Organizations within the sport industry are facing increasing pressure to both maintain profitability and behave in socially acceptable ways, yet researchers have provided little information on how consumers perceive and react to corporate social responsibility (CSR). This mixed-design study examined the relationship between CSR activities and fans’ assessments of reputation and patronage intentions. In addition, the study sought to determine the role of team identification in the aforementioned relationship. Fans of two NFL teams were sampled (N= 297), with quantitative results suggesting that CSR is an important predictor of reputation, and that two types of patronage could be significantly impacted as well. The moderating effect of team identification was significant yet influenced the outcomes in different ways. Qualitative findings reinforced the quantitative discussion by providing support for the general conclusions that CSR was viewed favorably by most fans, and is an important aspect of the overall business strategy of a sport organization.

This study tested the propositions that (a) perceived leader-member exchange quality (LMX) between second level managers (e.g., associate, assistant athletic directors) and their subordinates would be associated with perceived transformational leadership behaviors (TL) of the athletic director, and (b) subordinates' organizational commitment (OC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) would be correlated with both perceived TL and LMX. Seventy-five third tier employees of a large Midwestern university responded to the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire-MLQ (Bass, 1985); LMX-7 (Graen, Novak, & Sommerkamp, 1982), an organizational citizenship scale (MacKenzie, Podsakoff, & Fetter, 1991); and an organizational commitment scale (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Correlational and regression analyses showed that the three dimensions of TL were significantly correlated with LMX. Additionally, the dimensions of TL and LMX were differentially related to OC and OCB.

Despite the acknowledged importance of investigating the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP) within a single industry, very few studies have examined this relationship in the context of the sport industry. Using charitable giving data as a proxy of CSR, this study investigated if CSR would affect CFP of professional sport teams within the four major U.S. leagues. Although the positive CSR-CFP relationship was hypothesized based on instrumental stakeholder theory, CSR was found to have non-positive effects on CFP. These results are still notable since they may highlight the importance of the connectedness between CSR and team operations and the awareness of CSR activity among stakeholders in leveraging CSR benefits. Overall, through the use of improved methodology, the current study furthers the understanding of the CSR-CFP relationship among the U.S. professional teams.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a foundation for future research pertaining to establishing the distinctness of the sport industry from an employee psychology perspective. Design/methodology/approach -This conceptual paper is rooted in social identity theory which maintains that certain levels of self-esteem and psychological fulfillment can be derived from one's membership in particular groups. The authors have developed a model of positive social identity in sport organizations that details the benefits and consequences of psychological fulfillment related to employment in the sport industry. Findings -Within the proposed model, the paper outlines how particular elements of social identity derived from one's employment in sport may play an active role in particular job attitudes by enhancing the employee's self-esteem and contributing to overall self-evaluation. It further explains how social identity in the workplace may influence individual outcomes such as organizational citizenship, commitment, satisfaction, and job involvement, depending on the strength of the attitude. The elements of the model are explored and future research directions are given. Originality/value -A key question to be addressed is whether or not sport is a distinct context within which to apply management theory. This paper proposes a conceptual model and research agenda surrounding the idea that one critical area of distinction may be the psychology of employees.

The purpose of this study was to explain the process of how a sport team could induce consumers to engage in proenvironmental behavior. Building on Kelman’s (1958, 1961, 2006) internalization perspective, this study demonstrated that positive environmental practices by a team increased consumer internalization of the team’s values. In turn, this increased internalization mediated the relationship between environmental practices and proenvironmental behavior measured by two behavioral intentions: intention to support the team’s environmental initiative and intention to engage in proenvironmental behavior in daily life. The results of this study contribute to the literature by highlighting the significant role of internalization. This research further provides a significant insight into the social impacts of sport organizations.

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