Development and Learning in the Classroom

In a quotation mark by Columbia professor and philosopher, Mortimer Adler, â€Å" The intent of acquisition is growing, and our heads, unlike our organic structures, can go on turning as we continue to populate. † The University of Kansas ‘ Circle of Inclusion Project defines developmentally appropriate patterns as ; â€Å" the construct of developmentally appropriate patterns refers to supplying an environment and offering content, stuffs, activities, and methodological analysiss that are coordinated with a kid ‘s degree of development and for which the person kid is ready. Three dimensions of rightness must be considered: age rightness, single rightness, and rightness for the cultural and societal context of the kid. † A instructor ‘s occupation is to do certain that what they are learning their pupils is appropriate to their pupil ‘s degree of development. There are three chief countries of development, which are cognitive development, social- emotional development, and psychomotor development. These types of development are a portion of every pupil ‘s life and it is of import that instructors take them into history when they are learning a category to guarantee that every kid gets the opportunity to larn the stuff required. Cognitive development, as noted in the Classroom Assessment text edition, focuses on a kid ‘s rational operations ( Popham, 2011, p. 35 ) . In cognitive development, there is a â€Å" construct of cognitive manner, which refers to a dimension of cognitive processing along which people differ from one another † ( Morra, et Al, 2008, p 45 ) . When a kid reaches adolescence, normally happening between the ages 12 and 20, many alterations take topographic point. â€Å" Intelligent alterations both quantitatively and qualitatively during adolescence † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 27 ) . â€Å" Adolescents get down to believe faster and more expeditiously than kids, even their mathematical operations are conducted more quickly † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 27 ) . Jann Gumbiner continues to explicate Jean Piaget ‘s theory of cognitive development and how an stripling enters a phase of formal operational thought, which is the concluding province of cognitive development tha t normally occurs around the ages of 11 and 15 ( 2003, p. 29 ) . â€Å" This phase represents a to the full mature, big manner of sing the universe. Adolescents in this phase execute logical operations and hypothetical-deductive logical thinking. They form hypotheses and so infer replies, whether it is about algebraic maps or real-world dating state of affairss † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 29 ) . â€Å" There are so qualitative alterations in the manner adolescence think about the universe around them that helps them to pass on better with grownups † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 29 ) . Once pupils reach this degree of growing, â€Å" they are eager to undertake relevant jobs, discuss and portion point of views about critical issues, and speak about ethical picks that impact their actions † ( Crawford, 2008, p. 26 ) . The rational development of striplings has specific larning demands. â€Å" Adolescents that have diverse cognition, involvements and abilities need the chance to develop a scope of accomplishments and prosecute a assortment of content countries † ( Crawford, 2008, p. 27 ) . If an stripling is capable of critical rating, drawn-out focal point, illative thought and logical thinking, they should be given the clip and chance to believe critically and be given a higher-level of analytical oppugning than they had before ( Crawford, 2008, p. 27 ) . Glenda Crawford explains that a instructor ‘s function in learning based on cognitive acquisition is to pattern, steer, and aid as pupils think about and utilize cognitive schemes, and through pattern and over clip addition a degree of proficiency ( 2008, p. 69 ) . â€Å" The typical characteristics of this type of learning include: Mold: when pupils observe and listen while the instructor demonstrates and explains a undertaking. Coaching: pupils perform the undertaking while the instructor supports and makes suggestions through constructive feedback. Sequencing: pupils engage in more ambitious and diverse undertakings as proficiency is gained. Externalizing: pupils explain aloud their cognition, thought, and logical thinking. Reflecting: pupils compare their thought and public presentation with that of experts. Exploring: pupils are helped to use, spread out, and polish their accomplishments independently † ( Crawford, 2008, p. 69 ) . Social-emotional development is what a individual learns from the environment around them. Thomas M. Brinthaupt and Richard P. Lipka explain that societal alterations begin in early to middle childhood by larning how to expect other ‘s reactions and internalise behavioural criterions. They begin to compare their public presentation to their ain work from the yesteryear and to those of other kids ( 2002, p. 4 ) . He continues stating that â€Å" it is non until late childhood and early adolescence that ego and individuality most to the full reflect the interpersonal sphere, including egos that differ depending on the societal context. This is a clip when kids begin to demo greater independency from their households and when equal dealingss addition in importance and strength, peculiarly with respect to appraisals of personal competency † ( Brinthaupt et al, 2002, p. 4 ) . An stripling ‘s social-emotional growing is crafted by their cultural communities, households, equals, and schools, which in bend are set to steer individuality geographic expedition toward their personal ends, values, beliefs, and patterns ( Azmitia et al, 2008, p. 3 ) . A pupil ‘s household plays a major function in the societal development of an adolescent adolescent. Brothers, sisters, and parents are really of import in the manner a adolescent may take to look at school. Younger siblings will look to older siblings as function theoretical accounts, such as â€Å" when an older sibling is a good pupil, the younger sibling may besides vie to go a good pupil besides † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 47 ) . When it comes to parents, striplings should be considered when doing determinations ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 48 ) . â€Å" A good parent to a adolescent is democratic and guides him or her into doing their ain intelligent, cautious determinations. Parents and striplings can discourse family regulations, appropriate haunts, and safety. They will sometimes differ, and this is normal † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 49 ) . Many times turning up adolescents will hold their ain sentiment on things such as drive, curfew, friends, fellows and girlfriends, and their parents may hold a different position. Parents should listen to their kids ‘s logical thinking and be prepared to negociate. Adolescents tend to acquire attitudes and become rebellious towards authorization, particularly when a parent is commanding ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 53 ) . The activity environing a adolescent is what helps them turn and do better determinations later in life. Learning from errors is a major portion of adolescence. â€Å" Harmonizing to Aristotle, immature people entered adolescence as unstable, and by the terminal of the period, they developed a sense of self-denial. The most of import feature of adolescence is the ability to take † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 18 ) . Adolescents face different anxiousnesss when come ining junior high and high school. â€Å" Adolescents feel dying about loss of control, gender, dependence-independence, the demand to be rational, credence by equals, competency, and organic structure image ; these are age-appropriate anxiousnesss that are related to the societal outlooks of that age group † ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 44 ) . Adolescent relationships with their equals can do the most anxiousness because they are seeking to interrupt from dependance to independence from their parents and their friends become the focal point of dignity ( Gumbiner, 2003, p. 45 ) . â€Å" The increasing impact of others ‘ perceptual experience of the ego is partially due to the psychological alterations that take topographic point in adolescence. They start believing about their hereafter and can organize hypotheses about what may or may non alter in their personalities, behaviour, instruction, household, and relationships with fr iends and intimate spouses † ( Brinthaupt et al, 2002, p. 33 ) . â€Å" Adolescents thrive in a acquisition environment where they are motivated personally, guided socially, challenged intellectively, and supported deliberately as they engage in relevant and meaningful acquisition experiences † ( Crawford, 2008, pp. 83-84 ) . Students learn from their milieus and when they are in a schoolroom, instructors need to take the schoolroom environment into history. Crawford besides believes that the usage of flexible grouping is indispensable to their societal dimension that enables pupils to interact with their equals on a assortment of prosecuting, suitably complex undertakings ( 2008, p. 84 ) . â€Å" Adolescents thrive in a nonthreatening puting where they feel emotionally safe to prove thoughts, to utilize their diverse endowments, and to negociate and reflect upon how others perceive them and who they are going as human existences. A safe schoolroom is free of intimidation, embarrassment, confusion, ridicule, defeat, ennui, and societal exc lusion † ( Crawford, 2008, p. 86 ) . â€Å" Social groupings balanced by such factors as gender, ability, leading, job resolution, originative or artistic endowment, cognitive abilities, backgrounds and linguistic communications, and energy degrees are known as folks that are helpful with schoolroom direction and direction † ( Crawford, 2008, p. 89 ) . Social groupings promote societal accomplishments, it builds community among the pupils, and it gives the pupils a sense of belonging ; and this sense of belonging and inclusion in the schoolroom maximizes larning ( Crawford, 2008, p. 89 ) . In the groupings, there needs to be a sense of single answerability. Adolescence may be really societal, but they may non hold the personal accomplishments that are needed for true coaction and instructors need to take that into history when making group undertakings ( Crawford, 2008, p. 93 ) . Having a rubric for group undertakings on each person ‘s public presentation would be a good manner to mensurate what the pupil à ¢â‚¬Ëœs input was on the undertaking and it guarantees that each pupil has done its portion. â€Å" Some elements of an stripling ‘s demands as scholars when a instructor is seeking to learn them are: Avowal: The demand to experience accepted, safe, cared about, listened to, and acknowledged. Contribution: The demand to do a difference, conveying alone positions, collaborate reciprocally on common ends, and aid others win. Purpose: The demand to understand the significance of larning and how it impacts and makes a difference personally and with the drawn-out community. Power: The demand to do picks, create quality work, and have reliable support. Challenge: The demand for work that complements and stretches strengths and, through personal attempt, leads to success and achievement † ( Crawford, 2008, p. 85 ) . Crawford continues to demo how these elements support a positive schoolroom that requires instructors to reflect upon and respond continually to the many ways pupils ‘ differ in preparedness, involvements, larning manners, background, civilization, and place life ( 2008, p. 85 ) . The concluding type of development is psychomotor development. Webster ‘s dictionary defines psychomotor development as a patterned advance acquisition of accomplishments affecting mental and motor activities ( psychomotor development ) . Popham describes measuring psychomotor by aiming a pupil ‘s large-muscle or small-muscle accomplishments ( 2011, p. 35 ) . Psychomotor accomplishments include any such activity affecting motion such as playing athleticss games in gym category, typing on a keyboard, larning how to drive a vehicle, or playing an instrument in set category. It has to make with coordination between your encephalon and the parts of your organic structure such as your custodies, weaponries, pess, and legs. Aims that are normally attempted are imitation, use, preciseness, articulation, and naturalisation ( Clark, 2004 ) . These aims contain certain cardinal words that instructors use when acquiring their pupils to utilize psychomotor accomplishments. â€Å" These cardinal words are: Imitation: Transcript, follow, replicate, repetition, adhere, observe, place, mimic, attempt, reenact, and copy Manipulation: Re-create, construct, execute, put to death, and implement Preciseness: Demonstrate, complete, show, perfect, calibrate, control, and pattern Articulation: Concept, solve, combine, co-ordinate, integrate, adapt, develop, explicate, modify, maestro, better, and learn Naturalization: Design, specify, manage, invent, and project-manage † ( Clark, 2004 ) . In the Classroom Assessment book, Popham explains how Benjamin Bloom and his co-workers were the first to present the differentiation between cognitive, affectional, and psychomotor educational results ( 2011, p. 35 ) . â€Å" In Bloom ‘s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, it showed that a dominant sort of pupil behaviour was seen when instructors devise educational aims for their pupils † ( Popham, 2011, p. 35 ) . These three types of development that were the focal point of this paper are of import to instructors when they are learning. Every schoolroom will hold different types of scholars, because no pupil is merely likewise, and instructors must happen a manner to link and learn every kid what they need to cognize in order to win in high school. Adolescents are traveling through so many alterations and it is a instructor ‘s occupation to understand that these striplings need counsel. By cognizing what type of pupils are in a instructors schoolroom, instructor s can be prepared to measure them in ways they can make each pupil.

Explain Why Overseas Study at Australian Universities Is Popular

Different countries have different education system. Some students have decided to take their studies aboard to mainly achieve better with a different education system. These students go aboard to purse their academic learning by either at a foundation level or at a postgraduate level. With the outstanding education system, the multicultural society and the range of career opportunities Australia has to offer, students of different nationality, race and culture flock to Australia hoping to achieve better academically.Australia offers a unique education system that most countries do not have. Many students have actually found that the Australia has a lot to offer. Teachers with great devotion in teaching and helping students in every aspect of school work including life. This would be a great for student who is living aboard alone as they would have someone to turn to for emotional and academic support. With such a huge number of students entering Australia’s university each ye ar, it is for certain that the university would have an advance modern technology.This would not only assist teachers when are giving a lecture or a tutorial class, it help the students in understanding lessons and giving them the ability in presenting a good presentations with the equipment provided to them. With such an uncommon education system, the teachers too are dedicated in providing the students an interesting learning environment to make learning easier. For example, a common literature class would transform into a drama class to let the students feel closer to the book and the characters.Students become more involved in class and absorb more from the lessons. Australia had a wide diversity of races. By living an Australian lifestyle, students are bound to see the multicultural society Australia has to offer to them. With a wide range of races in Australia, students would be able to make new friends from different countries. Students would also encounter class mates of dif ferent cultural background. This would be a great way to learn and understand a different culture for the students.Since some restaurants are set up to cater to foreign students, it would a great chance to try different cuisines not found in their home country. By understanding different cultures, the students would know what to expect when they enter the working life. They would be able to communicate better with different people and if they have to bring clients to dinner, they would know what kind of food to look out for. Students would also learn to be sensitive to people’s feelings as in some cultures, some words are an insult to them.After graduating from university, graduates would start worrying whether they would be able to be employed. However, graduating from a prestigious university with good results may help graduates to get employed easier. Usaully universities become prestigious when they are able to produce graduates who are able to make a name for themselves, or it may be known for its good teaching techniques. Businesses, looking for a worker, would have a good impression of the applicant applying for the job just by looking at his application.This would give a good impression to the boss and just base on the resume, the graduate may get the job. Undergraduates would try to get into one of these outstanding schools hoping that they would be able to get a job easily. Most of these universities are in Australia, this making overseas study in Australia popular. In summary, an unique education system that makes class interesting, a multi-cultural society for students to experience new things and prestigious university are the reasons that attracts students to study abroad in Australia. Explain Why Overseas Study at Australian Universities Is Popular Different countries have different education system. Some students have decided to take their studies aboard to mainly achieve better with a different education system. These students go aboard to purse their academic learning by either at a foundation level or at a postgraduate level. With the outstanding education system, the multicultural society and the range of career opportunities Australia has to offer, students of different nationality, race and culture flock to Australia hoping to achieve better academically.Australia offers a unique education system that most countries do not have. Many students have actually found that the Australia has a lot to offer. Teachers with great devotion in teaching and helping students in every aspect of school work including life. This would be a great for student who is living aboard alone as they would have someone to turn to for emotional and academic support. With such a huge number of students entering Australia’s university each ye ar, it is for certain that the university would have an advance modern technology.This would not only assist teachers when are giving a lecture or a tutorial class, it help the students in understanding lessons and giving them the ability in presenting a good presentations with the equipment provided to them. With such an uncommon education system, the teachers too are dedicated in providing the students an interesting learning environment to make learning easier. For example, a common literature class would transform into a drama class to let the students feel closer to the book and the characters.Students become more involved in class and absorb more from the lessons. Australia had a wide diversity of races. By living an Australian lifestyle, students are bound to see the multicultural society Australia has to offer to them. With a wide range of races in Australia, students would be able to make new friends from different countries. Students would also encounter class mates of dif ferent cultural background. This would be a great way to learn and understand a different culture for the students.Since some restaurants are set up to cater to foreign students, it would a great chance to try different cuisines not found in their home country. By understanding different cultures, the students would know what to expect when they enter the working life. They would be able to communicate better with different people and if they have to bring clients to dinner, they would know what kind of food to look out for. Students would also learn to be sensitive to people’s feelings as in some cultures, some words are an insult to them.After graduating from university, graduates would start worrying whether they would be able to be employed. However, graduating from a prestigious university with good results may help graduates to get employed easier. Usaully universities become prestigious when they are able to produce graduates who are able to make a name for themselves, or it may be known for its good teaching techniques. Businesses, looking for a worker, would have a good impression of the applicant applying for the job just by looking at his application.This would give a good impression to the boss and just base on the resume, the graduate may get the job. Undergraduates would try to get into one of these outstanding schools hoping that they would be able to get a job easily. Most of these universities are in Australia, this making overseas study in Australia popular. In summary, an unique education system that makes class interesting, a multi-cultural society for students to experience new things and prestigious university are the reasons that attracts students to study abroad in Australia.

New Media Marketing and Online Ordering Form Essay

New Media Marketing and Online Ordering Form - Essay Example Thus, the institutions that are undergoing with the effective projections and development are noted to be trying to adopt the diverse changes evident within the system and increasing the prominence. Hence, the need for maintaining the social development based on the technical advancement and other attributes there is a huge needs of maintaining competitive edge by successful adoption of technology in a progressive manner. Online ordering has evolved in a more appropriate manner for developing the overall attributes within the domain of globalization. With the effective development and progression within the social system, the concept of media marketing and online ordering has changed from luxury commodities to necessity. The progression within the social lifestyle and development of technology has initiated the effective development associated with the progression of social development. With the need of progression, social media has been included within the diverse field and has become one of the prominent recourses that supports social progression and effectiveness of the media needs. Integrated approaches of the social system and the rapid progression within the domain of socialization has enhanced transparency and increased effectiveness of the system. Increase on the dependency on technology and time constraints among the people has increased the involvement of new media in marketing (Peltola & M akinen, 2014). With this regard, the essay intends to elaborate on the new media that is associated with marketing and development of ordering forms for meeting the needs of technology savvy consumers. Technological advancement and progression within the system of media management has incorporated a contrasting view in the marketing and ordering online domain. This strategic integration is often noted to possess a very adverse impact on

Summer Camp Vacation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summer Camp Vacation - Essay Example But when it comes to children living in foster care, having no real families to bond with they feel isolated and ignored. Therefore, we have programmed a three months free summer vacations camp for 50 children, to support foster parents who cannot afford to plan such involving activities for their adopted children that aim to keep them connected, busy and thus happy, by the help of our volunteer sponsors. Imagine that one day a stranger come and drag you out of your own home, separating you from your family, your room, your pets and your belongings, throw you into the car’s back seat and drives you to some strange place. Now it’s not been more than a day and you are again taken by another stranger to another new place†¦and you are only 5 years old!!! The foster care society helps such disturbed and misplaced children to accept, adjust and feel comfortable by giving them yet not another â€Å"stranger† to add into their lives but a â€Å"family† to bind with, parents to love and siblings to relate to. It also provides the support to the foster parents to â€Å"own† these kids and not only â€Å"adopt† them. We have been working since many years to provide such kids not only a shelter but a place that they call â€Å"home†. Our majority finances are provided by the government under its donations policy and from generous people like you who are ready to provide little comfort and contribute a small smile in the lives of others. You have a chance to be that special someone who could make a little change to the lives of these innocent souls. You could be that magic which brings smiles to their face, contribute a little towards giving them a better life and ultimately to give this society civilized individuals, the society that you, we and our children lives in! Let’s make this society a better place for our coming generations to live and let’s join hands in this noble mission and be a light of hope for them. Let’s make them better humans and not

Identitys Role in Internal Politics of Eastern Europe Countries in the Essay

Identitys Role in Internal Politics of Eastern Europe Countries in the Context of Globalisation - Essay Example Globalisation is perceived differently by different individuals with some believing that it presents new opportunities while others see inequality, and hindrance of national sovereignty. In Eastern Europe, new countries have emerged from the collapse of communism governments that is the Soviet Union and the Yogoslavia, therefore developing new political identities (Genov, 2010). Countries like Poland have emerged from decolonisation hence acquiring different political systems from those of their colonisers. Most of the Eastern Europe countries have originated from authoritarian regimes, which had their identities repressed. Therefore, Eastern Europe countries engage in politics and economic systems that are distant from their colonisers, even going to the extent of changing their entire political systems. Lawmakers ensure that laws match the citizens’ sense of national identity hence satisfying their people’s roles, goals, and values (Schneider, 2010: 931). This paper w ill examine the role of identity in internal politics of Eastern Europe countries in the context of globalisation. Eastern Europe is a place that is diverse historically, culturally and geographically. The people living in Eastern Europe are of different ethnicities where they even speak different Indo-European languages. Eastern Europe is made up of four sub regions. There is the Baltics comprising of countries such as, Estonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The second sub region is East Central Europe comprising of countries like; Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The third sub region is Eastern Europe with countries such as, Moldova, Belarus and Russia. The fourth sub region is the Balkans or Southern East Europe with countries like Macedonia Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Herzegovina, Ukraine, Romania, and Bosnia. Those countries that are adjacent to Western Europe and centrally placed have adopted similar identities and most have joined the Europ ean Union, therefore, embracing globalisation (Cernat and Murrell, 2002:119). Other Eastern Europe countries that are far placed do not have shared identities with Europe and with the different ethnicity, religions, and political issues, many are considered volatile. Globalisation is defined as a process requiring the reduction of territorial boundaries so as to allow interactive and interdependent worldwide forms of to spread. Globalisation brings about the dissemination and spread of culture, politics, and economy from particular locations to worldwide magnitude. In addition to free movement of cultural values, money, people, and ideas, globalisation calls for mutually beneficial relations (Martel, 2009:461). Its dominant processes of regionalisation (Cernat and Murrell, 2002:119). Identity, whether cultural or national, can influence politics in that lawmakers will attempt to develop policies that will represent the values of its citizens. Policymakers will strive to create forei gn policy laws that will ensure the country’s sovereignty remains strong even among regional economic allies. A country’s national identity is not set at a certain level; therefore, adjustments can be made, allowing the citizens to adopt new interests and values. National identity is simply an illusion that people from one country or region can have about who they are. As globalisation sets in, some national identities evolve and a global perspective is adopted. Politicians sometimes act to serve their best interests of retaining power, when they draft laws that do not allow easy integration or cohesion between a nation and other foreign countries. They usually view integration as a threat, looking to reduce their power. However, globalisation is

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 79

Assignment Example Poor economic reforms, technological drawbacks, and widespread corruption destabilized the regime and deteriorated the living standards of most of the populace (Alie and Gizewski 6). In essence, as predicted by Reagan, the collapse of the Soviet Union did not necessarily need an external enemy owing to its own misgivings. The revolutions experienced in 1985-1989 dealt an irreparable final blow to the Soviet system. The revolutions, which began in Poland, spread throughout most of Europe in countries such as Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, and Romania. The revolutions, through civil resistance, harried the need for change and abolishment of the one-party rule. The eruption of civil resistance presented a channel to demand for freedom (Borjas and Doran 1146), and the eventual abolishment of communist control Poland and Hungary had peaceful revolutions, but most of the other East Germany regions expressed their opinions through violent revolutions. The fall of the Berlin Wall was a revolutionary process that fueled the anticommunist drive to liberalization. The collapse of the Berlin Wall symbolized the collapse of an impracticable system, economic deterioration, dictatorship, and subjugation. It was a significant chapter in the collapse of soviet communism. Owing to the central location of Berlin, it represented the ongoing antagonism between Soviet Union and the West. The collapse of the Soviet Union was so shocking to the West. because Neither the USSR nor the West expected the fall of communism or the disintegration of the highly centralized union. Beforehand, the Soviet Union was not open to international factors and outside forces. The impact of the West on communism was restricted to the extent that it came as a shocker to the West when the grip finally crumbled. The Cold War was a long period that characterized lack of

Is Assuming the Role of Citizen Journalist Worth the Risk Essay

Is Assuming the Role of Citizen Journalist Worth the Risk - Essay Example This facility of communicating information on various events has been made possible for the people, by the Internet. Before the invention of the internet, professional reporters used to be the only ones reporting information on current events. But the Internet and other forms of media, has allowed regular citizens to do the same. (Tony Rogers).  Citizen journalism, as far as blogging and writing different articles is concerned, does not seem to hurt anyone and only portrays the freedom of speech that has been granted to the people. But making videos of incidents such as a fire or a car crash can be pretty dangerous. Some people involved in such accidents seem more concerned with recording the event in any way than to get to safety or helping other to reach a safe point. For example, such an event took place when there was some problem with an airplane and an emergency landing had to be done. A passenger on the airplane named Eddie Ho was caught taking pictures and making a video of the emergency evacuation being done by the airport authorities. His actions did not please the authorities at all, and he was reprimanded by the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, that his job was to get out of the plane safely and help others in evacuating as quickly as possible. During such events, amateur reporting or making videos is not praised but criticized. At the same time, when the investigators acknowledged the pictures taken by Eddie, saying that they could be valuable during the inquiry, they also stated that even pausing for a minute during such situations can be detrimental for the person himself and the other people. They recommend that the wisest thing to do is for the people to get to safety and not worry about taking pictures or videos, which might or might not be helpful.  

Information systems for management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Information systems for management - Essay Example The report will conclude the contribution of Information Systems in an organization along with the importance of authentic data, as the information system is based on the quality and size of captured data that need to be processed. As mentioned in summary, report will demonstrate a role of an information system in an organization that will capture or collect the data related to students attending Friday classes. The group of students is specified as ‘surrogate users’. Consequently, the project sponsor of this group i.e. the tutor, constructed a data entry system that will collect information from surrogate users related to personal data, transport data and the data that is collected up to five weeks. Information system is defined as â€Å"data converted into something valuable and usable for certain user† (, DEFINITION OF INFORMATION SYSTEM). As for this project, a platform named as Joint Application Development (JAD) is constructed within the system consisting of members of the group. For making the process efficient, Tuchman’s model is the best option along with processing of three elements before performing i.e. storming, forming and norming. The project includes different roles of different JAD member within different stages of the project. The JAD members include users, Information technology professionals and consultants. The different roles at different stages of the project were helpful in terms of data capturing quality and authentication. Moreover, it also facilitated real world scenarios over and above the value. Data evaluation was conducted by collecting data from forms in order to use them to develop charts illustrating linkages between queries along with demographics and statistics of users of the system. Moreover, the charts and demographics also demonstrated patterns of human behavior on the system. Furthermore, continuous analyses were performed to examine the system for further improvements and suggestions. The name of the project will be titles as Transport System. Data Capture and Discussions If the data is not in an organized form, it will be difficult to retrieve information and knowledge from the data sources. In order to make the data useful, it must be easily accessible, quick retrievable and effectively manageable. In order to add these values to the data, it must be captures in a logical method. In figure 1, as shown in appendices, data capturing was processed through a personal detail form including attributes such as Full name, Gender and Date of birth. After entering the data, it was stored in the form of tables as Microsoft Access stores the data in the table and in a readable format, as shown in Figure 3 in appendices. After entering the data, daily student travel form was constructed, as shown in Figure 2 in appendices. On a weekly basis, the form was incorporated with travel modes, travel comments and travel modes. Quality The examination of data was based on its quality in ord er to portray real world scenarios to an extent. The system was efficient in demonstrating basic information related to the popular transport modes that were popular among specific genders. For instance, the tube was popular for males along with thirteen men using the tube. Although, tubes were most popular for females with twenty-two women using the tube. However, to adopt real world scenarios, detailed inputs were required. For instance, weather forecast information, travelling of someone from somewhere etc. As people were usually late to reach to destination for many different reasons, a data check box in the system indicating

Encoding Essay Example for Free

Encoding Essay It is known that information about the outer world is encoded either consciously or subconsciously. Therefore, two types of information encoding exist: automatic and effortful processing. The main difference is that automatic processing suggests that people absorb information about the world without any efforts, whereas effortful processing is absorbing information due to rehearsal or repetition. For example, people automatically absorb information about time, space and frequency. In its turn, consciously people process names, phone numbers and other information they are unfamiliar with. Nevertheless, more information is encoded automatically and information that is repeated or rehearsed is kept in mind for less time compared with information absorbed without conscious effort. Brain capacity allows people to remember things without paying proper attention to them. However, it is rather difficult to get rid of information obtained both automatically or effortful. There is one more interesting thing: it is claimed that even effortful information can become with time subconscious. For example, when children learn how to read, they have to repeat words and letter, but with the years of practice reading and writing becomes automatic process. Therefore, automatic and effortful processing are interrelated in a certain way. It is proved that effortful processing ensures more durable memories compared with automatic one. Due to attention and effort people can absorb more interesting facts and necessary information: through rehearsal information is encoded for storage, though, for example, information absorbed just before sleep is hardly remembered. So, effortful processing provides more benefits than automatic one because it allows to process information more carefully and thoughtfully.

Motivation is a very significant part of any sporting performance at any level Essay Example for Free

Motivation is a very significant part of any sporting performance at any level Essay We are going to need big characters out there who can dig deep and show real fight and courage. (Clive Woodward) Motivation is a very significant part of any sporting performance at any level. Motivation can be defined as, a physiological drive to fulfil a particular need (Davis et al, 1991). Sporting performers can either be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. This is dependent on what the sportsman is motivated by. Intrinsic can be defined as, pure love of the sport (Wesson et al, 2000). This would probably apply more to beginners and novices because you are some what interested in the sport, whereas elite athletes and professionals are often extrinsically motivated as there are big prizes to be one when sport is done to an elite level. As suggested by Davis et al,1998 extrinsic motivation stems from other people, through positive and negative reinforcement, and from tangible rewards such as trophies and money. There are a few theories that are linked to motivation concerning arousal and its influence on a participants performance. The Drive Theory (Hull, 1943) suggests that as the level of arousal increases the quality of the performance should increase. This means that the arousal and performance are directly proportional, this is very true to a certain extent however it does have a limitation as it does not take into consideration over arousal which would have an effect on the performance. A theory that did take this into consideration is the inverted U Hypothesis (Yerkes and Dodson, 1908). This theory suggested that increased arousal improves performance only to a certain point after which further increased levels of arousal will have an adverse effect. As you can see from the Inverted U Hypothesis over arousal causes performance levels to drop. A This is when the participant is under aroused is not at optimum performance. B This is the where the participant is at optimum arousal level and is performing to the best of his/her ability. C This where the participant is over aroused and again not performing to his potential. Most sports require different levels of arousal, for example a fine skilled sport like snooker would require very low levels of arousal whereas a gross skilled sport like boxing would require a very high level of arousal. For this reason a graph called the Inverted U theory and Task Type was created. The inverted U are specific for different sports: A a fine skilled sport such as snooker. B a moderate skilled sport such as football. C a gross skilled sport such as boxing. The small red box at the top of each inverted U is the zoof (). There are two categories that people fit into. These include NaF (need to avoid failure) and NAch (need to achieve). A NaF person is a person who is motivated to avoid failure in order not to experience the feelings of shame or humiliation that will result if failure occurs. This person introvert and would be withdrawn, nervous and would not appreciate feedback. Whereas a HAch person is someone who is motivated to achieve success for the feeling of pride and satisfaction they will experience, this person is lightly to be a extravert and would be out-going, enthusiastic and would like feedback. There are different ways to motivate these two types of people. For a NAch person, if wanted to keep them motivated you would give lots of feedback and be quite critical about their performance, this is because in the long run it would aid performance. You would also set task orientating goals and maybe make him/her some sort of leader. Internal factors are usually what motivate a NAch person. For a NaF person you would dwell on the positive points of his/her performance, you would also set very easily reachable goals to avoid any failure and ultimately to boost confidents. External factor are usually what motivates a NaF person. To set goals there is a specific process that is devise specially to ensure not to demotivate the participant. Specific to the sport, the individual or the level at which the sport is bei being performed. Measurable to be able to measure the progress towards achieving the goals. Achievable to prevent far fetched goals that will just demotivate the team/ team/sportsman. Realistic to prevent far fetched goals that will just demotivate the team/ team/sportsman. Time-phased specified to individual needs. Exciting to maintain motivation. Recorded to ensure the agreement. (S.M.A.R.T.E.R.) In all sport motivation is one of the most important things to aid a successful performance. In conclusion, referring back to the question motivation can be responsible for enhancing sporting performance in all competitive games. This is true if I look back to all my reasoning above.

Analysis of Nokias Competitive Policies

Analysis of Nokias Competitive Policies Nokia’s Competitive Policies In Handset Industry in Asia Chapter 1. Introduction The progress of technology has altered our daily life routine dramatically. In recent 2 decades, people have seen the big convenience brought by colour TVà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  telephoneà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  laptopsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  mobile phone and etc. Among them, the contribution of mobile phone is especially prominent: given the integration of technologies of Internet, laptop, and communication etc, the small and good looking handset will enable us ubiquitous application of modern multi-functions. The advantage of 3G even further attracts our minds with colourful imagination. During the upgradation of our living style, we owe a lot to the companies of the handset industry, especially those popular giants including Nokia, Motorola and Samsung. When they change our living successfully, they realize their developing targets as well. For example, according to the Fortune Global 500 in 2005, Nokia and Motorola ranked 130th and 138 respectively1. Thus, they are recognized by the society. It’s unpredictable for a company to achieve great goals without correct strategies to employ. In the fierce competition of handset industry in China, the correct competitive strategies are required for the participant to win market shares. Surely, sometimes the right strategies are difficult for survival. Nokia, as the no. 1 in the handset industry of China, is certainly the biggest winner through exertion of correct competitive strategies. As is mentioned above, the competition in handset industry in China will become even more fiercer along with the emerging trend such as the advent of 3G, the alteration of distributing channels, and the improved leval of industrial centralization etc. So competitors should promptly adopt relevant changes of their competitive strategies to adapt to new environment. This dissertation aims first to analyze the competitive strategies already employed by Nokia 1 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, The List of Fortune Global 500 in 2005 http://brand.icxo.com/brand500/top500_1.htm During the progress of Chinese handset industry. To confirm whether the competitive strategies are acurate, I use Porter’s 5 forces theory as the frame to anatomize the factors such as Economies of scale, Product differentiation, Capital requirements, Cost disadvantages, independent of size, Access to distribution channels, Government policies, and Competitor’s Retaliation. Thereby, the rationalities of Nokia’s competitive strategies in Chinese handset industry may be authenticated. According to the great lots of evidence collected from website newspapers and catena, new trends of handset industry appear gradually. To grasp the future flux on market share and industrial environment, it is necessary for Nokia to nip in the bud. As a natural extending of the aforesaid analysis on competitive strategies, this paper also expounds the reason causing the new industrial trend in Chinese handset industry and suggests the probable strategies Nokia may adopt. As is well known, according to the Moore’s law, the chips of the handset is developing at a very rapid speed. Moreover, the handset is still influenced by the fluky vanguard fashion. It is not easy to survive in the fluctuate market, and say nothing of being leading company in the industry. I wish textual analysis might benefit the readers to recognize the industrial situation and use Nokia for reference. This text takes a logical sequence to discuss the total analysis, so the chapters are in turn as follows: Introduction to Reportà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Introduction on Nokia Corporateà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The Mobile Handset Industryà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Industrial Analysis Using Porter’s 5 Forces Theoriesà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Analysis on Nokia’s Competitive Strategiesà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Evolution of Nokia’s Competitive Strategies and Conclusion. The content of each chapter encircles its name, and the detailed discussion will be deployed in the following chapter. Chapter 2. Introduction on Nokia Corporate With hundreds of years’ development, Nokia has successfully realized its industry transform within the world-wide range, and gradually established its leading position in the handset industry in China as well as in other area of all the world. The whole experience is full of legendary color, as is introduced as follows: Section 1. Nokia’s Developing History 1à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Brief Review on Nokia’s History According to the introduction from Nokia’s autobiography, the roots of Nokia go back to the year 1865 with the establishment of a forest industry enterprise in Southwestern Finland by mining engineer Fredrik Idestam. Other relative events were the foundation of Finnish Rubber Works Ltd in 1898 and in 1912 Finnish Cable Works began operations. After decades of operation, the three companies were merged to form Nokia Corporation in 1967. The worlds first international cellular mobile telephone network, NMT, was introduced in Scandinavia in 1981 and Nokia made the first car phones for it. At the beginning of the 1980s, Nokia strengthened its position in the telecommunications and consumer electronics markets through the acquisitions of Mobira, Salora, Televa and Luxor of Sweden. In 1987, Nokia acquired the consumer electronics operations and part of the component business of the German Standard Elektrik Lorenz, as well as the French consumer electronics company Oceanic. In 1987, Nokia also purchased the Swiss cable machinery company Maillefer. In the late 1980s, Nokia became the largest Scandinavian information technology company through the acquisition of Ericssons data systems division. In 1989, Nokia conducted a significant expansion of its cable industry into Continental Europe by acquiring the Dutch cable company NKF. In 1992, Jorma Ollila became the CEO of entire Nokia Group, who made a strategic decision to concentrate solely on telecommunications in the coming Digital Age. Thus, during the rest of the 1990s, Nokia continued to divest itself of all of its non-telecommunications divisions. This strategic shift consolidated the foundation for Nokia to become a worldwide famous leading company in telecom industry.2 2à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Nokia’s Performance in Recent Years After the strategic shift in 1990s, Nokia has established its leading position in the global telecommunication market. Every business item, especially mobile phone item, has exhibited high-speed of development ever since. At present, Nokia comprises four main business groups: mobile handsets, multimedia, enterprise solutions, and networks. Among them, the mobile handset is the pillar business for entire group operation. According to annual report of 2005, Nokia ´s net sales arrived at EUR 34 191 million3, realizing an increase rate of 12.56% when compared with EUR 30376 million in 20004. Among the total net sales, sales of mobile phones reached EUR 20811 million, occupying 60.87% of the total net sales. In 1992, the mobile handset business only account for 20% of the total sales of entire group. Nokia ´s operating profit for 2005 reached EUR 4 639 million, representing a 2005 operating margin of 13.6%, and Operating profit in mobile handsets decreased 5% to EUR 3 598 million (operating profit of EUR 3 786 million in 20045), representing a 2005 operating margin of 2 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, The History of Nokia 1865-2002, http://r2.nokia.com/nokiahistory/index.html 3 Accessed on Feb. 23rd, 2007, Key data of Nokia http://www.nokia.com/link?cid=EDITORIAL_4026 4 Accessed on Feb. 23rd, 2007, Annual Information 2000, http://www.nokia.com/A4126501 5 Accessed on Feb. 23rd, 2007, Annual Information 2004, http://www.nokia.com/A4126497 17.3%. However, in comparison with the EUR 83 million in 19926, the operating profit of mobile handset in 2005 represents more than 43 times increase. As is recognized by the global consumers, Nokia brand was ranked 16th among The World 500 Most Influential Brands in 2005 by the World Brand Lab. According to the Fortune Global 500 in 2005, Nokia group ranked 130th and represented no. 1 among the Industry of Network and Other Communications Equipment, taking a position higher than any other competitors. From the aspect of mobile handset, till Sept. 2006, Nokia captures 35.1% of the global market. According to the Gartner institute, Motorola was in second place, with market share of 20.6%, and Samsung of South Korea saw its share of the world market fall to 12.2 % from 12.5 in third quarter 2005. 7 Obviously, Nokia has firmly established its leading position in its industry and has become the worlds leading provider of mobile telephones. Section 2. Nokia’s Development in China The year Nokia traded with China can be traced back to 1950s. And later, until 1985, Nokia opened its first branch in Beijing to initiate its development of early stage in China. In 1995, Nokia set its joint venture in China to produce large scale of GSM system equipment. Then, in 1997, Nokia deliver China the first GSM 1800 network. Soon later, in 2000, Nokia started up the Chinese GPRS network that is first one compatible with newest business 6 Martti Haikio (2003) NOKIA THE INSIDE STORY. Published by Edita Publishing Ltd and Nokia Oyj, Copyright 2002, Chinese Edition First Printed in Sept. 2003. pp.272-273. 7 Accessed on Feb. 23rd, 2007, Nokia is top mobile phone maker for Q3-Gartner, Nov. 23,2006 http://telecomasia.net/article.php?id_article=2793 standards in the world.8 In 2001, Nokia invited its main global partners including mainly hardware providers to invest about RMB 10 billion together in Star Net Industry District in order to form integrated production capabilities and to decrease cost.9 During 2003, Nokia released 15 styles of handsets and ranked no.1 of the GSM mobile handset. As is reported, the top 3 brands of GSM in 2003 are Nokiaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Motorola and Samsung, with market shares respectively 17.23% à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 16.46%à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ and 11.81%.10 When entering into the new century, Nokia strengthens its cooperation with China in the field of communication technology and takes active part in the development of Information Industry in China. At the same time, Nokia commits itself to employment and cultivating of the local talents. To the end of 2004, Nokia arrived at no. 1 of the whole handset sales in China. In 2005, the rising trend continued. It is calculated that Nokia captures 25.8% of domestic handset market share in 2005, realizing 10.8% more than in 2004. By contrast, the second brand Motorola only gets 8.7% of market share11. After decades of tillage, Nokia has really established its leading position in the handset industry in China; it is believed that Nokia will actualize greater success in the mobile 8 Martti Haikio (2003) NOKIA THE INSIDE STORY: Beijing Strategies of Nokia, Published by Edita Publishing Ltd and Nokia Oyj, Copyright 2002, Chinese Edition First Printed in Sept. 2003. pp.234-236. 9 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Explore Star Net Industry District, by Wangshucheng, Huoxiaoguang, Yujingzhong, Source from Xinhua Agency. Yesky.com-Chinese IT website, http://www.yesky.com/135/215635.shtml 10 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Synthesized analysis report on handset in China by YiGuan, Jun. 29th, 2004, http://www.c114.net/zhuanti_simple/3g/Read_3g.asp?action=3gzlkstyptID=3articleID=26 11 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Domestic Handset Market Share Declines March, 28th, 2006, http://www.chinamobile.gov.cn/200603/61242.shtml communication market in China under the 3G era. Chapter 3. The mobile handset industry As is well known, competitive strategy is the outcome resulting from competitive environment. Without given circumstance, it will become meaningless to discuss whether the employment of certain competitive strategies by some enterprises is successful. Therefore, before anatomizing the competitive strategies of Nokia, we need to describe the notion of mobile handset industry and its main composing elements. 1. Definitions —What is a mobile handset A mobile or cellular phone is a long-range, portable electronic device for personal telecommunications over long distances. Most current mobile handsets connect to a cellular network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) (the exception are satellite phones). Cellular networks were first introduced in the early to mid 1980s (the 1G generation). Prior mobile handsets operating without a cellular network (the so-called 0G generation), such as Mobile Telephone Service, date back to 1945. Until the mid to late 1980s, most mobile handsets were sufficiently large that they were permanently installed in vehicles as car phones. With the advance of miniaturization, currently the vast majority of mobile handsets are handheld. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, a mobile handset can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video.12 2. Brief Introduction on Global Mobile Handset Industry Broadly speaking, the mobile handset industry consists of upstream suppliersà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ whole handset 12 Accessed on Feb. 23rd, 2007, Mobile phone Definition Introduction, Sirchin-The Free Encyclopedia And Other Stuff Beta. http://www.reference.sirchin.com/?wiki:directories:mobile-phone manufacturersà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ network operatorsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  downstream distributorsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ terminal retailers etc. From raw materials to handset product, from hardware suppliers to software providers, from the handset per se to service and content providers, mobile handset industry can be identified as the whole value chain encircling the handset’s substance concept. From the narrow sense, mobile handset industry consists of the companies engaging in producing hardwareà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ componentsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ and accessories of handset ¼Ã…’as well as assembling handset. As is well known, the worlds largest mobile handset manufacturers include Audiovox, BenQ-Siemens, High Tech Computer Corporation, Fujitsu, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Pantech Curitel, Philips, Sagem, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, SK Teletech, Sony-Ericsson, TA Alcatel and Toshiba. And the worlds largest mobile phone operators include Orange SA, China Mobile and Vodafone. According to report on global mobile market in Q4 2005, the top 5 manufacturing companies are Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, and Sony-Ericsson, with their global mobile handset market of 35%, 16.3%, 12.1%, 7.2% and 6.9% respectively13. As is calculated, the mobile handset sales continue to grow worldwide, going up from 482.5 million in 2003 to 561 million in 2004. This growth rate is expected to gradually slow down over a period of five years. The estimated growth figures for these five years are—10% in 2005, 7.7% in 2006, 6.4% in 2007, 4.8% in 2008 and 2.6% in 2009.14 Clearly, the global handset industry has been growing fast and will continue to grow for next 3 years. However, the rate of industrial growth will calm down, a status leading to prudential optimism. 13 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Big Six Dominate Expanding Mobile Phone Market, by John Leyden. Feb.28th, 2006, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/28/gartner_mobile_market_2006/ 14 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Changing Faces of The Global Mobile Handset Market –2007, Research and Consultancy Outsourcing Services, March 2005, Pages: 95 Researchandmarkets http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=63375 3. Mobile handset Industry in China Since China ushered in mobile handset in 1987, the handset users has reached 0.443 billion people, with the penetration rate of 33.9%; and the business revenue from mobile communication has occupied about 50% of whole revenue from telecommunication. Mobile communication has grown to be the main impetus of industrial development. 15 —3.1 Network operators After many years of evolution, there are now 6 network system operators in China: Chinatelecomà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Chinanetcomà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Chinamobileà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Chinaunicomà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Chinasatcomà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ and Chinatietong. Till May 2004, Chinamobile is No. 1, because it occupied more than 30% market share according to the business revenue. According to the 2005 annual report, Chinamobile achieved revenue of 243.04 billion RMB and net profit of 53.549 billion RMB, with customers covered 0.257 billion16. —3.2 Overview of industrial developing situation Chinese mobile handset industry keeps its rapid development in recent 5 years, and this trend is forecasted to be extended in the coming years. According to the MII, the handset output from year 2000 to 2005 is 52.57à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 83.97à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 120à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 186.44à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 231.75à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 303.67 million units respectively. The relevant yearly increasing rate reaches 59.73%à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  42.91%à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 55.37%à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 24.30%à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 31.03% respectively. Along with the high-speed increase in handset output, the handset users reaches 0.3934 billion people, and the popularization rate of mobile handset increase rapidly, arriving at 30.3 units per hundred people. However, compared with 60-odd units per hundred people in western developed countries, the future increasing space for handset is still optimistic.17 15 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, The address on the Seminar of Constructing Green Handset Culture by Mr. Xiguohua, vice Minister of Mii of China in 21st Nov 2006, Beijing, on Website of Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China http://www.mii.gov.cn/art/2006/11/23/art_223_27118.html 16 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, the financial highlight, http://www.chinamobileltd.com/ 17 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Comment on the 2005 development of handset industry in China, Website of Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China http://www.mii.gov.cn/art/2006/03/15/art_62_8307.html 2001-2005 Handset Output in China83.97120186.44231.75303.6759.73%42.91%55.37%24.30%31.03%050100150200250300350200120022003200420050.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%OutputYearly Increasing Rate(%) (Note: Amounts in millions of units. Source: Comment on the 2005 development of handset industry in China, Website of Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China http://www.mii.gov.cn/art/2006/03/15/art_62_8307.html) Simultaneously, China has gradually become the export base of mobile handset. According to the statistics of MII, the handset export in 2005 is 228 million units, occupying 75% of total handset production. Compared to the 43.3% of export rate in 2000, the higher rate for export in 2005 indicates the excess capacities of handset production and the advent of market maturation in China.18 It is estimated that in 2006, the output of handset will arrive at 0.34 billion units including 0.25 billion for export purpose19. Generally speaking, the developing trend of handset industry in China will maintain rapidà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ healthyà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ and harmony progress. 18 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Comment on the 2005 development of handset industry in China, Website of Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China http://www.mii.gov.cn/art/2006/03/15/art_62_8307.html 19 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Comment on the 2005 development of handset industry in China, Website of Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China http://www.mii.gov.cn/art/2006/03/15/art_62_8307.html —3.3 Brand vendors As is reported (Aug.13/2002, People’s Post Newspaper), Chinese mobile market was totally occupied by foreign brand handsets before 1998. According to the result of investigation on consumer products in main cities in China in 1998, the market share of mobile is as follows: Motorola 37.3%, Ericsson 28.6%, Nokia 15.6%, and the left 20% market share was distributed among other foreign brands such as Philips, Siemens, Alcater, and Sony etc.20 Following the market booming of handset, Chinese domestic brand vendors began to dissatisfy their original position of OEM only. In addition, with the reformation of approval system, more domestic powerful competitors enter handset industry. As is reported, there are now about 70 companies granted license to produce mobile21. Although domestic brand vendors showed its competence and achieved brilliant performance in 2003, due to the lack of core technology and small scale of production, their total domestic market shares begin to fall down from the zenith of 60% in 2003 to 40.6% in 2005. And the ranked top 3 domestic brands occupy only 17.5% shares in comparison with 31.6% in 200322. According to the 2005 rank on sale of GSM handset in China, the top 10 brand is in turn as follows: Nokiaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Motorolaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Samsungà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Birdà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Amoià £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Sony-Ericssonà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Lenovoà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ TCLà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Koncaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Haier. Among them, top 3 brands occupy 60.05% of domestic market share, a number overpassing the total result of domestic brands23. 20 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, The competitive situation in handset market in China, http://www.china-qg.com/articleHistory/yingXiao/4/275.html 21 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Handset Market Increasingly Open, by Zhugangqi, Nov. 29th, 2006, http://www.cww.net.cn/consultation/shownews.asp?nid=207 22 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Market Shares of Foreign Handset Increasing Rapidly, Mar. 21st, 2006, Source: MII. http://www.ccw.com.cn/news2/mobile/htm2006/20060321_09RRM.htm 23 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Domestic Rank of Handset Sales, by YiGuan, Source: CNETNews.com.cn, http://www.cnetnews.com.cn/news/review/story/0,3800057985,39445251,00.htm The following is the overview on the major participants, which probably possess potential capacity to challenge Nokia: 3.3.1 Motorola Motorola is known around the world for innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Motorola came to China in 1987 when it opened a representative office in Beijing. In 1992, Motorola (China) Electronics Ltd. was established in Tianjin, a major manufacturing base where Motorola produces mobile phones, two-way radios, wireless communications equipment for the Chinese and global markets. 24 Today, Motorola has one holding company, three wholly owned companies, five joint ventures, 16 RD centers and 25 branch offices across China. At the end of 2005, the number of employees exceeded 10,000, and the total cumulative investment in China reached US$3.6 billion, making it one of the largest foreign investors in China. Investment in RD has reached US$600 million.25 The goal of Motorolas China strategy is to build China into world-class production and RD bases. While pursuing and maintaining market leadership in both mobile devices and infrastructure equipment, Motorola continues to develop businesses in digital trunking, broadband products, solutions and services. As a runner-up in the mobile industry, Motorola keeps fighting its way for market leading position all the while. Undoubtedly, relying on its high-tech RD and cogent brand, Motorola can be qualified as the strongest challenger for Nokia in the mobile handset manufacture industry, no matter in China or in global market. 24 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Motorola China is the biggest wholly foreign invested enterprise Source: Tianjin Developing District Investment Net, Jun. 26th, 2003, http://www.investteda.org/zxzx/tdtzdt/t20051025_6324.htm 25 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Motorola in China, http://www.motorola.com.cn/about/inchina/inchina_en.asp 3.3.2 Samsung Since it’s founding in 1938, SAMSUNG (Group) has maintained a mission statement that responds both to its own change, and to new developments in the world. After unremitting struggle for decades, the company grows from a domestic industrial leader into a global consumer electronics powerhouse. Following its management philosophy-We will devote our human resources and technology to create superior products and services, thereby contributing to a better global society, Samsung achieves quick pace of development. And Samsung’s brand value, a key engine of business growth, increased to US$8.31 billion in 2002 from US$6.37 billion in 2001 and was recognized by Interbrand Corporation as the fastest growing global brand.26 As one of its emphasized fields, Samsung endows mobile handset market with great efforts. It was reported that the expenditure of total RD in Samsung reached 5 billion USD, including 2 billion especially for mobile handset RD. Moreover, as an industrial newcomer compared with Nokia and Motorola, Samsung adopt several special developing strategies to overtake advanced companies, for example: à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Samsung prefer cooperation with strong technology leader to research alone. Samsung plays more attention on how to obscure know-how in shorter period, and to avoid confrontation with powerful competitors. Then, through reverse engineering, Samsung can absorb the newest technology with high efficiency. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Based on owned technology, Samsung inclines not to further dig, but to emphasize on developing additional value of product in order to occupy the market rapidly. It’s not difficult to understand that Samsung’s mobile handset exhibits first design and fashionable appearance, the important feature attracting majorities of users. This feature benefits Samsung to be among global top 3 brands of mobile handset. 26 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Samsung’s Managing Philosophy, http://china.samsung.com.cn/public/gongyi.asp?sm=menu7 à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Expand rationally based on technology on hand. At present, Samsung has occupied already 65% of CDMA market in Korea, and the target at 20%-30% CDMA market share in China has become its next step, which means about 7.5-11million handset units. Believably, along with the deeper cooperation between Samsung and Qualcomm Incorporated, which is the owner of CDMA patent, Samsung will achieve more opportunities on market of CDMA handset, which is used by nearly 1/3 of global mobile user. In conclusion, Samsung, as an active and ambition participant in mobile industry, has found a unique way to boom, and has grown to be an important industrial power unable to be neglected. 3.3.3 Indigenous Brands Before 1998, domestic handset comes into the market in the form of joint ventures. During that period, they just assemble international brand handset. After 1998, domestic handset companies began to produce handset through OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) for international brands such as Samsung of Korea and SAGEM of France, which still not entered into China at that time. Simultaneously, some companies began to launch its own handset brand such as EC528 of Eastcom. In 1999, the market share of indigenous brand handset is less than 3% in China. However, until 2003, indigenous mobile handset arrived at its height of development, with a market share of 60%. However, indigenous brand soon began to decline all- the- round, with a market share of less than 40% at the end of 2004. During 2005, this declining trend continues, with 10 more percent market share lost than 2004 at the year-end. Relying on indigenous marketing advantage and OEM technology, domestic mobile handset manufacturers, as a whole, have grown up and gradually captured medium and low-end market. Although they encounter fierce competition and face present embarrassment, and even 3 brands that is Kejianà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Pandan and Gaoke fade away in 200527, certain individual brand still actualize rapid development against the current and emerge. It is Lenovo that achieved 4.1% market share and ranked 7th in 2005; by contrast, its market share rises to 6.5% with a rank of 4th in June 2006 (from IDC report), an achievement invigorating all indigenous brands. 28 Considering the advantages of indigenous brands such as: flexible distributing- channelsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ sensitive price reflectionà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ strong end-user networks and deep understanding of domestic fashion trend ¼Ã…’we have no reason to doubt the future of indigenous handset development. In addition, Chinese government has shown its resolution to support domestic handset companies; surely the relative policies will be improved further. It is believable that indigenous brands, as a whole, will soon rally to enhance their market position. Generally speaking, due to the recent situation of handset industry in China including the advent of 3G, all the brand vendors are adjusting each competitive strategies referring to individual inherent and existing advantages. In a word, new turn of reshuffle on handset industry in China is unveiling. 27 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, March 16th, 2006, by Pengxuzhi, http://mobile.csonline.com.cn/jzsl/200512/t20051228_423095.htm 28 Accessed on Feb.23rd, 2007, Lenovo handset’s market share, Source: IDC, http://telecom.chinabyte.com/243/2576243.shtml Chapter 4. Industrial Analysis using Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is arguably the most influential analytical model in analyzing industrial environment. Logically, it will greatly facilitate comprehending the rationality of Nokia’s competitive strategies to use Porter’s Five Forces model to analyze the competitive environment where Nokia is operating in China, before expounding Nokia’s detailed competitive strategies. 1. Theory Brief Five Forces Analysis is a method used to contrast a competitive environment. It has similarities with other tools for environmental audit, such as PEST analysis, but focuses on an industry. It looks at five key forces namely the threat of entry, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, the threat of substitutes, and competitive rivalry. Porter’s five-force model is arguably the most influential analytical model in strategy. In practice, it is best applied to cases in which strategic decision-making is closely associated with industry conditions. Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position New Market Entrants, e.g.: †¢ Economies of scale †¢ Proprietary of product differences †¢ Brand identity †¢ Switching cost †¢ Expected retaliation Supplier Power, e.g.: à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Differentiation of inputs à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Supplier concentration à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Presence of substitute inputs à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Switching costs of suppliers and firms in the industry à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ º Importance of volume to supplier Competitive Rivalry, e.g.: †¢ Industry growth †¢ Fixed costs/value added †¢ Intermittent overcapacity †¢ Product differences †¢ Brand identity †¢ Switching costs †¢ Corporate stakes Buyer Power, e.g.: †¢ Buyer choice †¢ Buyer information †¢ Ability to backward integrate †¢ Substitute products †¢ Buyer switching costs relative to firm switching costs Threat of Substitutes, e.g.: †¢ Relative price performance of substitutes versus firm concentration †¢ Switching costs †¢ Buyer propensity to substitute 29 Henry Mintzberg, Joseph Lampel, James Brian Quinn, Sumantra Ghoshal, (2002) THE STRATEGY PROCESS Concepts, Contexts, Cases FOURTH EDITH Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, pp95. The only deficiency with his model lies that the same analysis often applies equally well to more than one company (hence, the notion of â€Å"strategic groups†). And Porter’s emphasis on the importance of external context is balanced by Barney’s insistence that sustainable advantage depends as much or more on the internal resources of the firm. As Jay Barney argued that sustainable competitive advantage is not the product of correct position in the external environment but is derived from the firm’s internal resources. More specifically, resources must meet four criteria to confer sustainable comp

Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers fc

Edgar Allan Poe   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story into a respected literary work. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. Although he contributed so much to the writing world, little is known about the Poe himself. Historians have been trying for years to piece together the life of this literary genius. In almost every biographical publication Poe’s life is divided into three sections: his early life, his career, and his death. Exactly when and where Poe was born is not known, but historians believe that he was born in Boston, in 1809 (Hayes 5). Poe's parents, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins, were touring actors; both died before he was three years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan. Allan was a prosperous merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Poe’s childhood was uneventful, although he studied in England between 1815 and 1820 (Jacobs 56). In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia but stayed for only a year. Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe's engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart. Lacking any means of support, Poe enlisted in the army. He had, however, already written and printed at his own expense his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (Hayes 6). Temporarily reconciled, John Allan secured Poe's release from the army and his appointment to W est Point but refused to provide financial support (Hayes 11). After 6 months Poe apparently contrived to be dismissed from West Point for disobedience of orders (Kennedy 35). Poe next took up residence in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction as a way to support himself (Walker 2). In 1832 the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five of his stories, and in 1833, MS. Found in a Bottle won a fifty dollar prize given by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor (Walker 125). Poe, his aunt, and Virginia moved to Richmond in 1835. Poe became editor of the Southern Literary Messenger and married Virginia, who was not yet 14 years old (Jacobs 61). During this time Poe published fiction, such as Berenice, but most of his contributions were serious, analytical, and critical reviews that earned him respect as a critic (Jacobs 64). Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers fc Edgar Allan Poe   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story into a respected literary work. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. Although he contributed so much to the writing world, little is known about the Poe himself. Historians have been trying for years to piece together the life of this literary genius. In almost every biographical publication Poe’s life is divided into three sections: his early life, his career, and his death. Exactly when and where Poe was born is not known, but historians believe that he was born in Boston, in 1809 (Hayes 5). Poe's parents, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins, were touring actors; both died before he was three years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan. Allan was a prosperous merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Poe’s childhood was uneventful, although he studied in England between 1815 and 1820 (Jacobs 56). In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia but stayed for only a year. Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe's engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart. Lacking any means of support, Poe enlisted in the army. He had, however, already written and printed at his own expense his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (Hayes 6). Temporarily reconciled, John Allan secured Poe's release from the army and his appointment to W est Point but refused to provide financial support (Hayes 11). After 6 months Poe apparently contrived to be dismissed from West Point for disobedience of orders (Kennedy 35). Poe next took up residence in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction as a way to support himself (Walker 2). In 1832 the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five of his stories, and in 1833, MS. Found in a Bottle won a fifty dollar prize given by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor (Walker 125). Poe, his aunt, and Virginia moved to Richmond in 1835. Poe became editor of the Southern Literary Messenger and married Virginia, who was not yet 14 years old (Jacobs 61). During this time Poe published fiction, such as Berenice, but most of his contributions were serious, analytical, and critical reviews that earned him respect as a critic (Jacobs 64).

Representation of Colors in Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale Essay

Representation of Colors in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Imagine if you can, living in a world that tells you what you are to wear, where to live, as well as your position and value to society. In Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, she shows us the Republic of Gilead does just that. Offred, the main character, is a Handmaid, whose usefulness is her ovaries. Handmaids are ordered to live in a house with a Commander, his wife, and once a month attempt to become pregnant by the Commander. Throughout Atwood's novel, you will notice she uses different colors for her characters clothing that correspond to their position and place in the Republic of Gilead. They become aware of people's statuses by the color of their garments. The colors of dress that have been used are red, blue, green, white, black, and khaki. Going into detail, I will show the social rank that each color represents in the novel, and my interpretation of them. The Handmaids are the only ones wearing red dresses, and several references are made towards the comparison of blood. "When Offred is in the room, which she refuses to call her own, she hears the bell to signal her time to go to the market. Getting up she puts on her red shoes and her red gloves, all the while thinking, everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us. The dress she wears is also red, being ankle-length as well as long sleeve. The only item she wears that isn't red is the white wings around her face to keep her from seeing, as well as from being seen. Leaving the room, she walks down the hall, and heads for the stairs. She knows there is a mirror on the hall wall. If she turns her head so that the white wings framing her face direc... ... responsible for conceiving and giving birth for a Commander and his wife wear red. The Commander's wives wear blue which is the most prestigious color worn by a woman. Guardians, as well as Martha's, wear green, which is not an authoritive color, putting them in a lower class. White is the color to be worn only by the virgin daughters until they are given to a soldier to marry. Econowives are wearing dresses that are mixed colors because they have multiple functions and little value. The Republic of Gilead believes in showing levels of hierarchy, by the color of clothing worn. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. New York: Anchor Books, 1986. Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Cliff Notes on Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Lincoln: Cliff Notes, Inc., 1994. Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1988.

Personal development planning Essay

I am 24 years old and married to my husband Paul we live in Maybole in a two bedroom cottage. I left school at 16 with standard grade level English, maths, history, French and music. My first job was in a nursing home it was then I realised how much I enjoyed working in care and caring for people. I worked in the nursing home for 2 years then left to be an activity’s co-ordinator in a day care centre in Prestwick where I would plan daily activity’s and outings for clients who came for respite day-care the centre sadly closed down after 3 years. I found a part time job in a local pub but I didn’t enjoy it as much as caring I worked in the pub for 2 years until I found a job working for a homecare company I enjoyed but found the hours unsociable it was then I decided to apply for college. I applied for N.C social care and was placed on the reserved list due to the course being full then a week after the course started I got a phone call to start. I attended college from September to june working threw my course studying and passed all my exams. I also attended a work placement at Hansel village respite cabin which I enjoys working with the clients as id never worked with adults with learning difficulties. I was offered a permanent job with Hansel after I left but sadly couldn’t take the job offer up as I had applied to do HNC and Hansel could only offer me 30 hours per week. Whilst doing my NC I enjoyed the subject mental health and decided then that I would like to become a mental health nurse. My hopes are that I graduate with my HNC and can apply to university and get a degree. Step 2: Broad objective – where am I going next? Whilst completing this unit in Personal Development Planning, I have opted to focus on the following area of development my ability to write reports and essays having done an N.C in social care last year I had to do a few reports and essays and realised that I don’t structure them properly this is something I need to practice and develop my skills and abilities in doing this. I would like to progress and graduate from college with my HNC in social care and apply to university of the west of Scotland and do a degree in mental health nursing and work in a psychiatric hospital. Further development of core/key skills Step 3: Self appraisal Personal skills, qualities and contexts Core skill Evaluation Evidence to support evaluation Communication Good When doing an NC in social care one of the tasks I had to do was a presentation in front of the class I became really nervous and didn’t make a lot of eye contact. This is something I would like to work at and concentrate on in the future when delivering presentations. Numeracy Poor Numeracy was apart of my NC course last year and I failed two attempts at an exam working out percentages and doing box plots but I find with extra studying and breaking it down I can complete some numeracy tasks. IT Average I received a standard grade for admin at school this gave me some knowledge on IT skills. On my college course last year I done IT at a higher level where I was shown how to use different search engines and how to type up reports essays and save my work. Problem solving Poor When faced with situations I tend to panic rather than look for solutions to  resolve problems. I feel this is something I can develop in. Working with others Good Threw my recent jobs as a carer, bar maid, activity’s coordinator I have had to work as part of a team to deliver my work and do the best in my job. I also work with others at college to do research on my subjects this is something I enjoy doing. Personal qualities I am a hard working reliable individual. With an NC in social care this has given me a wide knowledge of sociology, psychology and helped me realise my own personal values and principles. I have developed my caring practical skills threw working in in many different care aspects and work placements. I am an honest and trustworthy person who enjoys working as part of team and also on my own initiative. Knowledge and understanding I have a wide knowledge of care and an understanding of my own personal values and principles that I try and introduce when caring for individuals with different needs. I also have a basic knowledge of sociology and try to have an understanding in which way society works. And my basic knowledge of psychology helps me understand peoples behaviours. Technical skills I feel my technical skills can be worked on and developed threw out this course. Threw work and work placements I have a basic knowledge on moving and handling. I also have basic computing skills. Contexts, other factors to consider Step 4: Setting personal objectives Personal objectives — prior to interview with tutor Short-term (this year) I hope to pass my course and gain my HNC in social care. I also hope to gain knowledge and develop new skills threw out the year in all aspects of social care and on college work placement. Medium-term (next year) I hope to be able to apply to university and have enough qualifications and skills and to be able to stay focused on my work and my short and long term goals to be achievable. Long-term I hope to have gained a degree in mental health nursing and be in a job I enjoy doing that helps me stay motivated.

Symbols and Motifs in King Lear

The issue of blindness is associated most obviously with Gloucester, who is blinded in the course of the play. It is peculiarly right for Gloucester’s eyes to be the organs through which he is tortured.  Ã‚   Gloucester thought he saw the truth about his sons, but was in fact blind.   With his eyes put out he does indeed see the truth. â€Å"Gloucester before he lost his eyes was spiritually blind, and could not tell the difference between a good son and a bad† (Muir, lx). It is this physical suffering that brings out the long debilitated moral stamina that has underlain his sympathy. Losing his eyes enables him to reach heroic and tragic proportions. He surely has the right to say, â€Å"All dark and comfortless† (III, vii, 84).   There is no irritating shadow of egotism on his accounts of his predicament. And when he learns that Edmund has betrayed him, his response is astonishing and wonderful: â€Å"O my follies!   Then Edgar was abused. / Kind gods, forgive me that and prosper him (III, vii, 90-1).   He knows that his injury to Edgar can never be forgiven:You cannot see your way.I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;I stumbled when I saw†¦.(IV, i, 17-19).Gloucester’s blindness is also a reflection of the unreformed Lear’s arrogant folly, and his inability to tell a good daughter from a bad, until he has been through his own ordeal.The StormIn III, i, the Gentleman gives us an account of Lear’s behaviour which shows him as, in a way, indulging in a sort of theatrical display, enjoying the spectacle of himself suffering in the storm.   The storm seems to appeal to Lear as a sort of melodramatic setting for a display of what is at this point his martyr-like self-pity. â€Å"tears his white hair†¦/ Strives in his little world of man to out-storm / The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain† (III, i, 6-10).   But Lear has not yet reached the truth about himself.   This is important be cause it is tempting to see the storm as a symbolic event, and Lear as man in the abstract contending with the forces of evil.   Shakespeare makes us stand back from Lear still, and not identify with him. The real meaning of the storm lies in the thought that it was inhumanly cruel of the daughters to shut him out on such a night.Certainly Kent’s description of the peculiar severity of the storm prompts one to see it as more than just a physical event. He has never in his life seen â€Å"such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder† (III, ii, 46) etc., and the implication is that the storm has more than natural causes.   This leads Lear to his reflection on the power of the storm to purge evil and crime:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Let the Great Gods, / That keep this dreadful pudder o’er our heads, / Find out their enemies now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (IV, ii, 49-51). His growing madness takes the form an obsessive interpretation of all ills in terms of his own personal sufferin gs.   Shakespeare makes sure we see the point: â€Å"this tempest in my mind / Doth from my senses take all feeling else / Save what beats there† (III, iv, 12-14).It is the internal tempest that matters in the drama, and the way it brings Lear to some sort of wisdom. The wildness of the elements leads him to a great advance when he sees Edgar as elemental man. Here real truth starts to appear to him: â€Å"Is man no more than this?†¦ unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art† (III, iv, 105-111).  Ã‚   He sees, for the first time, beyond the surface of things, and understands the folly of snobbery and blind selfishness in human life. His own trappings of pomp are vain, he sees himself as deluded, and Edgar as the truth.MadnessLear’s collapse into madness is his way to transformation.   One of his mad notions is to imagine the mock trial of the sisters.   The symbolic force of this is evident:(To Edgar)   Thou, r obed man of justice, take thy place.(To the Fool)   And thou, his yoke fellow of equity,Bench by his side.   (To Kent)   You are o’th’commission;Sit you too. (III, vi, 37-40).Here is a Christian inversion of the social order; a mad beggar, a fool, and an exiled man are set up over the mighty to sit in judgement on them.   It is a mad fancy of Lear’s, but it has a deep significance in the criticism of false sophistication that the play poses.   An unjust society has helped Lear to be an egotist and to do evil, as Kent said in the first scene.   Now Lear is learning and regrets his own â€Å"sophistication† in the face of Edgar, â€Å"the thing itself†.   What he is learning is the need for humility, and respect for others, and the importance of setting one’s eyes on the real truths of human existence if one is to live decently and with meaning. The knowledge Lear gains is percolated through his madness.But Gloucester does not go mad.   He endures everything.   As he learns from Edgar’s lesson on the â€Å"cliff†, it is not man’s right to choose his end. The point of that strange scene seems to be summarised at the end by Gloucester’s description of their relative fates:The King is mad: how stiff is my vile senseThat I stand up, and have ingenious feelingOf my huge sorrows!   Better I were distract:So should my thoughts be sever’d from my griefs,And woes by wrong imaginations loseThe knowledge of themselves. (IV, vi, 28106)  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I suggest that through him we grasp the central thread, which has to do with love and suffering and sticking it out to the end†¦ Lear is spared the worst. Gloucester gets it† (Mason, 1970, p.200).In Lear’s crazed mind all authority is in the hands of those who are unworthy.   It is only their established power, their rank and ceremonial clothes that distinguish the judges from the accused.   Morality is cynically ig nored.   Only selfishness rules.   â€Å"Let copulation thrive† – and the world in Lear’s distorted mind looks very like that presupposed by Edmund’s view of nature, a sort of jungle of self-interest, power and lust.BetrayalWhen Cordelia refuses to do what her foolish father wants in the first scene she invokes the idea of the bond. â€Å"I love your majesty / According to my bond† (I, i, 92-3) And by â€Å"bond† she means something quite different from the â€Å"bondage† that he interprets it as.   The question of the bonds of human relationships is central to the play; why human beings fail in their bonds, as the daughters do with Lear, and Edmund does with his father is the horrific mystery that Shakespeare cannot solve.   Cordelia goes on to spell out, in an embarrassed way – she had always thought it was obvious – what she means by â€Å"bond†.It is the natural range of duties and affection that exist between children and parents.   Kent too speaks of another bond, the sacred responsibilities of service. â€Å"Royal Lear, / Whom I have ever honour’d   as my King, / Lov’d as my father, as my master follow’d†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I, i, 139-141).   It is the betrayal of these bonds that causes such chaos in the moral world of King Lear, of which Jan Kott says â€Å"There is neither Christian heaven, nor the heaven predicted by humanists.   King Lear makes a tragic mockery of all eschatologies† (Kott, 1967, p.116).Edmund’s speech in I, ii is plain because his thought is plain.   There is no hesitation in him because there are no doubts, and no traces of decent feeling in him at all.   He is utterly conscienceless.   Nothing in him works to check the urge of ruthlessness. His closeness to the sisters is clear.   His â€Å"Nature†, it is pretty obvious, is a different concept from that assumed in Cordelia’s definition of the n atural â€Å"bonds† of feeling and duty which underlie decent society.   It is, for him, nature as expressed in the law of the jungle – naked self-interest and the pursuit of power.   He is appalling in his plainness.   The sisters are equally ready to betray normal ties. It is astonishing to hear Regan’s total failure to respond to Lear’s appeals for sympathy.   After all, however absurd his selfishness, he is her father.   But she responds, as does Goneril, like a machine, with an icy formality of tone which is the voice of cold reason.O, Sir! you are old,Nature in you stands on the very vergeOf her confine: you should be rul’d and ledBy some discretion that discerns your stateBetter then you yourself. (II, iv, 147-151).We might be tempted to agree with Bradley that â€Å"in that dark cold world some fateful malignant influence is abroad, turning the hearts of the fathers against their children and of the children against their fathers † (Bradley, 214). But the bonds are not always betrayed. A notable incident   in III, vii, the scene in which Gloucester is blinded, is the intervention of the servant. He acts purely on a humane instinct of decency, knowing in his soul that such conduct as Cornwall’s is not tolerable in a human world. He invokes the sacred bond of service, just as Kent did to Lear :â€Å"Hold your hand, my lord! /   I have served you ever since I was a child; / But better service have I never done you /   Than now to bid you hold† (III, vii, 71-4). The point here – the infinitely blessed and optimistic point – is that this man is not a hero, but simply a decent human being.   But he is ready to die in defense of a tolerable worldWorks CitedBradley, A.C.   Shakespearean Tragedy.   London: Macmillan, Second edition, 1905.Kott, Jan, Shakespeare Our Contemporary, translated by Boleslaw Taborski, London, Methuen, 2nd edition 1967.Mason, H.A., Shakespeareâ₠¬â„¢s Tragedies of Love, London, Chatto and Windus, 1970.Shakespeare, W.   The Arden Shakespeare: King Lear. Ed. Kenneth Muir. London: Methuen, 1980.