PLAYING WITH THE EDGE: TIPPING POINTS AND THE ROLE OF TONALITY

International audienceThis article centers on the phenomenon of tipping points-a case of extreme pulse elasticity-in music performance, and the dynamic interplay between tonal structure and musical timing. The article presents the idea and principles of tipping points. Examples illustrate three types of global and local tipping points: melodic, boundary, and cadential. Focusing on cadential tipping points, the article considers the role of tonality in a number of examples, thus bridging the subject of tipping points and prior work on the modeling of tonality. The spiral array model for tonality is described, including how the model traces the dynamics of tonal perception. A real-time implementation of the model is applied to cadential tipping point examples to visualize the effect of tipping points on tonal perception. The analyses show how tipping points influence tonal perception-clarifying, focusing, and exploiting harmonic function, in the case of cadential tipping points, to evoke tension and shape narrative structure

Physical activity education in the undergraduate curricula of all UK medical schools: are tomorrow's doctors equipped to follow clinical guidelines?

Physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone of disease prevention and treatment. There is, however, a considerable disparity between public health policy, clinical guidelines and the delivery of physical activity promotion within the National Health Service in the UK. If this is to be addressed in the battle against non-communicable diseases, it is vital that tomorrow's doctors understand the basic science and health benefits of physical activity. The aim of this study was to assess the provision of physical activity teaching content in the curricula of all medical schools in the UK. Our results, with responses from all UK medical schools, uncovered some alarming findings, showing that there is widespread omission of basic teaching elements, such as the Chief Medical Officer recommendations and guidance on physical activity. There is an urgent need for physical activity teaching to have dedicated time at medical schools, to equip tomorrow's doctors with the basic knowledge, confidence and skills to promote physical activity and follow numerous clinical guidelines that support physical activity promotion

Making sense of project value from a value-co-creation perspective: an exploratory conceptual framework

This paper proposes a conceptual framework to make sense of how project value is created in projects. We study the extant project management value creation literature using a value co-creation lens based on service-dominant (S-D) logic. We explore how project value is proposed, exchanged and then realized following a project life-cycle. This leads to the identification of an exploratory “value co-creation life-cycle” framework. This framework shows value as a whole transcends the limitation of measurable products value normally used to define the project value. In particular, it shows how operant resources (or actors) - typically referred to as stakeholders - within the project management system exchange services and integrate resources in order to co-create value. The exploratory framework, in turn, would enable future investigation of real projects with the view to unpacking the complex dynamic behavior of project value creation

Designing a personal information transaction object

© 2016 IEEE. As mobile and wearable technologies grow in popularity, ever-increasing volumes of valuable, fine-grained personal information are generated as people go about their daily lives. This information may be exchanged by individuals for "free" services, but there is currently no widely adopted means by which individuals can benefit financially from their personal information. To address this problem we consider a Primary Personal Information Market (PPIM) - a market on which individuals can be financially compensated in exchange for access to their personal information. We draw on Design Science and Market Engineering to justify design choices for a permissions-based Personal Information Transaction Object (PITO), a commodity which could be successfully traded on a Primary Personal Information Market

The cultural transformation of large Chinese enterprises into internationally competitive corporations: Case studies of Haier and Huawei

The Chinese government has recently introduced a policy requiring all large Chinese business corporations to transform their corporate cultures with the aim of increasing their competitiveness on the international stage. This paper traces the origins of the policy to the outstanding performance of a small number of Chinese firms since the late 1980s, a phenomenon attributed by the CEOs of these firms to effective implementation of cultural values change among their workforces. We give detailed accounts of two such firms, Haier Group and Huawei Technologies, demonstrating how they have utilized cultural management techniques to improve their employees' performance. We also identify some negative aspects of their approach to cultural management that may impede these firms in their efforts to become truly international corporations. © 2011 The Chinese Economic Association - UK

Designing a Primary Personal Information Market as an Industry Platform: a Service Innovation Approach

It is well recognised that personal data have intrinsic value to B2C companies. However, there are no widely adopted means by which individuals can benefit financially from the personal data they generate. Furthermore, there is a substantial lack of empirical research on markets for online personal data. Nevertheless, prior work has shown that a Primary Personal Information Market (PPIM) is a viable solution to the problem of monetising personal data. This paper explores how a PPIM could be conceptualised and designed as an Industry Platform. Using an integrated Service Innovation Method (iSIM) we incorporate into our design a multi-sided personal information business model to facilitate commercialisation. An initial prototype is developed and its utility from a data product consumer’s perspective is evaluated using semi-structured interviews with industry practitioners. We find that a PPIM conceptualised as an industry platform has significant commercial appeal and that it resolves a number of objections raised in response to previous designs

Casimir Force for Arbitrary Objects Using the Argument Principle and Boundary Element Methods

Recent progress in the simulation of Casimir forces between various objects has allowed traditional computational electromagnetic solvers to be used to find Casimir forces in arbitrary three-dimensional objects. The underlying theory to these approaches requires knowledge and manipulation of quantum field theory and statistical physics. We present a calculation of the Casimir force using the method of moments via the argument principle. This simplified derivation allows greater freedom in the moment matrix where the argument principle can be used to calculate Casimir forces for arbitrary geometries and materials with the use of various computational electromagnetic techniques.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Learning to create sustainable value in turbulent operational contexts: the role of leadership practices

© Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: This paper aims to report on case-study research that explores the role of leadership practices, in particular, in enhancing the capacity of an enterprise to learn to create new value from a diverse range of sources. The capacity to sustain value creation over time, and across turbulent environments, increasingly differentiates enterprise performance. Under the umbrella term of “dynamic capabilities”, a range of practices have been identified in the literature as contributing to an enterprise’s ability to learn to perform this task successfully.Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on case studies of three enterprises whose founders have sustained the creation of new value for customers over decades. Through a series of unstructured interviews with each founder, the tacit knowledge gained from years of learning how to create, and re-create, value, is made explicit through hermeneutic analysis of the interview transcripts.Findings: The data identify four key areas of leadership practice that underpin the capacity to learn to continuously create new value over significant periods of time. The most important of these are the social practices that generate and leverage the intangible capital resources (in particular, the resource of trust) that underpin the collaborative learning on which value creation processes depend.Research limitations/implications: As interpretive research, the knowledge accessed through this research is context-dependent and cannot be readily generalised. The validity of the knowledge is high, however, as the epistemological and ontological assumptions of the interpretive research paradigm recognise the political nature of organisations and, thus, of learning and value creation. As such, the knowledge generated by the case analyses offers a rich alternative perspective on the issue under research.Practical implications: The cases illuminate the nature of learning that supports continuous value creation in enterprises. Such learning is framed by several leadership practices that enable the self-reflexivity that underpins the continuous conversion of action-generated tacit knowledge into more strategically useful explicit knowledge. At the core of these leadership practices is stakeholder collaboration and intellectual humility.Social implications: The results show that learning to create sustainable value over time and diverse contexts, has a socio-political dimension in that it depends heavily on generating and leveraging the intangible resources (such as trust, commitment, ideas) that reside within social relationships.Originality/value: The research is located within the interpretive research paradigm and thus offers an alternative view to that of conventional positivist research. Furthermore, the results indicate that learning is a strategic priority in rapidly changing environments and, thus, is a key leadership responsibility. Furthermore, the results show that value creation is a collaborative stakeholder achievement