The heritage of slavery in British jazz festivals

This article explores site-specific heritage questions of the contemporary cultural practice of festivals of jazz – a key transatlantic music form – by bringing together three areas for discussion and development: questions of slavery heritage and legacy; the location, built environment and (touristic) offer of the historic city; and the contemporary British jazz festival, its programme and the senses or silences of (historical) situatedness in the festival package. Other artistic forms, cultural practices and festivals are involved in self-reflexive efforts to confront their own pasts; such are discussed as varying processes of the decolonisation of knowledge and culture. This provides the critical and cultural context for consideration of the jazz festival in the Georgian urban centre. Preliminary analysis of relevant jazz festivals’ programmes, commissions and concerts leads to interrogating the relationship – of silence, of place – between jazz in Britain, historic or heritage locations and venues, and the degree or lack of understanding of the transatlantic slave trade. The heritage centres clearly associated with the slave trade that also have significant (jazz) festivals referred to include Bristol, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Lancaster, Liverpool, London, and Manchester

We All Know How, Don’t We? On the Role of Scrum in IT-Offshoring

Part 2: Creating Value through Software DevelopmentInternational audienceOffshoring in the IT-industry involves dual interactions between a mother company and an external supplier, often viewed with an implicit perspective from the mother company. This article review general off shoring and IT offshoring literature, focusing on the proliferation of a globally available set of routines; Scrum and Agile. Two cases are studied; a small company and short process and a large mother company with a long process. The interactions of the set ups shows that global concepts like Scrum and Agile are far from a common platform. The “well known” concepts are locally shaped and the enterprises have mixed experiences

Work-rate affects cardiopulmonary exercise test results in heart failure

Aims: Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) is used to evaluate patients with chronic heart failure (HF) usually by means of a personalized ramp exercise protocol. Our aim was to evaluate if exercise duration or ramp rate influences the results. Methods and results: Ninety HF patients were studied (peak V\u307O2: >20 ml/min/kg, n=28, 15-20 ml/min/kg, n=39 and <15 ml/min/kg, n=23). Each patient did four CPET studies. The initial study was used to separate the subjects into three groups, according to their exercise capacity. In the remaining studies, work-rate was increased at three different rates designed to have the subjects reach peak exercise in 5, 10 and 15 min from the start of the ramp increase in work-rate, respectively. The order was randomized. The work-rate applied for the total population averaged 22.7\ub18.0, 11.6\ub13.7, 7.5\ub12.9 W/min with effective loaded exercise duration of 5 min and 16 s\ub129 s, 9 min and 43 s\ub149 s and 14 min and 32 s\ub11 min and 12 s for the 5-, 10- and 15-min tests, respectively. Peak V\u307O2 averaged 16.9\ub14.3*, 18.0\ub14.4 and 18.0\ub15.4 ml/min/kg for the 5-, 10- and 15-min tests, (*=p<0.001 vs. 10 min). The shortest test had the lowest peak heart rate and ventilation and highest peak work-rate. Peak V\u307O2 and heart rate were lowest in 5-min tests regardless of HF severity. The \u394V\u307O2/\u394work-rate was lowest in 5-min tests and highest in 15-min tests. At all ramp rates, \u394V\u307O2/ \u394work-rate was lower for the subjects with the lower peak V\u307O2. The V\u307e/V\u307CO2 slope and V\u307O2 at anaerobic threshold were not affected by the protocol for any grade of HF. Conclusions: In chronic HF, exercise protocol has a small effect on peak V\u307O2 and \u394V\u307O2/\u394work but does not affect V\u307O2 at anaerobic threshold and V\u307e/V\u307CO2 slope

The Meaning and Meaningfulness of Corporate Social Initiatives

In response to pressures to be more “socially responsible,” corporations are becoming more active in global communities through direct involvement in social initiatives. Critics, however, question the sincerity of these activities and argue that firms are simply attempting to stave off stakeholder pressures without providing a corresponding benefit to society. By drawing on institutional theory and resource dependence theory, we consider what factors influence the adoption of a “meaningful” social initiative—an initiative that is sustainable and has the potential for a significant positive impact on society—as opposed to a symbolic initiative. In addition, we raise the question of how social initiatives—both meaningful and symbolic—participate in the “institutional war” over the meaning of corporate social responsibility.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73133/1/j.1467-8594.2008.00317.x.pd

Management, Theology and Moral Points of View: Towards an Alternative to the Conventional Materialist-Individualist Ideal-Type of Management

Weber's (1958) argument suggests that there are four ideal-types of management, and that conventional management is underpinned by a moral-point-of-view associated with a secularized Protestant Ethic, which can be characterized by its relatively high emphasis on materialism (e.g. productivity, efficiency and profitability) and individualism (e.g. competitiveness). Weber calls on management scholars and practitioners to become aware of their own moral-points-of-view, and to develop management theory and practice that de-emphasizes materialism and individualism. Our paper responds to this challenge, as we draw from an Anabaptist-Mennonite moral-point-of-view to develop a radical ideal-type of management that is characterized by its emphasis on servant leadership, stakeholding, job crafting and sustaincentrism. Implications for management theory and practice are discussed. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005.