatment. This finding suggests that the abbreviated 90-minute functional assessment can in many cases successfully lead to successful treatments. These â€Å"short-cuts† should not, however, entirely replace the full-scale, thoroughly researched, non time-limited functional analysis, but can be viewed as a viable â€Å"second best† alternative when available time is limited. It should be noted that tThe ecological validity of functional analysis methodology has been questioned (Martin et al, 1999) as the assessments take place outside the natural environment where the problematic behaviour usually takes place. When relying upon informant-based and/or descriptive methods, other problems arise, and psychologists need to ask themselves questions about the informants’ capacities to record observations without traces of interpretation. For example, tThe fact that clients are being observed may well influence their behaviour and invalidate results. In an inpatient setting, the mere presence of an observer may change the ecological environment, which will affect all the clients’ behaviour, and the antecedents and/or triggers for the target behaviour will be increased or decreased, and the data may be invalidated. Carr and Durand (1985) have provided evidence that the functional analysis approach can give rise to effective intervention strategies. They posit that, broadly speaking, â€Å"challenging behaviour fulfils four main functions : These are (a) a means of gaining attention (b) an ‘â€Å"escape from demands’† (c) a ‘â€Å"tangible reinforcement’† and (d) a means of obtaining â€Å"sensory stimulation†. A form foofr self injuring behaviour , for instance, head banging , may well fit into one or more of these functions.. But the head banging doesn’t fails to tell us whether the person is doing it because of frustration, hallucinations, anger or a middle ear infection.[RZ12] It is widely recognised that people with learning disabilities often have limited verbal communication ability. Many may therefore rely on non-verbal means of expressing themselves, especially in regards to communicating emotions. As a whole, people with learning disability are more prone to suffer from mental illness, personality disorders, anxiety and depression than the rest of the population. But whatever function the challenging behaviour fulfils, it can be seen as a form of learned communication that previously has fulfilled the needs of the person with a learning disability. A person with a learning disability who gains a caregiver’s undivided attention (even if the caregiverr is angry or irritated) more readily by shouting than by talking politely will tend to conclude that the most efficient and effective way to get the carer’s attention is to engage in the aforementioned challenging behaviour. A self-injury by a person with a learning disability may result in a show of gratifying concern from a carer. This â€Å"positive† outcome may lead to repetition of the self-injurious behaviour. One or more problem behaviours can, in certain circumstances, serve the same function, and can occur in a chain of escalating seriousness (e.g. minor fiddling with a small object leading on to the violent hurling of a larger object, minor complaints leading to vicious abuse). Awareness of this can enable a caregiverr to intervene early in the â€Å"chain,†, thus minimising negative consequences (i.e. events which come directly after an instanc e of problematic behaviour (Albin et al, 1995). Caregivers should be careful not to simply assume that a consequence is regarded as a â€Å"punishment†, and should consider whether the supposed punishment decreases or in fact increases the undesirable behaviour. For example, iIn a setting such as a hospital for people with learning disabilities detained under the Mental Health Act, for example, consequences such as restraint or even seclusion may actually be increaseing the incidence of challenging behaviour, as the behaviour in question can provide a means of gratification. The following case study shows how a functional analysis was useful to show the likely presence of these factors at play with a woman with a learning disability detained under the Mental Health Act in a medium secure unit. Case study: The 25 year old woman had a dual diagnosis of learning disability and a mental illness.[RZ13] She was admitted to a mixed gender ward with both male and female staff. She was a very big and strong lady and her challenging behaviour, which took the form of attacks for no apparent reason, posed a threat both to staff and fellow patients. Prior to herBy admission, a pre – assessment and initial risk assessment had been carried out. This was followed up by an initial assessment, carried out by nursing staff who recorded theing frequency and severity of her challenging behaviour in an ABC chart, as well as monitoreding activities and situations the patient she seemed to enjoy. Her mental health symptoms were treated with the recommended drugs. The data collected showed up to four weeks without challenging behaviour that wasn’t easily deflated. On At occasion (during a one-to-two week period)s she could, however, during a one to two weeks period, display behaviour that at least once a day lead to necessary restraint by staff. The intervention put in place  included allocation of a specific health care worker that would initiate activities that the patient she liked doing and instruction to staff to redirect  her when she was becoming restless. Due to her lack of communication skills, key staff was trained in specific ways of communicating with her. After approximately six6 months there was a marked increased frequency in the incidents of challenging behavior as well as in the duration and violence involved. . Although the patient’sher communication skills had improved and her daily activities had been refined to suit her strengths and interests, her attacks became so viciously that seclusion became an unfortunate necessity at least three times a month, usually within the same week. As no new antecedents were detected, a functional analysis was carried out , which included the three main methods, was carried out: Nursing staff continued to observe her the patient continuously and filled in ABC charts. Records were taken of her sleeping pattern, food and drink intake and menstrual cycle (informant-based method). Any changes in the ward were recorded, i.e. new admissions, staff leaving and new staff appointed. Assistant psychologists observed her on the ward and recorded behaviour on during 5 five-minute s intervals (direct observation). The clinical psychologist, who also had participated in observations, analysed the data and drew up a hypothesis about the nature of the increased challenging behaviour. On this basis of this, variables in the patient’s environment were, one at athe time, changed and tested (experimental method). The data collection demonstrated that the incidents of challenging behaviour peaked at a certain time in her menstrual period, indicating a hormonal factor. This factor alone was not conclusive enough on its own to account for her behaviour. It was treated as a setting factor that increased the probability of incidents, when short-term triggers were also present. The observations also carried out highlighted that when restraint was necessary, male staff carried it out, due to the patient’s size and strength, mainly did this. When there wereith only female staff working inon the ward, there was a significant reduction in her attacks, provided that she was being kept occupied by staff to avoid boredom. The policy and procedures for seclusion made it mandatory for staff to remove clothing that she might use to hurt herself with. Although female staff always carried out removal of clothing, she was still being placed in restraints by male staff. Direct observations and staff reports suggested that the presence of male staff during this process escalated her behaviour. Most importantly, however, was the correlation between her challenging behaviour and the presence of a specific male member of the staff. Nursing reports showed that when he was off duty, the client’s challenging behaviour never reached the level when seclusion was necessary. Furthermore, observations showed that she was always happy to greet this member of staffstaff member when he arrived for work, and she frequently sought him out for help or company.[RZ14]. The interventions implemented were to move  the male member of staffstaff member to another ward for a period of time and to  stop male staff participation intervention in the restraint processrestraints. Guidelines were implemented to ensure that the patient she was dressed in clothes she could safely wear if seclusion was necessary. The cA contraceptive pill was prescribed in order to keep her hormone level in balance, and a program with intermittent positive reinforcement was developed to re-introduce a certain interaction with male staff.[RZ15] The intervention was successful insofar that heras the patient’s challenging behaviour decreased. It demonstrates the effectiveness of a functional analysis as well as the danger of interventions become too intrusive. But it also, it highlights many of the ethical challenges a practitioner might face when working with people with learning disability and challenging behaviour.[RZ16] Given that the vast majority of individuals with learning disabilities are highly vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation, it is vital that an â€Å"ethical framework† exists, within which practitioners can operate when using the functional analysis approach. The practitioner must also ensure the following: that he/she operates within the law of the land at all times; the practitioner must endeavour to operate within the parameters imposed by the relevant professional association’s’ Code of Practice; must adhere to local standards and policies (e.g. those set by a particular Trust); and must operate (as far as possible, given the previous strictures) within his/her own personal set of ethics and principles. Consent As with any other assessment or intervention, the client or service-user must give his or her consent. People with learning disabilities encompass a broad range of abilities. Some will understand the implications of assessments and interventions and will be able to give their consent, whilst others are unable to do so. The latter group may have guardians to provide consent on their behalf. But most lay people tend to accept without much questioning that â€Å"the professionals know best.† . It is the

Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales English Literature Essay

Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales English Literature Essay Life in England wasnt always easy in the early fourteenth century. On the surface, it looked as if nothing was going on but everyday life; however, In Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, it is revealed that you cant always believe what is on the outside. A group of travelers gather together at Tabard Inn to begin a pilgrimage to Canterbury. In the General Prologue, the readers are introduced to each of these characters. The stories which range from animal fables to epics about love and comedies of sexual comeuppance (Chaucer) are important factors in the story. During the pilgrimage, each traveler has to tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and on the way back. Chaucer wrote the story around the late thirteen hundreds, but it was meant for a private reader because of its controversial stories. He died before he could finish the tale. He used the pilgrimage to create literary works that could last over a hundred years. Chaucers precise description of the harsh reality of soc iety includes controversial topics like the corruption of church, sexuality, and abuse of power; but regardless to say, Chaucers story helps unravel some of the corruption in society. In England, life was not easy for everyone. There was famine, poverty, corruption in politicians and people of high status. By the late fourteenth century, the Catholic Church, which governed England, Ireland, and the entire continent of Europe, had become extremely wealthy. It cost a lot of money to build and decorate the lavish cathedrals. The leaders of lay society were less patient with the special privileges of the clergy; laymen of all ranks questioned the vast wealth of the church wealth that was not all that much greater than before, but which seemed more irritating; and many genuinely religious people, lay and clerical both, criticized the spiritual failures of the church (Muhlberger). Due to expenses caused by war, and many deaths by the Black Plague, many people have lost patience with the church because of how it seemed like the church and its clergymen seem to have a more luxurious life compared to others. This triggered many stories and tales about how the church was g reedy and selfish. The religious figures Chaucer represents in The Canterbury Tales all deviate in one way or another from what was traditionally expected of them (Spark Notes Editors). The characters themselves are just the stereotypical representations of how religious figures acted during this time. The Monk, Prioress, and the Friar were religious figures, but in the general prologue, it is revealed that they are not who they seem to be. For example, the Prioress (a nun who is head of her convent) was described as modest and quiet, she aspires to have exquisite taste, and dressed very lavish and lived a life that most nuns do not. Of smale houndes hadde she that she fedde with rosted flesh, or milk and wastel-breed (Chaucer 5), in translation it says that she gave roasted mean or milk and bread to her dogs. During this century, there was a lot of famine and poverty. Many people could even afford milk and bread, so the fact that the Prioress can give her food generously to animals instead of sharing with others is an ironic representation of a nun who are usually kind and sharing. Another example of the representation is of the Monk. Most monks devote there life to work and prayer, and lived in monasteries, but the Monk on the pilgrimage didnt care for this rule. He enjoys hunting and eating as his pastimes instead of prayer and fasting. It is ironic because Monks are typically known for the quite calm nature, and love of life and gods creatures, and in this case the Monk enjoys hunting down the creatures he is supposed to love. Chaucers stereotypical representation of the characters doesnt represent everyone of the profession, just the ones on the pilgrimage. As stated earlier, it was a common stereotype that religious figures often abused their power for greed; in which some cases took advantage of the position they hold to cease opportunities for personal gain. It is human nature to want to have dominance over others and control over their lives. Some people just want power to be understood and treated better. Like the Wife of Bath, who used her story to send a message to the other men in the journey. The wife of bath told a story of a Knight who rapes a young maiden because he felt that he had the power to do so because of his authority. He was sentenced to death but the Wife gave him one chance to make amends, Thou standes yet, in swich array that of thy lyf yet hastow no suretee. I grante thee lyf, if thou kanst tellen me what thing is it that women moost desiren (Chaucer 182). A year later, he returns to the castle with an old hag who had given him the answer in exchange for any request she wanted. He told the Wife of Bath that what women wanted most was to have control over their husbands and lovers. The queen decreed that the knight was to be pardoned, but he was in horror because he was forced to marry the Hag. Over the next few days , the wife of the knight confronts him as to why he is acting repulsed by her. The women tells the knight that beauty is only skin deep, and that even though you are at of a high status in social hierarchy, it doesnt make you better then the peasants on the lower level. In essence, the Hag can represent the Wife of bath who is telling the story, because later on she turns into a beautiful maiden when the knight surrenders himself to her control. She wants to be considered beautiful and have power over her husbands, where as she has had five marrages already. The Wife of Baths story shows the significance of sexuality during this time, because back then it was common to not treat females right, it was a male dominated world. But her story shows that in some cases, bad men can change, and that women can have influence upon their lovers. Now not every male can be converted like the knight in the Wife of Baths tale, because in reality not all mens pride allows them to let their lovers dominate them. Although sex paid an important role in society, whereas being a male means that you have more dominance and power than others, it doesnt mean that all men use their powers wisely. Many of the religious figures in the Canterbury tales often abused their power, which can add on to the assumption that the Church of England was corrupted. The Friars and Summoners took advantage of the jobs they had. The Friars were traveling priest who spread religion in a wide, diverse area, along with collecting money for the church. In the story, the Friar was said to have taken advantage of people who wanted to atone for their sins. He would travel from town to town and demanded bribes when peasants and lords wanted to have penance for the sins they have committed. He would also take advantage of women. The friar can be seen as a symbol of corruption, because he uses his power as a man of god to gain money for himself, instead of fulfilling his duties for the lord. During the Pilgrimage, the Friar and Summoner often got into arguments because they did the same thing, take advantage of others and collected money. This clearly is an act of corruption, in our viewpoint it looks as if the church is the cause of the problem, but thats not always the case. It is the actions of an individual that creates the conflicts in society, not the group the person is associated with. Chaucer used the Canterbury tales to show how the church was assumed to be corrupted because of how people took advantage of their power. People took advantage of social status and people without knowledge to make money for personal gain. These people who have grown wealthy had stained the church during the time. During the Fourteenth century, the roles of sexuality led to several factors. Whether you were male or not determined how others treated you and what you were able to do, thus creating a need for power in the more neglected side as stated in the Wife of Baths tale. This abuse of power feeds those who prefer to advance their own selfish ambitions rather than help others for the good of man, which inevitably caused many to believe in the corruption of the church. Chaucers Canterbury tales helped readers see the darker part of society, whereas those do whatever they can to survive and for happiness, neglected who they affect in the process. Works Cited Page Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales. Alfred A. Knope, INC., 1958. 607. Print. Halliday, F.E. A Concise History of England. New York: Viking Press, 1965. Print. Muhlberger, Steven. Religious Conflict in Fourteenth-Century England. The Orb. Steven Muhlberger, n.d. Web. 15 Dec 2010. . SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on The Canterbury Tales. SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.