Top Management Style (TMS) | Case Study

cover version counselling Style (TMS) Case StudyIntroductionCohesiveness in the team ups especi al championy in Top circumspection Teams (TMT) is ane of the close to signifi push asidet factors that influence the Superior Performance (SP) and strategical competitive returns of the system. There be m each factors that influence gluiness of teams and this essay is especi exclusivelyy going to point on an organizational factor, Top Management Style (TMS). Many researches proved that TMS is a crucial factor which influences the cohesiveness of the organizations, p contrivanceicularly new ventures. The literature review in this essay will explain how the TMT in new ventures can influence the cohesiveness and in knead the Superior Performance (SP) of the organization. Further more than, this essay will analyze how practically TMT of my previous organization successfully naturalized a exceedingly cohesive team and make cohesiveness as a strategic addition of the organization . The essay similarly analyze how cohesiveness in TMT facilitate the successful purpose making and on the different hand, how a gamyly cohesive TMT experienced damage decision making in few scenarios because of the concept of the as carriage cypher and suggests what could be a viable solution to improve decision making in those scenarios.Research settingMy previous organization is UST-Global which is one of the most successful and young organization in the Information Technology (IT) services Industry. UST-Global was established on 1999 with only 14 members and currently spread across 4 regions (North America, Europe, South America and AMEA) and 15 countries globally with the employee count of around 7000.Comparitively the organizations growth rate in profitability, financial position and make sense of employees is phenomenal. In my observation, the TMT is the primary reason for this success. Recently the organization successfully established a joint venture with General E lectric Company (GE) in Chile, South America. Established with punishing culture and values the organization is direct a shit with advanced cohesiveness and as a result showing superior performance in the scoringet. The organization achieved $500 million yearly sales mark with 15-20% net margin in few age after establishment and continues to growing better. Organizations head count and sales is increasing by more than 15% each year which abstemiously shows the SP of the organization in the market.UST-Global is one of the outflank young companies in IT industry to analyse cohesiveness because of the culture and values established in the organization.Literature review viscidityCohesion is a multifaceted asset of a assorting and strong forecaster of the group behavior which has been define and analyzed in many distinct ways by researchers. Cohesion can be defined as the measure of the ability of a group to exert a pull on its members and encourage them to remain as a part o f the group. In essence, tackiness would serve as a strong centripetal force binding a team together in the presence of strong centrifugal force wish rise conflicts (NV 371) clement descent between TMT and CohesionThere atomic number 18 many factors that can influence the cohesiveness. These factors have been classified by (Rollinson) as group factors, environmental factors and organizational factors. According to (Homans 1950) there atomic number 18 many organizational factors deal applied science usage, solicitude style and aroundoneal background of members argon influencing the cohesiveness. Many researches show that especially the TMS can greatly chair to the cohesiveness of the organizations. This section will explain how the TMT of an organization can influence the cohesiveness of the organization. A TMT is a group of high level managers accountable for invent and executing the sozzleds strategies. The power to organize the direction and performance of the organ ization possibly makes TMT as most crucial and prominent team in the bulletproof (LS 6). In particular, the new venture TMT consisted of those mickle identified as the CEO, president and critical line or staff function executives (NV 373). By establishing appropriate culture, member criteria, technology usage and melt down environment and other important factors, TMT has the ability to influence on group cohesiveness of the organization. (LS 5)Michael suggests that both task tipership and social leadership can run low on positive contri fairishion to the cohesiveness by keeping the team foc utilize on the task and by maintaining good relationship and team harmony.In essence, upshotive leaders maintained group harmony and cohesiveness of the organization by attending both to mission-specific task outcomes and to the personal qualities of crew members. (LS 4)Relationship between Cohesiveness and Superior Performance of organization (SP)The cited references and many theories show that cohesiveness is positively link to the SP of the organization. According to Re outset Based View (RBV), resources ar key drivers of sustainable competitive advantage. The most precious resources referred to as strategic assets atomic number 18 concurrently valuable, r ar, heterogeneous and costly to imitate and non substitutable. Resources are valuable when they admit the firm to take advantage of opportunities and/or neutralize threats in external environment. (LS 6).Thus in relation to RBV logic, the available empirical evidence converges to suggest that cohesion in teams especially in TMT should constitute a highly valuable resource to the firm (LS 7).In essence, cohesiveness in teams, particularly Top Management Teams (TMT) is positively associated with Superior Performance (SP) of the firms.(LS 8)Relationship between Cohesiveness in TMTs and SP of the organizationsIn new ventures, Top Management Team Cohesiveness (TMTC) is especially important because of the com plex and ambiguous nature of the teams task. (NV 368). This section will explain how cohesiveness in TMT associated with the conflicts experienced during decision making process and in turn relate with the SP of the firms. Studies shows that cohesion in the TMT related directly to ROI and sales growth which are main factors in SP of the organization (NV 372). Moreover, theories show that the cohesiveness in the TMT is related to the conflicts experienced in the teams during decision making. Recent research shows conflict to be multidimensional, the cognitive dimension of conflict is considered to be generally functional, this occurs when the team members consider a number of alternatives from soma of diverse perspectives in decision making. On the other hand, the affective dimension of conflict is generally dysfunctional and occurs when personally oriented disagreement focusing on interpersonal dislikes and disaffections. (NV 369).Generally cohesion will relate positively to the le vel of cognitive conflict and negatively to the level of affective conflict experienced during decision making.(NV 370,371).Top Management Team Cohesion (TMTC) also have the potential to operate as an intangible strategic asset by helping the TMT to reach consensus on strategic direction and organizational controls, as well as by facilitating communication and commitment to shared organizational goals.(LS 2)TMTC appears to possess all the attri savees of a strategic asset and thus according to the RBV and previous empirical get under ones skinings, TMTC should be positively related to superior firm performance.Theories explain that, surprisingly a nonher dimension of cohesion leads to cut the level of cognitive conflicts in decision making process because of the concept of group think. As the groups become highly cohesive, and in the presence of dominant leader, group members, whitethorn in fact, with hold useful ideas that may contradict the popular opinion in order to maintain their positive status in the group (Janis 1982 NV382).As an essence, the literature review discussed that, especially for new ventures, Top Management style is one of the crucial factor importantly associated with cohesiveness in the organization, which in turn is significantly associated with sustainable competitive advantage and SP. Furthermore, high cohesiveness in TMT may also lead to group think which lead to impaired decision making and affect the SP of the firm.AnalysisAnalyzing how the TMS influenced the cohesiveness in UST-GlobalFrom my observation, the following are the important factors established by the TMT improved the cohesiveness of the firm significantly.The TMT established values and culture in the beau monde which offers dignity to every employee and enforced the employees to treat everyone in an unbiased manner. We give respect to battalion and an chance to fulfill their maximum potential in an atmosphere where there is no fear and also initiative and creativ eness are truly encouraged(Sajan). Thus the social leadership perspective (LS 5) of TMT in UST-global enhanced the cohesiveness in the organization by encouraging respect for team members and maintaining group harmony by clear behavioral norms and imposing these norms by rejecting deviant behavior.(Fedman 1984 LS 5).Moreover, the TMT formed a straininger membership criteria to improve the cohesiveness. The organization attracts best talents from all over the world. The medium and high level management team consists of people from best business schools and knowledge workers are hired after four level of filtering interview processes. Competent people working in harmony will produce the best results. Both competence and harmony are equally important (Menon).The TMT improved the communication and cooperation between team members by introducing highly interactive communication technologies. This shows the effectiveness of the TMTs Social leadership((LS 5). The TMT also created a world class task tracker software which improved the task management significantly which in turn explains the effectiveness of Task leadership(LS 5).we are setting an example by showing how heavily we are using IT for our own internal operations(Sajan).Furthermore, The TMT provide a working environment where people assist each other and able to perform in a team environment. This environment enables employees to deliver their best and at the same prison term get highest job satisfaction. IT employees are knowledge workers.If the environments supports the employees to use their creativity and ideas, that is what satisfies them and enables them to provide outstanding service to the client.Thus the Top Management Style (TMS) in UST-Global facilitated the cohesiveness byout the organization by establishing appropriate culture, member criteria, technology usage, work environment and other important factors, and bring the firm highly successful with in a short span of cadence.Analysing how cohesion in teams especially TMT influenced the SPIn my observation, the Top Management Team (TMT) in UST-Global is highly cohesive and this fact was also veritable by my interviewee in TMT that, Job fulfillment is our key to attracting people and that is several(prenominal)thing we have been capable to accomplish because of our Values and Culture. Thats is the reason, UST-Global TMT has fifty-fifty CIOs of many firms non only joined but are in fact energized to be a part of the company(Sajan). Organization has built a goodish higher level team to focus only on clients which includes Robert D, former General Manager of Reebok IT department, Marsha B, former VP and CTO of safway, and Paul M, former VP of AIG Technology department. In my observation, the resemblance between the team members in price of background experience, TMT in UST-Globlal become truly a unique composition, where competitors lag merchantman a lot, especially harder for competitors to imitate. Also,It was a ccepted by my interviewee that The TMTC is a crucial strategic asset for UST-Global.Conflicts arising during decision making is an obvious one. Inevitably some disagreement will keep in decision making but, all of our team members consider the conflicts as a alternative solution in decision making. According to (NV 369) Those TMT are able to take advantage of the disagreements by keeping it task focused and constructive should outperform those for whom the disagreement becomes personally focused and destructive. So it is evident that UST-Global TMT is able to take advantage of disagreements in decision making which leads to the SP of the organization.DiscussionMost of the decisions made by the TMT were highly successful. For example, the decision of fewer clients and higher attention gave the organization a high strategic competitive advantage in the service market.Fortune 500 clients of UST Global like the attention they receive when the companys priority is on client share as op pose to market share. To ensure relentless attention to its clients the company targets only a few clients in a year for a long-term business relationship and concentrates and invests on them fully. This was a conscious decision we made in the very early days of the company. Even if there is a short term opportunity for revenue we ignore it(Dan)Even though the organization TMT is highly cohesive and successful in decision making I can notice that in very few scenarios the decisions of TMT went less effective. I am explaining three of the ineffective decisions by the TMT which I have noticed below.In last six years the TMT has changed the organization name three times for several reasons. Although the TMT explained the reasons for the name change, this affects the recognition and brand value of the company in the market. Furthermore, the organization hired more number of people to achieve the expected growth and not able to manage the huge talent pool and end up with many HR related issues. Particularly, the TMT has announced to the media that it will go public by starting signal quarter of 2009 but the TMT was not able to make it up until now. Sajan told that Going public is expensive, more expensive than ever before, so we want to get a critical mass(Article UST_Global)Although the TMT explains the reason of uncontrollable external environmental changes and other factors as reason, This affects the image of the company in the market and among employees.Even though only a very less decisions made by the TMT in UST-Global became ineffective and this will generally happen in every fast growing organization, the above issues explained are clearly because of the ineffective decision making in the TMT. Also, in my personal observation and with my interviews, it is clear that there was more cognitive conflicts happened in decision making process and helped the TMT to be more effective in decision making. So in my opinion, the effect of group think could be the poss ible reason which led the highly cohesive TMT to make the above impaired decisions which affects the performance of the organization.High Cohesiveness in teams is a competitive advantage to achieve the common objectives but while taking important decisions the TMT should highly reconsider the decision and make sure that the high cohesiveness doesnt led to group think and affect the decisions.Philosophical Concepts What is real?Philosophical Concepts What is real?What is real?PhilosophyWe live in a man that is infinitely commodious, upon a planet that plays home the only existing life forms that we know of. In the movie The Matrix, our world is nothing more than a unblemished computer program, run through our brains while the world deteriorates from within. How can we ever know, that this is not happening to us at this very instant? This essay is on the face of it not condoning the idea that we are run by computers, til now, it will attempt to take a deeper look into a apparent forepart that is rarely thought about, but should perhaps be a more common one What Is Real? This essay will analyze many different views of realism, from different places, at different points in time, considering each point of view, and seek to further the proofreaders knowledge in this realm of philosophy.At the present time, we, as humans, have no direct way of knowing what is real. It is a mystery, far more complex than any computer or robot we possess. What is strikingly odd about this question is that if you ask a seven year-old what is real, it is probable that you will receive an answer. Clearly this answer will be very basic, and chances are that the seven year-old will not explain why they chose that answer, but is it not fascinating that in two minutes, a mere child is able to respond to a question some adults, can waste their whole life trying to answer? Many would argue that the child only gives that answer, because he or she is none the wiser, but is it possible tha t philosophers, or anyone who makes an attempt to answer this question, are none the wiser, for having overlooked the simple answer of a youngster? Once again, this is from a completely un-biased point of view, and seeks solely to provoke thought in the readers mind.If were good, we go to a heaven of some sort. An answer many people around the world would give when asked what happens when we pass away. Is that possible? There is a theory that when we die, we lose 21 grams, and that these 21 grams represents our soul, either heading up, or down. Is this an actual possibility, that as we die, a part of us lives on? Is it possible anyone will ever know for sure? another(prenominal) theory on afterlife is that when we die, its the same as before we were born. This iridescent nothingness, of a dark or light blank screen. And as we wait in this dark/lightness, we are just sitting in line to be reborn. This theory leads to the argument of what is nothing? Is nothing possible? There is no clear definition of nothing in the dictionary, only vague attempts such as a non-existent thing, or in no way to no degree.The idea of nothing being impossible is quite fascinating, as it is not possible to think of nothing, leading us further to believe that something, must be real, even if they are mere images, they are still real images. These real images are what we declare in everyday life, although they differ from person to person, we know that we are seeing something real, because we know that we cannot see nothing.We live in an unpredictable world. No one can order for sure whats waiting around the corner, or whats going to happen tomorrow. Yet some people believe in something called exigency The seemingly inevitable succession of events. Destiny goes against everything logical. It is a truth, worldly known that nothing is provable by means of the technology, science, math or experiment, which we possess in our day and age. Furthering our question, to something more al ong the lines of How do we know what we think is real, if we have no way of actually proving it? So is it possible that destiny does really exist, and that we may all be following a list of events that have already been thought out? Perhaps the determinists are right?As humans, most of us are blessed with five senses touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing. These acute senses vary from person to person. What may appear as an orange to one may appear as a banana to the next. Ones acquired taste for sushi might be considered disgusting to another. There is a adage that says one mans garbage is anothers treasure. This saying represents how not only senses vary from being to being, but how perspective does as well. It is arguable that perspective all depends on things such as background, beliefs, and perhaps most importantly, wealthiness, but these opinions are solely in the eye of the beholder. It is firmly believed that perspective is influenced by how one sees an image, object, or person, primarily, and secondly by wealth etc.These varying perspectives can be captured in full motion at Stanstead College, where there is a clash of cultures. There are Mexicans who prefer their dulcorate hot and spicy, to almost anyone else who frowns at first taste, and asks for something sweet instead. This does not only hold true for candy, it can be found in almost any other perspective of life style, likes, sports (aside from soccer as it is known as the global language), and interest in the opposite sex. Where one boy might find a girl in his class to be the next best thing since sliced bread, the young man next to him might completely disagree. Another example can be found in the music industry, where one boy might find Mozart atrocious, and be madly in have intercourse with his positron emission tomography heavy-metal band. The guy in the room next to him that gets mad at this loud, satanic noise as he might refer to it, might fancy unspotted music and think it is am azing. All these reasons may lead one to believe that we are not all witnessing the same images, or hearing the same sounds, that tastes and likes are more than acquired, that perhaps its the way it comes through our ears or mouth that differs.These examples all lead to the next question if peoples perspectives and tastes vary so heavily, how do we know which one is right, or real? Is their a wrong side of the bridge? Is there a way to determine this? No. due(p) to the limitations of reason and logical thinking, for now all we have is our opinionated guesses. These opinions have been known to get us in trouble as a race. Since the first religious wars, people have been fighting over beliefs, territory, and who the stronger is. Life would almost be some(prenominal) easier if a right answer was determinable.Exert from From Socrates to Sartre The Philosophic seeking p. 207 Hegels Metaphysics Absolute IdealismReality as totality of conceptual truth Idea that total reality is an abso lute mind, or the mind of god, which is an merged and structured source of truths.Reality as absolute mind reality is absolute conceptuality which reveals itself through human experiences in all aspects of life.The real is the clear-sighted and the rational is the real Reality is knowable by its intelligible, rational structures Hegel is very against the commandment that reality is unknowable, for he believes it is present for every human to attain through reason.Hegel, much like Plato, is a relativist, and a strong one at that. Hegel is as confident a rationalist as Plato had been. (From Socrates to Sartre, p. 209) He is a firm believer that reality, and what is real, is determinable through rational thought, something that is present in all humans. He feels that what is real? all depends on the person, and their personal experiences.Exert from Philosophy, a textual matter with Readings p. 178Let us settle ourselves , and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, that alluvion which covers the covers the globe till we com to a hard bottom of rocks in a place which we call reality. James Thomson.Thomson feels that for humans to have a solid sense of reality, furthermore, what is real, they must first put behind them their differences in opinion, tradition, appearance etc. This is found to be a very good point, as it makes sense. How can we expect a world to come to terms on things such as reality, when we cannot come to terms on smaller things such as oil prices? As a race, our attitude towards each other must change, and as a people, we must take into account everyones perspective in a respectful manner. Globalisation, as much as it is frowned upon by some, is believed to be a possible answer. Globalisation is allowing us to become more united as a world, making it easier to reach out to one another. world-class phase of globalisation(discovery of the new worlds in 1490s) changed the size of the world from large to medium, 2nd phase(industrial r growings) changed it from medium to small, the 3rd phase, which is taking place now, changed it from small, to tiny. ***politics paperThe Materialist View( philistinism the metaphysical position that reality is ultimately composed of matter definition from Philosophy, a Text with Readings) east- Eastern materialism dates back to around 600 B.C.E, was a principle held by the Charvaka philosophers of India. They believed that the only form of reasoning was sense perception. They matte that other sources of knowledge, such as inductive, or deductive reasoning were invalid. They believed that the only reliable source of knowledge is what we can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste with our senses. Along with this belief, they argued that if we cannot know something, it is wrong to say it exists. They did not believe in spirits, nor did they believe in an afterlife, because it is not something we are able t o perceive with our senses. Human life begins in this world, and ends in this world, so people should try to get as much of the bodily pleasures of this life as they can. Charvakaian BeliefWestern- Western materialism can be traced all the way back to 460 B.C.E. Much like the Charvakian philosophers, the early Western philosophers believed that reality could be explained in terms of matter. According to Democritus, everything in the universe, even the soul, is made up of atoms. Almost a millennium after Democritus came another great Western philosopher, Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes felt quite similar to Democritus, as he believed that measurable matter is all there is in the universe, that only matter is real.The universe, that is the whole mass of things that are, is corporeal, that is to say physical structure and has the dimensions of magnitude, namely, length, breadth, and depth. Also every part of body is likewise body, and has the like dimensions. And, consequently, every part of th e Universe is body, and that which is not body is no part of the Universe. And because the Universe is all, that which is no part of it is nothing, and consequently, nowhere. exert from Hobbes LeviathanObjections to Materialism-The main objection to materialism is the fact that it is very neglectful in accounting for human consciousness. Many people feel that activities such as loving, wishing, dreaming, hoping and hating all come from nonmaterial spiritual entity.The Idealist View(idealism in metaphysics, the position that reality is ultimately nonmatter, in epistemology, the position that all we know are our ideas definition from Exert from Philosophy, a Text with Readings)Western Idealism-Western idealism dates back to the ancient Greek, Pythagoras (about 600 B.C.E). Pythagoras held the belief that individual entities are unless shadows of reality.( Exert from Philosophy, a Text with Readings) This thinking can also be found with the Christian thought, developed by Saint Augus tine. In The City of God, Augustine warns the reader to beware of the world, and flesh, as they are temporary. What was claimed as real is the spiritual world, or the world without matter.Eastern Idealism-The most commonly known Eastern idealist, is an Indian philosopher by the name of Vasubandhu. He strongly believed that all we ever perceive are sensations within us. He is famous for saying Only mind exists. The other Eastern idealists held most of the same ideas as the Western ones, letting idealism to be quite similar all over the globe.Objections to Idealism-Almost all objections to idealism are based upon the fact that it is all based upon assumption. Idealists have also been accused of committing the fallacy of anthropomorphism (giving human attributes to nonhuman entities, mainly god).Nancy by Chuck close Overview and AnalysisNancy by Chuck button up Overview and AnalysisWhat can be seen as a beautiful work of art by one person may not appear that way to someone else. So much in the art world is subjective, yet when artists are able to come up with something revolutionary while showing technical prowess it tends to garner attention. Nancy by Chuck nearly is one of those motion pictures that forces people to take notice. Creating portrayings at a time when they were considered exsanguinous by many Close was able to achieve success while overcoming diversity with his larger than life portraitures. Nancy not only helped to vault Closes public life into the mainstream, but also assisted in the rebirth of realism into American art. Close took the fame that came with his early portraits and later(prenominal) on adapted the style around his ask and feelings at the time. All of these reasons are part of why Chuck Close is one of Americas most influential artists today.Painted in 1968, Nancy was Chuck Closes second portrait belonging to his heads series. Measuring in at 108 3/8 x 82 1/4 in, Nancy is a black and white portrait multi-color using acryl ic on hit the books (Milwaukee Art Museum). It shows a woman from the neck up looking at the viewer with an empty almost cold stare. It is rather bland in the fact that there is no real focal point that stands out in the portrait. Instead he centers Nancy on the canvas with no background behind her. Close portrays Nancy with a lot of details. When first looking at it she seems unwelcoming. She has straw-like hair, which is shown unkempt she has a bit of a cross to her eyes, and a slight snaggletooth. Close shows all of her wrinkles and age lines along with all of her freckles. Nancy does not appear to have any hidden symbols seeing as how it follows the photorealism style.Nancy is a portrait that does not hold anything back. Everything about her face is there for everyone to see. It is incredibly detailed having even the hair follicles on her face being visible. When you look closely it looks like a whole different picture than when you view it from afar. Up close one can become c onfused as to what they are looking at because of its enormous size. Since all the physical features of the face are so grossly enlarged it is difficult to determine exactly what everything is. Even though Close used a power system system to paint Nancy, just like all of his heads portraits, it is not as if the grid is actually visible to the naked eye (Dantos). He does a good job of smoothing everything out to look fluid. From further away Nancy has all the details seem to take shape together and it is possible to tell it is a portrait of a person. Again because of its colossal size, even when standing afar it is possible to see Nancy is an exceedingly detailed portrait.Chuck Close has through a lot of different figures of work in his career but none are as famous as his heads portfolio which stems from his notorious self-portrait (OHagan). Nancy belongs to this famed portfolio and has an elicit background on how it came to be. Close started painting these close up portraits alm ost by accident when one of his previous projects seemed to be on the verge of failure. It started when Close decided to paint a giant scale 11 by 22 foot nude portrait of a woman rendered from a depiction. As he started to work on it he realized that while it certainly was big in size, it lacked certain flair. In the midst of this he decided to take a picture of himself and start experiment painting that on the same grand scale. His photo was of him from the neck up in a disheveled type of manner. The photo is taken in such a real manner that it seems very uncongenial and unexpressive. He took the photo and divided it up into a grid and from this grid he took the small sections of the photograph and one at a time transferred them over to the larger canvas (Gomez). This allowed him to concentrate on depicting all the little details in a large, almost photograph like fashion while still maintaining the big picture effect. The result as previously discussed is a very powerful portra it with a looming presence.From the success of this self portrait, Close then started on a whole collection of these close up portraits. The subjects were himself, his family, and his friends. One of these people was the artist Nancy Graves. One of the things that make Nancy different from some of Closes portraits is that most of Closes subjects were not known before the portraits and gained notoriety after Nancy Graves however was already in the midst of making a name for herself with her own artwork at the time. He took the photo of her that the portrait was based off in much the same manner as the one he took for his original self-portrait. This means she was sitting there showing almost no expression, seemingly vacate of all emotions. Taking these kinds of photos requires a certain comfort level with the subject seeing as how they are essentially being shown with all their faults exposed. Robert Storr, an organizing curator for one of his exhibitions, describes the dynamic betw een Close and his subjects well when he says Close has an, extreme intimacy with his subjects which Close, as a portraitist, presumes would be impossible to sustain if the artist were authentically indifferent to them (Johnson, Learning from Exhibitions Chuck Close. 34). This might be the reason Close used friends and family with whom he had a strong relationship with, and therefore people who he cared for. Storr goes on to say the corresponding intimacy he establishes between a given sitter, locked in photographic permanence, and the view, who is at liberty to examine his or her every crease and follicle, as if he or she were a laboratory specimen, is predicated on a subdued yet powerful sense of mutuality. (Johnson, Learning from Exhibitions Chuck Close. 34). present he reaffirms the notion that his portrait subjects had to feel a sense of connection and trust with Close in order to be viewed by everyone in a kind of vulnerable state.Close has always had certain affection for ph otography, daguerreotypes in particular, and therefore loved working in this manner of portraits from photographs. Daguerreotypes are early photographs created by using the developing process of Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (Craven 238). The daguerreotype had a huge impact on the world in the 1800s because they brought photography within the reach of the common population. People praised them for the the true in which they could represent things. While a very old technique, Close appreciated daguerreotypes and showed this by choosing them to be the things from which he painted from. Close has utter Its like holding a book in your lap. When you look at something with a bunch of other people it is a different experience. I just love the object status of a daguerreotype (Beem). This is a viewpoint that visibly carries over into his work.He uses the photographs over actual models because he says the photographs give him something very specific to do that wasnt going to change (Beem). Another major driving force behind using photographs compared to the actual person is that Close suffers from a disease called prosopagnosia. This condition makes him uneffective to make do peoples faces. According to him from an interview with Jeffrey Brown, taking the photograph and working from that makes things flatten out for him which allows him to establish it to memory. Close goes on to say that one of the reasons he does portraits of people who are close to him, such as family and friends, is because that is who matters and how he helps himself create their faces in his memory. This fact also goes back to relate to the previously discussed comfort level with his friends and family members as subjects. Close says this is the only way he has found to work around his condition with such detail and prowess. Working in photographs helps him recognize things as they are and create the images as well as portrays the message he wants to pass along. This methodology was common in a lot of his portraits and even underwent some evolution as his career went along.Nancy belongs in his early portraits from photographs in that it is in black and white and still uses the grid system of representing each grid square as an individual portrait that come together as a whole creating a very real almost photo like theatrical role. He later took this method and expanded upon it to include the use of colors, as well as taking the grid system and making each square their own soak in which they blend together to create a general portrait, almost having a mosaic quality. This has made his later works lose their photographic quality but they still take on a style of their own. This evolution has occurred due to a duet of different reasons but the biggest is due to the fact that he has been partially paralyzed from a spinal artery collapse in 1988, an occurrence in which Close calls The Event (Brown). He now paints using brushes strapped to his wrists but still maintains the same portrait from photograph style with the grid system.While Close himself does not like to classify his works as part of art movements (Brown), a lot of his works, including Nancy, fit into the pop art movement more specifically the New Realism or photorealism style in the 1960s. The term photorealism was created by Louis K. Meisel in 1969 and became to be known by other names including super-realism, hyper-realism, new realism, and neo-realism. (Meisel 12) While it may have all these different names, the art works are very similar in format. They usually take a photograph of something to capture all of the little details and then recreate a painting of it on a grander scale. The end result is a painting that mimics a photograph but the viewer still views it as a painting.The attraction that brings people to view these paintings has a lot to do with the technical detail and in the way it is painted more than the subject matter itself (Genocchio). This can also lead to the painti ngs seeming a bit stale and seemingly devoid of life however. Due to the high levels of details in these works, the artist needs a high level of technical prowess to depict everything as it is. Genocchio goes on to compare photorealism to Trompe loeil in that it elicits the same response from people in the way that the painting may not be of the most important or beautiful subject manner, yet the viewers attention is grasped by the technical prowess and tricks it plays on your eyes. Nancy unquestionably falls into this category seeing as how the painting itself cannot be claimed as beautiful, but it still garners interest due to its realism and bluntness of detail.Another interest aspect of Nancy, and all of his heads portraits, is the timing of their painting and release to the public. At the time Close, along with many others, thought portraiture was viewed as a bankrupt form, dead in the water (OHagan). Close called them heads for this reason so as not to attach a negative stigm a to them. Tim Marlow, a British art historian, has said of Close that he was a main driving force in reinventing portraiture in America (OHagan). These portraits were so different from other things at the time that there was not a correct term in describing them. In this way one could say that Close did succeed in creating a movement by himself which transcends a traditional label such as photorealism.The reason I picked this particular work to write this paper on was because it had a impingement value on me when I first saw it. It was interesting how such an unattractive portrait could capture my interest and force me to do a echo take. At first glance I thought it was quite grotesque and did not recognize that it was actually a portrait of a real person I thought it was some distorted idea of an ugly person. In fact as I was standing there more than a couple of people came along and commented on how hideous it seemed, further adding to the mystique.It also got my attention beca use the incredible detail levels make it seem as if it actually is a photograph instead of just a portrait. As I looked at it more it seemed to emit a sort of aura or presence due to its enormous size. I thought it was one of those painting that you can look at for a long time and still find small little nuances you did not notice before. It also has the ability to play tricks with ones eyes depending on how far away one views it. Up close it does not seem to be much of anything and it is possible to see all the intricacy that went into the portrait as it seems to come together all smooth. When gazed upon from further away one is able to see that it comes into focus and look like a detailed photograph. I went back home and researched Chuck Close, became engrossed by his style and story and therefore determined Nancy was the work I decided to write about.The feeling it gives me is almost unsettling in some regard. It is in such large scale that it almost takes a life of its own. Nanc y also amazes me because it makes me think how confident Nancy Graves must have been to have her portrayed in such an unsightly manner with every flaw on display window for people to see. It is almost as if she is making a statement with Close of that even though the human body is not perfect and can be ugly at times, that it still can be used as an art form. This seems to add an almost mystical quality that is hard to describe. The fact that Close can make something like this portrait and still make it a beautiful because of its detail is absolutely astounding to me. Typically when asked to think of famous portraits it is human nature to think of such greats as DaVincis the Mona Lisa or Gilbert Stuarts Portrait of George Washington. These are portraits which are much more aesthetically pleasing and follow side by side(predicate) to the thought of form that makes up portrait painting. While it seems as if no one thinks of Closes portraits in this same beautiful manner, I enjoy how Close makes them well revered and well heralded among art critics and general viewers alike.It makes me think when one takes anything and zooms in enough to expose all the little flaws and it becomes grotesque just as Nancy looks, how even grotesque things can still be subjects of great works of art. The fact that Close works with faces even though he cannot recognize them because of his condition also interests me. Coupling this with his paralysis suffered from the Event, along with him being wheelchair bound makes him a remarkable topic of study. From reading some interviews with him and looking at some of his quotes he seems very driven and passionate about his work which adds to the mystique of not only Nancy, but also his artistic career as a whole. He also seems to be quite the eclectic character and likes to do things his own way.Chuck Close accomplished setting himself apart while painting his heads series, including Nancy. By painting Nancy he created an awe striking portr ait that captures the viewers attention. Nancy showcases Closes technical proficiency with all of its details, yet also manages to congeal all the details into one smooth image. Close not only started to set himself apart, but also helped bring photorealism into the mainstream in America with his larger than life portraits. These portraits exude a sort of mystique that is not easily ignored and it is one of the many reasons Close remains one of the most influential painters in the history of American art.