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1 – 10 of over 7000Financial problems of football clubs during economic crises (such as COVID-19 pandemic) highlight the necessity of achieving economic sustainability. In addition, the economic…
Abstract
Purpose
Financial problems of football clubs during economic crises (such as COVID-19 pandemic) highlight the necessity of achieving economic sustainability. In addition, the economic sustainability of football clubs is accepted as a principle of the development of sports business. Therefore, it is reasonable to conduct a study with the aim of examining economic sustainability in the field of sports club management.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study adopted a qualitative approach to research and used semi-structured interviews in order to develop a framework for the economic sustainability of football clubs. A total of 13 members of football clubs in the Iranian premier league participated in this study.
Findings
The findings highlighted the fact that a number of factors, including media and social networks, entrepreneurship and development of club business, commercialization of the club, privatization, investment and ownership, strategic communication plan, financial management and management instability, promoted the economic sustainability of football clubs and improved their financial performance.
Originality/value
This study highlighted the importance of the changes in the structure of football clubs and the strategic plans for promoting entrepreneurship and commercialization. Moreover, it underlined the major role of the environmental and management components of football clubs in their financial sustainability.
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Joana Tavares, Ana Pinto Borges, Bruno Miguel Vieira, Elvira Vieira and Paula Rodrigues
The authors intend to contribute to the lack of information about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in sports verified in the literature. The main purpose is to understand…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors intend to contribute to the lack of information about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in sports verified in the literature. The main purpose is to understand what the supporters' perceptions of CSR practices in sports clubs are and how these initiatives influence some of their attitudes towards the clubs they support.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a total sample of 142 supporters, the study hypotheses were tested with PLS-SEM structural equation modeling.
Findings
The authors conclude that CSR initiatives have a positive influence in the supporters' perception of the club and contribute to the positive word-of-mouth communication about the club. The results also show that these initiatives do not have a significant influence on the supporters' intention to become or remain paid members of sports clubs.
Originality/value
It should be noted that research on CSR in the national sports context is scarce, which increases the importance of its contribution to the literature in this area.
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Chelsey Sara Taylor, Michael L. Naraine, Katie Rowe, Jonathan Robertson and Adam Karg
The purpose of this study was to explore the process of change in existing professional sport organisations as they initiate a women's team.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the process of change in existing professional sport organisations as they initiate a women's team.
Design/methodology/approach
Three Australian Football League clubs with licenses for professional women's teams were examined, with semi-structured interviews held with three key department managers from each club.
Findings
The findings suggest organisations adopt either a community-focused or commercially focused approach, the selection of which is a response to the interplay of institutional pressures (e.g. league demands), resource demands (e.g. human and financial) and the strategic choices of a few, key “idea champions”.
Originality/value
This study provides insight into the approach change taken by clubs as they introduce a women's team into their existing organisational structure.
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Tim Ströbel, Christopher Maier and Herbert Woratschek
Turnover of employees is a key challenge for companies. The same is true for sports clubs that must set appropriate incentives to decrease their athletes’ turnover intention. As…
Abstract
Purpose
Turnover of employees is a key challenge for companies. The same is true for sports clubs that must set appropriate incentives to decrease their athletes’ turnover intention. As salary caps and team budgets restrict monetary incentives, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of organizational support on turnover intention of professional team sports athletes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative research and considers the specific requirements of European professional team sports. First, a qualitative study investigates organizational support in team sports and identifies relevant non-monetary incentives. Second, a quantitative study tests the effects of the identified organizational support incentives on turnover intention using a unique data set of professional team sports athletes. Third, a moderation analysis measures possible effects of age.
Findings
Through the qualitative study, three relevant non-monetary incentives could be identified in the context of professional team sports: integration of family (IOF), second career support, and private problem support. The subsequent quantitative study of football, ice hockey and handball athletes assesses the effectiveness of the identified incentives. All three incentives negatively influence athletes’ turnover intention, while IOF has a substantially stronger negative effect on turnover intention for younger athletes.
Originality/value
The findings indicate the importance of organizational support to decrease athletes’ turnover intention. Although money is relevant, sports clubs also need to address non-monetary incentives to decrease their athletes’ turnover intention.
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Xabier Mendizabal, Leire San-Jose and Jose Domingo Garcia-Merino
Professional basketball clubs generate value not only for shareholders, but also for other stakeholders. These organizations create a broader social value for a wide range of…
Abstract
Purpose
Professional basketball clubs generate value not only for shareholders, but also for other stakeholders. These organizations create a broader social value for a wide range of stakeholders, and thus, it is useful to consider these stakeholders' perceptions of social value creation. Therefore, under the generic framework of grounded theory, this paper aims to create a stakeholder map of professional basketball clubs, taking into account the common coopetition context in sporting competitions.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 49 qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted in collaboration with the representatives of two Spanish basketball clubs to establish the particularities of the stakeholders of these organizations compared with non-sport businesses (NsP) to confirm the stakeholder map. The Bryson process was used to develop the stakeholder map.
Findings
The map shows that there are three kinds of stakeholders of professional basketball clubs compared with non-sport organizations: similar, singular and entirely different. The perception of different social value dimensions confirm the findings of the stakeholder map, emphasizing that these organizations should take into account multidimensional stakeholder-value creation (functional, social, emotional and epistemic).
Originality/value
This study provides evidence from a holistic point of view that economic performance is not a unique indicator for measuring basketball clubs as efficient organizations, proving the usefulness of the stakeholder map.
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Jochen Perck, Jo Van Hoecke, Hans Westerbeek and Diane Breesch
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the quality assurance system IKGym (Quality Management System for Gymnastics Clubs), on professionalisation, homogenisation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the quality assurance system IKGym (Quality Management System for Gymnastics Clubs), on professionalisation, homogenisation and organisational performance in a sample of gymnastics clubs affiliated to the Flemish Gymnastics Federation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were drawn from a sample of 55 non-profit local Flemish gymnastics clubs, evaluated twice by IKGym between 2004 and 2010. Using a longitudinal analysis of quantitative data of the IKGym data set a paired samples t-test was conducted to measure the impact of IKGym on the sample of gymnastics clubs. Besides, the Pitman-Morgan test was conducted to measure if the gymnastics clubs have become more isomorphic because of IKGym.
Findings
First, the results identify different levels of progression towards professionalisation between various quality and performance targets of the gymnastics clubs and depending on the structural design types of these clubs. Second, it was found that during the organisational change the sample of clubs also started to resemble each other more. However, this homogenisation process seems restricted to the organisational management and strategic planning of the clubs and appears especially to clubs belonging to the volunteer structure. Third, the present study also indicates that IKGym has influenced clubs to perform better.
Originality/value
IKGym is considered as a pioneering project where a federation stimulated their clubs to professionalise by means of a system of quality assurance. Several federations and sporting leagues (Deutsche Bundesliga, English Premier League; Belgian Basketballiga, etc.) followed this lead and introduced a similar system to evaluate and direct the management of their clubs.
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Arthur Lefebvre, Géraldine Zeimers and Thierry Zintz
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between partner selection factors and effectiveness of collaboration between sport clubs, as well as the mediating…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between partner selection factors and effectiveness of collaboration between sport clubs, as well as the mediating role of collaboration process dimensions on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via an online survey targeting representatives of sport clubs in Belgium (n = 631). Hierarchical multiple linear regression and mediation analyses were conducted using SPSS macro PROCESS.
Findings
The results indicate that two partner selection factors – shared vision and pre-existing relationships – are related to collaboration effectiveness. Moreover, this association is mediated by the collaboration process and, more particularly, by two informal (social) dimensions of this process: mutuality and trust.
Practical implications
Practically, this study suggests sport clubs representatives to chiefly pay attention to partner selection characteristics when deciding to collaborate with other sport clubs. They should assess their potential partners and eventually choose sport clubs that share a similar vision and/or with whom they already have pre-existing relationships.
Originality/value
This paper extends knowledge on non-profit sport collaboration effectiveness by empirically examining its relationship to the partner selection factors and collaboration process. It helps establish the distinctiveness of this collaboration form. The paper also brings new knowledge on the interconnections between antecedents, process and effectiveness of sport collaboration.
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Hossein Mansouri, Saeed Sadeghi Boroujerdi, Michael Polonsky, Maizaitulaidawati Md Husin and Mehdi Seydi
This study examines the role of market orientation in the relationship between internal marketing and entrepreneurial orientation within private sports clubs.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the role of market orientation in the relationship between internal marketing and entrepreneurial orientation within private sports clubs.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is a descriptive-correlational study based on private sports clubs employees within Iran (Sanandaj). A theoretical model was developed based on the literature and tested using SPSS and PLS-SEM software.
Findings
The findings indicate a positive relationship between internal marketing and employees' entrepreneurial orientation. Market orientation has also played a positive mediating role in the relationship between internal marketing and entrepreneurial orientation.
Originality/value
The results suggest a higher level of market orientation in the organization can increase teamwork and, consequently, entrepreneurship development among employees. This is important in sports clubs as employees have a significant role in the success of the sports club. Club employees' satisfaction, generated through internal marketing, provides is a prerequisite for customer satisfaction. This therefore creates an environment supportive of entrepreneurial orientation in the club.
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Sami Kokko, Lasse Kannas, Jari Villberg and Michael Ormshaw
This paper aims to clarify the extent to which youth sports clubs guide their coaches to recognise health promotion as a part of the coaching practice. The guidance activity of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to clarify the extent to which youth sports clubs guide their coaches to recognise health promotion as a part of the coaching practice. The guidance activity of clubs is seen parallel to internal organisational communication.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 93 (from 120, 78 per cent) youth sports clubs in Finland was carried out, and a total of 273 sports club officials acted as respondents. The clubs' guidance activity was examined under three domains: sports performance time, non‐performance sports club time, and health topics.
Findings
In general, youth sports clubs were passive on guiding their coaches on health promotion. Guidance activity was evident concerning actual sports performance time, whereas non‐performance sports club time received much less attention. Health topics were guided to a varying degree in that the clubs had been active in guiding the coaches on topics such as the risks of being physically active when ill, injury prevention, and sleep/rest, whereas topics such as nutrition and the use of various substances were much less acknowledged.
Research limitations/implications
The study limitations relate to self‐reported data, and the complexity of assessing sports clubs. As one of the first studies in the area, all the measurement instruments and methods were created from the outset. Therefore, further studies are required for validation purposes. Despite the limitations, this study provides pioneering baseline information.
Practical implications
The results indicate that youth sports clubs are still discipline and competition oriented. Health promotion guidance especially regarding non‐performance sports club time and several health topics needs to be addressed by the clubs in order to meet the clubs' own health‐related intentions.
Originality/value
These findings are unique in this relatively new setting for health promotion, and they can act as a baseline for research methodology development and further studies.
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Benjamin Thomas Egli, Torsten Schlesinger, Mariëlle Splinter and Siegfried Nagel
The purpose of this paper is to foster a better understanding of how decision-making processes work in sport clubs and to develop appropriate advisory concepts or management tools…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to foster a better understanding of how decision-making processes work in sport clubs and to develop appropriate advisory concepts or management tools in order to successfully realize structural changes in sport clubs. This paper examines the decision-making processes associated with an external advisory programme. Based on the assumption of bounded rationality, the garbage can model is used to grasp these decision-making processes theoretically and to access them empirically.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a case study framework, an in-depth analysis of the decision-making and implementation processes involved in an advisory programme was performed in ten selected football clubs. Guided interviews were conducted on the basis of the four streams of the garbage can model. The interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis.
Findings
Results show that three types of club can be distinguished in terms of their implementation processes: low implementation of the external input; partial implementation of the external input; and rigorous implementation of the external input. In addition, the analysis shows that the participants in the advisory programme are the key actors in both the decision-making process and the implementation.
Originality/value
The paper provides insights into the practicability of advisory programmes for sport clubs and the transfer to the clubs’ practical decision-making routines. Additionally, it shows how sport clubs deal with (external) advisory impulses, and which different decision-making practices underlie these processes.
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