Nonprofit Sport Organizations Research Articles

The Strategic Involvement of Stakeholders in the Efficiency of non-profit Sport Organisations: from a Perspective of Survival to Sustainability

The objective of this study is to analyse the efficiency of non-profit sports clubs and identify the perceptions of their directors with regards to the stakeholders that exert the greatest influence over club efficiency levels. In order to analyse the efficiency of these clubs, we made recourse to the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. We also applied the Mann-Whitney test, to identify whether there are significant differences between efficient and non-efficient clubs with regards to the influence held by their stakeholders. We thus report that the majority of clubs operate efficiently. Both the efficient and the non-efficient clubs classify the club managers, members, sponsors, fans and athletes as the most important stakeholders to their efficiency levels. The results convey how there are no significant differences among the management team perceptions on the role of stakeholders in attaining club efficiency. The study also details the respective procedures that inefficient clubs should adopt in order to approximate the efficiency frontier.

Strategic Use of Facebook to Build Brand Awareness

Social media provides a strategic means for non-profit organizations to build and maintain strong relationships with consumers. The purpose of this study was to apply branding theory and frameworks to the use of Facebook by National Olympic Committees in two countries, Australia and Canada over specific time periods related to three Olympics Games. These Facebook pages were examined to determine the types of brand-related post content and communication style utilized as well as the consumer response to these posts. The two organizations generally used Facebook to broadcast product related brand attributes such as information about athletes and teams. There was also a significant difference in Facebook post use and focus by two organizations indicating some international differences in using Facebook for branding a sport organization. The results also provide practical implications for non-profit sport organizations using Facebook to build positive brand images, promote fan engagement and ultimately create brand ambassadors.

The Board President’s Role in Controlling the Decision-making Process in Voluntary Sports Organizations

The goal of the study is to understand the president´s influence and his skills in the strategic decision-making process. The qualitative nature of the study implied a participant’s observation during board meetings (with a total of 35 sports directors - 3 professionals and 32 volunteers), as well as interviewing the six board presidents of the sports associations that are part of the study. The main results revealed a poorly structured decision-making process, but with a determinant role of the board president in the conduction and manipulation of the said process. This was especially evident with the professional sports directors who showed higher knowledge and better preparation of the subjects. Likewise, both of the associations headed by full-time professional sports directors, along with an association led by a volunteer sports director (though strongly backed by the technical director of sport or sports manager during the meetings and decision-making), revealed greater strategic management and better organizational results. The main power sources of the board president, and the skills he uses in order to mark the decision’s direction are internal alliances with the closest sports director (volunteer and professional), anticipation through a previous expressed opinion, the use of information, sports expertise, and also the knowledge regarding the existent problems among the clubs and the affiliated coaches. The results found bad governance which shows confusing and poorly structured management practices. This study intents to contribute for the change of the relationship between the role of the board and the technical director of sport or sport manager (specially for the relevance of the last), in order to improve better strategic decision-making in the non-profit sport organizations.

Examining the integration of sport and health promotion: partnership or paradox?

ABSTRACTCross-sector partnerships between public health agencies and non-profit sport organisations may offer an effective approach to health promotion given their mutual interest in facilitating opportunities for individual and community well-being. The study draws on conceptual framing from the public non-profit partnership literature to understand the potential role of sport organisations in health promotion partnerships and the factors associated with engaging these cross-sector partners. The research involves a case study of a local, cross-sector partnership for health promotion aimed at increasing physical activity through strategic marketing campaigns. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with representatives from partner organisations in the sport sector and members of the partnership executive committee, as well as active-member participant observation. The results suggest that despite congruent organisational priorities and policy imperatives that link sport and health-based organisations, there was evidence of misalignment in the partners’ capacity to collaborate. There was also notable incongruence in the discourses related to sport and health and the norms and values underpinning the partnership of public health and non-profit community sport. The implications of the research suggest that despite higher-order policy agendas emphasising partnerships as a means to advance health outcomes, there are significant constraints in local capacity for collaboration to meet these policy goals.

Do non-profit sport organisations innovate? Types and preferences of service innovation within regional sport federations

Little is known about innovation in the non-profit sport sector. The current research addresses this gap by questioning whether and to what extent sport federations innovate. It aims to identify types of innovation implemented by sport federations and their attitude and preferences towards innovation. An online questionnaire was administered to a sample of key representatives (i.e. Chair, Secretary General or Directors) of regional sport federations in Belgium (n = 101; 70% response rate). Directed content analysis of the service innovations described by respondents reveals ten different types of sport and non-sport service innovations. Results suggest that membership size and categories of sport influence preferences in knowledge creation/appropriation, and ultimately the type of innovation developed. This paper also suggests that sport federations are driven by demands by members in meeting their expectations of new services and are not risk averse. On average, the sport federations surveyed have a positive attitude towards newness that favours innovativeness. The current study would help researchers to advance further into the knowledge of service innovation in non-profit organisations. It should act as a foundation for research and practice on specific types of service innovation in sport. Managers should realise the importance of attitude for innovation and use the suggested typology to provide new services in different categories and meet members’ expectations.

Recruitment and Retention of Referees in Nonprofit Sport Organizations: The Trickle-Down Effect of Role Models

The recruitment and retention of voluntary referees is challenging for nonprofit sport organizations. This study examines the trickle-down effect of role models on the retention of already active referees and the recruitment of new referees in German football (soccer). Secondary panel data on the number of referees and role models (i.e., referees promoted to the status of a Bundesliga or FIFA referee) were collected for the 21 regional football associations. The regression results show that the presence of role models has a statistically significant and positive effect on the number of existing referees. The number of new referees is positively affected by referees who were promoted to the status of a first Bundesliga referee, but not by those promoted to the status of a FIFA referee. The findings suggest that nonprofit sport organizations should capitalize on the effect of role models to a greater extent.

Board composition in federated structures: a case study of the Gaelic Athletic Association

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the issue of board composition within non-profit sport organizations operating in a federated governance structure. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is used as a case study to illustrate the challenges and complexities of comprising a board that has the requisite skill set to carry out its function in a rapidly changing operating environment. Interviews (n = 10) supported by document analysis were conducted with senior ranking officials within the Association in order to analyse the integral factors related to board composition within the GAA. Findings show that the Association heavily relies on the delegate system of board composition, potentially limiting its ability to appoint a board that has a commercially orientated focus reflecting the professionalization and commercialization of the contemporary sport industry. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research.

The effects of strategic stakeholder management on non-profit organizations’ reputation

The study explores how different aspects of strategic stakeholder management affects non-financial performance in non-profit sport organizations. First, the study identifies three aspects of strate...

Stakeholder Engagement With National Governing Bodies Through Social Media: An Insight Into USA Wrestling

This case study examines USA Wrestling’s (USAW) social media use during the 2014 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Wrestling Championships. During the three days of the event, a cross-platform content analysis of USAW’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram accounts formed the foundation of the case analysis. In addition, real-life qualitative interviews were conducted with employees involved with the national governing body’s (NGB) social media implementation plan. Students will be asked to develop social media-based messaging to reach and engage the NGB’s potential stakeholders, based on USAW’s communication strategy outcomes during the NCAA championships. The case provides students with the opportunity to: (a) analyze nonprofit sport organizations, (b) investigate how communication and marketing efforts differ in a not-for-profit environment, and (c) identify to what extent social media sites provide a cost-effective option to entities of similar status. To further support the pivotal role of social media within a sport organization’s overall marketing and communication mix, managerial implications pertaining to stakeholder identification and engagement strategies are included in the analysis.

Operation Mode Analysis-Based National Sports Non-Profit Organization Modern Administrative Research

With market economy society development, non-profit organizations play irreplaceable roles in making up market failure and government failure aspects, and have become one of indispensable parts in “government-marketsociety” ternary structure society. Non-profit sports organizations development has become main direction of modern sports development, and become important carriers to develop national fitness activities, construct sports power. The paper through consulting relative literatures, makes summarized research on formers research results, and applies case analysis method, induction and deduction method these research methods, relates Chinese non-profit sports organizations operating mode, respectively analyzes Chinese non-profit sports organizations operating status from market establishing alliance mode and government setting up contract cooperation mode two aspects, analyzes some cases involved non-profit sports organizations operating status and the operating mode merits, finally it gets that how China to carry out modern sports non-profit organizations administration so that can provide references for national sports non-profit organizations administration and propel to its better development.

The Development of a Framework to Capture Perceptions of Sport Organizations Legitimacy

In this manuscript, we use Bitektine’s (2011) theory of organizational social judgments to develop a framework to Capture Perceptions of Organizational Legitimacy (CPOL). We outline a three-stage framework as a method to measure the perceived dimensions on which constituents scrutinize a sport organization’s legitimacy. In stage one of the framework, we defined the organizational context of a nonprofit sport organization in Sydney, Australia to establish the classification, purpose, and relationship of the focal entity to its constituents. In stage two, we distributed a qualitative questionnaire (N = 279) to identify the perceived dimensions on which constituents scrutinized organizational action. In stage 3 we distributed a quantitative questionnaire (N = 860) to test six perceived dimensions, which emerged during stage two of the CPOL framework. The six dimensions explained 63% of respondents’ overall organizational judgment, providing support for the CPOL framework as a context-driven process to measure constituent perceptions of the legitimacy of sport organizations.

Assessing the sociology of sport: On sport organizations and neoliberal discourses

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, a key figure in the sociology of sport in Norway, Jorid Hovden, assesses research into sport organizations and the pressures of neoliberal discourses. In considering the trajectory of research into non-profit sport organizations, focus is given to the ideological tensions in the field today and how neoliberal management discourses may contribute to weakening the impact of sociological concerns. Key challenges in inquiry are anchored in the contradictory and mutually exclusive paradigms for research into sport organizations, with one stream reliant on management functionalities that are remiss in considering power relations and the other a critical stream that emphasizes diversity and equity. These differences are amplified in the methodological schisms between the two streams, with a bias towards epistemological orthodoxy, positivist logic, and empirical evidence crowding out critical and cultural stocktaking. In the future, sociological inquiry into non-profit sport organizations will be challenged by the dominance of a ‘new managerialism’ that portrays organizations as rational, action-oriented systems, where individual action, competitiveness, and entrepreneurialism are embedded logics. Scholarship using critical paradigms will need to fight effectively to develop alternative knowledge formations to help advance democratic and community-based sport organizations and reduce power differences, exclusion, and inequalities.

Volunteer age, job satisfaction, and intention to stay

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of Age in the relationships between leader-member exchange dimensions (Affect, Loyalty, Contribution, and Professional Respect) and Job Satisfaction and between Job Satisfaction and Intention to Stay among volunteers in nonprofit sport organizations. Design/methodology/approach – A series of moderated hierarchical multiple regression analyses was conducted using the survey responses of 214 volunteers in 22 nonprofit sport organizations. Findings – The results indicated that Age moderated the relationship between Professional Respect and Job Satisfaction such that it was stronger for younger volunteers, and Job Satisfaction had a greater positive influence on Intention to Stay for older rather than younger volunteers. Originality/value – These findings provide valuable insights into how age may be an important factor influencing volunteers’ job satisfaction and intention to continue to volunteer. Implications for practitioners and future research are also discussed.

“Pick and choose our battles” – Understanding organizational capacity in a sport for development and peace organization

A growing number of sport for development and peace (SDP) organizations seek to address social issues through sport. Hall et al. (2003) created a multidimensional framework that suggests SDP and other nonprofit organizations need human resources, financial, and structural capacities to accomplish their organizational goals and objectives, but may face challenges with developing these capacities. The current study used this framework and examined the capacities of Gainline Africa – a small SDP nonprofit organization based in North America and operating programming in an East African post-conflict community – to identify critical elements that influenced the organization's ability to fulfill its mission. Semi-structured interviews (n=10) were conducted with its North American staff members. The study's findings build upon the theoretical understanding of organizational capacity within nonprofit sport organizations, and several new elements such as community funding and managing nontraditional Global North-Global South dynamics, were revealed that could be unique to the SDP context. Practically speaking, smaller SDP organizations can use the findings to help increase their organizational capacity through leveraging local partnerships and understanding the role and usage of paid versus volunteer staff members.

Organizational performance of nonprofit and for-profit sport organizations

Research question: This study contributes to the organizational performance literature by conceptualizing differences in performance between nonprofit and for-profit organizations using property rights theory and suggesting comparative measures for multiple performance dimensions. It advances the following research question: Are there significant differences in organizational performance between nonprofit and for-profit sport organizations?Research methods: Data from a nationwide online survey of nonprofit (n = 1640) and for-profit sport organizations (n = 732) in German equestrian sport are used for the empirical analysis. The challenge was to find adequate measures for the comparison of the two types of legal forms. Altogether, 22 regression models for performance measures across four dimensions (financial, product, customer, strategic) are estimated with the legal form (nonprofit vs. for-profit) and some controls as independent variables.Results and findings: The results show that for-profit organizations outperform nonprofit organizations in terms of overall financial performance, while nonprofits excel with regard to price structure. For-profits attach more importance to program quality, employee qualifications, and strategies. No significant differences can be observed in the product dimension. However, for-profits tend to focus on customer groups that have typically been targeted by nonprofits. Since the models also control for organizational size and resources, the results indicate that differences are not always attributable to the legal form.Implications: The findings imply that for-profits do not outperform nonprofits in all performance dimensions. Nonprofits should consider that for-profits have invaded some of their typical domains and should be more flexible when market demand changes, while for-profits should reconsider their price structure.

The Stakeholder Dilemma in Sport Governance: Toward the Notion of “Stakeowner”

This study is positioned within the nonprofit sport context and builds on an emerging body of work in sport governance to investigate how nonprofit sport organizations can develop their governing capability. A rich data set derived from a 2-year action research study in an Australian state sport organization revealed a lack of stakeholder engagement underpinned by confusion about stakeholder-governing responsibility as the central issues in developing governance capability. The lessons drawn from the Squash Vic experience integrated with sport governance literature and stakeholder theory show the need to embed the notion of stakeholder salience or primacy to explain and clarify the dilemma of multiple stakeholders and the lack of stakeholder engagement in the governing process. We introduce Fassin’s (2012) notion of “stakeowner” and associated ideas of reciprocity and responsibility as a helpful characterization of the legal members in the stakeholdergovernance relationship.

Batting above average: Governance at New Zealand cricket

The study examined the independent board structure adopted by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and issues of board process including board roles, calibre and structure. Data collection consisted of in-depth semi-structured interviews of NZC senior management/board members, supplemented by archival document review and analysis. The findings, although not generalisable across the whole non-profit sport sector, supported the literature on the roles and calibre of board members in an independent board structure. Due to increasingly professional operations and growth of commercialisation in sport, expertise in commercial aspects was noted as required. Given the majority of non-profit sport organisations’ federated structure, collaborative governance theory appears to be an area of future research when evolving from a delegate to independent or hybrid governance model.

The Mediating Influence of Management by Values in Nonprofit Sport Organizations

The theory of practicing values may provide valuable insight into the role of organizational values in sport organizations. This is particularly relevant in the nonprofit sport sector where managers operate with limited budgets and organizations may subscribe to specific ethical-social values related to organizational performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of organizational values on the performance of nonprofit sport organizations and the possible mediating effect of employing a management-by-values approach. Online questionnaires were collected from 24 national sport organizations, with a total sample of 103 participants. Results indicate management by values fully mediates the influence of ethical-social organizational values on organizational performance. These results are explained using the theory of practicing values, which emphasizes the need to intentionally manage values within sport organizations. Implications for research and practice are presented.

A unified model of non-profit sport organizations performance: perspectives from the literature

Little consensus has emerged about how organizational performance should be defined and measured. Most studies have used traditional approaches to give their own perspective about organizational performance and effectiveness, but none have recently tried to encompass these different views into one unified model. In the present paper, Chelladurai's systems view of organizations is used to integrate the dimensions of organizational performance highlighted by previous studies on non-profit sport organizations (NPSOs). These organizational performance dimensions are highlighted and categorized into macro-dimensions (e.g. financial resources acquisition, size, internal atmosphere, organizational operating, financial independence, achieving elite sport success and mass sport participation). Relationships between these macro-dimensions are analyzed. A multidimensional framework is developed which gives an overview of which dimensions constitute organizational performance in NPSOs and of how to measure them. Further research directions and management implications are discussed.

Autonomy and Structure Can Enhance Motivation of Volunteers in Sport Organizations

The goal was better understanding of the motivational factors of volunteers in non-profit sport organizations. The roles of two factors provided by supervisors to their subordinates were examined: autonomy support, i.e., the encouragement of self-initiation and emphasis on choice rather than control, and structure, i.e., the introduction of order, definite procedures, and rules. 489 sport volunteers (289 men, 200 women; M age = 31.2 yr., SD = 7.4) were administered questionnaires assessing their perceived autonomy support, structure, and motivation. Regression analysis indicated that perceived autonomy support predicted motivation. Structure also mediated the effect of perceived autonomy support on motivation. Supervisors of sport organizations should provide adequate structure for their volunteers.