David D. Franks and Jeff Davis
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to be as comprehensive as possible about what is known about mirror neurons at this time.Design/methodology/approach – This chapter offers…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to be as comprehensive as possible about what is known about mirror neurons at this time.
Design/methodology/approach – This chapter offers a comprehensive critique including Churchland's hesitations about findings on mirror neurons (2011) which are balanced by Ramachandran's conviction that much of the research on mirror neurons is valid (2011). Following this is a summary of the results of the Mirror Neuron Forum (2011) wherein leading mirror neuron researchers exchange their views and conclusions about this subject.
Findings – The few single cells measures that we have show that they are much wider distributed throughout the brain than we have previously imagined. It should be stressed that single measures of mirror neurons have occurred albeit in limited situations. This establishes once and for all their relevance to humans.
Originality/value – The work on mirror neurons is a critical contribution from neuroscience to bringing the social brain into sociology and refining our understandings of intersubjectivity and of our biologically driven connections with others.
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Building a quality teaching force depends fundamentally upon attracting suitable candidates into teaching. This translates into transparent and clear policies and procedures for…
Abstract
Building a quality teaching force depends fundamentally upon attracting suitable candidates into teaching. This translates into transparent and clear policies and procedures for recruitment and transfers. Teacher recruitment and transfer are significant aspects of teacher management in Indian states because of the size and the differences that exist in different locations, in terms of facilities including access to health care services, higher educational institutions, and also transport and mobility. The presence or absence of these facilities and services determine the perceived quality for teachers, especially as it also determines their and the family members’ (including spouse and children) ability to access education, health care, or job market. This makes the recruitment and transfer policy a critical aspect of teacher management that contributes significantly to the motivation and job satisfaction of the teacher. Karnataka was able to make progress on designing and implementing transparent and effective teacher recruitment and transfer policies and move away from a system plagued by the weaknesses exhibited by other states. This chapter undertakes a historical analysis of teacher recruitment and transfers in the state, examines the determinants that led to current policies and an examination of the on-going changes since the policy was first introduced. Using Karnataka’s example, it argues that effective and efficient teacher management systems can lead to better teacher quality.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose an optimal predictive model for the short-term forecast of real-time non-stationary machine variables by combining time series prediction…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an optimal predictive model for the short-term forecast of real-time non-stationary machine variables by combining time series prediction with adaptive algorithms to minimize the error and to improve the prediction accuracy.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model is applied for prediction of speed and controller set point of three-phase induction motor operating on closed loop speed control with AC drive and PI controller. At Stage 1, the trend of the machine variables has been extracted and added to auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) time series prediction. ARMA prediction has been carried out using different combinations of AR and MA methods in order to make prediction with less Mean Squared Error (MSE).
Findings
The prediction error indicates the inadequacy of the model to estimate the data characteristics, which has been resolved at the subsequent stage by cascading an adaptive least mean square finite impulse response filter to the time series model. The adaptive filter receives the predicted output including training data and iteratively adjusts its coefficients for zero error convergence.
Research limitations/implications
The componentized data prediction based on time series and cascade adaptive filter algorithm decomposes the non-stationary data characteristics for predictive maintenance. Evaluation of the model with different combination of time series algorithms and parameter settings of adaptive filter has been carried out to illustrate the performance of the prediction model. This prediction accuracy is compared with existing linear adaptive filter prediction using MSE as comparison index. The wide margin in the MSE values substantiates the prediction efficiency of the proposed model for machine data.
Originality/value
This model predicts the dynamic machine data with component decomposition at high accuracy, which enables to interpret the system response under dynamic conditions efficiently.
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This paper shows that the collector (like the flâneur) is a decisive character in Walter Benjamin’s philosophy of history, specifically in the manifestation of the historical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper shows that the collector (like the flâneur) is a decisive character in Walter Benjamin’s philosophy of history, specifically in the manifestation of the historical materialist, yet the paper is not so much about the collector or collecting as it is about the commodity and the experience thereof in consumer society.
Methodology/approach
The section “The Dream World of Mass Culture” discusses mass culture and the central problem of commodity fetishism as Benjamin sees it. The section “A Physiognomist of ‘the World of Things’” discusses the critical task of the historical materialist actualized and made possible through an activity akin to collecting. The section “Collecting, Child’s Play, and Seeing Similarities” illuminates the central importance of the activity of collecting for Benjamin’s research regarding mass culture, historical materialism, and the experience of modernity itself. The final section explains and fleshes out the central concepts of the mimetic faculty and physiognomic perception for Benjamin.
Findings
I find that, ultimately, to understand the ability of the historical materialist to witness history critically, according to Benjamin, is to understand the historical materialist as a collector. To understand the revolutionary activity of collecting is to understand collecting as a manifestation of a fundamental activity of human nature, the inclination to become “like” or to become “similar.” But such an impulse grounds, for Benjamin, not only the activity of collecting but also collective experience, the collective conscious, mass culture, and the essence of the commodity itself as a sociocultural artifact. The paper demonstrates that the mimetic faculty is the primary human faculty Benjamin focused on in his theory of experience.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the fact that it illustrates the primary importance of the theory of the mimetic faculty, the notion of physiognomic perception, and the work of Heinz Werner to Walter Benjamin’s theory of commodity fetishism that to date has been largely underdeveloped. But, more importantly, the paper shows that Benjamin’s theory of experience could illuminate a path toward developing a theory of experience within a fundamental philosophical anthropology.
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Agata Leszkiewicz, Tina Hormann and Manfred Krafft
Organizations across industries are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to support their innovation processes, supply chains, marketing and sales and other…
Abstract
Organizations across industries are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to support their innovation processes, supply chains, marketing and sales and other business functions. Implementing AI, firms report efficiency gains from automation and enhanced decision-making thanks to more relevant, accurate and timely predictions. By exposing the benefits of digitizing everything, COVID-19 has only accelerated these processes. Recognizing the growing importance of AI and its pervasive impact, this chapter defines the “social value of AI” as the combined value derived from AI adoption by multiple stakeholders of an organization. To this end, we discuss the benefits and costs of AI for a business-to-business (B2B) firm and its internal, external and societal stakeholders. Being mindful of legal and ethical concerns, we expect the social value of AI to increase over time as the barriers for adoption go down, technology costs decrease, and more stakeholders capture the value from AI. We identify the contributions to the social value of AI, by highlighting the benefits of AI for different actors in the organization, business consumers, supply chain partners and society at large. This chapter also offers future research opportunities, as well as practical implications of the AI adoption by a variety of stakeholders.
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Jelena Spanjol, Yazhen Xiao and Lisa Welzenbach
Companies are increasingly leveraging digital technologies toward innovation strategies that deliver novel features to customers sequentially through successive new product…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies are increasingly leveraging digital technologies toward innovation strategies that deliver novel features to customers sequentially through successive new product generations (i.e., successive innovation). Extant literature examining successive innovation is both limited and fragmented across marketing and management literatures. Our goal is to synthesize literature on concepts related to successive innovation (such as versioning and upgrades) to identify the core dimensions of successive innovation and provide a cohesive framework to guide future research in this domain.
Methodology/approach
Given the equivocality in understanding the conceptual domain of successive innovation, we review and synthesize literature across three disciplinary domains: marketing, management, and information and decision sciences. Based on the emerging patterns from the literature review, we develop a conceptual framework of successive innovation with the aim of moving the discussion toward greater theoretical clarity.
Findings
Based on the literature review and synthesis, we identify three core-dimensions that define successive innovation and compare these across digital and physical product realms: coexistence, embeddedness, and adoption controllability.
Research Implications
Our proposed conceptual dimensions of successive innovation, and discussion of differences across physical and digital product domains, offer important directions for future research and a common vocabulary.
As physical and digital successive innovations can differ in coexistence, embeddedness, and adoption controllability, firms need to consider relevant barriers to adoption of successive product generations and select appropriate strategies to promote and communicate successive innovation. Our proposed successive innovation conceptual dimensions help managers comprehend the complexity of arranging such innovation in business and consumer segments.
Originality/value
Our contribution to the emerging literature on successive innovation is threefold. First, by conducting a comprehensive literature review, we integrate insights from different fields of inquiry (i.e., marketing, management, and information and decision sciences). Second, based on the synthesis of the literature, we offer a conceptual framework of successive innovation, which aims to move the discussion toward greater theoretical clarity. Third, based on our review and conceptual framework, we discuss a set of future research directions to guide academic research efforts.
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Marc Wouters and Susana Morales
To provide an overview of research published in the management accounting literature on methods for cost management in new product development, such as a target costing, life…
Abstract
Purpose
To provide an overview of research published in the management accounting literature on methods for cost management in new product development, such as a target costing, life cycle costing, component commonality, and modular design.
Methodology/approach
The structured literature search covered papers about 15 different cost management methods published in 40 journals in the period 1990–2013.
Findings
The search yielded a sample of 113 different papers. Many contained information about more than one method, and this yielded 149 references to specific methods. The number of references varied strongly per cost management method and per journal. Target costing has received by far the most attention in the publications in our sample; modular design, component commonality, and life cycle costing were ranked second and joint third. Most references were published in Management Science; Management Accounting Research; and Accounting, Organizations and Society. The results were strongly influenced by Management Science and Decision Science, because cost management methods with an engineering background were published above average in these two journals (design for manufacturing, component commonality, modular design, and product platforms) while other topics were published below average in these two journals.
Research Limitations/Implications
The scope of this review is accounting research. Future work could review the research on cost management methods in new product development published outside accounting.
Originality/value
The paper centers on methods for cost management, which complements reviews that focused on theoretical constructs of management accounting information and its use.
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This chapter incorporates gender consciousness into critiques of the rational actor model by revisiting Carol Gilligan's account of moral development. Economics itself, led by the…
Abstract
This chapter incorporates gender consciousness into critiques of the rational actor model by revisiting Carol Gilligan's account of moral development. Economics itself, led by the insights from game theory, is reexamining trust, altruism, reciprocity, and empathy. Behavioral economics further explores the implications of a more robust conception of human motivation. We argue that the most likely source for a comprehensive theory will come from the integration of behavioral economics with behavioral biology, and that this project depends on the insights from evolutionary analysis, genetics, and neuroscience. Considering the biological basis of human behavior, however, and, realistically considering the role of trust, altruism, reciprocity, and empathy in market transactions requires a reexamination of the role of gender in the construction of human society.
First, we revisit Gilligan, and argue that her articulation of relational feminism faltered, in part, because she could not identify the source of the stereotypically feminine. Second, we consider the ways in which the limitations of the rational actor model meant that law and economics could also not resolve the relational concerns that Gilligan raised. Third, we discuss the rediscovery of gender that is emerging from the gendered results of game theory trials and the new research on the biological basis of gender differences. Finally, we conclude that incorporating the insights of this new research into law and the social sciences will require a new methodology. Instead of narrow-minded focus on the incentive effects in the marginal transaction, we argue that reconsideration of stereotypically masculine and feminine traits requires an emphasis on balance.