The purpose of this statement is to guide the design and conduct of high-quality sport and exercise science studies investigating the effects of varied ovarian hormone profiles on the health and athletic performance of elite female athletes. Beyond the menstrual cycle, these athletes present with a wide range of ovarian hormone profiles, including those associated with puberty and menarche, menstrual dysfunction, hormonal contraceptive use, pregnancy and postpartum, perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause. To effectively integrate knowledge of ovarian hormone profiles into high-performance sport and address the diverse needs of female athletes, future research and educational initiatives must encompass this broader spectrum of ovarian hormone profiles. However, to produce this knowledge, improvements in research design and conduct are necessary and can be facilitated by adopting reporting checklists as a structured approach to enhance transparency and reproducibility. We recommend that such quality assurance measures be integrated at the study design phase, along with clear research questions, appropriate study designs, and valid analysis methods. Consequently, the proposed guidelines aim to support researchers working in applied settings with elite female athletes in generating more robust and impactful evidence.
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to adopt an ethical perspective to examine the institutional logics of slow fashion firms and how they inform firm behaviour. We aim to understand whether firms that self-identify as slow fashion are "walking the talk" and to discuss the potential ethical implications for the sustainable fashion movement of any misalignment between a slow fashion firm's "talk" and its "walk".Design/methodology/approachWe examined the Instagram accounts and websites of five firms that self-identified as slow fashion to capture their messaging and their practices. We used pattern inducing to analyse, categorise and interpret the qualitative data.FindingsIn applying a deontological ethical perspective to our findings we suggest that, in some cases, unethical implications can arise when a slow fashion firm's "talk" is misaligned with its "walk". This misalignment may have negative consequences for the legitimacy of the sustainable fashion movement.Originality/valueIn integrating institutional theory with Kantian deontology, our exploratory study offers a novel perspective on slow fashion within the field of fashion marketing and sustainability studies.
Abstract This research examined the association between artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and work performance (WP) through the mediation of employee engagement (EE) among academicians in the Sargodha region, Pakistan. Theoretically grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Human Capital Theory (HCT), and the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, this study utilized a cross-sectional survey of 300 academicians from three public universities in Pakistan. The data were analyzed using a multi-method approach, including Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), and Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), to provide a robust understanding of linear, configurational, and non-linear relationships. The PLS-SEM results showed that AI literacy is positively associated with WP (β = 0.301) and that EE significantly mediated this association (β = 0.25), with the model explaining 39.6% of the variance in WP. The fsQCA analysis found that a combination of high AI literacy and high EE was a sufficient condition for high WP (consistency = 0.875). Additionally, SHAP analysis confirmed that EE was the most significantly associated factor with WP (mean |SHAP| = 0.430). The findings provide empirical insights for academicians and policymakers on the importance of AI education in the workplace to enhance EE and WP.
This study critically examines Microsoft's environmental, social and governance (ESG) rhetoric and operational reality, to offer insights that extend beyond conventional greenwashing or bluewashing. Drawing on over 20 years of Microsoft's sustainability reports (2003-2024), third-party ESG evaluations and media investigations, it employs automated content and discourse analyses to investigate how sustainability language functions as a technology of legitimacy. Rather than treating rhetoric as a fa & ccedil;ade for misconduct, we argue that it actively produces governance by shaping norms of accountability, moral responsibility and ethical identity across global operations. Microsoft's case illustrates how sustainability narratives create coherence amid contradiction, which enables reputational leadership to persist despite ESG controversies. By examining both sustainability rhetoric and actual practice, this study reframes corporate responsibility as a discursive process that creates legitimacy through sustainability practices, not merely rhetoric. The study contributes to sustainability scholarship by demonstrating how rhetoric, power and moral distance intersect within global value chains.
PurposeThis study explored the experiences and perceptions of people with post-stroke communication disorders who had attempted or were attempting to return to work.Materials and methodsEleven participants (4 male, 7 female, mean age 57.7 +/- 6.36 years) who were an average of 6.55 (+/- 6.14) months post-stroke took part in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsFive themes were generated. These were: (i) the reality of planning and actualising a return to work at different time-points during stroke recovery; (ii) intrapersonal barriers, including communication and cognitive impairments; (iii) external barriers, including lack of information or advice from healthcare professionals and lack of support or understanding from employers; (iv) intrapersonal facilitators, including personal attributes and use of strategies; and (v) external facilitators, including support from individual healthcare professionals, employers, colleagues and peers.ConclusionReturning to work with post-stroke communication disorders can be a challenging journey, with a number of potential barriers and facilitators. One of the major barriers is a lack of specialist and/or cohesive support for people with post-stroke communication disorders who wish to return to work. There is therefore a need for interventions designed specifically to facilitate return to work for this group.
