Invictus †Path Goal Theory Essay

â€Å"Invictus†, is a powerful movie representing what Nelson Mandela taking the office as the first black president of South Africa and set to accomplish great things. Nelson Mandela was the founder and lead of the African National Congress and spent 27 years in prison on charges for sabotage against the white military and government to end apartheid. The movie starts with his release from prison on February 11, 1990 greeted by the black population eager to fight while the white population was expecting the worse from it. The environment factors changed dramatically for Nelson and he found himself ready to forgive those that imprisoned him and call them comrades. His amazing strength of character can be recognized in the movie and the Path-Goal Theory’s leadership behaviors can be found along with them. Path Goal Theory Path-Goal Theory argued that subordinates’ motivation, satisfaction and work performance are dependent on the leadership style chosen by their superior. Moreover, a person may perform these by adopting a certain leadership style, based on the situation. I’ve picked Nelson Mandela as the leader. Mandela has a very difficult task of uniting a country that has been for so long divided and full of hatreds. After his release the black people started riots and Mandela addressed them as a directive leader to the black crowd in Durban, on February 25, 1990 asking to lay down the arms and end the war, saying â€Å"My message to those involved in this battle of brother against brother is this: take your guns, your knives, and your pangas and throw them into the sea. Close down the death factories. End this war now! † Mandela speaks clearly about what’s required of South Africa and give them directions to accomplish it. He realized that his embattled country needs to unite efforts regarding of race to be able to build a future together. Once a fighter against the regime, he realizes now that only peace and unified efforts can lead to progress and leaving peacefully together. He sets directives as such. Later on, when he won the presidential elections and he is sworn as a president on May 10, 1994 and he wants the best for his country, to stop the suffering and suppression of his people, he asks for building a new country together. â€Å"We must act together as a united people, or national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world†¦Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. † His message is directive, strong and clear. He had an amazing ability to change depending on the environment contingency factors. On the first day to take office the President Mandela talks to the staff of the former president when he sees them packing and assuming that they’ll get fired from their positions and they are no longer needed. He becomes a supportive leader and asks for their help. He combines it with directive leadership asking them to do their work to their best abilities. â€Å"If you want to leave that’s your right; that you can’t work with your new government leave but if you pack because your language, color or you work for the previous president disqualifies you have no fear. The past is the past. We look into future and we want your help. If you want to stay you’ll do your country a huge favor. Best abilities and a good heart. I promise to do the same. Our country will be shining†. This shows Mandela strong support and commitment for understanding and unifying efforts among white and blacks. Addressing to a white majority with kind words and pledge and asking for help proves one more time Mandela’s ability to change his leadership style according to the situation and change. Mandela’s commitment to a supportive leader surface again when he assigns four white men to the security team and talk to the head of the security that has assignment concerns since the white security forces were the very men that fought against them and may have killed their friends and colleagues. Mandela shows support and consideration to the chief’s feelings and takes the time to explain why he made the decision. â€Å"Reconciliation starts here†¦ Forgiveness starts here, too. Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. This is why it’s such a powerful weapon. Please Jason, try. † The president appeals at the very inner soul of the security chief. To help people reaching to the same goal Mandela saw a rare opportunity in the rugby team. He knew that blacks spent years to hate the game and the Springbok, the rugby team, since for them it represented the white supremacy and their boycott hurt them. Mandela himself admits doing just the same while in prison on the Robben Island. This time he thinks about using Springbok to unite people and that the team needs to become winners. With one year until World Rugby Cup 1995 to be played in South Africa, and him just taking office, Mandela doesn’t lose time and invites Francois Pienaar, the Springbok captain, for tea in his office to indirectly letting him know about what achievement is expecting of him: to win the World Rugby Cup in 1995 that would be hosted by South Africa. â€Å"You have a difficult job. Captain of the Springbok†¦ We need to exceed our expectations. † said Mandela. This accomplishment was very challenging since the rugby team’s performance was low but president set up his expectations very high requiring the team to perform accordingly. One important moment of Mandela’s directive leader abilities are captured when he fights the new Rugby Sport Association, composed of mostly blacks, to not drop Springbok’ name, emblem and the team colors. As we can see, Mandela was not only challenged by the white population but by his black people, too. The blacks don’t support the team because they viewed it as it represents the prior suppression. However, Mandela saw as his duty to keep the Springbok’s name, emblem and colors. â€Å"You reached a decision with insufficient info and foresight. I am here to ask you to restore Springbok, the name, emblem and color because , learn enemy to prevail, enemy is not Africana, they are partners in democracy, they treasure Springbok rugby, if we take it away we lose them. We prove that we are what they feared we would be. We have to be better than that. To surprise with with compassion, generosity. They denied us but this is not revenge time, we have to build the nation using every brick, even if it’s green and gold. You elect me as leader. Let me lead you know. Who is with me? † Mandela asks the current leaders to change tactics and work towards a peaceful environment. It’s a lot to ask but Mandela’s strong commitment for unity prevails. The very task of uniting the country through rugby shows a supportive leader towards white’s value and love for a sport that meant the world to them: rugby. â€Å"Rugby is a human calculation. If we take away what they cherish we enforce the circle of fear. I must do what it takes to break the circle. † Mandela even learns the name of the players to be able to address them by name making it very personally and proving his concerns for their well-being. Mandela showed participative leader skills in the movie by working closely with his stuff on key decisions; however, since the movie revolves around rugby we can see him consulting more with the Minister of Sports to understand how the rugby team can get better until the world cup. He learns the rugby game, rules of the games, qualifications in the world cup and the audience the sport reaches. â€Å"A billion people watch us? What a great opportunity! † He learns about the New Zealand team history to understand Springbok chances to win. â€Å"How can we beat them†? It’s not enough, not when we are so close. This country is ready for greatness. It’s amazing to see how one person that once hated even the world rugby and wanted Springbok to lose now puts every effort in the positive direction to participate and contribute towards winning. Expectancy Theory of Motivation Expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of our expectations of a given outcome and its attractiveness. There are links to it: the effort that leads to performance (effort), performance that lead to rewards (performance) and the reward that satisfy the personal goals (reward). One follower of President Mandela’s leadership is the security chief, Jason. His assignment is to be president’s bodyguard. His effort goes into protecting the newly black elected president, which is a big task on hand. When the white security forces join the team he makes a special effort to work together as explained above understanding that the whites are very well trained and he needed extra people. His performance depends on his team performance. Jason’s efforts go into extra precautions when the president attends the rugby games. He knows that performing his job very well is the only way he can protect the president. The movie doesn’t portrait a money reward upon performing very well. The reward comes in pride of protecting the president and willing to sacrifice his own life to protect presidents’. His well performed job was satisfying his personal goal of protecting the president. In a way his willingness to follow the president’s advice of reconciliation leads to a good bodyguard team and turns into a good teamwork. The scene where they all play rugby proves one more time the good relationships and their unique goal of taking care of the president. Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar, proves to have strength to act on the of president’s expectations. Francois’ meeting with the President Mandela is a turning point in his career. He is asked to perform better than anyone expected and his efforts will be recognized by the president himself. The fact that the president shows interest in his performance makes him want to put every effort in achieving the unthinkable: to win the world cup. The president’s trust in his abilities makes him believe that his work will lead to performance. To inspire him to perform better the president asks the captain how he inspires the team and what his philosophy on leadership is. â€Å"Sometimes by using the work of other†¦Words helped me to stand up when all I wanted was to lay down. The song inspires me to do better. † Mandela was referring to the national South Africa song, â€Å"God Bless Africa†. He also was referring to the â€Å"Invictus† a poem whose words kept him going while he was in prison. At one point he writes the poem on a paper and gives it to the rugby captain for inspiration to perform better. The captain puts the effort in to teach his team the song knowing it will lead to better performance. The Springbok is asked to perform clinics around the country and he complies understanding that times change and they need to change as well. The team puts the effort into it and manages to perform the clinics. The smiles on the black kids’ faces when they are teach rugby by the national team is a reward to their effort to change and contribute to the unity effort. Another turning point is when the captain takes them to the island where the president was in prison. They visit the prison to get a feeling for what the president experienced. The president’s prison cell had a just a tin mattress on the floor and a chair. He remembers the poem and understands the deep meaning and his fight for survival. â€Å"I am a master of my faith. I am the captain of my soul. † He knows that his hard work will be paid off and he has a good shot to win the cup that will mean a lot to his embattled country just like the president’s long fight was rewarded with his freedom. In a way winning the World Cup was liberation from the long battle between blacks and whites. It was his duty to fight now and win. The Springbok won every game in the World Rugby Cup and it culminated with the finals play against the New Zealand, which was an unstoppable team. They won the finals, too. It’s an historic moment for every person in the country but it was an extraordinary moment of reward when the president himself dressed in a Springbok shirt and wearing their hat gives the cup to the Springbok captain. The captain aimed for performance beyond expectations and achieved the best. His personal goal was achieved. Springbok’s captain is a good example of the Expectancy Theory of Motivation given the motivation and relationship that he builds with the president. But Springbok’s captain can’t accomplish his task by himself. His team is another example of a follower of captain’s dream and goal. Captain becomes the leader and his team the followers. Their own effort to train better, to reach to the black kids, to learn the national anthem, perform the best to their abilities and beyond, and believe in the winning it’s rewarded by winning the World Rugby Cup 1995. They are bought slowly in by the captain belief for a better performance and play. They see their efforts fructify with every game won and push forward with an ecstasy and growing enthusiasm never felt before. One touching moment is right before the finals when they sing the anthem along with the whole stadium. When the president comes and shakes their hand in their own shirt and colors they are proud of their efforts and hard work. This is a completely different picture than the one at the first game when almost everyone boomed the president when he shook the hands of the team. At the end of the game with New Zeeland, the president presents the cup to Francois saying, â€Å"Francois thank you for what you’ve done for the country. And Francois replied, â€Å"No, Mr. President. Thank you for what you’ve done. † â€Å"One team one country† finally became reality. People celebrated the victory regardless of their gender and color. The victory was felt sweet and there couldn’t have been a better reward than feeling pride of a job very well done. This was one historic moment that will always be cherished by South Africa.

Labor Market Research: Calculating Nursing Wages

This paper will explore two of Mankiw’s (2001) â€Å"ten principles of economics† (p. 3) and how these apply to the labor market for nurses. The paper will briefly discuss the two principles: a) â€Å"No. 1 People Face Tradeoffs,† (p. 4-5) and b) â€Å"No. 7 Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes† (p. 11). Afterwards, the paper will discuss how the State of New York calculates nursing wages considering the two principles. First, the said discussion will identify the factors that could influence the supply and demand for nurses. Second, it will discuss how a nurse’s pay is determined and how the salary is structured. Third, it will provide recommendations on how the State of New York can increase its supply of nurses. Finally fourth, it will summarize how Mankiw’s two principles basically apply to the labor market for nurses. The two economic principles this paper centers on belong to Nicholas Gregory Mankiw, chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2003 to 2005. Principle No. 1, People Face Tradeoffs, refers to the situation when people have to choose one activity or thing over another (p. 4-5). This principle states that people’s choices affect efficiency and equity (p. 5). Mankiw defines efficiency as: â€Å"how huge the pie people create† or essentially the wealth that a society produces while equity is â€Å"how the pie is divided† or the redistribution of the wealth that the society has created (p. 5). Meanwhile Principle No. 7, Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes, refers to the imperfect actions of government to manage a society’s efficiency and equity (p. 11). Government actions can result to market failure due to externalities and market power (p. 11). On one hand, externalities can either be good or bad (p. 11). It refers to the unintended results of a particular action in pursuing a certain purpose (p. 11). On the other hand, market power refers to the influence of a person, sector, or society due to limited supply or great demand on a particular thing or service (p. 11). Speaking of service, this paper will next explore the nursing service in the state of New York, then in the entire U.S.A. Brewer and Kovner (2000) identified several factors that influence the supply for nurses in New York. According to the two authors, the factors that affect supply are: a) â€Å"negative real wage growth from 1989 to 1996†; b) decreasing â€Å"admissions and enrollments in nursing programs†; c) â€Å"decrease in licensed nurses†; and d) â€Å"aging and retirement of registered nurses or RNs.† Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2003) identified the following factors that influence the â€Å"continuing decline of nursing graduates† nationwide: a) â€Å"increasing professional opportunities for women outside nursing†; b) â€Å"stagnant pay and more onerous working conditions for many in nursing†; and c) â€Å"a decline in pubic perception of the attractiveness of the nursing profession.† For the demand-side, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services noted that: â€Å"The U.S. Census Bureau projects a rapid increase in the elderly population starting around 2010 when the leading edge of the baby boom generation approaches age 65.† Hence, the department concludes: â€Å"†¦the rapid growth in demand for nursing services is especially pronounced for long-term care settings that predominantly provide care to the elderly.† Next in the discussion are: a) how a nurse’s pay is determined, and b) how the salary is structured. Brewer and Kovner (2000) pointed out that: â€Å"Hospitals are having significant difficulty financially due to the Balanced Budget Act and state legislation.†Ã‚   The authors also concluded: â€Å"Funding changes that effect hospital financial viability will significantly influence the balance of supply and demand.† Moreover, Brewer and Kovner (2000) observed and opined: â€Å"Current shortages are relatively localized and moderate in severity, and if hospitals achieve sufficient financial relief politically they may abate.† With these evidences, government essentially determines a nurse’s pay. As for how RN salaries are structured, Brewer and Kovner (2000) suggested that: a) great demand versus limited supply; b) experience; c) specialized skills; and d) regional demand variations led to: â€Å"1) ease with which new graduates are finding employment; 2) organizations offering sign-on bonuses; 3) anecdotal and news reports; 4) focus group reports, and 5) surveys of employers which indicate difficulty hiring RNs.† The said factors essentially determine how RN salaries are structured. Thirdly, due to the factors previously identified and discussed, this paper recommends that the State of New York increase its supply of nurses thru: a) recruitment of RNs from abroad, and b) encouragement of retirement homes abroad in countries with sufficient supply of RNs that are acceptable to the U.S. or those that can comply with U.S. standards. Finally, this paper notes that Mankiw’s first and seventh principles have a profound effect on the supply and demand of nurses, RN pay, and RN salary structures. One, based on the data previously discussed, the U.S. shortage in RNs could be attributed to two major factors: a) State legislation and the Federal government’s Balanced Budget Act which essentially reduced the RN supply, and b) the retirement of baby boomers and their great demand for health care. Note that both factors relate to government policies or decisions. Specifically, Roosevelt’s New Deal triggered the baby boom generation while Reagan pushed for the Balanced Budget Act. Two, due to the said government policies which were intended to manage efficiency and equity, the U.S. DHHS observed that people made choices that affected the supply and demand for nurses. This trend shows how positive and negative externalities came into play and determined the current market power of RNs. References Brewer, C.S. & Kovner, C. (2000). â€Å"Abstract: An Evaluation of the Supply and Demand of Registered Nurses in New York State.† Gateway, National Library of Medicine. Retrieved July 14, 2007 Mankiw, G. (2001). â€Å"Ten Principles of Economics.† Principles of Microeconomics Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers. pp. 3-15. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2003). â€Å"What is Behind HRSA’s Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortage of Registered Nurses?† Health Resources and Services Administration. Retrieved July 14, 2007

Take This Bread by Sara Miles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Take This Bread by Sara Miles - Essay Example The essence of all religious texts is-- help and do service to others. That is the greatest meritorious act. To cause intentional pain to others is the greatest act of sin. Sara Miles said thus, without actually saying! A true Christian is the one who has not only cross on the neck, but also Christ in the heart. Sara Miles prayed and performed. Prayer took the second place in the order of her religious priorities and service occupied the first place. â€Å"Hunger† is the word that set her thinking and energized her. When she converted to Christianity at the age of 46, she was not like a young girl/youth with impressionable mind, receptive to transplantation of new ideas. She was a tough individual, experienced in many facets of life, with strong leftist leanings, secular-intellectual, and by strict standards of Christianity and Church, not a fit candidate for conversion. But such ‘accidents’ do happen in life, and when it happened it opened for her new vistas of f orward thrust. ‘To feed people’ became, not her view of life, but the way of life. She was obsessed with the idea of feeding people. Did she create a special brand of her own type Christianity? The answer to this question is both yes and no. For no one born on this Planet Earth can interpret what the true Christian principles are. What is the exact import of the revelations of that realized soul, the son God; no one will ever be able to comprehend! Each one sees a new horizon and interprets the Christian principles from the level of one’s spiritual progression. No one knows what is the perfect truth related to Christianity. When perfect Christian discipline is not known, they carry on with the available discipline, thinking that it alone is the final truth about Christianity! Divinity and humanity are alternative beats of the same heart. If you have any doubt, study the book, not mere read the book, â€Å"Take this Bread† by Sara Miles. They (Divinity and humanity) must run together like the train that speeds on two parallel tracks. It is like the scale of justice. Both arms of the scale are important to strike the equilibrium. To give another comparison they are like the two banks of a river! Sara turned one piece of bread that she ate at communion into many tons of groceries and discovered the new mission for her life. She used the altar of the Church where she met her God, Jesus Christ for the purpose. Poorest parts of the country turned out to be her pilgrimage centers. Her struggle was not ordinary. She came into contact and had to interact with a heterogeneous section of the society, good, bad and worst. She writes, (2000, xii) â€Å"I had to struggle with my atheist family, my doubting friends, and the prejudices and traditions of my newfound church. I learned about the great American scandal of the politics of food, the economy of hunger, and the rules of money. I met thieves, child abusers, millionaires, day laborers, polit icians, schizophrenics, gangsters, and bishops—all blown into my life through the restless power of a call to feed people, widening that I thought as my â€Å"community† in ways that were exhilarating, confusing, and often scary.† It is better not to give than give with arrogance. In her search for ways and means to combat hunger she provides the above description of the types of people she encountered---all

Ec 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ec 4 - Essay Example These two definitions are summarized as historical genesis and current utility. This presents a dilemma of incorporating distinct criteria of current utility and historical genesis under a single phrase. Biologists have failed to to acknowledge the confusion between these two distinct definitions for they tend to observe natural selection as a dominant evolutionary progression, making the historical process and the current utility seem as combined (Gould & Vrba 7). An outstanding instance of how linking these two definitions has caused misunderstanding is Darwins’ and Williams’ failure to label the infused sutures as adaptation since they were not built by selection to function as they do in mammals (Gould & Vrba 7). Williams calls this feature as an accidental effect that aids in the survival of mammals and not an adaptation. Nonetheless, these biologists failed to give the features that develop as a result of fitness to a current role a name (Gould & Vrba 7-9). Since the new features that develop in organisms to aid in the survival of the descen dants re not considered as an adaptation, they develop due to capability and not natural selection and are referred as exaptation. This, then, generates a variance between those features that develop due to natural selection and fitness to a current role. In this case, the mammalian sutures are an exaptation and not adaptation (Gould & Vrba 7-10). Exaptation offers a solution to the dilemma of preadaptation. Evolutionists and biologists have experienced trouble with the concept of preadaptation. Most of them have connected the features that develop to assist in performing a new role as preadaptation. If adaptation were developed for a current use, then structures functioning in a distinct and subsequent way cannot be preadaptations. In this case, preadaptation has been associated with indeterminate teology. Teology implies a description of the role of a given

Women in a patriarchal society and trifles Essay

Women in a patriarchal society and trifles - Essay Example The play Trifles revolves around the investigation conducted by a sheriff and a county attorney in the house of a woman who was accused of murdering her husband who was found in his bed with a rope around in his neck. Accompanying them is the couple’s neighbor who was the first man to discover the body. In the background, are wives of the sheriff and the neighbor who tagged along with their husbands while the men went around the house searching for evidence that would clearly show the motive of the wife in the killing of her husband. Glaspell’s play highlights the structural distinction between men and women in a patriarchal society in which women are regarded as inferior to men. Men, for example, hold significant jobs while women were kept in homes, cleaning, cooking, quilting and having babies. This inequality between the sexes places wives at a disadvantage because while men hold jobs keeping them out of the house most of the time and exposing them to a social life, women were tied down to their chores in homes with no one to share their thoughts with and no one to keep them company except husbands who come home at night and who did not treat them on equal footing. Minnie Wright exemplifies this type of a woman whose world had been confined to the four corners of her home, lonely and desperate and living with a husband who obviously kept to himself and who wanted to shut the noise out of their home. When he wrung the neck of her bird, her last source of joy, perhaps to keep it quiet forever, Mrs. Wrigh t finally snapped and tied a rope around his neck while he was asleep. All throughout the play, the same pattern of inequality between men and women are reflected by the other characters of the play with women playing secondary role to male characters. II In Trifles, Glaspell shows that men regarded women as beneath them and

International human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International human resource management - Essay Example At the same time the HRM should be flexible enough such that the differences in the HRM policies and practices can accommodate the different cultural and business settings (Sims, 2007). Marginson and Sisson (1994) have argued that industrial relations are deep rooted in the national system, which obstructs the penetration of transnational practices by Multi National Enterprises (MNEs). The increased pressure of globalization has made the MNEs to standardize their HRM procedures internationally such that the internal consistency is maintained and ‘best practices’ are percolated to the subsidiaries. This has raised the question of whether the standardized approach for labor relation framed by the MNEs actually caters to the type of employment. In this context the case study has examined the various workforce characteristics of McDonald’s operating in United Kingdom (UK) and Germany. An in detailed analysis about their appraisal, recruitment and characteristics of wo rkforce has been studied. McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most renowned companies in the world. It is the fast food chain, symbolized by a golden arch and has spread its business all over the world. It is recognized as a foremost franchising company, with 80% of its restaurant operating and owned by the franchisees (McDonald's, 2013; Briscoe, Schuler and Tarique, 2012). Interbrand has positioned McDonald’s at the seventh place among the top 100 brands in the world. McDonald’s is operating in different countries, which signifies that it has to adopt its product and services in such a way that it matches not only the cultural, political and economical factors of the country but also the HR practices adapted by them. The HR professional at McDonald’s, before opening their operation in any country conduct an extensive research in order to understand and determine the ways in which the HR activities may be adjusted (Aswathappa and Dash, 2007). As pointed by Love (1995) McDonald’s is well known across the globe for its standardized level of image and product. McDonald’s tends to impose the practices followed in the home country in relation to the trade unions, employee participation and control over the operations of the franchisee. In this context two aspects are studied to analyze the extent to which the standardized approach of labor relation designed by McDonald’s caters to the type of people employed and accommodation of different type of workers by McDonald’s, available in the different labor markets. Recruitment and Appraisal Studies suggest that the business organizations in Germany have a lower level of staffing as compared to the organization in UK. The reason was that the restaurant in Germany has more number of full time workers as compared to that of UK. This was due to the introduction of the German collective agreement that was introduced in the year 1989 for the employees of McDonaldâ€℠¢s. Recruitment for McDonald’s was done through the process of application. Then the applicants had to undergo lie detection process. But it was abolished after there were changes in the labor laws of US. McDonald’s was also in headlines due to the charges bought by a investigative journalist that if during the interview process the interviewing manager finds that the applicant has any

Turbo Tax & IRS FreeFile and a Software Program of the Intuit Company Research Paper

Turbo Tax & IRS FreeFile and a Software Program of the Intuit Company - Research Paper Example The IRS is the provider of the FreeFile that is also a program for filing taxes online. FreeFile assists in tax preparations and e-filing for free. A prospective user would need Turbo Tax software because of many reasons. One of the reasons relates to the ability of the software to support the online filing of tax returns. Through the capability, the software can help a user to save time that would others waste when moving to places of tax returns, and sometimes following along system to get clearance. Another reason that a prospect would love to use Turbo Tax software relates to its ability to run error checks. The software is able to perform error checks, and a final review of a user’s return to ensure that tax calculations are correct. Turbo Tax software has four major versions meant for different kinds of consumers. The first version is the Federal Free Edition that performs simple tax returns, and absolutely free. The second version is the Deluxe that maximizes an individual’s tax deductions. The Deluxe version of Turbo Tax costs $34.99 and is the most popular version. The third version of Turbo Tax software is the Premier, which is good for rental and investment property (Krantz, 2015). The Premier version costs $54.99. Home and Business is the fourth version of the Turbo Tax software. The edition costs $79.99 and appropriate for sole proprietors and small business operators. One can find the Turbo Tax software versions from the link https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/compare.jsp. A prospective user would also want to use the IRS FreeFile program because of some good features of the software. The software is capable of performing deductions and analyzing tax history of the taxpayer and provides a comprehensive report to the effect (IRS, 2015). The FreeFile is also safe and efficient, which enable t to assure security, preserve privacy and allow quick access to user’s tax records. FreeFile also has features that support  the filing of tax returns for individuals earning below $60000.