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1 – 10 of 25Nicola Brown, Jenny Burbage and Joanna Wakefield-Scurr
Previous research suggests that many active females are not engaging in sports bra use, despite the positive health benefits. The aim of this study was to establish and compare…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research suggests that many active females are not engaging in sports bra use, despite the positive health benefits. The aim of this study was to establish and compare sports bra use, preferences and bra fit issues for exercising females in some of the largest and most diverse global underwear markets (the US, the UK and China).
Design/methodology/approach
A survey covering activity levels, sports bra use and preferences, bra issues and demographics was administered via Qualtrics and completed by 3,147 physically active females (aged ≥ 18 years) from the US (n = 1,060), UK (n = 1,050) and China (n = 1,037).
Findings
In general, participants were 25–29 years, 121 to 140 pounds, 34B bra size and pre-menopausal. “I cannot find the right sports bra” was the most frequent breast barrier to exercise (25.4%). Three-quarters of women wore a sports bra during exercise, with significantly higher use in China (83.9%), compared to the UK (67.2%). A third of all participants reported sports bra shoulder straps “digging into the skin”. Sports bra preferences were: compression sports bras with a racer back, wide straps and thick straps in the US and the UK; thin straps in China and adjustable straps and underband, no wire and maximum breast coverage in the US and the UK, including nipple concealment and with padded/moulded cups.
Originality/value
Information provided on differences in sports bra use, preferences and bra issues across three major global markets could be utilised by brands and manufacturers to optimise bra marketing and fit education initiatives and inform future sports bra design and distribution strategies.
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Nita Muir and Jenny Byrne
The purpose of this paper is to discuss empirical findings from a study that investigated the work practices within an education network, with the aim of understanding the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss empirical findings from a study that investigated the work practices within an education network, with the aim of understanding the processes of knowledge development and learning process.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is interpretatively positioned through a qualitative case study methodology. This enabled a holistic portrait of the network activity using three different methods of data collection. These were a preliminary focus group, followed by documentary analysis of a significant number of artefacts/documents produced by the network which were triangulated with data from interviews using a cross-case analytical framework.
Findings
Empirical insights are provided into the practice of the network through a lens of social capital. It suggests that having a strong bonding social capital is an informal learning factor which develops the individual participants “skills and knowledge” within the framework of Boyers scholarly practice. The findings also indicate a “dark side” to this informal learning factor which impeded collective learning through exclusivity and a maintenance of the status quo within the network.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.
Practical implications
The paper considers social capital within a network and the implication that this has on learning and development.
Originality/value
This paper provides insight into informal learning factors employed within work-related learning and the duality of social capital. It also offers a novel approach in understanding how nurse academics frame work-related learning through scholarly practice.
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Jenny Firth‐Cozens, Robert A. Firth and Sue Booth
Surveys in the UK and USA show that error in health care is unacceptably high. It is also known, however, that considerable under‐reporting of error takes place and we need…
Abstract
Surveys in the UK and USA show that error in health care is unacceptably high. It is also known, however, that considerable under‐reporting of error takes place and we need therefore to begin to understand why people fail to report so that we can introduce systems and develop cultures and systems which make this easier. Although this has been considered hypothetically, what happens in real situations and what the outcomes are for those individuals actually reporting has not been studied. This study is built on an earlier pilot of 228 doctors that considered the experiences and attitudes of a range of nurses and doctors to reporting their concerns. It includes those who went ahead and those who did not, as well as the attitudes of other staff with no experiences of wanting to report, and the types of event that were more likely to lead to reporting.
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Oanh Dinh Yen Nguyen, Jenny (Jiyeon) Lee, Liem Viet Ngo and Tran Ha Minh Quan
The purpose of this study is to explore how emotions felt by the public during a crisis influenced consumer loyalty intention and negative word-of-mouth (WOM). Considering the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how emotions felt by the public during a crisis influenced consumer loyalty intention and negative word-of-mouth (WOM). Considering the context-specific nature of emotions, the existing crisis emotions were further validated in a product consumption situation. Drawing on the theories of attribution and social sharing, a conceptual model, positing that crisis-specific emotions [attribution-independent, external-attribution-dependent (EAD) and internal-attribution-dependent (IAD) emotions] influenced negative WOM through behavioural intention, was constructed and empirically tested.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected from 240 Vietnamese consumers by using a scenario-based survey related to a fictional milk crisis.
Findings
The study findings showed that all but one crisis emotion had negative effects on both WOM and loyalty intention. Of these emotions, EAD and IAD were the strongest predictors of negative WOM and behavioural intention, respectively. It was also found that all crisis emotions significantly affected negative WOM through behavioural intention.
Originality/value
Although some efforts have been made to identify crisis emotions, the validity of the existing scales have not been affirmed in other crises related to product consumption situations. The results of the present study, thus, made contributions by enhancing an understanding of crisis emotions and their impacts on consumer loyalty intention and WOM communications.
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Julia A.M. Reif, Katharina G. Kugler, Mariella T. Stockkamp, Selina S. Richter, Valerie M. Benning, Lina A. Muschaweck and Felix C. Brodbeck
Traditional approaches to business processes and their management consider the “people dimension” as an antecedent of process performance. The authors complemented this approach…
Abstract
Purpose
Traditional approaches to business processes and their management consider the “people dimension” as an antecedent of process performance. The authors complemented this approach by considering employees as process perceivers and thus taking an employee-centered perspective on business processes. The authors investigated dimensions of healthy business processes, that is, processes which, while promoting performance, foster employee well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a qualitative dataset and two quantitative studies, the authors developed and validated a scale for healthy business processes, interpreted it from a salutogenic perspective and tested relationships with people and performance outcomes.
Findings
The scale comprises four factors reflecting the three dimensions of the salutogenic concept “sense of coherence”: manageability was represented by the factors process tools and process flexibility; comprehensibility was represented by the factor process description; and meaningfulness was represented by the factor management support. The scale and its subscales were significantly related to people and performance outcomes.
Originality/value
The authors propose that health-oriented business process management and performance-oriented business process management are two components of an integrated business process management that favors neither a functionalist, efficiency-oriented approach nor an employee-oriented approach, but takes both approaches and their interaction equally into account in the sense of person-process fit.
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Traditional sports have seen declining participation at many levels, with football being no different. This is occurring at a time when emergent technologies present new…
Abstract
Purpose
Traditional sports have seen declining participation at many levels, with football being no different. This is occurring at a time when emergent technologies present new challenges, particularly to the crucial yet ignored cohort of millennials. Without meeting the needs of millennials, football cannot be successful in the future. This research seeks to understand how millennial football fandom (sport, not team) in Australia impacts football participation, whilst empirically examining the impact of football video games (FVGs).
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data are collected from online groups, forums and social media pages of Australian football (soccer) fans. Quantitative analysis of millennial fandom and its influence on football participation (for the first time demarcated into play and engagement) is undertaken, including the moderating influence of time spent playing FVGs, amidst covariate influences of age and number of children.
Findings
Results highlight the multi-dimensionality of millennial football fandom in Australia, reveal the typical hours spent playing football across a range of participation types (including play and engagement), support fan involvement’s influence on engagement with football, establish that a desire to interact with other football fans manifests in playing more football, specify how playing FVGs moderates these relationships, supports the covariate influences of age and evidences that playing FVGs does not hamper football play.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine millennial fans of football (the sport, not tied to a club) and the influence of fandom on football participation. By separating football participation into two forms, play and engagement, we highlight discrete influences, whilst evaluating for the first time the moderating influence of the time millennials spend playing FVGs. For sport managers and administrators, these are important findings to facilitate better segmentation, recruitment, retention and participation, each with broader societal health benefits. This is undertaken in Australia where football is not a dominant code, relegating fandom to a niche, thus revealing important findings for sports and business management.
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Outi Uusitalo and Jenni Niemelä‐Nyrhinen
Previous studies have indicated that antismoking advertising potentially prevents or reduces smoking among teenagers. However, not all message themes of antismoking advertising…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies have indicated that antismoking advertising potentially prevents or reduces smoking among teenagers. However, not all message themes of antismoking advertising have proved effective. This study aims to explore the effects of different message themes on teenagers' intention to smoke. Attitude towards the advertisement and attitude towards the act (smoking) are proposed as mediating variables between the message theme and smoking intentions. The paper also aims to examine effect of three themes, namely health effects, mental effects and social effects on smoking/not smoking.
Design/methodology/approach
The data consist of 325 Finnish high school students aged between 13 and 16. The hypotheses are tested using LISREL 8.
Findings
The paper finds that only the attitudes towards advertisements displaying social effects are significantly related with attitudes towards smoking. The attitudes towards the advertisements portraying the themes of health effects and mental effects are not significantly related with attitudes towards smoking and thus are not effective in influencing the respondents' attitudes towards smoking and smoking intentions.
Research limitations/implications
Data were gathered only in one European country (Finland). Future studies should examine whether teenagers in other European countries differ in the way they are affected by different message themes.
Practical implications
Teenagers are susceptible to messages that are related to social approval of not smoking or disapproval of smoking, thus social appeals should be used in antismoking advertising targeted at them.
Originality/value
This study focuses on exploring how message themes used in antismoking advertising affect smoking intentions among teenagers in the European context and specifically in Finland.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe the Gender, Employment and Local Labour Market (GELLM) Programme of Research (2003‐2006), which is delivered through a partnership of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the Gender, Employment and Local Labour Market (GELLM) Programme of Research (2003‐2006), which is delivered through a partnership of academics, policy‐makers, trade unions and practitioners at national and local levels of the UK, directed by Professor Sue Yeandle of Sheffield Hallam University. It discusses the contractual and task‐based relationships, which are set up among the partners and the ways in which the research process is designed and executed collaboratively. The GELLM partnership is maintained without complicated information technology or customised training, relying instead on the commitment of the individuals involved and a very clear and well managed face‐to‐face report‐back structure. The paper concludes by analysing the criteria that made this partnership work successfully and the types of impact it is able to achieve locally and nationally on gender equality policy‐making.
Design/methodology/approach
The aims and objectives of the research programme included the production in partnership of gender‐disaggregated “Gender Profiles” of the labour market in 12 local authorities, awareness‐raising about gendered inequality in their local labour markets, and the exploration of specific issues in new, multi‐method local research studies whose focus is agreed with the project partners with a view to “gender mainstreaming” the research findings.
Findings
The GELLM research findings are not discussed as the focus is on the partnership arrangements.
Originality/value
Criteria for the successful working of the partnership, and the challenges faced are discussed in the paper.
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The Presidential Address to the Liverpool Engineering Society by Mr. Farthing (the salient points of which are reproduced in this issue) has particular bearing upon lubrication…
Abstract
The Presidential Address to the Liverpool Engineering Society by Mr. Farthing (the salient points of which are reproduced in this issue) has particular bearing upon lubrication and especially on young lubrication engineers. Mr. Farthing stressed the very wide field open to young engineers and the difficulties associated with training in order to cover as wide a field as may be necessary. It is usually so important to gain a wide knowledge before one can specialise and this is certainly the case with lubrication engineers. One cannot begin to fully appreciate the intricacies of a lubrication system with all its accessory components lubricating and guarding, for example, a large motive power plant or rolling mill, until one has more than a mere working knowledge of the plant itself, the duties it must perform, how it performs them and the snags that arise which might be overcome by correct lubrication. In view of the fact that lubrication systems are just as important in a textile mill as in a power station or a large brick works, the almost impossible‐to‐achieve‐range of knowledge that would simplify the work of a lubrication engineer is very obvious. Fortunately, lubricating principles apply to most cases and knowing how to apply one's knowledge from basic principles is the key to success in this difficult profession.