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The problem of automatic recognition of human activity is one of the most important and challenging areas of research in computer vision because of the wide range of possible applications, for example surveillance, advanced human‐computer interactions, monitoring. This paper presents statistical computer vision approaches to automatically recognize different human activities.

The human activity recognition process has three steps: firstly human blobs are segmented by motion analysis; then the human body posture is estimated and, finally a temporal model of the detected posture series is generated by discrete hidden Markov models to identify the activity.

The system was tested on image sequences acquired in a real archaeological site while some people simulated both legal and illegal actions. Four kinds of activity were automatically classified with a high percentage of correct detections.

The proposed approach provides efficient solutions to some of the most common problems in the human activity recognition research field: high detailed image requirement, sequence alignment and intensive user interaction in the training phase. The main constraint of this framework is that the posture estimation approach is not completely view independent.

Results of time performance tests were very encouraging for the use of the proposed method in real time surveillance applications.

The proposed framework can work using low cost cameras with large view focal lenses. It does not need any a priori knowledge of the scene and no intensive user interaction is required in the early training phase.

The purpose of this paper is to present the first economic valuation of four environmental attributes of the Yanachaga–Chemillén National Park (PNYCH – Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén) in Peru.

This study included households in three cities adjacent to the PNYCH and assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for preservation efforts of these natural services to avoid the predicted loss in forest area by 2030 (currently 143,425 hectares per year).

The results showed that the average WTP was US$0.695 (2.3197 soles) per household annually. Added to all households in Peru (9 million), this is equivalent to approximately 6.255 million dollars annually.

The economic valuation of these attributes is complementary to the contingent valuation and can have a significant impact, as this data influences decision-making and public policies focused on conserving forests and biodiversity.

Upon using the choice experiment (CE) model, the attributes that have the most significant impact on inhabitants’ well-being were economic benefits. The flora and fauna coverage attributes were beneficial for the inhabitants of the place because they valued the proposed recovery and conservation program in a positive and differential way.

From the collection of valuable economic data, the novelty lies in using the CE method, which has not yet been applied in valuations of natural ecosystem services in Peru.

In 1996, capital was raised to launch a Pepsi‐Cola production line in war‐torn Tajikistan. Production capacity was 6,000 bottles per hour, in a country experiencing a painful transition to a market economy.

THE Fourth European Work Study Congress, held in Paris during the third week of May, was a well‐organized affair. A tribute is due to M. Loubert and his colleagues for the way in which they devised such well‐lubricated machinery for the convenience of their guests and for the imaginative touch of holding the official dinner aboard a bateau‐mouche as it sailed for two hours up and down the Seine.

Our purpose is to offer the service research field a framework for cultivating wiser service systems via wise communication–which we define as “interactional activity that reflects and reifies the integrative, practical, and relational nature of organizations.”

We draw on the Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO) theory to integrate insights and findings from three primary research fields – service, communication, and organizational science – to develop a framework for cultivating wiser service systems through wise communication.

Our framework identifies three major components of wise communication: integrative, practical, and relational. These components require that wise communication be “holistic,” “dynamic,” and “constitutive” (the integrative component); “active,” “contextual,” and “pragmatic” (the practical component); and “compassionate,” “open-minded,” and “humble” (the relational component). We use illustrative examples from healthcare to show how these nine characteristics enable wise communication practices that facilitate wiser service systems.

Our framework provides helpful ways to organize and inspire insights into cultivating wiser systems. This framework identifies the theoretical components of wise communication and specific communicative actions that system members can implement to shape wiser service systems.

Wiser service systems are necessary to tackle humanity's complex social, economic, and environmental challenges.

We propose a novel framework for cultivating wiser systems centered on wise communication. This framework contributes new insights into theory and practice. The application of CCO theory to service systems is unique. Our article is also an early example of adding normative context to the CCO literature. While wisdom literature primarily focuses on aspects of individual wisdom, we broaden the wisdom literature to service systems.

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

Value co-destruction has received little attention in an event-related context. This appears surprising, given that the interactions among actors at an event may also reduce the value for other participants, stakeholders and that of the entire event or the event's service ecosystem. This paper first aims to conceptualise value co-destruction and to provide an overview of related research in an event context. Second, a future research agenda for value co-destruction processes in an event context is developed.

Journals of the “Scimago Journal and Country Rank” were systematically reviewed for the keywords “value co-destruction”, “value destruction” and “negative value co-creation”. A second literature review specifically aimed at the events context extended the search scope to non-Scimago journals, Google Scholar and Google Web using the same keywords. All identified articles were qualitatively analysed concerning (1) the conceptualisation of value co-destruction and (2) reasons for value co-destruction.

The review of previous research highlights a limited scope of analysis, a focus on value co-destruction as an outcome and on interactions at the meso-level. Based on these findings, a holistic definition of value co-destruction is proposed. The paper identifies two major directions for future studies on value co-destruction at events and suggests specific examples.

The paper contributes to a more holistic understanding of value co-creation and co-destruction in an event setting. For example, a clearer understanding of the interactions that reduce the overall value of an event may assist to better design valuable events in the future.

For decades multiple management philosophies directed toward lean production and mass were assumed as to respond to process inefficiencies and rampant consumerism, optimizing operation costs. However, new customization and flexible productions philosophies have been gaining ground in some industries, such as the agile manufacturing. From a literature review that addresses the history of this philosophy, it is clear that agile manufacturing is not fully comprehended, with very scarce information about practical cases. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this paper the authors describe an exploratory methodology approach, with three semi-structured case study interviews. The goal is to study which of agile manufacturing practices are being applied in the studied companies and what is the perceived effect that these have on operational performance. Since most of these companies develop highly customized products, the role of agility on new product development can have a huge impact on their operational performance.

Agile manufacturing is not yet a widespread philosophy of managing for the companies studied, being virtually unknown as a global concept. However, it was found that many of the practices of agile manufacturing are already implemented in these companies without association with this philosophy. It was also concluded, by the finding through respondents opinions, that agile practices contribute positively to the studied companies operating performance.

The novelty of this research derives from observation of agile manufacturing practices in SMEs. This research is useful to SMEs implementing agile manufacturing principles.

In their book Megatrends 2000, John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene (1990) stated that one of the ten “megatrends for the 1990's would be the rise of “The Age of Biology.” One of the central forces behind this societal shift which is occurring right now, they say, is research into understanding human genetics and the rise of biotechnology. The scientific knowledge regarding human genetics and the technology to examine an individual's genetic makeup have grown at a rapid pace, especially in the last decade as a result of the Human Genome Project. This venture has been labelled alternatively as “mediocre science” (Roberts, 1990b: p. 804) and as “biology's Holy Grail,” (Nelkin and Tancredi, 1989: p. 14). It is indisputably a monumental scientific undertaking, likened to the drive to put a man on the moon in the sixties (“The Geography of Genes,” 1989). This knowledge and the resultant trends will likely prove to be important factors not only in our future economy, but also in the nature of how we understand ourselves.

Actors who participate in co-created service experiences typically assume that they will experience improved well-being. However, a growing body of literature demonstrates that the reverse is also likely to be true, with one or more actors experiencing value co-destruction (VCD), rather than value co-creation, in the service system. Building on the notion of resource misintegration as a trigger of the VCD process, this paper offers a typology of resource misintegration manifestations and to present a dynamic conceptualization of the VCD process.

A systematic, iterative VCD literature review was conducted with a priori aims to uncover the manifestations of resource misintegration and illustrate its connection to VCD for an actor or actors.

Ten distinct manifestations of resource misintegration are identified that provide evidence or an early warning sign of the potential for negative well-being for one or more actors in the service system. Furthermore, a dynamic framework illustrates how an affected actor uses proactive and reactive coping and support resources to prevent VCD or restore well-being.

The study presents a typology of manifestations of resource misintegration that signal or warn of the potential for VCD, thus providing an opportunity to prevent or curtail the VCD process.