Leader prototypicality in sport: The implicit leadership theories of women and men entering sport management careers

Implicit leadership theories (ILTs) matter because they are used as the benchmark against which people determine who is a leader and who is not. This assessment informs their behavioral responses. People are thought to have a superordinate-level ILT representing their prototypical mental model of leadership and a series of basic-level ILTs. Each of these represents how people conceptualize leadership in particular domains (e.g., sport, politics, and popular culture). In this study, the authors generate the structures of basic-level sport management ILTs for women and men who are about to enter this industry. These form the baseline from which socialization to work, organizational cultures, and the sport management industry begins. The ILTs of women entering sport management careers have a 35-item, 6-factor structure (Sensitivity, Knowledgeable, Physical Attractiveness, Inspirational, Dedication, and Focused), whereas men entering the industry have a 32-item, 7-factor structure (Sensitivity, Dedication, Physical Attractiveness, Focused, Creativity, Inspirational, Courageous). The resulting sport management ILT profiles differ from superordinate ones by emphasizing physical and vitality attributes, incorporating emotional elements, and by eschewing antiprototypical elements. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications for leadership research in sport management.     

Exploring cognitive restructuring: A multi-foci leadership perspective

Athletics teams operate in contexts where team culture fluctuates with constant change (i.e., player turnover). In such dynamic sport environments, a strong leadership core needs to be in place to effectively navigate changes in team culture. The purpose of this study was to use the multi-foci perspective of leadership to explore the values and shared leadership qualities associated with proactively managing cognitive restructuring. A case study approach was used to examine a female sport team that recently encountered a shift in team culture. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with players and coaches (N = 31) who represented both leaders and followers from a shared leadership perspective. The findings contribute to sport management theory by defining the complexity of cognitive restructuring and establishing the necessity of shared leadership (i.e., leaders and followers) during this stage of the change process.     

Individual and contextual factors in ethical decision making: A case study of the most significant doping scandal in Canadian university sports history

This case study is written for instructors of sport management courses focused on ethics and integrity-related issues in team environments. The case highlights the real world example of the University of Waterloo Warriors varsity football that, in 2010, experienced the most significant doping scandal in Canadian university sports history, with a total of nine anti-doping rule violations asserted through the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. This case study also incorporates the findings of an independent review of the Waterloo football program in relation to the use of banned substances, and includes first-hand accounts from Bob Copeland who was the acting director of athletics. These findings are then interpreted in the context of relevant theory related to performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) use. Along with the findings of this review, which included interviews with athletes, coaches, and administrators, the case study provides important insights into ethical decision making processes and leadership structures in a team sport environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the role that individual cognitive antecedents and contextual organizational factors (i.e., policies, leadership, ethical climate, and infrastructure) play in ethical decision-making processes.     

Leadership in governance: Exploring collective board leadership in sport governance systems

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and explore a working conceptualisation of collective board leadership in a federal sport network. In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between collective leadership and governance systems specifically within the non-profit sport organisation context, bringing together notions of collective board leadership and collaborative governance. Neither concept has yet been presented in tandem for the benefit of developing sport governance knowledge and practice. As an outcome of the conceptualising, the authors make explicit the multiple levels of the sport governance system and pose two broad research directions that will help advance theory and drive a better understanding of collective board leadership within these types of governance systems. A central premise of this paper is that the sport management field is lacking literature that brings together leadership and governance, and that collective leadership is a topic where the intersection of leadership and governance renders advancement for both bodies of work. The authors offer implications for future work in collective leadership for sport governance.     

Doping in sport: Whose problem is it?

In the last few years there has been a significant increase in the number and scope of social science research into doping in sport. However, despite this apparent progress, the field remains a disparate body of work and lacks both direction and leadership. Whilst sport management is a discipline that is well suited to provide such leadership, scholarly research into this controversial topic has not been published widely in sport management journals. This special issue redresses this gap by bringing together a range of scholarly articles that represent a variety of perspectives by authors from North America, Europe and Australia. The issues and challenges covered are varied, but each paper brings a common theme: the implications for the management of doping in sport. The six papers in this Special Issue of Sport Management Review are a significant addition to the slowly growing body of sport management scholarly work on doping in sport. It is hoped that future research will be prompted with this Special Issue and the discipline of sport management will recognize and respond to the challenges presented by doping.     

Observing Coaches’ Leadership Behaviours: the Development of the Coach Leadership Assessment System (CLAS)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to develop an observational coding system that examines coaches’ leadership behaviours in sport. Drawing from an integration of the dimensions emphasized within the full-range leadership model, and particularly, transformational leadership (TFL), the Coach Leadership Assessment System (CLAS) was designed to examine coaches’ real-time leadership behaviours. Behavioural categories were developed through an iterative combination of literature review, qualitative interviews, and video observation. The CLAS consists of five higher-order dimensions: transformational, transactional, neutral, laissez-faire, and toxic coaching, which assess coaches’ leadership across 18 distinct behavioural categories. Overall, results provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of this instrument. The CLAS provides a detailed and contextualized account of coaches’ leadership behaviours in sport and may have important implications for theory development and applied practice.     

Developing a winning sport team culture: organizational culture in theory and practice

Abstract

This case study reviews strategies for identifying, establishing and influencing sport team culture and leadership, based on Edgar Schein’s three-level theoretical model of organizational culture integrating artefacts, values and beliefs and core assumptions. Specifically, we examine the success of a professional rugby team in New Zealand, the 2014 ITM Cup champions, the Manawatu Turbos. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with past and present coaches (N = 3) and captains (N = 3). Key findings include the need to formally recognize culture, including establishing and reinforcing values, as a tangible element of sport team management practice. A flat organization structure has helped facilitate a suitable environment for collective leadership to flourish. Implications for sport and business teams are the need to acknowledge culture as a core component, and conduct a culture audit to establish the current and desired culture through an aligned combination of informal and formal transformational leadership.     

International cross-sector social partnerships between sport and governments: The World Anti-Doping Agency

This article presents the results of an in-depth case study of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a global cross-sector social partnership (CSSP) through which governments and sport collaborate to address the social issue of doping in sport. The authors specifically explore how WADA has managed two key issues (securing financial contributions and the 2007 presidential election) using institutional and resource-dependence theories to better understand the question of why and how a sport CSSP responds strategically to its environmental and resource constraints in its precursory, establishment, and continuance phases. In doing so, the authors contribute to the sport management literature by providing new theoretical insights in the context of an international CSSP whose governance model challenges traditional management theories (Selsky & Parker, 2005) and is increasingly relevant in the current era of global management of social issues (Scherer & Palazzo, 2010). Findings suggest that for global CSSPs internal and external legitimacy is imperative through securing moral and geopolitical legitimacy, and there is value in considering resource-dependence and institutional theories as complementary rather than competing frameworks.     

我国体育理论研究与发展若干问题的思考

我国市场经济确立与逐步完善,对当前体育产生几乎全方位的冲击,引起体育的重大变革,体育理论研究也必然要有一个大的转变和大的发展。理论的发展要依靠深刻的理论研究。畅通理论研究,实现理论革新,是体育腾飞的关键。笔者对体育理论研究人员思想观念的转变、体育理论研究方法、市场经济条件下体育理论的功能等三个方面进行了论述,并对体育问题研究与体育理论建设问题进行了探讨。     

Emergent models of sport development and delivery: The case of triathlon in Australia and the US

Sport development is a core concern for all nations as they seek to enhance elite performance and cultivate opportunities for mass participation. In the sport of triathlon, new models for sport development have been shown to exist where third party organisations have a critical role in the delivery of it. Using institutional theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to explore the emerging models of sport development in triathlon. A case study of triathlon in Australia and in the United States was used. The results illustrated emerging models of sport development in both the US and Australia. Third party organisations as well as local councils have become increasingly involved in the creation and implementation of programmes and activities that would normally be the responsibility of a governing body. As such, the organisational fields and institutional logics in triathlon are rendering governing bodies irrelevant. Governing bodies are grappling with finding relevance and legitimacy in triathlon. Implications for sport management research, practice, and education are discussed.     

Does it really matter? A study on soccer fans’ perceptions of ethical leadership and their role as “stakeowners”

Ethical leadership is increasingly studied in the context of soccer clubs, as it is believed to represent an effective answer to soccer’s “dark side.” However, current academic understanding is limited to key internal stakeholders’ perspectives, such as coaches and players. A highly relevant stakeholder group that is still largely neglected is fans, as they are believed to be uniquely able to influence leadership in sport clubs, while some of soccer’s ethical issues, such as violence and discrimination are strongly associated with fans. This study highlights this duality by referring to fans as “stakeowners,” namely legitimate stakeholders with certain rights as well as responsibilities. Moreover, the authors examine whether ethical leadership by soccer club leaders really matters to fans. Drawing on a qualitative case study in a Belgian professional soccer club, findings indicate fans care mainly about those aspects of ethical leadership that impact their own position, such as clear communication and fan empowerment. On the other hand, findings suggest fan influence on the leadership of their club should not be exaggerated. After all, the club’s leadership questions the critical importance of fans as being core to (soccer) management’s activities and leadership.     

Aerobic Demand of Running Shoes Designed to Exploit Energy Storage and Return

This qualitative case study used tenets of critical race theory and a single focus group and individual interviews with 4 African American football athletes at a predominantly White institution of higher education (PWIHE) in an effort to bring the voices of this marginalized group into the dialogue on issues concerning institutional integrity in college sport. Institutional integrity involves an athletic program's actual commitment to the educational interests of college athletes as expressed through their structures, functions, and activities. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) there is a need for more African American role models in leadership positions within the athletic departments of these PWIHE; (b) there is a need for more financial support for athletes; and (c) African American athletes should be given a platform to voice concerns. These findings have implications for those educational stakeholders and researchers who are genuinely concerned with institutional integrity in college sport.     

The sport cluster concept as middle-range theory for the sport value framework

The Sport Value Framework provides a new logic for value creation in sport based on the Service-dominant logic. The Sport Value Framework is a general theory with high level of abstraction, and there is no middle-range theory yet to link it to empirical data. The purpose of this research is to provide one middle-range theory connecting empirical findings to the Sport Value Framework. The authors used a case study approach of a geographical localised sport industry. Primary data collection in the Auckland sailing industry included 27 interviews and observations at events. Secondary data include 13 documents of organisational information and archival data. Data were analysed with NVivo. The results suggest that the Sport Value Framework explains value creation within a localised sport industry. The middle-range theory between the authors’ data and the Sport Value Framework is the Sport Cluster Concept. Eight of the ten foundational premises of the Sport Value Framework are relevant to the case. The results confirm the Sport Cluster Concept as a middle-range theory to explain value creation in localised sport industries through the lenses of the Service-dominant logic. This research helps sport management practitioners to better understand value creation in localised sport industries. It suggests that sport management and marketing scholars should focus more on networks of actors and related inclusive empirical research designs rather than focusing on isolated elements and single actors of sport industries.     

Understanding Leadership in Major Sporting Events: The Case of the 2005 World Aquatics Championships

The purpose of this paper was to begin understanding leadership within a major sporting event. A case study of the 2005 Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) World Aquatics Championships was built by means of interviews and archival material, using a multi-stakeholder perspective. Findings highlighted that core elements of upper-management level leadership in events were best described by the multiple-linkage leadership theory, which includes task commitment, ability and role clarity, work organization, cooperation and mutual trust, resources and support, and external coordination as the six intervening variables. While charismatic and transformational leadership styles surfaced as contributing to the overall success of an event, the multiple-linkage leadership theory offered a more comprehensive understanding of leadership in major sporting events from a multi-stakeholder perspective.     

Managing a home court transition: The case of the New Zealand Breakers

This case study involving the New Zealand Breakers basketball team explores key factors relating to the home venues of sport teams. The case study is suitable for use in a variety of undergraduate courses such as sport management, sport marketing, and facility management. The New Zealand Breakers have two multi-purpose facilities within Auckland where home basketball games can viably be staged. Growing ticket demand and the opportunities associated with the larger and more modern of the two facility options have necessitated strategic thinking and decision making from Breakers’ management. They have not yet made a permanent move, but have chosen instead to move to the new facility gradually. There are several aspects of the ongoing transition period that require careful management to ensure the long-term success of the franchise. The Breakers’ management of the ongoing decision and transition are well-grounded in management, marketing, and facility management literature. As students consider the case, they will have the opportunity to think critically and consider theory in the context of a real professional sport franchise. A variety of questions and references are provided in the teaching note that can be used in conjunction with the implementation of the case study.     

Sport development planning: The Sunny Golf Club

Sport development is about helping people from all backgrounds to start playing a sport, to stay in their chosen sport, and to succeed at it. Sport development planning is a process for achieving these goals. However, due to a lack of sport-specific planning tools, sport organisations have long borrowed and applied generic management principles, theories and models (such as situation analysis and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis). As sport management is an established field of study, generic management principles alone are insufficient and the need to develop sport-specific practices and theories is clear. This fictional case study, involving the sport development officer of a local golf club in Queensland, Australia, uses a sport development planning (SDP) process that blends traditional planning processes with sport-specific analyses of the attraction, retention/transition and nurturing (ARTN) of participants. The SDP process and its embedded ARTN processes form a theoretical framework which points students towards a three-way analysis of (a) sport development stakeholders, (b) sport development strategies, and (c) sport development pathways that drive the ARTN of participants. This case study challenges students to develop a plan for a sport organisation using a structured and empirically derived approach.     

Underrepresentation of women in sport leadership: A review of research

Despite increased participation opportunities for girls and women in sport, they are underrepresented in leadership positions at all levels of sport. The objective of this review is to provide a multilevel examination of available scholarship that contributes to understanding why there are so few women in leadership positions within sport. From a macro-level perspective, scholarship regarding the institutionalized practices of gender in sport is examined. The meso-level review includes stereotyping of leaders, issues of discrimination, and gendered organizational cultures. Finally research reviewed at the micro-level explores women's expectations in leadership positions, occupational turnover intentions, and the influence of symbolic interactionism on women's career advancement. In addition, the author identifies new research areas and additional recommendations for how best to increase the number of women in leadership positions in sport.     

体育事业需有更好的理论--张洪潭博士《体育基本理论研究》评介

本文以张洪潭博士的专著《体育基本理论研究》为线索，论及体育理论的现状与改革，提出体育基本理论的概念，认为体育基本理论包括两大基本组块，即体育教学理论和运动训练理论，还包括体育思辨理论和体育规范理论两个附加组块，简要陈述了各理论组块的基本构成。     

A personal journey in theorizing in sport management

The purpose of this article was to articulate the process of theorizing. For the author, theory development begins with a discontent and discomfort with existing formulations on a topic. In drawing from this premise, the author provides an overview of the theory development process he undertook, highlighting five examples: geographic versus functional centrality, athletic teams as coalitions, defining the field of sport management, organizational effectiveness, and leadership.     

Experiences of amateur athletes’ non-participating entourage at participatory sport events

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of participatory sport events is attracting scholarly attention, with extant research primarily focusing on profiling participants, and understanding participants’ experiences. The experiences and perspectives of those who travel to participatory sport events to support competing athletes, the ‘non-participating entourage’ (NPE), have largely been overlooked. This stakeholder group is arguably under-recognised by those staging participatory sport events. The purpose of this study was to explore NPE experiences at participatory sport events, adopting a phenomenological approach and employing stakeholder theory as an interpretive lens. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 NPE of amateur athletes in Australia. Findings highlighted that NPE provide emotional and logistical support to their athlete at events. However, while providing support, NPE also experienced positive and negative emotions arising from contextual factors including their relationship to the athlete, group composition, athlete performance, and event design and conditions. This research highlights a vexed, though crucial stakeholder relationship between NPE and event management organisations, requiring unique stakeholder management strategies.