Alcoholic beverage Essay Example for Free

Alcoholic beverage Essay Is the End of the German Beer Industry Near? 1. Discuss how the changing technological environment present international threats and opportunities to the German beer industry. To discuss how changing technological environment presents international threats and opportunities for the German beer industry, the term of changing technological environment has to be explained. The literature distinguishes between a micro environment and a macro environment. Micro environment concludes factors, which are directly influenced by a company. These factors are organizational – Marketing-Mix, Structure, processes etc. Macro environment contains political decisions, cultural and social changes and technological changes (Lee and Carter, 2009). Technological changes can include three sections to improve business processes of companies. The First is through technological innovations in products and processes. For instance producing processes in different Industries are much easier and faster today than before 30 years. Product life cycles are less long today – modern technology allows permanent improvements and innovative new products detach older products. That is a Development of modern Industries, which can be observed (Dicken, 2011). The second one is through communication and information. Technology increases productivity by time saving devices and allowing companies to work in collaboration with team members within a Network, who are not present or the ability of fast access to data from anywhere of the world (Obele, 2004). Furthermore modern Technology allows companies to do consumer or market research in a very short time, especially through the internet which provides opportunities for companies to enter new markets across several countries and regions in a very fast and easy way now (Litan et al. , 2010). The third one is through mobility and innovation in transportation. Today manufacturers are able to transport products with the help of airplanes, trains and ships in a geographical freedom without losing quality of products (Dicken, 2011). By increasing productivity generally through time and space saving devices modern technology provided the German industry opportunities to increase general production output. Improved Information and communication technology (ICT) and innovative transport systems results a less complex of processes to enter new markets by aimed communication and fast distribution. But one of the most important international opportunities that changing technological environment presents to the German beer industry is the improvement in production processes. Process optimisation and increased efficiency are priorities of the most companies. For Instance high-gravity wort fermentation or efficiency of wort sugar uptake are process activities resulting in reduced capital expenditure and gains in economies of scale (Stewart, no date). Economics of scale eventuates when a decline in average cost can be achieved through an increase in output of one product (O’Sullivan A.and Seffrin S. , 2003). In addition many of the big global players are leveraging from innovated brewing and fast fermentation processes. There are heavy investments in brewing development to produce more efficient for instance to exploit ingredients or save water and gain economies of scale. In the USA breweries like Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors managed to dominate the mass-producing sector and gained in economies of scale (Tremblay et al. , 2005). World market leader AB InBev from Belgium owns more then 200 beer brands today, undaunted Becks, a German beer. Local breweries did not attempt to expand in the past and today they are suffering from acquisition of big global players. The device of big breweries is to produce efficient and cheap. But many German customers are struggling against this mass-production provided by modern technology. Most of them argue that the quality of the beer is suffering from mass-production and decide to buy local German beer brands, which are more expensive (Schimansky, 2012). In times of cheap mass-production there are still customers, who are ready to pay more for quality – according to the case study the same applies to emerging markets. So local German breweries could use their quality as a unique selling proposition and start to cooperate and get together by mergers for instance to share costs and risks of overseas operations. It is logical, that only a few German breweries will be able to invest in international operations, because of small financial resources. Therefore maybe only 100 of the 1300 German breweries will stay alive in future – but these breweries will be strong enough to create an availability of German beer internationally. One opportunity for German breweries is to expand to emerging markets like China then, where according to the study customers are ready to pay for quality, as we mentioned. Producing towards the Reinheitsgebot promises that required quality. Referring to the Paper that most of the small German breweries got small financial resources and no experiences in overseas markets, so cooperation with another famous German brewery, as we mentioned, or a joint venture in a foreign country like China to reduce certain risks, costs and gain specific market knowledge, could be profitable. The infrastructure, especially communication and information channels to gain knowledge about local preferences will enhance the way of doing business there. But new technologies and innovative processes provide rival producers new opportunities and form new threats for the German beer industry. By producing more efficient and creative with support of modern producing opportunities beer companies adapt their product following new trend of the new generations. Example is given in the study by offering alcopops or mixed beers etc. Eventually global players, who enter the German market by acquiring German breweries and are close to the market, will be in a position to adapt their own products in the future with support of modern technologies in research methods etc. to gain knowledge of local preferences by ongoing efficient industrialized mass producing processes. And if German breweries still stay small in distribution, big global players will be able to dominate more of the almost saturated market. This is especially because of modern efficient way of brewing and the declining costs involved through economies of scale for example. 2. Discuss the impact of the current economic global crisis upon the operations of the German Beer industry, given that it appears to be fractionalised and has smaller financial resources than its main competitors. According to a publication of the new economics foundation (nef, 2012), the world is in the second phase of an economic crisis, which has a global reach and affects nut just only the world’s major institutions, but also the established ways of thinking. The nef asserts that the contemporary global economic crisis is a continuation of the financial crisis of 2008. In 2008 the world’s third-largest investment bank at that time, Lehman brothers, bankrupted and led to eventual a collapse of the whole financial system. The nef explains that the crisis of 2008 was halted but not resolved. Now the results of the second phase of the global economic crisis are stagnation and austerity to cut public spendings, so the nef. Furthermore the nef argues that austerity is hindering economic growth, because firms sell fewer goods and services and therefore this creates job losses as we can see in Ireland, Greece and now in the United Kingdom. That global economic crisis impacts the beer industry in several countries proves a declining number in annual per capita consumption of beer in Greece, which has been hit hardest among the countries by the beer recession and by the crisis itself (Ewing, 2011). The main impact of the economic global crisis upon of German beer industry is, that more and more people loss their jobs worldwide within the crisis (BBC, 2009). Therefore they are not able to spend much. Because of that they fear about the uncertain future and want to save money. This fear impacts their customers buying behaviour. There is a strong resistance to buying and therefore prices have to be lowered (Herrmann, 2009). In addition more and more people are drinking at home rather then in bars or restaurants to save money. This in turn leads to that more people loss their jobs, especially in the hospitality industry, like Hotels, pubs or restaurants. Furthermore governments are hindering productivity by value-added taxes, which lower consumption and cots jobs (Ewing, 2011). That means that there is a declining buying power and changing careful buying behaviour, especially of price sensitive German customers, like it is told in the study. The paper shows already a declining number of beer consumption, because of some factors, like Trends, demographic changes and government decisions against alcoholic drinks etc. The fact that the people spent less money, as mentioned before, will accelerate this process. The general economic crisis in Europe, like in Greece, Italy and Spain intensified the situation (Bloomberg, 2013). So this countries import less to overcome the crisis and are out of the question of a potential markets. There is one matter occurred within the global economic crisis especially in Europe that could have a huge affect on the German beer industry in future. The European Union follows a common policy outwards in interests of each country. But in times of economic crisis like in Greece, the idea of a common Identity of several nations within the European Union failed. Many Greeks for instance are blaming Germany and France to benefiting from their spending for Greece in order to help (The Independent, 2012). Both are the main supporters for Greece attempt to overcome the crisis by attempt to support investment and economic growth there (RTE, 2012). But as mentioned, not only Greece; Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy are heavily indebted countries, who are next to face the economic crisis in an extreme kind (BBC, 2012). Situations like these can destroy a common relationship between countries within the EU, because everyone seeks for reasons for the fail of the economy in each country and as it had been said especially Greece is blaming the policy of EU about that. This fact forces countries and governments to shut themselves off from the EU and concentrate on local policy, economy and matters instead showing common interest in the EU as a whole. This could lead people to think more nationalized and consumption could concentrate on domestic products instead of expensive imports, like of a good quality German beer, to save money. These happenings, particularly in Europe, show a negative initial situation for German beer industry and as we said above potential markets in Europe in the future. According to the case study the German breweries are fractionalised and got smaller financial resources than their competitors, which is hindering the Industry to expand overseas an enter new markets to gain sustain success and profit. Like Koenig says in the study the German market is saturated and as I said before the economic crisis in Europe precludes a potential market there. Emerging markets are potential markets because for instance of several factors like the market size in China etc. and according to the paper the fact that customers are ready to pay more for quality in emerging markets. Economy in China for example has continued to grow, while the economy in Europe has fallen into a critical situation. Increased consumer spending and the open business policy of China provide really new opportunities for western companies (B2B International, no date). The expansion to such markets is related with new costs, which complicates the operations of the German beer industry, because of small financial resources. Grave et al. (2012) analyzed the beer industry in China in a journal article in the case of Carlsberg. The paper argues that Porter’s (1980) differentiation or focus strategy may work in western countries, but not in emerging ones. The challenge is, it says, to maintain value proposition as a quality beer while responding to local demands. The Five forces industry analysis resulted that there is a high competition in the Chinese beer market, high supplier power, low buyer power, medium threats of entrants with high entry barriers, i. e. language barriers, and low to medium threats of substitutes. So no matter how attractive emerging markets are, it might be risky to enter China; but first you are established, you will gain big success. This success requires financial resources, which German breweries can only gain by consolidation with associated German breweries or joint ventures with Chinese companies. Carlsberg gained big success by Chinese acquisitions and undergone little affects of the economic crisis, so the journal article. So certain German breweries should get together to share costs and try to enter new emerging markets – as we mentioned European and German markets are almost saturated; if they do not try to find new markets, most of them will collapse, raddled from the impacts of the global economic crisis by declining numbers in consumption, less buying power and changes in buying behaviours. 3. With reference to the EU market only, explain how contemporary cultural and social changes might affect the future development of the German Beer industry. Cultural and social changes are macro environmental matters that businesses have to adapt on to stay competitive. Consumer preferences are dynamic and invariably changing. As consumer preferences have to form adaptations, companies have to consider trends to produce goods which satisfy consumer needs in real. Not only demographic changes, on which I will be come back later, but different ethnical, religious, racial groups and changes in proportion of gender within a society can affect companies in their businesses (Richards, no date). By referring to the Paper an important social change is that more and more people in Europe and in the world become more health conscious. This includes government decisions about penalties related with alcohol in public and suggestions, like it says in the study, to general lifestyle and nutrition of the public. Science and medicine promote this trend by distribute the opinion that long term use of alcohol leads to cancer, liver failure, neurological, psychological and social problems (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Wellness products are shaping food markets, especially in Germany. Health is status symbol for newly olds and young people are interested in healthy products, as well to prevent illness (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2010). Further drinking beer has a bad image today. We associate beer drinking with lushes and riots in football stadiums. In an era in which apparently health and wellness plays a significant role, especially people who cares about their outward appearances, do not drink beer, because they do not want a beer-belly (Reilly, 2012). These described trends can have a significant affect on German beer industry, especially in a shrinking market, like the paper says. According to the Study besides this there is a declining number of consumption of beer. A low birth rate in Germany, within a declining number of population impacts every area in life and influence economy, as well. (Bundesministerium des Innern, 2011). Particularly demographic changes in Germany and Europe lead to a cease of the core target group. A low birth rate in Germany, within a declining number of population impacts every area in life and influence economy, as well. In addition the case study provides that younger generations prefer to drink alcopops and mixed beers instead of traditional beer. The beer industry recognized the demand and for example the German brewery Schofferhofer gained a big success in 2007 with Schofferhofer Grapefruit – a mixed wheat beer with grapefruit extract. Bitburger, another famous German brewery introduced Copa, a Caipirinha flavoured beer and a pomegranate flavoured one, containing less alcohol to satisfy health awareness of customers (Strohmaier, 2007). Therefore more German breweries have to adapt their beers to local consumer preferences and trends to gain sustainable success in future, which is associated with new costs, like for research and development. Small breweries are threatened, because of small financial resources. Besides that the sophisticated choice of alcoholic drinks is wine, as the study says. At this end the low consumption of beer, changing buying behaviour of German price sensitive customers and less buying power of customers in Europe within the economic global crisis reduce chances of German beer industries of a positive development in the future at the moment. In addition cultural and social changes, like demographic changes, health consciousness, trends of new generations and government behaviour against alcohol consumption, argued above, are threats for the German beer industry, especially in the case of small breweries.

Womens Ice Hockey :: Sports Essays

Womens Ice Hockey The fight for women's ice hockey players to earn respect and acceptance has been hard fought over the past one hundred years. Women have constantly been told that they can not play with men and that there sport is a second rate version of the men's game. The road of women's ice hockey has had many ups and downs but has perservered to the present day and is stronger than it has ever been. The future of women's ice hockey is bright thanks to diligence and hard work of those who kept it all going. Ironically women began playing the sport side by side with men over 100 years ago right at the sports inception. One of the oldest action pictures featuring ice hockey shows men playing with women. Part of the reason that women enjoyed early participation with men is because of the way that the public viewed the game. At the start, hockey was seen as a recreational activity. Women have been routinely barred from participating in serious and competitive sport, but if the game is viewed as merel y recreational then women are more accepted. In the 1890's this is what happened to the sport of ice hockey. Suddenly the game was more than recreation and organization entered, rules were drawn and leagues were formed. With the new structure came segregation of the sexes. As the sport progressed for the men, the women were left behind. In spite of all this, the first all female organized game was played in Barrie, Ontario in 1892. Women's ice hockey slowly limped on up until the 1920's. In the 1920's womens ice hockey began to pick up again. Amateur, college and junior level teams were formed and the women's sport became much more organized. In 1924 the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association was formed and would for years be the benchmark of women's ice hockey. Bonnie Rosenfield, a tremendous Canadien athlete who won Olympic medals in Track and Field would be the sports first true superstar. Bonnie grew up in a hockey family and became a very skilled player at a young age. She became irritated with the lack of opportunity for women and took up track were she excelled on an international level. She returned to hockey though with the formation of the LOHA. She became the leagues first star and became a role model for young women who also wanted to play the game.

Reggio Emillia Essay

‘A Reggio pre-school is a special kind of place, one in which young human beings are invited to grow in mind, in sensibility and in belonging to a broader community. ’ (Learning and teaching Scotland, 2006) For this case study I am going to look at the four themes of the Early Years Foundation Stage, also known as the EYFS. The EYFS sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn, develop well, and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that will provide the right foundation for good future progress, throughout school, and adult life. (Hutchin, 2012) I will be highlighting links between the EYFS’s four main themes; A Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments and Learning and Developing, and discussing how the Reggio Emilia Approach supports these themes. The Reggio Emilia Approach is focused on preschool and primary education, originally set up in the northern Italian town of Reggio Emilia. It has a reputation for forward thinking and excellence in its approach to early childhood education. It is an approach where the expressive arts play a central role in learning and where a unique reciprocal learning relationship exists between practitioner and child. (Tornton, 2006) According to Locke and Rousseau children are born as â€Å"blank slates† completely free of any predisposition or vulnerabilities, and that everything the child would become was due to the effects of their environment. (Moyles, 2010) Though within the Reggio Emilia approach they see children as slightly different, they believe children are empty vessels waiting eagerly to be filled with knowledge. Reggio educators believe strongly that a child has unlimited potential and is eager to interact with, and contribute to the world. (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2006) The way the Reggio Emilia Approach views their children is much like the Early Years Foundation Stage. The EYFS states ever child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured. (EYFS, 2012) Both the EYFS and the Reggio Emilia Approach see children as individuals; this is conveyed throughout the EYFS, as one of its main themes is : A Unique Child. The EYFS states practitioners should understand and observe each child’s development and learning, assess progress, and plan for the next steps. (EYFS, 2012) The Reggio Emilia approach tackles this in a very different way in relation to the UK. Children’s work is documented throughout the year on walls to display a story of the child’s learning; it is not something that is made after the child has finished working. Educators observe, document and analyse children’s learning journeys, they are able to make informed hypotheses about how to guide children in their learning. It is obvious then that documentation is far removed from photographic displays of completed project work. (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2006) Throughout the Reggio Emilia buildings there are many long, child height mirrors. This is designed to support children to help them develop a positive sense of their own identity and culture. This is one of the practices of the Unique Child theme in the EYFS. Another way the Reggio Emilia Approach supports children finding their own identity is ‘pedagogy’ this means that art is seen as another way of communicating and expressing ideas. Children are also encouraged to raise their own questions and answers, and this re-enforces the child’s opinion that their thinking is valued. Education is based on relationships. Reggio Emilia teachers are seen as partners in learning, (Tornton, 2006) for example pupils and teachers work together aiming towards a common purpose: the building of a culture. This respects childhood as a time to explore, create and be joyful. Participation begins even before the children have started school, through a comprehensive integration programme. This involves meetings between children, parents and teachers to build an image of the child as an individual. This often involves the child doing a task such as making a ‘holiday booklet’ of photographs and favourite nursery rhymes; this can be used as stimulus for discussion between child and teacher. (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2006) The teacher`s working with the child links to one of the four themes within the EYFS- Positive Relationships. The EYFS states you should be supportive of the child’s own efforts and independence (EYFS, DATE). By the teacher being a partner in learning, suggests that children could have the freedom to convey their thoughts and ideas more freely. To give an example: The teacher strives to support and encourage the child on the learning journey, encouraging them to reflect and to question. In this sense, the role of the teacher is not to dispense information or simply to correct. Rather, the teacher is like a tool that the children use when most needed. (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2006) This also links to Jerome Bruner’s theory of scaffolding, this is the idea that you can give children support in their learning. Froebel also stressed the significance of building positive relationships within an educational environment; his most important gift to children was the classroom, symbolically viewed as an extension of a lovely, thriving garden. This enabled the teacher to take on the role of a loving, supportive parent. (Bruce, 2012) This shows that from a personal view he thought teachers should be like an empathetic parent. Environment plays a key role in supporting and extending a child’s development. Vygotsky believed that we learn from our environment and the people around us. (Vygotsky, 1978) His view is much like the teachings of the Reggio Emilia Approach, for example one of their fundamental principles says the environment is the third teacher, the environment is recognised for its potential to inspire children. (Tornton, 2006) Kerka (1999) suggests that an environment that nurtures learning provides the necessary resources and time for investigative play and experimentation. It is one in which children are free and motivated to make choices and to explore for answers without feeling intimidated. (Cited, Danko-Mcghee, 2009) Within the Reggio Emilia settings children have lessons outside in the community, making great use of the Piazza’s, which are squares within the town, where children can learn alongside the community, as well as making the most out of the outdoors. This also has an impact on positive relationships between both the community and the children, which links to the enabling environment within the EYFS. Reggio Emilia buildings and spaces link to what the EYFS suggests practices should offer, stimulating recourses, relevant to all the children’s cultures and communities. Reggio Emilia settings, buildings and spaces reflect their relationships and view of the child. There are lots of long windows, this is so that the children can interact with the outside community, and also it reflects the idea that education is not just what you learn in the classroom. It is seen as less restricting to have long windows, and lets a lot of light into the setting creating a more natural airy environment. Within the setting there are a lot of natural materials used, from the children’s toys and equipment to the building and furniture inside. This is much like Steiner’s view, in his schools all toys are made from natural materials, this is because simple toys stimulate and encourage imagination, as children can interoperate natural materials to be anything they want. Throughout this assessment I have been linking the key themes of the EYFS and relating them to the Reggio Emilia Approach, I am now going to discus whether or not the approach can be taken from Italy and brought to the UK. As I have mentioned above a big aspect of the Reggio Emilia approach is the environment, I believe this may be a problem as many of our English calendar months can be wet, cold, and miserable. Children spend the majority of time indoors during the winter months, even sometimes on dry days – largely due to protests from parents that the damp weather is bad for the children. Though in Italy they do not have this problem, if it is wet or cold they just see this as an opportunity for children to wrap up warmer. I do believe it is counter-productive to wrap children up in cotton wall, I think that sometimes it is good for children to be taken out of their comfort zones. This will benefit a child’s emotional development by trying and exploring new things and gaining self-confidence. Maybe we need to look at our cultures upbringing of our children and let children explore the different seasons. Even though the outdoors isn’t a major part of the Reggio Emilia is it still highly valued, as they like to encourage a lot of natural materials and bring the outdoors in, whilst exploring the different environments. Also we lack in open out door spaces within the community for example in Italy they have plazas Bringing this approach to the UK may cause some trouble for children who do not have a secure home setting; this is because going to school creates a secure environment. Whereas, with the Reggio Emilia approach, children may find their education too unstructured. Instead of choosing their learning methods, they might prefer a setting with secure guidelines and learning outcomes. Furthermore I think the transition from the Reggio Emilia Approach to mainstream higher education may be difficult as the children, as they are so used to the freedom and the scaffolding of the teachers, that they might not be able to settle into the strict curriculum. I believe this quote sums up my opinion perfectly, ‘It is a mistake to take any approach and assume like a flower you can take it from one soil and put it in another one. That never works. We have to figure out what aspects of that are most important to us and what kind of soil we need to make those aspects’ (Gardner, 1993)

How to Write a Marketing Essay

How to Write a Marketing Essay Writing a marketing essay presupposes a certain style and certain principles of writing. First of all, when you start writing, you have to define for yourself what topic you are going to deal with and try to imagine the problem you write about to be in real life. I assure you, it makes the situation much easier. Once you stop thinking about a certain matter as some kind of abstract mathematical problem and imagine how all this looks or would have looked in reality, you will immediately find out many inconsistencies and sheer stupidities that otherwise avoided your attention. For example, once I had to read an essay in which the author proposed to combine the subsidiaries of an international corporation, located in different parts of the world, in one place for better coordination of policies. Though, it may look like a valid decision if you look for the answers to an abstract question â€Å"How to make the coordination between the different elements of a company easier†. In re al life, however, it instantly turns into sheer and utter nonsense. Be practical, be down-to-earth. You are not studying literature here, so you are supposed to be concise, matter-of-fact and realistic. Although your teacher understands that you are very unlikely to come up with some brilliant, novelty decision that no head of industry ever produced so far, but you are an economics student and have a sufficient amount of knowledge to give a suggestion, a solution or an idea that fits into the principles of economics. Show what you know, demonstrate your skills and erudition and your tutors will notice it. Stress the importance of your topic from the very beginning, make the reader interested in what you are going to say next. Most importantly – be original, don’t copy texts and ideas from other authors. There is nothing more humiliating, than to be discovered at picking other people’s brains.