The stakeholder-strategy relationship in non-profit basketball clubs

Abstract

The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the stakeholder-strategy relationship in non-profit sport clubs and to answer the following questions; (1) how hierarchies of organisational aims and actual strategic decisions change due to involvement of certain interest groups in the strategic processes of the observed organisations; (2) how clubs on different quality levels differentiate regarding stakeholders' hierarchies, hierarchies of aims, and regarding actual strategic decisions. The data were collected from 73 basketball clubs from four South-East European countries. Findings show that private sponsors are the most influential stakeholders in top quality clubs that pursue top sport and financial results more than local community inclusion and other non-profit objectives. Higher-quality level clubs pursue cost reductions, top sport results, and fast results, while clubs where volunteers, local communities, the state and municipal authorities had stronger impact give more emphasis to growth, local community aims, and lowering risk. ARTICLE HISTORY

The Strategic Determinants of the Sport Club Performance

“…It consisted of 19 variables. First, we included three key strategic dilemmas: a) the issue of the cutting-costs ambition versus the desire for organizational growth, b) pursuing top sport results versus the ambition of the local environment and community development, and c) quick results and consequently greater risks versus the focus on risk reduction and work in the long run (Ivašković, 2019a). The way of resolving these dilemmas depends on the hierarchy of organizational goals.…”

Who are the decision-makers in non-profit sport clubs from transition countries?

“…Moreover, non-profitability frequently implies lack of transparency and many different interest groups might have important role in clubs' activities although they are unnoticed for the external observers. Identification of hierarchy of stakeholders is thus fundamental thing in order to understand operations of non-profit sport clubs (Ivašković, 2019). Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) claimed that certain interest group may belong to inner or external organizational environment, while Freeman and Reed (1983) defined them as any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the organizational activities.…”

“…More powerful interest groups have the ability to control the organization by withholding resources or/and support, limiting its access to new markets or boycotting its products (Seeger, 1997, p. 9). The literature provides plenty of evidences that stakeholders' hierarchy affects the organizational plans and strategies (Ivašković, 2019;Barringer and Bluedorn, 1999;Berman et al, 1999;Selvin and Covin, 1997). However, there are still some ambiguities among scholars regarding so called "key stakeholders".…”

“…Sport clubs in South-Eastern Europe are raising the interest of scholars' society in the last two decades. In those former centrally planned states even highly professional top sport clubs still operate as non-profit organizations (Ivašković, 2019). This fact often implies their vague ownership structure and unclear hierarchies of their beneficiaries.…”

Determinantes de la lealtad en la relación entre la Liga Antioqueña de Tenis de Campo y sus clientes

“…En Colombia, dentro del sector deportivo se tienen diferentes actores, tanto públicos como privados, que en el ámbito nacional, departamental y local forman todo el sistema nacional del deporte. En este caso, la entidad seleccionada es una organización deportiva sin ánimo de lucro (ODSL), las cuales son altamente dependientes de sus grupos de interés, quienes tienen intereses económicos y requieren de resultados (Ivašković, 2019), tienden a ser pequeñas y, a menudo, tienen niveles variables de capacidad de recursos (Brownlee et al, 2005), siendo necesario que promuevan actividades socialmente útiles para la comunidad en materia deportiva.…”