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technics technologies education management
The predictors of business participation of
managers in sport
Nebojsa Maksimovic, Zoran Milosevic, Radenko Matic, Damjan Jaksic
Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Abstract
In this paper there are the results of empirical
research of the factors that can include the
relationship of management of non-sport organizations
with sports clubs. The main aim of this
research is focused on defining the structural
model of factors that determine the participation
of managers in sport. The empirical research was
realized in six football and six volleyball clubs
belonging to the highest and medium competition
level in the Republic of Serbia and 56 respondents
in total were included in the survey.
These respondents are registered active members
of the management of these clubs and they have
the properties of (senior and middle level) managers
of non-sport companies. According to the
results of the tests of this research, we may state
that the structural model of relation between factoring
and criteria variables in the present form
can be used only partially as an instrument of diagnosis
and forecast (prediction) of the participation
of managers in sport.
Key words: management of non-sport organizations,
sport clubs, bussines participation, managers.
Introduction
Sport in the modern society draws an attention
of numerous interested people (stakeholders), especially
of the members of managerial structures
in non-sport companies. The business interest is
shown within the sponsorship leading to great
changes in important aspects of sport (Coakley,
2001; Horne, Tomlinson, & Whannel, 1999; Robyn
& Kathleen, 2000; Sam, Batty & Dean, 2005).
Apart from this, mechanisms and behaviour of the
managers in non-sport companies in the process
of establishing and maintaining their participation
in running the sports organizations have not been
studied more extensively.
Volume 7 / Number 1 / 2012
The properties of sports club are an important
exogenic manifesting determinant of participation
of managers of non-sport organizations in sport.
First of all, the environment of the club – the system
of competition as well as its sports results (achieved
points, the position in the ranking list, reputation of
athletes and teams, effective interest of media for
the activities of the club) stimulate business participation
of the manager in certain sports organization.
The characteristics of the internal club environment
have an additional contribution for establishing and
developing the participation of managers in the specific
sports organization (competing potential of the
human resources, reproductive ability of the club
– creating top athletes from younger teams in the
club, good and professional coaches, available infrastructure,
free facilities that can be used for business
purposes, promotional events organized by the
club, well-developed profitable business activities
of the club).
The main manifestation of business participation
of managers in sports is shown by the fact
whether their company finances effectively one
or more sports organizations. The transfer of the
funds between the company and club can have
many manifesting and latent forms (direct placement
of funds in the form of investments, purchase
of the club, general or partial sponsorship, or in the
form of optimal business transactions, loans, rents
and so on). This abstract financial fact reveals the
process of more or less business rational manager
decision-making as delegates of the company they
belong to. The content of this process is timely
determined multi-phase choice – first, there is a
choice of sport, then of a sports discipline, and finally,
concrete sports organization as the real object
of business participation.
In the process of selection resulting in the business
participation of the certain company in a sports
organization, the first phase (selecting a sport as one
of competing areas of activity and placement of
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