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In this article, we develop a model for measuring corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the club level in European professional football. Modern CSR management and activities have advanced considerably throughout most industries since the late 1990s. However, CSR has only gained recognition in the sports management literature very recently, and models to evaluate CSR programs and activities in the sports context hardly exist. Hence, we conceptualize a CSR Performance Scorecard based on literature on CSR and sports management as well as empirical exploration into particularities of the football business. Relevant to scholars and managers alike, this article seeks to motivate the strategic CSR engagement of professional football. This is achieved through an innovative and context‐specific way for its organizational measurement along quantifiable economic, integrative‐political, and ethical‐emotional dimensions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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The goal of this viewpoint article is to introduce, critically analyse and further develop importance–performance analysis (IPA) as a framework through which strategic management recommendations can be extracted for higher education institutions. The article introduces a new method of combining the perspectives of two significant groups to bridge the information gap between industry and higher education by exploring the results of two differing IPA variants from the context of sport management. The first IPA matches the importance and performance of future competencies based on statements solely derived from the labour market. The second explores the same importance measures in comparison to performance measures derived from current graduates. The authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each analysis and recommend the use of this framework in the effort to decrease the existing information asymmetry between industry and higher education.

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This article examines the fit (or lack thereof) between the competencies needed by the sport industry and the proficiency of sport management students. The authors apply importance–performance analysis as a strategic management tool to analyze the results of two competence-oriented datasets in a German context. They find that students’ self-identified proficiency is lower than the importance attributed to proficiency by industry experts. The authors critically discuss the absence of differences between the perceived performance of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students and provide strategic recommendations for sport management higher education. The article highlights the development and communication of generic competencies as a unique selling proposition and reflect on the need to improve subject-specific competencies to further professionalize the field of sport management. Based on these results, a critical reflection of curriculum design in sport management higher education is needed.

Introduction. Despite the fact that sport tourism plays an important role in upland destinations, as a field of research it is still characterised by a knowledge deficit. Material and methods. Active winter sport tourists at two upland destinations were compared in terms of socio-demographic variables, the importance of destination choice criteria, and travel behaviour in order to give recommendations to destination management organisations. Conclusions. There were significant differences between tourists at the two destinations. Consequently, advantages may be gained from the development of destination-specific marketing strategies.

Purpose-In order to secure a proper execution of sporting competitions, national governing bodies of professional football leagues apply specific regulatory procedures. In this context, special focus is placed on requirements that are supposed to ensure financial stability of clubs. They, in turn, help avoid negative economic externalities, i.e. the problem that financial difficulties from one club can affect other clubs and stakeholders due to the interdependent relationships of the competition. These regulations on a national level in European professional football leagues show several significant differences. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to comprehensively analyze financial regulatory procedures of professional football leagues to generate possible improvements of the regulations in detail. Design/methodology/approach-Using a document analysis of the regulation books of the English Premier League and German Bundesliga, this study compares the regulatory procedures of those important European professional football leagues. Further evaluation was performed through a qualitative content analysis to develop a category system including six categories with 72 criteria from deductive and inductive procedures. For more advanced coding an assessment scale was integrated. Findings-Compared to the Premier League, the regulation of the Bundesliga points to a more intensive regulation in all categories and across all analyzed indices. The results of both leagues partially reveal that assessment and monitoring requirements tend to be ineffective, which can substantially endanger the achievement of the whole monitoring process' aims. The intention to ensure the financial stability for securing the league competition can be missed in such a situation and negative economic externalities cannot be prevented effectively. Originality/value-For the first time, this study includes all relevant requirements of financial club assessment and monitoring. Thereby, an abstract comprehensive and systematic structure for professional team sports leagues is described and allows for a concrete international comparison of two European professional football leagues. At the end several approaches to improve the regulatory framework are provided.