Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has become the disorder of the nineties. The name has been bandied about by experts, teachers, parents, lay people and specifically the media, however, when a child or children are diagnosed with this disorder, parents, and in particular for this study, mothers, are left feeling confused, frightened and uncertain. The method of treatment is the specific study of this research. Ritalin is the most popular form of treatment utilised for the alleviation of symptoms, yet mothers are afraid they are drugging their children or taking the easy way out. Constant media hype and ignorance exacerbate the mother’s experiences and they are left in a quandary of which course to follow. The purpose of this research was to investigate if mothers share similar experiences when administering Ritalin for the treatment of symptoms of ADHD. Literature indicates enormous controversy surrounding this disorder and in particular the treatment methods recommended to alleviate symptoms. There are two strongly opposed camps regarding the negativity or positivity toward utilising this schedule 7 drug. Media publicity intensifies the individual’s uncertainty of administering this drug and suggests bad parenting as the reason mothers resort to Ritalin. The goal of this study is to highlight the mother’s experiences and to become aware of their feelings and isolation when being advised that their child or children have ADHD. The lack of awareness and the uncertainty of which course to follow seems to have profound affects and cause mothers to have negative experiences. The purpose of this research is to see if mothers share similar experiences regarding the administering of Ritalin as a treatment method for ADHD. The researcher is hopeful that the outcome of this small study will assist experts, counselors and lay people to empathize and recognize the mother’s plight in this regard, and consequently for them not to feel as troubled and unaided without this knowledge. Finally, she expects that the research may help mothers to be aware that they are not alone with their predicament and sense of apprehension and uncertainty regarding the administering of a drug like Ritalin to assist in alleviating the symptoms presented. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

This thesis is guided primarily by concepts associated with Pierre Bourdieu's habitus perspectives by comparing them with disruptive innovative products dynamically developing broader context related to market offerings and services, and their positive outcomes once the habitus is disrupted. Understanding how disruptive innovation can change the habitus traits among customers. At the same time, by discovering the habitus traits of managers in corporations have failed to pay close attention to the new tendencies either by ignoring the signs from customers' demands or missing significant opportunities in the market that could help them to improve the business approaches. Disruptive Innovation describes a process through which new products that underperform in comparison to existing products' key attributes intrude upon a market by introducing an alternative package of benefits centered around being cheaper, simple, smaller, and or/ more suitable for consumers demands. Thus, companies should be aware of these disruptive leanings as a form to stay competitive in the given industry.

Approximately 20% of children experience serious mental health problems severe enough to meet diagnosis criteria, and less than one third of these children receive the services they need. Identifying effective school-based counseling interventions provides a viable and accessible solution, especially for families with financial barriers. This randomized, controlled outcome study examined the effectiveness of Adlerian play therapy (AdPT) compared to reading mentoring (RM) with 58 kindergarten through third grade students who qualified with clinical levels of disruptive behavior in the classroom. Participants were identified as 48% Latino, 33% European American, and 19% African American. Approximately four-fifths of participants were male. Children were randomly assigned to AdPT (experimental group) or RM (active control group) for 16 sessions of treatment. Children in both groups participated in twice weekly, individual, 30-minute interventions that took place in their schools. Results from a two (group) by two (repeated measures) split plot ANOVA indicated that, compared to the RM group over time, the AdPT group demonstrated statistically significant improvement on (a) disruptive behaviors in the classroom, as directly observed by objective raters and as reported by teachers, and (b) stress in the teacher-child relationship, as reported by teachers. Teachers and observers were blinded to children's treatment group assignment. AdPT demonstrated moderate to large effect sizes on all measures, indicating the practical significance of treatment. Further, 72% of children receiving AdPT improved from clinical/borderline levels of disruptive behavior problems to more normative functioning post-intervention, demonstrating the clinical significance of results. Whereas further research is warranted, results from this preliminary study are promising and support the use of AdPT in elementary schools to meet the needs of children exhibiting disruptive classroom behavior.

O mercado e os negócios na área da Contabilidade vêm sofrendo constantes mudanças nos últimos anos, sendo as novas exigências dos consumidores e a entrada de novas tecnologias as grandes influenciadoras dessa quebra de paradigma. Entretanto, a tecnologia por si só não é o agente causador de perturbações no mercado, mas sim a forma como ela é explorada, dentro dos modelos de negócios, para melhor atender às novas necessidades dos clientes que se apresentam. Dessa maneira, a disrupção dos modelos de negócios surge quando a introdução de novas tecnologias e inovações se tornam críticas nos modelos de negócios existentes, exigindo readequações organizacionais para a oferta de novos produtos e serviços. Diante desse contexto que se revela para o mercado contábil, a presente dissertação busca descrever as características dos potenciais modelos de negócios disruptivos existentes, atualmente, no mercado contábil nacional. Para tanto, a fim de atender ao objetivo de pesquisa proposto, esta dissertação é composta por quatro etapas, sendo cada uma representada por um artigo. A primeira etapa visa a realização um review sobre modelos de negócios disruptivos, a fim de trazer um melhor entendimento sobre o tema em discussão. A segunda etapa busca a consolidaçãodos conceitos e atributos apresentados sobre os modelos de negócios disruptivos na literatura, elaborando um conjunto de itens e características que conceituem e qualifiquem um modelo de negócio disruptivo A terceira etapa tem por objetivo a identificaçãodos modelos de negócios contábeis tradicionais do mercado, revelando a forma de organização estrutural e das características desses modelos de negócios. Por fim, a última etapa busca identificar no mercado os potenciais modelos de negócios disruptivos contábeis. De modo geral, pelos achados desta dissertação, percebe-se que algumas empresas contábeis estão surgindo com características de disrupção nos negócios, entretanto, os tradicionais modelos de negócios contábeis ainda estão sendo pouco perturbados por esses novos negócios. Nota-se, também, o uso intensivo de diferentes recursos tecnológicos nas atividades contábeis desses novos negócios, bem como a realização de atividades de maior valor agregado aos clientes, por meio de consultorias, análise de dados, estratégias de negócios e apoio nas tomadas de decisões, por exemplo. Assim, esta pesquisa contribui com a teoria da disrupção, ao fornecer um melhor entendimento das características dos modelos de negócios disruptivos; e com o campo, ao apresentar uma visão geral dos novos negócios contábeis, revelando algumas tendências de negócios de sucesso para o mercado atual. / The market and business in the area of Accounting have been undergoing constant changes in recent years, being the new demands of consumers and the entry of new technologies the major influencers of this paradigm break. However, technology alone is not the agent causing disruption in the market, but rather the way it is exploited, within business models, to better attend the new needs of the clients which appear. That way, the disruption of business models arises when the introduction of new technologies and innovations become critical in existing business models, requiring organizational adjustments for the provision of new products and services. In light of this context that is revealed for the accounting market, the present dissertation seeks to describe the characteristics of potential disruptive business models that currently exist in the national accounting market. For this, in order to attend the proposed research objective, this dissertation is composed of four stages, each one represented by an article. The first step is to conduct a review on disruptive business models in order to bring a better understanding of the subject under discussion. The second stage seeks to consolidate the concepts and attributes presented on the disruptive business models in the literature, elaborating a set of items and characteristics that conceptualize and qualify a disruptive business model The third step is to identify the traditional accounting business models of the market, revealing the form of structural organization and the characteristics of these business models. Finally, the last step seeks to identify potential disruptive business accounting models in the market. In general, based in the findings of this dissertation, it is noticed that some accounting firms are emerging with characteristics of disruption in the business, however,the traditional accounting business models are still being little disturbed by these new businesses. It is also noted the intensive use of different technological resources in the accounting activities of these new businesses, as well as the accomplishment of activities of greater added value to the clients, through consultancies, data analysis, business strategies and support in the decisions, for example. Thus, this research contributes to the theory of disruption,by providing a better understanding of the characteristics of disruptive business models; and with the field, by presenting an overview of the new accounting business, revealing some business trends of success for the current market.

Companies, nations, governments and multilateral organisations are each in their context recognising that 20th-century approaches to innovation and competitiveness are no longer relevant or effective – with whole industries and economies challenged by the fastmoving and disruptive forces of 21st-century technologies that enable unprecedented innovative capability. The rate and scale of change and disruption calls for innovation thinking more suited to a world highly connected and networked and rapidly redefined by global digital architecture and alternative forms of value exchange, value creation and capture enabled through networks, platforms, and innovation ecosystems. For a mature industry to navigate potential disruption on this scale and possibly direct disruptive innovation of its own, will require a dramatic departure from innovation and business as usual. Christensen (1997) posits that disruptive innovation is the only way for incumbents to maintain market leadership and secure future growth. So how should mature firms respond to disruption, and which strategies are effective to become disruptive too? I undertake a grounded theory study into how specifically, the insurance industry (life and health), navigates disruptive influence and plans to become disruptive too. My analysis of the literature and the research findings has led to the development of an Adapt, Regenerate, Transcend response strategy framework, the ART framework, which describes these three broad response strategies and a further set of sub-strategies, that answer the question of how firms respond to disruptive influence and become disruptive too. The ART framework is my contribution to the work on disruptive innovation response strategies. The framework shows how incumbents can apply one or more of these three broad strategies to suit their objectives. The adapt response strategy, a short-term, defensive or opportunistic strategy, aims to extend lifecycles and fend off disruptive challenges. The regenerate response strategy is an expansive, increasingly inclusive, and transformative hybrid strategy that seeks to extend lifecycles and pursue new growth opportunities that might transform the core business over time to become disruptive too. The transcend response strategy is an original and disruptive strategy where the lead firm partners to reframe and reinvent an industry through a collectively directed value proposition that creates an entirely new playing field. Using the ART framework, I also show how disruptive innovation is an inclusive innovation strategy and how the framework applies to and is of use in the context of inclusive and sustainable innovation. In doing so, a new meta-innovation concept of generative innovation emerges, which the framework begins to describe broadly and which I propose as an area of future research.

In recent years, the financial and economic decisions have changed which has created and utilized new methods and techniques that have led to new and different products, processes, and services. However, the changing methods and techniques have led to the movement of digital technology and enabling financial services within the financial industry. The changes have resulted in the phenomenon of FinTech that has derived from financial services. In order for companies to be competitive in the industry and create value for their customers, they need to use a business model as a conceptual tool to help improve their performance. High dynamics in technological solutions within the financial industry provides the base for business model innovation. Whilst there is little empirical insight about business model and business model innovation within the qualitative field, this study aims to explore how FinTech companies are developing their business models to enable business model innovation in Sweden, as well as what is influencing business model innovation. An explorative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted to explore how FinTech companies’ business models are built. The empirical findings were supplemented with data from the company’s websites and financial reports. This study’s findings show four key factors within the FinTech companies' business models: Technological innovations, digitization, value propositions, and human resources. All companies have developed innovative technology and software solutions and created new technical systems. Hence, all companies are innovative by creating new processes and methods through their technical development and resulting in different innovations such as API-systems and self-built algorithms. Further, business model innovation within this study has been influenced and driven by exceptional events as the market changes and problems occur within the company that forces innovations to be created for companies to overcome these obstacles. In addition, market pressure has influenced business model innovations by e.g. competitors and customers changing the market demand and making the companies adjust continuously.

This research study was developed to investigate whether a structured discussion group on feelings)in combination with play group counseling can be effective as an intervention approach in working with disadvantaged primary grade children who are exhibiting disruptive classroom behavior. The general nature of the research hypotheses was that developmental play group counseling would not only reduce disruptive behavior of disadvantaged second grade students, but would also help to enhance these students' self concepts and attitudes toward school. None of the six hypotheses were confirmed. Developmental play group counseling did not significantly reduce "classroom disturbance" behavior, improve perceived self image, or improve attitude toward school over periods of time. The data indicated that play group counseling did significantly reduce "classroom disturbance" behavior after seven weeks of treatment, and maintained that general level of improvement eight weeks after the end of the study. The above finding suggested that play group counseling be utilized with disadvantaged early primary grade children who present behavior problems in school.

This text is written as a masterexam within an important Art institution in Stockholm as Konstfack, where the researcher has been studying interior and furniture design for the last five years. Therefore, it is the result of the knowledge accumulated during that period of time, in combination with the socio-cultural baggage that characterizes her identity and positioning towards the world. There are many ways of defining architecture and design. Also, within the concept of architecture, there are plenty of branches. This study is, as said before, a sum of the interpretation of how to use the education in order to socially contribute to a sustainable and more egalitarian world. As the writers' background profoundly influences her point of view, it seems essential to exhibit it for the reader.  Her parents came to Sweden as political refugees from Chile and Argentina during the military dictatorships that had taken over the democratic governments in those countries during the '70s. They, as well as the researcher, are by definition, either Swedish or "white". Even as born in Sweden and having Swedish citizenship, the law does not define the writer as Swedish. This fact has featured the formation of her identity as "not white," and in that way excluded from the dominating "ethnicity". Initially, the aim of the study contextualises by the description of the experiences and knowledge that have guided the author through her education at Konstfack. As a result,  there arise perspectives that criticize excluding power structures and how they reproduce through architecture and spatial design. Experiences, reflections, and knowledge that emerged through the described education at Konstfack led further into the exploration of the concepts inclusive-excluding design, activism, social and political architecture, postcolonial perspectives, and decolonizing processes. The study's theoretical part presents various practitioners that have inspired and empowered this project. Further, a more in-depth analysis of the institution responsible for the writer's education for the last five years results in unfolding problems and issues to give the reader an understanding of the chosen strategies to follow, starting with "manipulating manipulation". The fifth chapter consists of the study's method part, where the researcher describes the methods and strategies used. The results are presented based on spatial interventions, used as a tool to activate dialogues about shared spaces, here called common spaces. The reactions caused by the interventions are also a ground for analysis. Keywords: white supremacy, subversive interventions, disruptive aesthetics, activism, civil disobedience, architecture

The impending NHI will cause a disruptive change in the health care industry in South Africa. For that reason the affected firms need to prepare themselves. Furthermore the current stakeholders in the private health care sector are feeling disenfranchised in terms of how the NHI will turn out.The aim of this study was to understand the response of existing firms whose existence is threatened due to impending disruptive change.The research method that was used was qualitative and exploratory in design. It involved one on one semi structured interviews with 13 respondents from a total of 7 firms who were selected to participate in the study, from the following business groups: pharmaceutical firms, private hospitals, and medical distributors.The findings revealed that the majority of firms would respond by strengthening their relations with the government who is the key stakeholder in the NHI. Secondly, they would build capacity in terms of resources and capabilities in line with the NHI. Lastly, they would innovate their value offering in the current market or new markets. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

An insufficient financial market means that poor individuals cannot access financial capital, making it difficult for them to generate a stable income. Formal banks see these individuals as unreliable customers because of their financial background and see a risk that these potential customers will not repay their loans, which would put the bank at risk. Banks usually use the borrower’s assets as collateral for their loans. Unfortunately, not many of these poor people have any assets. Microloans can solve these problems by opening up the opportunity for financial capital that enables poor people to make the investments needed to create or develop some form of production and thus increase employment. This research was carried out to analyze if the collected variables can determine the repayment ability of those who got a microloan from the Amhara Credit and Savings institution. Since the borrowers received their loans through two different processes, this study divided the data into two groups. Group 1 received their microloan based on a personality test and the individuals in group 2 received their microloan based on group lending. This division is done in order to be able to eliminate that the lending process itself may have affected the repayment ability. This study is based on random sample data from the Amhara Credit and Savings institution. Regression analyses were performed using the STATA-15 software. The results are not entirely consistent with previous studies because some variables did not get the expected outcome linked similar to previous studies. Some of the variables in this study appear to have an effect on the repayment ability, but not all. Thus, the conclusion is that the results are insufficient and further research needs to be made to reject or confirm the influence of the socio-economic factors and structure of the microloan on the repayment ability for Ethiopian borrowers. / En otillräcklig finansmarknad innebär att fattiga individer inte kan få tillgång till finansiellt kapital vilket gör det svårt för dem att generera en stabil inkomst. Formella banker ser dessa individer som opålitliga kunder på grund av deras ekonomiska bakgrund och ser en risk med att dessa potentiella kunder inte kommer att återbetala sina lån, vilket skulle sätta banken i risk. Banker använder vanligtvis låntagarens tillgångar som säkerhet för sina lån. Tyvärr så har inte många av dessa fattiga människor några tillgångar. Mikrolån kan lösa dessa problem genom att öppna upp möjligheten för finansiellt kapital som gör det möjligt för fattiga människor att göra de investeringar som behövs för att skapa eller utveckla någon form av produktion och därmed öka sysselsättningen. Denna forskning genomfördes för att analysera om våra insamlade variabler kan förklara återbetalningsförmågan hos de som fick ett mikrolån från Amhara Credit and Savings Institution. Eftersom låntagarna fick lån genom två olika processer delade vi upp dem i grupp ett, som fick sitt mikrolån genom ett personlighetstest och grupp två, som fick sitt mikrolån via en grupp med andra individer. Detta för att kunna eliminera att själva processen till hur de har fått lånet kan ha påverkat återbetalningsförmågan. Studien är baserad på slumpmässiga provdata från Amhara Credit and Savings Institution. Regressionsanalyser utfördes med användning av Stata 15-programvaran. Resultaten är inte helt i överensstämmelse med tidigare studier, i och med att vissa variabler inte har det förväntade utfallet kopplat till tidigare studier. Några av variablerna i denna studie visar sig ha en påverkan på återbetalningsförmågan, men inte alla. Således är vår slutsats att resultaten är otillräckliga och behöver ytterligare undersökning för att kunna avvisa eller bekräfta denna uppsats variablers påverkan på återbetalningsförmågan.