buy custom “Significant Relationship” essay

buy custom â€Å"Significant Relationship† essay A study was conducted by George E. Arnold to analyze the relationship between the styles of leadership and its impact upon the success of a virtual project. Today, world has seen a considerable increase in virtual projects. Estimates show that in 2004 about thirteen million employees in US were part of at least one team making virtual projects. About five hundred project management professional-certified project manager of the Kansas City, Missouri, Metropolitan area was assessed for the study. These managers were evaluated upon questionnaires. Which were divided in to three sections? These questionnaires were administered via emails. A total of two hundred and twenty nine responded of the selected sample of five hundred. The response rate was about half of the selected population, it seemed significant with the total of two hundred and eighteen responses needed to prove the variables at the selected confidence interval. (George E. Arnold, 2008) The study showed that a significant relationship prevails among different leadership styles mostly importantly transformational leadership and project success in virtual projects. Quantitative analysis was done of the data. This data is expected to help leaders in comprehending the affect of different styles of leadership on the progress of different projects formulated for virtual communication among organizations. (George E. Arnold, 2008) The usage of collaborative technology is growing at high rate in this rapidly growing environment. Today organizations are required to install virtual projects to bring close people from different geographical locations. The creation of virtual team will help the organizations perform their functions at different georgraphical locations bridging the gap of time and distance. This type of team supports the organization to bring close several talented people unable to maintain face to face working relations in different projects of virtual teams. Virtual project teams create unique leadership challenges. These types of teams do encounter restrictions in face to face communication therefore their activities are impeded due to primary leadership activities. (George E. Arnold, 2008) The selection of an accurate and suitable style of leadership is necessary to maintain the functioning and success of virtual projects. (George E. Arnold, 2008) It is assumed that future organizations will require such leaders that will be capable to handle uncertainty and competition among a different working people. This will help leaders attain the viability and profitability of their organizations. The second category is mostly used in the consultants or external assessors orin business to business activities like B2B e-commerce. These categorization also depend upon the principle of proximity to explicit whether employees are geographically close to each other or are scattered. A work-cycle synchronicity was designed to understand the interaction of the participants at different time periods (George E. Arnold, 2008) A virtual project team is a group of geographically dispersed workers brought together across time and space through information and communication technologies. These teams work in unison and are very close to each other despite having temporal, spatial and cultural differences. They mostly communicate via conference calls, video conferences, email etc. this is leading to the development of a new leadership role in the criterion. Advancements in the technical and collaborative soft wares increases the utilization of virtual team. These types of teams play an important role in maintaining reductions in the real estate expenses, increased productivity, higher profits, environmental benefits and greater access to global markets. (George E. Arnold, 2008) The analysis of the data in the study show that a statistically significant relationship prevails between transformational leadership and project success in virtual projects. In fact transformational style of leadership has emerged as a prominent and most effective leadership style especially in the virtual projects and their success. Though, some of the personalities characteristics of transformational leadership are not prominent in case of virtual projects and teams for instance charisma and vision. Organizations are developing certain trans-national teams to perform in an effective manner. It will help to overcome certain means of efficiency and flexibility to reduce certain problems (Daphna, Niv and Dalia, 2005) This restriction of characteristics helps in the effective understanding of the virtual leadership. Transactional leadership is also significant in virtual leadership for it helps in the comprehension of task completion. . Hence, it is necessary for the leaders nowadays to possess certain skills with the help of which they can interact with people in a successful manner. Leaders must have skills to lead with success in this widely altering world. It is necessary for the leader to aware people of the virtual communication methods present. In this way they will be able to select the most felicitous for themselves and their organization. (Daphna, Niv and Dalia, 2005) Daphna et all conducted a study to find out the influence of the division of Labor, Hierarchy and work process upon the efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction of virtual leadership. TThe structure of the virtual leaders can increase the corporate output of such leaders. The outcomes of the study suggest that the virtual-structured teams are more successful than virtual-unstructured teams. The functioning of the virtual teams is expected to enhance in future. (Daphna, Niv and Dalia, 2005) During previous few years team working has came into existence several organizations are now using teams to perform their functions. The usage of virtual team has gained attention and significance in various organizations most of these are international organizations that perform their activities at the global level. Therefore on the basis it the teams can be defined as part of the model that predicts the influence of the virtuality and structural levels on processes, social and tasks, that effect team output. (Daphna, Niv and Dalia, 2005) Most common question asked these days is that Has the virtual era put an end to team structure. Today the teams virtuality level has be accepted as an integral construct of the definition of team. Several variables are affected by the teams virtual level such as face to face members of team posses high degree of cohesiveness, they are capable to maintain stronger social ties, they are more task oriented and show a dedication towards tasks and participants of the teams. They also possess an affectionate relationship with each other. However, in case of the time period to maintain stronger social ties is more. Virtual teams take more time to maintain stronger ties with people. Similarly, it has a negative influence upon the outcomes of the teams. Frequency and distance are considered responsible for it. The unfamiliarity among the team members is also a factor that hinders in the exchange of ideas and information among team members. (Daphna, Niv and Dalia, 2005) About fifteen interviews were conducted among the team members. It was found that the virtual leader are being treated as something novel, something which does not posses the proper item to operate with. Explicitly, all the members f virtual teams know that a virtual team operate in isolation and does not involve the participation of structural characteristics. The method of communication suggests what kind of processes is involved in the virtual teams. The processes can be either task or social oriented. Usually, Virtual communication is task oriented this type of communication is cheaper than face-to-face communication. The entire study found that certain level of reforms is needed in the task orientation to maintain and control virtual communication. However more organization is required for this purpose. (Daphna, Niv and Dalia, 2005) Buy custom â€Å"Significant Relationship† essay

Demeter and the Abduction of Persephone

Demeter and the Abduction of Persephone The story of the abduction of Persephone is more a story about Demeter than it is about her daughter Persephone, so were starting this re-telling of the rape of Persephone beginning with her mother Demeters relationship with one of her brothers, her daughters father, the king of the gods, who refused to step in to help- at least in a timely manner. Demeter, goddess of the earth and grain, was sister to Zeus, as well as Poseidon and Hades. Because Zeus betrayed her by his involvement in the rape of Persephone, Demeter left Mt.Olympus to wander among men. Hence, although a throne on Olympus was her birthright, Demeter is sometimes not counted among the Olympians. This secondary status did nothing to lessen her importance for the Greeks and Romans. The worship associated with Demeter, the Eleusinian Mysteries, endured until it was suppressed in the Christian era. Demeter and Zeus Are Parents of Persephone Demeters relationship with Zeus had not always been so strained: He was the father of her much-loved, white-armed daughter, Persephone. Persephone grew up to be a beautiful young woman who enjoyed playing with the other goddesses on Mt. Aetna, in Sicily. There they gathered and smelled the beautiful flowers. One day, a narcissus caught Persephones eye, so she plucked it to get a better look, but as she pulled it from the ground, a rift formed... Demeter had not been watching too carefully. After all, her daughter was grown. Besides, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena were there to watch- or so Demeter assumed. When Demeters attention returned to her daughter, the young maiden (called Kore, which is Greek for maiden) had vanished. Where Was Persephone? Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena didnt know what had happened, it had been so sudden. One moment Persephone was there, and the next she wasnt. Demeter was beside herself with grief. Was her daughter dead? Abducted? What had happened? No one seemed to know. So Demeter roamed the countryside looking for answers. Zeus Goes Along With Persephones Abduction After Demeter had wandered for 9 days and nights, searching for her daughter as well as taking out her frustrations by randomly torching the earth, the 3-faced goddess Hekate told the anguished mother that while she had heard Persephones cries, she had not been able to see what had happened. So Demeter asked Helios, the sun god- he had to know since he sees all that happens above the ground during the day. Helios told Demeter that Zeus had given their daughter to The Invisible (Hades) for his bride and that Hades, acting on that promise, had taken Persephone home to the Underworld. The imperious king of the gods  Zeus  had dared to give  Demeters daughter Persephone away to Hades, the dark lord of the Underworld, without asking! Imagine Demeters outrage at this revelation. When the sun god  Helios  insinuated that  Hades  was a good match, it added insult to injury. Demeter and Pelops Rage soon reverted to great sorrow. It was during this period that Demeter absentmindedly ate a piece of Pelops shoulder at a banquet for the gods. Then came depression, which meant Demeter couldnt even think about doing her work. Since the goddess wasnt providing food, soon no one would eat. Not even Demeter. Famine would strike mankind. Demeter and Poseidon It didnt help when Demeters third brother, the lord of the sea,  Poseidon, turned against her as she wandered in Arcadia. There he tried to rape her. Demeter saved herself by turning into a mare grazing along with the other horses. Unfortunately, horse-god Poseidon easily spotted his sister, even in mares form, and so, in stallion form, Poseidon raped the horse-Demeter. If ever she had given a thought to returning to live on Mt. Olympus, this was the clincher. Demeter Wanders the Earth Now, Demeter was not a heartless goddess. Depressed, yes. Vengeful? Not particularly, but she did expect to be treated well- at least by mortals- even in the guise of an old Cretan woman. Gecko Killing Pleases Demeter By the time Demeter reached Attica, she was more than parched. Given water to drink, she took the time to sate her thirst. By the time she had stopped, an on-looker, Ascalabus, was laughing at the gluttonous old woman. He said she didnt need a cup, but a tub to drink out of. Demeter was insulted, so throwing water at Ascalabus, she turned him into a gecko.Then Demeter continued on her way about another fifteen miles. Demeter Gets a Job Upon arriving at Eleusis, Demeter sat down by an old well where she began to cry. Four daughters of Celeus, the local chieftain, invited her to meet their mother, Metaneira. The latter was impressed with the old woman and offered her the position of nurse to her infant son. Demeter accepted. Demeter Tries to Make an Immortal In exchange for the hospitality shed been extended, Demeter wanted to do a service for the family, so she set about to make the baby immortal by the usual immersion in fire and ambrosia technique. It would have worked, too, if Metaneira hadnt spied on the old nurse one night as she suspended the ambrosia-anointed infant over the fire. The mother screamed. Demeter, indignant, put the child down, never to resume the treatment, then revealed herself in all her divine glory, and demanded that a temple is built in her honor where she would teach her worshipers her special rites. Demeter Refuses to Do Her Work After the temple was built Demeter continued to reside at Eleusis, pining for her daughter and refusing to feed the earth by growing grain. No one else could do the work since Demeter had never taught anyone else the secrets of agriculture. Persephone and Demeter Reunited Zeus- ever mindful of the gods need for worshipers- decided he had to do something to placate his raging sister  Demeter. When soothing words wouldnt work, as a last resort Zeus sent  Hermes  to  Hades  to bring the daughter of Demeter back up to the light. Hades agreed to let his wife Persephone go back, but first, Hades offered Persephone a farewell meal. Persephone knew she couldnt eat in the Underworld if she ever hoped to return to the land of the living, and so she had diligently observed a fast, but Hades, her would-be husband, was so kind now that she was about to return to her mother Demeter, that Persephone lost her head for a second- long enough to eat a pomegranate seed or six. Perhaps  Persephone  didnt lose her head. Perhaps she had already grown fond of her implacable husband. At any rate, according to a covenant among the gods, the consumption of food guaranteed that Persephone would be allowed (or forced) to return to the Underworld and Hades. And so it was arranged that Persephone could be with her mother Demeter for two-thirds of the year, but would spend the remaining months with her husband. Accepting this compromise, Demeter agreed to let seeds sprout from the earth for all but three months a year- the time known as winter- when Demeters daughter Persephone was with Hades. Spring returned to the earth and would again every year when Persephone returned to her mother Demeter. To further show her goodwill to man, Demeter gave another of Celeus sons, Triptolemus, the first grain of corn and lessons in ploughing and harvesting. With this knowledge, Triptolemus traveled the world, spreading Demeters gift of agriculture.