What Led To The Introduction Of Itv Media Essay

What Led To The Introduction Of Itv Media Essay British broadcasting has come a long way in the past fifty years, from a monopoly held by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) to the huge diversity of channels we now have, from not only terrestrial television, but also Sky and cable. The genres of the programmes on these channels are now so diverse that there is rarely a point in time when somebody cannot find something on television. From the birth of television in 1936 and up until 1955 the BBC had held the monopoly over broadcasting, at first, only showing 6 hours a day of programmes deemed suitable by traditionalists, like Sir Lord Reith who at the time was the Director-General of the BBC, for the public. It was in 1955 that the first big change in broadcasting came about with the introduction of ITV which broke the monopoly and thus by the same token led to greater competition within the market. In this essay I will discuss what important factors and issues with the BBC led to the introduction of the commercial channel ITV a nd later, Channel 4; and how it caused unlikely alliances, disputes and controversy. At the BBCs creation it was deemed appropriate that it should be a public service broadcaster, while this meant that it would be isolated from commercial pressures it also meant that it would need to have alternative funding; this came in the form of the television license fee which was basically a broadcast receiving tax. As the BBC was funded by the Government via a tax they had to provide an impartial service which had to conform to its Royal Charter of 1927; among other things it said that the BBC had to: Sustain citizenship and civil society, promote education and learning, stimulate creativity and cultural excellence and represent the UK, its nations, regions and communities [3]. After the WWII, the BBCs monopoly began to be questioned, this lead to a growing aversion towards paternalism and a yearning for freedom of choice. Subsequently, after a change in power in late 1951, the Conservative party decided to publish its own ideas for the breaking of the BBC monopoly. They suggested: In the expanding field of television, provision should be made to permit some element of competition when the calls on capital resources at present needed for purposes of greater national importance makes this feasible. In essence this was the first step in the creation of ITV. Unlike the BBC, ITV was to be funded via the sale of slots in its broadcasting timetable for advertisers (another option was to allow sponsorship; however, the regulator thought this was not appropriate). The nature and quality of the advertising was, however, stringently controlled by the regulators and no more than 6 minutes of adverts were to be shown within any given hour. One of the main factors in the introduction of ITV was to increase consumer choice. Up until 1952 there was only one channel to watch and so you had either the option of watching the one programme that was on at the time or not watching television at all. This was at a time that the country was feeling more confident, workers wages were increasing and the first whiff of prosperity was filtering across the country. Individual identity was starting to be questioned, one could argue that this was partly due to the American influence of TV and radio; whether it was the gritty US hero films, the songs of Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash or just the feeling that the US had everything bigger, better, richer and possibly, to use a more modern expression, more trendy. The introduction of ITV not only doubled the number of programmes people could choose from but also led to higher quality programmes being directed. People liked this increased choice and freedom to make their own decisions; as Frede rick Ogilvie, a former Director General of the BBC, stated Freedom is choice And monopoly of broadcasting is inevitably the negation of freedom no matter how efficiently it is run [2] The reason for greater quality of programmes was the increased competition after the creation of ITV. For ITV to receive the maximum amount of revenue from its advertising it needed to have a high proportion of the public watching its channel. While this required a lot of initial investment to create the programmes in the long term it would provide more than enough advertising revenue to cover this cost. This also, although maybe subtly, influenced the BBC. While at first glance it may seem that the BBC and ITV have different revenue streams and are therefore not direct competitors, the BBC had to keep up with the increasing quality of the ITV programmes. This was not because, unlike ITV, they needed to increase revenue but because if they were not seen to have programmes of a similar or greater quality than ITV then soon the general public would start to question the television licence fee which could have led to the end of the BBCs funding and indeed the end of the company itself. Another criticism of the BBC was that they only really catered for the population inside London which was exposed in the report of 1951. This report shocked many people as it was written by MP Sir William Beveridge. People expected him to side with the BBC as he upheld many traditional values, like Lord Reith. He suggested that it should set up national commissions for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland [1]. Beveridge, however, didnt agree with the introduction of commercial television, after seeing how the advertising worked in America he deemed it obtrusive and objectionable à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ironically it was the Beveridge report that spurred the conservative government in 1951 to move forward with plans of commercial television as his report encouraged, the conservative MP Lloyd Selwyn to do a follow up report, in which he agreed with many of Beveridges points, he was for the introduction of commercial television. Selwyn along with many other business men saw the potential investm ents that could be made in commercial television; they believed that many benefits would come from advertising their products as it would reach millions. This self-profit idea didnt go unnoticed and caused some controversy, one even said At what point are the MPs representing their constituencies and web are they speaking as directors?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Initially it was planned that ITV should be made up of three separate franchise regions: London, the Midlands and the North, each of which would be occupied by more than one contractor. This would lead to competition not only between the combined ITV force and the BBC but also between the different contractors. However, there was a failure on the governments behalf, due to not allocating enough frequencies, this was unable to happen. Instead to still keep competition high the ITA decided to split the franchises on a weekday/weekend basis. People were fed up of the American commercial nature of ITV and how all of its shows strived for ratings rather than quality and so there was a committee set up to investigate the state of broadcasting in the 1960s. It was called the Pilkington report and its function was to clean up the vulgarity of ITV. The report praised the BBC and allowed the introduction of a second channel, BBC2. In a way the Pilkington report was like going back in a way in broadcasting history, it took on the paternalistic role, that the public so hated about the BBC. Eventually people accepted ITV and the BBC working together and the competition grew much less fierce. People had decided what shows they did and didnt like and would pick and choose between the two, this was known as the golden age of television which lasted nearly twenty years. Between 1960 and 1962 The Pilkington Committee met to consider the future of broadcasting in Britain. This was at a time of increasing hostility towards the relatively newly formed commercial broadcaster, ITV. At the time the committee published their report it was unsurprising that ITV came under particular criticism. The committee found ITV broadcasted programmes of a trivial nature. This was most probably a not a reference to the actual subjects discussed but to the actual style and presentation of these subjects. This report led to the introduction of a second BBC channel, BBC2, in 1964. In 1980 the Broadcasting Act was passed which commenced the process for the creation of a fourth channel, Channel 4, which began broadcasting on 2nd November 1982. While for some time there had been a belief that a second commercial broadcaster would be launched after ITV, it was expected that this would come sooner than it did. It is most likely that the biggest reason for the delay, for almost three decades, was politics. Summed up it was a clash of beliefs between the expansion of the commercial character of ITV and the public service approach of BBC. I believe one of the main reasons for the introduction was because times were becoming more liberal and there were many creative directors and producers who wanted to make interesting cultural and controversial shows. These people, no matter how good their programmes were, were unable to get them shown on the BBC or ITV either because the content was too risky or it would not have pulled in a big enough audience to satisfy the advertisers. However, the market researchers at the time saw the need for a channel that would represent minorities and address hard hitting topics; it was also believed that these programmes would help discourage racism and discrimination. The other thing that made the government back the introduction of Channel 4 was that all of the programmes were going to be independently made by different production companies all over the country, and that initially the existing commercial companies would fund them. Over time Channel 4 began commissioning the programmes it self. Also the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher was incredibly supportive of the idea of entrepreneurship and so this was another reason Channel 4 was backed. It was however the Labour Government that finally got the channel up and running; they wanted the channel to tackle political issues without feeling the pressure from higher individuals to tone down. In conclusion, the history of terrestrial television was a hard struggle. To reach the level of freedom of content that we see today, whether, it is scenes of a violent or sexual nature in programmes like BBCs The Tudors or channel 4s dispatches series even the Question time with Nick Griffin, all of these broadcasts whether you agree with the content or not, are there for viewing with our own discretion, and a far cry from the paternal monopoly that the BBC held for so many years. Ultimately the reason for the introduction of these channels was to increase consumer choice which as a Democratic country was wanted by the people. It was this demand for consumer choice that brought us to the hundreds of channels that we see today. Out of this spawned the huge competition between channels that will be never-ending, with programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing scheduled at the same time as the X Factor. Referances [1]Kevin Williams Get me a Murder a Day! a history of mass communication in britan, Arnold 1998 chapter 8 [2] Quoted by Crisell An Introductory History of British Broadcasting, p77. [3] a statement from the BBCs public service remit

Plath’s Daddy Essays: Allegory in Plath’s Daddy :: Plath Daddy Essays

Allegory in Plath’s Daddy  Ã‚   In her poem "Daddy", Plath artfully intermixes the "factually" true with the "emotionally" true. There are scraps of her own life here, but the poem is much bigger than that, and goes beyond the face-value interpretation that is it nothing but a self-indulgent literary vengeance spree. Daddy works on both a biographical/personal level for Plath, but also on an allegorical level as well. I see this poem as a dual testament to Plath's (and all women's) struggle against male power, authority, influence, etc. She never "had time" to define her feminine self in opposition to her father, in the context of this male relationship, or legitimately break free of it, because of his untimely death. She first resented his being emotionally absent in her life, and then physically absent. In her journals she admits how she struggles in her relationships with men because of this lack. Accounts by both Plath and Aurelia, assert that her father was quite the stereotypical authoritarian male, and although she loved him, she came to hate what he represented and how he had treated Aurelia and her. Many women of that time, (and all times) can understand this dynamic---loving men, but hating how they treat us and view us and exploit us--- consciously or unconsciously, on either a personal, or societal level. Taken from this perspective, the Holocaust/victim analogy takes on a whole different slant. Rather than referring (exploitatively) to the personal sufferings of one individual woman, it can allegorically represent the mass, historical victimization of women by patriarchy, which has been well-documented (witch hysteria) and which continues (female circumscision) She says "every woman adores a Fascist in boots"--all women in some way participate (if only in their passivity, in refusing to reject the roles that society attempts to force upon them) in this social and cultural situation. The child-voice of the poem can represent,on a deeper level, that innocence young girls lose as they become women and find themselves being "chuffed off like a Jew," often reluctantly or unknowingly, into the expected roles for women in marriage and childbearing---when fairy tale expectations of love crash into the reality of the Sisyphian tasks of dishes, cooking,cleaning,laundry, child care, when so many women have their dreams and identities erased under the daily grind of domesticity---a different sort of confinement, slavery, suppression, another and altogether different kind of death and destruction of the spirit.

Case Study Spooked by Computers Essay

This case study, Spooked by Computers, clearly points out the change in mindset of technology with cost saved with the use of computers in the workplace. With the addition of newer, fresher minds sometimes comes with it, newer, fresher ideas and means of operating In this particular case, organizational development would be a well implemented plan. As the different levels of management all working together for a common goal as it is, implementing the OD would bring all of them together to be more cost and time effective. When working with a spectrum of learning levels we sometimes come across a resistance to change. We see this by Suzanne who was confident that all control would be lost if automation was brought into the workplace. She believed that she was too old to take on something new and bound to be much more confusing. Martin Walker was brought into the technology innovation to bridge the workplace gap as he was fresh out of college and was on top of his game with word processors. He was able to educate or at least inform those who needed to be apprised or the newest advances in technology. He was respected by his fellow co-workers as he seemed to create a camaraderie of sorts. Advancement in technology will always be a source of resistance in the workplace. The case study was an ideal example of any American small business trying to transform to the coming of age. As we hire the fresh out-of-college faces, slowly pushing the ‘grandfathered’ generation through, we will see this scared to change mentality.

When Should You Start Studying for Your AP Exams

When Should You Start Studying for Your AP Exams SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips So you’re taking a couple AP classes, they’re going well, and you feel pretty good about most of the material. The exam in May seems a long way off. Do you need to start studying?The answer is, that depends! Every student and every exam is different. However, my general advice is to start studying no later than the midpoint of the school year. (That would be after winter break for most of you.)Why the midpoint of the year? Keep reading to find out! I’ll also discuss how many hours you should plan to prep based on how the course is going and what score you are aiming for. Then I’ll present some strategies for determining how you should balance general conceptual review of the material and dedicated exam prep like taking practice exams. Finally, I’ll make suggestions as to when and how you should study based on overall course subject (math, science, foreign language, and so on.) Note that in this article I’m going to generally assume that you are taking the class for which you are going to take the AP exam. For self-study, see my article onstudying for AP exams without taking the class. 3 ReasonsYou Should Start Studying for Your AP Exams by the Midpoint of the Year The way I see it, there are three reasons why you should start studying for you AP exams in earnest by the midpoint of the school year. Reason 1: You’ll Know a Good Amount of Course Material By the middle of the school year, you will have covered enough material in class that you will be able to answer a decent amount of practice questions and problems without wanting to tear your hair out in frustration. If you start looking at AP practice exams in October, you will have only learned a fraction of the course material, so they will be of limited use to you. Reason 2: Avoiding the Cram! The midpoint of the year is also still early enough that you won’t have to cram for the exam. You’ll have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the exam format and make sure you understand all of the course content. A major danger of waiting too late to prep is you might find that there’s a segment of the course material that you really don’t understand or a section on the test that is very foreign to you, so if you start in the middle of the year, you can be confident you’ll have enough time to fully prepare. The only cramming you should be doing is these delicious cookies into your mouth. Reason 3: Pacing Yourself Another advantage to starting early is that you won’t necessarily have to spend hours and hours a week studying to hit your target amount of study-hours, which will help you later in the semester when things are busy and you may not be able to devote entire weekends to cramming for an AP exam. If you’re in a particularly content-heavy course, you should probably review class material throughout the first semester so that it stays fresh. In general, though, the midpoint of the year will give you enough time to brush up on the material, identify any gaps in your knowledge, and prepare for the exam format. What If You’re in a Semester-Long Course? Some schools offer semester-long AP courses. If you’re in one of these, should you still start studying at the midpoint of the year?This depends on when you take the class. If you take the class during the first semester,keep the midpoint of the year as your prep start point. You'll basically start prepping as soon as the class is over. This is for two reasons: first, you will know all the material before you start studying for the exam, so you can take practice tests and write essays without being concerned that there may be questions about material you haven’t studied yet. Secondly, prepping throughout the second half of the yearwill help you remember the material. Keeping it fresh in your mind will be much easier than trying to play catch-up in the few weeks leading up to the exam. If it’s a second-semester only AP course, you’re in less danger of forgetting the material, but you also have less time to study. This is fine. Semester long APs don’t cover as much material as full-year ones, so just so long as you are doing well in the class, you can afford to wait until four to six weeks before the exam to put your studying in full gear. That said, if there are any concepts you aren’t clear about or that seem fuzzy, try to learn them as soon as you realize there’s an issue. This will save you a lot of heartache during the studying process. Not this kind of fuzzy. How Many Hours Should I Study for My AP Exam? There is no magic number of hours you need to study for an AP exam to get a certain score. There are, though, two main factors that together should give you a rough idea of how many hours you should plan to study. Factor 1: How You’re Doing in the Course If you’re acing exams and the material clicks with you at an A+ level, you can probably get away with studying around 15 hours for the exam and walking away with a 5 in the bag (Remember, you’re spreading the prep out over a semester, so 15 hours total would only be about an hour and a half a week for ten weeks). If, though, you’re scraping by with a C+ or B- (which is perfectly respectable- these courses are hard!) you may well need to devote 40+ hours to get the same score. (An added bonus is that all of that extra studying will probably raise your course grade.) Factor 2: How Well You Want to Score Obviously the higher you want to score, the more you need to study relative to how you are doing in the course. If you’re aiming for a 3 and you’ve got a B, you may well only need to study for 15 hours to pull it off. If you want a 5, that may be more like 35 hours. See my handy table below, where you can cross-reference the letter grade you have with the score you want on the AP exam and the absolute minimum hours you should plan to study. (I assumed no one is aiming for a grade lower than a 3, the general minimum accepted for college credit.) The more demanding the course is overall, and the more content it covers, the more you should plan to study. Ultimately, only you can truly gauge how much time you need to spend preparing to feel comfortable with your chances of getting your target score. Mimimum Study Time Based on Letter Grade and Target Score 5 4 3 A 15+ 10+ 10+ B 25+ 20+ 15+ C 40+ 30+ 20+ D 60+ 45+ 30+ F 80+ 60+ 40+ As you can see, how many hours you need to study depends on a lot of things- how well you're doing in class, how much material there is, and your skill level in the given components of the test. If you’re great at timed essays, you won’t need to spend as much time studying for AP Lit and Comp as someone who struggles with them. In general,it’s better to spread your prep out over time- a couple months at least- as opposed to doing massive cramming. Cramming will stress you out, especially in May when you are probably also trying to wrap up projects and study for exams in other classes. Once you have an idea of how many hours you will need to study for the exam, how should you spend those hours? Read on for my recommendations on balancing general review of the course material with dedicated exam prep. Study slow and steady like a snail. Say that five times fast. General Review vs. Dedicated Exam Prep: How Much of Each? Once you determine how much time you’re going to spend studying, you need to decide how you’re going to spend that time. There are, generally speaking, two kinds of studying you can do for the AP. You can review the material the course is based on, or you can prepare specifically for the exam by taking practice questions, writing practice essays, and so on. Obviously, to do well on the exam, you need to have a good grasp on the material. But understanding the material is not always enough to ace the exam. Many AP exams have portions that test special skills, like the DBQ on the history exams, so it’s good to prep for the actual format of the exam as well. Understanding the material is like the foundation, and doing well on the exam is like building a strong house on that foundation. So how should you split your exam prep time? What should you focus on? In general, I would focus more on reviewing the material when you first start studying, especially if you decide to do any studying during the first semester. Before you know a decent amount of material, taking practice tests etc will just be frustrating, because there will be a lot of questions you have no idea how to answer. As you pass the midpoint of the class, you can start to familiarize yourself with the exam format. Familiarity with the format will become more critical as time goes on. So the closer you get to the day of the exam, the more the balance will shift from material review to exam prep. That way you’ll know you’ve got a strong foundation before you start trying to build a house on it! You might also (politely!) ask your teacher what you will be doing in the course to prep for the AP specifically. If you are going to be doing a lot of dedicated exam prep exercises during class time, you may not need to do quite as much outside. If you are just trying to race headlong through the material so you aren’t still learning on WWI material on exam day, you’ll know it will be pretty much up to you to familiarize yourself with the exam format. Remember, regardless of what you learn in the classroom, it will be you taking that exam on test day, so you are ultimately responsible for your own prep. Now that we’ve discussed balancing conceptual reviews and dedicated prep, I have some more specific recommendations based on the exam’s general subject matter. You are as majestic as this crane, and better-prepared for the AP exam. When and How To Start Studying for AP Exams Based on Course Content The general guidelines I’ve given so far will hold for most, if not all, AP exams. Still, it is worth calling out that the best way to use your study time, and when you should ideally think about preparation, will vary quite a lot among exams. In the following section I give my study recommendations based on the general subject matter of the course. When and How to Start Studying for Math AP Tests In general, math coursework is cumulative- everything you learn builds on what you learned before. So the single most important thing you can do for prepping for an exam like AP Calculus is to make sure you learn concepts as soon as it is clear you are struggling with them. If you do poorly on a test in class, the time to try to learn that material is decidedly not in the two weeks leading up to the AP exam, it’s right after you realize you don’t get it. There is no shame in this! There are some hard, hard concepts in these classes.Overall, making sure you really learn the material as you go along is the best thing you can do for your AP exam score. So basically, the time to start studying for a Math AP is immediately, by making sure you know the material backwards and forwards as it is being presented to you. When and How to Start Studying for Science AP Tests Most of the science APs- Chemistry, Physics, and Biology- cover a lot of material and have reputations for being fairly difficult. This is another category where studying right from the get-go is quite important, and where content is probably more important than test format. Don’t get me wrong- it will still help you to be familiar with the general format of the exam- but most of your energy should be focused on making sure you understand all of the huge swathes of material throughout the year. Focus on content throughout the year, and format after the midpoint. Space: the final frontier that's not your AP exam. When and How to Start Studying for Foreign Language AP Tests To build a strong foundation in a foreign language, constant practice is the name of the game. If your high school class is pretty intensive, you may not have to study quite as much outside, although brushing up on vocab and grammar rules occasionally to stay sharp is a good idea. It will also help you to do things like watch TV or movies in the language you are studying, and to read books. It will definitely help you to do dedicated AP test prep, but the most important thing is bringing your language skills as close to fluency as you can, and you can work throughout the year to do this. It’s also fairly common to take a foreign language AP in a language that you grew up speaking at home. This means you probably already have a phenomenal foundation in the language, but you should still prepare. For one thing, you should brush up on all those pesky grammar rules; it can be surprisingly difficult to remember the specific grammar rules for a language you have mastered. You should also practice writing timed essays.Fluency won’t carry you all the way if you can’t give the AP graders what they want. When and How to Start Studying for English AP Tests The most important thing you can do to practice for the two English AP exams is timed essay practice. You should hone your timed essay skills for all of the different kinds of essays that appear on a given exam, and carefully study the rubric. This is an exam area where general subject mastery of English is certainly helpful, but developing AP-rubric-specific timed essay-writing skills will make a huge difference in ultimate success. So when should you start writing practice essays? I would advise getting your start fairly early in the year- around or even before the midpoint- so you can gauge how much additional practice you should put in throughout the year. If things are going well, you’ll know you won’t need as many outside-of-class prep hours. When and How to Start Studying for History AP Tests A main challenge with learning historical material is that it can be fairly siloed: you learn about the Civil War and then don’t come back to it, you learn the French Revolution inside and out and then won’t be tested again until the AP, and so on. This is why keeping historical information fresh is essential, and you should be doing it throughout the year. You may need to do more dedicated content review for AP History exams, and start reviewing old content earlier than for any other AP, simply because so much of the exam relies on your ability to recall historical facts and details. Obviously, a sense of overall historical trends is very important, but an occasional dip back into your textbook will go a long way towards helping you remember the peskier little details. Pesky details like whoever this lady is. When to Start Studying for AP Exams - Conclusions So as you can see, when exactly you need to start studying for your AP exam depends on several factors.In general, the latest you should start studying for the exam is during the midpoint of the school year. The number of hours you should plan to devote to studying depends both on how you are doing in the course and what your target score is. Reviewing conceptual material is more important earlier in the year, while specific AP exam prep becomes more salient later on.How much to weigh one or the other depends on the specific exam and your own knowledge and skill level. It’s a lot to consider. But if you study as you go and balance content review with dedicated test prep, you can go into the test with confidence. What's Next? Need help registering for your upcoming AP exams? Check out our article on registering for AP tests and classes. Still considering which AP classes to take next year? Let us help you with our AP class schedule planning guide. If you're taking the SAT this year, be sure to check out our guide to the new SAT, which was offered for the first time on March 5th of this year! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The House On Mango Street essays

The House On Mango Street essays The main characters name is Esperanza. She is only about thirteen and is telling the story of her life on Mango Street. Esperanza is definitely a dynamic character. In the beginning of the story she does not like their new house on Mango Street or its surrounding. But as the story progresses she learns to be more grateful for what she has. In one short story of her experiences, she describes how she had to walk home everyday for lunch and how she wished she could eat in the canteen with the other kids. She goes home after school and begs her mom to pack her a lunch and write a note so she can eat with the other kids. After eating in the canteen with her packed lunch she realizes its not all its cracked up to be and continues to eat at home with her family. The story is written as a child would think. Esperanza describes things in a way unlike the way you or I would. In one part of the story Esperanza describes a woman with pink shoes as soft as a rabbits ear and green perfume. It may sound a little awkward to us but in her mind it makes sense. This kind of writing interests me because it is almost like solving a puzzle. While reading I had think simple and try not to make what she said too complex. One conflict presented in this book was when Esperanza and her two friends got three pairs of high heels and wore them around town. Their parents said not to wear the shoes because all they would do is cause trouble. But, they wore them anyway. While walking down the street a bum asks her friend Rachel to come closer. She does and then the bum tells her she is very beautiful and asks if he can have a kiss for a dollar. The girls are frightened and run away. And no matter how much each of the girls loved their shoes they all decided to never wear them again. The major theme of this novel is growing up. Basically the book is about the memori ...

Vans Skateboard Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Vans Skateboard Marketing - Case Study Example With this objective as their motto, they have employed many strategies starting from the designing stage and extending up to the marketing stage. Vans is an American brand which sells all types of shoes and hats that appeal to all the market segments. The product, Vans Skateboard shoes DD-66 Black/Black/Punk Dots is a classic skateboard shoe which targets the youth as its target audience. Van shoes come with latest designs that attracts the intended segment of customers as it supports the aspirations of the youth. The model feature is a boardfeel technology which delivers high performance and quality. The new cupsole design makes the user more comfortable in terms of grip and flexibility. The new screen printed canvass gives the product an elegant look and renders it a stylish appearance. Vans Skateboard shoes are equipped with Boardfeel technology which takes cup sole construction to the next level by replicating the grip and feel of vulcanized but with better support and cushioning. The customer will benefit from its classic styling and performance. The premium look and designing with the suede upper side render the shoes an elegant outlook and style. The screen printed canvass gives the product a more attractive design and comfort. ... These products are Designed in such a manner as to deliver high performance Vulcanized grip will help in gaining increased support and grip. The product comes with high quality which makes it lasts for a long time. Vans Skateboard shoes will give the user an individual style statement and personality and the user will feel more comfortable with its light and flexible design. (Vans DD-66 Skate Shoe - Mens). (Vans Network). (Vans Skateboard Shoes DD-66-Black/Black/Punck Dots). Product Branding: The branding strategy of Vans is based on its long years of heritage that helps them to achieve authenticity and thereby credibility among the customers. Vans is focusing on the core sports like snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing etc, which are generally aimed for fun, and adventure. Thus, the main marketing strategy is to promote these sports and thereby promote the brand. As per the branding strategy of Vans, "the goal of creating a leadership position for our brand and a strong emotional connection with our customers." (Business: Introduction). Target Audience: A target market is a type of market that has want or need of your product or service. (How to Identify Target Market). Vans started its skateboard division after they noticed the booming surfing and skateboard culture in California. The targeted customers of Vans come under the age group of 10-24 years from all over the world who are active participants and emulators of sports culture. The marketing strategy of Vans thus focuses on creating and maintaining these customers through sports and entertainment events, such as Vans Warped Tour, Vans skate parks, Vans Triple Crown etc... The brand name evokes interest in the target audience as many people consider it as

Forward Style Inc. Employee Policy Memo Research Paper

Forward Style Inc. Employee Policy Memo - Research Paper Example With this in mind, Forward Style  Inc. has established a robust employee benefits plan that integrates benefits required by law and optional ones aimed at attracting and retaining employees. Below is a comprehensive coverage of required and optional benefits. Benefits required by law Social insurance, including social security, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation Federal and state laws require all employers to provide social insurance to their employees. Under this law, employers and employees are required to pay the same rate of social security taxes. Social security insurance aims at ensuring that employees unable to work, owing to a medical condition, collect monthly benefits to meet their everyday needs. Conversely, federal laws require companies to pay unemployment insurance, which is a form of compensation offered to workers whose employment is terminated by no fault of their own. State unemployment insurance programs provide unemployment benefits (monetary p ayments) for a specified duration until the employee finds new employment. State laws typically dictate eligibility, duration of benefits and benefit amounts payable to unemployed workers (US Department of Labor, 2012). Lastly, state compensation laws require employers to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage to ensure that workers who fall sick or are injured on the job receive compensation. Such benefits include payment of medical bills, as well as payment for lost earnings. However, worker’s compensation is only two-thirds of an employee’s salary. Family and medical leave of 6 paid weeks and up to 6 additional unpaid weeks Federal laws also require employers to provide their employees with family and medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), ratified in 1993. The act is applicable to workers who have been employed at least one year and have worked for at least 1,250 hours in the last year. The Act warrants employees to receive up to 12 weeks of job-protected, albeit unpaid leave. However, this duration applies for any 12-month duration and covers the following reasons: care of a worker’s serious health condition; birth and care of an employee’s child or foster child, and care of a close family member, for instance, a parent, spouse or child with a severe health condition. Under FMLA, the company is also required to provide group health benefits throughout an employee’s leave as if the worker continued working rather than taking leave. FMLA is applicable to private workers with more than 50 employees (Conison, 2008). Disability insurance Several territories and states, including Rhode Island, New Jersey, California, New York and Hawaii command businesses to offer insurance coverage to cover partial wage replacement for eligible employees for non-work injuries or illnesses (US Department of Labor, 2012). Disability insurance is taken with local insurance companies. In other territories an d states, employers are not required to offer disability insurance. These programs, however, provide short-term benefits, which are typically low amounts. Optional benefits Private retirement plan Although the federal government provides a wide array of resources with the aim of assisting organizations find a well-suited private retirement and pension plan for their employees, the government does not require employers to establish a private retirement plan. Forward Style