An Internal Analysis Of General Motors

An Internal Analysis Of General Motors General Motors is the international company; the global market share is estimated at 12.5 percent as of 2008 (General Motor, no date), therefore, base on the global market coverage, it can benefit from many regional countries, to allow better access to resources, talents and knowledge.. According to Boston Consulting Group, General Motors is one of the 25 most innovative companies in 2008, it arises from the concept cars like the electric Volt and a renewed focus on design. The workforce is value driven and understands the business mission and vision. 1.2 Intangible resources The intangible resources of the organization are its brand image and its reputation. General Motors has its strong reputation for innovation and new products in the automotives market. This means that customers will often associate the brand with new technology and products. 1.3 Core competencies General Motors core competencies including innovation. They constantly strive to deliver new and exciting products to the market, and human resources. General Motors have a well prepared knowledge and flexible workforce who is concentrated on reaching business goals. General Motors starts recommending vehicle installed OnStar satellite in case of an emergency or theft.(Onstar, no date) 2 Factors affecting the Automotive Industry (PESTEL Analysis) 2.1 Political The safer vehicle and the environment in the American market is not restricted at a great disadvantage. Government and authorities in the region made efforts to regulate, eventually start the implement and set the laws and regulation since the 1960s (L.S. Robertson, 2006) 2.2 Economic According the number of studies (Catherine Rampell, 2008), is the major user of steel, iron, lead, plastics, vinyl, rubber, aluminum, textiles, and computer chips. The study also mentioned that for each autoworker there are seven other jobs created in other industries. 2.3 Sociocultural The consumer automotive market, especially the vehicles market, used to be dominated by men but nowadays is not true. Marketing strategies are also focusing on emotions. The presence of women in the market shall turn out as fallback to cushion declining sales On the other hand, young consumers increase their spending power by working in a part-time job or by receiving larger allowance from their increasingly financially successful parents. 2.4 Technology the internet has a great impact on every industry in the anywhere and has also affect the automobile industry. According to the J.D. Power and associates 2006 New Autoshopper.com Study, 59% of the buyers referred to the internet before making their purchases and out of that 59%, 85% of the serious buyers visit the manufactures website before going to the dealer for a test drive. 2.5 Environmental On 30th November 2007, the business leaders of 150 global companies published a communiquà © to world leaders calling for a comprehensive, legally binding United Nations framework to tackle climate change. In fact, there is a programme in which WWF and businesses collaborate to show leadership in addressing climate change. 3. Porters Five Force Anaylsis 3.1 Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is relatively low. This is mainly due to the fact that it will cost a new company a lot of investment cost and know how to enter the automotive market. 3.2 Threat of substitute products Tthe coverage of destination is limited, besides, bus, metro, taxi are not products that can replace the vehicle. Therefore, the threat of substitute products is relatively low to moderate 3.3 Bargaining power of suppliers Due to the fact that suppliers are united, they are a very strong threat in the automotive market, nevertheless, the United Auto Worker, the only supplier of labor, has exerted a great deal of the leverage over the benefits and wages provided by the big three, therefore we can conclude that the bargaining power of supplier is strong. 3.4 Bargaining power of buyers As we look at consumer behavior when buying vehicles the conclusion can be made that their power is relatively low. Mainly the reason for this low power is because individual consumer has some power over price within a given dealership, but low power over manufacturers. 3.5 Competitive rivalry within the industry Due to the fact that there is a intense completion going on in the auto industry the rivalry within the automotive market is high. There are a lot of choice and intense competition in internet sales that can damage a company when they dont keep up with their competitors. See appendix 1 for more information. Summary Porters Five Forces Framework Porter (1980) http://dpj.typepad.co.uk/entrepreneur_zest/images/2008/03/26/porters_five_forces.gif 4. SWOT Analysis 4.1 Strengths 4.1.1 Large Market Share Although GMs market share in the US has declined, it still retains a competitive 21.5 percent in 2008. They also start to penetrate the Chinese customer automotives market and gain an increasing share. 4.1.2 Global Experience They have already been a global company for almost 100 years now and have established themselves as the global leader for most of them, they already have global experience. 4.1.3 Variety of Brand Names GM has been the automotive leader for the majority of the last century. The current GM brands included: Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, Daewoo, Opel, and Holden. 4.1.4 GMAC Customer Financing Program Since its establishment in 1919 it has proven to be GMs most reliable way of revenue. 4.1.5 OnStar Satellite Technology This technology allows the vehicles to be tracked in the event of an emergency or theft, it also allows the driver or passengers the ability to communicate with OnStar personnel at the click of a button. 4.2 Weaknesses 4.2.1 Behind on Alternative Energy Movement The alternative hybrid trend has begun to take place in the automotive industry and GM has been one step behind the competition It is a reason that lead them to lose the market share. 4.2.2 Organizational Structure below standard We can see the organization structure above, it seems to be too vertically integrated. The shortcomings are that it is a lack of communication between employees from top to bottom and may have played a part in GM lag on the hybrid technology. 4.2.3Stagnant Profitability To review GMs profit we can see that they are struggling with respect to the size of the company. It is disappointed that shareholder would not happy about. 4.2.4 Too dependent on domestic market GM overly become dependent on the US market The competition will become tough if they only focus on just one country. 4.2.5 Too dependent on GMAC GM overly become dependent on its financing company. Maybe it is a very great advantage for GM, but they cannot rely on financing company for gain the profit, if they want to compete with competitors 4.2.6 Poor Credit Rating GMs credit status has been declining obviously. According to Standard Poors, they declared billion of dollars of debt owed by GM to be junk, it will increase borrowing costs and limit fund-raising options for them.(Sharon Silke Carty, 2005) 4.3 Opportunities 4.3.1 Alternative energy movement hybrid technology is giving to GM a opportunity to once again become the automotive industry leader in innovation and technology 4.3.2 Continuing to expand globally Recently, they found that there is a dramatically increase in China automotive market, that proves themselves to focus and emphasis on Chinese huge potential market. 4.3.3 Low interest rates It is a opportunity that they can gain immediate revenue in sales. 4.3.4 Develop new vehicle styles and models As you know the development of the vehicle model never be satisfied, GM should keep attempting the most popular model in the world. 4.4 Threats 4.4.1 Rising fuel prices GM the major business pieces is the sales of truck and SUV, but it is gradually declined because of the lack of fuel efficiency, for rising fuel prices this reason, 4.4.2 Growth of competitors Toyota gains the first mover advantage of hybrid system and become the leader of automotive industry, GM faces the reality they should develop more fuel efficiency vehicle and small car model. 4.4.3 Legacy cost GM provide a great welfare to their retired employees, so they need to experience it is a serious financial problem more and more retired employees begin to be benefited. 5 Key strategic issues firm face GM is facing several strategic issues. It will be shown by a number of aspects. The economic recession, Competition, and New entrants. 5.1 Economic Recession The economy of world is currently in the downturn, or even recession in which will impact a lot of industries and consumers in the world. As the economy slowing down, doing business may find it hard to increase the revenue because banks are not willing to lend money to companies, especially bad credit status companies. As a result, GM may suffer from decrease in sales of automotives. However, they may benefit from hybrid technology, since more people are buying new fuel efficiency car model if consumer intend to purchase a new car. 5.2 Competitor in automotive industry The competition between the main competitors for instance, Toyota, Honda, Ford, has expanded beyond that of the traditional energy car. These companies are now competing on value adding products, fuel efficiency, design and service of maintenance. In order to achieve competitive advantage companies try to merge or acquire other companies in gain experience and knowledge. 5.3 New entrants The fast moving and constantly changing industry gives opportunities to new entrants who have not previously specialized in the automotive market as technology can often be easily imitated. In addition an alliance formed by different companies, such as Magna and Sberbank, trying to seek a takeover of Opel and Vauxhall, parts of GM European division. There has also a growing number of new entrants in China due to relatively low investment costs. 6 Strategic Options The strategic options that GM might realistically pursue had been discussed as below such as product development, market development,, and market penetration as their strategic options. (Ansoff, 1987) 6.1 Product development Product development is a feasible option because it can be capable both in present and the prospect. This option is also suitable to GM since it is able to exploit the needs of customers. GM is facing the threats of too much competitors in the market and the improvement of technology is increasing rapidly. Doing more researches on GMs products and investigate and understanding more about the favour of customers are significant. To improve the quality of services in their technology should not be neglected in order to catch up the expect of consumers and the externally needs so the company can be enhanced and stable in the market. . Suitability: Due to the furious competition between the three consoles company, this strategy is very important. GM have to develop more innovative new products to catch up the pace of the technological advancement. This could ensure the company to gain a step ahead of its competitiors. The technology industry requires swiftness in developing new and innovative products. Feasibility: The research and development of the company is doing very well in the past few years. They had been rated the top 25 most innovative company in the world (businessweek, 2008). In skills term, they have talent in which had leaded and developed a lot of innovative ideas which attracted a lot of consumers from youths, adult and even elders!. Acceptability: Shareholders and stakeholders will agree wholly with GMs decision as technology investors, they realize that the technology development or innovation is very important to maintain themselves into the market. 6.2 Market penetration According to (Lynch, R., 2006), market penetration uses the existing range of products or services to attract potential customers or consumers from competitor to expand their own market share. It basically targets the existing customers in the present market of competitors and gain profit from it. The cost is lower, and the chance of attracting consumers is higher. GM uses price competitive advantage to deal with their competitors, which are Toyota, Honda, Fordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. When GM introduces their brand, it is priced lower than others significantly. GM offer lower prices than competitors and it attract competitors consumers to have an attempt on the product due to its low price Suitability: This strategy is suitable to be implemented because this allows GM to grab more market shares from their numerous of competitors in the US market, Feasibility: GM is capable to compete with competitors as they are financially competent with them. Since GM stated that they retain the GM Europe section because they posses good health of liquidity again. This also shows that GM is financially secured and there is no problem for them to compete with their competitors. Acceptability: Stakeholders of GM will accept the strategy as long it is profitable to the organization and to them. 6.3 Market development From this strategy options, it involves the strategy of introducing both new and existing products to their existing customers and not overlooking the new customers. From here, both new and existing customers have the options and more information about those products. From here, they would be introduce their product to both side. They would be able to saturated new opportunities for geographical spread, entering new segments or new users in the environment. Such a change will enable GM in better turnover at medium risk by exploiting current strength or market knowledge. (Lynch, R., 2006) Suitability: It is suitable in market development as they tend to target new groups of people, and other new geographic places. (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). GM try to targets elders, adult or basically all adult group. Feasibility: It is feasible for GM as they have enough resources to develop into the new market. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, they has received $1 billion repayment from GM. This shows that they totally have enough fund to research and develop proper strategy in order to venture into the new market or exploring into a new market segment. Acceptability: Stakeholders and shareholders would surely agree with this strategy as it gain profit for the company and stakeholders or shareholders themselves. Recommendation of Strategy options The best strategic option for GM in their current situation is to develop a new vehicle which is alternative energy SUV; this strategy would significantly lead to a growth in sales. In addition, GM can gain a new business partner from Canada-Russia consortium because of their contractual relationship and this would be a great competitive advantage for GM. By using this strategy, which is an external method, it can help GM to solve their problems quickly. An alliance with Magna-Sberbank will also benefit GM in terms of saving expenses on research for the small car technology. This will aid GM in solving the tribulations that they are facing. 7 Implementation Issues When GM wants to withdraw or retain Europe operation, some obstacles will appear. They are called implementation issues. These implementation issues will be discussed how Government involved in its decision making. 7.1 Russian Government German Gref, the Sberbank boss stated that he acquires GM Europe section to enter new markets abroad and confirmed it is a really low price to takeover Opel, it can get the permission to get its company technology. Sberbank is a famous creditors of automotive industry in Russia in which inform to turn around its carmaker industry. The Russian Trade and Industry Minister stated that if not the takeover, they will not good enough to develop the international car company Since the Russian government plans to acquire international technology, all of the international autos keep continue to build some facilities such as manufacturing plants in there to reach domestic market demand. The global companies can avoid Russian import taxes on autos, besides, they can benefit from the domestic low salaries. Nowadays, to sell the GM Europe, GM will struggle in the Russian market and GM technology. 7.2 US Government According to American negotiating circle, the US government is not welcomed to work with the Magna as long as Russian companies get extensive access to GM patents. As Magna keen to get access to all developments from the GM patent pool. US government concerns about not only car technology, they concern about Russian getting the military items. On the other hands, GM concerned that the consortium will use GM technology to contribute a potential threat of competitor to GM another brand in the Russian market. (Reuters, 2009) In addition, China Beijing automotive offer and promised job cut, and required financial support are much better than the other two, Magna also design Opel the best way for future development, but the GM is welcomed RHJ. According the analyst, GM expects to be able to make a comeback again in the future control of Opel, RHJ operation mode exactly GM wants, RHJ can give a hand to GM achieve a deep restructuring.(Wall street journal, 2009) 7.3 Germany Government According to Reuters(2009), the Germany Chancellor Merkel played an important role in the incident that Opel will be sold to Magna. Why? Because she takes the mission to save German unemployment rate, this is a political activity, she is preparing the coming election. How Merkel convinces Magna, allowed to retain as many jobs as Germany can be affordable? This is simple word money. The Germany Government wait for the European Commission approved a loan of 4.5 billion Euros to the Opel. Furthermore, the plants will not be closed in Germany, this seems very favorable for Merkel, and she is expected to easily win the election. On the other hands, it will damage their relationship if there is any failure of Russian involvement in Opel since Germany is apparently work well with Russia about trading. Besides, German election is almost can be said to the future destiny of the Opel that become a political hot potato. Government has invested a lot of money into the Opel, which is an economic decision making, but also the reason of political consideration. To unresolved Opel future, Merkel will be faced more political pressure. On the other hands, Germany government will not give any financial support to GM Europe section if GM remains it. It makes sense that Government will not help a outsider in which Germany has big three carmakers (Audi, BMW, Volkswagen),to survive its operation. As GM has already damaged the GM Europe section operation and put Opel on the transfer list. Germany cannot build any trust on GM, but by the way they have a good relationship with Russia as I mentioned above. Conclusion As a conclusion, GM sales have been affected by the economic downturn and in order to increase their sales the best option is to launch a alternative energy SUV. Besides that, GM wants to protect themselves on the market, and for this reason GM needs to be more innovative and be more sensitive to the current trends of the market. Knowing the needs of consumer will retain GMs position in the market as the worlds leading producer of mobile phone. 8. Reflective Statement on Leadership Leadership is defined as entails some degree of voluntarism in followship (Pardey, D., 2007). However, Kotter (1990) argues that leadership is about coping with the changes by giving direction. Kotters (1990) leadership framework states that the role of leadership is to set a direction, develop a vision of where the organization should be going and the strategy for change to achieve that vision. Leaders align people to the direction being set, communicating it to people and building commitment to it. Motivating and inspiring people so that they work to achieve the vision drawing on their needs, values and emotions. Our group were using democratic style of leadership where all of our members were involved in the decision making process. Ryan, our group leader discussed with all of us and decides which part we need to work on step by step. This helps a lot as we were very unclear about the direction were heading to. Communications In my group, there is some communication issues as the all four of us come from different country and background. Sometimes, there will be conflict of ideas and difficulty in presenting the ideas. We got delays in meeting because some of our group members were busy or there were some lack of communication as in setting up our meet up time got messed up and caused some group members turned up and some did not. I learnt that working in a group is not easy as it needs more effort to discuss and accomplish it. Responsibility We were each given task to search for the information from external analysis to internal analysis. All of our group mates were very responsible that they all searched for the information on their own part and some of them even helped to search for others part of work in detail. This helped our group to have the sufficient information for us to do our work. I learnt that without time management, everything would be in a total mess as we might have hand our assignment late. Problem solving We overcome our communication problem by spending more time during our meetings and we make sure everyone understand what are the things that we need to accomplish and understand what our group members were discussing during the meeting. I had learnt that developing a vision is important as it helps our group to do our work on time. Reference list Ansoff, H.I. (1987) Corporate Strategy Revised Edition. London: Penguin Books. BusinessWeek,(2008),The 50 Most Innovative Companies. [online] Available at: http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/innovative_companies/ (Access: 9th January 2010) Catherine Rampell, (2008), How many jobs depend on the big three?, Economix, [online] Available at http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/how-many-jobs-depend-on-the-big-three/ (Accessed: 9th January 2010) General Motors,(no date) GM Global Vehicle Sales and Market Share-2008,December [Online]. Available at http://www.gm.com/europe/corporate/sales/global/ (Accessed:9th January 2010) J.D.Power (2006), Research a car online[online] Available at: http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/research-a-car-online (Access:9th January 2010) Johnson, G., Scholes, K. Whittington, R. (2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy. 8th edn. England: Prentice Hall. Kotter, J. (1990) what leaders really do Harvard Business Review. L.S. Robertson, (2006), Motor Vehicle Dealth: Failed Policy Analysis and Neglected Policy, Vol. 27,p. 182-189, Journal of Public Health Policy Lynch, R. (2006) Corporate Strategy. 4th edn. Essex : Pearson. Pardey, D.(2007) Introducing Leadership. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Onstar,(no date) [online] Available at: http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/index.jsp (Access:9th January 2010) Reuters (2009) GMs U-turn on Opel sale angers Germany Russia. Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5a25RL20091104 (Accessed:: 5/01/2009) Sharon Silke Carty, (2005) SP cut GM, Ford debt rating to junk status, [online] Available at http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-05-05-gm-junk_x.htm ,USA Today(Accessed:9th January 2010) Vincent J. Galifi. (2009) Magna Confirms Offer for Opel, [Online]. Available at: http://www.magna.com/magna/de/media/pressreleases/?i=218 (Accessed:5/01/2010) Vincent J. Galifi. (2009) MAGNA AND SBERBANK OFFER SELECTED AS THE PREFERRED SOLUTION FOR OPEL [Online]. Available at: http://www.sbrf.ru/en/news/index.php?id114=11000080 (Accessed:5/01/2010) Wall Street Journal (2009) RHJ improve the terms of its bid for GMs Opel.[Online]. Available at:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125182274337876583.html

The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible Essay -- The Crucible Moral

The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible The play "The Crucible" was written by Arthur Miller written 1950's but was first performed in 1953. It is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 and is about a small community torn apart due to accusations of witchcraft. In this essay I am going to write about the affect that conscience has on peoples' minds and decisions. Miller once said "Now I wanted to move closer to a conscious hero". By this he meant after his last play he wanted to move closer to a character that was aware of what he has done i.e. sins and that he becomes a hero for it. I will analyze John Proctor, Reverend John Hale and Goodwife Elizabeth Proctor because these three all have their own moral struggle due to the witch-hunts. Arthur Miller has based his drama on a true story, which happened in Salem in 1692. The names of the characters he used were actually the people involved. He found out their names from his visit to Salem to look at the court records. He had changed their characters slightly i.e. making Abigail Williams older. Also at the time of him writing the play there were the McCarthy witch hunts for communists, which as a writer miller himself was thought to be communist. He was interrogated by the government and was under pressure to name names and confess just as John Proctor was, so Miller can relate to Proctor's situation. The first person I am going to analyze from the play is John Proctor. He is the central character and the "conscious hero" Miller was referring to. He is a farmer in Salem and is in his middle thirties with a wife and three sons. He is "even tempered" and has a very dark secret, his infidelity with Abigail Williams, "before you go... ... are faced by each of the characters I have studied. There are other characters beside the ones I have studied that face a battle with their conscience. These people are Mary Warren and Danforth. Danforth faces a struggle with his conscience as he has to make the decisions of who dies and who lives and each death is on his conscience for the rest of his life. Miller wanted a conscious hero central to his drama because he thought that it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the time There are a few people in The Crucible that appear to have no conscience at all. These people are Abigail and The Putnams. Deep down I think the play The Crucible is all about the battles people face with their conscience and the different ways in which people deal with it. It is the central story line, upon which the entire play is based around. The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible Essay -- The Crucible Moral The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible The play "The Crucible" was written by Arthur Miller written 1950's but was first performed in 1953. It is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 and is about a small community torn apart due to accusations of witchcraft. In this essay I am going to write about the affect that conscience has on peoples' minds and decisions. Miller once said "Now I wanted to move closer to a conscious hero". By this he meant after his last play he wanted to move closer to a character that was aware of what he has done i.e. sins and that he becomes a hero for it. I will analyze John Proctor, Reverend John Hale and Goodwife Elizabeth Proctor because these three all have their own moral struggle due to the witch-hunts. Arthur Miller has based his drama on a true story, which happened in Salem in 1692. The names of the characters he used were actually the people involved. He found out their names from his visit to Salem to look at the court records. He had changed their characters slightly i.e. making Abigail Williams older. Also at the time of him writing the play there were the McCarthy witch hunts for communists, which as a writer miller himself was thought to be communist. He was interrogated by the government and was under pressure to name names and confess just as John Proctor was, so Miller can relate to Proctor's situation. The first person I am going to analyze from the play is John Proctor. He is the central character and the "conscious hero" Miller was referring to. He is a farmer in Salem and is in his middle thirties with a wife and three sons. He is "even tempered" and has a very dark secret, his infidelity with Abigail Williams, "before you go... ... are faced by each of the characters I have studied. There are other characters beside the ones I have studied that face a battle with their conscience. These people are Mary Warren and Danforth. Danforth faces a struggle with his conscience as he has to make the decisions of who dies and who lives and each death is on his conscience for the rest of his life. Miller wanted a conscious hero central to his drama because he thought that it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the time There are a few people in The Crucible that appear to have no conscience at all. These people are Abigail and The Putnams. Deep down I think the play The Crucible is all about the battles people face with their conscience and the different ways in which people deal with it. It is the central story line, upon which the entire play is based around.

Beer Production

1 A Report By: Animesh Ranjan 5101045 C-2 (biotechnology) Jaypee Institute of Information Technology For: Mr. Chakresh Jain Course Coordinator (biotech plant site layout) Department of Biotechnology Jaypee Institute of Information Technology Noida 2 CONTENTS Kool Breweries Ltd: An Overview Alcoholic Beverages Brewing: How Beer is made Brewing: Process Overview Beer Production: Flowchart Beer Production: Ingredients Beer Production Process o o o o o o o Mashing Lautering Boiling and Hopping Hop Separation and Cooling Fermentation Filtration Packaging 13 13 14 14 15 16 17 18 4 5 8 9 10 11Quality Control in Beer Production 3 Kool Breweries Ltd: An Overview Kool Breweries Limited is a premium-branded beverage company dedicated to delivering quality products enjoyed by millions around the world every day. An academic visit to the Kool Brewery manufacturing plant in Haryana was organized as a part of the course ‘Biotech Plant Site Layout’ on the 19th March 2007. This visit pro vided with the opportunity to observe the different processes involved in the beer manufacturing, i. e. mashing, lautering, whirl pooling, fermentation, filtration and packaging.Also the quality control measures being adopted to maintain the quality of the beer to international standards and the basic layout of the plant were also observed. The visit was a very useful academic as well as practical exposure and we look forward to more of such visits in future to enhance both our theoretical, technical and practical knowledge. 4 Alcoholic Beverages An alcoholic beverage containing ethanol. is a drink Ethanol is a psychoactive drug, a depressant, and many societies regulate or restrict its sale and consumption.Countries place various legal restrictions on the sale of alcoholic drinks to young people. The manufacture and consumption of alcohol is notably found (to some degree) in most cultures and societies around the world, from hunter-gatherer tribes to organized nation-states. The co nsumption of alcohol is often important at social events in such societies and may be an important aspect of a community's culture. The concentration of alcohol in a drink may be specified in percent alcohol by volume (ABV), in percentage by weight (sometimes abbreviated w/w for weight for weight), or in proof.Most yeast cannot grow when the concentration of alcohol is higher than about 18% by volume, so that is a practical limit for the strength of fermented beverages such as wine, beer, and sake. Strains of yeast have been developed that can survive in solutions of up to 25% alcohol by volume, but these were bred for ethanol fuel production, not beverage production. 5 Alcoholic Beverages †¢ Mead – fermented honey and water, sugar in honey is too concentrated for yeasts to grow so it must be diluted. Probably made by early humans by accident initially.Mead is made now by boiling diluted honey and adding nitrogencontaining compounds, then yeast culture. Fermentation proc ess takes 6-8 weeks. †¢ Wine – Yeasts are present on fruit skins so fermentation can occur naturally. Wine was probably produced accidentally as long as 10,000 ybp but that is only a guess. †¢ Beers – have been made for at least 6000 years. Brewing has been a hit and miss process until about 200 years ago, until then it was difficult to control quality. High quality beer has three basic ingredients: barley malt, hops, and water. Adjuncts are used extensively in cheap beers. 6 Sake – â€Å"rice wine† – Conversion of rice starch to sugar is done by Aspergillus (bread mold). Yeast are then added for fermentation, final alcohol concentration is 19% and is fortified to 20-22%. †¢ Chicha – corn beer, Central and S. America, made from chewed corn. †¢ Distillation o Whiskeys – distilled from â€Å"beers† and aged – Scotch, Bourbon, Rye. o Cognacs and brandies – distilled from wines. o Grain alcohol is 95% = 190 proof o Gin and vodka – ethanol + water, gin is flavored. o Rum – fermented molasses or sugarcane juice 7 Brewing: How Beer is Made Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation.This is the method used in beer production. Brewing is fundamentally a natural process. The art and science of brewing lies in converting natural food materials into a pure, pleasing beverage. Although great strides have been made with the techniques for achieving high-quality production, beer today is still a beverage brewed from natural products in a traditional way. Although the main ingredients of beer have remained constant (water, yeast, malt and hops), it is the precise recipe and timing of the brew that gives one a different taste from another.The production of beer is one of the most closely supervised and controlled manufacturing processes in our society. Apart from brewing company expenditures on research and quality control designed to achieve the highest standards of uniformity and purity in the product, the production of beer is also subject to regular inspection and review by federal and provincial Health Departments. Substances used in the brewing process are approved by Health Canada. On average, a batch of beer will take about 30 days to produce.To be more specific, brewing takes nine and a half hours, while fermentation and aging combined take between 21 and 35 days for ales and lagers respectively. 8 Brewing: Process Overview The grain used as the raw material is usually barley, but rye, maize, rice and oatmeal are also employed. In the first stage the grain is malted, either by causing it to germinate or by artificial means. This converts the carbohydrates to dextrin and maltose, and these sugars are then extracted from the grain by soaking in a mash tun (vat or cask) and then agitating in a lauter tun.The resulting liquor, known as sweet wort, is then boiled in a copper vessel with hops, which give a bitter flavour and helps to preserve the beer. The hops are then separated from the wort and it is passed through chillers into fermenting vessels where the yeast is added-a process known as pitching-and the main process of converting sugar into alcohol is carried out. (For discussion of fermentation see the chapter Pharmaceutical industry. ) The beer is then chilled to , centrifuged and filtered to clarify it; it is then ready for dispatch by keg, bottle, aluminium can or bulk transport. Figure 65. 8 is a flow chart of the brewing process. Beer Production: Flowchart 10 Beer Production: Ingredients The water must be pure, with no trace of bacteria. This is vital, because it allows the other ingredients to release all their flavour. 95% of breweries have their own spring or natural well. Barley is a cereal that offers a key advantage: it can be preserved for a long time after harvesting. In order for barley to be used in the making of beer, it must first be malted. It is malted barl ey that gives beer its characteristic color and taste. Hops or â€Å"green gold† come from a climbing plant with male and female flowers; only the female flowers are used.There are various varieties, ranging from very bitter to aromatic. Hops grew naturally in our regions in ancient times, and this plant has been used by brewers since time immemorial. In antiquity, it could be replaced by mixtures of aromatic herbs, in particular rosemary and thyme, which had the same preserving effect as hops but of course gave the resulting beverage a quite different flavour. Yes, it is hops that give beer its characteristic bitterness, and this plant became so successful that in the 18th century all varieties of beer contained hops. 11 Yeasts transform the sugars in the must into alcohol and carbon dioxide.The type of yeast used varies according to the type of beer. There was a time when man had no control over yeasts in beer. Louis Pasteur was able to explain their role in the brewing pro cess, and yeast culture was developed thanks to the work of the Danish scientist Hansen. Nowadays there are two main varieties of yeasts that are used in brewing: saccharomyces cerevisiae and saccharomyces carlsbergensis (bottomfermenting). Certain other products are used in the making of beer, in particular spices: coriander, ginger, cloves, sage, fennel, mustard seeds, aniseed, cinnamon, etc. 12 Beer Production Process MashingMalt is added to heated, purified water and, through a carefully controlled time and temperature process, the malt enzymes break down the starch to sugar and the complex proteins of the malt to simpler nitrogen compounds. Mashing takes place in a large, round tank called a â€Å"mash mixer† or â€Å"mash tun† and requires careful temperature control. At this point, depending on the type of beer desired, the malt is supplemented by starch from other cereals such as corn, wheat or rice. Lautering The mash is transferred to a straining (or lauterin g) vessel which is usually cylindrical with a slotted false bottom two to five centimetres above the rue bottom. The liquid extract drains through the false bottom and is run off to the brew kettle. This extract, a sugar solution, is called â€Å"wort† but it is not yet beer. Water is â€Å"sparged† (or sprayed) though the grains to wash out as much of the extract as possible. The â€Å"spent grains† are removed and sold as cattle feed. 13 Boiling and Hopping The brew kettle, a huge cauldron holding from 70 to 1,000 hectolitres and made of shiny copper or stainless steel, is probably the most striking sight in a brewery. It is fitted with coils or a jacketed bottom for steam heating and is designed to boil the wort under carefully-controlled conditions.Boiling, which usually lasts about two hours, serves to concentrate the wort to a desired specific gravity, to sterilize it and to obtain the desired extract from the hops. The hop resins contribute flavour, aroma and bitterness to the brew. Once the hops have flavoured the brew, they are removed. When applicable, highly-fermentable syrup may be added to the kettle. Undesirable protein substances that have survived the journey from the mash mixer are coagulated, leaving the wort clear. Hop Separation and Cooling After the beer has taken on the flavour of the hops, the wort then proceeds to the â€Å"hot wort tank†.It is then cooled, usually in a simple-looking apparatus called a â€Å"plate cooler†. As the wort and a coolant flow past each other on opposite sides of stainless steel plates, the temperature of the wort drops from boiling to about 10 to 15. 5  °C, a drop of more than 65. 6  °C, in a few seconds. 14 Fermentation The wort is then moved to the fermenting vessels and yeast, the guarded central mystery of ancient brewer's art, is added. It is the yeast, which is a living, single-cell fungi, that breaks down the sugar in the wort to carbon dioxide and alcohol. It al so adds many beer-flavouring components.There are many kinds of yeasts, but those used in making beer belong to the genus saccharomyces. The brewer uses two species of this genus. One yeast type, which rises to the top of the liquid at the completion of the fermentation process, is used in brewing ale and stout. The other, which drops to the bottom of the brewing vessel, is used in brewing lager. During fermentation, which lasts about seven to 10 days, the yeast may multiply six-fold and in the open-tank fermenters used for brewing ale, a creamy, frothy head may be seen on top of the brew. 15 FiltrationFiltering the beer stabilizes the flavour, and gives beer its polished shine and brilliance. Not all beer is filtered. When tax determination is required by local laws, it is typically done at this stage in a calibrated tank. Filters come in many types. Many use pre-made filtration media such as sheets or candles, while others use a fine powder made of, for example, diatomaceous earth , also called kieselguhr, which is introduced into the beer and recirculated past screens to form a filtration bed. Filters range from rough filters that remove much of the yeast and any solids (e. . hops, grain particles) left in the beer, to filters tight enough to strain color and body from the beer. Normally used filtration ratings are divided into rough, fine and sterile. Rough filtration leaves some cloudiness in the beer, but it is noticeably clearer than unfiltered beer. Fine filtration gives a glass of beer that you could read a newspaper through, with no noticeable cloudiness. Finally, as its name implies, sterile filtration is fine enough that almost all microorganisms in the beer are removed during the filtration process. 16 PackagingIn the bottle shop of a brewery, returned empty bottles go through washers in which they receive a thorough cleaning. After washing, the bottles are inspected electronically and visually and pass on to the rotary filler. Some of these machin es can fill up to 1,200 bottles per minute. A â€Å"crowning† machine, integrated with the filler, places caps on the bottles. The filled bottles may then pass through a â€Å"tunnel pasteurizer† (often 23 metres from end to end and able to hold 15,000 bottles) where the temperature of the beer is raised about 60  °C. or a sufficient length of time to provide biological stability, then cooled to room temperature. Emerging from the pasteurizer, the bottles are inspected, labelled, placed in boxes, stacked on pallets and carried by lift truck to the warehousing areas to await shipment. Also in the bottle shop may be the canning lines, where beer is packaged in cans for shipment. Packaged beer may be heat-pasteurized or micro-filtered, providing a shelf-life of up to six months when properly stored. Draught beer, since it is normally sold and consumed within a few weeks, may not go through this process.The draught beer is placed in sterilized kegs ready for shipment. 17 Quality Control in Beer Production Setting up specifications is done all the time. Brewers decide on the basic properties of original gravity, color, and flavor and from this develop a formulation of raw materials and a process to extract what is wanted from them. Sensory methods: Sensory methods are not necessarily easy to apply (and often ill used) but are useful and quite cheap to do. They include an analysis of beer flavor (undoubtedly beer's most important attribute), beer clarity, color, and foam.Brewers who do not regularly and critically taste and visually examine their beers in a formal setting deny themselves much critical information. Beer color, on the other hand, can be measured in a comparator (just a light box set up for visually matching color – the human eye is much better at this than most instruments) or by quite cheap instruments, such as a tintometer. A standard beer set aside for color matching remains stable for quite a long time if kept cold and in th e dark. Observers can rate the beers on some sensory scale.Putting numerical values from instruments on flavor, haze, foam, color, and so forth is where the trouble starts, but that isn't really necessary for a simple quality-control program. 18 Cycling a beer on some regular schedule (e. g. daily) between a warm place (60 ° C) and a cold one (40 ° C) will create haze; more stable beers withstand more cycles than less stable ones. Similarly, storing a beer at 25 ° C in an archive (a fancy name for a warm cupboard) will encourage microbial growth and other sorts of beer breakdown. Instrumental Analysis: The second kind of specification and analysis is not amenable to sensory testing. gh on this list of â€Å"invisible† specifications has to be the original gravity (OG) and the degree of fermentability (hence alcohol content) of beers. These are most easily determined on wort but require an investment in some simple apparatus – a hydrometer and measuring cylinder. The wort OG and fermentability are fundamental specifications for a beer, because beer is made from the fermentable portion of the wort. These values also allow a brewer to calculate extract yield from raw materials (brewhouse yield) and predict beer yield.The degree of fermentability can be determined by a rapid fermentation test in which a high population of yeast cells, with frequent agitation, rapidly ferments out the wort. At the same time, wort flavor and clarity can be noted. A sample of wort, taken under aseptic conditions and set aside in the archive, will reveal its microbiological status in a few days and tell a good deal about the sanitary status of the brewhouse. Package beer, on the other hand, must be analyzed for CO2 content (carbonation) and bottle â€Å"air† for flavor stability. 19The microbiological status of a packaged beer, especially one destined for a distant market, is of prime concern for beer flavor and for the safety of the consuming public (potent ial for exploding bottles). The only satisfactory microbiological test is to pass at least 100 ml of beer through a 0. 45 micrometer membrane, then plate the membrane on media (such as MRS) under conditions (for instance anaerobic at about 25 ° C) capable of detecting the target organisms in low numbers. A quick squint at a beer sample under a microscope doesn't cut it. 20

Plato And Augustine Of Hippo - 1192 Words

Some of the most famous people of the ancient world were philosophers. These certain individuals became more well-known than many war heroes and kings because of the ways in which they thought about, and perceived the world. Historians along with other people became fascinated with their ideas. This resulted in their ideas becoming the foundation for the ways in the world thinks today. Some of these people include Plato, and Augustine of Hippo. These men thought about the ways of the world unlike any others had before them. They were not satisfied with the knowledge that world gave them, and so they continued to ask questions and dig deeper until they were able to find an answer. These two men both lived in times where the people around them were very confused. This lead to both of them being very influential in their separate times. Plato’s way of thinking came from his teacher, another great Greek philosopher, Socrates. Plato was born in 427 B.C. and was member of a very wea lthy, upper class family in the Greek city-state of Athens. He was given the opportunity to study under Socrates and became his disciple. Socrates taught Plato much of his knowledge and wisdom, which resulted in him also becoming a great philosopher. Socrates didn’t do any of his own writings, so we can learn about him from what Plato writes about him. Plato was very similar to Socrates in the way that he thought but unlike Socrates, Plato was a teacher as well as a philosopher. He created theShow MoreRelatedPlato And Augustine Of Hippo Philosophy1769 Words   |  8 Pagesphilosopher: Plato and Augustine of Hippo. Both men dedicated their lives to the work of philosophy and higher thinking and both men developed revolutionary ideas for their time, influencing the world around them in the process. By looking at the lives and beliefs of both Plato and Augustine of Hippo through their written works, their backgrounds, worldviews, views of reality, and values are made apparent a nd able to be compared. Augustine did not begin his life as a Christian. In Augustine: AccountRead MoreSaint Augustine s Influence On The Development Of Western Christianity And Western1220 Words   |  5 Pages Saint Augustine, also known as Augustine of Hippo was an early Christian philosopher and theologian. He was born on November the 13th, 354 CE in Thagaste and died on August the 28th, 430 CE in Hippo Regius. Saint Augustine s writings and works have had a profound influence on the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. Augustine was born in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in Roman Africa. 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TheseRead MoreEssay on St. Augustines View of Evil1070 Words   |  5 Pagesthat has puzzled Christians since the time of St. Augustine of Hippo. In The Confessions of St. Augustine, he initiates this premise and argues in its favor. Discourse about evil is based on the Christian theological teachings of the omniscience, omnipotence, and perfect benevolence of God as well as the understanding that evil is present in this world. Since these four concepts are contradictory, one of them must be rejected. Thus, St. Augustine argues that evil does not exist. I find St. Augustine’sRead MoreSt. Augustine: A Man of Great Genius Essay1778 Words   |  8 Pages Throughout the ages, there have been countless influences on not only social and political life, but on religious character and prevalence as well. Aurelius Augustine, who would eventually rise to the position of bishop in the early Catholic Church, was o ne of the most interesting characters that would surely leave his mark on the Roman Empire, especially in the few decades before the western part of the empire was to be taken over by Germanic tribes from the North. Perhaps, his most influentialRead MoreThe Existence Of God And The Renaissance Era821 Words   |  4 Pagesitself. One cannot look far into medieval philosophy without coming across Augustine of Hippo, a North African rhetorician and devotee of Manichaeanism who converted to Christianity under the influence of Ambrose. He devoted his life to the exposition of a philosophical system that included Neoplatonic elements in support of Christian orthodoxy. The theme of Augustine s method is Credo ut intellegiam (translated as: I believe in order that I may understand), whichRead MoreThe Contributions of St. Augustine and Brigid of Kildare to Christianity1003 Words   |  5 PagesThe Contributions of St. Augustine and Brigid of Kildare to Christianity St. Augustine and Bridgid of Kildare were two very influential people in the church during the fourth and fifth centuries. St. Augustine and Bridgid of Kildare were most famous for the monasteries that they founded. Both St. Augustine and Bridgid were devout Christians who contributed greatly to the growth of Christianity. Both of these people encouraged the spread of Christianity, the belief in a life of solitude, andRead MoreThe Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine Martin Luther Essay3381 Words   |  14 PagesThe Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine Martin Luther Their impact on the Christian Faith March 12, 2009 The Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine, and Martin Luther have been three very important figures in the Christian church. Each went through a unique personal experience that changed the course of their lives. Those experiences were important to them and they should be important to anyone of the Christian faith