Nonsom Fermented Fish Rice Biology Essay

Nonsom Fermented Fish Rice Biology Essay Fish is classified according to origin such as seawater fish, shellfish, oily and white fish and freshwater fish. Fish is a rich source of protein and it contains other nutrients such as essential fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins and calcium (Barnett, 1998). In fish, it contains fat soluble vitamin such as vitamin A , D and a number of water soluble vitamin B group. Vitamin A and D are mostly found in the visceral fat, though there are amounts in the flesh for a few species such as lamprey and some species of tuna (Pirie and Swaninathan, 1975). Fish is also low in saturated fatty acids and oily fish in particular is an excellent source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids with ÃŽÂ ±- linolenic acid( ALA), Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and cocosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to aid in preventing cardiovascular disease(Brunner, 2008). Fish can be rich source of iodine and some magnesium, calcium and iron are also present. However, fish are more perishable due to the surface slime by a mass of ba cteria covering the fish body and the bacteria resides in the digestive tract. In Malaysia, fish is an important food in the Malaysian diet and besides consuming it as a dish itself it can be used as a condiment in various traditional form such as dried, salted and fermented. 1.2 Fermentation Fermentation is the most conventional method in food processing. It is a desirable process of biochemical modification by microorganisms that bring changes to food and enhance properties such as taste, aroma, shelflife and nutritive value. Through fermentation, the safety of food can be enhanced by removing their natural toxin components or by inhibiting the growth of disease-causing microbes (Adams et. al., 2001). Food fermentation can be classified in several groups which is beverages, cereal products, dairy products, fish products, fruit and vegetable products, legumes and meat products. Fermented foods were developed by many cultures for two main reasons, that is to preserve harvested or slaughtered products which were abundant during those times and are scarce and the other reason is to improve the sensory properties of products that are unappealing. In Southeast Asia, fermentation of fish the most common as fish is a major component in the human diet. Freshwater shellfish ,marine fish and crustaceans are processed with salt to produce various type of fermented fish products. Fish fermentation produces a type of savory flavor from marine products by using both endogenous enzymes in fish and salt tolerant microorganisms in the environment. Fish fermentation is also a method of preserving perishable fish and marine products in a high salt concentration (Lee et al., 1993). Lactic acid fermentation plays a major role in preserving perishable vegetables and fishes, ensuring its safety. The organic acids, mainly lactic acid and acetic acid, produced by lactic acid bacteria are effective antimicrobial agents, and they reduce the pH in the foods to prevent the growth of most hazardous food microorganisms (Lee et al., 1994). 1.3 Nonsom Nonsom or bosou is a traditional fermented fish-rice product made among the among the KadazanDusun-Murut community in Sabah. It is served during festival occasions such as Pesta Keamatan. The ingredients used to make this dish includes fish rice, salt and grinded kernel seed of the Pangium edule. The process of producing nonsom is simple. First the fishes are cleaned thoroughly and salted. Rice is added into the conoction and mixed thoroughly. Dried seed of Pangium edule also known as pangi ,with the content that is scraped out are pounded into a powder form and is then sprinkled onto the conoction to be mixed. The mixture is then transferred into a tightly close jar and kept for one month period before consumption. Nonsom can also be cooked by steaming, fry with onions and chili or be eaten just as it is (Vivienne, 2007). One of the ingredients in nonsom is the seeds of Pangium Edule that are said to be poisonous due to presence of hydrocyanic acid which is toxic Pangi seed can only be consumed after treatments such as boiling and soaking in running water(Davidson and Jaine, 2006 ). These seeds are specialty in Indonesia and have been used as spices. It is claimed that the addition of these seeds into the fermented foods helps in controlling the fermentation process and provide unique flavor to the products. The KadazanDusun community eliminates the poison of pangi by soaking and boiling them in water. They use the powdered seed of pangi as food ingredients in the fermented fish product. This gives a nutty aroma on the fermented fish. The flavor source for spices is due to the dominant amino acids that is present in the fermented seed, which is Glutamic acid (Andarwulan et.al., 1999). 2.0 SIMILAR PRODUCTS WORLDWIDE 2.1 Burong dalag. In the Philippines a fermented rice-fish product which involves lactic acid bacteria is served as appetizer, sauce or main dish (Melchor,2007). Burong isda is a traditional fermented fish product in the phillipines that is similar to narezushi in Japan. Burong isda is produced in white and red form. The red is by addition of angkak which is a culture grown in rice. Burong isda is prepared using freshwater fish that is cleaned thoroughly and mixed with salt overnight before mixing with cooled cooked rice. The mixture is left to ferment for 7 to 10 days in room temperature. There are other kinds of burong isda based on the type of fish used. An example is Burong dalag, a fermented rice-fish mixture using mudfish, Phicephalus striatus (Sanchez, 2008). 2.2 Narezushi Narezushi is a fermented fish product by fermented salted mackerel with boiled rice. It was suggested that narezushi was developed as a mean of fish preservation. In the past half century, marine fishes has been substituted with freshwater fishes due to the drastic decrease of harvest. Aji-no-sushi is another form of Narezushi that is made from horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicas). The mackerel is gutted and put in a barrel that has been salted. It is then drained off and placed in a vat filled with vinegar rice. The salting takes 3 days to 2 months and the desalting phase varied. The fish are stuffed and covered with cooked rice, scattered with a small amount of Japanese pepper leaves or red pepper and pickled in a barrel with the lid that is held closed by stone weights. The fermentation period last from 6 weeks to 1 year, depending on the manufacturer (Kuda et. al., 2009). 2.3 Sikhae Sikhae in Korea is the lactic acid fermentation of seawater fish with cooked millet. The process of producing is similar to other fermented fish-rice products but millet is used instead of rice as it is the common carbohydrate source in the northeastern country. Other ingredients added include minced garlic and red pepper powder. Garlic shows antimicrobial effect on most microorganisms in raw material and the product. It also functions as a selective agent which explains that why lactic acid bacteria is dominant in sikhae fermentation (Lee, 1997). Garlic plays dual role in fermented fish products by inhibiting Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts and providing LAB less sensitive to garlic with a carbohydrate source for growth (Puladan-Muller et.al., 1999) . The fermentation last for 2 to 3 weeks at 20 °C. The pH of Sikhae drops quickly due to the organic acids formed from the millet that provide fermentable sugar for lactobacillus. The product can be stored up to one month at 5 °C after fermentation. The foul fish odor disappears and an acceptable flavor is formed during the fermentation process (Lee et.al, 1993). Leuconostoc mesenteroides   and Lactobacillus plantarum   are the lactic acids involved in the fermentation of Sikhae. The role of these acid forming bacteria for the preservation of fish is apparent, but a more important factor is their ability to produce acceptable flavor during the fermentation process. 2.4 Plaa-som. Plaa-som is a Thai fermented fish produced according to family or local geographic preferences, especially in the central, northeastern and northern parts of Thailand. The fermented fish product is composed of freshwater salt, boiled rice or cooked rice and garlic. In Southern Thailand, another local variety of plaa-som is produced. Palm syrup are used to replace garlic and boiled rice, and from time to time by roasted rice resulting in the resembles of another type of fermented Thai fish known as plaa-uan (Paludan Muller et. al., 2002). In processing of plaa-som, all ingredients are mixed and left to ferment at ambient temperature (25-30  °C) for 3-5 days in a covered-lid cooking pot. The fermentation spontaneously occur due to the presence of microflora , mainly lactic acid bacteria that is found in raw materials. Appropriate conditions are important in order for the complete fermentation by lactic acid bacteria. For example the presence of carbohydrate and antimicrobial substanc es containing ingredients like salt and garlic (Kopermsub and Yunchalard, 2008). Garlic is believed to act as an antimicrobial agent against certain gram negative bacteria and stimulating the growth of lactic acid bacteria(Paludan-Muller et. al, 1999). 2.5 Pekasam Another similar product to nomsom is pekasam that is localized in the state of Kedah, Perak and Kelantan of Peninsular Malaysia. Pekasam is made from fermented freshwater fish that is mixed with ingredients such as roasted rice, tamarind and salt. It is prepard by thorough cleaning of the fish and salted overnight with 20-50 per cent of salt. Then the fish are drained before mixing 50 per cent of roasted rice powder and some tamarind. The mixture is packed into an earthenware container in layers and allowed to ferment for 2 to 4 weeks. After fermentation, the fish is consumed deep fried or made into a side dish( Lee et.al., 1993). The table below shows the composition of pekasam and the composition may vary slightly depending on the type of fish use and method practiced. Table 1. Composition of pekasam. Composition Approximate range pH 4.5 6.1 Lactic acid (%) 0.1-0.4 Salt (%) 10.0-16.0 Moisture (%) 57.0-73.0 Protein(%) 15.0- 25.0 Fat (%) 3.0-8.0 Ash (%) 6.0-14.0 Souce Zaiton (1980) During fermentation process, lactic acid bacteria lowers the pH and preserves the product. The presence of the organic acid also contribute to the flavor of the product. The formation of acid combined with the addition of salt eliminate proteolytic and putrefying microorganisms. The carbohydrate source that supports the growth of lactobacilli comes from the roasted rice powder which also aid in masking the fishy odor and colour development of the final product. There is also some breakdown of the fish protein by autolysis to peptides and amines. These compounds together with acids and products formed by microbial fermentation give rise to typical flavor and odor of the pekasam (Lee et.al., 1993; Kuda et.al., 2009). 3.0 WHAT WERE DONE IN THE PAST. Currently there are hardly any studies on the local indigenous fermented fish-rice products of Malaysia such as nonsom. The only studies made so far are the effect of Pangium edule seed in the production of fermented fish by Ajik (1999) and the nutritional content and physiochemical analysis of fermented fish of different species from different areas in Sabah by Joanis (2002). The study done by Joanis (2002) found that nonsom from Tamparuli using Tilapia mossambica contained the highest nutrient and mineral content. Most of the studies were carried out on the seed extract of Pangium edule whereby antioxidant activity were associated with mobilization of lipids and phenolic compound during fermentation (Andarwulan et.al., 1999). According to (Chye and Sim, 2009) report, there is a strong relationship between the phenolic compound of the seed extracts with the antioxidative and antibacterial activities. It was concluded that the phenolic extracts possess good antioxidant and antimicrob ial activities which could be a promising source of natural preservative and be used in pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand, pekasam which is a similar product of nonsom has already been studied on the fermentation process and fast fermentation method has been introduced whereby the product can be ready in 2 to 3 weeks (Che Rohani Bt.Awang, 2001). In other previous work, there were studies done on the microflora and chemical changes in fermented fish products during fermentation. It is found that lactic acid bacteria are the dominant microorganisms involved in the fermentation of fish-rice products such as Plaa-rom, Narezushi, Burong isda, sikhae and in our local indigenous fermented food of Pekasam and Nonsom. The lactic acid bacteria involved for each type of fermented products are listed in the table below. The role of lactic acid bacteria is to ferment available carbohydrates which lead to a decrease in pH that inhibits pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. The combination of low pH and organic acids present is the main factors that preserve fermented fish products (Paludan-Muller et. al., 2002). Table 2 : Type of lactic acid bacteria found in fermented fish-rice product. Country Name of fermented product Findings Journal resource Thailand Plaa-som Parallel growth of yeast and LAB was found. Pediococcus pentosaceus and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii are the predominant lactic acid bacteria and yeast species respectively. Lactic acid bacteria initiates fermentation followed by alcoholic fermentation by Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. Paludan-Muller et.al., 2002 Japan Aji-no-susu It is reported to be a typical traditional lactic acid fermented fish product and the lactic acid concentration was very high as compared to other narezushi products. The predominant bacterial groups were lactobacilli and lactococci. Kuda et.al., 2009 Korea Sikhae Leuconostoc mesenteroides   and Lactobacillus plantarum   are the lactic acids involved in the fermentation of Sikhae Lee et.al.,1997 Phillippines Burong dalag The fermentation is initiated by Leuconostoc mesenteroids and Streptococcus faecalis then followed by Pediococcus cerevisiae and finally Lactobacillus plantarum. Orillo and Pederson, 1968 Besides that, reports on different salt concentrations, presence of amino acids and organic acids and also source of carbohydrates influenced the fermentation process of fermented fish-rice products. In fermentation with salt, the high salt content retards microbial growth, hydrolysis of the fish protein is thought to occur by natural tissue enzymes, cathepsins. For low salt products, halotolerant populations consisting of gram-positive organisms will prevail. I- sushi which is fermented by various strains of lactobacillus has been associated with food poisoning outbreaks from toxin production by C. botulinum type E. (Downes and Ito, 2001). However, different fermented fish products have different salt concentration requirement. The sufficient amount of salt in fermentation is important as it influence the microbial growth and the rate of fermentation which also affects the sensory quality and safety of the product. Padulan-Muller et. al.(2002) studied on the growth of microflora wit h different concentration of salt in Plaa-som, a Thai fermented fish product. It is found that in high salt concentration of plaa-som, the growth of lactic acid bacteria was inhibited and this delayed the fermentation process. This increase the risk of growth for salt-tolerant potentially pathogenic bacteria, example Staphylococcus aureus (Paludan-Muller, 1999).Thus, 6-7% of salt concentration is recommended for Plaa-som to facilitate the growth of LAB and rapid decrease of pH to below 4.5. However, different fermented fish products have different salt concentration requirement. Aside from salt, the taste of fermented fish-rice product is enhanced during fermentation due to the presence of organic acids and amino acids. According to (Itou et. al., 2006) research, it is reported that the marked increase of the extractive components and organic acids is thought to contribute to the umami taste and the sour taste of narezushi. The extractive components such as free amino acids and peptides increased remarkably because of the decomposition of proteins in fish. As for the organic acid, it increased rapidly due to the fermentation of rice and permeation into the fish meat. Same goes the taste of Aji-no-susu where the predominant amino acids of alanine, lysine,leucine,glutamic acid and theronince were found and are important in providing the taste of fermented fish products (Kuda et.al., 2009). Fish contains little carbohydrate and thus rice or millet that is used mainly functions as a carbohydrate source for fermentation by LAB for the reduction of pH in products without indigeneous starter culture. Rice is an important source of carbohydrate to provide fermentable sugar for lactic acid bacteria in the reduction of pH. High buffering capacity of the fish is also reduced by the rice in order to obtain a rapid decrease of pH.The decrease of pH inhibits pathogenic and spoilage bacteria thus preserve the fermented fish. The starch from rice are hydrolyzed by the amylolytic activity found in lactic acid bacteria by which is reported (Olympia et.al., 1995.) that lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from burong isda hydrolyzes soluble starch, amylopectin, glycogen and pullulan. Addition of salt and spices such as garlic or pepper may add to the safety of the product. In another study (Paludan-Muller, 1999) describes the role of garlic that serves as carbohydrate source for lacti c acid bacteria in fermented fish product. In garlic, a garlic fermenting Lb. Plantarum strain was found . This indicated that garlic may be more important than rice starch as a carbohydrate source for fermentation. Moreover, garlic play dual role in fermented fish by inhibiting gram negative bacteria and yeasts and acts as a carbohydrate source for growth of lactic acid bacteria. The traditional method of fermented fish product was based on spontaneous fermentation or by the use of indigenous starter culture. The starter culture serves as a source of a variety of enzyme including amylolytic enzymes. Based on a study (Olympia et. al., 1995) it was found that in strains of L. plantarum contains the L137-amylase enzyme that hydrolyzes both ÃŽÂ ±-1,4 and ÃŽÂ ± -1,6-glucosidic linkages in polysaccharides. The enzyme degrades the starch to fermentable carbohydrates for the growth of lactic acid bacteria in the fermentation process. Recently there has been studies that mentioned the fermentation process could be improved by using a mixed starter culture. In the fish sauce fermentation a report from Yongsawatdigul et al. (2007) found that strain of Staphylococcus sp. SK1-1-5 from proteinases and bacterial starter culture has the potential to be utilized as it can accelerate the fermentation without having great effect on the sensory qualities of the fish sauce. Another research by Saithong et.al (2010) examined the use of lactic acid bacteria as potential started cultures of plaa-som. The scientists discovered that plaa-som inoculated with the mixed starter culture were found to contain higher amounts of lactic acid after 24 h than plaa-som inoculated with single starter culture. This indicated the possible advantage of increased product safety and quality in addition to reduction in fermentation time. Moreover, the combination L. plantarum IFRPD P15 and L. reuteri IFRPD P17 starter cultures could also inhibit th e growth of clostridia during plaa-som. As a conclusion, L. plantarum and L. reuteri have great potential to be used as starter cultures in plaa-som and may possibly reduce fermentation time. 4.0 CHALLENGES The indigenous fermented fish-rice products are mostly produced in household or small factory scale with limited processes to control and ensure the safety and quality of the product. Like other fermented products, it is easily contaminated due to the presence of other harmful microorganisms. Contamination can occur due to exposure to microorganisms from the environment during harvesting, processing, storage and distribution. Besides that, improper food handling and lack of good hygiene practices increases the risk of microbial contamination. For example, fish that is not eviscerated prior to fermentation process are prone to spoilage since the raw materials are not cooked. Nearly all fish bourne botulism outbreaks are associated with the consumption of salted-dried or fermented fish that is consumed without further cooking. Clostridium sp has been reported to contaminate izushi, a fermented preserved fish with rice in Japan (Downes and Ito, 2001). Likewise in the Philippines, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium sp. which has been isolated from bakasang indicated that practice of hygiene during production was poor ( Salampessy et.al.,2010).The resultant from pathogenic microflora present in the food include negative effects such as spoilage, where the food is unfit for human consumption or risk of health by infectious or toxigenic microorganisms being present. Proteolytic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum cause microbiological hazards in fermented fish as both of these microorganisms are associated with salt and raw fish used in the processing. Insufficient level of salt concentration also leads to growth of pathogenic m icroorganisms in fermented fish products. At higher salt concentration there is a risk for growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum type A and B. Besides that, the producers of the fermented fish-rice products are not well educated on importance of proper handling and maintaining good hygiene practice to avoid cross-contamination during fermentation process of the product. They are also not well aware of the undesirable changes on the fermented food may occur during processing and repackaging of the product. Knowledge on the microflora which are involved in the fermentation process of the fermented fish-rice products are limited. 5.0 THE EMERGING NEED OF RESEARCH Currently there are no studies done on the nutritional composition of certain indigenous fermented fish-rice products such as nonsom. Moreover, there is no standardization in the addition of salt concentration since nonsom made from different areas of Sabah are based on personal preferences. Thus, the final product of this fermented fish-rice based product may contain excessive addition of salt. In addition, higher percentage of salt concentration was found to have a slow or no decrease in pH, whereas a rapid decrease of pH was found in low salt concentration (Paludan-Muller et al., 2002). However, Pekasam which is a similar product to nonsoom has already been standardized in Malaysian Food Act 1985 whereby it must not contain less than 10% salt. Because of this, more research on this indigenous fermented product needs to be carried out for the standardization and safety of the product produced. Next is the need of improving knowledge base. Other fermented food such as cheese, bread , beer and wine are well known and well developed. However for indigenous fermented fish-rice products, the knowledge is poor. Therefore, to have a broader spectrum of understanding these indigenous fermented products, microbiological, nutritional and technical investigation should be carried out on each process. The isolation and characterization of each organism should be determined and should not narrowed to only the dominant organisms as other organisms in small numbers may contain important function in the process. Understanding the roles of the microorganisms in these fermented products is important as they largely control the qualities of the fermented products. Also, more research needs to be done on various fermented fish-rice products to accelerate the fermentation time by using mixed starter culture instead of depending on traditional spontaneous fermentation to produce the fermented products. Researches on starter cultures by lactic acid bacteria or commercial proteinase with bacterial starter culture showed that there are great potential for the use of these starter cultures in accelerating fermentation of fish products (Yongsawatdigul et. al.,2007; Saithong et.al.,2010). Thus, more research has to be made on the use of these starter cultures to other fermented fish-rice products to accelerate the fermentation time and without adversely affecting the sensory quality. 6.0 STRATEGIC FOR CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT. The production indigenous fermented fish-rice product of nonsom has the potential to expand and commercialized as more people are consuming the fermented food and the taste is acceptable. However, the process of fermented fish-rice products are done using traditional method so a more organized and specific method is required to upgrade the way of processing the fermented product. For small scale industries that produce fermented fish-rice products, implementation of quality control of the processing and distribution is required based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles. New practices can be added for improvement in Good Manufacturing Practices. Good practices in certain steps and identifying the possible critical control points for example lactic acid bacteria counts, pH and the length of maturation stage, for better production and higher safety standards. Food handlers should also be educated in line with on (HACCP) for controlling safety of the product. Besides that, to combat issues on safety of fermented fish-rice products reseraches on the microbial and chemical changes in these indigenous fermented fish-rice products are necessary in order to ensure the safety and improve the quality of the fermented product produced. Findings from research can be used as an indicator for the producers to understand different stages of fermentation process and precautions to be taken to minimize the risk of contamination and maintain quality consistency of the product. Furthermore, a more safe production can be resulted if starter culture are used. The use of starter culture in the fermentation of fermented fish-rice product could increase product safety and quality as there is a rapid growth of lactic acid bacteria and lower pH to a safe level. In addition, fermentation time is also shorten.

Prescription Medical Marijuana

Many different people have different views on the prescription of medical marijuana. Marijuana is a good form of medicine for those who really need it. People think that marijuana should be illegal in their state. Physician recommend this substance to patients with illnesses. In the 1970’s a synthetic version of THC in marijuana. In order to get prescribed marijuana you have to have an illness such as anorexia, anxiety, cancer and many more Some people thought that marijuana should be illegal in there country. Mitt Romney felt that marijuana should be illegal because kids can get hooked on drugs by trying marijuana. He thought it is the pathway to drug usage by our society. He also says that theirs a synthetic version of marijuana for those who really need it. I think that this is a dumb statement because kids can do the things they want and if they choose to do drugs that’s their chose. Mitt Romney gave a speech at a town hall meeting in Bedford, New Hampshire. Mitt Romney said â€Å"Don’t open the doorway to medicinal marijuana†. Some people felt that the dispensaries should be shut down. Los Angeles city council felt that they should shut down all dispensaries. Thy said that its okay for people that really need marijuana as their medicine but now people that don’t really need it are getting it just to smoke marijuana. The city council are saying that anybody is getting their prescription marijuana card even if they don’t really need it. That is true that they wrong people are getting their prescription for the wrong reason but they shouldn’t close down all dispensaries because all those people who really do need it are going to have trouble getting their medicine. Mitchell Englander said â€Å"Los Angeles have experimented with marijuana and has failed†. My perspective on prescription medical marijuana is that people should be allowed to get their medical card because they need the medicine to help them. It is wrong that people get the card for the wrong reason but there are many people that have the card for the right reason and they just want marijuana so they can survive and help them. Marijuana should be legalized because the government would be able to make a lot of money by taxing it because a lot of people are going to buy this crop. In conclusion, marijuana should be legalized for the government to be able to tax and make a very good profit off of it. Their are people that think that it should be illegal and shutdown. Theirs also people that are like me and think that marijuana should be legalized. Everybody has their own reason on why they think marijuana should be illegal or legalized. Marijuana is a good form of medicine for those who need it.

“Without Freedom it is Impossible to Make Moral Choice” Discuss

Kant, a soft determinist, said that in order to make a moral decision we must have freedom. Kant believed that the ability to make moral decisions lay within the existence of freedom; stating that if we are not free to make our own decisions those decisions could not be moral as we were never free to make that decision in the first place. Kant thought that a person could be blamed for an action if they could have acted differently; for example if a person’s family is held at gunpoint and they are forced to open a safe they cannot be blamed as they did not have a choice.If we are to have free will we must have the ability to make a decision that is unhindered; Kant believed that we must have free will if we are to be help morally responsible for our actions, if God did not give us free will then our decisions cannot be considered immoral or moral as we would have had to act in the way we did. Thus we cannot be held responsible; a good moral action cannot be praised as you had n o other option, whilst an immoral action cannot be punished as once again there was no free choice.John Locke who was also a soft determinist as he believed that morality and the ability to make moral decisions developed throughout your lives. Locke believed that the mind was a tabula rosa, a blank slate that is shaped and filled by the person’s life experience and that ultimately creates a person’s morality. However the sensory data that creates this moral framework within the mind is already determined; therefore using Locke’s idea freedom is not required in order to make a moral decision it is the determined experiences you live through that create your morality and result in you making immoral or moral decisions.Another soft determinist was David Hume who believed in a limited form of free will, he ultimately believed that nature was in control of human destiny. That freedom was also subject-based, meaning that you are free to make a moral decision and free to follow through with that action. He went on to argue that determined events create human free will and that each individual is free to respond in their own way to those determined events; the morality of the choice the person makes is down to them.Hume believed that nothing occurred by chance or luck but we do have the free will, even if limited, to make our own decisions A libertarian would state that human’s decisions and actions are strictly uncaused; that no choices we make are determined and that we are completely free to make our own choices, these can either be moral or immoral, thus we are completely responsible. Libertarianism is incompatible with determinism, this is because they believe determinism is incorrect as everyone is free to all act differently in the exact same event, not all of humans would act morally in such an event.Kant would have been against Libertarianism because despite being a compatibilist Kant thought that some actions were determined. Othe rs believe that it is not necessary to be required to accept responsibility for your actions thus there is no need to be free in order to make moral decisions. Hard determinism also covers the problem of free will and moral decision making; one of the most famous hard determinists is Clarence Darrow. Darrow was a defence lawyer who in the trial of Leob and Leopold used hard determinism to suggest that we are not free thus we cannot make moral decisions.In the trial Darrow blamed their actions upon the way the two were brought up thus were predetermined to murder Robert Franks; their upbringing determined how they would make moral decisions in the future. This means that using Darrow’s idea Leob and Leopold did not have free will and thus could not make a moral choice; their predestination meant that they would only make an immoral decision. Ted Honderich was another hard determinist who approached the idea of free will using the physics as his base; using the Aristotelian ide a that nothing occurs without a cause.Honderich believed that events within the universe are determined and humans act in response to those events and are therefore not responsible for their actions. Using this belief one would argue that moral decisions cannot be made as there is no freedom to do so, everything is already determined beforehand. Saint Augustine was a religious determinist who believed that humanity required God’s help to do good; this is granted by God to humans, therefore God determines who will be saved and who will not. This is known as predestination; there irrelevance of our actions whether moral or immoral as God has already chosen those who shall be saved.John Calvin argued that people have no free will in regard to moral decision making; stating that God makes his choice about who to save, therefore does not look at a person and recognise them as good. Calvin stated that people only do good because God made them that way and placed them in an environm ent that would only make them do good. Logically Calvin concluded that if we have no control over our actions due to being made to act in a certain way, we cannot be considered responsible for them, thus we cannot make a moral decision as the decision and way we act was already determined by God.

Strategic Analysis Tools In Applied Research Technologies Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2696 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Introduction: In this assignment would try to focus on a company named Applied Research Technologies which has many divisions like healthcare, industrial automation, energy conversion, transportation solutions for oil and gas industry and preparation of water filtration equipment and HAVC (heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, including climate control solutions for residential, commercial and industrial markets. With Mr.David Hall as its CEO of ARTs and Mr Peter Vyaswas appointed as the manager of filtration Unit. ART was one of the technology worlds emerging giants. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Strategic Analysis Tools In Applied Research Technologies Business Essay" essay for you Create order In this essay we try to emphasis on and analysis on various industrial tools like Porters Five Force analysis, PESTEL analysis and also on strategic management tools of the organization. Vision Statement of ARTs: We aim to change the world through innovation, and to grow our place in it through entrepreneurship. Harvard Business School, (2010) Strategic Management: In order to create and sustain in competitive market the organization undertakes decisions, actions and analysis the situation to gain competitive advantage in the industry. This definition captures two main elements that go to the heart of the field of strategic management. First, the strategic management of an organization involves three on going processes which are as follows: analysis, decisions, and actions. That is, strategic management is concerned with the analysis of strategic goals like vision, mission and strategic objective of the company, which also includes the internal and external environment of the organization. Michael Porter says that sustainability cannot be achieved through operational effectiveness alone. Dess, Gregory , Lumpkin and Taylor, (2005.) Strategic Positioning: The strategic positioning of an organization includes the developing of the desired future position of the organization on the basis of present and likely developments, and the making of plans to realize that positioning. In the ARTs company dedicated on supporting new ideas, but also in funding various research development projects. Sharing of knowledge and dissemination was another key factor which positioned the company into the market. The companys biggest strength was in its core product and technology which they used.It had the objective of to attract the best and brightest wherever they live. Harvard Business School. (2010, pp.61) Strategic Decisions: As the organization functions the entire resources and the results are disturbed with the whole of environment. Important strategic decisions are major resource ideas for a company. Strategic decisions are tough in nature and very complex to deal within organization. The decisions are the long-term decisions and are concerned with future planning. They also related to overall counter development of all organization and also strive through growth. Management Study Guide (1998-2000) In ARTs the strategic choices were the most vital for company. Vyas was accountable for the major decisions involved in the water filtration unit. Vyas took active interest in developing the unit. As, he was appointed as the manager as for the filtration unit in 2001 his first decision was to rebuilt the team by carefully selecting entrepreneurial-minded individuals to fill the vacancies left by turnover in the unit. One of the major recruitment was Janice Wagner, whom he knew from her five year as a marketing manager in the HVAC division. Strategic Implementation: Organization successes at strategy operation effectively manage three key support factors: Action planning: Companies success at implementing strategy established detailed action plans and assigning duty to specific individual for doing each of those action steps. Thus breaking down their big strategy statement in to small targets Birnbaum (2000-2009). The main objective for the manager Mr.Vyas to look in to the detail planning of the organization and his job involved was to assign different task to each department and also recruiting new people in the organization. Organizational Structure: The organizational structure is depended on the current structure whether the proposed strategy fits in the current situation and whether the current trend is suitable for the business. ARTs also focused on its business strategy as its current position and structure formation was depended on the management. The Annual Business: To fund all the projected strategies companies are aware of their needs. They need to consider about the important financial commitment in the planning method. They have their own forecasting plans and strategic to deal with annual business. ARTs company did have their own plans for their particular units assigned to the managers to carry out the day-to-day activities. The company had many financial decisions to be made, on part of their business strategy. Strategic Analysis of ARTs: Here we would try to study the various strategies which would benefit the industry to reach their goals and could get success to their planning of strategies. Here we would also be discussing the various tools which can be used to review the companys performance. Porters Five Forces: Porters five forces model helps regaining where the power lies in a business. Porters model can be used as one of the industrial tool to analysis the company structure. Porters ModelÂÂ  is an important part of anticipating tool set by the industry, by using a outline rather than a formal statistical model. Porters model of competitive forcesÂÂ  accepts that there areÂÂ  five competitive forcesÂÂ  that identify the competitive power in a business situation. (Source: Chapman, (2005). Porters Five Forces Model) New substitute: The threat to the organization can be due to the customers moving to other competitors. There may be many substitutes available in the market and thus customer can certainly find the product or service that offers that same service for lesser price. Substitutes are a major threat to the company, as it creates competition in the market. In the ARTs company as a company there is always the threat in the market which could arise due to various substitutes available in the market. There are various other companies which offer a similar kind of product and at a cheaper price. The biggest implication for the company would be that it would directly affect its product launch due to intense competition in market and various products competing with each other. New Entrances: The entrance in the market also declines the power of the organization. Threat of new entry depends upon on the entry and exit barriers. There may be many reasons for it like economies of scale are not high, customer switching to other products, thus it is always viable to keep the entry barriers high so that the market maintains its standard on the level of players in the market and so there could me more profit even when the market is not good. As, you can see in the case study there is also huge investments made ARTs company to develop its new product. It is very difficult for the competitors to break into the industry as there are already much well established players in the market which are already well known in the market and they also have a maintained a very good relation with buyers and sellers. As, the ARTs has always maintained a good relation with its buyers and suppliers its very becomes difficult for any competitors to entre to this industry. Power of suppliers: Power of suppliers means, how control the suppliers have to drive down their products. When suppliers have more hold over supplies and its prices that segment is less attractive. This could also happen in any organization where suppliers have an upper hand. As, the switching cost is very high from one supplier to another supplier its very difficult for any supplier of the ARTs to switch to any other supplier. Its only possible in the ARTs company when suppliers ar directly competing with their buyers and if they do not get a proper price for their product and they margins what they require. Power of Buyers: Buyer power is always said to be remain high as in the condition where the suppliers are like a very small operators and the buyers have a upper hand. As, in the ARTs company the ultimate buyers are the consumer of their products or their distributers. The implication for the ARTs is that the company is going to launch its new product, so the buyers could demand for margin and could also create competition for ARTs suppliers. This could be due to if ARTs not supplying the right product or satisfactory price to its buyers and it could end up the buyers producing their own products hence creating competition for ARTs before launch of their product. One of another tool which used by all the industry to start up a new business is the PESTEL analysis which also emphases on the industrial factors: PESTEL ANALYSIS: Pestle analysis is strategic planning method that offers a valuable outline for evaluating the environmental pressure on team or on the group. Rogers, J (1999), M Edmonstone, J (1999) The following are the main factors in PESTEL analysis: E- Economic The local, national and world economic influence. As you can see there was huge potential for the company to grow organically. In April 2006, according to palmer drought index 26% of united states was considered in moderate to extreme drought conditions and there was a major scarcity situation. They had a huge market in the U.S for residential water purification. As, the US market is a saturated market the ARTs company needs to focus on the other growing market. As, the company faces financial difficulties in producing the goods and also the economic scenario of the market due to recession and shortage of money supply in the company for the product manufacturing the company may face a great difficulty in introducing its product in the market. S- Socialogical The ways in which changes in the society affect the project. There are some sociological factors which also disturb the organization like the demographical factor in countries like India or the income distribution of the country which could affect the penetration of the organization due high price or market condition. T- Technological How new and developing technology affects the organization. Technology was the key factors of the ARTs as an organization which drive the company. The company spend more on its technological units due to its core focus of the product depended on the success of its technology. Like new discoveries and development in the technology of the unit and the speed of the technology to develop a product also are the key drivers for the companys goals. L- Legal How local issues like legal matters and laws affects any organization or industry. This can be through the management laws towards its employees and could be used, towards the safety of the employees and the product safety, could be the issue which company could have faced while developing the product. E- Environment This could be in form of global and national environmental issues. As the whole concept to develop the product was to provide a solution to provide a safer and clean drinking water to the society by providing a technology which could help the environment and provide more comprehensive household water. ARTs may also face legal hurdles like the energy consumption to produce their technology for their product, also the waste disposable form the industry which contaminates the water and the government laws to protect the environment. Rapidbi, (2007) says that there are various factors that could affect the organization. One has to look beyond all the factors for a successful running of the organisation. Renewal Associates,(2003). There are always key drivers for change in the company. For ARTs the key drivers for change are the economical factors and other one is the technological factors which are driving the company. As, the economy is growing the ARTs as an company is trying to grow through various acquisition which it had done in past and has kept the its pace of growth study by providing sound and fundamental company. Technology is the key driver of change in the company as, the company is fully depended on its technology which it has adapted from time to time and has always adapted the new technology with the growing demand. Key Drivers for Change: The different scenario for the company is to grow globally like going internationally and taping international consumers. Increasing global competition which will encourage further globalisation. For ARTs the key drivers like their technology which could help the company to grow globally by providing good products to its international customers or following their strategy by acquiring new companies or their competitors. But the company should remember that every, change comes with the cost and hampers companies profitability, ARTs needs to focus on its key driver and also maintain the cost. Strategic Groups: Strategic groups are the organization within an industry or sector with similar strategic features, similar strategies or competing on similar bases. It helps to know who the competitors of the given company are and also emphases on the basis of competitive conflict within each strategic group is different from another group. It also relates to finding threats and opportunity to the organization. In the case study we have seen that the team identified the potential market and the competitors which affected business. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2008). Key Success factors: They key success factors for ARTs unit from my point of view was their management skills which their manager Peter Vyas exhibited on all the stages of the decision making. The companys has also succeeded through various merger and acquisition of number of technology based companies. As, per the PESTLE analysis ARTs had a very favourable environment which provided a huge potential market for the company. Studying the POTERs Five Forces we can analysis that ARTs as an organization had a very promising future due to its external environment and its prospects for the growth which company aimed for. Key Drivers for the ARTs as an industry: The PESTEL factors is the most important to identify a number of key drivers of change, which are forces likely to affect the structure of an industry, sector or market. Its important for any organization to identify the key drivers across levels. As it could not be the same factors which could impact the companys success, but there could be different factors like macro-environment factors or technological factors which could be the key drivers for the company. The key drivers can be identified and understood. They vary by industry or sector and it also depended on organization how they identify each driver. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2008, pp.69-71). In the above organization the key drivers could be a). Technological factors, b). Environmental factors, For ARTs above mentioned factors were the key drivers which pulled the organization towards their vision. Conclusion: The importance of strategic planning in any organization used with in this assignment and various tools adopted by the organization for their growth. Opportunities are only possible by looking across strategic groups particularly in the macro-environment and the concepts and framework used in this company should help in understanding the factors in the macro industry and competitor or market environments of an organisation. However the implications drawn from this understanding in strategic decisions and strategic management are the key success drivers of any organizations. Identification of threat and opportunities can be extremely valuable when doing strategic analysis and thinking about the strategic choices in the future .As the key drivers for the company was their technology and marketing skills, but they lacked in financial decision making. Recommendations: For the ARTs its always viable to look at the external factors around the industry and management needs to build a trust in their employees. The organization needs to rethink on the part of its business strategies as well as financial strategies before launching their products. The company needs to identify their key drivers using these industrial tools to have a success of their launch, so that they do not fail again and maintain their key position in the market. The company can work on various other strategies like financial decisions on the part of their launch and also can implement various new strategies to get the product launched successfully. It has huge potential and could have a very big market to focus on and should work on each and every resource which is provided to them whatever the market environment existed