FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY & BIOCONVERSION

Feedback inhibition

Feedback inhibition,  in enzymology, suppression of the activity of an enzyme, participating in a sequence of reactions by which a substance is synthesized, by a product of that sequence. When the product accumulates in a cell beyond an optimal amount, its production is decreased by inhibition of an enzyme involved in its synthesis. After the product has been utilized or broken down and its concentration thus decreased, the inhibition is relaxed, and the formation of the product resumes. Such enzymes, whose ability to catalyze a reaction depends upon molecules other than their substrates (the ones upon which they act to form a product), are said to be under allosteric control. Feedback inhibition is a mechanism by which the concentration of certain cell constituents is limited.

Acetic acid

Acetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH₃CO₂H (also written as CH₃COOH or C₂H₄O₂). It is a colourless liquid that when undiluted is also called glacial acetic acid. Acetic acid is the main component of vinegar (apart from water; vinegar is roughly 8% acetic acid by volume), and has a distinctive sour taste and pungent smell. Besides its production as household vinegar, it is mainly produced as a precursor to polyvinylacetate and cellulose acetate. Although it is classified as a weak acid, concentrated acetic acid is corrosive, and attacks the skin.

 

Oxidative fermentation

For most of human history, acetic acid bacteria of the genus Acetobacter have made acetic acid, in the form of vinegar. Given sufficient oxygen, these bacteria can produce vinegar from a variety of alcoholic foodstuffs. Commonly used feeds include apple cider, wine, and fermented grain, malt, rice, or potato mashes. The overall chemical reaction facilitated by these bacteria is:

C₂H₅OH + O₂ → CH₃COOH + H₂O

A dilute alcohol solution inoculated with Acetobacter and kept in a warm, airy place will become vinegar over the course of a few months. Industrial vinegar-making methods accelerate this process by improving the supply of oxygen to the bacteria.
The first batches of vinegar produced by fermentation probably followed errors in the winemaking process. If must is fermented at too high a temperature, acetobacter will overwhelm the yeast naturally occurring on the grapes. As the demand for vinegar for culinary, medical, and sanitary purposes increased, vintners quickly learned to use other organic materials to produce vinegar in the hot summer months before the grapes were ripe and ready for processing into wine. This method was slow, however, and not always successful, as the vintners did not understand the process.^[29]
One of the first modern commercial processes was the "fast method" or "German method", first practised in Germany in 1823. In this process, fermentation takes place in a tower packed with wood shavings or charcoal. The alcohol-containing feed is trickled into the top of the tower, and fresh air supplied from the bottom by either natural or forced convection. The improved air supply in this process cut the time to prepare vinegar from months to weeks.^[30]
Nowadays, most vinegar is made in submerged tank culture, first described in 1949 by Otto Hromatka and Heinrich Ebner.^[31] In this method, alcohol is fermented to vinegar in a continuously stirred tank, and oxygen is supplied by bubbling air through the solution. Using modern applications of this method, vinegar of 15% acetic acid can be prepared in only 24 hours in batch process, even 20% in 60-hour fed-batch process.^[29]

 

Anaerobic fermentation

Species of anaerobic bacteria, including members of the genus Clostridium or Acetobacterium can convert sugars to acetic acid directly, without using ethanol as an intermediate. The overall chemical reaction conducted by these bacteria may be represented as:

C₆H₁₂O₆ → 3 CH₃COOH

These acetogenic bacteria produce acetic acid from one-carbon compounds, including methanol, carbon monoxide, or a mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen:

2 CO₂ + 4 H₂ → CH₃COOH + 2 H₂O

This ability of Clostridium to utilize sugars directly, or to produce acetic acid from less costly inputs, means that these bacteria could potentially produce acetic acid more efficiently than ethanol-oxidizers like Acetobacter. However, Clostridium bacteria are less acid-tolerant than Acetobacter. Even the most acid-tolerant Clostridium strains can produce vinegar of only a few per cent acetic acid, compared to Acetobacter strains that can produce vinegar of up to 20% acetic acid. At present, it remains more cost-effective to produce vinegar using Acetobacter than to produce it using Clostridium and then concentrate it. As a result, although acetogenic bacteria have been known since 1940, their industrial use remains confined to a few niche applications.

 

Uses

Acetic acid is a chemical reagent for the production of chemical compounds. The largest single use of acetic acid is in the production of vinyl acetate monomer, closely followed by acetic anhydride and ester production. The volume of acetic acid used in vinegar is comparatively small.^[24]

Vinyl acetate monomer

The major use of acetic acid is for the production of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM). This application consumes approximately 40% to 45% of the world's production of acetic acid.

Vinyl acetate can be polymerized to polyvinyl acetate or to other polymers, which are components in paints and adhesives.

Ester production

The major esters of acetic acid are commonly used solvents for inks, paints and coatings.

Acetic anhydride

The product of the condensation of two molecules of acetic acid is acetic anhydride.

Acetic anhydride is an acetylation agent. As such, its major application is for cellulose acetate, a synthetic textile also used for photographic film. Acetic anhydride is also a reagent for the production of heroin and other compounds.

Vinegar

Vinegar is typically 4-18% acetic acid by mass. Vinegar is used directly as a condiment, and in the pickling of vegetables and other foods.

Use as solvent

Glacial acetic acid is an excellent polar protic solvent, as noted above. It is frequently used as a solvent for recrystallization to purify organic compounds. Acetic acid is used as a solvent in the production of terephthalic acid (TPA), the raw material for polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In 2006, about 20% of acetic acid is used for TPA production.^[24]

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. A psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs known, ethanol produces a state known as alcohol intoxication when consumed. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a solvent, and as a fuel. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol or spirits.

 

Fermentation

Ethanol for use in alcoholic beverages, and the vast majority of ethanol for use as fuel,^{[citation needed]} is produced by fermentation. When certain species of yeast (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae) metabolize sugar in reduced-oxygen conditions they produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The chemical equations below summarize the conversion:

C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2 CH₃CH₂OH + 2 CO₂

C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ + H₂O → 4 CH₃CH₂OH + 4 CO₂

Fermentation is the process of culturing yeast under favorable thermal conditions to produce alcohol. This process is carried out at around 35–40 °C. Toxicity of ethanol to yeast limits the ethanol concentration obtainable by brewing; higher concentrations, therefore, are usually obtained by fortification or distillation. The most ethanol-tolerant strains of yeast can survive up to approximately 15% ethanol by volume.^[44]
To produce ethanol from starchy materials such as cereal grains, the starch must first be converted into sugars. In brewing beer, this has traditionally been accomplished by allowing the grain to germinate, or malt, which produces the enzyme amylase. When the malted grain is mashed, the amylase converts the remaining starches into sugars. For fuel ethanol, the hydrolysis of starch into glucose can be accomplished more rapidly by treatment with dilute sulfuric acid, fungally produced amylase, or some combination of the two.

Uses

As a fuel

The largest single use of ethanol is as a motor fuel and fuel additive.

Ethanol may also be utilized as a rocket fuel, and is currently in lightweight rocket-powered racing aircraft.

Alcoholic beverages

Ethanol is the principal psychoactive constituent in alcoholic beverages, with depressant effects on the central nervous system.

Feedstock

Ethanol is an important industrial ingredient and has widespread use as a base chemical for other organic compounds. These include ethyl halides, ethyl esters, diethyl ether, acetic acid, ethyl amines, and, to a lesser extent, butadiene.

Antiseptic

Ethanol is used in medical wipes and in most common antibacterial hand sanitizer gels at a concentration of about 62% v/v as an antiseptic. Ethanol kills organisms by denaturing their proteins and dissolving their lipids and is effective against most bacteria and fungi, and many viruses, but is ineffective against bacterial spores.^[80]

Treatment for poisoning by other alcohols

Ethanol is sometimes used to treat poisoning by other, more toxic alcohols, in particular methanol^[81] and ethylene glycol.

Solvent

Ethanol is miscible with water and is a good general purpose solvent. It is found in paints, tinctures, markers, and personal care products such as perfumes and deodorants. It may also be used as a solvent or solute in cooking, such as in vodka sauce.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are substances that inhibit the growth of or destroy bacteria that cause infection. Antibiotics do not work against viral diseases such as thecommon cold or influenza. The word "antibiotics" comes from the Greek anti("against") and bios("life"). Antibiotics have been used since the 1930s to prevent or treat a wide variety of infections in plants, animals,and humans. Before that time, there were few effective ways of combating microbial infections (infections caused by microorganisms). Illnesses such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever were essentially untreatable. Even minor infections could be deadly.

How Antibiotics Are Made

The overwhelming majority of antibiotics are made from living organisms suchas bacteria about 90% of antibiotics are isolated from bacteria fungi, and molds. Others are produced synthetically, either in whole or in part.
At one time all antibiotics were made from living organisms. This process, known as biosynthesis, is still used in the manufacture of a number of antibiotics. In this method, it is actually the organisms themselves that manufacturethe antibiotic. The laboratory technician merely provides favorable conditions for the organisms to multiply, and then extracts the drug. For example, mold organisms are placed in a medium (a substance used for the growth of microorganisms) such as corn liquor to which milk sugar has been added. This mixture forms a liquid that is put into a tank, which is kept at a temperature of25 degrees Centigrade (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and shaken for over 100 hours.The mold organisms multiply rapidly in this warm liquid, producing penicillinin the process.
All types of penicillin have an identical ring. However, in each type of penicillin, the chemical chain attached to the ring is different. By modifying the molecules of the chain, scientists are able to create drugs with a wide range of effects on a variety of organisms. Some of these drugs are useful in treating infections.
Pharmaceutical companies use computer-generated images of the rings and experiment with a countless variety of possible chains. Researchers have developedantibiotics with long half-lives (period of effectiveness), which means thatthe medication can be taken every 24 hours instead of every few hours. The newer antibiotics are also more effective against a wider range of infectionsthan were earlier drugs.

USES OF BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTICS:

Broad-spectrum antibiotics are properly used in the following medical situations:

• Empirically prior to identifying the causative bacteria when there is a wide differential and potentially serious illness would result in delay of treatment. This occurs, for example, in meningitis, where the patient can become so ill that he/she could die within hours if broad-spectrum antibiotics are not initiated.
• For drug resistant bacteria that do not respond to other, more narrow spectrum antibiotics.
• In super-infections where there are multiple types of bacteria causing illness, thus warranting either a broad-spectrum antibiotic or combination antibiotic therapy.

ADVANTAGES OF BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTICS:

• Broader Spectra of Activity
• A clear advantage to the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics is that there is less of a need (as compared with narrow-spectrum antibiotics) to identify the infecting pathogen with real certainty before commencing treatment.

DISADVANTAGES OF BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTICS:

• Children who receive broad-spectrum antibiotics during their first year of life are at increased risk of developing childhood asthma.
• Broad Spectrum antibiotics may give rise to drug resistance.

BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTICS:

• Amoxicillin
• Levofloxacin
• Gatifloxacillin
• Streptomycin
• Tetracycline
• Chloramphenicol

 

Xanthan gum

Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris ^[2], used as a food additive and rheology modifier,^[3] commonly used as a food thickening agent (in salad dressings, for example) and a stabilizer (in cosmetic products, for example, to prevent ingredients from separating). It is produced by the fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose. After a fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gum.^[4]

 

Preparation

The polysaccharide is prepared by inoculating a sterile aqueous solution of carbohydrate(s), a source of nitrogen, dipotassium phosphate, and some trace elements. The medium is well-aerated and stirred, and the polymer is produced extracellularly into the medium. The final concentration of xanthan produced will vary greatly depending on the method of production, strain of bacteria, and random variation.
They grew the bacteria in a yeast broth and placed it in an incubator, which measured the 4 degrees Celcius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature constantly to insure optimum bacteria growth. Then they added sugar-beet molasses to the flasks of bacteria. The flasks were shaken constantly for five days, using a water-bath shaker. The researchers added ethanol to recover xanthan, then dried the remains of the flasks for 24 to 48 hours to recover xanthan gum.

Uses

One of the most remarkable properties of xanthan gum is its ability to produce a large increase in the viscosity of a liquid by adding a very small quantity of gum, on the order of one percent.
In foods, xanthan gum is most often found in salad dressings and sauces. It helps to prevent oil separation by stabilizing the emulsion, although it is not an emulsifier. In the oil industry, xanthan gum is used in large quantities, usually to thicken drilling mud.
In cosmetics, xanthan gum is used to prepare water gels, usually in conjunction with bentonite clays. It is also used in oil-in-water emulsions to help stabilize the oil droplets against coalescence. It has some skin hydrating properties. Xanthan gum is a common ingredient in fake blood recipes, and in gunge/slime.

 

 

Dextrin

Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch^[1] or glycogen.^[2] Dextrins are mixtures of polymers of D-glucose units linked by α-(1→4) or α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds.
Dextrins can be produced from starch using enzymes like amylases, as during digestion in the human body and during malting and mashing,^[3] or by applying dry heat under acidic conditions (pyrolysis or roasting). The latter process is used industrially, and also occurs on the surface of bread during the baking process, contributing to flavor, color, and crispness. Dextrins produced by heat are also known as pyrodextrins. During roasting under acid condition the starch hydrolyses and short chained starch parts partially rebranch with α-(1,6) bonds to the degraded starch molecule.^[4]
Dextrins are white, yellow, or brown powders that are partially or fully water-soluble, yielding optically active solutions of low viscosity. Most can be detected with iodine solution, giving a red coloration; one distinguishes erythrodextrin (dextrin that colours red) and achrodextrin (giving no colour).
White and yellow dextrins from starch roasted with little or no acid is called British gum.

 

Uses

Yellow dextrins are used as water-soluble glues ^[5] in remoistable envelope adhesives and paper tubes, in the mining industry as additives in froth flotation, in the foundry industry as green strength additives in sand casting, as printing thickener for batik resist dyeing, and as binders in gouache paint.
White dextrins are used as:

• a crispness enhancer for food processing, in food batters, coatings, and glazes, (E number 1400)
• a textile finishing and coating agent to increase weight and stiffness of textile fabrics
• a thickening and binding agent in pharmaceuticals and paper coatings.

As pyrotechnic binder and fuel, they are added to fireworks and sparklers, allowing them to solidify as pellets or "stars."
Due to the rebranching, dextrins are less digestible; indigestible dextrin are developed as soluble fiber supplements for food products

 

Biopesticide

Biopesticides, a contraction of 'biological pesticides', include several types of pest management intervention: through predatory, parasitic, or chemical relationships. The term has been associated historically with biological control - and by implication - the manipulation of living organisms.
Biopesticides fall into three major classes:

• Microbial pesticides which consist of bacteria, entomopathogenic fungi or viruses (and sometimes includes the metabolites that bacteria or fungi produce). Entomopathogenic nematodes are also often classed as microbial pesticides, even though they are multi-cellular.
• Biochemical pesticides are naturally occurring substances that control (or monitor in the case of pheromones) pests, but are relatively non-toxic to mammals.
• Plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) have genetic material from other species incorporated into their genetic material (i.e. GM crops): still controversial in some (notably European) countries.

 

Applications

Biopesticides are typically microbial biological pest control agents that are applied in a manner similar to chemical pesticides. In order to implement these environmentally friendly pest control agents effectively, it can be important to pay attention to the way they are formulated^[5] and applied.^[6]
Biopesticides for use against crop diseases have already established themselves on a variety of crops. For example, biopesticides already play an important role in controlling downy mildew diseases.
 A major growth area for biopesticides is in the area of seed treatments and soil amendments. Fungicidal and biofungicidal seed treatments are used to control soil borne fungal pathogens that cause seed rots, damping-off, root rot and seedling blights. They can also be used to control internal seed–borne fungal pathogens as well as fungal pathogens that are on the surface of the seed. Many biofungicidal products also show capacities to stimulate plant host defenses and other physiological processes that can make treated crops more resistant to a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses.

 

Advantages

• Harmful residues not detected
• Can be cheaper than chemical pesticides when locally produced.
• Can be more effective than chemical pesticides in the long-term (as demonstrated, for example, by the LUBILOSA Programme)

Disadvantages

• High specificity: which may require an exact identification of the pest/pathogen and the use of multiple products to be used
• Often slow speed of action (thus making them unsuitable if a pest outbreak is an immediate threat to a crop)
• Often variable efficacy due to the influences of various biotic and abiotic factors (since biopesticides are usually living organisms, which bring about pest/pathogen control by multiplying within the target insect pest/pathogen)
• Living organisms evolve and increase their resistance to biological, chemical, physical or any other form of control. If the target population is not exterminated or rendered incapable of reproduction, the surviving population can acquire a tolerance of whatever pressures are brought to bear, resulting in an evolutionary arms race.

 

Single Cell Protein

The term Single Cell Protein (SCP) refers to the dried microbial cells or total protein extracted from pure microbial cell culture (Algae, bacteria, filamentous fungi, yeasts), which can be used as food supplement to humans (Food Grade) or animals (Feed grade). Most of the developing countries of the world are facing a major problem of malnutrition. Due to rapid growth in the population deficiency of protein and nutrients are seen in human food and as well as animal feed.  Single cell proteins have application in animal nutrition as: fattening calves, poultry, pigs and fish breading. In food it is used as : aroma carriers, vitamin carrier, emulsifying aids and to improve the nutritive value of baked products, in soups, in ready-to-serve-meals, in diet recipes and in the technical field in : paper processing, leather processing and as foam stabilizers.Protein (SCP) refers to the dried microbial cells or total

Production of Single Cell Protein

The production of Single Cell Protein can be done by using waste materials as the substrate, specifically agricultural wastes such as wood shavings, sawdust, corn cobs, and many others. Examples of other waste material substrates are food processing wastes, residues from alcohol production, hydrocarbons, or human and animal excreta.

The process of SCP production from any microorganism or substrate would have the following basic steps:

1. Provision of a carbon source; it may need physical and/or chemical pretreatments. Addition, to the carbon source, of sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients needed to support optimal growth of the selected microorganism.
2. Prevention of contamination by maintaining sterile or hygienic conditions. The medium components may be heated or sterilized by filtration and fermentation equipments may be sterilized.
3. The selected microorganism is inoculated in a pure state.
4. SCP processes are highly aerobic (except those using algae). Therefore, adequate aeration must be provided. In addition, cooling is necessary as considerable heat is generated.
5. The microbial biomass is recovered from the medium.
6. Processing of the biomass for enhancing its usefulness and/or storability.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Single Cell Protein

Large scale SCP production has some advantages over the conventional food production, these advantages are :

1. Microorganisms have a high rate of multiplication to hence rapid succession of generation (algae: 2-6hours, yeast: 1-3 hours, bacteria: 0.5-2 hours)
2. They can be easily genetically modified for varying the amino acid composition.
3. A very high protein content 43-85 % in the dry mass.
4. They can utilize a broad spectrum of raw materials as carbon sources, which include even waste products. Thus they help in the removal of pollutants also.
5. Strains with high yield and good composition can be selected or produce relatively easily.
6. Microbial biomass production occurs in continuous cultures and the quality is consistent since the growth is independent of seasonal and climatic variations.
7. Land requirements is low and is ecologically beneficial.
8. It is not dependent on climate

 

Crab free effect

Fermentation of sugars to ethanol is an anaerobic process. However, ethanol has been found in aerated processes when the concentration of sugar is high. This is the "Crabtree effect" and was for many years considered catabolite repression. In other words, it was postulated that excess glucose repressed its use in the pathways that lead to ethanol. Fairly recently it has been shown that this hypothesis is false, and the effect seems to be over saturation of the respiratory pathways. The yeast cannot pass the excess sugar through the main path and simply shunt it through an alternate route to ethanol.

The observations in continuous culture with aeration and ethanol are that dilution rates that are far from the growth rate maximum result in quite low sugar concentrations and no overload of respiratory capacity. As we have seen, the sugar concentration rises abruptly and steeply when approaching the maximum specific growth rate, and this results in the formation of ethanol. This is seen in the following figure drawn by computer simulation:

It is practically impossible to operate a chemostat near the maximum specific growth rate because this is a high-gain region for control. However, an auxostat works just fine in this region. There is potential for a rugged aerobic process that produces ethanol at high rates in an auxostat. Unfortunately, our group found that accumulation of ethanol diminishes the effect of over saturation. Perhaps genetic engineering can overcome this restriction.

INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION MANAGEMENT

Medical Council of India

The Medical Council of India (MCI) is the statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India. The Council grants recognition of medical qualifications, gives accreditation to medical colleges, grants registration to medical practitioners, and monitors medical practice in India.

Functions of the council

The main functions of the Medical Council of India are the following:

• Establishment and maintenance of uniform standards for undergraduate medical education.
• Regulation of postgraduate medical education in medical colleges accredited by it. (The National Board of Examinations is another statutory body for postgraduate medical education in India).
• Recognition of medical qualifications granted by medical institutions in India.
• Recognition of foreign medical qualifications in India.
• Accreditation of medical colleges.
• Registration of doctors with recognised medical qualifications.
• Keeping a directory of all registered doctors (called the Indian Medical Register).

Registration of doctors and their qualifications is usually done by state medical councils.

 

Trade Unions

 Trade unions are organisations that represent people at work. Their purpose is to protect and improve people's pay and conditions of employment. They also campaign for laws and policies which will benefit working people.

Trade unions exist because an individual worker has very little power to influence decisions that are made about his or her job. By joining together with other workers, there is more chance of having a voice and influence.

The main reason people join trade unions is so that they can have better pay and working conditions and union protection if there is a problem at work.

Functions Of Trade Unions

It has already been stated that trade unions aim to further its members' interests, this could be done by some of the following

• Obtaining satisfactory rates of pay.  Research has shown that workers belonging to unions have better levels of wages
• Protecting workers jobs, as it has been shown that union members are less likely to be dismissed.
• Securing adequate work facilities
• Ensuring satisfactory work conditions, this can include areas such as health and safety and equal opportunities.
• Negotiating bonuses for achieving targets
• Negotiating employment conditions and job descriptions

The Role of Trade UnionsPolitical role, using collective power to influence decisions on behalf of members and the wider society;

1. Market role, by intervention wage bargaining and thus impacting on the economy;
2. Regulatory role by setting standards in relation to jobs and terms and conditions;
3. Democratizing role, in creating industrial democracy at the workplace;
4. Service role, in promoting the intervention of members;
5. Enhancement role in helping to develop the human potential of members; and
6. Welfare role in providing assistance to particular groups.

 

Duties and Responsibilities of a Secretary

In recent years, the secretarial responsibilities have undergone a vast change. Due to this reason, many people are opting for a career as a secretary.

Earlier, the role of the secretaries was limited to taking notes from their bosses, typing, etc. However, with the advent of technology in companies and offices, these duties have extended to things that were meant for the managerial staff.

The role of the Secretary is to support the Chair in ensuring the smooth functioning of the Management Committee.
In summary, the Secretary is responsible for:

1. Ensuring meetings are effectively organised and minuted
2. Maintaining effective records and administration
3. Upholding the legal requirements of governing documents, charity law, company law etc (where relevant).
4. Communication and correspondence

It is important to note that although the Secretary ensures that these responsibilities are met, much of the work may be delegated to paid staff or volunteers.
Given these responsibilities, the Secretary often acts as an information and reference point for the Chair and other committee members: clarifying past practice and decisions; confirming legal requirements; and retrieving relevant documentation.

Main responsibilities of the Secretary

The responsibilities of the Secretary of a Management Committee are outlined below:

1. Ensuring meetings are effectively organised and minuted

• Liaising with the Chair to plan meetings
• Receiving agenda items from committee members
• Circulating agendas and reports
• Taking minutes (unless there is a minutes secretary)
• Circulating approved minutes
• Checking that agreed actions are carried out.

2. Maintaining effective records and administration

• Keeping up-to-date contact details (i.e. names, addresses and telephone numbers) for the management committee and (where relevant) ordinary members of the organisation.
• Filing minutes and reports
• Compiling lists of names and addresses that are useful to the organisation, including those of appropriate officials or officers of voluntary organisations.
• Keeping a record of the organisation's activities
• Keeping a diary of future activities

3. Upholding legal requirements

• Acting as custodian of the organisation's governing documents 
• Checking quorum is present at meetings
• Ensuring elections are in line with stipulated procedures
• Ensuring organisation's activities are in line with its objects
• Ensuring charity and company law requirements are met (where relevant, unless there is a separate company secretary)
• Sitting on appraisal, recruitment and disciplinary panels, as required.

4. Communication and correspondence

• Responding to all committee correspondence
• filing all committee correspondence received and copies of replies sent
• keeping a record of any of the organisation's publications (e.g. leaflets or newsletters) and
• reporting the activities of the organisation and future programmes to members, the press and the public (unless there is an Information or Publicity Officer).
• Preparing a report of the organisation's activities for the year, for the Annual General Meeting. 

 

The Stages of a Project

Whether a project is large or small, the stages of a project are ultimately the same. Initiate the project, and then move into planning, followed by execution. Once the project is in the execution stage, you'll monitor and control it, which will continually influence changes that loop back to the planning stage as necessary. Once all project tasks are complete and approved, you will finally be ready to close the project.

Projects are divided into six stages:

1. Definition.
2. Initiation.
3. Planning.
4. Execution.
5. Monitoring & Control.
6. Closure.

Each project stage is characterised by a distinct set of activities that take the project from its first idea to its conclusion. Each stage is of equal importance and contributes to the overall success of the project.

1. Definition

Before a project starts the project manager must make sure the project goals, objectives, scope, risks, issues, budget, timescale and approach have been defined. This must be communicated to all the stakeholders to get their agreement. Any differences of opinion need to be resolved before work starts.

2. Initiation

This is perhaps the most important stage of any project as it sets the terms of reference within which the project will be run. If this is not done well, the project will have a high likelihood of failure. The initiation stage is where the business case is declared, scope of the project decided and stakeholder expectations set. Time spent on planning, refining the business case and communicating the expected benefits will help increase the likelihood of success. It is tempting to start working quickly, but a poor initiation stage often leads to problems and even failure.

3. Planning

The key to a successful project is in the planning. Creating a project plan is the first task you should do when undertaking any project. Often project planning is ignored in favour of getting on with the work. However, many people fail to realise the value of a project plan in saving time, money and many other problems.

4. Execution

Doing the work to deliver the product, service or wanted result. Most of the work related to the project is realised at this stage and needs complete attention from the project manager.

5. Monitoring & Control

Once the project is running it is important the project manager keeps control. This is achieved by regular reporting of issues, risks, progress and the constant checking of the business case to ensure that expected benefits will be delivered and are still valid. A project that is not controlled is out of control.

6. Closure

Often neglected, it is important to ensure a project is closed properly. Many projects never end because there is no formal sign-off. It is important to get the customers agreement that a project has ended and no more work will be carried out. Once closed, the project manager should review the project and record the good and bad points, so successes can be repeated and failures avoided. A project that is not closed will continue to consume resources.

 

Problems faced by Small Scale Industries in India

With India, small scale industries have played a really significant role. After freedom, small  scale industries had made their importance inside Indian economy. Since freedom, small scale units have been defined judging by Labor  force criteria and also investment criteria.

Role of small scale industries:
1. Contribution in industrial production
2.Employment creation
3. Contribution to export
4. The same distribution of income & prosperity.

Small-scale industries in India could not progress satisfactorily due to various problems that they are confronted with while running enterprises. In spite of having huge potentialities, the major problems, small industries face are given below.

1. Problem of skilled manpower:

The success of a small enterprise revolves around the entrepreneur and its employees, provided the employees are skilled and efficient. Because inefficient human factor and unskilled manpower create innumerable problems for the survival of small industries. Non-availability of adequate skilled manpower in the rural sector poses problem to small-scale industries.

2. Inadequate credit assistance:

Adequate and timely supply of credit facilities is an important problem faced by small-scale industries. This is partly due to scarcity of capital and partly due to weak creditworthiness of the small units in the country.

3. Irregular supply of raw material:

Small units face severe problems in procuring the raw materials whether they use locally available raw materials or imported raw materials. The problems arise due to faulty and irregular supply of raw materials. Non-availability of sufficient quantity of raw materials, sometimes poor quality of raw materials, increased cost of raw materials, foreign exchange crisis and above all lack of knowledge of entrepreneurs regarding government policy are other few hindrances for small-scale sector.

4. Absence of organised marketing:

Another important problem faced by small-scale units is the absence of organised marketing system. In the absence of organised marketing, their products compare unfavourably with the quality of the product of large- scale units. They also fail to get adequate information about consumer's choice, taste and preferences of the type of product. The above problems do not allow them to stay in the market.

5. Lack of machinery and equipment:

Small-scale units are striving hard to employ modern machineries and equipment in their process of production in order to compete with large industries. Most of the small units employ outdated and traditional technology and equipment. Lack of appropriate technology and equipment create a major stumbling block for the growth of small-scale industries.

6. Absence of adequate infrastructure:

Indian economy is characterized by inadequate infrastructure which is a major problems for small units to grow. Most of the small units and industrial estates found in towns and cities are having one or more problems like lack of of power supply, water and drainage problem, poor roads, raw materials and marketing problem.

7. Competition from large-scale units and imported articles:

Small-scale units find it very difficult to compete with the product of large-scale units and imported articles which are comparatively very cheap and of better quality than small units product.

8. Other problems:

Besides the above problems, small-scale units have been of constrained by a number of other problems also. They include poor project planning, managerial inadequacies, old and orthodox designs, high degree of obsolescence and huge number of bogus concerns. Due to all these problems the development of small-scale industries could not reach a prestigious stage.

 

Management

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of coordinating the efforts of people to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.
Since organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action, including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a system. This view opens the opportunity to 'manage' oneself, a prerequisite to attempting to manage others.

Basic functions

Management operates through various functions, often classified as planning, organizing, staffing, leading/directing, controlling/monitoring and motivation.

• Planning: Deciding what needs to happen in the future (today, next week, next month, next year, over the next five years, etc.) and generating plans for action.
• Organizing: (Implementation)pattern of relationships among workers, making optimum use of the resources required to enable the successful carrying out of plans.
• Staffing: Job analysis, recruitment and hiring for appropriate jobs.
• Leading/directing: Determining what must be done in a situation and getting people to do it.
• Controlling/monitoring: Checking progress against plans.
• Motivation: Motivation is also a kind of basic function of management, because without motivation, employees cannot work effectively. If motivation does not take place in an organization, then employees may not contribute to the other functions (which are usually set by top-level management).
• Communicating: is giving, receiving, or exchange information.
• Creating: ability to produce original Idea,thought through the use of imagination

Basic roles

• Interpersonal: roles that involve coordination and interaction with employees
• Informational: roles that involve handling, sharing, and analyzing information
• Decisional: roles that require decision-making

Management skills

• Political: used to build a power base and establish connections
• Conceptual: used to analyze complex situations.
• Interpersonal: used to communicate, motivate, mentor and delegate
• Diagnostic: ability to visualize most appropriate response to a situation
• Technical: Expertise in one's particular functional area.^[10]

Formation of the business policy

• The mission of the business is the most obvious purpose—which may be, for example, to make soap.
• The vision of the business reflects its aspirations and specifies its intended direction or future destination.
• The objectives of the business refers to the ends or activity that is the goal of a certain task.
• The business's policy is a guide that stipulates rules, regulations and objectives, and may be used in the managers' decision-making. It must be flexible and easily interpreted and understood by all employees.
• The business's strategy refers to the coordinated plan of action it takes and resources it uses to realize its vision and long-term objectives. It is a guideline to managers, stipulating how they ought to allocate and use the factors of production to the business's advantage. Initially, it could help the managers decide on what type of business they want to form.

Implementation of policies and strategies

• All policies and strategies must be discussed with all managerial personnel and staff.
• Managers must understand where and how they can implement their policies and strategies.
• A plan of action must be devised for each department.
• Policies and strategies must be reviewed regularly.
• Contingency plans must be devised in case the environment changes.
• Top-level managers should carry out regular progress assessments.
• The business requires team spirit and a good environment.
• The missions, objectives, strengths and weaknesses of each department must be analysed to determine their roles in achieving the business's mission.
• The forecasting method develops a reliable picture of the business's future environment.
• A planning unit must be created to ensure that all plans are consistent and that policies and strategies are aimed at achieving the same mission and objectives.

Policies and strategies in the planning process

• They give mid and lower-level managers a good idea of the future plans for each department in an organization.
• A framework is created whereby plans and decisions are made.
• Mid and lower-level management may add their own plans to the business's strategies.

 

The merits and demerits of different types of organisation

Organisation structure denotes the system of staff organisation or the relationship between the staff positions. Every staff of the organisation should know his position and status in the organisation and to whom he is accountable. Broadly, there are four forms of organisation like line organisation, functional organisation, line and staff organisation and committee organisation.

1. Line Organisation:

The oldest and simplest forms of organisation where authority flows directly from the topmost man to the lowest man in the organisation. In this form of organisation a superior exercises direct supervision over a subordinate. This form of organisation is adopted in charistian church and in Indian army. It is also called as military form of organisation.

Advantages of Line Organisation:

 (a) It is simple to operate and easy to understand.

(b) It facilitates unity of control and the presence of scalar principle.

(c) It enables clear cut definition of authority and responsibility. Each staff is clear about his authority and responsibility.

(d) It facilitates better discipline because of unified control. The subordinates know the person who commands them and they will do their best to satisfy his commands.

(e) This organisation is flexible as the executive enjoy freedom within the defined sphere.

Disadvantages of Line Organisation:

(a) No specialisation in work is possible, as line organisation does not give emphasis on appointment of specialists.

(b) The top executives are overburdened and as such, it becomes difficult to manage on the key areas of the operation.

(c) It developes favouritism as one man decides on the issue of efficiency of individuals. It develops nepotism and jobbery hi work.

2. Functional Organisation:

Functional organisation has been advocated by F.W. Taylor who is known as the father of scientific management. The business unit is divided into various parts on the basis of major functions. Similar functions are grouped into one organisational unit called department and this department is placed in the charge of an expert. Thus functional organisation refers to a system of organisation in which functional departments are created to deal with problems of the business at departmental level.

Advantages of Functional Organisation:

(a) It encourages and facilitates division of labour, which results in specialisation of activities. As the head of the functional department is entrusted with one kind of work, he becomes a specialist in course of time.

(b) It brings separation of manual and mental function and received the advantages of proper planning.

(c) Functional techniques are improved through intensive study and research because special attention is given to the departmental work.

(d) It develops co-operation & team spirit in work. This results elimination of autocratic management.

(e) It facilitates mass production because in this, organisation specialisation is coupled with standardisation.

Disadvantages of Functional Organisation:

 (a) It gives too much emphasis on specialisation. Too much specialisation is undesirable because it makes organisation confused.

(b) This system of organisation leads to conflict among the foreman and supervisor for equal status.

(c) In this organisation the disciplinary controls are weak as a worker is commanded by more than one person.

3. Line and Staff Organisation:

A system of organisation which strikes a balance between the line organisation and staff organisation is called line and staff organisation. The need for a balance between the two is needed because line organisation over concentrates on control and functional organisation
on divide. In this system, primarily line type of organisation is followed. But some common and important functions are placed under the experts called staff functions. In this organisation line authority acts as an executor and staff authority function as on advisor.

Advantages of Line and Staff Organisation:

(a) In this organisation line authorities concentrate on execution of work and are relieved from thinking function.

(b) Line authorities are not autocrats as they are to take the advice from the experts or staff position.

(c) This results greater efficiency as the line managers are to devote much of their time on line functions. The line managers function more efficiently as they get support from staff positions.

(d) This organisation ensures co-ordination automatically as the line managers work along with staff officers.

Disadvantages of Line and Staff Organisation:

(a) It creates friction between line executive and staff executive. The success of this organisation largely depends on the proper understanding of the two.

(b) Staff officers may not give proper advice, as they are not to be responsible for the accomplishment of the job.

(c) The line authorities are to depend on staff executive. This results in too much dependancy. Too much dependent on staff will lose the creative thinking and initiative.

4. Committee Organisation:

A committee is a group of people specially designated to perform some administrative act. A committee is formed to consult various managers and to secure co-operation of various departments. The organisation that emphasises on formation of committee is called committee form of organisation.

Advantages of Committee Organisation:

(a) It provides pooled knowledge and judgement and there-by helps in increasing the efficiency of the organisatioin.

(b) It avoids too much concentration of power and allows dispersal of authority.

(c) Committees motivate managers better since managers occupy position or status in the committee.

(d) The line officials are relieved of many intricate problems as these committees handle these.

Disadvantages of Committee Organisation:

(a) Decisions are delayed, as many persons are to take decision in committee organisation.

(b) No one is held responsible if any faulty decision is taken. Everybody's responsibility is nobody's responsibility.

(c) It develops minority tyranny as the leader of a small pressure group may force" a decision to be taken.

Channels of Distribution

A channel of distribution or trade channel is defined as the path or route along which goods move from producers or manufacturers to ultimate consumers or industrial users. In other words, it is a distribution network through which producer puts his products in the market and passes it to the actual users. This channel consists of :- producers, consumers or users and the various middlemen like wholesalers,selling agents and retailers(dealers) who intervene between the producers and consumers. Therefore,the channel serves to bridge the gap between the point of production and the point of consumption thereby creating time, place and possession utilities.

A channel of distribution consists of three types of flows:-

• Downward flow of goods from producers to consumers
• Upward flow of cash payments for goods from consumers to producers
• Flow of marketing information in both downward and upward direction i.e. Flow of information on new products, new uses of existing products,etc from producers to consumers. And flow of information in the form of feedback on the wants,suggestions,complaints,etc from consumers/users to producers.

An entrepreneur has a number of alternative channels available to him for distributing his products. These channels vary in the number and types of middlemen involved. Some channels are short and directly link producers with customers. Whereas other channels are long and indirectly link the two through one or more middlemen.

These channels of distribution are broadly divided into four types:-

• Producer-Customer:- This is the simplest and shortest channel in which no middlemen is involved and producers directly sell their products to the consumers. It is fast and economical channel of distribution. Under it, the producer or entrepreneur performs all the marketing activities himself and has full control over distribution. A producer may sell directly to consumers through door-to-door salesmen, direct mail or through his own retail stores. Big firms adopt this channel to cut distribution costs and to sell industrial products of high value. Small producers and producers of perishable commodities also sell directly to local consumers.
• Producer-Retailer-Customer:- This channel of distribution involves only one middlemen called 'retailer'. Under it, the producer sells his product to big retailers (or retailers who buy goods in large quantities) who in turn sell to the ultimate consumers.This channel relieves the manufacturer from burden of selling the goods himself and at the same time gives him control over the process of distribution. This is often suited for distribution of consumer durables and products of high value.
• Producer-Wholesaler-Retailer-Customer:- This is the most common and traditional channel of distribution. Under it, two middlemen i.e. wholesalers and retailers are involved. Here, the producer sells his product to wholesalers, who in turn sell it to retailers. And retailers finally sell the product to the ultimate consumers. This channel is suitable for the producers having limited finance, narrow product line and who needed expert services and promotional support of wholesalers. This is mostly used for the products with widely scattered market.
• Producer-Agent-Wholesaler-Retailer-Customer:- This is the longest channel of distribution in which three middlemen are involved. This is used when the producer wants to be fully relieved of the problem of distribution and thus hands over his entire output to the selling agents. The agents distribute the product among a few wholesalers. Each wholesaler distribute the product among a number of retailers who finally sell it to the ultimate consumers. This channel is suitable for wider distribution of various industrial products.

 

Management Information Systems

A management information system (MIS) is a computer-based system that provides the information necessary to manage an organization effectively.

A management information system (MIS) provides information that organizations require to manage themselves efficiently and effectively.^[1] Management information systems are typically computer systems used for managing five primary components: 1.) Hardware, 2.) Software, 3.) Data (information for decision making), 4.) Procedures (design,development and documentation), and 5.) People (individuals, groups, or organizations). Management information systems are distinct from other information systems, in that they are used to analyze and facilitate strategic and operational activities.^[2] Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the study of how individuals, groups, and organizations evaluate, design, implement, manage, and utilize systems to generate information to improve efficiency and effectiveness of decision making, including systems termed decision support systems, expert systems, and executive information systems.^[2] Most business schools (or colleges of business administration within universities) have an MIS department, alongside departments of accounting, finance, management, marketing, and sometimes others, and grant degrees (at undergrad, masters, and PhD levels) in MIS.

Most management information systems specialize in particular commercial and industrial sectors, aspects of the enterprise, or management substructure.

• Management information systems (MIS), produce fixed, regularly scheduled reports based on data extracted and summarized from the firm’s underlying transaction processing systems^[5] to middle and operational level managers to identify and inform structured and semi-structured decision problems.
• Decision Support Systems (DSS) are computer program applications used by middle management to compile information from a wide range of sources to support problem solving and decision making.
• Executive Information Systems (EIS) is a reporting tool that provides quick access to summarized reports coming from all company levels and departments such as accounting, human resources and operations.
• Marketing Information Systems (MIS) are Management Information Systems designed specifically for managing the marketing aspects of the business.
• Office Automation Systems (OAS) support communication and productivity in the enterprise by automating work flow and eliminating bottlenecks. OAS may be implemented at any and all levels of management.
• School Information Management Systems (SIMS) cover school administration,and often including teaching and learning materials.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) facilitates the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders.

Advantages

1. Improves personal efficiency
2. Expedites problem solving(speed up the progress of problems solving in an organization)
3. Facilitates interpersonal communication
4. Promotes learning or training
5. Increases organizational control
6. Generates new evidence in support of a decision
7. Creates a competitive advantage over competition
8. Encourages exploration and discovery on the part of the decision maker
9. Reveals new approaches to thinking about the problem space
10. Helps automate the Managerial processes.

Project

A project is a way of organizing resource. It is a group of individuals who are assembled to perform different tasks on a common set of objectives for a defined period of time. ¹ Projects need a leader who can define the work objectives and criteria for success and recruit staff from all relevant areas of expertise. The need to organize a project is most apparent when more than two departments contribute resource at the same time.
Once a project is formed the participating departments often find it useful to organize data generated by its staff using project identifiers that have been created for the project.

There are many groups of people involved in both the project and project management lifecycles.

The Project Team is the group responsible for planning and executing the project. It consists of a Project Manager and a variable number of Project Team members, who are brought in to deliver their tasks according to the project schedule.

·         The Project Manager is the person responsible for ensuring that the Project Team completes the project. The Project Manager develops the Project Plan with the team and manages the team’s performance of project tasks. It is also the responsibility of the Project Manager to secure acceptance and approval of deliverables from the Project Sponsor and Stakeholders. The Project Manager is responsible for communication, including status reporting, risk management, escalation of issues that cannot be resolved in the team, and, in general, making sure the project is delivered in budget, on schedule, and within scope.

·         The Project Team Members are responsible for executing tasks and producing deliverables as outlined in the Project Plan and directed by the Project Manager, at whatever level of effort or participation has been defined for them.

·         On larger projects, some Project Team members may serve as Team Leads, providing task and technical leadership, and sometimes maintaining a portion of the project plan.

 Project managers

A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, engineering, architecture, computing, and telecommunications. Many other fields in production engineering and design engineering and heavy industrial have project managers.
A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which is cost, time, and scope.
A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.

Project engineer

Project Engineering bridges the boundaries between engineering and project management, leading the technical workers who contribute to the building of structures or products. In some cases, the project engineer is the same as a project manager but in most cases these two professionals have joint responsibility for leading a project. It is generally not acceptable to use P.E. as an abbreviation for project engineer, as the P.E. designation refers to a licensed professional engineer.

Responsibilities

The role of the project engineer can often be described as that of a liaison between the project manager and the technical disciplines involved in a project. The project engineer is also often the primary technical point of contact for the consumer.
A project engineer's responsibilities include schedule preparation, pre-planning and resource forecasting for engineering and other technical activities relating to the project. They may also be in charge of performance management of vendors. They assure the accuracy of financial forecasts, which tie-in to project schedules. They ensure projects are completed according to project plans. Project engineers manage project team resources and training and develop extensive project management experience and expertise. When project teams are structured so that multiple specialty disciplines report to the project engineer, then two important responsibilities of the project engineer are inter-discipline coordination and overall quality control of the work.

 

Budget

A budget is a quantitative expression of a plan for a defined period of time. It may include planned sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities, costs and expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows. It expresses strategic plans of business units, organizations, activities or events in measurable terms.

Budget types

• Sales budget – an estimate of future sales, often broken down into both units and currency. It is used to create company sales goals.
• Production budget – an estimate of the number of units that must be manufactured to meet the sales goals. The production budget also estimates the various costs involved with manufacturing those units, including labor and material. Created by product oriented companies.
• Capital budget - used to determine whether an organization's long term investments such as new machinery, replacement machinery, new plants, new products, and research development projects are worth pursuing.
• Cash flow/cash budget – a prediction of future cash receipts and expenditures for a particular time period. It usually covers a period in the short term future. The cash flow budget helps the business determine when income will be sufficient to cover expenses and when the company will need to seek outside financing.
• Marketing budget – an estimate of the funds needed for promotion, advertising, and public relations in order to market the product or service.
• Project budget – a prediction of the costs associated with a particular company project. These costs include labour, materials, and other related expenses. The project budget is often broken down into specific tasks, with task budgets assigned to each. A cost estimate is used to establish a project budget.
• Revenue budget – consists of revenue receipts of government and the expenditure met from these revenues. Tax revenues are made up of taxes and other duties that the government levies.
• Expenditure budget – includes spending data items.

Purpose

Budget helps to aid the planning of actual operations by forcing managers to consider how the conditions might change and what steps should be taken now and by encouraging managers to consider problems before they arise. It also helps co-ordinate the activities of the organization by compelling managers to examine relationships between their own operation and those of other departments. Other essentials of budget include:

• To control resources
• To communicate plans to various responsibility center managers.
• To motivate managers to strive to achieve budget goals.
• To evaluate the performance of managers
• To provide visibility into the company's performance
• For accountability

In summary, the purpose of budgeting is tools:

1. tools provide a forecast of revenues and expenditures, that is, construct a model of how a business might perform financially if certain strategies, events and plans are carried out.
2. Tools enable the actual financial operation of the business to be measured against the forecast.
3. Lastly,tools establish the cost constraint for a project, program, or operation.