Critically examine two theoretical perspectives, The Feminist Theory and Psychoanalysis Essay Example

Critically examine two theoretical perspectives, The Feminist Theory and Psychoanalysis Essay In academic writing on media practice different theoretical perspectives are applied according to the authors research agenda. Critically examine TWO theoretical perspectives before providing examples of how each has been applied within academic writing on the media. After comparing these theoretical perspectives say why ONE will be more relevant for your dissertation work in Level 6. For this essay I have chosen to critically examine two theoretical perspectives which will be The Feminist Theory and Psychoanalysis. I will describe the origins of these theoretical perspectives, detailing how they came about and why they are useful in academic writing on media practice. Then I will analyse two pieces of academic writing each of which use a theoretical perspective I have chosen to discuss. Barbara Brooks Feminist Perspectives on the body which deals with the use of some changes in feminist thinking about the body. Stevi Jackson and Jackie Jones Contemporary Feminist Theories, the section on psychoanalysis. Feminist theory seeks to analyse the conditions which shape womens lives and to explore cultural understandings of what it means to be a woman. It was initially guided by the political aims of the womans Movement the need to understand womens subordination and our exclusion from, or marginalisation within, a variety of cultural and social arenas. Feminists refuse to accept that inequalities between woman and men are natural and inevitable and insist that they should be questioned. We will write a custom essay sample on Critically examine two theoretical perspectives, The Feminist Theory and Psychoanalysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Critically examine two theoretical perspectives, The Feminist Theory and Psychoanalysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Critically examine two theoretical perspectives, The Feminist Theory and Psychoanalysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Theory, for us, is not an abstract intellectual activity divorced from womens lives, but seeks to explain the conditions under which those lives are lived. (Stevi Jackson and Jackie Jones, 1998, p. 1) In a way, most feminist thinking could be described as an engagement of one sort or another with what it means to be and to be perceived to be, a female body. It is hard to come across feminist writing that is not at some point connected to issues of the body. There have been a lot of Feminist thinkers through time who have had vastly different responses to female bodies, which still continue today. Issues of the body have been central to most feminist thinking, in one way or another, but there is also evidence that there has been a large number of feminist publications with the word body in the title, over the last decade. There have been some developments of studies in feminism called Corporeal feminism, which is looking at the characteristic of the body as opposed to the mind or spirit. One of the best known English writers in this field is Elizabeth Grosz. Grosz is the author of numerous works, including Volatile Bodies: toward a Corporeal Feminism; Jacques Lacan: a Feminist Introduction, and Becomings: Explorations in Time, Memory and Futures. Groszs work is very much influenced by European philosophers such as Nietzsche, Merleau-ponty, Deleuze, Guattari, Foucault and Spinozist. Elizabeth Grosz believed that; What they share is first, anti-Cartesianism, a refusal of the mind/ body or nature/ culture oppositions. Second, they share a dynamic rather than a static ontology, an ontology rooted in becoming rather than being. And third, they share a privileging of questions of ontology over questions of epistemology. This means that these various, historically-linked figures form a kind of counter-history to the dominant theoretical strands making up the history of philosophy. There are, of course, other figures that could be included in such a counter-history, but Deleuze has provided us with a powerful starting point from which to work backwards to claim such a history. In recent years, Elizabeth Grosz has reinvestigated Irigarays theory to formulate a new phenomenological view on the body. Grosz rejects the Platonic idea that the body is a brute or passive entity, but sees the body itself as constitutive of systems of meaning. In Volatile Bodies, she redefines the body using Deleuzes post-oedipal framework of the Desiring Machine. The body becomes a desiring machine when it de-humanizes the object of desire and dissolves into surrounding environments. The subject becomes one with the machine-like apparatus and senses its merging components as changing, segmented and discontinuous waves, flows, and intensities. Katrien Jacobs (http://web. gc. cuny. du/csctw/found_object/text/grosz. htm) Grosz asks questions about what constitutes a body and, in particular, about where, if at all, there can be located a specifically sexed body that is somehow before or beyond culture. Grosz developed a new theory which was not trying to answer a question about what came first, she wanted to look at a different explanation of the body, which rendered a question of redundant. Grosz pushe d the boundaries of existing terms. A central figure for grosz in rethinking the self as body and mind rather than body separated from mind is the Mobius strip: Bodies and minds are not two distinct substances or two kinds of attributes of a single substance but somewhere in between The Mobius strip has the advantage of showing the inflection of mind into body and body into mind, the ways in which, through a kind of twisting or inversion, one side becomes another. This model also provides a way of problematizing and rethinking the relations between the inside and outside of a subject. Grosz, Elizabeth (1994) Volatile Bodies: Towards a Corporeal Feminism. Grosz challenges commonsense ideas about sexed bodies, and about the construction of knowledge; a movement in feminist thought has been from epistemology (theory of knowledge (hence, episteme as a component of that knowledge, something which is a building block of a particular knowledge system), toward ontology (the study of being, existing in the world) towards the question of What is a woman?. There has been a tendency to assume an essential femaleness which for some feminists was something to be ignored or minimised, and for others was a cause of celebration in answering the question What is a woman?. The focus of a womans movement around a universal idea of woman has been increasingly critiqued as imperialist: blind to its own exclusions and assumptions. The development of an identity politics organised around a self-defined identity of sexuality, race, ethnicity, etc. challenges this universalism. The assertion of womans rights as human rights rests on the humanists ideas of the Enlightenment: the belief in the rights of an individual human subject. Arguably, the late twentieth century is dismantling the idea of the unified human subject; this poses problems for feminism. Second-wave feminism, following the work of Simone de Beauvoir, argues for the separation of sex (the natural, given male or female body) and gender (the cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity). Social constructionism relegates the body to no more than a tabula rasa for inscription by culture. Social constructionist explanations have been criticised for ignoring sexuality and racial difference. Judith Butler (and others) points to the way in which binary gender formation relies on an assumed heterosexuality. She tries to re-think gender as performativity (Judith Butlers theory of gender as a continually repeated performance): a series of acts repeated until they appear as natural extensions of the body engaged in the performance. Butler, like other corporeal feminists (Corporeality: literally the being of the body; when the adjective, corporeal is coupled with feminism, it denotes a recently developed theorising that attempts to reorient thinking about the female body and subjectivity in ways that challenge the dominant episteme of the mind/body split. works to change the thinking of Western philosophy and, particularly, to move beyond the dualism (binarism (or dualism): the pattern of thinking and conceptualisation that divides everything into opposites; one of the feminist objections to it is that in the set of supposedly equal opposites, one set of terms can clearly be designated as feminine and the other masculine, with higher or positive values, on the whole, attached to the latter. ) of Cartesian thought. Luce Irigaray and Hi li ne Cixous also challenge this dualism, attempting to re-inscribe woman in multiple ways that resist binary oppositions of western thinking. Elizabeth Grosz argues that such a rethinking of and through the body is crucial to feminist politics. Psychoanalysis is concerned in the account, or analysis, of the mind, the psyches structure and its relation to the body, and uses that as the basis for treating certain kinds of sickness. Psychoanalysis is well known as the talking cure; psychoanalysis is closely concerned with gender, sexuality, familial relations, and the fact that their expression and construction are not always available to the conscious mind. These areas are those of interest of feminists. Psychoanalysis has been seen by some feminist writers as another weapon in the armoury of patriarchy. To enlist on behalf of feminism the insights of psychoanalysis, in particular the concept of the unconscious and the idea that gender is a psychic and not a biological identity, post-Freudian writers have focused on the very early pre-oedipal stages of a Childs life, and mothering. Pg 162 Sue vice Contemporary Feminist Theories Psychoanalysis was first developed by Sigmund Freud, based on the exploration of unconscious mental processes displayed within dreams. Its aim was to reveal repressed anxieties and overcome the effects of bad experiences in early childhood. Freud believed that the location of desire was between what we see and what we imagine for ourselves. Freud established three principles. The unconscious, argued Freud, consists of the activity of primary sexual and destructive instincts, which are in conflict with internal forces of self-preservation and external social forces. Second, the analysis of dreams proved invaluable in accessing the unconscious; as did, thirdly, Freuds working out of the relationship between primary (unconscious) and secondary (conscious) thought processes. Later on Freud developed a theory called the Oedipus complex and infantile sexuality. Freuds central concepts took the male child as a model, so that the female seemed like an imperfect version. Melanie Klein revised and extended several Freudian categories in the light of child analysis during the 1940s and 1950s. Klein offered an alternative to the Freudian view of the maternal body as one which is superseded by the superior paternal law, and is only a site for regressive feelings in later life. Klein argues that children have a very early knowledge of the mothers vaginia as well as the fathers penis, and so the division into two sexes is inevitable. Kleins concept of sexual difference appears more rigid than Freuds; she has made a great impact on feminist theory. This is partly due to Kleins emphasis on the importance of the maternal, in contrast to Freuds on the role of the father, and Freuds habit of writing out the mother in his case histories. Klein was also distinctive in giving priority to interpersonal relations over individual instinct. A specific psychoanalytic theory can be directly associated with the fascination of the images on the screen, that of Jacques Lagans mirror stage. It deals with the point in which a young infant realises its own image within the mirror and has its own identity. In recognising its own image, the infant develops a fascination with itself and begins to construct its own identity. However, what the child constructs is a representation of them selves because it notices itself as an image and begins to unify itself with the image. Therefore, an element of delusion sets in because the subject becomes an image, even though the image is a replica of the individual; it is in fact a representation of the individual. The nature of our egoistic selves, as represented through the identification of the image can be connected to the illusory nature displayed on the film screen. As our reflection is nothing more than an image we take narcissistic pleasure in, so to can we now identify with the gloriously complete presentation of a spectacle on the screen. (Turner, 1999, p. 134) The future of psychoanalytic theory within feminism seems very rich. As well as the return to Klein, signalled for instance by the establishment of the womens Therapy Centre London (Wright 1992: 457-61), psychoanalytic feminism underlies recent developments in lesbian theory, gender studies and queer theory. The latter in particular has benefited from the long-standing debate in feminist psychoanalysis between signifier and signified, body and language, literal and metaphorical, as Caroline Evans and Lorraine Gamman suggests in a Queer Romance. Some representations, what we call queer representations, seem to share the capacity to disturb stable definitions (Burston and Richardson 1995:46). New work is beginning, although rather slowly, on psychoanalysis and race; as psychoanalysis has been discourse about, but not of, women, it has been neither about, nor of, people of colour. It is interesting to speculate whether issues of oedipalisation, gender construction, and transference, in particular, will be revitalised by the incorporation of racial difference. To return to Freuds idea that it is only accidental that there are two sexes, and there could just as easily have been four drive-based positions instead, it may turn out to be the case that the law of the father is the law of the white supremacist father specifically (Stephanie munro, forthcoming work on Irigaray and race), while other fathers may have other laws. Sue Vice pg 173 Contemporary Feminist Theories For my dissertation I will be using The Feminist Theory as one of my main theoretical perspectives. My dissertation will be analysing what affects media images have on body satisfaction? I will be discussing not only female but male satisfaction of the body as in the past there has been a lot of writing on the female body but now there are a lot more studies on the male body and how they feel. I will be looking at the Feminist perspectives on the body, as the body has been central to feminist thinking. I will be looking at the new concept that has been developed corporeal feminism. Which is the being of the body; when the adjective, corporeal is coupled with feminism, it denotes a recently developed theorising that attempts to reorient thinking about the female body and subjectivity in ways that challenge the dominant episteme of the mind/body split. It will also be relevant for me to use content analysis and mass communication models such as the Hypodermic Model in my dissertation which will concentrate on the effects of a specific aspect of media communication on the audience.

50 Great Topics for a Process Analysis Essay

50 Great Topics for a Process Analysis Essay If youve ever read an instruction manual or written out a set of directions, then you know what a process analysis essay is. This form of composition is often used in the field of technical writing, where complex systems need to be clearly explained in a logical, orderly fashion. As such, process analyses can be very detailed and sometimes quite long. Process analysis  writing is more than just a set of simple instructions. As a writer, you must go beyond merely identifying the steps involved and examine that process with an analytical eye. This analysis requires expertise- if not firsthand, then from research. Your topic needs to be focused, usually how to do one specific thing, and written in a clear, straightforward tone that readers can follow easily.   Tips for Writing a Process Analysis Essay When developing a paragraph, essay, or speech through process analysis, keep these tips in mind:Be sure to include all steps and arrange them in chronological order.Explain why each step is necessary, and include warnings where appropriate.Define any terms with which your readers may not be familiar.Offer clear descriptions ​of any tools or materials needed to carry out the process.Provide your readers with a way of determining whether the process has been carried out successfully or not. 50  Topic Suggestions: Process Analysis You shouldnt find it difficult to follow the guidelines above if youve chosen a topic that you know quite well. These 50 prompts are meant to help you discover that topic. How to mow your lawnHow to win at Texas hold emHow to lose weight without losing your mindHow to find the perfect roommateHow to get rid of a roommate- without committing a crimeHow to succeed in (or flunk out of) collegeHow to pitch a knuckleballHow to plan the perfect partyHow to survive a night of babysittingHow to pitch a tent in the rainHow to housebreak your dogHow to kick a bad habitHow to overcome insomniaHow to stay sober on a Saturday nightHow to rent your first apartmentHow to avoid a nervous breakdown during examsHow to enjoy the weekend for under $20How to make the perfect browniesHow to keep peace with a spouse or a roommateHow to bathe a catHow to complain effectivelyHow to survive a recessionHow to toilet train a babyHow to develop self-confidenceHow to use Twitter sensibly and effectivelyHow to wash a sweaterHow to build a great music collection- cheaply and legallyHow to get along with an instructor without sucking upHow to give yourself a haircutHow to plan the per fect class schedule How to apply the Heimlich maneuverHow to end a relationshipHow to select the best portable media playerHow to take decent photographs with your cell phoneHow to quit smokingHow to survive without a carHow to make the perfect cup of coffee or teaHow to save money while saving the environmentHow to build a great sandcastleHow to edit a videoHow to make (and keep) friends on FacebookHow to insert a contact lensHow teachers make up examsHow parents (or children) make us feel guiltyHow an iPod worksHow ice cream is madeHow a cell phone takes picturesHow a magician saws a woman in halfHow a pocket calculator worksHow to choose a major

BESCO Measurement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BESCO Measurement - Essay Example The unit used for the y-axis as well as the and x-axes is 1. On the x-axis, each unit is used to represent 10 years. The time period covered in the graph runs from 1950 to 2010. On the y-axis, the rate of development runs from 0 to 700,000. Each unit is used to represent 100,000 units of development. The markings on the line of the graph are used to show series of development. For the first 10 years, which is between before time in record to the mid 1950’s, there was no much change and hence it can be said the development then was constant. Moving on further towards 1960, there was a very slight increase in development. The time period between 1970 and 1980, the rate of development of the fad rose higher by a few units. The rate of development was gradual from the time data used to fill the graph started being collected till the mid 1980’s, the rate of growth recorded according to the graph was a bit gradual, since the line graph remains constant during this time period. However, rapid development started being recorded as from the mid 1980’s and onwards. 1990 marked the beginning of another series and from then, rapid rates of development can be seen from the graph. Between 1990 and 2010, the rate of development in the ten years alone rose from 50,000 to 290,000. This was one of the highest rates of development recorded in the time period. This sharp can be due to a number of factors. However, this is something that we cannot be able to tell from the graph. The year 2000 marked the beginning of the final series on the graph. Between 2000 and 2010, a sharp increase was recorded according to the graph. The steep line shows this high rate of development of the fad. The actual figures of the development increased from 290,000 in 2000 to 610,000 in 2050, which was the end of the time period under

Discuss Your Concerns About Delegation and Your Responsibility and Assignment

Discuss Your Concerns About Delegation and Your Responsibility and Liability Regarding Delegation - Assignment Example The charge nurse also provides information to physicians within the organization. A centralized structure has few sources of information and communication in its hierarchical system. The charge nurse has been mandated to provide information for physicians as well as clinical nurses (Yoder-Wise & Patricia, 2010). In a centralized structure, most decisions are made by the hospital chief executive or the head of the nursing home. The hospital has a hierarchical model of administration, and every worker has a clear definition of his/her duties and responsibilities. Information flow in the hospital follows a top-bottom structure, that is, from the top executive down to the clinical nurses (Marquis & Huston, 2006). One manager or head nurse can be in charge of different departments. Staff nurses are not included in major decision-making processes or the implementation process. It takes centralized structures a long period of time to respond to emergency activities due to high bureaucracy l evels in the hospital. In a decentralized structure, decisions are made at different organizational levels. Hospital workers are consulted before major decisions affecting their departments are made, and they are involved in the implementation process. ... rses in a decentralized organization are involved in decision-making processes, and this increases their job responsibilities, leading to job satisfaction. This improves staff nurses’ moral responsibilities and decision-making capabilities. Decentralization empowers staff nurses and physicians to formulate their unit level work plans, policies, and procedures. Middle level hospital managers are responsible for decision-making, and this improves their morale (Finkelmann, 2006). Information flows faster in a decentralized organization due to the reduced bureaucracy levels, which, in turn, are caused by the existence of informal communication networks. The head nurse or nursing director is relieved of some decision-making responsibilities and assumes a supervisory role. Middle managers’ other nurses experience professional growth due to increased responsibilities entrusted to them. They are in charge of goal evaluation, policy recommendation, institute work improvement, an d determining staff schedule. The expertise of staff nurses is utilized during decision-making and change implementation, which is a form of empowerment and encourages professional growth (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson, 2003). Centralized structures give nursing directors and top executives greater control over the organization, since they make major decisions in the hospital. The responsibilities of every manager in the organization are clearly defined, which provides high levels of accountability. Hospital employees have limited responsibilities, since they are not involved in decision-making activities and change implementation processes. Change implementation is the responsibility of a selected team of nurses, which gives them complete control and authority over the process. Information flow in the

Whistle Blowing as a Form of Advocacy Guidelines for the Practitioner Assignment

Whistle Blowing as a Form of Advocacy Guidelines for the Practitioner and Organization - Assignment Example et forth implied that they must not hire individuals who clutch first to the complaint that the society must be endangered at all cost, equal to the disadvantage of those who are paid. Nor must their choice be ruled by the individual raw sentiments, which may develop erratic and illogical in extremely contentious and morally stimulating situations (Greene and Latting 2004). Choices ought to be centered on their personal moral standards and the puzzle of morals that rules their professional behaviour. Particularly, they it must be guaranteed that gusting the whistle can be reinforced by a bench of aristocracies, is passed out in virtuous belief and with the finest attention of all gatherings at core, is unconditionally essential on ethical and moral estates, and is not always inspired by nasty intent (Greene and Latting 2004). Structural bests are faced with agonizing sets. Passing the endorsements given here can be luxurious. In this reduction age of deteriorating capitals, some activities may be pushed to discover the time or friends to improve new rules to train operate on possible instances of administrative wrong deed or principled defilements, and to be flippant of such anxieties, their hopefulness is that this editorial inspires organizational bests to be diligent and original in their whistle blowing as a form of advocacy guidelines for the practitioner and organization labors to evade the jeopardy of civic (or customer) impairment, public discomfiture, and loss or honesty in the senses of their consumers, workforces, initiators, and other chief investors (Greene and Latting

Entrepreneurial Marketing And Marketing In Small Firms

Entrepreneurial Marketing And Marketing In Small Firms Introduction: Researchers widely agree that marketing in small firms differ from that of their larger counterparts (e.g. Fillis, 2002; Gilmore et al., 2001; Hill, 2001a; Coviello et al., 2000.) Stokes (2000) adds that in small firms, marketing is used for the needs of the moment and only little attention is paid to plans, strategies and analysis. They are close to their markets, have great flexibility which they value (Evans and Moutinho, 1999), have the capacity to operate on slim margins, and can instigate decisions quickly (Rogers, 1990). The marketing function in SMEs is hindered by constraints such as poor cash flow, lack of marketing expertise, business size, tactical customer-related problems, and strategic customer-related problems (Doole et al., 2006; Chaston, 1998; Carson, 1985). Yet, despite such restrictions, SMEs successfully use marketing to generate sales (Guersen, 1997; Romano and Ratnatunga, 1995). Motwani, Jiang and Kumar (1998) highlight the differing operational priorities of small firms, (as compared with larger organisations), and synopsise small firm characteristics as follows: On the one hand, small firms are believed to have an edge over larger firms in flexibility, innovation, and overhead costs, while on the other, they are limited by the amount of market power, capital and managerial resources. Despite the differences, it has been noted that the basic marketing concepts, such as segmentation, customer orientation, targeting, positioning and seeking for competitive advantage apply to small as well as to large enterprises (Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996). Scholars note that both marketing theories and entrepreneurship theory privilege the notion of value creation, that is, the notion that elements are combined in a manner that results in the provision of value to the user (Morris et al., 2002). Marketing has much to offer the study of entrepreneurship (Murray 1981; Hills 1987) and likewise entrepreneurship can look to marketing as the key function within the firm, which can encompass innovation and creativity. Omura et al. (1993) perceive the interface between the two disciplines as having distinct areas of both difference and overlap. The differences are between traditional marketing, which operates in a consistent environment, where marketing conditions are continuous. And the firm is satisfying clearly perceived customer needs and pure entrepreneurship, which operates in an uncertain environment, where market conditions are discontinuous and the needs of market are as yet unclear. The overlap exists in two areas; one where market c onditions are continuous and entrepreneurship aids the process of identifying as yet unperceived needs and secondly in a discontinuous market where entrepreneurship guides marketing strategy to develop existing needs in a new environment. Elaine Collinson and Eleanor Shaw (2001) marketing and entrepreneurship have three key areas of interface; they are both change focused, opportunistic in nature and innovative in their approach to management. Conceptual Framework: During the last 60 years marketing thought has experienced several changes. It has evolved from production and sales centered into customer and relationship focused marketing. Instead of short-term individual transactions marketers have started to value long-lasting relationships. Interaction has proven to be more efficient than one-way communication and it has been realised that marketing is not a task of just marketing department but the whole organisation (See Gro ¨nroos, 2006.) There is no clear or unifying definition or theory of marketing in SMEs. (Simpson et al., 2006.). Motwani, Jiang and Kumar (1998) highlight the differing operational priorities of small firms, (as compared with larger organisations), and synopsise small firm characteristics as follows (p. 8): On the one hand, small firms are believed to have an edge over larger firms in flexibility, innovation, and overhead costs, while on the other, they are limited by the amount of market power, capital and managerial resources. Small firms typically have limited impact in their given markets, and limited network access (Me Gaughey, 1998). Barnes (2001) identified several drivers that enhance closeness between the small firm and the customer. These drivers include: knowing the customer personally, feeling of locality, easy accessibility, lack of bureaucracy and concentration on long-term profitability. In the context of small firms, customer orientation is a concept, which comprises customer understanding orientation and customer satisfaction focus. It seems that adoption of customer orientation may enhance the performance of small firms. It is argued small firms with higher degree of customer orientation are likely to be more profitable than their less customer-oriented counterparts. (Appiah-Adu and Singh, 1998.) Marketing in SMEs continues to evolve throughout the life-cycle of the enterprise in response to new product and market demands, while satisfying customer requirements, taking into consideration the inherent characteristics and behaviours of the owner/manager, and the size and life-cycle stage of the firm (Gilmore et al., 2001; Carson, 1993). In small enterprises, the entrepreneurs have pivotal roles in marketing. The marketing practices seem to rely on their personal contacts and are often driven by the certain way they do business (Simpson et al., 2006). They depend also on owner-managers attitude to, experience of and expertise in marketing (McCartan-Quinn and Carson, 2003). Traditionally some marketing approaches concentrate on the marketing mix. However, instead of focusing on the traditional marketing paradigm of the 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion), or the 7Ps adopted by service marketing (product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence), entrepreneurs stress the importance of promotion and word-of-mouth, and have identi ¬Ã‚ ed one of the unique selling points of their business as the nature of their personal contact with customers and their focus on the four Is (Information, Identi ¬Ã‚ cation, Innovation and Interaction) (Stokes, 2000). Typically small firms will have higher levels of creditors relative to stocks and total assets and lower levels of retained profit than larger organisations (Chittenden and Bragg, 1997). Bird (1992) and Burns (1996) offer an insight into the differing perspectives of the small business owner/manager and the bank manager. This is the situation in which, in order to obtain additional funding from the bank, the businessman agrees to provide regularly to the bank manager cash-flow forecasts, lists of outstanding debtors/ creditors and other means to evaluate assets and liabilities. The result is that valuable time must be spent with the bank manager (who probably has no hands-on experience of running a business like yours) while he tells you what you can and cannot do (Bird, 1992, p. 4). The bank manager gains little from the success of the business but stands to lose a lot if it fails (Burns, 1996, p. 186). Small business success is dependent not only on the presence of products and markets, but also on the efficacious marketing of those products within those markets (Smith, 1990). While the underlying principles of mar- keting are equally applicable to large and small firms alike, a lack of sophisticated marketing is perceived to be problematic for smaller firms (Cromie, 1991). Within the small firm, the boundary between marketing and selling becomes very blurred, as most small firms marketing takes place during the selling process (Oakey, 1991) and for many small firm owner/ managers the perception is that selling is marketing. Kuratka (1995), entrepreneurship is an area which is relevant to both small and large firms the reason why it is so often associated with small and medium enterprises is that, firstly entrepreneurial activity is often more visible in the smaller firm an secondly, when firms experience growth it can be difficult to sustain an entrepreneurial focus in a multi layered management structure. In addition to organizational structure, the entrepreneurial personality has direct effect on the way in which management is undertaken (Chell, 1986). Entrepreneurs, by their nature, will focus on various opportunities at once and are not easily convinced by the sequential, structured approach to management, which is the focus of most management/ marketing texts (OBrien and Hart, 1999). A lack of capital is frequently the main deterrent to the prospective entrepreneur (Karger, 1981) with undercapitalisation recognised as a major weakness of many new and small firms (Barber and Manger, 1997), often leading to their demise (Job, 1983). Growth issues and the subsequent impact on resources and skill requirements is a key area of current research in entrepreneurial marketing activity (Collinson and Quinn, 1999). Hills et al. (2008) recently investigated the evolution and development of this scholarship and found that indeed, marketing among entrepreneurs deviates from mainstream marketing. Carson (1993, p. 12) describes EM as the experience, knowledge, communication abilities and judgment of the owner-manager, key competencies on which marketing effectiveness depends, while Zontanos and Anderson (2004) offer the four Ps: person, process, purpose, and practices, as a better frame for understanding marketing in entrepreneurial firms. Less formal organisational structures, such as those within SMEs, have been identified as being conducive to innovation, as they encourage a corporate culture which enables participation, networking, inclusion, and experimentation throughout the organisation (Johne and Davies, 2000; Carroll, 2002). Moreover, the environmental uncertainties and challenges faced by SMEs may prompt an innovative response to establish competitive advantage (Ashford and Towers, 2001; McAdam et al., 2000). Burns and Harrison (1996) reiterate that the reason for starting the business is the key differentiator between the small business owner/manager and the entrepreneur, a view which is compatible with Burns (1996), who distinguishes between two different kinds of small businesses; the life-style business set up to provide an adequate level of income for the founder; and the entrepreneurial business which is founded to grow. OShea (1998) distinguishes between entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial small businesses from the perspective of their likely impact on economic equilibrium, with entrepreneurial firms exerting a spontaneous, discontinuous and a qualitative influence, and non-entrepreneurial ones representing a static, inert and quantitative influence. Research Questions: This research aims at identifying the differences between marketing by small firms marketing in SMEs. Will explore the commonalities differences if there are any in marketing in SMEs entrepreneurial marketing. Will try to describe present in an understandable manner the real just of entrepreneurial marketing its characteristics. Studying the market practices in both the manufacturing service SMEs in Multan. Will try to find relationship/relationships in marketing practices (right from product development and selling), relationship with others, entrepreneurial back ground, training and education and growth expectations. Will try to develop a model of marketing in Pakistani SMEs vis-à  -vis their capital restraints. Will also explore the role of human capital social capital in determining the shape of market in SMEs/ Entrepreneurial firms. Will identify areas of future research in this field. Efficacious marketing of the products in market ensures the success of firm. Marketing in SMEs continuously change throughout the life cycle. Interpersonal contacts and 4Is (Information, Identification, Innovation and Interaction) are source of entrepreneur promotion techniques. Customer satisfaction customer orientation have strong association with success of SMEs. WOM (Word of mouth) is most influential way of promotion and its reliability in SMEs. Methodology: Population: SMEs with maximum revenues of 50 million Rs/ Anum will be our population. Firms from retail, manufacturing other service industries will be part of population. However SMEs whose major reliance is exporting will not be part, only those SMEs whos major focus and source of revenue is domestic market are included. Moreover micro enterprises will not be part of population. Sample: 2 or 3 categories of SMEs will be developing based on sales/ number of employees. Firm belonging to service and manufacturing sector will be selected probably the sample size between 15 to 18 case studies with about 5 case studies in each category. Analysis will be templates used by Robert.K.Yin (2003a, 2003b) will be used to develop a theory of small firms/entrepreneurial marketing of firms operating in Multan.

Ways the Human Race could Destroy Itself :: Apocalypse

The End of Humanity: Could the Human Species Destroy Itself? There are lots of ways humanity could be wiped out - although I don't think any of them are particularly likely. Natural causes - An extinction-level asteroid impact would probably be sufficient, although not much else would - a disease epidemic, major climate shift, etc. would still leave many survivors to rebuild within a few hundred years. The window for such an impact is, however, extremely short, because it's extremely likely that within 300 years or so we will have the means to predict and avert all dangerous impacts. And the chance of that happening is, from historical comparison, 0.001% or less. There are a few other possibilities that would be much more catastrophic, though. One is a supernova very nearby, which would blast Earth with intense gamma radiation and most likely kill all macro-organisms. However, there aren't any stars large and old enough for this to be a risk for hundreds of thousands of years. Another is orbital destabilization of Earth (such as ejection from the Solar System) by a close-passing star - but the chance of that is extremely remote, and in addition we'd have thousands of years of warning. And the last that I can think of is alien invasion†¦ which is really out there, obviously. The eventual solar threats to life on Earth are not really relevant to humanity/posthumanity. The Sun is not large enough to supernova, but it will eventually engulf the Earth when it runs out of internal fuel and swells into a red giant. That's a good 4-5 billion years away, but well before that, though, the Sun will have become bright enough to heat Earth's surface enough to trigger a major atmospheric shift by overwhelming the "cloud effect" (which keeps temperatures on Earth stable) with a runaway greenhouse gas effect, boiling the oceans and making the planet Venus-like, uninhabitable except by micro-organisms. But even that is about 2 billion years away, plenty of time for posthumanity to rise and either avert the problem or simply head elsewhere. Accident - A scientific experiment run awry, or an unexpected side-effect of some new technology could potentially wreck some serious havoc. One possible horribly catastrophic scenario would be the unforeseen generation of a miniature black hole somewhere on Earth. If the hole did not evaporate instantaneously (and it would have to be pretty large not to, so I don't know how it would be possible to generate one accidentally) it would quickly bore a hole to the center of the Earth, absorbing more and more mass as it went, and eventually implode the planet.