A Longitudinal Exploration of Strategic Isomorphism: The Case of the National Football League

Abstract

Within any given industry, firms are faced with the pressure to strive for increased uniqueness. The purpose of the current study is to explore a phenomenon known as strategic isomorphism (or increased homogeneity among firms as a result of deliberate strategic choice). To this end, this research used seven different statistical techniques, to examine performance data within the National Football League (NFL) across fifty-three NFL seasons in an effort to determine if the NFL had isomorphic characteristics (as measured by competitive balance). In testing for presence of competitive balance in the NFL, we found a low standard deviation in winning percentage across teams in the seasons 1960-2012, indicating that the NFL has been a league of teams of nearly equal strength. From a longitudinal perspective we found that the NFL has not been dominated by a few strong teams nor has any single NFL team has been able to maintain dominance across multiple seasons. The current study is one of very few longitudinal studies that examine strategic isomorphism within a competitive context. Its results provide evidence that under certain competitive conditions, striving for increased similarity among competitors may be appropriate strategic choice.

The deployment of professional football clubs’ eSports strategies: a dynamic capabilities approach

“…Firstly, among sports video games, the FIFA series is a worldwide bestseller (third top-selling game in 2018), thus representing a unique opportunity for professional football clubs since most of them are featured in the game. Another external factor relates to institutional isomorphism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) with professional sport organizations having been shown to adopt isomorphism behaviours, notably when they address new issues (York & Miree, 2015). Some respondents stated overtly that they imitated the eSports strategy of other clubs (mimetic isomorphism): 'We entered eSports through League of Legends because we followed Paris Saint-Germain's strategy' (EPSILON1).…”