Improving Performance and Productivity in a Pharmaceutical Company through Total Quality Management Essay

The high technology pharmaceutical company needs organizational change to improve its quality of performance and increase productivity because the adoption of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) is costlier than training and replacing skilled workers (Sargent, 1997), and it requires â€Å"large resource base, a good reputation and wide experience and contacts† that often lack a strong technical base (Bessant & Rush 1995, p. 07). Total quality management (TQM) approach is recommended to make the company improve and standardize its process through collaborative learning (Adler, 1993), enhance employee expertise and knowledge (Kirkman, Lowe, & Young, 1998), and help the company increase its production volume and quality (Lawler, 1994). TQM â€Å"makes quality control an inherent part of the production job and checking is achieved either through automatic monitoring systems or by training the operator in quality monitoring† (Doyle, 2002, p. 174). It involves management practices that encourage employees to be more responsible in ensuring the quality of the products or services and their overall performance for the company’s competitive advantage (Dean & Bowen, 1994). Changes should be made to attain the objectives of TQM such as: (1) implementation of cross-training and skill-based program to promote cross-functional teams, help employees develop skills and enhance knowledge, and motivate them with rewards like cash and flexible work scheduling; (2) commitment to the values of quality and service in order to keep a long term customer partnership; (3) innovation of product design in order to attract more customers and meet their demands (4) ensuring effective data and records management application to secure and make information accessible and reliable; (5) improvement of the quality of business management with suppliers and dealers; and (6) enhancing top management’s performance efficiency, commitment, and flexibility in decision-making and human resources management.

Cultural Diffusion, Space-Time Compression and the Limitations on Spatial Interaction Essay

â€Å"Globalization in a Bottle† and â€Å"The Tipping Point– Three Rules of Epidemics† Chapter 1 Basic Concepts Essay Question: How do the two articles relate to Chapter One: Basic Concepts through cultural diffusion, the limitation of spatial interaction, and space-time compression? Whilst reading â€Å"Globalization in a Bottle† and â€Å"The Tipping Point– Three Rules of Epidemics† three key concepts of â€Å"Chapter One: Basic Concepts† become inherently apparent: cultural diffusion, the limitation of spatial interaction, and space-time compression. The two articles clearly depict these three theories, through their choice use of real world examples. In each of these articles, cultural diffusion is a steady theme throughout. World War II marked the diffusion of Coca-Cola on a global scale, as stated in â€Å"Globalization in a Bottle.† The physical movement of soldiers from the US to other parts of the globe facilitated the spread and globalization of the drink and furthermore the brand name. When soldiers were shipped off to foreign lands so was Coca-Cola, and so it became a universal term. This action of spreading an idea through movement earns this incident a spot under the category of relocation diffusion. In â€Å"The Tipping Point– Three Rules of Epidemics† hush-puppies become popular once more through contagious diffusion, a subcategory of expansion diffusion, meaning an idea spread through rapid and widespread contact. The origin of this so-called â€Å"epidemic† is believed to have originated among the urban â€Å"hipsters† of downtown Manhattan. These young trendsetters would go out to clubs or just simply be seen wearing these shoes and suddenly everyone wanted a pair. Diffusion is a large concept covered throughout these articles. Another underlying idea covered in the extent of the two articles is the limitation of spatial interaction—the interaction of people whether through physical contact or by other means of communication. In â€Å"Globalization in a Bottle† this is covered by the resistance of the  numerous other countries to building more Coca-Cola processing plants in their territory. Many nations looked at the company as a way to spread Americas demoralizing traditions, therefore they refused to allow Coca-Cola to initially be diffused into their cultures. In â€Å"The Tipping Point– Three Rules of Epidemics† the author writes about the sexu al promiscuity of homosexual men and their so called aid in the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In turn, this â€Å"lewdness† has led members of society with different sexual orientations to look at the gay community as a negative aspect of modern humanity, impeding spatial interaction between the two. One final concept embedded in the two articles is space-time compression, which is the reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation systems. Due to the advancements in transportation, the soldiers of World War II were able to transport, and therefore facilitate the diffusion of, Coca-Cola. The same is seen with the newfound demand of hush puppies through word-of-mouth with the upgrades in communication. Overall, both articles clearly portray a society in which space-time compression is fully functioning. In conclusion, â€Å"Globalization in a Bottle† and â€Å"The Tipping Point– Three Rules of Epidemics† are both distinctly ingrained with the theories of cultural diffu sion, limitations of spatial interaction, and space-time compression. The articles utilise great examples of the three ideas and truly give them meaning.

Fundraising Presentation

Fundraising Presentation, Gyumri April 15 –April 16, 2013 I. The Basics of Fundraising a. What is fundraising? i. Raising money for a cause or project ii. Includes building a prospect pool, asking for money or in-kind donations, meeting donor expectations, clearly defining needs and resources, thanking the donors (stewardship), events, public relations, and monitoring and evaluation iii. Most important aspect: relationships, which can take time to develop b. Why is funding diversity important? iv. Chair example: If a chair only has one leg, it is unstable and will fall over.The more legs a chair has, the more stable it becomes. Same for an organization, if an organization has a sole funder, their success is determinant upon the stability of that relationship and continued funding. The more funders an organization has, the more stable they are. If one funder pulls their support, the organization does not collapse. c. Think about your organization for which you are fundraising ( hand out index cards for everyone to write their answers) v. What is their mission? vi. What is their vision? vii. Why do they exist? viii. What would happen if this organization didn’t exist? x. Why are you here? x. Can everyone from your organization, your community, your beneficiaries, your donors, etc clearly define the mission of the organization and is it basically the same? xi. Is the financial support you have received in the past and are looking to secure in the future in line with your mission? xii. Look at yourselves as a public benefit organization d. Presentation of the Organization xiii. Are you all working towards the same mission? xiv. â€Å"Elevator Pitch† 1. Clear and concise description of your organization, its work, and its value 2.Thirty seconds to two minutes (one of the most important interactions with your donor) 3. All staff, volunteers, and those associated with your organization should have a pitch 4. Give Peace Corps example 5. Homework for second day xv. Needs of the NGO 6. Needs include money, resources, materials, trainings, etc. 7. Can you tell me today what your specific needs are and how much those needs would cost? (Financial/ Resources Needs Assessment) xvi. Public Relations 8. Website, Newsletters, Email Updates, Facebook page 9.All of your social media and newsletters should be consistent with each other, updated at the same time with comparable information 10. We’ll go into more details about Public relations shortly e. Donor Expectations xvii. If you were to give money to an organization, what would you want in return? 11. Elevator Pitch 12. Clearly defined mission and vision 13. Reasons why they should invest in your NGO/project 14. Projects, ideas, and plans for which you need financial support 15. Overview of successful projects you have done in the past 16.Reports 17. Good reputation in the community and with beneficiaries 18. Communication, Honesty, Transparency 19. Commitment and cohesiveness of the staff 20. What exactly you are going to do with their money f. Donor Relations and Stewardship xviii. Updates to donor xix. How are you thanking them? xx. How are you recognizing their donation? xxi. Will they give again? xxii. Will go into more details about this shortly II. Identifying and Working with Donors g. Donor Prospect Pool xxiii. Who might want to give to this organization? brainstorm a list) 21. Parishioners of the church 22. World Vision, Caritas, other NGO’s in the community with resources to give 23. Family and friends 24. Local community members (why is what you’re doing important to them? , Who will feel moved by the work you are doing? ) 25. Diaspora 26. Corporations – VivaCell, Orange Foundation, Coca Cola 27. Realities of fundraising in Armenia a. Grants- majority are international b. Corporate Giving/ Corporate Social Responsibility- new concept here in Armenia c.Government funding- In 2011, the state provided NGO’s with $8 mil lion, mostly to sports federations and state-funded or state-operated organizations on a noncompetitive basis d. Individual donations e. Community Support f. Diaspora g. Funding Diversity h. Projects being donor driven not mission driven i. Overhead costs xxiv. Who do you know? xxv. Relationships are the key to building your prospect pool xxvi. Invite potential prospects to visit your organization, build the relationship before you ask them for something h. What makes a person or organization donate? xvii. If you meet with an organization, how do you expect them to present themselves to you? 28. Clear, concise, honest overview 29. Well thought out, able to easily identify the mission, vision, and beneficiaries to be served 30. Overview of successful projects, current projects, and future plans 31. Overview of specific needs of the NGO xxviii. Do you believe in the mission and vision? 32. A donor has to believe in the mission or vision, or you have to help them believe, give them rea sons to care. xxix. How do they have to use your money and what do you want in return from them? 33.Communication, honesty, transparent used exactly as they say it will be used for effective projects xxx. What will make you give again? 34. communication, success, beneficiary satisfaction, reporting, relationship with the organization, recognition of the organization, name in the community/associated with the project xxxi. What kind of relationship do you expect from the NGO? 35. strong leadership, honesty, communication, want to feel proud of the work they are doing and the reputation they have in the community, understanding of strategic goals, I want to see the organization has taken the time to define themselves III.Fundraising Plan i. Should be written on an annual basis j. Who is going to write the plan? xxxii. Should have a lead who collaborates with your Director, key stakeholders, and the board k. Start with your fundraising goal (how much money do you need? ) xxxiii. This f undraising goal amount should be based on the needs of the organization xxxiv. How much money needs to be raised/ resources secured in order to carry out the activities which your organization wants to carry out over the next year? l. The mission/ message (Why do you need the money? xxxv. What do you plan to do with the money you raise? xxxvi. Line by line- what are you using your budget for? m. The Tactics (How are you going to raise this money? ) xxxvii. Figure out how you are going to raise different amounts of money over the course of the next year and where that money is going to go. xxxviii. Identify different tactics 36. Individual Giving 37. Major Donor Groups- talking with larger corporations 38. Events 39. Online giving 40. Participatory Fundraising 41. Grants 42. Corporate Giving Programs n. The Timeline xxix. Create the timeline to include dates for all events and fundraising goals throughout the year IV. Donor Relations and Stewardship (managing the gift, thanking and k eeping the donor engaged) o. The comprehensive effort of any nonprofit that seeks philanthropic support to ensure that donors experience high-quality interactions with the organization that foster long-term engagement and investment. This effort is commonly thought to have four elements. xl. Gift acceptance and management 43. Your organizations policies and procedures for gifts. 44.Discussion about how the gift is going to be used, making sure the donors requests and the organizations needs are in line. 45. Procedures to track how the gift is being used. 46. Structures for Giving Opportunities (Example: donor recognition pieces/plaques, named spaces, or giving societies) xli. Acknowledgement 47. Thanking the donor j. Personalized letters, E-mails, phone calls, visits- should happen within the first week in which the gift is received xlii. Donor Recognition 48. How do your donors wanted to be recognized for their giving? 49.Mention in the newsletter, announcement at events, naming a space, donor plaques, press release, 50. This is the public forum for thanking a donor for their gift but need to ask for donor permission to do so. 51. For Participatory Fundraising- announcing and rewarding the top fundraisers publicly 52. Honor Rolls- announcement of donors to the organization printed publicly and thanking the donors through this forum. 53. Donor Walls/Donor Plaques- having a space in the center where donor names are listed for the public and your beneficiaries to see 54.Donor Recognition Events, awards, mementos, and volunteer opportunities-these not only are fun for the donors, but also help to strengthen your relationship with your donors and also show them that they are important to you. Can be big events with all of your donors or intimate lunches with the Director and/or some of your beneficiaries. xliii. Reporting (also referred to as stewardship) 55. Telling the donor the impact they are making on the mission of your organization or the specific projects they have given to. Why their giving has made a difference. 56.Two different ways of reporting: qualitative (storytelling confirming the usage of funds) and quantitative (shows the carrying out of spending funds properly) V. Public Relations (or PR) p. Everything your organization does to get public/press coverage of what your work q. Why is it important? xliv. Gets the word out and communicates your message xlv. Builds your audience xlvi. Builds your credibility and reputation within your community, with your beneficiaries, and your donors, thus helping to foster stronger relationships xlvii.Shows the results and successes of your work xlviii. Good time to use your elevator pitch r. Examples of PR xlix. Printed materials 57. Newsletters 58. Press Releases (work with your local media) 59. Brochures 60. Announcements about projects including donor/supporters names 61. Can be a two way street with your supporters (donors and volunteers) l. Television 62. Use for advertising about prog rams/projects or upcoming events 63. Can also be used for purposes of interviewing about your organization li. Online 64. Website 65. Facebook 66.Email blasts 67. Online newsletters/news stories lii. Special Events 68. Lectures or talks with experts, beneficiaries or having one of your donors to come in and speak 69. Volunteer Day s. Why is PR important for fundraising? liii. Can increase the money and resources coming in liv. New prospects find you 70. People learn about your work 71. If really good coverage- prospects come to you to learn more, volunteer, and possibly even invest in your work lv. Raising General Awareness 72. Remember to refer to yourself as a public benefit organization 73.Raising awareness in your immediate community about the work which is being done around them and the need to help accomplish those goals 74. Helps people remember your name and your mission lvi. â€Å"Social Proof† 75. Again building on your credibility- coverage shows that what you are doing is important and a leader in your community 76. Can also bring your public relations materials during donor meetings to further engage donors. VI. Let’s create a campaign! t. Make a plan lvii. What are we raising money for? lviii. Why are we raising money for this? lix. How much money do we need? lx.When do we need the money? 77. How are we going to raise the money? lxi. Who is going to be on the committee? lxii. What kind of advertising are we going to do for the campaign? lxiii. What kind of materials/resources do we need for the campaign? lxiv. How are we going to engage and thank our donors? u. What are we raising money for? lxv. Pick one project/event you would like to do with your organization 78. Birthday parties for kids with disabilities 79. Gifts/events for the chronically ill v. How much money do we need? lxvi. Create an overall budget which not only includes money but also resources lxvii.Can also create a useful tool to provide for your donors 80. Show them what their money will do: If you donate XX, we can include 5 more adults in our trainings for example. w. When do we need the money? 81. Create a timeline of not only the deadline, but all things which need to be done between now and the deadline as well as who is going to do those things x. How are we going to raise the money? lxviii. Participatory Fundraising (Get the crowd involved in your campaign, have to be very careful with planning to make sure the investment you make in these events is worth the return) 82.Athons- Walk-a-thons, Dance-a-thons, Read-a-thons k. a type of community or school fundraiser in which participants raise money by collecting donations or pledges for walking a predetermined distance or course, dancing for a predetermined amount of time, or read a certain amount of books within a predetermined time frame. 83. Spare Change boxes in the church 84. Raffles l. Sell raffle tickets for a particular item or a 50/50 raffle 85. Auctions m. People bid on certain i tems which have been donated for the cause. 86.Game competitions or carnival (Lemon ball) Each guest pays 1,000 dram for a lemon and closest lemon the bottle wins it. 87. Futbol tournament n. Have each team pay a certain amount to be a part of the tournament which will be donated to the organization. lxix. Individual Donors 88. Create a list of people/companies/organizations which may be interested in giving to this campaign lxx. Online Giving 89. Firstgiving. com y. Who is going to be involved in the committee? lxxi. Who needs to be included in all of the decisions made? Who is going to be in charge of which part of the campaign? . What kind of advertising are we going to do for the campaign? lxxii. Objective and Goals of the campaign lxxiii. Choose a campaign title 90. Race for the Cure (Run Breast Cancer out of Town) 91. Relay for Life (American Cancer Society) lxxiv. Create an â€Å"About the campaign† lxxv. How are we engaging the press? lxxvi. How are we updating our ow n online/print presence? {. What materials/ resources are we going to need? lxxvii. For example: how many people/volunteers are needed and for what amount of time lxxviii. Do you need prizes/awards xxix. Do you need space to put on the event lxxx. Need to think about things that may happen (for example, if it rains during the futbol tournament, what other arrangements need to be made? ) |. How are we going to engage and thank our donors? lxxxi. If participatory fundraising: need prizes/ awards for top fundraisers, guidelines, and thank yous lxxxii. Thank you letters, personalized, emails, phone calls, meetings lxxxiii. Online giving- should have thank you letters sent and update after the project is successful Fundraising P

Informed consent. The possible dangers of too much information Research Paper

Informed consent. The possible dangers of too much information conveyed - Research Paper Example rug. Moreover, there is an issue with how much comprehension a participant may have of the risks that are dictated in the informed consent protocol. Not surprisingly, the forms must be readable in order for a patient to truly have considered himself â€Å"informed,† and the most important part of readability is to put the risks into layman’s terms. Studies have suggested that esoteric forms which are more difficult to read than complicated texts results in considerably less informed consent than forms which are not so. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the level of language used in the consent forms and keep the audience in mind. If the person drafting these forms keeps in mind this golden rule, then other studies suggest that informed consent is extremely effective. The possible dangers of too much information conveyed Loftus & Fries (2008) theorize that informed consent may do more harm than good, at least when the risks that are presented to the patient consist of all potential risks that might occur, no matter how remote. They argue that the patient might imagine that he or she is experiencing the symptom because of the power of the mind, in that the mind can play tricks on people, and, if the patient knows that a certain risk is possible, then the patient may conjure this risk even though it is only remotely possible that the patient is actually experiencing the symptom. As proof of this, they point to the power of the placebo (Loftus & Fries, 2008, p. 217). To them, a patient is better off just knowing the general level of risk, ie, the symptoms that are likely to occur, and only provide patients the remote risks if the patient specifically asks for it. Therefore, the informed consent carries risks itself, and they â€Å"only ask that those whose task it is to formulate informed consent rituals pay some attention to the harm that may be caused by the ritual itself† (Loftus & Fries, 2008, p. 217). Loftus & Fries then cited a study that they performed that was unpublished. It involved patients at the Stanford University Medical School who were diagnosed with scleroderma and were treated with a drug cocktail consisting of propranolol and alpha-methyldopa. The patients were informed about the side effects of the drug cocktail, which included dizziness, headaches, upset stomach and tearfulness. Some patients received a standard informed consent form and some received a standard informed consent form plus a special message which explained the placebo effect, in that the patients who received the special message were informed of the phenomenon of experiencing symptoms simply because the symptoms were mentioned. Loftus & Fries found that all patients experienced â€Å"side effects,† even if the patient was given a placebo. They also found that those patients who received the special message experienced fewer side effects than those who did not (Loftus & Fries, 2008, p. 218). Therefore, their point ab out a patient knowing â€Å"too much† was validated. While Loftus & Fries concentrated on the placebo effect as a drawback for informed consent, at least informed consent that lists every possible side-effect, no matter how remote, Audrey et al. (2008) concentrated on the effect informed consent had on patients who want to undergo palliative chemotherapy. The issue that Audrey et al. focuses upon is

Term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 4

Term paper - Essay Example Currently, technology has developed to invent mobile phones which can access any information with convenience. As a result of easy access to information, there has been significant change in how people view information. The use of internet has not only made life more convenient but also changed the entire world. The network has become a major platform of mainstream media unlike previously when the media was just newspapers, televisions, and radio. The network has facilitated saving of resources besides availing more information in less time. Today, more and more people are able connect to people from across the world through social networks. Numerous social platforms have emerged with Facebook being the most famous. Facebook has evolved since its creation in 2004 by Zuckerburg, to become party of people’s daily lives. People access the application through laptops, computers, iPad, and smartphones. Through this application an individual can publish their real names, images, emails, relationship status, as well as birthdays. Various people have understand privacy in varying perspectives, particularly the youth. Most young people have an immature and incomplete understanding of the world. Currently, the main challenge that needs to be addressed is whether the online article about Facebook has an impact on college students’ understanding on personal confidentiality problem. Facebook offers a great platform that allows individuals to interact with more people online as well as know themselves better. However, sometimes too much personal details are exposed to the public. This excessive exposure results to too many negative consequences. Although the laws stipulates the right to freedom of expression, instances of cyber bullying, phishing, as well as, malicious slanders have increased at an alarming rate in people’s daily lives. These consequences will normally emerge since the application user’s privacy is not adequately

The Apostle Pauls Contributions to Christianity Essay

The Apostle Pauls Contributions to Christianity - Essay Example There is no figure, other than Jesus Christ, that is more popular in the history of Christianity than the Apostle Paul. This could be a controversial point among Christian believers but the New Testament part of the Bible is the living witness to this claim. Others claimed that based on the four Gospels St. Peter was the first person who was tasked to lead the church established by Jesus Christ and was the key person in the establishment of Christianity and Paul was not even among the 12 disciples. Whoever among them was the first head of the church is not the concern here. Our focus is on the contribution of St. Paul being an apostle of Christ to the organization he has left his followers. Review of the literatures available has led us to a point that St. Paul has the greatest contributions in the growth of the Christian faith from Jewish to the non-Jewish populace of the world. This essay is aimed to present the underlying support facts on this claim based from the books of the New Testament, which are the major source of information concerning the major inputs of St. Paul to the church. Other facts based on the succeeding history could be a good point to consider in evaluating the impact of these contributions. The identified contributions To strengthen the assertion mentioned above it is proper to mention the remarkable achievement of the Apostle Paul in the spread of the Christian religion throughout the world. Among which are: 1) more than 50% of the contents of the books comprising the New Testament can be connected to him, his works in spreading the Good News and the letters he wrote to the early believers and the doctrines these documents contained; and 2) he has traveled more places in the world to spread the Gospels which were instrumental in the conversions of a lot of non-Jewish people to the Christian faith. Because of this he was the key figure in establishing a strong foundation of Christianity and the institution of the Catholic Church in Rome and later throughout the world. The New Testament documents: Messages and doctrines based on early works The first remarkable point we considered as a great contribution of Saint Paul to the Christian society is the collection of books whose contents bear the messages and records of works of his ministry. Among the 27 books of the New Testament, which include the 4 Gospels, Acts, 21 epistles, and the Revelation, majority or about 15 (The Acts and 14 epistles) are accounted to St. Paul (Religious Facts, 2007). There are questions, however, on the authorship of the epistles as it is obvious that St. Paul did not write them personally but the contents were the issue considered here. Scholars who argued that some of these epistles were not written by Paul agreed that they are written by others who have heard Paul's teachings. The Acts only covered in the early chapters the works of the other disciples such as Peter, John, James, and others, and the rest covered the journeys of St. Paul from Jerusalem to other parts of Rome as he proclaimed the message of the Christianity. The Pauline epistles clearly conveyed the message from Apostle Paul, either alone or with other Christian believer with him, for the early believers or community of believers. This does not mean that the other disciples did not do their job. It simply means that Paul's ministry was able to use better means in conveying the message and took a medium that would be instrumental in preserving the teachings through written documents for use by future generations. Most of the teaching contained in the epistles of Paul and the Acts were used as basis of the practices and guiding principles of the early communities especially the non-Jews in the early part of Christian history and were adopted even by the later Christian churches. They were used as reference to clarify misunderstanding between Jew and gentile believers of Christianity. Among the famous teachings of Paul was justification by faith and the exclusion of the

Aerated Concrete Industries, Co Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Aerated Concrete Industries, Co - Case Study Example The chosen business organization is Aerated Concrete Industries, Co. which is engaged in the core business of production and manufacturing of light weight blocs and reinforced slabs.On the other hand, ACICO's subsidiaries are into contracting/construction, real estate development and/or investment and engineering consultant office. Because of the diversity of its business units, ACICO employs a corporate strategy centered on cost leadership.ACICO employs the expertise of its multiple sub-units in order to efficiently manage costs and enhance its expertise. It should be noted that there is a strong coordination among ACICO's business units which enable it to build skeleton houses in a relatively short period of three days. After purchasing land, the investment in real estate moves to develop the property. The engineering office processes the necessary permits and creates the design. Afterwards, the contracting unit takes over to begin and finish the construction. It can be seen that a ll the processes in real estate development and construction are all undertaken in-house. In fact, ACICO's competitive advantage is its capacity to undertake every process in the value chain efficiently enabling it to develop high quality housing at lower costs than competitors.Being engaged in a highly capital intensive business operation, ACICO profits through economies of scale. Its multiple sub-units enable it to spread its expenditures in advertisement and administration in order to minimize unit production cost. The company has also developed expertise in different each value chain process allowing it to create high quality products and provide excellent services. The three main strategies discussed above consistently diversify risks and keep consistent cash flow by generating income from different sources as well as financial engineering. 2. Translate the Strategies Identified into Strategic Tasks The broad strategies mentioned above are efficiently carried out by ACICO through its operations. Intensive growth is expected to be achieved by exploring suitable opportunities with aim to expand by enlarging the scale of operations of its existing business operations. Through diligent implementation of this intensive growth strategy, ACICO becomes successful in entering the Dubai, Saudi Arabian, Qatar markets with its Autoclaved Aerated Concrete plants and is currently working to penetrate the market and improve its market share by forging alliance with renowned local partners possessing who are proven market influences and share good local standing. This enables it to attain its objective of increasing shareholder wealth by expanding in core knowledgeable business. Integrative growth is undertaken through the implementation of backward, forward, and horizontal integration within the construction and real estate industry. Management intends exploiting the opportunities offered throughout this industry's value chain, which ultimately slows greater operating flexibility, reduces reliance on third party providers, deliver quality client service and offer competitive products to customers. This serves ACICO's objective of maximizing shareholder wealth by operating in all spheres of the construction and real estate value chain. The implementation of diversification growth strategy is intended to multiply growth prospects by focusing on profitable business ventures outside its core businesses. ACICO does this through a detailed mapping of the market prior to any decision to venture and is considered

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Compare and contrast - Essay Example In the first stanza, the son holds his mother as she vomits in a bowl and then attended to cleaning and changing her clothes with the help of his lover who is also the speaker. Since the strings were tied behind the back the speaker tried to remove the blanket from underneath the old woman and feared that her skin could tear off. This shows that the mother had become a mere cripple and her condition was too fragile. When old age is referred to second childhood, it is justified and sometimes ironical too. The poet talks about the paper diaper, the fragility and all these could be attributed to the status of a baby – â€Å"Everything’s so fragile here/a breath could break you.† (Crozier, line 14-15) The poet and her lover are at a loss and cannot really decide what to do. The mother who has once offered her milk to her son is now feeling shy when her son was undressing her. Despite the weakness she turns her face away and covers her breasts and the lover cracks a joke here, saying that he has undressed many other women before and so she need not feel shy. The tubes and needles used here reflect the medical treatment she was undergoing. The last two stanzas describe the poet’s feelings about his lover when she lies in bed besides him and what happens at the end of the day. The vision of tending his mother is so vivid in her memory that she almost smells him of his mother although he is washed. It seems as if she has licked him to prove to all the girls who lie with him that he is still his mother’s son. The poet ironically talks of the old woman’s tongue’ and might be a little sarcastic in her remark, may be because her time for fun has been shared by the old woman and she puns on the actions of licking. We find the mammals licking their off springs in stead of bathing them and a woman may lick the man for the sake of lust. To some

I need 1 page outlines for assignment topic (Effects of using

I need 1 page outlines for topic (Effects of using technology on the academic achievement and adaptive behaviour of students with intellectual disabilities in primary schools) - Assignment Example The qualitative data will be obtained and subjected to the statistical analysis in order to give more detailed inference. The qualitative data will include both primary and secondary data According to Hardman, Drew and Egan (2011, p. 23), assistive technology offers an opportunity for the disabled to demonstrate their mastery of skills and achievement of knowledge without unfair and limited restriction because of their disabilities just like their normal peers. Lane & Bundy (2012, p. 45) asserts that assistive technology also encourages the access of those with disability to the assessment programs and to the more challenging programs and courses. Paris (2008, p. 36) conjectures that assistive technology should not alter the learning of the intellectually impaired students. Donders and Hunter (2010, p. 67) asserts that the applicants of this assistive technology should not permit or intend to offer an unfair advantage to those with disabilities over those taking the tests and have standardized conditions. Turkington and Harris (2006, p. 43) claim that assistive technology should not invalidate results or alter the construct of the learning of the disabled students. The assistive technology should also not substitute the abilities or knowledge that the students have not received. According to Bley, Thornton and Bley (2007, p. 72), assistive technology is significant for students and are for flexibility and changes in method of response, timing, scheduling, method of response, and settings in the administration of the disabled student literacy assessments (Gargiulo and Metcalf 2013, p. 39). This assistive technology should be suitable and meet individual needs of the vulnerable students, used in a fair way, and offered in a given assessment situation. According to Knoff (2006, p. 32), large print or Braille version of test is appropriate for those with severe visual impairment or the blind. The

Psychological theory of development phase Essay Example for Free

Psychological theory of development phase Essay Juniad is ten, he is currently experiencing constant developmental phase through his life experience, the nature of his current developed behavior problems are: aggressiveness, defiantness, disobedient and incompetence in class activities. His challenges are reading disorder, school insufficient resources, failure, bullying and dysfunctional parenting. Using the Erik Erikson psychological theory of developmental phase I will be looking at Junaid’s current developmental stage, and I will also be analyzing the factors playing a role in junaid’s developmental stage and also how efficient he will be able to handle the current crisis he is experiencing. Furthermore I will be suggesting options available to facilitate a successful resolution of Junaid’s current developmental stage bolstering his chances of exiting this stage with confidence and competence. With the Erik Erikson psychological theory of development phase Juniad is currently in Industry vs Inferiority. Junaid is ten this stage begins at the age of 6 to puberty, the challenge is mastering of certain basic skills required for success in adult life while avoiding feelings of inferiority. In this stage children develops ability to work with others, success becomes very important to the child the Synthesis when this psychological crisis is resolved successfully. Children develop a sense of competency at useful skills and tasks. More and new demands are imposed upon children and children in turn are generally ready to meet these demands. The danger at this stage, is, inferiority this is reflected in sad pessimism of children who have little have little confidence in their ability to do things well. This sense of inadequacy may develop when parental attitudes are negative towards the child’s developing competency, when family life has not prepared children for school life or when experiences with teachers and peers are so negative that they destroy children’s feeling of competence and mastery (Louw Louw, 2007). Junaid is not successfully resolving the crisis faced by him, because factors like reading disorder, school insufficient resources, failure, bullyi ng and dysfunctional parenting are challenges that are interfering with his current stage in Erikson’s psychological theory of development. All this factors leads to his developed behaviour problems of aggressiveness, defiantness, disobedient and incompetence in class activities; this is an interpretation that he couldn’t acquire the basic  skills in life for the next developmental stage, his incompetence around this areas lead to behavioral problems, because this is the best way he knows how through his life experiences and the factors around him. Problems like aggressiveness looking into Instrumental aggression; it refers to aggression as a means to an end (Louw Louw, 2007). Junaid could be aggressive just to pass a message to the parent or the social environment, that is emotional needs are not meet. According to Louw and Louw (2007) Erikson’s basic trust vs. mistrust; from Basic trust infants develops the necessary self-confidence, mistrusting infants are usually subjected to erratic or harsh care and cannot depend on the goodness and compassion of others. They therefore tend to protect themselves by withdrawing from others around them and it is carried into later relationship. Juaid lacks self-confidence in himself and his abilities, his non-participation in class activities shows he is unable to meet up with the teacher’s expectation. Looking into self-confidence in terms of Erik’s basic trust vs mistrust, it is necessary to develop self-confidence this only shows that Junaid’s was subjected to harsh care and he is trying to protect himself from his parents’ behaviour towards him and the social environment. He feels there is no goodness or compassion and these basic mistrust issues can also be added with the crisis he faces in his current live as he lacks self- confidence in everything he does. Children developmental stages is a process that still relies on pass encounters or experience to predict or understand present behaviour. Children development is a continues process, the behavior of every individual’s is unique, children generally have these unique way in which they cognitively and emotionally interpret and proces s their experiences this plays a significant influence on their development. Looking into developmental areas; aggressiveness, defiantness, disobedient and incompetent with class activities are all related to â€Å"social development â€Å" It is the development of an individual’s interaction and relationships with other people. Furthermore it also refers to the influence of society and significant other persons on the individuals, one importance aspect of social development is â€Å"moral development† (Louw Louw, 2007). Being aggressive, defiant, disobedient and incompetent with class activities shows there is also a problem in the moral development. Going back into social development, society and significant other person’s plays an important role  in the individual’s life. Some of Juniad’s challenges like Bullying and dysfunctional parenting style, Reading disorder and failure, we could clearly see how social factors have an effect on his current developed behavior problems. Bullying it is destructive form of peer interaction in which children become frequent targets of verbal and physical attacks or other forms of abuse (Louw Louw, 2007). Bullying has influence on the child’s psychical, emotional, social and educational wellbeing. Reading disorder which leads to failure can be associated as a result of bullying since Juan’s first grade. Parent and educators have an important role to play in eradicating bullying. Dysfunctional parenting style and aggression, social factors of aggressive behavior parents play a vital role in their children’s aggressive behavior, the type of nurturance a child receives and the disciplinary strategies that parents follow. Children whose parents are cold, negative, hostile and rejecting towards them tend to be more aggressive. Parents negative behavior may cause frustration in the children because their emotional needs are not being meet; they react with aggressive behaviour (Louw Louw, 2007). Juniad’s father wants him to be involved in sport. As a result of his lack of competency in sports due to physical nature his father criticized him. Recalling back to social factors of aggressive behaviour and parents, we could actually see one or more reasons why junaid is aggressive how the negative behaviour of his dad causes frustration in his life. Parents need to know children developmental phrase and the developmental stages each developmental characterizes and crisis, the opposing poles according to which individuals must orientate. The positive and negative poles of a crisis in children development and also find the necessary solution to remedy the current crisis, because the earlier stage of psychological development provide the foundation for the later stage (Louw Louw, 2007). Parents should take the development of their children seriously by acquiring the right information from the right source like local medical practitioner, psychologist. Etc. If they can’t make time they can watch related narrative videos online; on how to raise children into successful adult. Mankind has developed through ages and currentl y in the era of information technology (Elliott Jacebson 1991). Internet can be as a source for helpful information which is uploaded out there, parent can make internet research and also view helpful videos  like; About Child Development, Child Development Stages, Infant Developmental Milestones (Youtube 2014). Parent should understand what developmental miles stone stands for and what they should expect from their children at certain ages, just an insight to understand that children are fragile and they shouldn’t be forced in development. Parent should know what to expect from their children when they know more about developmental miles stones. They should be informed on things to do so they don’t hurt their child emotionally and psychically. According to UniCef South Africa (2008) parents/family have roles to play in the life of their kids, they are supporting guards giving to assist parent to know their roles and how to assist their children. Aggressive behaviour sometimes is as a result of low self-esteem treatment to improve low self-esteem emphasis on encouraging the patient to examine their beliefs and the evidence to support them and to acknowledge their positive qualities and also method to enhance self-esteem which is focused on eliciting statement about positive qualities that the patient may have and then investigating evidence to support these positive statements. (Pauline Nicholas 2003). People with low self-esteem need positive activities to strengthen the already positive form of action helping them to get through their behavioral problems. They need to realize well power. Phonologically driven instructional Treatment can be of help with patient suffering from dyslexia, a phonological driven instructional treatment has to do with motivation of the patients with general phenomenon that they engage in or interact with that makes them happy like stories, cartoons, depending on the age of the patients and what generally appease or interest them. Understanding dyslexia involves a lot of combinations like, the current patient’s situation with the characters of the stories or the cartoons or the hero, making them understand they can be more. This encourages or convinces dyslexia patient that despite a slow start in learning to read, they could finish the race as skilled readers. The using of a systems approach in which instruction will be aimed at all levels of lan guage (subword, word, and text). Create instructional session, where by each session begins with a sound games to remediate the deficits in phonologic processing. Present polysyllabic words from texts present them orally, allow Junaid to count the number of syllables in the spoken word and use colored counters to represent each phoneme in the syllables. Only after  he analyzed the phonologic structure of each word will he see the same words in written form. Teach him how to decode the words by using syllabic patterns of written english and correspondences between one and two-letter spelling units and phonemes. Be Patient give him more time in analyzing and utilizing the complexity of syllabic patterns and spelling-phoneme of English. Present reading materials for reading then, enlighten Junaid more about the brain and functions of the brain. Repeat treatment from time to time. Phonologically driven treatment suggests that the brain is not only an independent variable that can cause a language disorder, such as dyslexia, but is also a dependent variable that can be modified by instructional intervention from the environment (Richards Corinaa Serafinia Steurya, Echelarda Dagera Berningera 2000). In conclusion: A child development is a gradual process, social factors plays an important role in children’s development. It is important to note that developmental stages in children are important, unsuccessful developmental stage can be a problem in the next stage of development creating behavioral problems. Parents should understand children behaviour is unique, in a sense that pass experience creates present situation in behaviour. Parents should lookup data in this technology era that will assist them in raising their children. Aggressive behaviour or other unable acceptable social behaviour is mostly driving by unmeet emotional needs. Dyslexia patient sometimes end up using â€Å"drugs† one of the most common results of the limitation is the response of aggression (Hall Tarrier 2003). It is important remedy behavioral problems in time. Reference List.Elliott, R. K., Jacebson, P. D. (1991). ACCOUNTING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY. Journal of Accountancy, 55. Chicago Hall, P. L., Tarrier, N. (2003). The cognitive-behavioural treatment of low self-esteem in psychotic patients: a pilot study. Behaviour research and therapy, 41(3), 317-332. Chicago Louw, D., Louw, A. (2007). Child and adolescent development. South Africa. Richards, T. L., Corina, D., Serafini, S., Steury, K., Echelard, D. R., Dager, S. R., Berninger, V. W. (2000). Effects of a phonologically driven treatment for dyslexia on lactate levels measured by proton MR spectroscopic imaging. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 21(5), 916-922. Unicef South Africa. (2008). Nation Building From The Start Early Childhood Development. Unicef, August 26. [On-line].Available: http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/SAF_resources_kbsreport.pdfYoutube. (2014). Child Development Stages. Child development, August 26. [On-line]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7f5TggIVLgYoutube. (2014). Infant Developmental Milestones [UndergroundMed]. UndergroudMed, August 26. [On-line]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0fnBTUuRIAYoutube. (2014). About Child Development. Child development, August 26. [On-line]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0fnBTUuRIA

The Debate About The Fall Of Rome History Essay

The Debate About The Fall Of Rome History Essay The debate about the fall of Rome and the way it happened is a centuries-old one and its vitality has been undiminished over the years. The traditional theory has the Roman Empire being violently overturned by barbarian Germanic tribes who started invading en masse during the last years of the fourth century. That wasnt the first time that the Empire had to deal with pressure on its borders, but this time it eventually collapsed because it had already declined as a civilization due to internal problems. The first scholar to support this line of thought was Gibbon in the late eighteenth century. His great, multi-volume, work goes by the title The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, which speaks for itself as for its writers thoughts (?). He argued that the most important cause which brought about the end of the Roman Empire was the expansion and gradual predominance of Christianity. First, the new religion and the structures that came with it (such as the church and the monasteries) interfered with the distribution of wealth inside the Empire, by accumulating it in institutions that were inaccessible by the state.  [1]  Second, its pacifist ideology reduced the armys will to fight and its theology corrupted the classical ideals through the spread of superstition.  [2]   Another scholar arguing along the same lines was Rostovtzeff. He states the Late Empire was in retrogradation?, a sad and decadent remnant of its former self, partly because of the increase in absolutism during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine and the emperors who succeeded them. Together with Gibbon, his arguments form the core of the traditional theory, which puts stress especially on the issue of decline as the main reason which made the disintegration of the empire, as a political entity, eventually inevitable.  [3]  Due to the work of these two scholars, the Fall of Rome has ended up being seen as something like the platonic idea of decline.  [4]   Along with the traditional theory, we should consider the work of a more recent scholar. Following the same methodological path as Rostovtzeff, Jones credited the barbarians with the destabilization and collapse of the Roman Empire. Their invasions, he argues, should be seen as a destructive agent which placed strain on the Roman administration.  [5]  At the same time, in a well-known passage, he speaks of a large part of the population that was consuming without producing anything, such as senators, soldiers and the clergy. These idle mouths, as he calls them, partly a result of barbarian pressure again, at least as far as the army was concerned, was the main reason for the economic waning of the Late Empire.  [6]   Jones contribution was twofold. To begin with, he proposed a new chronological period, extending further than 476, the date traditionally considered as signaling the moment of death of the Roman Empire. His ending date was 602, the year of the emperor Maurices death as he strongly believed that the Roman Empire continued its existence, albeit geographically diminished, in the East, at least until the advent of the Slavic tribes in the Balkans at the end of the sixth century.  [7]  This way, he managed to provide a connection between late- and post-Roman societies, hinting that there might have been a causal relation between the two.  [8]  Secondly, he breathed new life in a period that was all but put aside by his contemporaries as of not much particular interest and after him scholars gradually started to perceive the Late Roman Empire in its own right.  [9]   This was countered by traditionalists in 2005 with the publication of a book under the title The fall of Rome and the end of civilization. In this book, the author Bryan Ward-Perkins is arguing fervently that the fall of Rome was a violent experience for the people involved, which involved much bloodshed and catastrophe.  [10]  It was centered more on radical change than gradual transformation and was characterized by decline and resulted in a decline in civilized values which actually that a number of Roman cultural achievements were lost.  [11]   Although this view has its merits and should not be discredited without consideration, it needs to be examined carefully because it conceals the danger of oversimplification. First, it can be argued that the author has gone too far with his emphasis on violence and catastrophe. Violence, no matter how hard on a society, is not by principle an agent of radical change which rules out any chance of transformation. Human history is full of violence and it would be surprising if the fourth and fifth centuries did not involve any at all. Despite Ward-Perkins vivid depictions, much of what was considered Roman did not disappear with the Empire. Roman qualities, such as a literate culture, can be shown to have survived as late as the seventh century, proving that the devastating barbaric invasions did not actually have such a devastating effect after all.  [12]   Stemming from that, we should examine if there was a specific moment in time when Rome actually fell. If we cannot point out such an instance, then we should regard it as a more gradual process. Italy, for example, shows that society was able to maintain its order in the face of much devastation.  [13]  And if, as Ward-Perkins himself admits, there was no single moment, not even a single century of collapse  [14]  , then we should discard catastrophist theories as inadequate and try more. We should also keep in mind that the author comes from an archaeological milieu  [15]  and, as a result, most of his proof comes from the study of material evidence.  [16]  Archaeologists of the period tend to be advocates of the notion of decline more often than historians, mainly because such a decline is much more evident in the material remains of the Late Roman era.  [17]  In addition to that we have to be careful with the origin the evidence. In the case of Ward-Perkins, he doesnt hesitate to support his theory on data from Britain,  [18]  but Brittania (i.e. the part of Britain which was conquered by the Romans) had never been the archetypal Roman province. So Britain is far from being the typical example of what happened after the Romans had left the island, particularly given the fact that we can find other provinces of the Roman Empire, which shared a completely different fate, such as Egypt and Syria.  [19]  When talking strictly about the west, one has to be extremely cautious when trying to combine both the archaeological data with historical sources that might give the impression of continuity. One way approaches, such as the one only just discussed, will not do. Late Antiquity With good reason one might ask what the need of such a dramatic reassertion of the traditional view on the fall of the Roman Empire. The word traditional itself implies the existence of an opposite, neoteric theory. In 1971, Peter Brown published a book which defied all the assumptions of the traditionalist school.  [20]  His book The world of Late Antiquity: from Marcus Aurelius to Muhammad argues about continuity, transformation, cultural and religious renewal. The enthusiasm that the book was met with in academic circles, especially in the United States, resulted in the banishment of terms as catastrophe, change, crisis and decline.  [21]  Brown was influenced by the views of an earlier scholar, Henri-Irà ©nà ©e Marrou, who argued that late antique art had not deteriorated and that it should be looked at in its own terms. Brown was influenced by the work of Henri Pirenne. In his works the Belgian scholar supported that there was continuity to be found in terms of long-distance trade in the Mediterranean which was not affected by the barbarian invasions but collapsed with the great Arabic conquests of the seventh century.  [22]  Brown placed a new stress on the period resulted in a recent rethinking of Pirennes views through the prism of the newly proposed notion of continuity.  [23]   Finally, Brown could also be considered an influence because, as we saw earlier, he was the first to propose a causal connection between the Late Roman Empire and the post-Roman era. Thus, given the entailed predominance of continuity which was easily detected in themes such as art and religious belief, a new historical period has been founded with its own characteristics, that of Late Antiquity,  [24]  in which some of the basics of classical civilization still survived  [25]  . Its boundaries stress from the third to the eighth century, but they are still unfixed, with every writer proposing different dates, according to the issues they deal with. Brown relied heavily on the methods of historical psychology and psychoanalysis. This methodological innovation is a general trend among scholars of Late Antiquity, particularly those in the United States. They have more or less identified themselves with the kind of history that falls outside the scope of socio-economic history. For example, the history of Christianity has proven very fertile for studying Late Antiquity, especially the effects it has had on different aspects of human life, such as death, sexuality and the family.  [26]  Thus, this school of thought has made astonishing contributions in such fields as gender and culture history, the history of mentalities and of popular belief. Such methods, however, often tend to function with no respect to periodization and as such they lead to fragmentation.  [27]   Indeed, the work of these scholars shows more emphasis towards individuals and their perspectives than to the society they live in.  [28]  As a consequence, post-modernist theories concerning source analysis have relied heavily on the works of scholars after Brown, while, in the meantime, the old philological approach has been largely abandoned. Ancient texts are dealt with not so much for their narrative value, but as agents the mentality of their authors.  [29]  Of course, works exclusively focused on different authors have a lot to offer to the ongoing discussion of the period, but dogged commitment to them might create a handicap for our understanding of the period as a whole.  [30]   Furthermore, partly as a response to the traditional view of catastrophe, scholars of Late Antiquity have been particularly keen on seeing continuity and transformation. But this attitude can be harmful in two ways. First, the notion of continuity seems to have an overshadowing effect on the particularity of issues in a certain period. If everything is proven to carry on from the past not changed in the least, then historical periods will automatically lose their individual tone, by which it is defined.  [31]  Simultaneously, by relying to heavily historical sources (as they provide ampler evidence for continuity) we may be overturned by the findings of archaeological research (in the way Ward-Perkins was). Second, emphasis on continuity and transformation is the expulsion of their opposites from contemporary history books. Terms such as crisis and decline seem to have been anathematized in modern research and this has started to raise objections, even by scholars who are not polemicists of continuity itself.  [32]  Powerful words like these falling into disuse can only be detrimental for historiography. These terms are usually avoided because of their moral implications, and it is somehow assumed that if there is decline someone needs to be charged with it.  [33]  But we always have to bear in mind that history is a science and historians should concentrate purely on the facts of their research. Nevertheless, Late Antiquitys impact shouldnt be confined within strict scientific limits. Continuity along with transformation, apart from being objects of historiographical debate, is also too powerful of terms to be overlooked by contemporary politicians. From 1993 to 1998 a large research project, funded by the European Science Foundation (ESF), brought together scholars from across Europe. Its title was Transformation of the Roman World and its aim was to provide a widely accepted interpretation of the fall of Rome, along the lines of a smooth passage to what was to become todays Europe.  [34]  Two thousand years after Augustus history is being repeated: the European Union is commissioning its poets to create its own foundation myth. Late Antiquity is a new period that has had to carve its way bravely into powerful, deep-rooted views of modern historiography, much like the barbarians who had to carve their kingdoms fighting against the mighty Roman Empire. But unlike the former, somewhere along the way it had to make sacrifices which rendered it less effective as a means of interpretation and more limited in its scope. Also, it came to associate itself with allies with political agendas, who might have promoted it, but in the long term damaged somewhat its credibility in terms of objectivity. After all that, it is not surprising that Avril Cameron, a great advocate of the Brown school, herself admits Late Antiquity is in danger of having become an exotic territory, just before suggesting that it should be tested also in the fields of economic and administrative history.  [35]   Pekepersonal thekerkerethoughts-synthesis/LA+med west Thus far, weve witnessed in brief a powerful debate: Ward-Perkins book came as a vivid reaction to a whole school of thought formed around Browns work, which itself was another dramatic response to an older tradition. But extremism is inherent in violent reactions, because only through opposition one side can define itself and stand out in relation to its adversaries. Naturally, the existence of opposition itself should not lead us to believe that one side is absolutely right, while the other is absolutely wrong (and in most cases they are not). Rather, it should direct us towards an evaluation of the new conclusions that emerged from the conflict and setting the problem on a new base. However, it should be noted that both books have something in common: they are heavily focused on different geographical areas, where their conclusions seem to be more frequently affirmed. This way, Brown was able to find plenty of continuity in the eastern part of the Empire, while Ward-Perkins discovered a great deal of catastrophe in its former western provinces. As Jones had underlined long before those two, historians often tend to forget that only a part of the Roman Empire actually fell to the barbarians.  [36]  So, nothing would be amiss if things were so well defined, but they are not. And although it seems that Late Antiquity is better suited for early Byzantine history, there are also those medieval scholars who deem it rewarding to try their hand at the concepts that this new approach brought with it. Late Antiquity and early medieval history One of these was jean claude van dam (the muscles from brussels) mouahahhahahaha Late Antiquity and the barbarians The exclusion of notions of violence and catastrophe from the debates concerning the fourth and fifth centuries, which Late Antiquity scholars promoted, created a historiographical vacuum and a way had to be found for depicting the relations between the Roman Empire and the new arrivals. If violence could not be used to describe them, then the sources had to be searched for a different sort of evidence. The subsequent reexamination of the sources gave birth to the notion of accommodation. The first scholar to do that was Walter Goffart. In a well-known book,  [37]  published in 1980, he described in detail the way that the barbarians were settled on Roman lands. According to Goffart a fairly straightforward arrangement between the late Roman administration and the barbarian tribes can be derived from the sources. The critical feature of this arrangement was that the Empire relinquished its rights on the taxation of the region in which a group of barbarians were settled and instead those taxes would be collected by the barbarians. However, according to this theory, there was no expropriation of land, no partition of it to smaller units to be apportioned and no need for extra money from the tax payers.  [38]  The only one who had something to lose in the process would be the central administration and this definitely helps explain the fact that there is no sign of any noteworthy resistance from the local population in the regions where the barbarians were settle d in this way.  [39]   The aforementioned theory was further elaborated by Durliat. After analyzing the sources rigorously, he managed to take Goffarts theory one step further. He argued that land tax in the Late Roman Empire amounted to no more than 20% of the harvest and it was collected and administered by the curiales. They split it in three and kept one third for their citys expenses. The other two thirds were then sent to Rome to be used for the needs of the army and the central administration. With the advent of the barbarians, this system was very conveniently transformed to accommodate them: the curiales no longer sent anything to Rome but instead conferred the appropriate amount to the barbarian group that happened settle in their citys administrative region. Furthermore, he argued that this modus operandi continued unaffected after the fall of the western Roman Empire, in the different successor-states, until the collapse of the Carolingian Empire.  [40]   This theoretical synthesis was attractive to scholars, not only due to its clarifying simplicity and astonishing applicability, but also because it served to explain the lack of any negative sentiment in the sources. The importance of it becomes clearer, if we take under consideration that actually there were complaints on the part of the sources, wherever the barbarians had not settled peacefully but by force.  [41]  As we saw earlier, the curiales were unconcerned if two thirds of the land tax changed recipients, as long as they were still obtaining their part undiminished. One can easily imagine the effect that this argument had on the debate on continuity, especially since it was centered on Western Europe. Of course, this theory didnt fail to raise some eyebrows. Liebeschà ¼tz criticized Durliats arguments on a twofold basis. First, he doubts that late Roman cities actually collected for themselves any part of the imperial taxes and second, he argues quite convincingly that such an agreement would eventually provide little actual security to the settling barbarians, as security is usually better ensured through direct property of the land, than through any fiscal rights. Whats more, it seems perfectly reasonable to assume that it was exactly this security that the barbarians were looking for and of course, their position of power during the last centuries of the Roman Empire made sure that they were not likely to settle for anything less.  [42]   Moreover, Durliats theory was commented on further in an article in 1998.  [43]  There, Wickham analysis Durliats arguments and dismisses them one by one. Initially, he disagrees that the strict fiscal meaning which the latter ascribes to terms such as possessors and fundus is actually the one intended by the legislators of the fourth and the fifth century and in so doing he undermines the theory from the beginning. But he goes on to challenge other aspects such as the idea that Church constituted a part of the state administration in the post-Roman kingdoms (and thus church property consisted only of fiscal lands) and the view that servus is the term used to suggest a free landowner. By providing hard evidence following the chronological order (Late Empire, Romano-Germanic Kingdoms, Carolingian Empire), Wickham manages to discredit convincingly the arguments about fiscal continuity throughout this period. But, it should be noted that in the end of his article, where he discusses briefly the issue of continuity, he states that while he is not averse to it himself, it should not be considered tantamount to complete absence of change.  [44]   However, the predominance of continuity does not sit well with terms like barbarian invasions and Germanic immigration. So, historians had to find ways to circumvent this problem; they started by looking at the ethnic identities of the Germanic peoples, because it could be argued for example that there was no clear-cut sense of common identity between barbarian groups, such as the Goths, or some common characteristics that defined Germanic then it would be possible to downplay the importance of the aforementioned terms. This way, Late Antiquity affected another heated debate (and in the meantime was affected by it); that of European national identities. The contribution of Walter Goffart has been essential at this point. Apart from fiscal continuity, in his Barbarians and Romans, he was also arguing about against the existence of definite ethnic identities among the barbarians. Another centuries-old historiographic tradition before him interpreted the movements of the Germanic tribes according to contemporary political ideas.  [45]  For example, before the Second World War, Kossina had argued that there was a separate, identifiable culture to be associated with every Germanic tribe we come across in the sources and in 1961 Wenskus had maintained that there was a core of tradition carried by the elite of each barbarian group, according to which the whole mass of the tribe was defined.  [46]  But, according to Goffart migrations have served as the factual underpinnings of early Germanic unity.  [47]  Thus, if he could prove that no such unity actually existed, the migration and invasion theories would lose all sense. Indeed, he argues for a short history of these peoples oblivion was a result of translocation. The common past of these peoples at any point stressed as back as the time before their last migration.  [48]  He refuses to use sources of the sixth century such as Jordanes because, in his opinion, they only reflect the ideas of their own times and cannot be trusted for their evidence of the distant past.  [49]  Finally, after taking under consideration also the deductions of archaeological research, he thinks that, if one wanted to look at the discontinuity provoked by the advent of the barbarians, he should definitely put the emphasis on Rome and its security. It was the appeal that the Empire had on the barbarians and not their own expansionist agendas that brought about the fall, in an imaginative experiment that got a little out of hand.  [50]   It is therefore clear that Late Antiquity has given historiography of ethnic identities new areas of research to explore. This process gets even more complicated with the interference of modern international politics and historians of the Early Middle Ages recently find themselves and their research at the center of contemporary political debates  [51]  . One can discern a pseudo-history in the making, which serves political and nationalistic purposes in the sense that it tries to define distinct nations that were created centuries ago once and for all. Another assumption is that by right these nations should form separate political entities, according to their defined ethnicity and territory.  [52]   To sum up, the search for continuity of the Late Antique scholars might not have been successful in the field of fiscal policies and accommodation but it ascertained the fact that we cannot presume long histories and ethnic identities of the Germanic peoples. This certainly confirmed transformation instead of catastrophe and crisis for some aspects of the fourth and fifth centuries but it surely proved that there was much discontinuity and heterogeneity concerning the notion of identity.  [53]  And since the Early Middle Ages are of such a great importance in the international political stage, scholars of the period should benefit from the results of research in this field in order to prevent their academic field from becoming a plaything in the hands of international politics. (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Projecting their own experiences on another period of time (as historians often do)