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Applied Theatre: Aesthetics re-examines how the idea of 'the aesthetic' is relevant to performance in social settings. The disinterestedness that traditional aesthetics claims as a key characteristic of art makes little sense when making performances with ordinary people, rooted in their lives and communities, and with personal and social change as its aim. Yet practitioners of applied arts know that their work is not reducible to social work, therapy or education. Reconciling the simultaneous autonomy and heteronomy of art is the problem of aesthetics in applied arts. Gareth White's introductory essay reviews the field, and proposes an interdisciplinary approach that builds on new developments in evolutionary, cognitive and neuro-aesthetics alongside the politics of art. It addresses the complexities of art and the aesthetic as everyday behaviours and responses. The second part of the book is made up of essays from leading experts and new voices in the practice and theory of applied performance, reflecting on the key problematics of applying performance with non-performers. New and innovative practice is described and interrogated, and fresh thinking is introduced in response to perennial problems. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/applied-theatre-aesthetics-9781472513557/#sthash.bX5R1Tmy.dpuf

This chapter is a discussion of actual noise, and the sounds that are manipulated by theatre makers, but also a concept of noise as described by Jacques Attali, amongst others, as "the term for a signal that interferes with the reception of a message by a receiver, even if the interfering signal itself has a meaning for the receiver" (1985, 27). My strategy is to read audience behaviour, both its explicit participation in a performance and its ambient activity in the theatrical event, through the concept of noise, paying particular attention to the noise making and silences of audiences. My aim is to discuss how this may help to develop ideas of the value and purpose of participatory performance, which involves considering the politics of the differentiated roles in theatre events - that is the differences between the behaviour that is proper to audience members and performers - and what the alteration of these roles can mean.

On Theatre was set up in 2004 by award-winning artistic director Mick Gordon to explore the fundamental preoccupations of modern life through bold experimental theatre. Much of the company's work takes the form of a 'theatre essay', a theatrical presentation taking a universal theme or contemporary subject and proceeding to debate, dramatise and present it on stage. To date they have explored big philosophical themes thorough their explanatorily-titled plays: On Death, On Love, On Ego, On Religion, On Emotion, On Memory, On Identity, On Truth, On Evolution.

AbstractBlockchain has the potential to become a significant source of disruptive innovations in business and management. There is a scarcity of knowledge and understanding of blockchain techniques that hinders its academic research and practical application. Business managers need to understand the potential impact and threat of blockchain applications in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Blockchain applications appear to offer considerable performance improvement and commercialization opportunities.

Against a background of continuing change and increasing pressures public sector procurement staff are being required to do more with less. The aim of this study was to establish whether Ministry of Defence Commercial Officers sense that they are under threat and assess what those primary sources of threat are. Data was acquired through in-depth interviews with procurement practitioners from two key Ministry of Defence sites at Bristol and Corsham in the South West of England. The study finds that threat is perceived to exist and categorises them as internal (self, FDRS, line management and reputation) and external (Budgetary, legislative, policy/political pressure and risk). These threats are shown to negatively affect behaviour and the efficient running of the procurement function. Access to the MOD commercial function is necessarily restricted to those outside of the organisation and the data and findings presented in this study are therefore an important contribution to our knowledge of the internal workings of the Department and the procurement personnel within it.

Green supply chain management and reverse logistics has emerged as a key area of research interest. Recent environmental regulations have also stimulated interest in this field. However, information sharing is a prerequisite to efficient and effective logistics utilisation. Manufacturing organisations in China were argued to be 10-20 years behind their Western counterparts in relation to information sharing in their supply chains (). This barrier needs to be addressed if China is going to maintain and grow its manufacturing position in the world, attempt to address green supply chain issues and their negative externalities. A systematic literature review was undertaken and green supply chain management theoretical framework adopted. The paper explores the perceptions of senior management toward green logistics and information sharing in Chinese electronic manufacturers. Previous research has concentrated on the focal companies (brand owners). This research concentrated on SME organisations further up the supply chain. Semi-structured interviews of eighteen senior managers of electronic manufactures in Jiangsu province China were conducted in 2012. Thematic analysis is applied and the findings contrasted to other research. The paper provides insight to the current status of managers' views on information sharing and green supply chain initiatives. Information platform, skills, investment, and trust emerged as key influences on their willing to engage in information sharing in relation to green supply chains. This research, among others, assists to inform policy for optimal evidence based intervention. Future research directions are also considered.

The issue of sustainability has attracted considerable attention over the last decade and has been accompanied by the development of stringent packaging material legislation for firms. Drawing on a single case approach, this paper examines the operational challenges faced by manufacturing SMEs as they strive to meet the expectations and requirements of increasingly demanding sustainable packaging regulations. The findings highlight the internal costs and complexities that are faced by manufacturing firms when complying with the regulations. It suggests that some firms may face financial and technical constraints that prevent them from reporting the significant efforts that they are making to improving packaging materials. More significantly it identifies the seemingly insurmountable problems that are faced by SMEs when confronted with powerful upstream or downstream supply chain partners that are resistant to improvement initiatives. This can result in organisations acting in a self-interested manner and consequently, the cumulative environmental impact of the supply chain is greater than it may be if organisations were more environmentally cooperative.

Using pattern comics, an approach to visualization offers an innovative way of making sense of the issue of strategic change, particularly as it concerns the domains of electronic business and electronic commerce.

The deployment of information technologies can provide significant operational and strategic benefits to smaller organizations.

The implementation of information technologies has increasing importance in all aspects of life.

System developers quickly acquire knowledge of the benefits and limitations of system development approaches and this knowledge enables them to adopt or adapt methodologies according to the scope and scale of projects.

The implementation of information technologies can cause disruption to the very fabric of the organizations in which they are employed, but they can also underpin initiatives to improve society at large.

The factors mentioned most frequently by the information system implementation teams as being critical to success were all issues pertaining to cultural rather than strategic management.

Supererogation has gained attention as a means of explaining the voluntary behaviours of individuals and organizations that are done for the benefit of others and which go above what is required of legislation and what may be expected by society. Whilst the emerging literature has made some significant headway in exploring supererogation as an ethical lens for the study of business there remain several important issues that require attention. These comprise, the lack of primary evidence upon which such examinations have been made, attention has been given to only singular pro-social acts of organizations, and the focus has been upon the actions of large organizations. Furthermore, Heyd's (Supererogation, Cambridge University Press, 1982) original taxonomy of six supererogatory acts, comprising Moral Heroism, Beneficence, Volunteering, Favour, Forgiveness and Forbearance, has been considered to be complete and other forms of supererogatory acts have not yet been explored. In order to address these gaps this study poses the research questions: First, it studies how a single, contemporary SME performs multiple supererogatory acts in its attempts to address its social and environmental goals that go beyond CSR. Second, it seeks to gain a deeper theoretical understanding of Heyd's (Supererogation, Cambridge University Press, 1982) taxonomy of six forms of supererogation through the capture of primary data. This research makes a three-year case study examination of a single SME that has been formally recognized for its work in addressing social and environmental issues at local, national and global levels. Primary data are acquired of the supererogatory acts that it performs through a three-year participant observation case study, utilizing 61 interviews and 3 focus groups with internal and external stakeholders. In doing so, it addresses the empirical limitations of the extant research, substantiates each of the forms that supererogatory acts may take, and makes a contribution to the theory of supererogation by ...

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the social and personal drivers of co-creation in children.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 463 children aged between 7 and 13 years were recruited. Using electronic event-based diaries, 2,631 entries were captured during an 18-month period.FindingsData from 861 entries identified a series of anomalous external social and personal factors that drove children to engage in co-creation. These were for maintaining external relationships, dealing with addiction to the co-creation process and dealing with personal loneliness.Research limitations/implicationsThe study reveals new, unconventional and gender-specific behaviours that might assist marketers in understanding children's complex relationships with co-creation and brands.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine children's social and personal drives to engage in co-creation.