Early Cinema Essay Example

Early Cinema Essay Cinema represents a unique institution for examining technological development.   Unlike many other modern technologies, cinema achieved its standardized form in an extraordinarily brief period of time.   The Hollywood classical style was not established in cinema’s first 20 years, but continues as the dominant film style even today.   Moreover, cinema has routinely assimilated competing technologies like sound or digital images with almost no long-term change to its formal style. An understanding of the historical moment of cinema is needed for cinematic technologies.   As mentioned earlier, cinema was standardized in an astonishingly brief time period unlike many modern media technologies.   Take, for example, that foundation for narrative cinema was technically and stylistically established by 1908 and it was only in 1895 that cinema is â€Å"invented†.   Moreover, cinema has successfully assimilated a nearly endless stream of mechanical, optical, chemical, and electronic technologies — often in short time periods and with only temporary disruptions to film style.   A better historical understanding of the evolution of cinema may prove informative for other media technologies since cinema paved the way for later technologies such as television, video, computer interfaces, and video games with a formal visual style. We will write a custom essay sample on Early Cinema specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Early Cinema specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Early Cinema specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer According to film Noà «l Burch, early cinema is â€Å"polycentric†[1]. Specifically, Burch refers to the earliest films’ uncentered, panoramic frames, but â€Å"polycentrism† also proves an apt metaphor for early cinema in general.   Far from a single definable genre, early cinema represents several geographically diverse and competing systems simultaneously experimenting with film form.   Of course, this diversity makes defining (however generally) early cinema challenging.   A stylistic innovation — a dissolve, for instance — might represent very different trends depending on the specific film’s nationality and year (or even month) of production.   To complicate matters further, only a small percentage of early cinema survives today.   Thus, it is more imperative to study film history in a non-linear fashion.   Cinema proceeds in a direction neither exclusively teleological nor evolutionary.   Instead, â€Å"progress† in one direction accompanies regression in another.   Some technical and formal traits appear early in film history only to disappear and then return years or even decades later.   To show this non-linear history, this paper focuses on early cinema’s development.   However, rather than exhaustively document cinema’s invention which is a nearly impossible task, this paper stresses early cinema’s extraordinary diversity. Eadweard Muybridge, a respected British still photographer working in the United States, first experimented with serial photography in Palo Alto, California during 1871.   Like his contemporary, Etienne-Jules Marey, Muybridge had as his goal the analysis of individual locomotion.   Yet, the two men took significantly different approaches.   While Marey concentrated on a single camera/multiple exposure device, Muybridge used a series of cameras to capture distinct, incremental photographs of a moving subject.   His experiment arose from a bet made by his patron, railroad magnate Leland Stanford, who wagered that all four horse’s feet leave the ground during its gait.   Stanford commissioned Muybridge to prove this assumption.   Along with Marey, Muybridge established a new temporal and spatial index to visual measurement, an index exceeding natural human perception.   Muybridge (among others) transferred his individual photographs to an animating device — e ither his own projecting zoopraxiscope or a zoetrope — which effectively produced the illusion of movement. Muybridge’s photographs represented an initial rupture from nineteenth-century representational practices, a rupture that goes unrecognized as â€Å"cinematic† until much later.   According to Burch, this break represented an aestheticism regarded as â€Å"untrue†, even â€Å"ugly† at the time.   Indeed, the earliest movies work against Muybridge’s cinematic aesthetic.   For instance, a short list describing the formal aspects of Muybridge’s work might include a mobile frame, centered action, careful matching, continuity, multiple perspectives, and most importantly, a singular, individual subject acting in a representation rather than presentational mode — nearly the complete antithesis of early cinema’s formal characteristics.   In fact, this description — on at least a formal level — sounds closer to classical Hollywood than to early cinema and perhaps this similarity is why Marta Braun refers to Muybridg e’s work as early film narratives[2]. The period between Muybridge’s serial photography and the first public appearances of motion picture entertainment represented an extraordinarily rapid and varied period of experimentation.   Works like Deac Rossell’s Living Pictures admirably conveys the truly experimental sense of work done by both Muybridge and Marey, along with countless other pre-cinema innovators like Georges Demeny, William Friese-Greene, Charles Moisson, Louis Aimà © Augustin Le Prince, and Ottomar Anschà ¼tz.   In any case, by the late 1880s, Thomas Edison, after meeting with both Muybridge and Marey, emerged as an early innovator promoting motion pictures as a mass medium[3]. In the summer of 1891, Edison filed for two patents — one for a camerag called the kinteograph and the other for a viewing device called the kinteoscope.   Importantly, the kinteoscope was not a projector but a free-standing apparatus where individual patrons viewed films through a peephole[4].   By April 1894, the kinteoscope was being actively distributed by the Edison Manufacturing Company.   As a result, Edison constructed the Black Maria, a self-contained film studio with a black backdrop and an open roof that rotated to capture optimum sunlight.   With the Black Maria operational by February 1893, Edison’s films took on a decidedly more commercial form.   Many of the films drew on sporting events (especially boxing) as well as vaudeville and variety acts.   In 1895, Edison business associates Raff and Gamon filmed a flurry of historical subjects such as Joan of Arc (Edison #143, 1895) and The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (Edison #142, 1895)[5]. Meanwhile, in Europe, several other individuals demonstrated (almost simultaneously) their own inventions.   Britains’ Rovert William Paul and Birt Acres manufactured equipment compatible with Edison’s kinteoscope standard[6].   In Germany, brothers Max and Emil Skladanowsky tested their bioscop projector in July 1895 and then publicly exhibited it at the Berlin Wintergarden that November. In 1895, Auguste and Louis Lumià ©re publicly premiered their cinà ©matographe on Boulevard du Capucines[7].   The cinà ©matographe was developed in the Lumià ©re’s Lyon-based factory beginning in early 1895.   It allowed for longer running times of roughly 60 seconds per film by performing at a somewhat slower frame rate (approximately 16 frames per second) than its competitors.   Also, the apparatus was small, light, and portable — allowing for more spontaneous photography.   And perhaps, due in part to its flexible, economic design and expanded capacity, the cinà ©matographe produced a radically different filmmaking aesthetic than those films made by Edison and others.   For instance, unlike the enclosed and isolated studio â€Å"look† of Edison’s films, the first Lumià ©re film, Sortie d’usine (Lumià ©re #1a-c, 1895), shows quite symbolically, the Lumià ©res’ workers pouring out from the darkened interior recesses of the Lumià ©re factory.   Not only did Sortie d’usine, along with hundreds of other Lumià ©re â€Å"actualities†, move the pro-filmic space from an artificially created interior to a natural exterior environment, but — quite unlike the Edison productions — they emphasized everyday occurrences: workers going on their lunch break, children playing at the beach, Sunday patrollers on a busy boulevard, and the feeding of an infant child[8]. Perhaps more than anything else, with the Lumià ©res’ cinà ©matographe came an initial stabilization of film technology.   Admittedly, there were still several challengers to what would define the cinematic apparatus, most notably The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company’s 70mm Biograph projector which briefly thrived in the United States from 1897 to 1900.   While a seemingly endless variety of delivery systems appeared, the basic format of a 35mm projector running (very) roughly at 16 frames per second endured. But if the cinematic hardware slowly stabilized after the cinà ©matographe, software innovations were just beginning.   In fact, cinema’s early exhibition context — fairgrounds, music halls, travelling shows, variety theatres, and vaudeville — promoted a wide array of genres[9].   Indeed, that variety format encouraged not only the side-by-side placement of divergent film genres, but eventually let to their combination: travel films mixed with comic bits or actuality footage inserted into a fictional narrative. With this brief history, this paper attempted to show early cinema’s diversity both in terms of its technologies and formal styles.   While Tom Gunning groups the technical and stylistic options described above under the banner â€Å"cinema of attractions†[10], these options can be examined in a more sophisticated way.   While Gunning primarily links early cinema to various avant-garde practices, he also comments that the cinema of attractions reemerges at specific moments in narrative cinema.   Unfortunately, however, he does not elaborate on this re-emergence beyond citing the 1930s musical and the 1970s special effects films as example[11].   This paper presents early cinema’s diversity as a starting point for explaining why a cinema of attractions goes underground and why it reemerges at other moments in film history. Bibliography BRAUN, MARTA, Picturing Time: The Work of Etienne-Jules Marey (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). BURCH, NOEL, How We Got into Pictures: Notes Accompanying Correction Please, Afterimage, 8/9 (1981). CHANSEL, DOMINIQUE, Europe on-screen : cinema and the teaching of history (Strasbourg Cedex: Council of Europe, 2001) 217 p. GUNNING, TOM, The Cinema of Attractions: Early Cinema, its Spectator, and the Avant-Garde, in Thomas Elsaesser (ed.), Early Cinema: Space-Frame-Narrative (London: British Film Institute, 1990). HANSEN, MIRIAM, Babel and Babylon: Spectatorship in American Silent Film (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991). MARCHAND, PIERRE, One hundred years of cinema (London: Kingfisher, 1995) 47p. MUSSER, CHARLES, The Emergence of Cinema (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990). RICHTER, HANS and RÃâ€"MHILD, JÃÅ"RGEN, The struggle for the film : towards a socially responsible cinema (Aldershot: Scolar, 1986) 192 p. ROSSELL, DEAC, Living Pictures: The Origins of the Movies (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998). [1]Noel Burch, How We Got into Pictures: Notes Accompanying Correction Please, Afterimage, Vol. 8, no. 9, 1981. [2] Marta Braun, Picturing Time: The Work of Etienne-Jules Marey (University of Chicago Press; Chicago, 1992). [3] Pierre Marchand, One hundred years of cinema (Kingfisher; London, 1995). [4] Charles Musser, The Emergence of Cinema (University of California Press; Berkeley, 1990). [5] Musser, The Emergence of Cinema, 86. [6] Dominique Chansel, Europe on-screen : cinema and the teaching of history (Council of Europe; Strasbourg Cedex, 2001). [7] Deac Rossell, Living Pictures: The Origins of the Movies (State University of New York Press; Albany, NY, 1998). [8] Hans Richter and Jà ¼rgen Rà ¶mhild, The struggle for the film : towards a socially responsible cinema (Scolar; Aldershot, 1986). [9]Miriam Hansen, Babel and Babylon: Spectatorship in American Silent Film (Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA, 1991) 85. [10] Tom Gunning, The Cinema of Attractions: Early Cinema, its Spectator, and the Avant-Garde, In: Early Cinema: Space-Frame-Narrative. Thomas Elsaesser (ed.) (British Film Institute; London, 1990) 57. [11] Gunning, The Cinema of Attractions 61.

Prosess of making Russian Vodka essays

Prosess of making Russian Vodka essays Since ancient times Russians were known for their drinking habits, and often when I introduce myself as a Russian, the first respond I get is: Oh, so you are drinking a lot of vodka! Vodka always played a great role through the history of our country thus, deserving the status of a most popular Russian alcoholic drink. Slavic tribal people, powerful tsars and poor peasants knew it .It is now known to every Russian person regardless his status or position. There is no wedding, no funeral, no grief and no happiness if there is no a bottle of Vodka on the table and you dont feel this slightly burning and at the same time unbelievably smooth liquid running through your throat, gently filling every cell of your body with a pleasant warmth. Moreover, you can hardly find a disease that cant be cured by a mouthful of vodka. The quality and taste of vodka didnt really change through the history, however the process of its manufacturing was greatly modified. The invention of high-technological devises had a great impact on it. It made the process easier, cheaper and much faster. Nevertheless, most Russians, especially those who were born and raised in countryside, deliberately accept only traditional process of making this alcoholic drink. The process of manufacturing vodka at home is complicated and very precise. Russians say: If you want vodka to burn your heart and to cool your mind-you should give up not only a piece of your knowledge, but a piece of your soul as well. If you want to savor soft and slightly burning taste of pure Russian vodka and wake up next morning with a clear mind, cautiously follow the steps that this process requires. The process of making vodka starts with the water preparation process. To make vodka absolutely clear you should use mineral water in the process of manufacturing it. ...

Prosess of making Russian Vodka essays

Prosess of making Russian Vodka essays Since ancient times Russians were known for their drinking habits, and often when I introduce myself as a Russian, the first respond I get is: Oh, so you are drinking a lot of vodka! Vodka always played a great role through the history of our country thus, deserving the status of a most popular Russian alcoholic drink. Slavic tribal people, powerful tsars and poor peasants knew it .It is now known to every Russian person regardless his status or position. There is no wedding, no funeral, no grief and no happiness if there is no a bottle of Vodka on the table and you dont feel this slightly burning and at the same time unbelievably smooth liquid running through your throat, gently filling every cell of your body with a pleasant warmth. Moreover, you can hardly find a disease that cant be cured by a mouthful of vodka. The quality and taste of vodka didnt really change through the history, however the process of its manufacturing was greatly modified. The invention of high-technological devises had a great impact on it. It made the process easier, cheaper and much faster. Nevertheless, most Russians, especially those who were born and raised in countryside, deliberately accept only traditional process of making this alcoholic drink. The process of manufacturing vodka at home is complicated and very precise. Russians say: If you want vodka to burn your heart and to cool your mind-you should give up not only a piece of your knowledge, but a piece of your soul as well. If you want to savor soft and slightly burning taste of pure Russian vodka and wake up next morning with a clear mind, cautiously follow the steps that this process requires. The process of making vodka starts with the water preparation process. To make vodka absolutely clear you should use mineral water in the process of manufacturing it. ...

The Environmental Rhetoric of the Simpsons Essay

The Environmental Rhetoric of the Simpsons - Essay Example Todd claims that the popular culture imagery in social commentary is the rhetoric of visual arguments (Todd, p. 137). Visual arguments show persuasive messages to the audience. Blair argues, â€Å"Visual argument is to use symbols to communicate and it can convince the audience (Todd, p. 138). The symbols or comical characters that might be presented through visual argument can convince people. For example, showing a visual argument about the environment and what is needed as process to protect the environment. Some visual images can be able to convince, because they might have personal or social experiences, which affect the individuals. The visual argument evidence is relevant because Todd quotes them from the argument and advocacy, which make visual arguments credible to solve problems that the affects the environment. These evidences are persuasive to the audience because they like to watch the visual arguments. Visual arguments show the environmental problems and the result if no care is followed of the process to help the environment. Todd claims that the nuclear power plant of the Simpsons represents the environmental politics of the real world. There should be visual explanations about the power plant regarding the negligence, which characterizes company standards for disposing of nuclear waste. Wastes are leaking out of the trashcan in a plant coffee room is a painful image. Watching trashcan full of waste in a coffee room and ignoring it is a sign of danger to the environment. T

Why there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rather Essay

Why there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rather than India - Essay Example theories therefore inform that FDIs may be attracted to India as a result of its relatively lower labour costs, lower political risks and its closer proximity to developed OECD states. China on the other hand, may appeal to FDIs as a result of its large consumer market and its more impressive trade with developed OECD countries.3 This paper conducts a comparative analysis of FDI appeal in India and China with a view to demonstrating that there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rather than India. In order to demonstrate the greater potential for FDI activity in China, this paper analyses TNC theories and the determinants of FDI inflows and outflows and examines these determinants in the context of India and China’s economy. This paper is therefore divided into three parts. The first part of this paper provides an analysis of TNC theories and the determinants of FDIs. The second part of this paper examines India’s economy and the final part of this paper examines China’s economy. Since the 1960s several theories of TNC have emerged helping to explain the factors that weigh in favour of or against TNCs investing abroad.4 Traditional neoclassical theory usually represented by eclectic or OLI theories (ownership, localization and internalization advantages) are typically used to explain and predict the â€Å"determinants of FDI†.5 The eclectic theory arose out of J. Markusen’s reconceptualization of John Dunning’s neoclassical theory of investment and trade. Dunning’s neoclassical theory takes the position that FDIs are selected by TNCs as a result of a â€Å"combinations of transport costs, factor endowments and country size.†6 Eclectic theory explains why a company would elect FDI as opposed to producing locally and exporting locally produced goods abroad and where the TNC would most likely direct its FDI. In this regard, Dunning’s eclectic theory identifies the â€Å"why, where and when/how decisions in terms of ownership,

Luxury brands growth in India Essay Example for Free

Luxury brands growth in India Essay Lack of quality luxury space, environment and dearth of high street or super premium malls is a prime reason for restricted presence of luxury brands in India, thus there is a dire need for modernized and dedicated luxury retail areas in protected vicinities such as airports, according to a recent ASSOCHAM-KPMG joint study. Setting up stores in high streets affects luxury retailers profitability due to sky-rocketing rental costs, moreover, high streets are very cluttered, crowded and are unsuitable due to the absence of exclusive ambience that luxury retail demands, according to a study on Challenges highlighted by luxury retailers in India, jointly conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and KPMG. The Indian luxury market grew at a healthy rate of 30% to reach $8. 5 billion in 2013 and is likely to continue growing at a healthy pace of about 20%, and reach $14 billion by 2016 owing to rising number of wealthy people, growing middle class, affluent young consumers and other related factors. Though, India currently enjoys just one-two per cent share in the global luxury market but it is the fifth most attractive market for international retailers. Fragmented and diversified consumer base in India is another significant challenge being faced by luxury retailers in India as high net worth individual ( HNI) consumers are not easy to reach, noted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Luxury brands need to strategically design their growth plans to tap demand across three categories of HNIs, namely the inheritors (traditionally wealthy) who are habitual spenders; the professional elite who are discerning spenders; a large segment of business giants (entrepreneurs, owners of small and medium enterprises) who have the money but lack appreciation for fine luxury goods because of no prior exposure to such products, it added. There is a need for luxury brands to focus on expansion in the type and nature of products being offered and increasingly adopt innovative marketing plans to tap rapidly evolving consumer behavioral trends, said Mr D. S. Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing findings of the study. Luxury retailers need to plan out of the box marketing strategies and come up with products that are tailor-made to suit the whims and fancies of varied Indian customers, said Rawat. Luxury is no longer a status symbol but is now a lifestyle and the global brands need to fast evolve and learn ways to adapt within the local environment so that they can get accustomed to nuances of the market by understanding the cultural identity of Indian consumers. Lack of policy support is another prominent challenge being faced by luxury brands in India, noted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Despite strong demand momentum, Indian luxury market has not been viewed as policies and regulations friendly for the luxury retailers, the report said. Import duties (20-150 per cent) are relatively higher and this is considered as a key apprehension factor among the international players, who may resist them to frame aggressive growth plans for India, noted the study. Clauses such as 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in both single and multi-brand retail requires 30% of local sourcing, announced in the liberalized FDI policy in luxury retail in November 2013 could be difficult for the international luxury players to comply with. The duties are manifold ranging from customs duty, counter veiling duty (CVD), special additional tax, education cess adding to the overall cost, said Rawat. Besides, luxury retail is also affected by the system of maximum retail price as it applies to custom duties and to cascading after the custom taxes, thereby heavily penalizing foreign brands pushing their overall entrance costs by up to 40%. Lack of trained staff is another well-acknowledged challenge facing Indian luxury retail industry which requires greater discretion and knowledge on the part of a salesperson, further highlighted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Shortage of skilled labour for the industry is a major cause of concern as it is difficult to make the local workforce understand the heritage and legacy of the brand along with the specific finishes involved in the manufacturing process, said Rawat. In the absence of these requisite skill sets, brands have no option but to manufacture in their country of origin; lack of skilled workers can also be attributed to the sales function where presentation and interpersonal skills form an integral element for the business. Growing prevalence of counterfeit luxury goods and a grey market are also hampering the growth of the industry, noted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Most of these products belong to segments such as apparel, perfumes and accessories, which are usually lower ticket items and can be easily placed in grey channels. Luxury players in India continue to face supply side issues such as legal loopholes pertaining tointellectual property rights, inadequate means to monitor various emerging channels, and a growing number of online portals, among other factors, the study added. A collective, industry wide effort is likely to have a far-reaching impact in dealing with the issue as seen in other industries such as films and music. Awareness and collaboration also needs to be built with authorities, who have experienced major revenue losses   due to loss of taxes and duties, on how to deal with counterfeits, further suggested the study to counter the growing menace of counterfeit luxury products. Corrective measures need to be taken to banish the growth of grey luxury goods market in India which results in sizeable revenue losses for firms, said Rawat, and added that a strong legal structure combined with effective framework of intellectual property protection would help prevent dilution of brand image and reduced consumer trust. Measures in form of effective intellectual property enforcement, plugging loopholes in the legal and judicial structure and higher conviction rates can help curb the growth of fake luxury products, said Rawat. Information collected through secondary sources such as internet and local newspapers†¦

Introduction Of Leadership And Mentoring Management Essay

Introduction Of Leadership And Mentoring Management Essay According to Northouse, P, leadership is defines as a process whereby a person influences a group of persons to achieve a destination. In simple terms, leadership is a transactional event that occurs between these individuals instead of a characteristic that resides in the leader. This definition also includes goals attainment and these goals are pursuit by the leader and the followers. Another great definition is given by Batten (1989) who defines the leadership as a development of a complete system of expectations in order to determine evoke and implement the strengths of all resources the most important of which is people. 1.1 Definition of Mentoring According to Garvey (2004), mentoring is defines as a human interaction which depends on an intended purpose of the relationship between the individuals. It involves two people talking with a purpose for the main benefit of one of the individual. Mentoring also is a term that describes a confidential relationship between two people in making improvement in work or knowledge and through this process enhancing their capacity (Clutterbuck, D Megginson, D . 1995). 1.2 Characteristic of a Good Leader As Cox, D (1996) has stated leadership is a position that must be earned day by day. Effective leaders are foremost effective people in an organization. Thus, the characteristics of the leaders are very important. The following list five of characteristics that seem especially important to make up a good leader: Integrity Good leaders who possess the higher standard of integrity will make their followers trust them. A leader who is centered in integrity will meet his or her commitment and will be honest in all dealings. Therefore, followers will find them reliable and trustable. George, M.D (2005) has written that integrity requires the ability to understand oneself honestly and acceptance of ones self. Confidence Building self-confidence is always the preliminary to become a good leader. Having confidence in leaders is about having belief that they will act in effective and efficient way to accomplish goals. As Vojta (2010) stated, leader who possess confidence in himself or herself has the ability to influence an organization internally and externally. However, Adair (1997) agrees that confidence is essential but overconfidence will lead to arrogance. Vision A good leader possesses great vision to foresee a variable future state for the organization. Leaders need to be able to makes vision tangible and communicate the vision clearly to organization in a way that gains commitment. According to Bennis, W (2009), vision is an important characteristic to be an effective leader because lack of a clear vision will lower the effectiveness of a leader. Respect Respect should not be restricted only from the team members to the leader. As a good leader, he or she must treats all team members with respect and dignity all the times. Respect is simply treating team members as leader wish to be treated. This is a vital characteristic of an effective leader. Shriver, S (2011) suggests that leader must make sure they treat all human beings with respect regardless of differences. Locus of control Lee, Don Tsang and Eric (2001) state that a successful leader shows a high standard of internal locus of control. Leaders high on the internal locus of control are more likely to experience success and they also believed that their success is due to their personal efforts that they implement. 1.3 Characteristic of a Good Mentor To be a good mentor, mentor need to display certain characteristics. Although not all successful mentors will displays every characteristics listed as below, but these characteristic are highly desirable characteristics for all mentors. There are certain key characteristics a good mentor should possess: Enthusiastic A successful mentor believes that the mentee will enthusiastically share the knowledge and skills with the mentee. Mentor allows mentee to explore their feelings and thoughts openly with them. A good mentor possesses enthusiastic attitude are interested in and willing to listen with care and concern (Starcevich, Matt. 2005). Patience Effective mentors are patient by nature. They allow the person being mentored to make mistakes and encourage them learn from the mistakes. A good mentor will know how to respond with patience and grace. Honest A good mentor is the one who willing to provide honest feedback to the mentee. Good mentor thinks that it is their responsibilities to be honest to the mentee. They believe that there are huge lessons for mentee to learn as they speak the truth, transparent about their past experience and share with honesty (Cate, R. 2012). Supportive In order to be an effective mentor, he or she has to be supportive rather than critical. Good mentor are willing to give moral support and encouragement to help mentee to improve their performance. Most of the mentors have already achieved success and they are now giving support to mentee to meet the goal (Campbell, M.J. 2006). 1.4 Leadership Roles and Responsibilities There are several roles and responsibilities that a leader has to consider. Firstly, the world renowned business trainer, Tracy, B.S (2002) suggests that the role and responsibility of a leader is to solve problems and make decision. Leader has to make sound decisions that help the organization to achieve its target. To make a suitable decision, leader need to ensure that all discussion is productive and solve all the greater problems, in order to lead the team toward the decision. Secondly, leader has the role and responsibility to set a good example for the followers. Leader must strive for a good ethic and traits which leader wants his or her followers to follow. Thirdly, according to Fayol, H (1949), delegation of tasks is an important role and responsibilities of leadership. Leaders have to recognize the abilities of their subordinates by assigning them with important task. Leaders must understand the strengths and weaknesses of subordinates so that they may assign the task to a proper person. Lastly, leaders possess the role and responsibility to motivate their followers to produce effective result. To do so, leaders should encourage them by giving recognition awards, remind them the desire to achieve and give support in their work (Rampur, S . 2011). 1.5 Mentoring Roles and Responsibilities The mentor plays certain roles and responsibilities. Firstly, according to Byington, T (2010), mentor has the role and responsibilities to provide guidance and feedback to mentees on task progression. A mentor should provide guidance based on their experience and give constructive feedback which is in connection to the established target. Secondly, mentor has the role and responsibility to actively listen to their mentees problems. The mentor need to show respect by listening attentively to the problems of the mentee (Marquardt,M.J and Loan,P. 2006). Thirdly, as a mentor, he or she possesses the role and responsibility to generate motivation with the mentee. Mentors can motivate the mentee through encouragement or rewards, to drive a mentee to meet the ambitious goal. Lastly, mentors have the role and responsibility to act as a positive role model for their mentees. In order to set a good role model for the mentee, mentor must demonstrates a positive attitude and strive for a good wo rk ethics. This can helps to sets an example for their mentees to follow (Parkinson, L. 2010). 1.6 Benefits of Leadership According to Bennis (1999), the benefit of leadership is that it helps to increase productivity. Leaders have the role to provide guidance to their team members, to motivate team members and to solve any problems. Thus, team members are empowered to succeed and increase the productivity. Robert Zemsky and Susan Shaman of the University of Pennsylvania have conducted a research of 3,200 U.S. companies, the research showed that a 10 percent increase in spending for development leadership will increase an 8.5 percent in productivity. Besides that, leadership also helps to develop a better vision which simplifies in solving problem and also creating a mission statement and actionable goals. This statement and goals will be used to lead the team member to success. In addition, one of the benefits of leadership is limits employee turnover. This is because leadership encourage leader to motivate the employees, respect them and provide support to them to make them stay on the job. As a resul t, companies get to keep talented employees while reducing the recruitment costs (Jones, P.B. 2008). Leadership can also help a company maintain focus on its business. In large companies, there are many managers attempting to make decision. Leadership can get managers and staff on the same page and let them focus on the original company vision (Vitez, O. 2009). 1.7 Benefits of Mentoring According to Makin, L (2010), mentoring can benefit the organization by retaining the business knowledge and practical experience from long-term employees. This is because mentor will transfer their insight, knowledge and past experience of the company with the mentee so that mentee can gains potential knowledge about the organisation from the mentor. Besides that, mentoring can benefit the organization to become more productive. Mentor will provide guidance and help employee to seek solution to overcome the problem. Hence, employee can accomplish the task quickly, accurately and increase the productivity of the business. Organisations may incur additional cost problems when employee solves their problems inaccurately without a mentor. Moreover, mentoring allows organization to enhance professional development through sharing of skills, information and behaviors. Lastly, mentoring also can help to improving skills such as communication, listening and questioning skills. This could he lp mentee to gain better understanding of how to interact with others now and in the future (Morley, M. 2012). 1.8 Principles of Leadership Sugar, B (2008) has demonstrated that there are several principles linked to leadership. They are : Be technically and tactically proficient Leader must be technically proficient by demonstrate the ability to accomplish the mission and able to answering the questions. Technically competent leader will earn the respect of their followers.   Seek self-improvement Leaders must have a clear understanding of themselves through determine their strong and weak personal qualities. Self-improvement can be achieved by questioning and observing. Leader can seek for honest evaluation of others of their leadership ability. This could help them to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Make a sound and timely decision As a leader, he must be able to make a sound and timely decision through practicing estimates of the situation. To make a sound decision, leaders need to consider the effects of the decisions in the organisation and also accept the suggestions of the subordinates. Set an example Set the example to followers is considered one of the leadership principles as leadership is taught by example. If leaders can keep a positive attitude and high personal standards, then leaders can get the same attitude and same personal standard of their followers. This is because leader is an inspiration to all the followers. 1.9 Principles of Mentoring Rolfe, A (n.d) has written that mentoring is underpinned by several key principles that must be understood by mentor. They are : The professional relationship Mentor and mentee must maintain a professional relationship through acknowledge the one anothers contribution and celebrate their achievements. Other than that, mentee and mentor need to develop mutual trust and respect each other to maintain a professional relationship. Needs and Goals This principle drives the relationship between mentor and mentee. The mentor helps mentee by determining the desire goal, giving feedback and formulating steps to achieve the goal. Then mentee will consider the steps given by the mentor and implements the action to achieve the desire goal. Active Listening Mentors often act as sounding boards for the mentee. Mentor must be able to listen the mentees questions, ideas and plans. Therefore, their conversation becomes a dialogue where ideas and plans are shared. Limitations Mentee can seek for the idea and information from mentor. However, mentee must also refer to other resources such as professional counselling services. A mentee must recognize the limitations of a mentor and cannot demand a mentor to know everything. Part 2 : Discussion on the Competencies needed Introduction of Competencies Dubois, D (1998) defines competencies as certain personal characteristics, knowledge, skills, mindsets, skills and thought patterns that applied whether in singularly or in combinations of these, to bring a great performance. 2.1 Competencies needed by leaders The first key competency needed by leaders is self-awareness which allows leaders to have a clear understanding of their personality including strengths and weaknesses, reactions to problems and sources of frustration (Schein, E.H. 1978; Goleman, D. 1998). Both Schein (1978) and Goleman (1998) suggest that leaders having a clear perception of their personalities can help them to regulate of their emotions and make a change they want. It also enables leaders to understand their followers so that they can maintain an effective relationship with their followers. The second competency needed by leaders is engagement in personal transformation. Brake (1997) describes this competency as a desire to enhance personal skills and knowledge and stay up to date. The reflections of personal transformation are strong, willing to learn new things, re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ective learning and no limit assumptions. The leader who possesses the competency of engagement in personal transformation will accept the criticism and learn from the criticism (Spreitzer, 1997). Engagement in personal transformation is also includes items such as being open to change (Jordan and Cartwright, 1998) and willing to change personal perceptions (Harris and Moran, 1987). The third competency is visioning thinking. Frank (2005) describes this competency as the ability to provide a vision, foresee the future within the organisation. To create a best vision requires leader to get many ideas and supports from others. Hence, leaders can partnering with their team members, key employees or executive members throughout the organisation. 2.1 Competencies needed by mentors Building Rapport is one of the most fundamental mentoring competencies needed by mentors. Kram (1983) defines building rapport as the skills of the mentor to recognize and manage positively a lack of rapport. An inappropriate balance of common ground and dissimilarity will lead to weak common bond between mentor and mentee. Mentor can use open-ended questions to find some common ground between them to help establish an instant rapport between mentor and mentee. The second competency needed by mentors is active listening. An efficient mentor has to listen on all levels and understand what is the mentee body language message tells, what messages do mentors get through observing their facial expressions. These elements tell clearer than the words alone (Rogers, C.R. 2009). Rogers (2009) also suggests the balance of power is one of the competencies that are found in the most mentors. This competency enables mentor to determine the balance of power between mentor and mentee and to be understand about their desire achievements. Mentor has to empower his or her mentee to work out the skills at mentors disposal and impose his own agenda in order to achieve mentors goal. Part 3 : Mentoring at Work During February 2011 to November 2011, researcher worked as a senior accounting assistant for an accountancy firm Wezmart International Company, before taking up a degree in Teesside University. During that working period, researcher has encountered many mentoring opportunities. Researcher has applied several roles and responsibilities, characteristics and skills as a mentor. It also helped researcher to gain lots of valuable experience and knowledge in the mentoring scheme. While researchers works involved a range of mentoring tasks, there are several characteristics of a mentor that researcher has displayed in mentoring the beginning accounting juniors. Firstly, researcher has to exhibit the patience and tolerance in mentoring juniors to accomplish their task. Kanaskie (2006) suggests that mentor must possessed patience as all tasks take time and learning a new knowledge requires repetition. Therefore, researcher allows her juniors to make mistakes and she believed that her juniors will learn from the mistakes. For example, researcher showed patience by invested time to teach juniors how to use accounting software to generate financial statements of the company. Secondly, researcher was very supportive to coach beginning accountants to improve their accounting knowledge wherever their knowledge level. Researcher provided her juniors with helpful instructional support, direction and encouragement to support her juniors to provide accurate and timely acc ounting reports of the companies. Thirdly, researcher has to display the characteristic of empathy. Card Rogers (1985) describes empathy as accepting others without making judgments. For example, researcher accepted the new accounting staff as a developing accountant and did not judge the accounting reports prepared by them as being poorly prepared. Empathy allows the researcher to gain clear understand the perspective of the mentee. During that time, researcher has possessed certain roles and responsibilities of a mentor to maintain a successful relationship between her juniors. One of the roles and responsibilities is provides development feedback to the juniors. Researcher, as senior of her juniors, understood that she had an obligation to offer guidance and feedback on her juniors works. This allowed her juniors to identify their strengths or weaknesses about their accounting works and then motivate them to work on areas of weakness. Besides that, the researcher also assisted the juniors to build self-confidence. Juniors may feel lack of confidence to navigate challenging accounting tasks as they were still new in the career. Therefore, researcher encouraged juniors to take risks, accept any challenges situation and overcome difficulties to meet their achievement. Researcher also suggested juniors to have a realistic expectation and make a positive decision in order to help them build self-confidence. Moreover, researcher also possessed the mentors roles of listen actively and be sensitive to the mentees needs. Researcher had to listen without judgment and interruption to enable juniors to bring their problems or concerns to the surface (Ryan, V. 2012). Last but not least, researcher also set a positive example to her juniors by showing good personal attitudes (Loretto, P. 2012). For example, researcher followed all the instructions given by accounting executive and prepared timely financial reports so that researcher can demand the same positive behaviour from juniors. In order to assess researchers potential to mentor others, researcher has summarised the researchers competencies in a theoretical framework which suggested from Clutterbuck (2000) within Figure 1 below. click to expand Figure 1:  The 10 mentor competencies suggested from Clutterbuck (2000). Researcher believes that mentoring requires a whole range of competencies to meet a desire goal. These competencies are include self-awareness, communication competence, good humour, interest in developing others, goal clarity, behavioural awareness, conceptual modeling, professional savvy, commitment to own learning and relationship management. First of all, researcher possessed the self-awareness in order to understand and control their emotions, strengths and weaknesses. For example, researcher handled her own impatience and tiredness appropriately when giving suggestions to her juniors. This helped juniors to understand the effects emotions may have on behavior and also maintain a good relationship with the juniors. Researcher also developed the communication competence to meet the needs of juniors. Researcher practiced effective communication competence with juniors by understand the juniors interpersonal style and using active listening. For an instance, researcher listened to a junior described his confusion of unable to determine which accounting methods will be best suited for accounting task. Researcher then provided constructive suggestion to help juniors overcome her confusion. This could optimize the communication between their both. Besides that, researcher also practiced good humour to boost the morale of her juniors. Researcher believed that it is the best method to relieve stress and tiredness from the juniors (Clutterbuck, D. 2000). For example, researcher tried to relieve tension of juniors during the tough times, especially the accounting report submission period. Other than that, researcher also possessed the high interest in developing others. Researcher is interested to assist her juniors to achieve their potential. By providing encouragement and supports, such as encourage juniors to participate in accounting update seminar that will improve juniors accounting knowledge. Moreover, researcher developed goal clarity to help the juniors understand and determine the achievable goal. Researcher need to discuss the goal with the juniors and set a dateline to juniors to reach the goal, such as complete the ABC company financial reports within one week, to ensure that the juniors can accomplish the goal within the deadline (Adrian, Z. 2010). Researcher also practiced behavioural awareness to have a clearer understanding of juniors personal behaviours. For an instance, if researcher noticed her junior is an impatient person, researcher will makes quick decision and try to shorter her speech when communicating with the junior. This helped researcher to maintain a good relationship with accounting juniors in the organisation. In addition, researcher also achieved the conceptual modelling competence. The models can be self-created, drawn from elsewhere or created on the spot (Clutterbuck, D. 2000). In order to help juniors easier to understand the models of strategic planning, company structure or career planning, researcher has created a portfolio of models and shared the models to the juniors. Researcher also gained professional savvy through participates in various professional seminars such as IFRS for Accountants In Industry and Practice seminar, pay attention to all the information given by the seminar lecturer and then combined it with her own accounting experience. Researcher believed these can helped her to develop professional savvy and make sound judgement. Furthermore, researcher also committed to self-learning as a role model for accounting juniors. Researcher must improve her own growth if she wants to help juniors develop (Mind Tool Ltd, 2012). Researcher took the opportunities in new experiment such as taking on challenging tasks assigned by accounting executive. This opportunities assisted researcher for powerful learning and helped researcher to enhance her knowledge. Last but not least, researcher also possessed the competence of building relationship management. In order to maintain rapport with juniors, researcher has to develop trust, give respect the juniors and determine some common ground between juniors such as both attended the same high school or same hobbies. Researcher also showed concern for mentee and remembered some personal information of the juniors background such as academic background and birthday date. This helped researcher to establish instant rapport with her juniors. Conclusion

Harry Martinson’s Views from a Tuft of Grass Essay

Harry Martinson’s Views from a Tuft of Grass is one literary piece that deals with nature- its innate beauty and the special bond humans have with nature. The book contains several essays and a poem, and all of these explore the subject of the natural world around us admirably well. Through his vivid imagery and skillful use of words, Martinson takes the reader into his colorful and inviting world. Undoubtedly, valuing nature is one of the book’s major themes. Martinson makes his readers aware of the significance of nature to a person’s life. In one essay entitled Summer Reflections, he tells of his own longing for the summer season as opposed to that of a person coming from the tropics. He says that people who come from arctic or semi-artic places are more aware of the summer and that the word â€Å"summer† holds more meaning to them than for those who come from the opposite part of the earth. He tells this with such clarity and directness that one cannot help but feel the same longing for the heat and colors brought about by the summer. He makes us understand nature more by taking us to a beautiful world that sadly, often goes unnoticed and unappreciated. Through his illustrative essays we are implored to be more appreciative and aware of the natural wonders we have. Another literary theme that is implied in this book is the significant place folktales hold in shaping an author’s writing style. Martinson gives importance to these childhood stories. A spellbinding storyteller himself, he mentions folktales that he, as a Swedish child, believed in. He said that folktales invariably decide what kind of a storyteller an author would be. And through this, we would know what the author’s sense of personal aesthetic is. â€Å"MAJOR THEMES OF VIEWS FROM A TUFT OF GRASS† PAGE # 2 In his essay On Nature Writing, the importance of science is the major theme explored. The author implied that reality and imagination must be entwined before we can accurately paint nature’s innate beauty though words. Science, poetry and nature should be woven together so as to achieve perfection in writing. He said that we should combine scientific knowledge with artistry in order to capture the true mysteries as well as the aesthetic value of nature. One cannot go without the other- both are equally essential tools in nature writing. He gives advice to writers to be more sensitive and to challenge the power of words usually used to describe nature. He insists that writers should be more insightful so as to paint a clearer and more beautiful depiction of nature. In another essay, Martinson believes that the map is a significant piece of nature scientifically drawn into a piece of paper. He asserts that the map is a work of art and must be given importance too. Definitely, Martinson wants to give importance to science with respect to nature as explored in his essays. Truly, Martinson’s Views from a Tuft of Grass is an adorable work of art. It uses a very different approach to nature writing. It explores the subtle territories between nature and the factors that affect a writer’s depiction of it. Very few writers can achieve what Martinson has achieved: he has not only succeeded in beautifully illustrating nature through words, creating wonderful prose, but he has also succeeded in provoking significant, if not stirring, thoughts and memories in his readers. He makes his readers realize that we, as humans, are but a dot in the vast and varied environment around us. Humbling and even belittling, but very thought provoking. REFERENCE Martinson, Harry, Anderson, Erland, and Lars Nordstrom. Views from a Tuft of Grass. Los Angeles, California: Green Integer Books, 2005.

Critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of England being a mixed economy rather than a pure command or completely free-market.

Abstract: Different economies of the world choose one of the three economic systems: command economy, free market economy, and mixed economy to suit their needs and aims most appropriately. While each of these economic systems have their own advantages and disadvantages, most of the economies of the world are currently mixed economies. The command economy system has become substantially outdated as most economies, such as China and the Soviet Union, are transitioning into mixed economic systems. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each of the economic systems and particularly focuses upon the advantages and disadvantages that England has of being a mixed economy rather than a free market economy or a command economy. The paper sheds light upon issues such as unemployment, medical care, transport, and the increasing rate of immigrants that the country currently has to face. Introduction: Countries around the globe adopt various economic systems which suit their own circumstances or which their governments feel would be most appropriate to promote prosperity in the country. The economic systems of countries also evolve over time and may change from one particular system to another when the government, economic advisors of the country, and the public deem appropriate. There are three main types of economic systems which include the free market economy, the command economy, and the mixed economy (Ostrom, 2010). While most of the countries in the world are mixed economies, there are examples of countries which are closer to being free market economies or command economies. As with other economic concepts, each of the economic systems mentioned have their own respective advantages and disadvantages (Ostrom, 2010). Accordingly, governments and economic advisors devise economic policies which classify the economy into the categories of one of the three types of economic sys tems. However, governments may change these policies and may also change the economic systems adopted in a country when they feel it is required, although this process may take a long period of time (Ostrom, 2010). This paper will aim to explain the three types of economic systems and their advantages and disadvantages and then commence with a critical evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of England being a mixed economy rather than a complete free market economy or a pure command economy. The paper will begin with an explanation of the free market economy and the advantages and disadvantages of the free market economy, followed by the command economy and the advantages and disadvantages of the command economy. The paper will continue with an explanation of the mixed economy and the advantages and disadvantages of the mixed economy and the application of these concepts to the economy of England. The paper will then critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of En gland being a mixed economy and conclude with a summary of the main points mentioned and recommendations for improvements in economic policy for the country. Free Market Economy: The free market economy is an economic system which is purely driven by the market forces of demand and supply and the price mechanism. Thus, in the free market economy, those goods and services which are in high demand are produced and supplied and those that consumers are not willing to pay a high price for are not produced or supplied. The free market economy promotes the privatization of all industries as all resources are owned by private individuals in a free market economy and there is little or no government intervention (Polak, 2013). The government does not nationalize any industries and does not interfere in the production of goods or services. The free market economy is also known as the â€Å"laissez’faire† economy and producers operate upon the profit motive as the economy is in a state of pure competition (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2013). The advantages of a free market economy include that consumers are provided with a variety of products at potentially lo w prices as there are many producers competing for market share. Consumers are also likely to benefit from high quality products as producers would be competing with one another on the basis of factors such as quality and price. Consumers would also benefit from additional advantages such as convenience, variety, and availability of choice. Also, consumers would easily be able to find the products which they are demanding as the market would be operating according to the price mechanism (Polak, 2013). There would be higher investment in research and development and more chances of larger technological breakthroughs as firms would be competing to gain a competitive advantage in the design of their products /services and/or gaining a cost advantage in their production processes. The free market economy may also mean higher productivity levels, higher wages, and more work opportunities for individuals. This is because the economy would be in a state of rigorous competition, making room for more workers to gain higher incomes as businesses would also be competing to recruit the most talented and skilled workers. An economy may prosper and increase its GDP when operating upon a free market economy system, yet it is often considered that the disadvantages of a free market economy system outnumber its advantages (Bremmer, 2010). The disadvantages of a free market economy system include the fact that there is likely to be a high level of inequality in the distribution of income as the rich would be likely to get richer and the poor would be likely to get poorer. Additionally, as there would be no or little government intervention, the public would not be provided with benefits such as welfare schemes, pension schemes, and may not even be provided with fair pay according to the cost of living. Problems such as inflation and the occurrence of monopolies would also not be prevented by the government as the government would have no major role in the economy. There may be wastage of resources as the economy would be in a state of pure competition and expenditure would be incurred on activities such as advertising, marketing, and continuous innovation of products/services (Coates, 2014). Essential services would not be provided to the public such as free medical care, police and army services, and education (Robertson, 2013). De-merit goods such as drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and other products would be produced without interference or control from public authorities. Public goods which are not produced for a profit but are produced because they are necessary such as street lighting, water, roads, and other such products/services are either priced very high or not produced at all. Accordingly, a free market economy may be beneficial for the rich but may be highly detrimental for the poor. There is no example of a complete free market economy in the world but the USA comes closest to the definition of a free market or capitalist economy. This is becaus e the USA has approximately 30% government spending in its GD, one of the lowest figures in the world, with 70% expenditure incurred by the private sector (Coates, 2014). A pure command economy is the opposite of a free market economy and will be explained in the next section of this paper. Command/Planned Economy: A planned or command economy is the opposite of a free market economy and is an economic system which is completely controlled by the government. In a planned economy, most or all resources are owned by the government and the government decides what is produced in the economy and the price charged for the products/services. Consumers have little or no say in what is produced and all industries are nationalized. A planned economy also sets out the wages of workers and may also impose quotas upon the number of goods purchased by a single household. Command or planned economies are sometimes imposed by governments in order to maintain control and to attempt to make better use of resources. However, the command or planned economy has not been a highly feasible system to adopt in the current economic environment, resulting in countries, such as China and Russia, to have to evolve or change their economic systems (Hummel & Stringham, 2010). The advantages associated with a planned economy include a reduction in the wastage of resources and a more equal distribution of income between people of that country. Moreover, the population would be provided with services such as education, roads, water, medical care, and other facilities upon the government’s budget. Governments often wish to adopt this system in order to prevent riots or unrest in the country as most of the people in the country would be at the same social level and would not feel that the system is unjust. Therefore, it allows the government to have more control on the economy and control economic problems such as inflation, deflation, unemployment, poverty, and other similar issues (Calomoris, Fisman, & Wang, 2010). There are many disadvantages associated with a command economy which include the inefficient allocation of resources as resources are not allocated according to the price mechanism. Thus, resources may be wasted in producing things that consumers may not want. Likewise, producers and wor kers do not have any incentive to work hard as they are not allowed to own wealth and are simply working for the government which would stunt the prosperity and progress of that country. Consumers would also have little choice or variety and would also have lower standards of living as they would have a lack of products/services to choose from. Additionally, it is difficult for the government to provide all goods and services efficiently themselves and this may mean that the provision of some important goods/services may be prevented or may be provided inconveniently. Countries with planned economies may suffer in global trade and other such factors as they would not be able to motivate their citizens to exert their best efforts into production and trade without giving them personal incentives. Thus, this also causes a lack of foreign investment and a high tax rate for the provision of government-funded services. Also, it is difficult to determine how the government would decide wha t should be produced in the economy and how they can easily anticipate consumer demand (Warner, 2011). Accordingly, the planned economic system has become outdated as previous communist or planned economies such as China, Russia, and even Sweden are now in transition towards a more mixed economic system which will be explained in the next section of this paper. Mixed Economy: The mixed economic system is a combination of the free market economy and the planned economy as this system has both a public sector and a private sector. As mentioned before, most of the countries of the world are mixed economies as they have a public sector and a private sector. The mixed economy allows the government to intervene to provide essential goods and services such as police, medical care, education, welfare and pension schemes, and other similar services while the private sector is free to produce goods and services as well (Castells, 2011). However, the government will intervene where needed and prevent the production of de-merit goods and prevent producers from charging unfair prices amongst other things. Consumers receive the benefit of variety and choice in goods and services and are given an incentive to work hard while they are also facilitated by the government in the form of free goods (public goods) and services (Meyer, 2011). The mixed economy combines the adv antage of the free market economy and the planned economy and also shares some of the disadvantages of both respective economies. England is a mixed economy and thus benefits from the advantages associated with not being a complete free market economy or a pure command economy, but also suffers from a few of the disadvantages of not being either of these economies (Meyer, 2011). England’s Economic System: England, while previously being one of the strongest economies in the world, is currently plagued with several economic problems, which have slightly weakened its economic system. Being a mixed economy, England’s government spends about 40% of its GDP upon government spending while the remaining 60% belongs to the country’s private sector. The 40% of government spending is 10% more than what is spent in the USA as a percentage of GDP (Cleaver, 2013). This is because England’s government spends a larger proportion of its tax revenue upon the provision of more comprehensive health services, unemployment, and welfare schemes for the poor, and the transport system of the United Kingdom (Castells, 2011). The country is benefitting substantially by not being closer to a pure free market economy as the government of the country plays a vital role in stabilizing several economic aspects of the country. First of all, the unemployment rate of England is increasing rapidly, which means that it is essential for the government to provide support for the unemployed. If the government had little or no role to play in the economy, the unemployment rate may have even been higher and the number of people that were currently out of jobs may have been out on the roads without provision of basic facilities (Gillespie, 2011).Moreover, as the country is currently in a state of recession, without government intervention, the living standards of people would have decreased substantially, putting the economy in further turmoil and in a possibly irreversible situation (Gillespie, 2011). England is also home to a large number of immigrants and students who form a large part of the GDP in the country annually. If the country had been a complete free market economy, the country was likely to be in a state of chaos as there would be no control upon the immigrants entering the country and there would be no provision of facilities for these immigrants and students which wo uld further burden the country with increasing crime rates, further unemployment, and increasing numbers of homeless people filling the streets. Besides, with increasing numbers of immigrants and an increasing unemployment rate in the local population, the country is also benefitting from government spending upon free health services which keep the citizens and visitors of the country under high quality healthcare and helps prevent the spread of dangerous diseases from people who cannot afford expensive medical treatment. The implications of this control imposed by the government include a better and fairer distribution of income along with the provision of unemployment benefits, free education, pension and welfare schemes, and high quality healthcare for all people alike (Cleaver, 2013). Furthermore, another essential part of the government’s role in the economy includes the transport system which is subsidized for students, senior citizens, and people with lower incomes. Th us, the government is responsible for the provision of essential public goods and services which are needed to promote the welfare of the citizens of England and make them a prosperous economy (Bohstedht, 2010). Conversely, the disadvantages associated with England being a mixed economy rather than a free market economy include the fact that some services may be provided more efficiently by the private sector including healthcare, as the National Health Service is taking up a substantial part of taxpayer’s money and the standards of the service are also slightly deteriorating resulting in long waiting lists for patients who require treatment. Moreover, if the government privatized several more industries and promoted an environment of pure competition, it may result in the creation of additional jobs and help decrease the unemployment rate. Additionally, increased consumer spending and investment may also attract further foreign direct investment into the country and help bri ng the country out of its current recessionary state as England’s foreign direct investment rate has decreased over the years and UK’s own companies have increased their investment in other emerging markets. The public has also been highly verbal and rebellious regarding the increasing tax rate in the country which would have been non-existent had the country been a free market economy (Cleaver, 2013). On the other hand, while there are advantages and disadvantages associated with the country being a mixed economy rather than a free market economy, there are also advantages and disadvantages associated with the country not being a pure command economy. The advantage that England has of not being a pure command economy is that it has been able to motivate its population to work hard and become a progressive state as workers are allowed to accumulate wealth instead of limiting the growth of its citizens and nationalizing all its industries. While there is some inefficien cy in the allocation of resources, the country’s private sector does operate upon the price mechanism thus allowing the efficient allocation of resources according to the market forces of demand and supply (Boaden, 2010). England has also been able to encourage high amounts of foreign direct investment and the immigration of skilled labour which would not have been possible if the country had been a pure command economy. Consumers are also provided with a variety of high quality goods and services which has increased the country’s standard of living and has also enabled it to be an active participant in global trade (Boaden, 2010). Yet, there are certain disadvantages that the country has of not being a pure command economy and being a mixed economy which include the unequal distribution of wealth amongst its citizens which is causing increasing unrest. Moreover, there is ample wastage of resources in the economy because of increasing competition between firms and the country is suffering from several scandals in the realms of corporate social responsibility, quality, unfair pricing, and other problems in its private sector (Bohstedht, 2010).The country has also had to face immense problems because of the large number of immigrants entering the country each year and if the country had been a pure command economy, it would have not had so many potential immigrants to deal with (Boaden, 2010). Conclusion: England is best suited to be a mixed economy like most of the other economies of the world as this economic system enables the economy to combine the advantages of both the complete free market economy and the pure command economy. Additionally, while the country is progressing in the private sector, government intervention is essential for the provision of necessary public goods and services, without which the economy would substantially deteriorate the conditions of the poor. However, while the country has nationalized many of its essential services, the country should consider allowing privatization in the healthcare industry as the burden of taxes to pay for the NHS is increasing while the quality of the service provided by the NHS is deteriorating. Moreover, this is an essential industry which cannot be plagued with delays as is currently happening with the NHS. Thus, being a mixed economy, England should slightly further reduce its government spending to allow the private secto r to benefit further while the government can exert legal control over the activities of firms in the private sector. Furthermore, the government must encourage private industries to increase employment, incomes, and consumer spending, and thus lead to a higher GDP and a more progressive nation. The country would also easily be able to pull itself out of its current recessionary state and reduce the tax burden on its citizens. References Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (Eds.). (2013). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press. Boaden, N. (2010). Urban policy-making: influences on county boroughs in England and Wales. Cambridge University Press. Bohstedt, J. (2010). The Politics of Provisions: Food Riots, Moral Economy, and Market Transition in England, C. 1550-1850. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Bremmer, I. (2010). â€Å"The end of the free market: who wins the war between states and corporations?.† European View. Vol. 9(2) pp. 249-252. Calomiris, C. W., Fisman, R., & Wang, Y. (2010). â€Å"Profiting from government stakes in a command economy: Evidence from Chinese asset sales.† Journal of Financial Economics. Vol. 96(3) pp.399-412. Castells, M. (2011). The power of identity: The information age: Economy, society, and culture (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons. Cleaver, T. (2013). Understanding the world economy. Routledge. Coates, D. (2014). â€Å"The UK: Less a liberal market economy, more a post-imperial one.† Capital & Class. Vol. 38(1) pp.171-182. Gillespie, A. (2011). Foundations of economics. Oxford University Press. Hummel, J. R., & Stringham, E. P. (2010). â€Å"If a Pure Market econoMy Is so Good, Why doesn’t It exIstthe Importance of changing Preferences versus Incentives in social change.† Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. Vol.13 pp.31-52. Meyer, M. W. (2011). â€Å"Is it capitalism?.† Management and Organization Review, Vol.7 (1) pp.5-18. Ostrom, E. (2010). â€Å"Beyond markets and states: polycentric governance of complex economic systems.† The American Economic Review. pp. 641-672. Polak, J. J. (2013). An international economic system (Vol. 7). Routledge. Robertson, P. E. (2013). Does a Free Market Economy Make Australia More Or Less Secure in a Globalised World?. University of Western Australia, Business School, Economics. Warner, M. (2011). â€Å"Labour markets in China: Coming to terms with globalization.† The dynamics of Asian labour markets: Balancing control and flexibility. New York, NY, Routledge. pp. 134-147.

Compensation and Benefits †Deer Valley Homebuilders, Inc.

Compensation and Benefits – Deer Valley Homebuilders, Inc. Free Online Research Papers Deer Valley Homebuilders was founded in January 2004 by eight gentlemen with over 125 years of industry experience, including General Management, Production, Sales, Customer Service, and Finance. The management team will operate to the highest standard of business, moral ethics, and will approach business with an open mind through communication, positive attitude, and teamwork. Deer Valley Homes has about 430 employees, which build quality homes. Deer Valley Homes focus on manufactured mobile homes and has a small number of modular homes. These homes appear to be manufactured mobile homes that are triple wide and bigger. They have limited architectural options but are a better choice than standard manufactured homes. (Deer Valley Corp, n.d., p. 1) For many corporations and companies, it is standard practice to offer highly discounted access to medical and dental insurance to its full-time employees. Typically, these companies pay a large portion of their employees health insurance bills. The employees forfeit a certain fraction of their pay toward the rest of the benefits. The amount they pay is nominal in comparison to the average price of a full health insurance package to a typical citizen. Currently, Deer Valley Homes does not offer a 401K program. A traditional 401(k) plan offers the maximum flexibility of the three types of plans. Employers have the discretion to make contributions on behalf of all participants, to match employees’ deferrals, or do both. These contributions can be subject to a vesting schedule (which provides that an employee’s right to employer contributions becomes non- forfeitable only after a period of time). In addition, a traditional 401(k) allows participants to make pre-tax contributions through payroll deductions. Annual testing ensures that benefits for rank and file employees are proportional to benefits for owners/managers. fA SIMPLE 401(k) plan was created so those small businesses could have an effective cost-efficient way to offer retirement benefits to their employees. A SIMPLE 401(k) plan is not subject to the annual nondiscrimination tests that apply to the traditional plans. Similar to a safe harbor 401(k) plan, the employer is required to make employer contributions that are fully vested. This type of 401(k) plan is available to employers with 100 or fewer employees who received at least $5000 in compensation from the employer for the preceding calendar year. In addition, employees that are covered by a SIMPLE 401(k) plan may not receive any contributions or benefit accruals under any other plans of the employer. Savings Incentive Plan for Employees (SIMPLE plans) There are two types of SIMPLE plans: SIMPLE IRAs and SIMPLE 401(k)s. Both are simplified retirement plans designed for small employers with 100 or fewer employees. Each plan allows for voluntary employee pre-tax deferrals equal the lesser of 100% of compensation or the maximum deferral limit. The maximum limit is: Year SIMPLE Elective Limit Age 50+ Catch-up 2009 $9,000 $1,500 2010 $10,000 $2,000 2011 on $10,000 $2,500 The employer is required to make a contribution to the plan. The employer may choose from the following contribution options: A non-elective (basic) contribution of at least 2% of compensation for all eligible employees earning at least $5,000; OR at least 100% matching contribution up to the first 3% compensation. With SIMPLE IRA plans only, the employer has the option to reduce the matching contribution as low as 1% for no more than two out of five years ending with the current year. The option to reduce the matching contribution below 3% is not available with SIMPLE 401(k) plans. Withdrawal amounts form a SIMPLE IRA during the first two years of participation would generally be subject to a 25% penalty tax; the normal 10% penalty applies afterward. The employee must always be 100% vested in both employee deferrals and employer contributions. To offer a SIMPLE plan, employers must satisfy two requirements: 1. During the previous year, the employer had 100 or fewer employees who earned at least $5,000, and 2. The employer does not sponsor any other retirement plan Although employers can open plans up to more employees, the minimum requirement is that employees are eligible if they earned at least $5,000 from the employer during the previous two years and it is reasonable to expect that they will earn at least $5,000 during the current year. (Simple 401K, 2006, p. 1) Once you have decided on the type of plan for your company, you will have flexibility in choosing some of the plan’s features such as which employees can contribute to the plan and how much. Other features written into the plan are required by law. For instance, the plan document must describe how certain key functions are carried out, such as how contributions are deposited in the plan. (Employee Benefits, n.d., p. 1) Ritz-Craft has always been a family-owned business. Their employment focus is aimed towards providing consistent employment at competitive wages and salaries for all employees. Ritz-Craft offers a complete benefits package that includes health insurance, a dental plan, paid vacations and a 401(k) plan that is available to all employees. Employment at Ritz-Craft is very much entry into a family. In fact, the average Ritz-Craft employee has more than 10 years experience with the company. Ritzs of this type of plan are 401(k), 401(a), Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Savings Plans and Profit Sharing Plans. (Ritz-Craft Corporation, n.d., p. 1) Based in Dallas, Texas, Palm Harbor Homes is one of the nations largest marketers of factory-built homes. The companys vertically integrated operations set it apart from others in the industry. Palm Harbor builds, sells, finances and ensures the best-manufactured homes available today. Palm Harbors focus is the high-end, customized niche of the manufactured home market. Four out of five homes produced in its 18 manufacturing facilities across the country are customized with owner-selected features. Palm Harbor sells its homes through 115 company-owned superstores and more than 350 independent retailers. (Plant City Manufactured Mobile Homes, n.d., p. 1) Palm Harbor has two primary goals satisfying their customers and making their company the best job their associates have ever had. Palm Harbors Employee Benefits Package includes: Medical PPO program includes a minimal co-pay, prescription card and well-care benefits. Palm Harbor pays for the majority of the cost. Dental the dental plan covers, among many other comprehensive dental benefits, $2,000 of orthodontic services for adults and children. Vision – the vision plan covers traditional services as well as some laser vision correction services. Disability Protection Short and/or long-term disability coverage is available to associates after three months of service. Life Insurance life insurance includes accidental death and dismemberment and is provided to all associates at no cost. Additional life insurance for spouses and children is offered at nominal rates. 401K Savings Plan All employees are eligible to contribute to the 401(k) Plan upon their date of hire. I n addition, after one year of service, Palm Harbor will match employee contributions in the amount of 25% for every $1.00 contributed up to 6%. The Plan offers over 28 different investment options to choose from with options available in every major fund style category, including company stock. Rollovers are also accepted from other company plans. Stock Purchase Plan employees can be a shareholder immediately. Associates may buy Palm Harbor stock via payroll deductions in the stock purchase plan. Palm Harbor pays for the administration of the plan and the participants share commission costs. Holidays the company observes eight holidays per year for most associates. Some locations may observe an additional holiday for local customs. Vacation Time and Personal Time Off Salaried associates with five years or less of service enjoy ten vacation days per year. Those with six years or more of service enjoy fifteen vacation days per year. In addition to our holiday and vacation package, our company offers one personal day to all associates with one year of service with Palm Harbor and two personal days after three years. Sick Leave Salaried associates accrue sick leave credits each month with a maximum earned of 45 days. Employee Assistance Programs PHH has contracted with Ceridian to provide all associates with a wide range of services, including: counseling for any work or life situation (counseling provided via the phone and/or in person,) along with college counseling, auto and home services, long term care solutions, debt and legal counseling, books, tapes, videos and much more. There is no cost to the associates and the counselors are available 24/7.A NurseLine is also provided for assistance with emergencies and for guidance with other medical situations. (Plant City Manufactured Mobile Homes, n.d., p. 1) The current impediment would be lack of a great benefits package, which would include a quality 401k plan. One impediment is the affordability to Deer Valley and the employees. Another impediment is finding the right company to provide all sought benefits in one place. Recommendations for Deer Valley Homes: Health Insurance Insurance premiums will probably cost you about 8% to 10% of your payroll amount. The majority of this will be your health insurance premiums. So what are your options and how do you find the best deal? There are currently three main types of health coverage you can offer to your employees: traditional coverage (fee-for-service), HMO (health maintenance organization), or PPO (preferred provider organization). I would recommend a traditional health coverage plan; your employees will have the most flexibility. It pays to find a good broker when looking for health insurance policies. The broker may represent plans from up to 15 different insurers, allowing you to get a better feel for what is available and do more comparison shopping. Make sure there is a good range of services offered and that long-term illnesses and pre-existing conditions are covered. There should also be at least $1 million in coverage. Long and Short-Term Disability short-term disability (STD) provides employees income on a short-term basis as a result of a disability, and is usually equal to about 60% of the employees gross weekly pay up to 26 weeks. Long-term disability is lost-income coverage that kicks in as a result of a disability. It is also based on about 60% of the employees gross income. There is usually an elimination period of 30 to 180 days before the benefits will begin, so it typically picks up where short-term disability ends. LTD benefits can continue on for life, although most terminate at age 65 when social security kicks in. Many employers pay all of the long-term disability premiums. Some companies pay for short-term disability and make the long-term optional, at a reduced cost to the employee. The logic behind this is that you want the employee to come back to work after a short, unforeseen accident or injury employers rarely see an employee come back from long-term disability. If the co mpany pays for the benefit, it is considered taxable income; if the employee pays for the benefit, it is considered insurance and is non-taxable. The life insurance plan currently offered is a good policy and the cost is minimal so I would recommend keeping your current provider. Deer Valley is lacking and needs a quality 401K plan; 401(k) plans let your employees save for retirement easily and conveniently through pre-tax automatic payroll deductions. Its money they dont see, so they dont miss it. Implementing a 401(k) plan can improve employee morale and help in luring in new employees. The money your employees contribute, as well as your contributions and their account earnings, are all tax-deferred until they actually withdraw the money when they retire. Employees have full control over their investments. Withdrawals are also permitted at the termination of employment or during financial hardship, but a 10% penalty tax is charged if they are younger than 59 1/2 years old. Many companies allow terminated employees or employees who elect to leave the company the option to keep their 401(k) account, but they can no longer contribute to it. As an employer, you are not required to match contributions or contribute at all to your companys 401(k) plan; however, to be competitive, most employers do. You do have the flexibility to alter your contributions year to year based on the profitability of your company. You even have the option of contributing on behalf of employees who are nt participating as long as they are eligible. Your contributions are tax deductible. You can also set up a vesting schedule for the contributions you make to your employees accounts. This is just another way to help motivate employees to stay with the company longer. (Obringer, 2003, p. 1) The best way to obtain good employees and retain them is to offer better compensation and benefits. Deer Valley has a poor compensation and benefits package. Being a small business does not have to limit your benefits. There are several different approaches Deer Valley can take, decide on a great benefits package and keep it in-house or outsource the compensation and benefits to another company that handles these areas. I would recommend with the current staff to handle your compensation and benefits in-house. Now you just have to decide which benefits best serve Deer Valleys needs at present and the future. Not having a good benefits package is hurting your desire to obtain and retain good employees. By offering and providing your current employees at Deer Valley with good quality compensation and benefits it will help boost morale. When offering a quality compensation and benefits package we will be able to attract and retain well-trained employees more so than other local manufacturing companies in your area. With the best employees in the business, your facility will be more productive, you will have a better-built product and must higher efficiency rate. â€Æ' References Deer Valley Corp (n.d.). About Deer Valley. Retrieved November 3, 2008, from www.deervalleycorp.com/ Employee Benefits (n.d.). 401(k) Plans For Small Businesses. Retrieved November 05, 2008, from www.business.gov/guides/employment/managing/benefits/ Obringer, L. A. (2003). How Employee Compensation Works. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from Howstuffworks.com Plant City Manufactured Mobile Homes (n.d.). Our Benefits. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from www.palmharbor.com Plant City Manufactured Mobile Homes (n.d.). Palm Harbor Village. Retrieved November 30, 2008, from www.palmharbor.com Ritz-Craft Corporation (n.d.). Company History. Retrieved November 26, 2008, from www.ritz-craft.com Simple 401K (2006). Simple 401k Plans. Retrieved November 28, 2008, from www.simple401k.com Research Papers on Compensation and Benefits - Deer Valley Homebuilders, Inc.What are Stock OptionsExempt vs Non-Exempt EmployeesEmployment Law EssayOrganizational Behavior Analysis of Wal-MartResponsible for Occupational Health EssayThe Legal ProcessDr. Edward Deming EssayDigital Marketing Mix Google EssayInternational PaperGap Analysis: Lester Electronics

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