Still to be fixed: corruption posing new challenges for sport business researchers

Citation

Chadwick, S. (2014), "Still to be fixed: corruption posing new challenges for sport business researchers", Sport, Business and Management, Vol. 4 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-10-2013-0036

Still to be fixed: corruption posing new challenges for sport business researchers

Article Type: Editorial From: Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, Volume 4, Issue 1.

Some people say that a week in politics is a long time; others say that 90 minutes in football can seem like a lifetime. It has therefore been a significant length of time since the last edition of this journal, during which there have been some dramatic developments in sport. Among the most significant, and possibly the most serious, have been emerging and on-going issues related to corruption in sport.

In snooker, former world ranked number 5 player Steven Lee was banned from the sport for 12 years having been found guilty of match-fixing. Football continues to be awash with allegations about match-fixing, including Europol's investigation into 425 suspected cases in football, and the international pursuit of alleged “super-fixer” Dan Tan. Off the fields and tracks of the world, the Federation Internationale de Football (FIFA) has continued to grapple with seemingly interminable problems of corruption, while the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has been dealing with accusations both of bribery and of vote-fixing.

Over the least five years, matters of corruption in sport have become especially pointed as some organisations across the industry have started to respond to proven cases of corruption. For instance, sport merchandiser Puma recently terminated a supply agreement with the South African national football team. Meanwhile, Dutch bank ING withdrew sponsorship from the Benetton Formula 1 Grand Prix team following the team's fixing of a race in 2008. In response to several problems in professional cycling, Australian sportswear brand Skins has alternatively taken the opportunity to use the problems as the basis for repositioning its brand (as being at the forefront of clean sport, through the “Change Cycling Now” initiative).

Corruption in sport is not a new phenomenon; however, it appears that rapid changes in the industry, most notably the commercialisation of sport and a resultant influx of revenues seem to have exacerbated the problem. The seriousness of the matter has been further compounded by the intense scrutiny that sport organisations are exposed to (especially following the emergence of social media), by growing economic inequalities in sport (which incentivise poorly rewarded athletes to fix contests or accept bribes), and by often weak approaches among sport organisations to issues of governance and risk management.

Immediately, these initial observations generate some key challenges for sport business researchers. The nature, scale and extent of corruption in sport are major issues, as is the potential cost for the sport industry of corruption. While many of us would probably be accurate in our assessment about the origins of and motives for corruption in sport, thus far we have developed little accurate understanding of the “why” and “how” of it.

Similarly, little attention has thus far been given to the responses to corruption of organisations engaged in some way with sport. How the threat of corruption is mitigated and managed implies some interesting opportunities for risk managers and those with an interest in, for example, governance, economic inequality or event management. Whether it is a moral stance, a response to consumer disquiet or an unwillingness to associate with illegal activity, the responses of key stakeholders also raises some important issues. For example, issues of partner selection, relationship termination, brand damage and market response would appear to be just some of the areas upon which academic researchers might want to focus.

In previous work on corruption in sport, Maening (2005) distinguishes between competition corruption and management corruption. The former generally covers activities that undermine, diminish or detract from the uncertainty of outcome and includes activities like match-fixing. The latter generally covers activities related to the governance, organisation and management of sport like vote-rigging in governing body elections.

Around Maening's classification, there are several issues: for example, is doping a form of fixing and should it fall within such classifications (which thus far it has not)? New forms of fixing have emerged in recent years, most notably spot-fixing (the fixing of a specific action in a sporting contest – like the time of a corner or throw-in – but which does not affect the final outcome of the contest), which poses challenges in terms of understanding, defining and managing them. Moreover, money laundering is now often identified as being one reason that business people invest in sport. If this assessment is correct, then how such activity impacts upon sport and its management would seem to be a pressing matter for the research community to address.

What corruption is currently costing the sport industry is something nobody yet has a sense of. This is a concern, as the costs of monitoring and controlling corruption, the misappropriation or misuse of funds and the withdrawal of commercial partners (and their funding) undermines the economic and commercial security of sport. Clearly therefore, there is an opportunity for researchers to begin the task of estimating the economic, financial and business implications of corruption. Beyond this, understanding, creating and researching measures for mitigating threat would seem to be a priority.

Given the absolute paucity of published studies in the field of sport corruption, particularly from a business and management perspective, the research agenda is currently an open field. Among major research studies currently being undertaken in universities, two appear notable: how sponsors respond to corruption in sport, and how consumers respond to corruption in sport. Further studies of this and a similar nature are important: as an opportunity for researchers, and also as a foundation for maintaining the integrity of sport.

Notes on this edition

Donlan's paper on the brand building effectiveness of sponsorship assesses, in two different live sponsorship environments, the contribution of sponsorship to consumer-based brand equity. The study adopts a quantitative survey methodology, employing self-administered questionnaires at two UK sporting events (athletics and cricket). To isolate the impact of sponsorship, questionnaires were also distributed to comparison sample groups not exposed to the sponsorship activities. The elements of consumer-based brand equity are operationalised using a brand equity measurement tool. Sponsorship can be an appropriate vehicle through which to build consumer-based brand equity; however, brand building success is not guaranteed and is subject to a range of factors impacting upon particular sponsorships, including strength of the sponsor-event link, leverage activities and clutter. The most successful sponsorship displayed marked contributions to building brand associations, perceived quality and brand loyalty. However, the presence of sponsorship clutter in particular was found to impact negatively upon the perception of quality transferred to a brand through sponsorship. The use of live event settings limits the ability to tightly control all variables; therefore replication of this study using experimental methodologies is recommended. Nonetheless, findings indicate managers should consider the above-mentioned contextual factors when selecting sponsorships in order to maximise sponsorship success. The study explores the contribution of sports sponsorship to consumer-based brand equity in live sponsorship settings, addressing concerns over the generalizability of previous experimental sssstudies. Equally, this study compares the brand equity-building effectiveness of sponsorship for two sponsors, which differ on a range of contextual factors that impact upon sponsorship success.

Agyemang examines athlete citizenship’ in professional sport, through authentic community stakeholder engagement. While there is extant research regarding corporate citizenship, the literature negates the micro-level of analysis as it only concentrates on macro and/or meso-levels. Utilizing sport as a context, more specifically, professional athletes, the paper introduces a concept termed “athlete citizenship”. Athlete citizenship is defined as the manner in which a professional athlete conducts himself or herself (on and away from competition) and makes a positive impact on society. The author centralizes community stakeholder engagement as one method of exemplifying athlete citizenship qualities. In doing so, the author attempts to provide professional athletes and their managers with a framework to engage community stakeholders. Given the scope of what is asked of professional athletes in the current age, the author adopts a framework on how organizations can engage community stakeholders and applies it to professional athletes. The author argues that by carrying out authentic community stakeholder engagement, professional athletes can witness strategic benefits such as eliminating resentment, building a positive reputation, attaining revenue-generating ventures, and enhancing their brand. If carried out correctly, the communities that are served will be positively changed. Community engagement initiatives could enable community members to continue pursuits of projects initiated by the professional athlete. This paper is the first to discuss stakeholder engagement among professional athletes, the notion of athlete citizenship and how these can produce strategic benefits.

Lasalle's work on America's Cup sailing presents a tool with which to understand the power existing in relations between sports organizations. The research proposes a tool which draws from previous work. This tool is comprised of three dimensions which guarantee the possessor an absolute power, so avoiding the threat of overthrow by discontented rivals. A case study of the America's Cup 2007, held in Valencia, Spain, highlights the theoretical conceptions of various authors. A semantic analysis of the resulting data, using Alceste and Wordmapper software, highlights the particular power present in sailing relationships. The importance of this research, in addition to finding a type of power in a precise case, is essential in verifying the functioning of the model of the three dimensions. Organizations can acquire a better understanding of power present in their relations that they maintain and hence adapt their behaviour according to the strategy they seek to employ. International sporting events constitute a field where stakes are high, and each entity must work hard to put in place a set of strategies to ensure profit.

Lobo, Meyer and Chester's paper evaluates consumer response associated with sponsorship of major sporting events in Australia. The study investigates the key determinants of positive consumer behaviour associated with sports sponsorship. Using the consumer decision-making process and classical conditioning principles as an underpinning framework, it examines consumer perceptions of a sponsor, sponsored property and sponsorship activity relative to their intention of purchasing a sponsor's product or service. The purchase intention of consumers is analysed as an outcome of five significant constructs: event factors, sponsor factors, sponsorship factors, a pre-purchase response and the transfer of image values. Data were collected from approximately 700 respondents using a validated survey instrument. Factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to analyse survey data. The conceptual model and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The findings revealed that personal beliefs of consumers, sponsor-event fit and image transfer have a strong bearing on their post-event response, which further leads to a strong image transfer value. This is central to predicting a consumer's intention to purchase. The implication of this study is that both sponsors and sponsored properties must invest resources towards market research to facilitate the development and adherence of appropriate fit and congruence objectives. Most importantly, a holistic, consumer-centric approach to sponsorship examination offers marketers a guide to effective sponsorship planning and execution and a sound return for their investment. This is one of the first studies that has been conducted in relation to the return on investment associated with sponsorship of major sporting events in Australia.

Phillips, Roundtree and Kim investigate customer motivations to purchase university licensed merchandise. The paper explores the relationship between consumers’ purchase motivations to show support for university programs and the influence of merchandise quality cues on their purchase decision; it also examines how a person's affiliation with a university (official or nonofficial) moderates this relationship. The research utilized a mail survey of university bookstore customers from the USA and Canada. The university, located in the US, has an international reputation for its academic programs, its athletic teams, and its religious affiliation. Our findings demonstrate the significance of athletic programs over academic programs and religious values in motivating purchases of licensed university merchandise. These findings have significant implications for several stakeholders in the business of retailing licensed merchandise. In particular, university licensors and their bookstore retailers may consider managing their inventory of licensed products to reflect the greater relative importance athletic teams have in the purchase decision process. The paper adds to our understanding of customer motivations to purchase university licensed merchandise, and the conditions when merchandise quality is a key decision driver.

Simon Chadwick

Reference

Maening, W. (2005), “Corruption in international sports and sport management: forms, tendencies, extent and countermeasures”, European Sport Management Quarterly, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 187-225