Role of business communications in global sports management (Results of the 1st Conference of World Association of Sports Management «WASM» 1-3 October 2014, Spain, Madrid)

Фотографии: 

ˑ: 

Dr.Hab. E.V. Kuz'micheva
Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sport, Youth and Tourism (GTsOLIFK), Moscow

Keywords: sports management, World Association for Sports Management, sports organization.

Introduction.  The World Association for Sport Management was established in 2012 to investigate the problems in sports management, for scientific and practical studies of the ways to improve the effectiveness of the organizations in the industry, bringing together members of six regional associations. The structure of the World Association includes local organizations all over the world: European Association for Sport Management (EASM), Association of North America «NASSM», Australia and New Zealand «SMAANZ», Latin America «LAASM», Asian «AASM» and African «ASMA».

The first Inaugural World Conference of the World Association for Sport Management under the motto of “Bridging the Gap in Sport Management Globally” was held on 1-3 October 2014 in the Universidad Europea (University of Europe) in Madrid (Spain). The main topics of the conference included the global sports policy, social responsibility of sports, improvement of the work with fans while organizing major sports events, improvement of fitness clubs operation, etc. There were 123 presentations in total from fifty countries, including most of them – 39 – from the USA, as well as 5 from the UK, 4 from Australia, a number of reports from Canada, Japan, Korea, Kenya, Iran, China, Portugal and other countries.   

Some of the most interesting reports and research directions are mentioned below. The World Olympians Association (WOA) was established in 1995 and is a non-profit independent organization functioning as a democratic one open exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. Modernization of the organizational structure (formation of new committees, changing the functions of the existing ones), the legal framework and the tax policy of the World Olympians Association (WOA) after the Fifth Assembly (2011) in alliance with the International Olympic Committee and International Sports Federations allowed for enhancement and expansion of the work of the WOA committees, first of all in the sphere of the international Olympic education (2; p.70).

The importance of system analysis and adaptability of management of sports organizations in view of globalization, changing demographics, technology and increased competition is shown by the example of a number of major international sports events (2; 69-70). Systems thinking is an ability to explore relationships and interactions between numerous components of an organization. Adaptability (adaptation) requires individuals that should be creative in designing system solutions, they should be effectively open and anticipate the impact of changes in the internal and external environment of an organization. Typically, there is at least one sports analyst dealing with these issues in an organization. Sports industry is diverse in type, size, composition of structures, geographic extent, etc. Therefore, managers should independently determine adaptation degree of one or another recommended practice for their organization taking into account the available human resources.   

Corporate social responsibility of non-profit sports organizations is a subject of research of a number of scientists. A study of social obligations of local sports clubs was conducted by analyzing opinions of 56 expert-sports managers representing 10 countries and 14 sports. Twenty-five issues compliant with social standards requirements (ISO 26000 and GRI 3.1) were discussed. The research determined a corporate model that can be used to study social responsibility of non-profit local sports clubs. Maximization of the number of participants, security measures, especially in individual classes, as well as ensuring the availability of health and fitness and sports services, including sports events, were evaluated as more important than the inevitable financial aspects. This is contrary to the CSR ideology based on the concept of social responsibility of an organization with the primary role of economic issues (an organization as an “economic unit”). The level of social responsibility of an organization is limited by the resources available. Each organization has certain social responsibility that stems from the stated objectives and resources at hand (2; p.121-122).

In the sports science the level of influence of physical activity as well as the economic result of a sports event (activity) can be evaluated using concrete figures. However, it is difficult to estimate in figures the social contribution that is intangible and spread over time. The positive impact of the leading professional athletes on the social life of the population, especially after natural disasters (tsunamis, earthquakes) is realized through athletes’ visits of the sites of disasters and participation in the organization of local physical activity of the population, including competitive sports. For example, such an activity was manifested in Sendai (Japan), the city that was the closest to the center of an earthquake, Nagoya and Hiroshima. In each of these cities there was one professional football and basketball club. A total of 724 people participated in the study. The authors found statistically significant differences with regards to the effect of physical activity on the social life of the population in the urban environment affected by natural disasters (2, p. 127-128).

Annual revenue from US professional sport has grown up to 47 billion US dollars and is characterized by an annual 9% growth. The main contribution is that of the four leading professional leagues in North America: the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB). The ratio of the actual playing time and the revenue of the clubs, the extent of the positive impact of mutually beneficial contacts of fans with players and some other factors were studied. Recommendations developed by the authors are designed to ensure a more efficient operation of professional sports clubs and leagues (2; p.47-48).

Sport accounts for about two-thirds of all sponsors’ investments in North America, which is more than 16.5 billion dollars. Research of American scientists has revealed three main reasons that motivate sponsors to invest in sport, they are as follows: strengthening the brand (trade mark) of the company; corporate reputation formation and sales increase. The last one is the main factor influencing the decision to sponsor sport. Corporate social responsibility as a sponsorship factor was only in the second, next group of stimulating factors (2; p.21-22; p.59-60).

Mutually beneficial relations of companies and universities are manifested in educational programs focused on meeting the demands of the industry. The University of South Florida (USF) offers five programs that are fully provided for (sponsored by) corporations. The university has a director in charge of the business and several corporate sponsors of educational programs. There are Master’s programs designed for athletes, too: for example, 27 athletes representing 16 sports have been mastering the course of Business Administration for 12 months. Educational programs of the university (USF) draw on the experience of specific industries and solve production problems (tasks) by means of targeted student projects and faculty research (2, p.53-54).

Criticism of the Americanization of sports facilities management has not been a success in recent years, as a new wave of demand for an increase in revenue of sports facilities has led to a resumption of the practice of reconstruction of stadiums with the view of diversification of services, and especially the needs of fans. Reconstruction of major stadiums all over the world requires attraction of private investment during the first phase and efficient operation in the future. For example, a plan of attracting private investment for the construction of a stadium for 52 thousand seats was announced in Rome in March 2014. A research was conducted that made it possible to modernize the classification of the stadium types representing different arenas with developed infrastructure (2; 49).

The positive experience of the operation of Foro Italico, the largest stadium in Italy, is classified in three areas: investment in planning the development of stadiums and equipment; event management (revenue growth, increase in the number of viewers, innovations in marketing and corporate hospitality); recognition of the historical heritage of the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 (2; p. 144).

The revenue of the US fitness club industry reached 21.4 billion dollars, and the number of club members exceeded 51.4 million people. In order to maintain and improve the quality of services a regular assessment of customer satisfaction is recommended. Six factors affecting satisfaction of customers of fitness clubs were examined in the study, in particular: availability of services, facilities composition, design features of the facilities, state of the equipment, the environment, and the system of facilities. The findings have revealed a high degree of influence of the management on the quality level of the services (2; p.185-186).

Owing to identification, assessment and recognition of the emotional component in the course of training in fitness clubs (by a technique proposed by the authors that includes three components – cognitive, exciting and motivational) incentives and negative factors in the provision of services can be identified. This information is vital for designing the marketing strategy of a club to increase the number and satisfaction level of customers (2; p.31).    

Economic, social and demographic changes modify sports and athletic tendencies. For example, 63.9% of women and 27.7% of men regularly trained in sports organizations in Spain in 2008. 3,463 persons were personally interviewed in the period of 2012-2013, including 1,731 women and 1,732 men aged 30 to 64 years. The results have revealed significant gender differences in the volumes and types of exercise and sports. In particular, 51.2% of men are engaged in physical exercise and sports, while among women the figure in only 31%. The majority of exercising women (68.7%) prefer training by themselves (mostly by running – 45.5%), and 31.5% of women prefer organized activities in sports organizations (16.2% - in commercial ones, 7.9% - in associations, 7.3% - in public ones). Most women visit fitness and wellness clubs, where 26.4% are engaged in Pilates and yoga, and 8.3% - in swimming. Women spend around 11.36 EUR per month on sports, men – 9.52 EUR. Men prefer training by themselves in the open air (85.2%), in particular: cycling (16.4%), running (14.5%) and other sports activities (8.5%). Only 23.2% of men train in sports organizations: 12.2% - in associations, 8.7% - in commercial fitness clubs, 7.8% - in gyms, 5.8% - in swimming pools, 5.5% - in martial arts clubs and 3.9% - in rowing clubs. There were significant changes in the structure of preferences of those engaged in physical exercise and mass sports over past several years. In particular, the number of those training in sports organizations has decreased from 27.7% to 14.8% for men and from 63.9% to 31.5% for women, while the number of those training independently has increased from 73.3% to 85.2% for men and from 36.1% to 68.5% for women. (2; p.124-125).  

Of undoubted interest was the presentation of the research of the staff members of the Department of Management and Economics of Sports named after V.V. Kuzin of GTsOLIFK  “Improvement of Fitness Clubs Operation: Service Quality and Financial Results” (1; 2, p.183-184). Thanks to discussion and information exchange on a number of mutually interesting issues one can basically actively cooperate with colleagues from the University of Brno (Czech Republic), the University of South Florida (USA), the University of Tokyo (Japan) and others.

References

  1. Bridging the Gap in Sport Management Globally. World Association for Sport Management. Inaugural World Conference Guide / Timetables and Information. World Association for Sport Management. Inaugural World Conference.  Madrid 2014, 1-3 October. – 18 p.
  2. Book of abstracts. World Association for Sport Management. Inaugural World Conference “Bridging the Gap in Sport Management Globally” 1-3 October 2014. Spain, Madrid. Published by GB Creation and Advice Consulting, Madrid, Spain. ISBN: AE-2014-14011315. № Registro: 11/86321. – 201 p.

Corresponding author: fizkult@teoriya.ru