Arthur Clarke Essay - 670 Words

Arthur C. Clarke was born in 1917 in Minehead, Somerset. His mother was Nora Clarke and his father was Charles Wright Clarke. He had two brothers, Frederick and Michael and one sister, Mary. There were many events that helped to shape him and his writing style. The first major event in his early life was his first plane ride. He went on a Avro 504 biplane with his mother in 1927, this ride remained in his mind forever, and as he progressed as a writer it fueled his science fiction from jet-planes to space travel. Soon thereafter in 1928 Arthur read his first science fiction magazine. At the young age of twelve he began to develop his almost fanatic obsession with Science Fiction. This forever curved his path towards writing Science†¦show more content†¦This gave him the base of knowledge, which he used to understand space and underlay many of his fiction works with true physics of movement. Other important events in 1946 include his election to Chairmanship of the British In terplanetary Society and his meeting of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein. In 1948 he graduated college with first class honors. He then attended University College for post-graduate studies in Astronomy. This further reinforced his knowledge of space and helped allow him to write the myriad of non-fiction books about space that he has written. In June of 1952 his book, The Exploration of Space is sold for some 50,000 dollars, this marks a turning point in his career as being known to only a select few to becoming widely known. He appeared on quot;The Today Showquot; that same month. He also meets Robert Bloch quot;Psychoquot; and E. E. quot;Docquot; Smith at the American Science Fiction convention. In June of 1953 Clarke is married to Marilyn Torgenson. This marriage lasts only until the Christmas of the same year. This is portrayed through the marriages in his books showing fluctuations in stability, though most marriages in his books do not end. In 1998 Clarke was knighted, an honor reserved to those who have made a significant impact on the world in some way. (www.lsi.usp) Clarke also is the chancellor ofShow MoreRelatedThe Star by Arthur C. Clarke and the Juxtaposition of Science and Religion704 Words   |  3 Pagesreligion, and religion that fills in the gaps of science. By examining a literature work titled The star By Arthur C. Clarke, a work based off science and religion in itself. I will show you the juxtaposition of science and religion. Some science fiction is really not much different than any other sci-fi story and does not really require the reader or viewer to think very deeply. However, Arthur C. Clarkes The Star forces the reader to face one of the most important issues of our world, the conflictRead MoreThe Monolith929 Words   |  4 Pageswhat the viewer’s own subjectivity brought to the film. The film was very loosely inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s â€Å"The Sentinel† the full novel of the movie was written as the film was being shot and was therefore was loosely based on the film brochures that was allowed to be seen by Clarke, Kubrick was constantly making changes to the script and had to sole write to dictate what shaped the novel through. Clarke was just a writer for hire and had no clue as to what Kubrick was up to. The result is thatRead MoreThe Potential Effects of Developing Technology Essay1282 Words   |  6 Pagesimmense benefits that help a culture grow and develop effect ively as demonstrated by the society in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World; however technology can be a double edged sword in the sense that it has the power to destroy as demonstrated in Arthur C. Clarke’s novel 2001 A Space Odyssey. When this is coupled with its own unreliability, technology can be a challenge for those who seek to control and master its enigmas. Technology does not have the ability to choose right from wrong; it is upRead More Arthur C. Clarkes Childhoods End Essay1556 Words   |  7 PagesArthur C. Clarkes Childhoods End One could never believe that such a piece as Arthur C. Clarkes Childhoods End, was written nearly 50 years ago. The story itself was far ahead of its time and will probably remain so forever. There are some who dislike or would rather not read science-fiction because of its highly idealistic writing and plot outlines. This novel is the greatest Ive read of science-fiction as of yet. Taking consideration into the fact that I am a novice science-fictionRead MoreCulture And The 21st Century937 Words   |  4 Pageshave created our own slang language. The meaning of something can change a whole lot just by one thing someone may have sent that was not face to face communication. Technology has also greatly affected our world in a good way. According to Arthur C. Clarke, â€Å"Any sufficiently advanced technology is undistinguishable from magic†. The technology we have makes our lives much easier because the answers are right in front of everyone. It makes the communication much faster and easier. Communication isRead MoreThe Sentinel and 2001: a Space Odyssey1789 Words   |  8 Pagessuch as it is based upon the literary short story, â€Å"The Sentinel† by Arthur C. Clarke. Kubrick has done an astounding job at developing the original short story by combining music with visual images way before it’s time. The film allows its viewers to see the original short story told by Clarke, creatively expanded and elaborated upon in comparison with great detail. Table of Contents Introduction The Sentinel (Arthur C. Clarke), 1951 †¢ Descriptive Elements †¢ Theme – First contact 2001: A SpaceRead MoreThe World War Z, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sleep, By Isaac Asimov1220 Words   |  5 Pagesrelation to the amount I ve been forced to read and in the amount that exist / I ve enjoyed a few Greek tragedies like the story of promethius or atlas, world war z, do androids dream of electric sleep, many of Isaac Asimov s books, many of Arthur C Clarke s books as well, some H.P. Love craft works, 1984, starship troopers, anthem and the halo book series. Not that I don t enjoy reading, I read everyday as a matter of fact but they tend to be news articles, opinion pieces, forums, academic journalsRead MoreA Review of 2001: a Space Odyssey Essay522 Words   |  3 Pages2001: A Space Odyssey is just that: a long wandering voyage of the body and mind. Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark collaborated brilliantly. In examining both works, the film and the novel, there are certainly differences, yet the theme and overall idea coincide thoroughly. That this was made in th e 1960s augments both accomplishments. The visuals, seen in 2004, are still captivating. What they mustve seemed like in 1968! I flout those who received this movie poorly in those days. Would I haveRead MoreEssay about 2001 A Space Odyssey Analysis904 Words   |  4 Pages 2001: A Space Odyssey nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The following paper will analyze the movie, â€Å"2001: A Space Odyssey† by Stanley Kubrick† and â€Å"The Centinel† by Arthur C. Clarke. Although there are many themes present between the story and the film, the following are the most dominant. I will be discussing Scientific themes, Religious and Moral Themes, and Clarke’s development of the short story into a full-length film. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The first issue, I will be discussing the scientificRead More2001: A Space Odyssey Compare and Contrast Essay903 Words   |  4 PagesRecently, our class read the book and watched the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The book is written by Arthur C. Clarke and the movie was directed by Stanley Kubrick. The book was written as a framework for the movie, so the two are mostly the same. But, while there were similarities, there were also some major differences. The story started with pre-historic ‘humans’ called man-apes. The man-apes were very primitive and on the brink of survival. One day, a huge monolith showed up and started

In this compare and contrast paper I will highlight the...

Compare and Contrast Paper Jeremiah Barwick Liberty CCOU 201 In this compare and contrast paper I will highlight the differences and commonalities between Larry Crabb’s biblical model of counseling, theories, and techniques of Rodgerian theory called Rodgers’ Client-Centered Therapy (RCCT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). All of these theories are a form of psychotherapy. Couselors today use techniques such as pharmacological intervention and cognitive and behavioral therapy. They are not wrong in using these techniques, but rather should seek the Lord and take a biblical approach in therapy. Part 1: Goal of Christian Counseling In part one – â€Å"A Few†¦show more content†¦The model I am proposing might be labeled Spoiling the Egypians† (Crabb, 1977). Part 3: Basic Strategy Two basic strategies or concepts are found in part three – â€Å"Basic Strategy: How to Understand and Deal with Personal Problems† in Larry Crabb’s Book. The first concept is â€Å"needs† and the second concept is â€Å"motivation†. People have needs of significance and security. In reality only Jesus Christ can give a person significance and security. Philippians 4:19 in the King James Bible states, â€Å"But my God shall supply all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus† (KJV, Bible). Larry Crabb states that, â€Å"†¦motivation is the drive or urge to meet our needs. It is that sense of momentum that impels us to do something to become significant and secure. We are willing to expend tremendous personal energy in an effort to satisfy these needs. We call this profound, compulsive willingness to meet needs motivation† (Crabb, 1977). On the topic of motivation in Christ, Poverbs 3:5-6 in the Bible states: â€Å"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths† (Bible). When it comes to personal significance, security, and motivation, the three strategies besides Larry Crabb’s strategies contrast Larry Crabb’s basic end goal. Ellis’sShow MoreRelatedA Project On Acquiring And Sharing Data Within The Cmmi Research Community1054 Words   |  5 PagesThank you for providing me the opportunity to review this collaborative proposal submitted by Georgia Tech and Northwester U entitled: â€Å"Workshop on Acquiring and Sharing Data within the CMMI Research Community,† CMMI - 1652999. 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Kubla Khan (5570 words) Essay Example For Students

Kubla Khan (5570 words) Essay Kubla KhanKubla KhanIf a man could pass thro Paradise in a Dream, ; have a flower presented to him as a pledge that his Soul had really been there, ; found that flower in his hand when he awoke Aye! and what then? (CN, iii 4287)Kubla Khan is a fascinating and exasperating poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (. Almost everyone who has read it, has been charmed by its magic. It must surely be true that no poem of comparable length in English or any other language has been the subject of so much critical commentary. Its fifty-four lines have spawned thousands of pages of discussion and analysis. Kubla Khan is the sole or a major subject in five book-length studies; close to 150 articles and book-chapters (doubtless I have missed some others) have been devoted exclusively to it; and brief notes and incidental comments on it are without number. Despite this deluge, however, there is no critical unanimity and very little agreement on a number of important issues connected with the poe m: its date of composition, its meaning, its sources in Coleridges reading and observation of nature, its structural integrity (i.e. fragment versus complete poem), and its relationship to the Preface by which Coleridge introduced it on its first publication in 1816. Coleridges philosophical explorations appear in his greatest poems. Kubla Khan, with its exotic imagery and symbols, rich vocabulary and rhythms, written, by Coleridges account, under the influence of laudanum, was often considered a brilliant work, but without any defined theme. However, despite its complexity the poem can be read as a well-constructed exposition on human genius and art. The theme of life and nature again appears in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, where the effect on nature of a crime against the power of life is presented in the form of a ballad. Christabel, an unfinished gothic ballad, evokes a sinister atmosphere, hinting at evil and the grotesque. In his poems Coleridges detailed perception of nature links scene and mood, and leads to a contemplation of moral and universal concerns. In his theory of poetry Coleridge stressed the aesthetic quality as the primary consideration. The metrical theory on which Christabel is constructed helped to break the fetters of 18th-century correctness and monotony and soon found disciples, among others Walter Scott and Lord Byron. Opium and the Dream of Kubla KhanColeridges use of opium has long been a topic of fascination, and the grouping of Coleridge, opium and Kubla Khan formed an inevitable triad long before Elisabeth Schneider combined them in the title of her book. It is tempting on a subject of such intrinsic interest to say more than is necessary for the purpose in hand. Since the medicinal use of opium was so common and wide-spread, it is not surprising to learn that its use involved neither legal penalties nor public stigma. All of the Romantic poets (except Wordsworth) are known to have used it, as did many other prominent contemporaries. Supplies were readily available: in 1830, for instance, Britain imported 22,000 pounds of raw opium. Many Englishmen, like the eminently respectable poet-parson George Crabbe, who took opium in regular but moderate quantity for nearly forty years, were addicts in ignorance, and led stable and productive lives despite their habit. By and large, opium was taken for granted; and it was only the terrible experiences of such articulate addicts as Coleridge and Dequincy that eventually began to bring the horrors of the drug to public attention. Coleridges case is a particularly sad and instructive one. He had used opium as early as 1791 (see CL, i 18) and continued to use it occasionally, on medical advice, to alleviat e pain from a series of physical and nervous ailments. But the opium cure proved ultimately to be more devastating in its effects than the troubles it was intended to treat, for such large quantities taken over so many months seduced him unwittingly into slavery to the drug. And his life between 1801 and 1806 (when he returned from Malta) is a somber illustration of a growing and, finally, a hopeless bondage to opium. By the time he realized he was addicted, however, it was too late. He consulted a variety of physicians; he attempted more than once (with nearly fatal results) to break off his use of opium all at once; and, at last, in 1816, when he submitted his case to James Gillman (in whose house he was to spend the rest of his life), he was able to control his habit and reduce his doses, although he was never able to emancipate himself entirely. But to return to the 1790s: what can we say about Coleridges experience of opium at the time of composing Kubla Khan? The effects produced by opium in the early stages were soothing and seductive: Laudanum, he wrote his brother George in March 1798 (in terms which recall the imagery of Kubla Khan), gave me repose, not sleep: but YOU, I believe, know how divine that repose is what a spot of enchantment, a green spot of fountains, flowers trees, in the very heart of a waste of Sands! (CL, i 394). Opium, it seems (to cite an earlier letter, of October 1797, which may well be describing a drug experience), tended to raise spiritualize his intellect, so that he could, like the Indian Vishnu, float about along an infinite ocean cradled in the flower of the Lotos (CL, i 350). Such an experience and such a mood are reflected in Kubla Khan. As we know from the Crewe endnote, Coleridge took two grains of Opium before he wrote Kubla Khan; and this fact naturally raises the issue of the drugs effect on the poets creative imagination. Early critics, guided by Coleridges statements in the 1816 Preface, assumed that there was a direct and immediate correlation between opium and imagination. In 1897 J.M. Robertson could not bring himself to doubt that the special quality of this felicitous work is to be attributed to its being all conceived and composed under the influence of opium; and in 1934 M.H. Abrams declared that the great gift of opium to men like Coleridge and Dequincy was access to a new world as different from this as Mars may be; and one which ordinary mortals, hindered by terrestrial conceptions, can never, from mere description, quite comprehend. More recent criticism, however, grounded on modern medical studies, controverts such conclusions decisively. According to Elisabeth Schneider, it is widely agreed now t hat persons of unstable psychological makeup are much more likely to become addicted to opiates than are normal ones and that, among such neurotic users of opium, the intensity of the pleasure produced by the drug seems (on the evidence of medical case-studies) to be in direct proportion to the degree of instability. The explanation (she continues) of the supposed creative powers of opium lies in the euphoria that it produces: With some unstable temperaments the euphoria may be intense. Its effect is usually to increase the persons satisfaction with his inner state of well being, to turn his attention inward upon himself while diminishing his attention to external stimuli. Thus it sometimes encourages the mood in which daydreaming occurs. The narcosis of opium has been popularly described as having the effect of heightening and intensifying the acuteness of the senses. This it quite definitely does not do. If anything, the effect is the reverse. Alethea Hayter, although she wishes to avoid the extremes of the positions of Abrams and Schneider, nevertheless comes much closer in her conclusions to the latter than to the former. Opium, she argues, can only work On what is already there in a mans mind and memory, and, if he already has a creative imagination and a tendency to reverie, dreams and hypnologic visions, then opium may intensify and focus his perceptions. Her final verdict which can be no more than a hypothesis is that the action of opium, though it can never be a substitute for innate imagination, can uncover that imagination while it is at work in a way which might enable an exceptionally gifted and self-aware writer to observe and learn from his own mental processes. The most reasonable conclusion to be drawn from these various explorations of the relationship between opium and the operation of the creative imagination is that, while Kubla Khan might well not have been produced without opium, it most assuredly wo uld never have been born except for the powerfully and innately imaginative mind of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Interpretative Approaches to Kubla KhanThere is an observation Never tell thy dreams, and I am almost afraid that Kubla Khan is an owl that wont bear day light, I fear lest it should be discovered by the lantern of typography clear reducting to letters, no better than nonsense or no sense. (Charles Lamb)In a moment of rash optimism a notable scholar once began an essay by declaring that We now know almost everything about Coleridges Kubla Khan except what the poem is about. The truth of the matter, however, is that we know almost nothing conclusive about Kubla Khan, including what it is about. In fact, by far the most intriguing question about this most intriguing of poems is What does it mean? if, indeed, it has or was ever intended to have any particular meaning. For the overwhelming majority of Coleridges contemporaries, Kubla Khan seemed (as Lamb foresaw) to be no better than nonsense, and they dismissed it contemptuously. The poem itself is below criticism, declared the anonymous reviewer in the Monthly Review (Jan 1817); and Thomas Moore, writing in the Edinburgh Review (Sep 1816), tartly asserted that the thing now before us, is utterly destitute of value and he defied any man to point out a passage of poetical merit in it.While derisive asperity of this sort i s the common fare of most of the early reviews, there are, nevertheless, contemporary readers whose response is both sympathetic and positive even though they value the poem for its rich and bewitching suggestiveness rather than for any discernible meaning that it might possess. Charles Lamb, for example, speaks fondly of hearing Coleridge recite Kubla Khan so enchantingly that it irradiates brings heaven Elysian bowers into my parlour while he sings or says it; and Leigh Hunt turns hopefully to analogies in music and painting in an effort to describe the poems haunting but indefinable effect: Kubla Khan is a voice and a vision, an everlasting tune in our mouths, a dream fit for Cambuscan and all his poets, a dance of pictures such as Giotto or Cimabue, revived and re-inspired, would have made for a Storie of Old Tartarie, a piece of the invisible world made visible by a sun at midnight and sliding before our eyes. Throughout the nineteenth century and during the first quarter of the twentieth century Kubla Khan was considered, almost universally, to be a poem in which sound overwhelms sense. With a few exceptions (such as Lamb and Leigh Hunt), Romantic critics accustomed to poetry of statement and antipathetic to any notion of ars gratia artis summarily dismissed Kubla Khan as a meaningless farrago of sonorous phrases beneath the notice of serious criticism. It only demonstrated, according to William Hazlitt, that Mr Coleridge can write better nonsense verses than any man in England and then he added, proleptically, It is not a poem, but a musical composition. For Victorian and Early Modern readers, on the other hand, Kubla Khan was a poem not below but beyond the reach of criticism, and they adopted (without the irony) Hazlitts perception that it must properly be appreciated as verbalised music. When it has been said, wrote Swinburne of Kubla Khan, that such melodies were never heard, such dreams never dreamed, such speech never spoken, the chief thing remains unsaid, and unspeakable. There is a charm upon which can only be felt in silent submission of wonder. Even John Livingston Lowes culpable, if ever anyone has been, of murdering to dissect insisted on the elusive magic of Coleridges dream vision: For Kubla Khan is as near enchantment, I suppose, as we are like to come in this dull world. While one may track or attempt to track individual images to their sources, Kubla Khan as a whole remains utterly inexplicable a dissolving phantasmagoria of highly charged images whose streaming pagent is, in the final analysis, as aimless as it is magnificent. The earth has bubbles as the water has, and this is of them. Callahan Chronicals EssayThis is not to say, of course, that the poem is unrelated to the theory: it is only to insist that Kubla Khan, rather than being a material anticipation of later critical precepts, is a part of the process that leads eventually to the development and articulation of those ideas in a systematic way. And it is not surprising, therefore, that the meaning of the poem should be obscure and ambiguous for Kubla Khan records an early, perhaps largely unconscious, exploration of critical perceptions united only loosely in an inchoate theory of literature. Freudian Analysis A poem such as Kubla Khan so provokingly enigmatic and so deliciously suggestive also provides an irresistibly fertile ground for psychological speculation, especially on the part of Freudian critics. When Coleridge called the poem a psychological curiosity in his 1816 Preface and confessed that Kubla Khan was the record of an actual dream, he unwittingly opened wide the door to analysts anxious to expound the latent psychological implications of his symphony and song. One of the earliest of the Freudian readings was offered in 1924 by Robert Graves, who proposed that Kubla Khan expressed Coleridges subconscious determination to shun the mazy complications of life by retreating to a bower of poetry, solitude and opium a serene refuge beyond the bitter reproaches of Mrs Coleridge (the woman who is wailing for her demon lover) and almost beyond the gloomy prophecies of addiction uttered by the ancestral voices of Lamb and Charles Lloyd. By comparison with recent Fr eudian interpretations, this is pretty tame stuff. Nevertheless, it was enough to alert I.A. Richards almost immediately to the chilling possibilities of such an approach: The reader acquainted with current methods of analysis, he warned, can imagine the results of a thorough going Freudian onslaught. In general, the Freudians treat Kubla Khan as an unconscious revelation of personal fantasies and repressed, usually erotic, urges; but there is little agreement about the precise nature of these subliminal drives. Douglas Angus argues that the poem illustrates a psychoneurotic pattern of narcissism that reflects Coleridges abnormal need for love and sympathy; Eugene Sloane, however, is convinced that Kubla Khan is an elaborate development of a birth dream, expressing an unconscious desire to return to the warmth and security of the womb (the hair in line 50, for example, is floating in amniotic fluid); and Gerald Enscoe finds the core of the poems meaning in the unresolved struggle between two conflicting attitudes toward the subject of erotic feeling, i.e. the attitude . . . that the sexual impulse is to be confined within a controlled system is opposed to the anarchistic belief that the erotic neither should nor can be subjected to such control. Still other readers prefer to follow Robert Graves by concentrating on what the poem implies about Coleridges experience with opium: James Bramwell reads Kubla Khan as a dream-fable representing conscience in the act of casting him out, spiritually and bodily, from the paradise of his opium paradise; and Eli Marcovitz, who sets out to treat as we would a dream in our clinical practice, confidently concludes that Kubla Khan is almost a chart of the psychosexual history of a personality ineluctably embarked on the road to addiction: It depicts the life of the poet his infancy and early childhood, the pleasures and deprivations of the oral period, the stimulation and dread of his oedipal period, the reaction to the death of his father at nine, the fear of incest and genitality with the regression to passive-femininity and orality, and the attempt to cope with his lifes problems by the appeal to the muse and to opium. Who would have supposed, without guidance, that so much repressed meaning was compressed into fifty-four lines?Even this brief sampling illustrates clearly enough the limitations and liabilities of using Freudian keys to unlock the mysteries of Kubla Khan. In the first place, of course, there is no received consensus (as we have just seen) about precisely what the poem reveals about Coleridges subconscious mind. Nor is there agreement about the symbolic significance of the major images: is the stately pleasure-dome to be identified as the female breast (maternal or otherwise), or does it represent, as some think, the mons veneris? Similarly, what are we to make of the violent eructation of the fountain forced with ceaseless turmoil from the deep romantic chasm the ejaculation of semen, or the throes of parturition? And then there is the hapless Abyssinian maid, who has been variously identified as Coleridges muse, as his mother, as Mary Evans (an early flame), as Dorothy Wordsworth, and (since Abyssinian damsels are negroid) as the symbol of Coleridges repressed impulse toward miscegenation. A second and more serious problem with many Freudian readings, as the foregoing examples make clear, is a tendency to ignore basic rules of evidence and to indulge, as a consequence, in strained and unwarranted speculation. In one account, for example, we are asked (without irony) to believe that the last two lines of Kubla Khan point by indirection to fellatio, cunnilingus and deep oral attachment to the mother. Another analyst, James F. Hoyle, interprets Coleridges enforced retirement to the farmhouse near Porlock as the neurotic persons vegetative retreat to para-sympathetic preponderance with overstimulation of gastrointestinal functions, resulting in diarrhea and then, as if this were not enough, goes on to conclude that the costive opium taken to check the attack of dysentery probably helped in converting depression to hypomania and so was instrumental in transformi ng the diarrhea of failure in poetry and life to the logorrhea of Kubla Khan. A third problem with Freudian analysis is that, in general, it is more interested in the poet than in the poem and, in addition, often accords the 1816 Preface a stature at least equal to that of Kubla Khan itself. As with the source-studies examined in the previous section, Freudian readings use the poem largely as a pretext for exploring extrapoetic matters: the roads of psychological criticism customarily lead away from Xanadu into the charted and uncharted realms of the poets biography and subconscious psychosexual history. Jungian interpretationsUnlike the Freudians, who stress the psychological particularity of Kubla Khan, Jungian critics focus on the way in which the poem draws upon and perpetuates traditional images in which the age-long memoried self is repeatedly embodied. Often the results of such an approach are illuminating and useful largely because Jungian criticism, when it resists the reductivist temptation to explain away images with psychological tags, allows for ambiguities and the existence of half-seen truths. As Kathleen Raine points out in an engaging essay, Kubla Khan was written in that exaltation of wonder which invariably accompanies moments of insight into the mystery upon whose surface we live. The earliest (and still probably the best) Jungian interpretation is found in Maud Bodkins Archetypal Patterns in Poetry (1934). Her argument, in essence, is that Kublas pleasant gardens and the forbidding caverns under them correspond in some degree to the traditional ideas of Paradise and Hades: the image of the watered garden and the mountain height show some persistent affinity with the desire and imaginative enjoyment of supreme well-being, or divine bliss, while the cavern depth appears as the objectification of an imaginative fear. In Kubla Khan the heaven-hell pattern, presented as the vision of a poet inspired by the music of a mysterious maiden, evokes in the reader an organic response (through the collective unconscious) to these atavistic emotional archetypes. Subsequent Jungian critics have undertaken (with various degrees of success) to extend Bodkins thesis by developing the implications of the Edenic archetype, by invoking Platos doctrine of anamnesis or recollectio n, and by analysing Kubla Khan as a descriptive illustration of Jungs individuation process. There are, too, less respectably, some extreme Jungian (or pseudo-Jungian) interpretations: for example, Robert Fleissners catachrestic argument for Kubla Khan as an integrationist poem. The summary of criticism in the preceding pages has not, of course, exhausted the diversity of approaches to Kubla Khan. It has also been read as a landscape-poemand as a poetical day-dream; there are provocative interpretations of it as a political statement contrasting the profane power of the state with the sacred power of the poet; and there are theological readings quite important ones, in fact which explore the visionary and apocalyptic theme of fallen mans yearning to recover the lost Paradise. What, then, shall we say of Kubla Khan? that it has too much meaning, or too many meanings, or (perhaps) no meaning at all? Grammatici certant et adhuc sub iudice lis est: critics dispute, and the case is still before the courts (Horace, Ars Poetica, 78). In the circumstances, I will not presume to render a verdict, but merely to offer some advice. Literary criticism has more and more become a science of solutions. When a lurking mystery is discovered, analytical floodlights are trai ned upon it to dispel the shadows and open its dark recesses. But Kubla Khan, as Charles Lamb acutely perceived, is an owl that wont bear daylight. We must learn to take the poem on its own terms and, instead of attempting to salvage it by reducing it to a coherent substratum of symbols, we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that no single interpretation will ever resolve the complexities of so protean a product of the human imagination. Mystery and ambiguity, verisimilitude and teasing suggestiveness, are essential ingredients in Kubla Khan a poem which reflects, though darkly, Coleridges largely subconscious ruminations on poetry, paradise, and the heights and depths of his own unfathomable intellectual and spiritual being. Kubla Khan is one of those ethereal finger-pointings so prized by Keats; it is a poem that has no palpable design upon us, and it provides at least one instance of an occasion on which Coleridge did not let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from th e Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half knowledgePoetry Essays

Week 8 and 9 Assignment free essay sample

Glam rock was characterized as a form of rock that was performed by male performers who wore makeup and very feminine clothing. Many glam rock bands had very elaborate stage shows and costumes and were also known to make many references to both sexuality and drugs in their performances and lyrics. In addition to the sexual references, glam rock was also known for its gender ambiguity as well as depictions of androgyny. Glam rock bands also featured many exaggerated themes during their performances, such as horror or science fiction. The artistic element of glam rock, which had heavy focuses on visual style and showmanship, changed the rock scene of the 1970s. 1. Describe what is meant by counterculture and psychedelia. What are some of the important elements of the hippie worldview? How can music be psychedelic? The word â€Å"psychedelia† is a reference to the many new ways that people are able to experience the world. We will write a custom essay sample on Week 8 and 9 Assignment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The mid 1950s was a time where teenagers truly experienced a youth culture that was clearly different and distinguishable from the culture of adults. The â€Å"counterculture† refers to the clear separation from adult culture during the mid 1960s. It was a term associated with the hippie worldview that was dedicated to cultural change through the use of music as the main medium. Since drugs helped people to a state of higher consciousness, it was perceived as a big influence on providing young people that new worldview. Rock became more psychedelic through its promotion of drug trips, which led people on spiritual journeys and achieving that higher consciousness they had sought. The more psychedelic rock became, the spacier and longer the tracks became to its listeners.

The school of Athens

School of Athens is a piece of fresco done by Raphael within the period of 1509 and 1511 at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City (Munn 67). This is one of the most philosophical frescoes done during this era. Raphael was known as a philosopher. During his era, the society was heavily influenced by the works of such philosophers as Plato and Aristotle. He was known to be a follower of the principles that were brought forth by these great philosophers.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The school of Athens specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He was known to be one of the greatest painters in Italy, and most of his paintings would reflect a given message. Being an artist, he used his art to pass messages that he considered the society should know whenever he embarked on his work. The School of Athens, otherwise known as Scuola di Atene was done with a lot of accuracy and a concerted effort was put to ensure that the imag es were as clear as they could possibly be. The background of this fresco clearly demonstrates the Renaissance period in Italy. Raphael was reflecting on an era that characterized emergence of modernism in Italy. The background of this picture depicts the cultural change that was taking shape very rapidly in Italy during the period between 14th and 16th centuries. That was a transitional period between Medieval and the Modern Europe. Italy, and Europe at large, was experiencing a rebirth, and new systems were being put in place to which reflected this transition (Raffaele 98). The society was first learning towards the renaissance that was propelled by the Greek’s philosophers. This is clearly demonstrated in this fresco done by this particular artist. The setting of the School of Athens may bring a lot of debate given the shape that Raphael has given it. One may argue that the setting of this fresco has a setting of a church. This was as a typical shape of a church. However, there are a number of factors that rules out the possibility of this being a church (Hall 78). This therefore, leaves the possibility of this being a palace. The ornaments on the floor, the decorations of the walls and the general atmosphere of the place leave no doubt of this setting being in a palace. The royalty of this place and the people in this place is convincing that this is a palace. The setting of this place can also be considered in the context of the time in which this painting could have been made. This painting gives the context of the time of renaissance when several philosophers and scientists would come together in royal palace or conferences to discuss issues that concerned nature and the society in general. The painting gives the impression that this is a conference where the king would meet with his top advisers and other intellectuals trying to define the future of the kingdom.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The characters used in this fresco are symbolic of how most kingdoms were run. Most kingdoms during this era heavily depended on advisors who could help them define the leadership of their nations. This is because most of the characters are some of the renowned philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. In the painting are also some of the best solders of a lifetime like Alexander the Great. Scientists like Pythagoras and Archimedes can also be seen. References Hall, Marcia. Raphael’s â€Å"school of Athens†. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print. Munn, Mark. The School of History: Athens in the Age of Socrates. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. Print. Raffaele, Top of FormFlorio. The School of Athens: How the Humanities Can Help Revive the Great Conversation. New York: Cengage, 2006. Print. This essay on The school of Athens was written and submitted by user Puck to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The History of Life on Earth

The History of Life on Earth The Carboniferous Period is a geologic time period that took place between 360 to 286 million years ago. The Carboniferous Period is named after the rich coal deposits that are present in rock layers from this time period. The Age of Amphibians The Carboniferous Period is also known as the Age of Amphibians. It is the fifth of six geologic periods that together make up the Paleozoic Era. The Carboniferous Period is preceded by the Devonian Period and followed by the Permian Period. The climate of the Carboniferous Period was quite uniform (there were no distinct seasons) and it was more humid and tropical than our present-day climate. The plant life of the Carboniferous Period resembled modern tropical plants. The Carboniferous Period was a time when the first of many animal groups evolved: the first true bony fishes, the first sharks, the first amphibians, and the first amniotes. The appearance of the amniotes is evolutionarily significant because of the amniotic egg, the defining characteristic of amniotes, enabled the ancestors of modern reptiles, birds, and mammals to reproduce on land and colonize terrestrial habitats that were previously uninhabited by vertebrates.   Mountain Building The Carboniferous Period was a time of mountain building when the collision of the Laurussian and Gondwanaland land masses formed the supercontinent Pangea. This collision resulted in the uplifting of mountain ranges such as the Appalachian Mountains, the Hercynian Mountains, and the Ural Mountains. During the Carboniferous Period, the vast oceans that covered the earth often flooded the continents, creating warm, shallow seas. It was during this time that the armored fish that had been abundant in the Devonian Period became extinct and were replaced by more modern fishes. As the Carboniferous Period progressed, the uplifting of landmasses resulted in an increase in erosion and the building of floodplains and river deltas. The increased freshwater habitat meant that some marine organisms such as corals and crinoids died out. New species that were adapted to the reduced salinity of these waters evolved, such as freshwater clams, gastropods, sharks, and bony fish. Vast Swamp Forests Freshwater wetlands increased and formed vast swamp forests. Fossil remains show that air-breathing insects, arachnids, and myriapods were present during the Late Carboniferous. The seas were dominated by sharks and their relatives and it was during this period that sharks underwent much diversification. Arid Environments   Land snails first appeared and dragonflies and mayflies diversified. As the land habitats dried, animals evolved ways of adapting to the arid environments. The amniotic egg enabled early tetrapods to break free of the bonds to aquatic habitats for reproduction. The earliest known amniote is Hylonomus, a lizard-like creature with a strong jaw and slender limbs. Early tetrapods diversified significantly during the Carboniferous Period. These included the temnospondyls and the anthracosaurs. Finally, the first diapsids and synapsids evolved during the Carboniferous. By the middle the Carboniferous Period, tetrapods were common and quite diverse. The varied in size (some measuring up to 20 feet in length). As the climate grew cooler and drier, the evolution of amphibians slowed and the appearance of amniotes lead to a new evolutionary path.

International Marketing Plan Of An Australian Brand Case Study

International Marketing Plan Of An Australian Brand - Case Study Example Penfolds Grange is basically a red wine that is manufactured totally in Australia and has been a leading brand in the Australian as well as the international market since its inception in 1951, ever since then it has won over 50 gold medals in vintage wine competitions and has been a major influence in the international arena as well. It is made from 2 kinds of grapes: the Shiraz and the cabernet sauvignon, the Shiraz being the major component where as the cabernet sauvignon is only used in small portions.Product Description: Penfolds is one of the major labels in the Australian wine industry and is a major exporter to a multitude of companies in the world; it has been one of the best red wine brands ever since its inception in 1951 and has been a major award winner in its category. The relative advantage of this brand is that it is made from an unusual blend of grapes that are specially grown at the company’s vineyards and hence is a unique red wine and has been able to set s tandards of its own. Since Penfolds is a major brand, it is exported to various countries in the world, the country that has been chosen for the purpose of this paper is the United Kingdom which is a major wine consumer nation and wine is a commodity which can be categorized as a house hold item which is consumed on a regular basis. Since wine is consumed on a nation wide basis, penfolds would be tried by consumers more often than not and hence it is very compatible with the tastes of the people in the country.on the country. There would not be any major limitations to the product because it is a widely acceptable product in the target market but the only issue that the product will have to over come is that there would be competition and it should implement strategies so that it is able to over come this major obstacle. There are no limitations as such to the product because it comes in various shapes and sizes and hence it can very easily be picked off the shelf by people with var ious purchasing power. Environmental Scan: The general dynamics of the country at hand have to be studied in order to truly understand the country and also to devise a plan to cater to the market. The essentials that need to be studied while scanning the environment are the family structure, education within the country, social organizations, religion, the diet and in this case it is extremely important to know the climatic conditions and it is extremely important that days of festivity have been pin pointed because these are the days when people would be more inclined to consume red wine and it is extremely important that once these days have been identified they are utilized to the maximum. The literacy rate in the United Kingdom is 99% and that is basically due to a public sector educational system which disseminates free education to all and this has been one of the plus points of the British economy for a very long time now, the ability of the consumers to think rationally will definitely influence th e decision to choose Penfolds because customers can then be made to think rationally by effective advertising. Diet and nutrition in the UK is of the optimum level and malnutrition or what so ever of that had

Effective Leadership and Management of Starbucks UK Essay

Effective Leadership and Management of Starbucks UK - Essay Example According to chairman of the board, Howard Schultz, "You get more than the finest coffee when you visit a Starbucks-you get great people, first-rate music and a comfortable, upbeat meeting place." This is what the company calls "the Starbucks experience." The impacts of globalisation, the influx of Internet commerce and intense competition in the market have dramatically influenced management in order to sustain the organisation's existence. The primary business objective of a firm has evolved into creating strategic and competitive advantage. Starbucks reinvented the traditional coffee shops and created a global brand because of its corporate strategies and competitive edge. Strategic advantage is the product of synthesizing different learning of managers from sources such as personal insights, people's experiences and market research. Strategy is the plan that the organisation shall pursue in order to achieve the organisation's purpose. Developing a competitive strategy is developing a broad formula for how business operates and how it is going to compete. (Porter, 1980, p. xxvi) It includes the goals the organisation desired and policies needed to carry out those goals. However, the most successful strategies lie in the leader's vision (Mintzberg, 1994, p. 107). It is the role of leadership to give purpose and meaningful direction to the company and to cause organisational effort in order to achieve that purpose (Jacobs & Jacques, 1990, p. 281). Successful leaders understand that strategy is not stagnant but instead it is dynamic and changing. Creating strategic advantage requires a leader's deep understanding of the company's strengths, weaknesses, its competitive strategy, and its current and potential customers. (Porter, 1985, p. 4) Starbucks' mission is to "build customer loyalty around cappuccinos, lattes and other fancy beverages." Starbucks redesigned the coffee industry by shifting its focus from commodity coffee sales to the emotional atmosphere in which customers enjoy their coffee. Howard Schultz made it a point to visit his stores every week and talk with his employees. He spreads his unique gospel of how to run a business. He preaches his vision to as many people as possible in order to engage his employees to the strategies of the company. (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005, p. 74) The management of Starbucks has invested a great deal of resources to know and understand their customers' perspective. The knowledge that they learned is transformed and utilised to provide services, products and communications. These business processes are long lasting and consistent. The management of Starbucks are aware that customers are the company's most valuable asset. They make it a point to consider the pulse of the customers in creating their strategies. Starbucks create competitive advantage through a strategy of differentiation. The company offers coffee and fancy beverages, baked goods, and a unique experience that distinguishes them from other market players. Starbucks is good at making consumers feel special when they arrive at their regular Starbucks store because the barista knows the customer's preferred drink. Starbucks has an edge over their

Marketing Challenges Faced by Gillette Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Challenges Faced by Gillette - Essay Example As the discussion outlines the engineers in the company went on incorporating further elements of innovation to the Mach3 razor through enhancing the quality dimension of the blades used. It is found that the innovation team at Gillette enhanced the quality of the blades in making them stronger by around three times in regards to stainless steel. Again the alignment of the three blades in the Mach3 razor was done in a fashion as to help the consumers in suffering less of irritation. These quality factors incorporated in the Mach3 razors helped Gillette in gaining enhanced penetration in the new generation male consumer sphere. Amount of irritability in regards to the use of razors was considerably reduced through the incorporation of a separate coating known as ‘Diamond-like Carbon’ coat. This type of coating helped in enhancing the innovative nature of producing blades that would be thinner in nature and yet too stronger. Moreover the key element of innovation studied i n regards to Mach3 razors also reflects testifying the product in regards to a target market based on consumers pertaining to different social and national backgrounds. These people were asked to use both Mach3 and SensorExcel and thereby rate the two types based on certain parameters. Mach3 owing to its innovative capability ranked more to its predecessor SensorExcel thereby reflecting a truly different replacement. Gillette is found to counter a number of marketing challenges both in regards to its advertising and promotional campaign and also in regards to its pricing efforts in relation to the launching of Mach3 in the international market. The advertising campaign taken by the company to launch Mach3 in the international market had to work on a global tone where potential investment of around $200 million was rendered.  

UK Housing Services | Case Study

UK Housing Services | Case Study Housing and Health The Housing Act 2004 introduced licensing for housing in multiple occupation, as in this example. The Act sets out the standards of management which must be met in order for licensing to be achieved, and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a new tool which is used to assess the potential hazards present in any property. Licensing is mandatory for the type of occupation in question since it is occupied by more than five people forming more than two households. In the current state of the property it is possible that the council could refuse the property a license, which would of course be detrimental to the services which it currently supplies in the area (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2007). It is therefore important that inter-agency working is utilized to identify all potential risk areas and address them in a way which minimizes the harm to the current residents. Inter-agency working The following agencies should be involved in the working group to deal with the issues in this property: Local council environmental health department This organization would be able to consult with the hostel management in order to identify and correct any potential health problems in the property to ensure that they meet current standards Local fire service department The local fire service should be able to advise the management how they need to develop the property in order to meet current fire regulations Social Services The social services department of the local council should be able to work with the hostel management to solve any problems which would adversely affect the tenants. They should form part of the working group to ensure that the rights of the current tenants are preserved with regard to any changes agreed. The Housing Department These are an important member of the working group, since they make referrals to the service, and would also be able to advise on the various issues relating to building regulations and Housing Act which need to be addressed. Council, local or district Since the hostel is not a privately owned residence, but is funded partially through the council, they would be an important member of a working group since they would be able to advise as to funds available to meet the required changes. Factors to be addressed Although there were a large number of issues addressed with the property the five which are considered most important are addressed below. Lack of adequate fire safety This is currently the most pressing problem, since there are large numbers of lives at risk in the event of fire, and current safety measures are considered to be completely inadequate. There is currently a lack of escape apparent in the case of fire, which means that the outer doors are currently the only means of escape in the event of fire. The downstairs door next to the kitchen is currently obstructed, which is in contravention of The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, which states that all means of escape from fire must be kept clear of obstruction. The rear exit door was found to be locked for security reasons; while the security of the property is important this is also in contravention of the given regulations. Disrepair of ventilation in kitchen While the report states the kitchen was found to be generally satisfactory, there are safety issues which are of importance. These are particularly important since they again affect the safety of a large number of people, and possibly ranks equally important to the issues with fire safety. It has been identified that the kitchen in the property uses a gas cooker. There is no statement made as to whether this complies with current gas testing regulations. The disrepair of the windows in the kitchen, and the nailing shut of some windows mean that there is no natural ventilation available. This means that in the event of any type of leak the gas would be unable to dissipate and would cause great risk of gas poisoning and possibly explosion. There are also issues relating to the crumbling of the chimney breast, since the manager is also required to ensure that any flues (the chimney) are kept in good repair; this is particularly important if any gas fire is installed. Presence of dampness The HHSRS would consider the various types of damp in the property to be causing unsuitable living conditions. The presence of damp contributes to several disorders and illnesses, particularly in children, and has an effect on psychological well-being caused by the effect of living in damp conditions. This has been ranked of slightly less importance than the fire and gas issues as there is no immediate risk to the life of the people living in the property. Space issues There are currently major issues with space in the property; the Housing Act 2004 states that no habitable room should be occupied by more than two people, regardless of size, discounting those under 1 year old. It also states that two individuals aged ten or over of opposite sexes should not be sharing the same room under any circumstances, unless they are co-habitees. There is high risk of psychological harm in the current situation and some potential for physical harm; however the likelihood and extent of this harm ranks below the other issues above. Provision of amenities Since there are 24 people currently living at the property, there should be at least five bathrooms and five WCs. The previous issue highlighted that there were already too many people living in the building, however even if the numbers are reduced the Housing Act 2004 still requires that there be at least one bathroom and one WC for every five people residing in the property. While this is an important issue it ranks lower than the other issues as there is a lower risk to the well being of the occupants caused by the issue. Action Plan Lack of adequate fire safety All furniture and fittings should be assessed as to meet the requirements of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. Any that do not meet the requirements need to be assessed as to whether they are necessary, and replaced if this is the case; otherwise they just need to be removed from the property. The local fire department should be able to advise as to the requirements which the furniture and fittings must meet. Although this does not directly correlate to the issue of the fire escape, it is still an important factor in reducing the risk from fire. The fire department should also be consulted as to the best means of installing a fire escape route in the property. This consultation should occur in consultation with the councils and other funding bodies in order to reach an affordable compromise for the property. This is one of the most important action points and should take precedence in proceedings. Disrepair of ventilation in the kitchen The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 state that all gas equipment must be maintained in good order and inspected annually by a CORGI registered engineer. The current status of the equipment needs to be checked and a schedule drawn up for planned inspections of the current equipment. With regard to the windows there are two main options available to the hostel. The first is to simply repair the windows which are in place. This would involve extensive refitting of the wood to ensure that they are fully functioning. If security is considered an option, metal fittings could be installed on the outside of the windows. This would likely be the cheaper option initially, however the option of double glazing installation should also be considered. This would ensure that the windows would last longer than wooden framed windows, especially if there are problems with damp. It would also help with safety issues, and would make the property more energy efficient; there may also b e grants available in the area which could aid in the costs. This would likely be the best option to choose when considering the long term costs and benefits. Once the issues of damp are resolved in the property, an inspection should be organized by a building professional to advise on the best course of action with regard to the chimney breast. Presence of damp The local Environmental Health department should be invited to study the property to ascertain the extent of the problem and the best course of action. There is likely to be little choice as to a course of action since the damp appears to have reached a point at which major action is needed to correct the problem. If there are options presented which revolve around controlling the problem without extensive building work, these may be acceptable since there are other causative factors which are already being addressed. One such causative factor is the current problem with ventilation, which has been addressed above. Once this ventilation is in place it will likely help to prevent further formation of damp. There may be options presented which would need large scale building work. This may not be in the interests of the hostel both in terms of money and disruption to the people living in the house, who have nowhere else to go while the building work takes place. Space Issues There are a number of solutions to this problem. The first is to simply take fewer families, although in the current state of the accommodation this may mean that if the families taken had several children, it may only be able to accommodate one family at a time. There may be an option for the hostel to create an extension, creating extra rooms and amenities. This may be extremely costly, however it is an option if there are deemed to be funds available from the current funders. The best available option in the short term would be to look at converting the available spaces into rooms and bathrooms. There are spaces available such as the office and the cellar, and this may be less costly than building an extension. There is also a possibility that some of the present rooms may be able to be split into half, giving two smaller rooms. This will still leave limited space, and so social services will need to work with the hostel to move the present families into independent accommodation as quickly as possible. An extension could be considered as a long term plan for the future, after projects to raise the required funding. It is not an offence for more people to be living in the property than it is suitable for, as long as the management can prove that they are in the process of resolving the issue. This means that the current occupants could continue to live in the property, but that the numbers of new occupants would need to be limited as they leave, until the suitable number is reached. Social services should work in conjunction with the hostel in order to assure that the situation is resolved as quickly as possible, in the interests of all parties. Provision of amenities This issue could be resolved along with the space issue as described above, through either conversion of existing space or purpose built extension. References Department for Communities and Local Government (2007) Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation in England. Available [online] at http:// http://193.36.20.125/EnvironmentalServices/housingconditions/hmo_licensing_intro.asp. [Accessed 17th May 2007]. The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (United Kingdom). The Housing Act 2004 (England). The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, No. 372 (England).

The poem Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes

The poem Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes is a descriptive poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Night of the Scorpion & Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes The poem Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes is a descriptive poem where the poet (Lawrence Ferlinghetti) observes two garbage men in San Francisco and two well-paid people in a Mercedes. The poet's observation is really about the way the garbage men look at the well-paid people and the way the rich people look at the garbage men when waiting at the traffic lights. This poem is about two garbage men and two posh office people in the Mercedes who stop at the same traffic light at the same time on the same day. The main reason I enjoyed this poem was because of the description of each person in the poem. One description I really liked was the description of the two people in the Mercedes, '' The man in the hip three-piece linen suit with shoulder-length blond hair & sunglasses The young blond women so casually coifed with a short skirt...

Make Better Decision Essay

That the current era of economic uncertainty may have been ushered in through a series of poor government and corporate decisions is implied through the rear view mirror. Could some of the events that shaped todays crises have been avoided through better decision making processes? Thomas Davenport (2009, p. 117) presents examples of â€Å"decision making disorder† evident in both the public and private sectors and offers a framework to guide managers in making better decisions in the future. His premise lies in the ineffectiveness of the individual decision-making process resulting in dire consequences for the organization. Davenport provides a framework to guide managers in adopting a more analytical and systematic approach, resulting in greater effectiveness. He posits that the use of data, especially analytics embedded in automated systems can be powerful tools when balanced with informed human judgment. Davenport presents no new information entailing the decision making process. He does, however, raise the question of why the majority of organizations continue to rely on intuition and ignore proven tools and methods without regard for the evidence pointing to their effectiveness. The author warns that without proper prioritization and systematic review of the decision making process, success remains a gamble. Article Highlights According to Davenport (2009), allowing individual managers to make decisions without a systematic analysis has severe consequences that result in languishing profit margins. In spite of the resources available, most organizations fail to implement the recommendations that would help managers employ better decision making processes. The author notes that while these processes do not guarantee better outcomes, they certainly increase the potential (p. 118). Davenport (2009) outlines a four-step process to improve managerial decisions, the components of which are identification, inventory, intervention and institutionalization. He suggests mangers begin by prioritizing the top decisions required to achieve a goal. He states: â€Å"without some prioritization all decisions are treated as equal, which probably means that the important ones won’t be analyzed with sufficient care† (p. 118). He goes on to stress the importance of identifying key decisions in in order to examine all variables through an inventory process to determine effectiveness and lay the groundwork for organizational communication. Subsequent to identification and taking inventory, considering all parameters of the decision, the appropriate intervention should rise to the surface. The final step is the institutionalization of the decision making process, for which Davenport (2009, p. 119) recommends hiring â€Å"decision experts† in guiding managers through the process. Davenport (2009, p. 119-122) cites two examples of organizations who improved the decision making process: Educational Testing Service (ETS) and The Stanley Works. Meeting with great success, ETS has expanded the new processes to evaluate and prioritize all product changes as well as apply the methodology to handle new prospects. A center of excellence was developed at The Stanley Works that created an analytical tool for sales data and new potential sales opportunities. According to the author, due to automated decision processes created by the center of excellence, the company realized a 6% growth in gross margin. Although highly in favor of analytical tools, Davenport (2009) warns of reliance solely on automation, and cautions managers to use their expert human insight to monitor how well analytical tools are working. The decision making process should always be a human endeavor with analytics only a part of the overall toolbox. Significance of the article Davenport (2009) raises a universal concern encompassing the impact of poorly thought out organizational as well as individual decisions. The decisions of today are the realities of tomorrow, and in spite of the myriad of excellent resources available, â€Å"few organizations have reengineered their decisions† (p. 117). The author presents an excellent argument for the necessity of a systematic decision making process as well as the use of analytical tools to provide reliable information in order to make sound decisions. Corporate CEO’s exist that agree with the concepts and actively ngage in systematic decision-making processes. Donna Thompson, CEO of Access Community Health Network in the Chicago area is one example. She shares her ritual of going through the same decision-making process before taking any action, and offers â€Å"good decision making isn’t as much about having all the right answers as is using a process to ask all the right questions† (Reed-Woodard, M. A. 2006p. 164). Gully, Stainer and Stainer (2006), in their study on moral decisions within organizations, have also found a systematic process to yield the best decisions. The authors describe an organized â€Å"balance sheet† designed to prevent disordered thinking as a model of cooperative business behavior. Their findings include the need for systematic decision-making and state â€Å"the moral decision making maze needs ordered steps of asking questions and providing answers that can readily be applied to solving problems and dilemmas in business† (p. 194). Davenport’s (2009) article continues with accolades for analytical tools within automated systems as long as managers thoroughly understand the models. Jim Ciampaglio CEO of NeoSpire exuberantly claims the success of an analytical sales tool used to manage leads and store sales information and states this tool â€Å"helped us change who we are as a sales organization† (McKay, L. 2010). Executive decisions lay the foundation for business strategy: poorly thought out decisions lead to less than optimal results and systematic decision making takes the emotionality out and puts the issue in an objective framework, leading to better outcomes. Organizations integrating this type of framework reduce the risk of moving ahead with a faulty plan. Davenport (2009) states while managers are buying and most likely reading resource material providing the basis for better decision making, few actually adopt the recommendations (p. 118). Conjecture rather than interviews with key decision makers is offered to support this particular viewpoint with the implication that this may be due to the failure to connect bad outcomes to faulty decision making Conclusion Davenport (2009) does an excellent job of tying the process of decision-making to an organization’s ultimate failure or success. His thought provoking discussion as to what exactly transpires during the individual decision making process and why organizations need to gain some control over this process makes intuitive sense. The success of the author’s suggested framework for making decisions is well supported by the organizations cited in his work, with confirmations easily found in other studies such as Gully et al (2006). Further research is recommended examining the decision making processes generally employed by organizations before conclusions that support Davenport’s (2009) negative assumptions can be drawn. The author does not support his claim that only a few companies employ a systematic process and is biased in his perception of the† poor calls made in both the public and private sectors† in recent years. Overall, Making Better Decisions provides food for thought and raises the question that if Davenport’s (2009) assumptions are in fact correct, why is it that corporations continue to allow managers to use more intuition than systematic processes to arrive at decisions that impact the organization’s bottom line?

The eNotes Blog Selling Your Students On YourLesson

Selling Your Students On YourLesson A lot of teachers struggle with getting their students interested and engaged in lessons. Here are some practical  tips to encourage more participation, interest, and knowledge retention. Teach as Though You Were Writing a Catchy Essay In teaching students to write good essays, we often use this geometric diagram: We ask students to write essays that are interesting and that connect a specific idea to the bigger picture. It’s why the introduction starts out broad, and why the conclusion ends the same way. Outside of the specific focus of the essay is a larger framework that makes the essay meaningful. In other words, we want student writing to convince us that the essay is worth our time. However, many teachers forget this in their lesson planning. Pressured by time constraints and Common Core standards, they dive into textual analysis without convincing students that what they are teaching actually matters. Students Need to Buy into the Lesson No student is eager to diagram the narrative structure of a novel. That is a technical skill that you want the students to learn, but in order to get them to do it, you need to sell them on why this matters. Think broadly about how this technical skill connects to the bigger picture. Why do we care about the narrative structure of a novel? How does this tie into a more interesting, broader question like â€Å"How do we tell good stories?† Teach as though you were writing a great essay- how can you get students hooked on the lesson? How does the technical skill tie into something that they care about? Let’s assume that you are teaching the rhetorical strategies in Jonathan Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. You want students to do a textual analysis to understand the images and figurative language used in the speech. But remember- students need to first buy into what you are going to teach. One strategy might be to connect the textual analysis to students’ own lives. Start by asking the broad question: â€Å"How would you convince someone to radically change what they believe?† Brainstorm strategies on the board and debate their effectiveness. Maybe bring in examples of rhetorical strategies used in advertising to connect this idea to contemporary times. You’ve created a context around the skill you are trying to teach, and thereby made the lesson meaningful for your students. Now that you’ve piqued the students’ interest, dive into the text to see what Edwards does in his speech. Outline the strategies and focus closely on the text. Students have bought into what you want them to do, and they have a motivation for focusing on the specific task at hand. Conclude by Broadening Your Focus The conclusion of a lesson creates an opportunity to broaden again and connect the specific task to the bigger picture. If your lesson was a compelling essay, how would you conclude it? If you started out your lesson by asking a broad question, circle back to that question and show how you’ve answered it through the activities that students completed. You can also think of how the skill might be used in another context that is meaningful and engaging for students. Having students write letters  is a great wrap up activity idea for your lesson. Let’s go back to the example of the lesson on Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Once your textual analysis is complete, bring the focus back to the larger question: How can we apply what we’ve learned from Edwards to our own lives? This could lead to a wrap-up activity that shows mastery of the skill you’ve practiced. Have students create their own brief speeches using the strategies studied in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. They could make infomercials for a particular lifestyle product or write a letter to a criminal convincing him or her to reform. You’ve achieved your pedagogical goal and helped your students to see the value of the specific task they’ve learned.

Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Essay

Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Essay Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Essay When talking about macroeconomics, there are a few terms that one must first understand. Those terms are gross domestic product, real gross domestic product, nominal gross domestic product, nominal gross domestic product, unemployment rate, inflation rate, and interest rate. Gross domestic product (GDP) is what products and services produced in a one-year span of time are valued at. Real GDP is adjusted by the inflation rate, to create the market value of goods and services, in a one-year span of time. Nominal GDP is the value of products and services as compared to current prices. Unemployment rate is the number of individuals in an economy who are not presently working, but are willing and able to work. Inflation rate is the rate at which the price level of a product or service raises within a month or a one-year span of time. Interest rate is a percentage of the total amount of money being borrowed. These terms affect consumers in ways such as purchasing groceries, massive layoff of employees and decreases in taxes. When purchasing groceries, consumers nowadays tend to compare prices between stores, as well as compare â€Å"name brands† versus â€Å"store brands†. The inflation rate affects the price at which goods are sold (real GDP), and consumers very often will choose the lesser priced product. Consumers are looking to get the most products while spending the least amount of money, as households consume a vast amount or products and most consumers do not have an adequate supply of resources to purchase the essentials. Consumer spending helps business retain employees and create jobs, to help prevent massive layoff of employees. When consumers can be tempted to spend more money on groceries by using coupons or store specials such as 10 items for $10 where they are required to purchase 10 of the items to get the deals, stores and employees benefit. Promoting more deals brings in more customers, which is a win-win for the business and employees. When consumers spend money, the inflation rate goes down and real GDP goes down creating lower product prices for consumers. When employees are laid off, there is less money being put into the economy which can lead to a higher rate of inflation. When inflation continues to increase, consumers are spending less money because they cannot buy as much as they could before. Less spending means that business will have to lay off employees, leading into a downward spiral of the economy. If taxes are decreased by the government, consumers have more money to spend. Spending more money helps businesses earn more money, which means that can keep more employees or hire on more employees. An increasing number of working individuals leads to a lower rate of unemployment, and a higher rate of taxes being paid to the government. A lower unemployment rate means that the economy is

Systems Analysis & Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Systems Analysis & Design - Essay Example This paper will give details of Use Case Diagrams, Use Cases, Activity Diagram, Class Diagram, Sequence diagram and State Diagram of Caledonian Hotel System information system. Traditional information system projects were developed using the Systems Development Life Cycle (SLDC) or ‘Waterfall Model’ to manage and implement the system. Designed in the 1960s this methodology sees the process split into a series of distinct steps: Using the above ‘top-down’ process each step cannot commence until the preceding step has been completed and the findings passed down the chain, at each stage a review can take place to ensure that the requirements identified in the previous stage have been met. In recent years, this development process has come to be seen as too rigid, one of the major problems with this process is that the timescale involved from the project inception to the stage of implementation is far too long. Problems and delays at each stage of the process often result in late delivery of a system. However, a more serious problem is that because the development process is so long the final system produced can be out of date by the time it is released for use. As time passes, user requirements for a system may evolve as a company embraces new working process or technology, it is easy for these changes not to be incorporated into the system being developed and as a result, the completed system ma y not be fit for its intended purpose. To try and combat these problems new Iterative development processes have been adopted. This new iterative approach involves breaking the entire project into small ‘chunks’ based on functionality, rather than looking to deliver a complete solution one year after the project starts as the traditional waterfall process does, this iterative style will look to produce a working solution in a few months. This initial solution

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Economics - Essay Example b. The Fed fund rate averages at 7.10% during the 1970s, 9.97% during the 1980s, 5.15% during the 1990s, and 3.25% during the 2000-2007. The huge differences in the means of Fed fund rates can be explained by the differences in economic and monetary policies adhered by the different chairmen of the Federal Reserve. c. The Fed fund rate reached its maximum during January 1981 at 19.08% which is during the administration of Paul Volcker. Compared to the other Federal Reserve chairman, Volcker has been reputed as an inflation hawk who is more concerned on fighting inflation compared to a dove whose main concern is unemployment. This perception requires him to set the Fed fund rate at higher levels to fight stagflation. d. Fed fund rate is lowest during December 2003 at 0.98% due to the strong performance of the US economy. In fact this period saw the strongest economic development in the economy in nearly two decades. It can be recalled that during this period, the inflation targeting monetary policy has been adopted by the US. f. The Federal fund rate and ten-year Treasury bill rates tend to move apart as shown in the graph above. It should be noted that increases in Fed fund rates is simultaneous with declines in ten-year Treasury bill rates. g. The Federal Reserve solely influences the level of Fed fund rate. It should be noted that this is set during Federal Open Market Committee meetings depending on the agenda and economic situation of the United States. h. The ten-year Treasury bill rate is set by different variables in the economy like the real interest rates and inflation. The Fed can indirectly influence T-bill rates by affecting the monetary variables mentioned

Development and new trend of holography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Development and new trend of holography - Essay Example It can refer to either the encoded objects or the resulting image. A holographic image can be viewed shinning a laser via a hologram and projecting the reflection onto a display or by looking into a lit-up holographic print. A hologram appears to be an indefinable pattern of whorls and stripes, but, once shone on by a coherent light such as by a laser beam, it configures the light into a three-dimensional image of the primary object (Hannes & Michael, 2008). Holography is founded on the principle of interference, whereby, the inference pattern between two or more rays of a coherent light, that is a laser light, is captured by a hologram. Here, a single ray is illuminated directly on the recording mean and operate as a reference to the light dispersed from the lit-up scene. Hence, the hologram captures a beam as it interests the entire part of film, which explains its description as a window with memory. A holographic film physical medium is quite photosensitive that includes a fine grains structure. Some of the most used materials include dichromate gelatins, photopolymers and silver-halide emulsions and all have varying characteristics and entail dissimilar processing (Hannes & Michael, 2008). A hologram is the documented interference pattern of constructive, intensity peaks, and destructive, elimination, of the covered-up light wave fronts known as the electromagnetic field. With a coherent light source and a definite geometry or a short pulse period, the interference pattern is at a stands till and, hence, can be recorded into the hologram’s photosensitive suspension. Afterwards, the hologram is chemically developed to a point where the suspension acquires a modulated density, which freezes the inference pattern into fringes. When observing the modulated structure under a microscope, it appears different in comparison to the image encoded within. The density fringes are a scattered pattern of wave front

Greek Mythology and Nicolas Poussin Essay Example for Free

Greek Mythology and Nicolas Poussin Essay On April 26 2013 I visited the Detroit Art Institute. In there I have seen plenty of interesting art sculptures, artifacts, and paintings. The one that really enjoyed the most is â€Å"Selene and Endymion† by Nicolas Poussin, a French artist. He made this painting back in 1630. Currently, the painting is in the European paintings exhibit section in the DIA. The painting itself uses oil on canvas for its medium, and the dimensions are: 48 x 66 1/2 inches. The painting is about Selene and Endymion. Selene is a Greek goddess who happens to fall in love with farmer named Endymion. Selene knows Endymion will age and pass away eventually due to him being a mortal, so she asked Zeus to make him immortal to prevent her lover from aging and dying. Zeus accepted the request on the condition that he is put in eternal sleep instead. Endymion loved Selene so much that he was willing to do it in order to be with her forever. Thus the couples wish was granted and Endymion was with Selene, in a slumber forever. The art shows forms by using contours and dynamic elements. The contour of the characters and the background shows surfaces giving it some mass. The picture also shows Helios and Eos moving towards the left side and Endymion kneeling towards Selene, these dynamics gives the picture mass and dimensions. The painting uses a great deal of values as well. On the right side of the painting, it uses a darker value compared to the left side of the painting. This is to show and represent day, dawn, and night on the art picture. Another use of values is used to show the distances in the background. As we can see the deities Eos and Helios are in a darker shade compared to Endymion and Selene, this is to show the distances between them. Lastly, the painting use values to show shadows and mass, giving the picture forms and dimensions. Time itself is used as another visual element. The art uses time as a way to capture a moment in time. As mentioned before, we see Helios and Eos moving towards the left side of the picture and Endymion kneeling to Selene. These movements show a moment captured, using time as a concept. The artist shows a good symmetrical balance. It has a good distribution of visual weight. The left side of picture, it shows Endymion, Selene, Eos and Eros and on the right side it shows Helios and three unknown characters. The emphasis of the art is on Endymion and Selene as they are the subject of the art. Both of the subjects have a larger size compared to the other characters; they are also heavily colored in value and in texture compared to the others. Nicolas also put in more details on the subject’s faces and body than the rest of the art subjects. The characters all have parts that are pleasing proportions to each other. They have the same proportions as regular real life humans. The heads, the arms, and legs are in all relation to the rest of their bodies. The picture has a lot of content and meaning. Helios, the sun god is painted has a gold like aura, which seems to represents the sun. Selene, the moon goddess is on the left side which represents the night. Eos, the goddess of dawn is right between them. The movement of these deities also represent the day going forward. As Helios is moving forward, a curtain is following him, showing that night is coming forward. Eros, the god of love is hovering around Selene while she is talking to Endymion. This is to show their affection for one another. Lastly, the unknown sleeping people are representation of what is about to come, Endymion is about to have an eternal slumber to be with Selene. I have always liked Greek mythology ever since I was young boy. After learning how to see art and see its visual elements and organizing principles, it made me appreciate â€Å"Selene and Endymion† by Nicolas Poussin even more. My interest in art and in Greek mythology is combined together in this subject. Citation: â€Å"Selene and Endymion† by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) Date: c. 1630 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 48 x 66 1/2 in. (121. 9 x 168. 9 cm) with frame: 59 x 77 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. 149. 9 x 196. 2 x 8. 9 cm Department: European Painting.

The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr :: essays research papers

In the months between and including May and September, in 1807, Aaron Burr was tried by the Supreme Court in Virginia on the count of treason against the United States. During the period of 1804 to 1807, Burr allegedly committed several overt acts, which are actions, that may be innocent in themselves, but in combination with the intentions and results of that act, become criminal actions. The trial was about treason, which the Constitution defines as â€Å"levying war against [the United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid or comfort,â€Å" (Art. III, Sect. 3) and the prosecution must prove that Burr committed the overt act with the testimony of two witnesses, for the treason conviction to stand. In this trial, Burr’s actions outside of the state of Virginia have no bearing on the overt act of assembling troops to levy war against the United States, and therefore the majority of his admissible actions occurred on Blennerhasset’s Island in Virgi nia. (Doc 108) Although the prosecution made a strong case for Burr’s guilt, the differentiation between his intentions and his actions, his background as an American patriot and the lack of concrete evidence, one must conclude that Aaron Burr is not guilty of treason. He perhaps was even the victim of a larger governmental conspiracy to rid him of all prestige, honor and legacy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The prosecution tried to prove that Burr used his power to assemble an army of men to conquer New Orleans, then Mexico and eventually found a new nation composed of the Western American states and Mexico. The fault in their argument is that his actions do not necessarily point directly towards this conclusion. It is true that Burr wrote letters and even discussed a new war with Spain and the formation of a new nation, but this does not constitute treason for â€Å"individuals may meet together and traitorously determine to make dispositions to bring forces into the field, and levy war against their country; this is a conspiracy, but not treason.† (Doc 108) Therefore, even if Burr intended to eventually enact his plan, the simple act of planning it does not constitute treason. But even the true intentions of Burr remain unclear, for he had recently purchased 400,000 acres of land in the Western states and perhaps he assembled these men to settle it. (Doc 33) His actions of enlisting men, arming them and supplying them does not constitute treason because the overt act remains innocent without confirmation of intent to harm the United States.

Political Risk Analysis Kenya 2012

Political Risk Analysis KENYA Table of contents Kenya covers an area of 582,646 square kilometers. The land stretches from the sea level (Indian Ocean) in the east, to 5,199 meters at the peak of the snow-capped Mount Kenya. From the coast, the altitude changes gradually through the coastal belt and plains (below 152 meters above sea level), the dry intermediate low belt to what is known as the Kenya Highlands (over 900 meters above sea level).The monotony of terrain in the low belt is broken by residual hills, masses of broken boulders and inselbergs. Settlement is confined to places where water can be found. Wildlife are masters of the greater part of the low belt. The famous Amboseli Game Reserve and Tsavo National Parks are situated here. The Great Rift Valley bisects the Kenya Highlands into east and west. Mount Kenya is on the eastern side. The Highlands are cool and agriculturally rich. Both large and small holder farming is carried out in the highlands.The Lake Victoria Basin is dominated by Kano plains which are suited for farming through irrigation. The northern part of Kenya is plain and arid. However, a variety of food crops do well through irrigation. Kenya is located approximately 8-10 hours flying time from major European cities, and about 16-20 hours flying time from North American cities. 1. 2. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS Kenya enjoys a tropical climate. It is hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland and very dry in the north and northeast parts of the country. The average annual temperature for the coastal town of Mombasa (altitude 17 meters) is 30. 0 Celsius maximum and 22. 40 Celsius minimum, the capital city, Nairobi (altitude 1,661 meters) 25. 20 Celsius maximum and 13. 60 Celsius minimum, Eldoret (altitude 3,085) 23. 60 Celsius maximum and 9. 50 Celsius minimum, Lodwar (altitude) 506 meters) and the drier north plain lands 34. 80 Celsius maximum and 23. 70 Celsius minimum. There is plenty of sunshine all the year round and summer clothes are worn throughout the year. However, it is usually cool at night and early in the morning. The long rains occur from April to June and short rains from October to December.The rain-fall is sometimes heavy and when it does come it often falls in the afternoons and evenings. The hottest period is from February to March and coldest in July to August. The annual migration of wildlife between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya takes place between June and September. The migration of almost two million wildebeest, zebras and other species is nature's greatest spectacle on earth. 1. 3. POPULATION Kenya’s population has rapidly increased over the past several decades, and consequently it is relatively young. Some 73% of Kenyans are under 30.In 50 years, Kenya’s population has grown from 7 million to 43 million. Kenya is a country of great ethnic diversity. Most Kenyans are bilingual in English and Swahili. Kenya has a very diverse populati on that includes three of Africa's major sociolinguistic groups: Bantu (67%), Nilotic (30%), and Cushitic (3%). Kenyans are deeply religious. About 80% of Kenyans are Christian, 11% Muslim, and the remainders follow traditional African religions or other faiths. Most city residents retain links with their rural, extended families and leave the city periodi-cally to help work on the family farm.About 75% of Kenya’s population lives in rural areas and relies on agriculture for most of its income. Nearly half the country’s 42 million people are poor, or unable to meet their daily nutritional requirements. The national motto of Kenya is Harambee, meaning â€Å"pull together. † In that spirit, volunteers in hundreds of communities build schools, clinics, and other facilities each year and collect funds to send students abroad. 1. 4. BACKGROUND OF KENYA’S ECONOMY (1960-2010) Kenya is the largest economy in east Africa and is a regional financial and transportat ion hub.After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through public invest-ment, encouragement of smallholder agricultural production, and incentives for private (of-ten foreign) industrial investment. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual average of 6. 6% from 1963 to 1973. Agri-cultural production grew by 4. 7% annually during the same period, stimulated by redistrib-uting estates, diffusing new crop strains, and opening new areas to cultivation. After experiencing moderately high growth rates during the 1960s and 1970s, Kenya's eco-nomic performance during the 1980s and 1990s was far below its potential.From 1991 to 1993, Kenya had its worst economic performance since independence. Growth in GDP stagnated, and agricultural production shrank at an annual rate of 3. 9%. In-flation reached a record 100% in August 1993. In the mid-1990s, the government imple-mented economic reform measures to stabilize the economy and restore sustainable growth, including lifting nearly all administrative controls on producer and retail prices, im-ports, foreign exchange, and grain marketing. Nevertheless, the economy grew by an annual average of only 1. 5% between 1997 and 2002, which was below the population growth estimated at 2. % per annum, leading to a decline in per capita incomes. The poor economic performance was largely due to inappropriate agricultural, land, and industrial policies compounded by poor international terms of trade and governance weaknesses. Increased government intrusion into the private sector and import substitution policies made the manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The policy environment, along with tight import controls and foreign exchange controls, made the do-mestic environment for investment unattractive for both foreign and domestic investors.The Kenyan Government's failure to meet commitments related to governance led to a stop-start relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, both of which suspended support in 1997 and again in 2001. During President Kibaki's first term in office (2003-2007), the Government of Kenya began an ambitious economic reform program and resumed its cooperation with the World Bank and the IMF. There was some movement to reduce corruption in 2003, but the government did not sustain that momentum. Economic growth began to recover in this period, with real GDP growth registering 2. % in 2003, 4. 3% in 2004, 5. 8% in 2005, 6. 1% in 2006, and 7. 0% in 2007. However, the economic effects of the violence that broke out after the December 27, 2007 general election, compounded by drought and the global financial crisis, brought growth down to less than 2% in 2008. In 2009, there was modest improvement with 2. 6% growth. In May 2009, the IMF Board approved a disbursement of approximately $200 million under its Exogenous Shock Facility (ESF), which is designed to provide policy support and financial assistance to low-income countries facing exogenous bu t temporary shocks.The ESF re-sources were meant to help Kenya recover from the negative impact of higher food and in-ternational fuel and fertilizer costs, and the slowdown in external demand associated with the global financial crisis. In January 2011, the IMF approved a 3-year, $508. 7-million ar-rangement for Kenya under the Fund's Extended Credit Facility. To a considerable extent, the government's ability to stimulate economic demand through fiscal and monetary policy is linked to the pace at which the government is pursuing reforms in other key areas. The Privatization Law was enacted in 2005, but only became operational as of January 1, 2008.Parastatals Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Telkom Kenya, and Kenya Re-Insurance have been privatized. The government sold 25% of Safaricom (10 billion shares) in 2008, reducing its share to 35%. Accelerating growth to achieve Kenya's potential and reduce the poverty that afflicts about 46% of its population will require c on-tinued deregulation of business, improved delivery of government services, addressing structural reforms, massive investment in new infrastructure (especially roads), reduction of chronic insecurity caused by crime, and improved economic governance generally.The gov-ernment's Vision 2030 plan calls for these reforms, but realization of the goals could be de-layed by coalition politics and line ministries' limited capacity. Economic expansion is fairly broad-based and is built on a stable macro-environment fos-tered by government, and the resilience, resourcefulness, and improved confidence of the private sector. Despite the post-election crisis, Nairobi continues to be the primary commu-nication and financial hub of East Africa.It enjoys the region's best transportation linkages, communications infrastructure, and trained personnel, although these advantages are less prominent than in past years. Kenya faces profound environmental challenges brought on by high population growth, de-forestation, shifting climate patterns, and the overgrazing of cattle in marginal areas in the north and west of the country. Significant portions of the population will continue to require emergency food assistance in the coming years. Kenya is pursuing regional economic integration, which could enhance long-term growth prospects.The government is pursuing a strategy to reduce unemployment by expanding its manufacturing base to export more value-added goods to the region while enabling Kenya to develop its services hub. In March 1996, the Presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda re-established the East Afri-can Community (EAC). The EAC's objectives include harmonizing tariffs and customs regimes, free movement of people, and improving regional infrastructures. In March 2004, the three East African countries signed a Customs Union Agreement paving the way for a common market.The Customs Union and a Common External Tariff were es-tablished on January 1, 2005, but the EAC countrie s are still working out exceptions to the tariff. Rwanda and Burundi joined the community in July 2007. In May 2007, during a Com-mon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit, 13 heads of state endorsed a move to adopt a COMESA customs union and set December 8, 2008 as the target date for its adoption. On July 1, 2010, the EAC Common Market Protocol, which allows for the free movement of goods and services across the five member states, took effect.In October 2008, the heads of state of EAC, COMESA, and the Southern African Development Communi-ty (SADC) agreed to work toward a free trade area among all three economic groups with the eventual goal of establishing a customs union. If realized, the Tripartite Free Trade area would cover 26 countries. 2. POLITICAL CRITERIA 2. 1. GENERAL From the moment Kenya became independent, they went through lots of big changes. In 1962 the KANU-KADU coalition government was formed. The coalition government included both Kenyatta and N gala.The country was divided in 7 regions and each one of the regions had its own regional assembly. After forming the coalition, the principle of reserving seats in the parliament for non-Africans was abandoned and the first open elections were held in May 1963. In 1964 Kenya became a republic, and constitutional changes further centralized the government (Wikipedia – September 2012). When in 1978 Daniel Arap Moi became president in an authoritarian and corrupt manner, there were several changes in the politic of Kenya.Moi reduced the power of the Kenyatta’s men in the cabinet by identifying them to be traitors. Also although the parliament started off as coalition during the whole presidency of Moi there was only one party who had all the power. Even after being requested by United States to have multi-party system Moi declined. In the end because of the local and foreign pressure Moi was forced to accept a new party so that the multy-party could be restored. Moi won the elections in 1992 and 1997 where he used fear and electoral fraud to win (Wik-ipedia – July 2008).In 2002 Moi was not able to present himself in the presidential elections because it is stated in the Kenya’s constitution that a present cannot be in the presidential elections more than three times. Moi unsuccessfully tried to promote Uhuru Kenyatta, as his successor. Moi’s former vice-president Mwai Kibaki was elected president by a large majority. International and local observers reported that the 2002 elections to be generally more fair than those of both 1992 and 1997 when Moi was elected as president. Kibaki lost quickly much of its power because his regime was too close linked with the Moi forces.The continuity between Kibaki and Moi became one of the reasons for the self-destruction of Kibaki’s regime. In 2007 Odinga attacked the failures of the Kibaki regime. In December Odinga won majority of the seats in the Parliament, but the presidential elections votes were divided. In the end it became never clear who won the elections, still the election committee stated that Kibaki was the winner. Odinga accused Kibaki of corruption which resulted in several big confrontations between followers of Odinga and Kibaki. The European Union did not agree with the outcome either because of the detected fraud in the presidential elections.As relation mass protest were triggered, bring-ing simmering ethnic tensions. The protest and the ongoing violence between several groups continued and became worse over the months. Between December and February 1. 500 people died and 600. 000 people became homeless. The United Nations tried to settle and offered a compromise whereby Kibaki stayed president and Odinga became Prime Minister (Chartis – February 2008). In August 2010, a reference date taken on a new Kenyan constitution. The new Kenyan con-stitution restricted the power of president which would benefit to the parliament and re-gions .The reference date was accepted by the majority of parliament and passed peacefully. 2. 2. THE POLITICAL BALANCE OF POWER Various people speak of the heritance of Moi when looked at Kibaki and the amount of pow-er he has. Moi reduced the power of the cabinet – this resulted in more power for him, the president. When Kibaki became the president he had his first years as much power as Moi had in his years. But the second time Kibaki became president there were many protests against him becoming the president. Many people and also Odinga accused him winning unfairly.United Nations stepped in and made Odinga prime minister and shortly after that the Kenyan constitution changed. With the new Kenyan constitution rules Kibaki, or the pre-sent president, is not allowed to appoint more than 50% of the ministers. The rest of the ministers can be chosen by the prime minister. In this way the president is never able to al-ways have full support by his ministers. Nowadays you can speak o f a power-sharing cabinet in Kenya. The cabinet is fifty percent Kibaki appointed ministers and fifty percent Odinga appointed ministers.At the moment we can speak of balanced coalition when we look at Kenya. 2. 3. PRESENT GOVERNMENT AND HIS ATTITUDES AND PROGRAMS Although many opposed of Kibaki to become the president Kenya again in 2007 he did by some say an outstanding job. The country is compared to the Moi years much better man-aged and has by far more competent personnel (Wikipedia – October 2012). Many sectors of the economy have recovered from collapsing in 2003. So did many state corporations who had collapsed during the Moi years have been revived and are performing profitably. Also the infrastructure has been going through changes.Several ambitious infra-structural and other projects are planned or ongoing. Kibaki also introduced the Constituency Development Fund, this was introduced in 2003. The fund was designed to develop resources across regions and to control imbalances in regional development. The CDF program has invested in putting up new water, health and education facilities. There was also special attention for the remote areas of Kenya; these areas were usually overlooked during projects (CDF – official website). Another fact is since the presidency of Kibaki the dependence of Kenya on aid by western donors has been decreased.The country is still getting funded significant but is now finding more fund by internally generated resources, such as tax. During Kibaki presidency, Kenya was more democratic and freer than before. When Kibaki came to power in 2003, he gave away free learning in primary school as well as in secondary school. This resulted in increase of number of children in primary- as in secondary school. 2. 4. POLITICAL STABILITY IN KENYA Before August 2010 all the power laid in the hands of the president. Ex-president Moi for example used his position for his own benefits.After the new Kenyan constitution the powe r changed of only one person, the president, too have it shared with the cabinet. With the new Kenyan constitution it results in a more stable government. When we look at the further the cabinet of Kenya will go through huge changes starting from 4 March 2013, because the general election will then be held. So far Kibaki did not state that he will run in the president elections next year. Odinga will be participating as well as several other ministers, for example: the Deputy prime minister and the Cooperative minister (Wikipedia – October 2012). . CRITERIA RELATED TO DOMESTIC ECONOMY 3. 1. GENERAL INFORMATION Most of Eastern Africa's economy is centralized in Kenya, although this gives them a power-ful position they still suffer from corruption and the low prices of their most important ex-port products. Lately the government has lacked investing in infrastructure which leaves them in danger of losing the position of the largest economy in Eastern Africa. The government is a ccused of the lack of attempting to stop the corruption which opened the doors to a lot of scandals within Kenya's economy.This has led to a deduction of financial support options. Recently Kenya have had a lot of setbacks like: high food and fuel import prices, a severe drought and reduced tourism resulted in rise in the interest rated and an increased cash re-serve. 3. 2. GDP The GDP in 2011 was $ 72, 34 billion, in 2010 this was $ 68,9 billion and in 2009 $ 2,6 billion. GDP growth in % Because of violence used during the elections plus the global financial crisis have led to a deduction in the GDP, in 2008 the growth was only 1,7% but luckily the economy rebounded since the year 2009.Now in 2011 the growth was only 4,3% due to the inflation and currency depreciation. The GDP per capita was $1,700 in 2009 and in 2010 and increased to $1,800 in 2011. If you would compare this with the rest of the world this leaves Kenya on the 195th place in the, which is dangerously low when we lo ok at the risk of doing business with Kenya. Year PPP growth 20051398. 7034. 74 % 20061490. 4066. 56 % 20071592. 9866. 88 % 20081604. 9250. 75 % 20091616. 1430. 70 % 20101675. 9183. 70 % Even though historical facts do not look good, the forecast concerning the GDP are looking better.The GDP is likely to increase due to expansions in tourism, telecommunications, transport and construction and recovery in the agriculture, one of the most important sec-tors for Kenya's GDP. 3. 3. MOST IMPORTANT SECTORS AND PRODUCTS As mentioned before, one of the most important sectors in Kenya’s economy is the agricul-tural sector, forestry and fishing accounted for 24% of the total GDP, 18% of the wage em-ployment and 50% revenue from exports. Especially the tea production and export are likely to increase because of prosperous weath-er forecasts; the coffee industry has stagnated and is not likely to increase in the near future.The most profitable sector in Kenya is the service sector with t ourism dominating that sec-tor. About 63% of all GDP is generated by tourism. Most tourists come from Germany and the Uniting Kingdom; they are attracted to the coastal beaches and the big game reserves. The tourism sector had a downfall because of negative attention in the media and the unsafe environment. The government is currently addressing the security problems within Kenya by introducing a tourism police and by launching marketing campaigns in key tourist origin markets.The most important sectors are: consumer goods (mobile, batteries and textile), agriculture, oil, aluminum, steel, cement and tourism. 3. 4. INFLATION RATE Inflation in consumer prices in % The inflation rate in 2011 was 14%. As we can see on the chart the inflation rate fluctuates a lot which means it will have a negative effect on the analysis on the risk. The Kenyan inflation rate has been on an average of 12,6%, from 2006 until 2012. The ultimate high was 31,5% in May 2012 and 3,2% in October 2011. On the following chart we can see the inflation rate more specified in recent times.Even in the last months there has been a lot of fluctuation in the inflation rate. The main reasons for the fluctuations are droughts and uncertainty in the import and export prices. 3. 5. THE GROWTH OF THE POPULATION The current total population is 43,013,341 (July 2012). In this chart we can see that the population always has had a steady growth. 3. 6. DOMESTIC INFRASTRUCTURE Kenya has an extensive road network of 152887 kilometers but most of the roads are in bad state unfortunately. For example of the total of 63. 800 ilometers of high way only 8,868 are paved. There is currently a project designed for creating links between all major and minor roads and to rehabilitate 20. 000 kilometer of roads in the urban centers. Kenya has a state owned railway corporation which is managing the single track railway station. It runs from Mombasa through Nairobi to the Ugandan border. Certain institutes are investing in the railway corporation to make it viable. The government is working on making the railway a private owned company. Either way, the Kenyan railway station is in a bad state.Kenya has a port located in Mombasa; it has a freight throughput of about 8. 1 million tons. Kenya has an airport that recently has changed from a state owned company to a public/private company. This has been successful since Kenya now is the key gateway to Africa Communications Overall Kenya has a well-established communication system More than 90% of the population has access to GSM signals. Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation provides international direct dialing and subscriber trunk dialing, mobile telephones, telex, facsimile, data communication and related services.Substantial investment for the expansion of these facilities is under way and various internet providers have made their entry into Kenya. 4. CRITERIA RELATED TO FOREIGN ECONOMY Economic Cooperation, Regional Integration & Trade T he East African Community (EAC) countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burun-di – transformed into a fully ? edged and enforceable customs union on 1 January 2010. They adopted a common external tari? (CET) with three bands: 0% (raw materials and capital goods), 10% (intermediate goods) and 25% (? nished goods). Tari? of up to 100% are appli-cable to products that are deemed to be sensitive to member states. These include maize, rice, cement, sugar and dairy products. Members will continue to collect customs receipts separately until a revenue sharing mechanism can be agreed. Furthermore, the EAC Common Market Protocol came into force on 1 July 2010, potentially allowing for the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in a zone with a com-bined population of some 135 million people. Given the large amount of legislation that needs to be amended in all countries to comply with the protocol, the transition is expected to proceed slowly.Kenya has alr eady taken signi? cant steps to domesticate and embrace the provisions of the protocol. A task force charged with reviewing national laws and aligning them with the Common Market Protocol has completed its report. Areas that need harmonization include investment, tax, labor, education, standards, competition, transport, communications and ? nancial services. The report was forwarded to the attorney general who was expected to prepare a miscellaneous amendment bill to be tabled in parliament. Non-tari? barriers (e. g. road blocks, varying quality standards, the ine? ient functioning of the port of Mombasa and other red tape) continue to impede the free trade in goods and add to the costs of doing business. The replacement of paper-based customs administration practices with an electronic inter-face system, Simba, is a strong step towards enhancing competitiveness and trade facilita-tion. With the bringing into operation of Simba customs checks are subjected to computer-ized scanning and fewer physical checks are undertaken. The programme has enabled im-porters and exporters to lodge their documentation on line.In 2012, the Simba upgrade is expected to increase automation of goods clearance across all Kenyan border crossings. 4. 1. IMPORT 2011 While Kenya had just spent 3. 3 billion US Dollars on merchandise imports in 99’, they imported goods worth to 13. 49 billion US Dollar in 2011 which is an increase of over 400%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post-election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affected most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the econ-omy rebounded in 2010.Import Products The major import products for the year to June 2011 were oil, manufactured goods, chemi-cals, machinery and transport equipment. The increase in the value of imports was mainly due to imports of oil, machinery an d transport equipment, and manufactured goods. Oil imports accounted for 24. 2% of the total import. International oil prices increased from USD 74. 8 per barrel in June 2010 to USD 112. 15 per barrel in June 2011. Imports of machinery and transport equipment accounted for 28. 9% of total imports, and increased from USD 3 212 million to USD 3 942 million.This was due to the ongoing infra-structure development. Imports of manufactured items, mainly intermediate goods, accounted for 14. 8% of the im-port bill and increased from USD 1. 625 million to USD 2. 021 million while chemicals ac-counted for 13. 5%. Major Import Partners Kenya’s major import partners for merchandise are (2011): 1United Arab Emirates13. 0% 2China12. 1% 3India11. 6% 4South Africa5. 8% 5United Kingdom4. 6% 4. 2. EXPORT 2011 Kenya had received 2. 2 Billion US Dollar in 99’, while they could increase their receiving for ex-ports in 2011 to 5. 77 Billion US Dollar.This is an increase of about 260%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affected most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010. Export Products The agricultural sector continues to dominate Kenya’s economy, although only 15 percent of Kenya’s total land area has sufficient fertility and rainfall to be farmed, and only 7 or 8 per-cent can be classified as first-class land.It is the mainstay of Kenya's economy, contributing over one third of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:Tea, coffee, horticultural products, pyrethrum, pineapples, sisal, tobacco and cotton. TOP 1 – TEA Kenya is one of world`s top producers and exporters of high quality tea and coffee. Value of the produce was boosted by the average auction price TOP 2 – HORTICULTURE The robust flower industry in Kenya sees flower exports ac-counting up to 35% of all Europe’s flower imports. The good performance recorded in the horticultural sub-sector was due to improved external demand.OTHER EXPORTS:Beside this also iron, steel, petroleum products, cement, arti-cles of plastics, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, and leather are exported Textile is Kenya’s leading manufactured export. Soda ash (used in glassmaking) is Kenya’s most valuable min-eral export and is quarried at Lake Magadi in the Rift Valley. SERVICES: Transport, tourism and telecommunications services are the top three service exports in the country. Kenya’s services sector, which contributes about 63 percent of GDP, is dominated by tourism. TOURISM: In 2011 tourism experienced signi? cant gains with earnings rising by 32. %. The United King-dom continued to be the country’s main departure point for tourists with 203. 290 arrivals. Tourism is the second most important source of foreign exchange. To maximize on this growth trend, the Government is working together with the private sector in carrying out marketing as well as in strengthening linkages between tourism and the rest of the economy. Major Export Partners The market for Kenyan exports has been transformed over the years due to changing policy environment, regional integration and other initiatives providing market access to 12 key trading blocks.The initiatives include the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Cotonou ACP/EU Partnership Agreement, and the AGOA initiative, among others. COMESA is Kenya’s key export market, absorbing about 35% of total exports. The European Union market is the second most important, absorbing about 30% of total exports. Kenya’s major export partners for merchandise are (2011): 1COMESA (e. g. Uganda, Tanzania etc. )35. 0% 2European Union30. 0% 3United States5. 6% 4Pakistan4,2% 5United Arab Emirates4,1%Ke nya's relations with Western countries are generally friendly, although current political and economic instabilities are sometimes blamed on Western pressures. ? 4. 3. THE IMBALANCE IN TRADING Kenya is largely a trade deficit country. The negative balance of trade occurs because the country's exports are vulnerable to both international prices and the weather conditions. Since independence, Kenya has enjoyed close international relations, particularly with the western countries. It is also a member of several regional trade blocs, such as the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) and the EAC (East African Community).These blocs are key components of Kenya’s trade volumes. The 2011 Kenya’s trade performance was mainly affected by rise of oil prices globally which led to increase in the import bill and the depreciation of the Kenya shilling, while exports remained stagnant. The gap between imports and exports, also called current account deficit, now sta nds at above 10% of GDP – one of the highest in the world! Today, Kenya’s main exports don’t even earn enough to pay for its oil imports, 4. 4. KENYAN CURRENCY The recent history of Kenyan currencyOn 14 September 1966, the Kenyan shilling (KES) replaced the East African shilling at par, although it was not demonetized until 1969. The Central Bank of Kenya issued notes in de-nominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 shillings. Locals in Kenya call the Kenyan shilling also â€Å"Bob†. The Kenyan Shilling: Development of the Kenyan shilling Overview of the development of the Kenyan shilling (blue) compared to the US Dollar (red) between 2002 and 2012. Exchange rate in October 2012: EUR / KES 1 Euro = ca. 110,38 Kenya shilling 100 Kenya shilling = ca. 0,91 Euro EUR / USD 1 Euro = ca. 1,29 US Dollar 100 Kenya shilling = ca. ,18 US Dollar 4. 5. KENYAN MONETARY POLICY The year 2011 was tumultuous for the monetary authorities in Kenya with high inflation rates and a h eavily depreciated currency. The month–on-month inflation rate averaged 12. 9% from January to October and peaked at 19. 7% in November 2011 against a target of 5%. The high rate of inflation was mainly driven by a rise in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices and transport charges. The food and non-alcoholic beverages index rose by 26. 2% compared with October 2010 while the transport index rose by 26. 22%. The rise in transport index reflected the sharp rise in fuel prices.According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the euro-area currency crisis also had a desta-bilizing effect on the price level. Inflation is expected to drop to single digits in the next two years thanks to improved production of food and stability of fuel prices. In 2011 the Kenyan shilling depreciated (=im Wert gefallen) by a margin of 25. 2% against the US dollar (USD), dropping from an average of KES 81. 11 per USD 1 in January 2011 to KES 101. 51 in October 2011. It depreciated against the euro (EU R) from an average of KES 108. 29 per EUR 1 in January to KES 139. 07 in October 2011.To arrest the fall of the Kenyan shilling, the monetary policy committee (MPC) progressively increased the central bank rate (CBR) from a low of 6% in January 2011 to a high of 18% by December 2011. The inflationary pressure experienced in 2011 and the depreciation of the Kenyan shilling can directly be traced back to the Central Bank of Kenya policy adopted in 2010, when it cut the central bank rate from 7% in January to 6% in December. This was meant to revive lend-ing and stimulate the economy through increased consumption. The policy was highly suc-cessful as evidenced by the 5. 6% growth attained in 2010.However increased consumption pushed up consumer prices and put pressure on the Kenyan shilling as it heightened demand for imports, which rose from USD 11,283 million in year 2009/10 to USD 13,659 million in year 2010/11. Furthermore, in year 2010/11, domestic credit increased by KES 254. 4 b illion (23. 4%) against a target of KES 205. 9 billion (18. 9%). The excess credit growth reflected a stronger domestic demand than previously estimated. 4. 6. KENYAN’S DEBT SITUATION Kenya’s external debt (or foreign debt) External debt is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country.This is not to be confused with actual government debts. The debtors can be the government, corporations or private households. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. List of countries by external debt (End of 2011): External debt. (in USD)per capita% of GDP 1 United States14,710,000,000,00050,266103 2 United Kingdom9,836,000,000,000156,126390 3 France5,633,000,000,00074,619182 4 Germany5,624,000,000,00057,755142 5 Japan2,719,000,000,00019,14845 Italy2,684,000,000,00036,841108 7 Netherlands2,655,489,600,000226 ,503344 8 Spain2,570,000,000,00018,26084 16 Austria 883,500,000,00090,128200 92 Kenya 7,935,000,00020025 The debt service ratio The debt service ratio is the ratio of debt service payments (principal + interest) of a country to that country’s export earnings. A country's international finances are healthier when this ratio is low. The ratio is between 0 and 20% for most countries. For example, if a country has export revenue of ? 100bn and pays ? 15bn interest payments on its external debt, then its debt service ratio is 15%.A rising debt service ratio is often the sign of an imminent economic crisis. Debt service ra-tios may rise because of: †¢A fall in exports †¢Lower price of commodities which are main exports of a country. †¢Higher Borrowing †¢Higher interest rates increasing cost of debt repayments †¢Devaluation increasing cost of external repayments. 5. CONCLUSION All in all Africa has a big potential for exports and investments as there are sti ll big growth opportunities. Kenya has the greatest growth potential in the Sub-Saharan area followed by South Africa. However there are some recommendations to bear in mind (e. . Letter of credit, creditworthiness check,†¦ see list at end of paper) Following there is an overview of the key advantages and disadvantages for exporting to or investing in Kenya: +- Stable economy and good eco-nomic prospectspolitical instability ? political riskBUT: increasing political stability since peaceful referendum in 2010 ? adoption of a new con-stitution Favourable strategic geographical position and access to export mar-kets (? Eastern Africa) corruption and impunity (=Straflosigkeit) BUT: High efforts to bring the problem under control: since 2010 ?Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission forced high-profile cabinet ministers to step aside and the International Criminal Court publicly named perpetra-tors of violence (=Gewalttater) Membership of the largest African common market, the EAC (Easter n African Community), COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ? enables the free movement of goods and ser-vices across the member statesInadequate infrastructure for absorption of economic devel-opmentBUT: High efforts to catch up on infrastructure English languagewidespread poverty ? crime Mombasa seaport ? most impor-tant seaport + Nairobi ? olitical and economic stronghold in the Eastern African Areacompanies are often undercap-italized ? risk of late or non-payment Small time difference Small taxes and levies (=Abgaben) Low wages compared to European countries and well trained em-ployees Emerge of a middle class with increasing purchasing power Kenya plays a major role in the Eastern African economy. Mombasa is the most important seaport in Eastern Africa and Nairobi is the economic and political stronghold in this area. One big plus for exports to or investments in Kenya is that the country has a quite stable economy. Even there were some setbacks in the p ast (e. . violence during the last elections in 2008, global financial crisis) the outlook for Kenya’s economy and GDP is quite favourable for the future. Due to the expansionary of fiscal measures and by structural business reforms driven by the IMF the economy of Kenya will further improve in the past few years. Addi-tionally the recovery of agricultural production and investment in infrastructures will also contribute to the dynamism of the economy. These are quite good prerequisites for potential exporters and investors. Even if Kenya’s investment prospects are quite attractive they had been marred by political risk for a long time.Violence during the election in 2008 frightened away many potential investors. The turning point for Kenya was the peaceful referendum in 2010 where a new country’s constitution was decided (? separation of powers). The peacefulness around the referendum had a huge positive impact on the country. Following this event Standard and Poors increased the credit rating to level B+ which brings Kenya closer to a score that foreign investors regard as an all-clear signal. Nevertheless exporters and investors need to be careful about the political situation in Kenya as new elections will take place in March 2013.The electoral campaign carries significant risks of a resurgence of the violent confrontations within the ethnic groups in Kenya. Our opinion is that Kenya has a huge potential for exporters and investors. It has a solid eco-nomic basis and political stability is already improving, so we would export to or invest in Kenya. Our recommendation prior to do export or investment is the following Exporters/Investors†¦ †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ need to check the local partner/customer in Kenya carefully It is very important to have a reliable, reputable partner in Kenya.Creditworthiness should be checked prior to doing business with them. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦insist on payment by letter of credit Especially when doing business w ith a customer/partner the first time it is advisable not to sell under open payment terms. It could than occur that the exporter would never receive his money. A letter of credit is used to eliminate the risk such as unfa-miliarity with the foreign country, customs or political instability. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ should not admit corruption Corruption in a foreign country is also indictable in Austria. Austrian exporters may also be reliable for their Kenyan partners.Therefore it is advisable to agree on anti-corruption clauses in the contract. In case an Austrian exporter would admit corruption the export insurance will not be valid anymore. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ need to consider and watch the political situation When political unrests occur it may be advisable to stop exports until the unrests have calmed down. 6. SUMMARY MILESTONE HISTORYThe independent Republic of Kenya was founded in December 1963. JOMO KENYATTA was the first president (until 1978). Kenyatta's long presidency provided the co untry with stability. GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES †¢580. 000 km2 †¢42 million inhabitants †¢Capital City: Nairobi Language: English, SwahiliThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator with the Indian Ocean to its south-east. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya has a land area of 580. 000 km2 (7 times bigger than Austria) and a population of about 43 million residents. It is to stress out that 75% of the population is younger than 30 years. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. English is the language of choice when doing business in Kenya and is also used in Kenyan schools.Swahili (also called Kiswahili) is the national language of Kenya. It is a unifying African language spoken by nearly 100 percent of the Kenyan population. CLIMATIC CONDITIONSKenya has a warm and humid climate along its coastline on the Indian Ocean, which chan ges to wildlife-rich savannah grasslands moving in-land towards the capital. Nairobi has a cool climate that gets colder ap-proaching Mount Kenya (5. 166m), which has three permanently snow-capped peaks. 1. OVERVIEW OF THE COUNTRY 2. POLITICAL CRITERIA 2002 transitional election 2007 accusation of electoral ma-nipulation resulted in violent riots in KenyaAugust 2010: peaceful referen-dum in passing a new constitution Kenya has seen significant political changes in the last decade. The his-toric 2002 transitional election, in which the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) defeated the long-ruling Kenya African National Union, created a major political shift and inspired optimism among citizens about the future of their country as a multiparty democracy. Kenyans went to polls in large numbers for the December 2007 general elections, but the elections turned violent after accusations of electoral manipulation. More than 1. 00 Kenyans died and more than 600. 000 were displaced. Peace was r estored following the signing and enactment of the National Accord and the creation of the Grand Coalition Government (GCG), a power-sharing deal ending a political stalemate between President Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity and Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement. The National Accord also set out an ambitious reform agenda including a review of the country’s constitution. In August 2010, a largely fair and peaceful referendum resulted in pass-ing a new constitution.The new constitution was a landmark NEW ELECTIONS IN 2013 risk of new post-electoral vio-lence and rumorsachievement for the GCG as it enforces broad changes to the govern-ance framework, including: a new devolved system of government; reduced presidential powers, a reformed electoral process, more defined separation of powers between the three branches of government; land reform; and an expanded bill of rights. Government institutions, civil society, political parties and citizens face an am bitious and challenging period as they enact the reforms dictated by the new constitution.Kenya’s political dynamics also are likely to be influenced by the outcome of the International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings in which six prominent Kenyans are accused of involvement in the 2008 post-election violence. It is not yet clear whether the charges will be upheld by the ICC. Kenyan leaders are under increasing pressure to continue rebuilding their country and to avoid a repeat of the 2008 post-election crisis as the country heads into general elections in 2013. 3. KENYA’S DOMESTIC ECONOMY DOMESTIC ECONOMY The economy experienced moderate growth in 2011 but is expected to rise modestly in 2012 and 2013 respectively.The year 2011 witnessed drastic currency depreciation and rapid inflation, both of which are ex-pected to stabilize in 2012 and 2013. Youth unemployment constitutes 70% of total unemployment. In 2011 Kenya’s economy recorded â€Å"checked† gro wth, primarily driven by financial intermediation, tourism, construction and agricultural sectors. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the first nine months was estimated at 4. 2%, down from 4. 9% in the same period in 2010. Overall, growth in 2011 was curtailed by an unstable macroeconomic environment characterized by rising inflation, exchange rate depreciation and high energy costs.The country also experienced limited rainfall in the first half of 2011, which affected aggregate food production. In January 2011, the Kenyan government was forced to ask the IMF for support to counter the mounting financing pressures caused by a widening current account deficit. Certain other structural constraints, such as widespread corruption and poor infrastructure, also continued to undermine Kenya’s growth potential. 4. KENYA & FOREIGN ECONOMY IMPORT While Kenya had just spent 3. 3 billion US Dollars on merchandise im-ports in 99’, they imported goods worth to 13. 49 bill ion US Dollar in 2011 which is an increase of over 400%.The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affect-ed most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010. IMPORT PRODUCTS The major import products for the year to June 2011 were oil, manu-factured goods, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment. The increase in the value of imports was mainly due to imports of oil (International oil prices increased) IMPORT PARTNERS1. United Arab Emirates -> 13. % 2. China -> 12,1% 3. India -> 11. 6% 4. South Africa -> 5,8% 5. United Kingdom 4,6% EXPORT Kenya had received 2. 2 Billion US Dollar in 99’, while they could in-crease their receivement for exports in 2011 to 5. 77 Billion US Dollar. This is an increase of about 260%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 w as due to a number of adverse shocks including the post-election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affect-ed most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010.EXPORT PRODUCTSThe agricultural sector continues to dominate Kenya’s economy, alt-hough only 15 percent of Kenya’s total land area has sufficient fertility and rainfall to be farmed. Tourism currently is Kenya’s third largest foreign-exchange earner after tea and horticulture (flowers) EXPORT PARTNERSCOMESA (East-South Africa) -> 35. % European Union ->30% United States -> 5,6% Pakistan -> 4,2% United Arab Emirates -> 4,1% IMBALANCE IN TRADING Kenya is largely a trade deficit country.The negative balance of trade occurs because the country's exports are vulnerable to both interna-tional prices and the weather conditions. The gap between imports and exports, also called current account deficit, n ow stands at above 10% of GDP – one of the highest in the world! Today, Kenya’s main exports do not even earn enough to pay for its oil imports. ECONOMIC COOPERATION, REGIONAL INTEGRATION & TRADE COMMON EXTERNAL TAFFIFF VISION STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITYThe East African Community (EAC) countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi – transformed into a fully-fledged and enforceable customs union on 1 January 2010 allowing for the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in a zone with a combined population of some 135 million people. The next phase of the integration will see the bloc enter into a Monetary Union and ultimately become a Political Federation of the East African States. They adopted a common external tariff (CET) with three bands: 0% (raw materials and capital goods), 10% (intermediate goods) and 25% (finished goods).Tariffs of up to 100% are applicable to products that are deemed to be sensitive to member states. These includ e maize, rice, cement, sugar and dairy products. The Vision of EAC is a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically united East Africa; and the Mission is to widen and deepen Economic, Political, Social and Culture integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa through increased competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments. EAC has a combined population of more than 135 million people, land area of 1. 2 million square kilometres and a combined Gross Domestic Product of $74. 5 billion. This bears great strategic and geopolitical sig-nificance and prospects of a renewed and reinvigorated East African Community 5. CONCLUSION POTENTIAL OF KENYAAll in all Africa has a big potential for exports and investments as there are still big growth opportunities. Kenya has the greatest growth potential in the Sub-Saharan area after South Africa. However there are some recommendations to bear in mind (e. g. Letter of credit, creditwort hiness check,†¦) ADVANTAGESRISKSStable economy and good eco-nomic prospectspolitical instability ? political riskBUT: increasing political instability since peaceful referendum in 2010 ? adoption of a new constitution Favourable strategic geographical position and access to export mar-kets (? Eastern Africa) corruption and impunity (=Straflosigkeit) BUT: High efforts to bring the problem un-der control: since 2010 ? Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission forced high-profile cabinet ministers to step aside and the International Criminal Court publicly named perpetrators of violence (=Gewalttater) ADVANTAGESRISKSMembership of the largest African common market, the EAC (Eastern African Community), COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ? enables the free movement of goods and ser-vices across the member statesInadequate infrastructure for absorption of economic devel-opmentBUT: High efforts to catch up on infrastruc-ture English languagewidespread poverty ? crime Mombasa seaport ? most impor-tant seaport + Nairobi ? political and economic stronghold in the Eastern African Areacompanies are often undercap-italized ? risk of late or non-payment Small time difference Small taxes and levies (=Abgaben)Low wages compared to European countries and well trained em-ployees Emerge of a middle class with increasing purchasing power OUR RECCOMENDATIONS Exporters/Investors†¦ †¦ need to check the local partner/customer in Kenya carefully It is very important to have a reliable, reputable partner in Kenya. Cre-ditworthiness should be checked prior to doing business with them. †¦insist on payment by letter of credit Especially when doing business with a customer/partner the first time it is advisable not to sell under open payment terms. It could than occur that the exporter would never receive his money.A letter of credit is used to eliminate the risk such as unfamiliarity with the foreign country, customs or political instability. †¦ s hould not admit corruption Corruption in a foreign country is also indictable in Austria. Austrian exporters may also be reliable for their Kenyan partners. Therefore it is advisable to agree on anti-corruption clauses in the contract. In case an Austrian exporter would admit corruption the export insur-ance will not be valid anymore. †¦ need to consider and watch the political situation When political unrests occur it may be advisable to stop exports until the unrests have calmed down.