Poseidon Essay Example for Free

Poseidon Essay God of the sea, protector of all waters. Poseidon is the brother of Zeus. After the overthrow of their Father Cronus he drew lots with Zeus and Hades, another brother, for shares of the world. His prize was to become lord of the sea. He was widely worshiped by seamen. He married Amphitrite, a granddaughter of the Titan Oceanus.At one point he desired Demeter. To put him off Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. So to impress her Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts his first attempts were unsuccessful and created a variety of other animals in his quest. By the time the horse was created his passion for Demeter had cooled. His weapon is a trident, which can shake the earth, and shatter any object. He is second only to Zeus in power amongst the gods. He has a difficult quarrelsome personality. He was greedy. He had a series of disputes with other gods when he tried to take over their cities. Poseidon was the second son of Cronus and Rhea. In most accounts he is swallowed by Cronus at birth but later saved, with his other brothers and sisters, by Zeus. However in some versions of the story, he, like his brother Zeus, did not share the fate of his other brother and sisters who were eaten by Cronus. He was saved by his mother Rhea, who concealed him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have given birth to a colt, which she gave to Cronus to devour.[3] According to John Tzetzes[23] the kourotrophos, or nurse of Poseidon was Arne, who denied knowing where he was, when Cronus came searching; according to Diodorus Siculus[24] Poseidon was raised by the Telchines on Rhodes, just as Zeus was raised by the Korybantes on Crete. According to a single reference in the Iliad, when the world was divided by lot in three, Zeus received the sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon the sea. In the Odyssey (v.398), Poseidon has a home in Aegae. The foundation of Athens Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens after a competition  with Poseidon. Yet Poseidon remained a numinous presence on the Acropolis in the form of his surrogate, Erechtheus.[2] At the dissolution festival at the end of the year in the Athenian calendar, the Skira, the priests of Athena and the priest of Poseidon would process under canopies to Eleusis.[25] They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and the Athenians would choose whichever gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up; the water was salty and not very useful,[26] whereas Athena offered them an olive tree. Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, ca 440 BC The Athenians or their king, Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and along with it Athena as their patron, for the olive tree brought wood, oil and food. After the fight, infuriated at his loss, Poseidon sent a monstrous flood to the Attic Plain, to punish the Athenians for not choosing him. The depression made by Poseidons trident and filled with salt water was surrounded by the northern hall of the Erechtheum, remaining open to the air. In cult, Poseidon was identified with Erechtheus, Walter Burkert noted; the myth turns this into a temporal-causal sequence: in his anger at losing, Poseidon led his son Eumolpus against Athens and killed Erectheus.[27] The contest of Athena and Poseidon was the subject of the reliefs on the western pediment of the Parthenon, the first sight that greeted the arriving visitor. This myth is construed by Robert Graves and others as reflecting a clash between the inhabitants during Mycenaean times and newer immigrants. It is interesting to note that Athens at its height was a significant sea power, at one point defeating the Persian fleet at Salamis Island in a sea battle. The walls of Troy Poseidon and Apollo, having offended Zeus by their rebellion in Heras scheme, were temporarily stripped of their divine authority and sent to serve King Laomedon of Troy. He had them build huge walls around the city and promised to reward them well, a promise he then refused to fulfill. In  vengeance, before the Trojan War, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. The monster was later killed by Heracles. Consorts and children Poseidon on an Attic kalyx krater (detail), first half of the 5th century BC. Poseidon was said to have had many lovers of both sexes (see expandable list below). His consort was Amphitrite, a nymph and ancient sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus and Doris. Poseidon was the father of many heroes. He is thought to have fathered the famed Theseus. A mortal woman named Tyro was married to Cretheus (with whom she had one son, Aeson) but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus, and from their union were born the heroes Pelias and Neleus, twin boys. Poseidon also had an affair with Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, his son and King of Eleusis, begetting the Attic hero Hippothoon. Cercyon had his daughter buried alive but Poseidon turned her into the spring, Alope, near Eleusis. Poseidon rescued Amymone from a lecherous satyr and then fathered a child, Nauplius, by her. After having raped Caeneus, Poseidon fulfilled her request and changed her into a male warrior. A mortal woman named Cleito once lived on an isolated island; Poseidon fell in love with the human mortal and created a dwelling sanctuary at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her. She gave birth to five sets of twin boys(the firstborn who being named Atlas) became the first rulers of Atlantis.[28][5][6][7] Not all of Poseidons children were human. In an archaic myth, Poseidon once pursued Demeter. She spurned his advances, turning herself into a mare so that she could hide in a herd of horses; he saw through the deception and became a stallion and captured her. Their child was a horse, Arion, which was capable of human speech. Poseidon also had sexual intercourse with Medusa on the floor of a temple to Athena.[29] Medusa was then changed into a monster by Athena. When she was later beheaded by the hero Perseus, Chrysaor and Pegasus emerged from her neck. There is also Triton (the merman), Polyphemus (the cyclops) and, finally, Alebion and Bergion and Otos and Ephialtae (the giants).[29]

What Is Art? Expressivism in Art

What Is Art? Expressivism in Art A definition of art would help to identify what art is in order for individuals to recognise and appreciate it, but there is controversy as to how to define art or whether art can be defined at all. It will become clear that features of what it takes to be art are not particularly simple to pinpoint. For example, the aestheticist would suggest that good art must look good, but it is not enough to say that something is art if it has the quality of being aesthetically pleasing. Beauty may apply to a large number of things that are not readily accepted as art, or on the contrary, not all art may be aesthetically pleasing at all. Furthermore, the aesthetic standard of art will only please a certain class of people. There are many conceptual definitions of art that attempt to outline the necessary and sufficient conditions required for something to be considered a work of art, though I will focus on the concept of expressivism as it proves to be the most convincing to me. I will set out to define art as understood by the expressivists Tolstoy and Collingwood, through which it will become clear that it takes much more than external features such as beauty to define art. Tolstoy makes some important contributions to the nature of expressivism, but exacerbates his views as he emphasises the significance of religion in defining art. It is here that Collingwood seems to have the edge, and the more appealing definition seems to be a combination of the benefits of both theories. I will therefore argue for the importance of having a definition of art, as although conceptual ones are tricky in themselves, it is equally as troubling to omit the use of a definition altogether. Expressivism largely deals with the fact that art connects with people via their senses. It defines art through the expression of emotion that is entailed by the artist in their artwork and the emotional impact that it has on the audience. To Tolstoy, something is art if it creates an emotional link between the artist and its audience, uniting them insomuch that the emotion portrayed through the artwork affects the viewer. It is true that every man has the capacity to receive, through hearing or sight, another mans emotions and feel those feelings himself, just as each man has the ability to affect another man through his expression of feeling, and Tolstoy infers that this is the heart of which the activity of art is based. But more specifically, the infection is characteristically indirect, in that it begins when one person, the artist, expresses through his artwork his emotion, which is communicated to the viewer through the artwork as a medium. As a simple example, Tolstoy describes a boy who encounters a wolf and feels fear. On experiencing this, he describes the experience to others in such a way as to arouse the fear that he experienced in himself and infect the avid listeners with the particular emotion. This analogy shares with art three distinct characteristics: individuality, clarity and sincerity. It is individual because it focuses specifically on one emotion, creating emphasis and increasing infection. It is clear because the emotion portrayed is pure and communicated without distraction, making it all the more infectious. Lastly, it is sincere because the stronger the artist or storyteller feels when communicating the emotion, the more infectious the feeling will be to the viewer. All three are important contributors to the quality of art, as the stronger the infection, the better is the art as art  [1]  . Tolstoy notes that many inaccurate definitions of art arise from that fact that they consider the pleasure that art gives, rather than the purpose that it serves in life and in humanity. To direct the aim of our endeavours at pleasure and to define it accordingly is like judging food based on the satisfaction of our tastes. Our taste buds are not an accurate basis for what can be universally known as good food, nor is beauty to good art. Hence, Tolstoy maintains that the concept of beauty when looking to define art simply confuses matters, and in order to define art accurately, it is necessary to avoid considering it as a means of pleasure, but rather as one of the conditions of human life that we use to interact and to communicate emotion between one another. So far, these discussions seem plausible as they allow for the objectivity of art and the basis of the definition to be intelligible and clear, rather than plainly aesthetic. Intelligent and clear expression of emotion enables us to grasp what is or is not art and maintains the meaning of art, otherwise any such expression of emotion could be defined as art and the definition steadily loses its meaning until it simply becomes a meaningless concept. But the strength of Tolstoys reasoning seems to falter at the part of the explanation that he deems most fundamental. Central to his argument, Tolstoy criticises the art of his era and infers that art had lost its true meaning to be exchanged for a counterfeit concept of art, which sought only to please those of a certain class. Real art is led by religious perception, which must be accepted in order to influence our understanding of feelings expressed through art. By religion, Tolstoy explicitly means Christianity, and it is declared that the best emotions communicated through art are those that appeal to Christian teachings of mans love for God and neighbour. Anything else, to Tolstoy, was insignificant art which aimed only at giving pleasureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (and) did not deserve such esteem and encouragement  [2]  . He likens the replacement of real art with counterfeit art to worshipping false idols in Gods place. To suggest that art has departed from religious influence and has therefore lost all meaning seems irrational and slightly hypocritical. He accuses counterfeit art of appealing only to a certain class of people, but to place a religious constraint on the value of art does not, as Tolstoy intends, unite the classes, but places exclusivity on art too. The overbearing problem here is that good art doesnt have to be religious, and rather than defining art objectively, Tolstoy seems to have defined it around his own moral and religious perspective. It seems particularly harsh to rule out those who dont conform to his own form of Christianity as being in error and thus cannot appreciate true art. As Tolstoy, Collingwoods conception of art holds that it is essentially an expression of emotion, though perhaps provides a more sophisticated account. So, as Tolstoy does, Collingwood recognises that the expression of emotion is familiar to every artist. The realisation of this emotion, however, is imminent though not discernible. The artist is conscious of feeling something though he may not immediately realise what it is, so he expresses it as a way of not oppressing it. It is not until he has expressed it, that he realises what emotion it is. Further, he lists individualisation as an important factor in the expression of emotion. There are names for the types of emotions that we experience: happiness, anger, sadness and so on, but these emotions also come in many forms. The happiness I may feel right now is different and distinct from the happiness I felt yesterday, or any other time. They are individual and not general. Collingwood illustrates this with the poet, who recognises the peculiarity of his emotions and makes efforts to individualise them by expressing them in terms that set them apart from other feelings of the same kind.  [3]  This distinguishes art from craft, craft being that which has a general aim, and however accurately attempts to describe it may be, will always be defined as the production of a thing having characteristics that could be shared by other things  [4]  . He illustrates this quite succinctly: the joiner could make a table out of specific pieces of wood, with specific measurements th at arent shared by any other table, but those factors could still, in principle, be shared by other tables. So the artist, in contrast, does not make, he creates ex nihilo. He does not aim to create an emotion in his audience but more specifically, an emotion of a certain kind. At this point, Collingwood introduces the third important contributing factor to the definition of art. To create art ex nihilo would suggest that it begins in the mind, as the artist creates the artwork as a means of expressing what he is feeling. Hence, the third factor of art is imagination. Collingwood provides an important account of pinpointing real art, as he necessitates that the role of a true artist is not to instil or arouse emotion in his audience, but to produce an artwork, so if a musician, make a tune. It is easy to think of the music as art, but this is a common mistake. The tune exists perfectly and complete when it is still imaginary in the artists head. It doesnt become real until it is played for its sound to be heard by an audience, but this is where the mistake is made. Collingwood maintains that there are two different and distinct things here and we often mistake the wrong one to be art. The music, or artwork, is not the assortment of noises played out by inst ruments, but rather the tune in the musicians head. As a result of distinguishing art from craft he upholds that expression is an activity of which there can be no technique  [5]  as unlike craft, art has no preconceived end, coinciding with Collingwoods view that the artist doesnt know what emotion he is feeling until he has expressed it. This is possibly the most troubling part of his theory as we often consider art to be a demonstration of great skill. Perhaps Tolstoy can even recognise that the artist is skilful in communicating his emotion to an audience in a way that the ordinary person cant. Good technique is consistent with helping artists express their feelings creatively, as the painter can communicate them much more effectively with the knowledge of different brush strokes to exhibit different visual effects, or the blending of different colours together to instil a variety of different moods in his artworks. It seems absurd to say that it is only thorough absence of technique that produces real art. To conclude, the benefits that we can take from the two expressivists is that art requires a definition in order to retain the meaning of what real art is, and that art serves as a medium for communicating emotions. It is true that we feel certain emotions that artwork seem to convey. It is also true that these emotions can be infectious, for example on listening to a particularly upbeat song, we may suddenly feel a sense of happiness. It is also true that emotions consist of many different forms. Happiness stretches from satisfaction to elation and it is perhaps the individuality of feelings that artists experience that contribute to the individuality and quality of artwork. Collingwoods distinction between art and craft is also quite key to the definition of art, as although both may require a certain level of skill, the artist is very much about expressing emotion through his skill while the craftsman is merely making for the sake of making. So on this basis, a combination of the benefits of both expressivist theories seems to provide a valid definition of art. With omitting the defects of both theories, it would seem easy to suggest that if art really is so difficult to define, then maybe it is a subjective concept, and what it is should be left for people to determine for themselves. But that isnt an adequate conclusion, as it makes for difficulty in talking meaningfully about art, or what one considers being good or bad art, as each will have a different idea of what art is. Further, to say that art is something that which cannot be defined is, in itself, defining it in a particularly unsatisfactory way, as it achieves nothing. It is for this reason that a conceptual definition of art is preferable to not having one at all.

the position of women in the work field in Egypt :: essays research papers

Women represent 49% of the Egyptian population. In 1956, the Constitution granted Egyptian women unconditional equal socio-political rights, thus crowning their struggle with success. Egyptian women participate in the process of development, assume the national responsibilities mentioned in the Constitution, and benefit from full legal rights that allow them to contribute in all aspects of the development process, either in the field of production or in services, according to their capabilities and skills. However, women participation in public life remains limited. This is due to a number of socio-economic and cultural factors that would tend to create a bias against females in some aspects of life, establishing thus a gender gap. Women in my country have become full partners in decision-making, and have proved themselves competent as doctors, surgeons, members of parliament, government ministers, entrepreneurs and pilots, all working alongside men for the sake of progress and development in Egypt. H.E. President Hosni Mubarak issued the Presidential Decree No. 90 for the year 2000 for the creation of the National Council for Women, as an autonomous body responsible for the empowerment of the Egyptian women. Certain fields of work have only been made accessible to women recently, such as the judiciary, and their presence in others, such as police and defense, is only symbolic. Although women have been appointed to certain political posts recently for the first time, such as: the first Judge in the Supreme Constitutional Court, the first President of the Administrative Prosecution Authority, the first head of a local council, the first chief of a village â€Å"Omda†, other posts are still resisting cultural changes like governor, rector of a university, or even a sitting judge in ordinary courts. Similarly, women have been allowed to hold military positions in the army.

lighthod Detachment in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Detachment in Heart of Darkness In the book Heart of Darkness, Marlowe only allows himself to form only one bond. Marlowe allows himself to form a small "safe" attachment to Kurtz because Kurtz is already very attached. He does not form any other bonds. In fact, he uses his racism to eliminate the possibility of having feelings for about ninety nine percent of the African population. Marlowe not only looks at the African people as being to different from him to be normal, but he goes so far as to describe Africa as being another world, a world containing savages. He would not let himself become attached to this land, or it's inhabitants. Anytime he feels himself having a relationship with anyone, he purposely stops himself from feeling, fearing that opening himself up may result in rejection and/or heartbreak. He claimed that he felt a connection with Kurtz this, I believe, is because he knew that this was "safe." This was "safe" because he knew that Kurtz would die before any real attachment could be made. He also knew that Kurtz would not have the same feeling for him as he had for Kurtz. This is because Kurtz already had two girlfriends, and a best friend (the Russian). This was something that Marlowe could deal with because Kurtz was already deeply involved so it held little risk for intense attachment. This is also shown when the helmsman, man who steers the ship, gets killed. Marlowe says that he liked that man because he was reliable, and not mush else. He did not even shed a tear for a man that he worked everyday with for the last six months. He simply threw him overboard, thinking about it for only a few minutes and then, he walked away. The Cannibals on the ship were starving. They had almost no food with them, and were not given the opportunity to buy food. The helmsman body could have been enough food for all of them for awhile. Marlowe, acting in character, did not care about this. He said that it may start a bad chain of events. Because of this all of the Cannibals went hungry for the rest of the trip. Going along with his inability to have healthy relationships with people and his inability to care, is his racism. This racism acts as a good buffer against attachment.

Speech: Dealing with Change -- essays research papers

The bombing of the two towers, September 11th, 2001. 2 749 reported deaths. The bombing of Hiroshima, August 6th and August 9th, 1945. 120 000 reported deaths. The battle for Gallipoli, from February 1915 to January 1916, a total of 505 000 recorded deaths, 28 150 of these were Australian. The Trojan War, 400 B.C. Total annihilation of Troy. Good morning friends, classmates and teachers. On any of these given days, thousands of people died. These acts of war were inspired by passion, greed and revenge. No one really wanted for their people to die – but they did. And this is something that no one can, or ever will be able to change. People have however, taken steps to address these wrongs. Some by retaliation, or being retaliated upon, others by an act of peace. It is not up to me to decide for these nations which of these developments are better, but I do see it as my duty to think, to wonder and to acknowledge. Lives were lost. Was it for nothing? How would the world differ today if none of these events had occurred? Would we have had a more peaceful place to grow up in? Or would a human’s basic instinct still win out, therefore creating more turmoil then there ever has been? Though as much as we should think and wonder about this, there is also nothing that we ever could have done, nor is there an answer to any of these questions. That said, these questions are important, not only to acknowledge the lives that were lost, but also so that we may stop and think next time before we act, instead of after. Before any of us do or say something that may effect and invoke change, because nothing can ever make things go back to the way they were. Depending on how things have been affected and altered, this can either be a goo... ...ecause we will always carry those through our lives, remembering the people who were there, and who cared enough to make sure that we opened our eyes to notice the world that surrounded us. When our time comes to stand up and be counted we will remember those who taught us that we are all different. We will remember the time when we realized that we are all the same. We will know that it will not matter in life who we were friends with or what clubs we belonged to. It will not matter what our grades were, or what kind of clothes we wore. It will not matter what kind of cars our parents drove. It will not matter what our dreams were, but what dreams we accomplish. Agathon was right when he said that â€Å"God cannot change the past†, and I for one am glad for that, but we must remember that while not even God can change the past, but it is our job to change the future.

Effects of Globalization on the Society Essay

Globalization is one of the contemporary policies implemented in attempt to resolve the economic dilemma of various countries and to encourage free flowing economic transactions among nations. And as such, globalization has become an influential phenomenon reaching various global scopes. It is an international process by which nations are being pushed to form a single and unified global society. The different societies within a globalized community undergo various transformation and developments which are comprised of common practices and beliefs known as the cultural universals. The cultural universals are adaptations in meeting the needs of the members of the society in terms of food, clothing and shelter. Developments are achieved through innovations. Innovation is the process of injecting new ideas or objects within a culture. And with these changes and innovations, this process also renders social consequences. There are two types of innovations: discovery and invention. The Chapter 3 of the book â€Å"Sociology a Brief Introduction† explained how development in culture occurs in the global setting. This chapter expounded the various concepts pertaining to the development of cultures such as globalization, diffusion and technology (Schaefer 58-60). The current globalization policy renders effects on the various aspects of the society. Globalization is a broad term. It encompasses the various aspects of the nation including politics, society and economy. More often than not, globalization is associated to the economic activities of the nation but it also affects the various aspects of society. Globalization Globalization is the integration of the economies and societies worldwide. Globalization is considered as one of the most hotly-debated topics in the field of international economics over the past few years (â€Å"Globalization†). It is the process of making the local or regional phenomenon into a global one. The nations are unified into a single society which carry out the function together. It is like integrating the economic, technological, sociocultural and political aspects of the nation (Croucher 10). Whenever globalization is mentioned, it is often associated with economic concepts and activities. Globalization is viewed as an economic process that integrates national economies into one international economy benefiting the activities of the inherent economy (Bhagwati 3). The term has been frequently defined by different economists, and as the such, the concept of globalization has developed so many definitions in accordance to the society’s point of view where the term is being utilized. The term â€Å"globalization† has been around for quite a long time. The concept has not been popular until the late 1980s and 1990s when its theoretical concepts became more well known. But the activities of globalization has already been put to practice even during the early times when the European countries colonized other parts of the world (Yergin). The first wave of globalization occurred during the 19th century which resulted to an incredible increase and growth in the international trade and economic interaction with the European countries dominating the world’s economic activities (Yergin). But the concept of globalization became more pronounced and used after the Second World War. The emergence of this concept came from the idea of the reconstruction of societies after the destructions caused by the war. The establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank became two of the most influential international organizations that pioneered the reconstruction of war-devastated countries and became relevant agents in restoring economic progress and stability in these nations. Effects of Globalization Globalization is a strategic economic process which aims to provide prosperity and growth to the world’s economy. However, globalization has advantages and disadvantages. Although in the economic point of view, globalization is a positive and beneficial process. But its contribution to the overall increase in the global prosperity is still unparalleled. Globalization creates a process of disseminating modern methods and equipments needed in the contemporary enterprise management, economic growth and global financing. This way, globalization also increases labor productivity and efficiency of the factors of production (Bozyk 3). Moreover, globalization hastens the movement of the essential factors of production, especially the capital and technology. The other factors increasing the production is swiftly moving such as new and innovative ideas, modern technologies and production methods. Consumers, on the other hand, also benefit from the process by purchasing high-quality products due to the increase efficiency in production. In this process, globalization influences the consumption and quality of the products (Bozyk 4). The communication and information industries are also greatly influenced by globalization process. Information disseminated under the tenets of free trade and in the advent of advanced technology tools and gadgets rendered the information industry free movement and easy access to the people. The emergence of internet accessibility and telephone services brought information closer to the people. On the other hand, globalization also renders disadvantages that are inappropriate to some countries engaging in the contemporary economic trend. Some of these disadvantages include the reality that globalization only brings profit to the wealthy and well-developed countries and amplifies the marginal difference of the well-developed and developing countries. The international economic policy is leaning towards the wealthy and powerful countries and is unsuitable to the developing countries (Gavrilenkov et. al 233). Moreover, some countries are utilizing globalization to establish world domination, authority and power which will enable stronger countries to manipulate the relationships of different countries within the international order. Nowadays, the United States is enjoying the status of being one of the strongest nations or probably the sole world superpower. However, the current status of China, its economic stability, and the rate at which the Chinese economy progresses will soon rival United States in terms of industry, wealth and technological improvements (Hurst 91). Works Cited Bhagwati, Jagdish. In Defense of Globalization. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Bozyk, Pawel. Globalization and the Transformation of Foreign Economic Policy. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2006. Croucher, Shiela L. Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity a Changing World. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. Gavrilenkov, Evgeny, Paul J. J. Welfens and Ralf Wiegert. Economic Opening Up and Growth in Russia. New York: Springer Verlag Berlin Heidlberg, 2004. â€Å"Globalization†. 2001. The World Bank Group. 10 October 2008 . Hurst, Charles E. Social Inequality: Forms, Causes and Consequences. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology:A Brief Introduction. United Kingdom: Academic Internet Publishers Incorporated, 2006. Yergin, David. â€Å"Commanding Heights†. n. d. 10 October 2008 .

Global Business Cultural Analysis

Kenya lies to the east of the African continent and has a coast on the Indian Ocean. The country straddles two of the most famous lakes in Africa – Lake Turkana and Lake Victoria. At its heart is Mount Kenya from which the country takes its name. The Kenyan population is heterogeneous, comprising seven major ethnic groups as well as tens of smaller ones and non-Kenyan communities. There is a religious mix with a Christian majority and Muslim and indigenous religious minorities. Formerly a British colony, Kenya achieved independence in 1963. Understanding the various cultural norms and ethnic and religious groups is essential when doing business in Kenya. Kenyan Culture – Key Concepts and Values Group-relations – Kenyans have strong affiliations to their ethnic group or tribe and sometimes place them in front of the ‘nation’. The family is at the heart of Kenyan life and is given priority over everything else. Several generations will live together in one house with all family members taking care of one another. Absenteeism from work or delays in performing tasks due to family obligations is frequently experienced in Kenya and is viewed as perfectly acceptable. Religion – The majority of the population is Christian (Protestant and Catholic) but there is also a substantial Muslim (Sunni) minority. At the same time Animism and ancestor worship remain widespread. Both Christians and Muslims have managed to incorporate traditional practices into their respective religions creating unique blends to suit their particular needs. Time – In general, Kenyans have a more relaxed approach towards time and live at a slower pace. It is not unusual to wait half an hour for someone to arrive for an appointment and this is seen as perfectly acceptable. Taking care of personal affairs first is regarded as more important than arriving on time. This being said, today particularly in the private sector there is a growing trend of punctuality and observing deadlines. Doing Business in Kenya is the one of Africa’s more affluent nations and is seen a business hub for East Africa. The country’s economy has been hampered though by corruption and a reliance on certain goods whose prices have failed to rise sufficiently. Kenya has also been affected by the global economic downturn and in 2008 saw a 7% drop in its GDP growth from the previous year. Despite this, tourism, manufacturing and investment have predominated in the Kenyan economy over the last four decades giving Kenya a prized position within Africa. Understanding how Kenya’s economy and politics impact its business culture will help you when doing business in Kenya. Kenyan Business Part 1 – Working in Kenya o Working practices in Kenya †¢ Business hours in Kenya are from 9:00am to 4:00pm, with a one hour break for lunch between 1:00pm and 2:00pm. Some businesses also operate on Saturday mornings. Kenyans have a flexible attitude towards time, so don’t be surprised if business meetings or social events begin late. Punctuality tends to be expected when dealing with foreigners though, so make sure to arrive on time. Kenyans do not tend to schedule a precise end to meetings. What matters is not adhering to a schedule but ensuring that everybody involved is satisfied with the outcome. Therefore make sure to leave enough time in your agenda when attending a meeting. English is widely spoken in Kenyan business environments and you can expect your counterparts to have good language skills so you can conduct your business in English. A little knowledge of basic Kiswahili phrases always leaves a good impression and can help to break the ice. Structure and hierarchy in Kenyan companies †¢ Business hierarchies are generally clearly defined, especially in family owned companies. Although employees are welcome to give suggestions and comments, the final decision is taken by senior members or managers. Education and experience are important qualities and main sources of credibility. A personable character can earn extra credit. Foreigners tend to be approached with high regard simply on the basis of their international expertise. Hierarchy plays an important role in the business structure of Kenya. Be mindful of a colleague’s title and their place in the organization. Decision making in Kenyan businesses tends to work on a top-down basis, with objectives set and decisions made by those in the highest positions. Respect and deference to one’s elders should be observed when in Kenya. First business meetings are often quite formal until the relationship is established. Relationships outside of the business environment can help build stronger ties too. The unofficial and informal nature of networking out of the office can help cement a stronger working relationship. This is often done by offering your colleague a drink or meal. Kenya Business Part 2 – Doing Business in Kenya o Business practices in Kenya †¢ Being a polychromic society, Kenyan business practice focuses on getting things done by order of priority rather than working to a set time schedule. In many businesses the working day will halt at specific times for Muslim members of staff to pray. Business attire is formal in Kenya. Men wear suits and ties while women wear long dresses or skirts which reach below the knee. Women do not usually wear trousers although this trend is slowly changing. Women should make sure their shoulders are covered and should not wear anything too revealing. Business cards are often used in Kenya and should be given and received with both hands. Marketing boards are state-controlled or state-sanctioned entities legally granted control over the purchase or sale of agricultural commodities. Since the mid-1980s they have declined in number under pressure from domestic liberalization and from international trade rules that increasingly cover agriculture. Where reforms have been widespread and successful, marketing boards have vanished or retreated to providing public goods, such as strategic grain reserves or insurance against extraordinary price fluctuations i. . the National cereals board, the Tea board of Kenya. Where reforms have been less successful, the weaknesses of private agricultural marketing channels have been revealed by the rollback of marketing boards, often leading to calls for reinstatement of powerful marketing boards. It is often suggested that an exporting country should set up a price stabilization fund to insulate farme rs from fluctuations in the world market price, by collecting a proportion of farmers’ revenue when prices are high and paying it out when prices are low. A typical price stabilization fund is set up for an export crop. In years when the world price is high, some of the returns are paid into the fund; in years when it is low, the accumulated revenues are used to bring up the price. There are many variations on this basic model. Some of the funds soon collapse, while others go on for years, surviving but not necessarily achieving their objectives. The objectives of the fund are usually obscure, sometimes deliberately so. For example, farmers press for stabilization without making it too obvious that to them stabilization means a lower limit to prices rather than an upper limit: in other words, they want a higher average price. Consumers think of price stabilization as imposing minimum prices rather than both maxima and minima. It is often assumed without discussion or evidence that price stabilization benefits the farmer and is beneficial to the economy. To provide price stability, marketing boards set the prices for farmers. During a season of high prices in the world market, they stash funds over and above the set local target, which they later use to cushion farmers whenever the global market prices plummet. The marketing boards possess the sole legal authority to purchase commodities from farmers and to engage in trade. Through the boards, governments typically fix official producer prices for all controlled commodities. Marketing boards provide a guaranteed market for the farmers, absorbing all marketed surplus at the official producer prices, and maintaining extensive buying networks and storage facilities throughout the production regions. Grain marketing boards commonly handle the strategic food reserves for emergency situations, and have the responsibility to import food in shortage seasons. They also stabilize prices, thus protecting farmers from sharp fluctuations. The boards also obtain funds for sales promotion, research and extension services. To raise farmers' bargaining power- especially to prevent over exploitation of farmers by middle men. The boards also improve quality regulation. In the last two decades, the production of primary exports in our country has been dwindling, and in some cases, almost ceased altogether. The crops in question are pyrethrum, sisal, cotton, coffee, and to a lesser extent, tea. The NCPB sells seeds and fertilizers to farmers at subsidized rates and buys their produce at higher prices than the market price, as a way of offering incentives to farmers. To ensure food security, NCPB has silos all over the country that store grains in times of surplus production and sell them in times of food shortages at affordable prices. This helps improve the country’s food supply situation. The Kenya Meat commission which was recently revived, served an important role, during the droughts that ravaged the country, by buying cattle from owners, who would otherwise have suffered a very big loss as the animals would have perished in the drought. Now the farmers can replenish their herds when the drought passes. The Kenya Cooperative creameries is also another marketing board that buys milk from farmers at better prices than go between and hence offering a ready market to milk as a produce in the country. The Coffee board of Kenya and the Kenya Tea Development Authority also buys produce from farmers at good prices, so that farmers are ensured of a market for their produce and can be able to develop themselves from income earned. The boards then sell the produce through exports. This board deals with buying pyrethrum from farmers and finding a market for it. Boards established by the colonialists have, on the whole, been playing a major role in marketing most of these crops, but the majority is inefficient, corrupt, and unable to bring the necessary changes to the agricultural sector to meet the challenges of global competition. Measuring whether the above objectives have been achieved is difficult, since most of these boards offer minimal public information and data important for analysis. In the current global market, private firms, with the intent of maximizing returns, will always hunt for the best world prices. Their staff is likely to be more qualified than the bloated workforce littering our boards. Farmers would be better served by private entities. Since new farmers are always joining a given sector, the system of stabilization is disadvantageous to the old ones. Funds set aside earlier end up cushioning even the newcomers. Since the 1990s, the target prices set by the boards seem to have been out-paced by the rate of inflation. In real terms, it is the farmers who experience negative returns for their products. Most crops in our country come from specific regions where weather conditions are favorable. Centralization of the marketing boards dampens the enthusiasm of farmers. It is in the best interest of the country for income obtained in a certain region to remain there in the hands of farmers, save for the taxes raised by the State. Some senior employees at the head offices, who do not even come from the areas in which the crops are grown, sometimes earn more in a year than do farmers in their whole lives. Our marketing boards are government revenue collectors rather than price stabilizers. Farmers pay more taxes at the hands of these boards, than they would otherwise. The establishment of various agencies in the agricultural sector for various crops is wasteful in terms of overheads and inexperienced staff. The very objectives for which the boards were set up can be handled by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with co-operatives and private marketing enterprises. The subsidies embedded in grains pricing systems, coupled with heavy overhead costs associated with high administrative, transportation and storage costs, soon created huge tax burdens. The pan territorial pricing system meant higher transportation and handling costs in moving commodities from some remote areas, and the management of large volumes of commodities in storage was costly. In addition, the monitoring of private trade was not only costly but generally ineffective, especially for food commodities in shortage seasons. E. g. The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) of Kenya accumulated an estimated loss of about $300 million by 1993, in contrast with central government expenditure on agriculture of $33 million. Marketing boards also face organizational challenges. Their susceptibility to bureaucracy and corruption increased both the inefficiency in their operations and the transactions costs for farmers and consumers. In 2011 Kenya’s economy recorded moderate growth, driven primarily by financial intermediation, tourism, construction and agriculture. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is projected to expand modestly in 2012 and 2013. In 2011 it was held back by an unstable macroeconomic environment characterized by rising inflation, exchange rate depreciation and high energy costs. Limited rainfall in the first half of 2011 resulted in a decline in aggregate food production, a factor that contributed significantly to runaway inflation. The inflationary pressures experienced in 2011 and the depreciation of the Kenyan shilling (KES) can be traced back in part to the Central Bank of Kenya’s decision to cut its repo rate from 7% to 6% in December 2010 in a bid to revive lending and stimulate growth. However, increased consumer demand pushed up prices and put pressure on the Kenyan shilling as demand for imports increased substantially. Inflation is projected to fall to single figures in 2012 and 2013 thanks to improved food production and stability in fuel prices. The year 2011 was marked by the passing of legislation to put into effect the new constitution and the appearance of six Kenyan citizens at the International Criminal Court, while political parties began preparing for elections expected in 2012. Youth unemployment is a growing problem in Kenya as it makes up 70% of total unemployment. The Youth Enterprise Development Fund, operational over the last five years as the main intervention agency, has, among other actions, disbursed almost KES 6 billion to some 157 538 youth enterprises; organized youth trade fairs; built simple infrastructure for young people; and started pre-financing training for the young. The fund will be expanded in the coming years to ensure increased employment for the young.