The role of social responsibility, philanthropy and entrepreneurship in the sports industry

This introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Management & Organization on social responsibility, philanthropy and entrepreneurship in the sport industry frames the key issues sport businesses, corporate partners, and related nonprofi t organizations grapple with to ensure that both the organizations and the social causes which are being addressed benefi t in some way. The importance of social responsibility is fi rst examined in the context of corporations and sports. The increasing importance of social issues to sport-related industries and the role of strategic philanthropy is discussed. Next, the connection between social responsibility and philanthropic endeavors is addressed in terms of social entrepreneurship. Finally, the article concludes by highlighting the increased signifi cance of sport in society and how the articles in this special issue contribute to a better understanding of the role of social responsibility, philanthropy and entrepreneurship in sport.

The future of sports management : a social responsibility, philanthropy and entrepreneurship perspective

Sport management as an area of business management has gained ascendancy in the past decade with more people becoming interested in how sport incorporates social benefits in a society. Sport integrates social initiatives by enhancing an organization’s competitiveness by improving its public image. Social responsibility and philanthropy in sport has become a mainstream business issue and the entrepreneurial ways that sport-related organizations do this is becoming more important. This paper interviews a well-known international sport academic and practitioner on the future directions sport management will take. As social responsibility, philanthropy and entrepreneurship in the sport sector are becoming more integrated, it is important to consider how sport management will change in the future. This paper focuses on sport management as an inspiring field of business management that has an accessible audience towards social responsibility. Sport management also offers a rationale for promoting social responsibility and philanthropy to organizations and business leaders that have an opportunity to model socially responsible practices in the sport context.

The impact of sports on team performance management

Purpose – The purpose of this editorial is to introduce the special issue on the relationship of performance management to sports teams.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper explains the importance of performance management to sports teams and justifies the need for the special issue.

Findings – The paper finds that there are a variety of different types of teams that operate in the sports context, including professional league teams, college teams, teams at the workplace, volunteer teams and coaching teams.

Originality/value – This editorial provides an overview of this special issue, which comprises eight original papers that are best practice examples of the latest developments in the research on teams in the sports context. Each of these articles is briefly discussed in terms of its contribution to the literature.

Bioanalytical experiments for the undergraduate laboratory : monitoring glucose in sports drinks

This paper describes two complementary bioanalytical experiments for analyzing the concentration of glucose in sports drinks. The first experiment is a spectrophotometric enzyme assay employing the enzymes glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The glucose is oxidized by the GOx, producing hydrogen peroxide, which is the substrate for HRP. In the reduction of the H2O2 a chromogen is oxidized, causing a color change. In the partner experiment, the GOx is immobilized on a platinum electrode using a dialysis membrane. The hydrogen peroxide produced in the enzyme reaction is monitored amperometrically by oxidizing the hydrogen peroxide produced. The simple method of preparing the enzyme electrode is useful in demonstrating the important parameters in defining the response of enzyme electrodes. The same sports drinks are analyzed in both experiments. The two experiments together illustrate the advantage of bioanalysis in analyzing complex samples with minimal sample preparation.

Social entrepreneurship and innovation in sports

This paper introduces the topic of sports entrepreneurship to the reader and discusses the importance of having a social entrepreneurial orientation in sports. The issues why individuals and organisations pursue business ventures in sports are addressed with a focus on the social and economic opportunities existing for sports entrepreneurs. A social institutional perspective of sport entrepreneurship is also addressed in the paper that highlights the role of sport in society. Entrepreneurial sport ventures are then examined which leads to a discussion of research opportunities and practical implications of sport in relation to social entrepreneurship and innovation.

A social perspective of sports-based entrepreneurship

In this paper I develop the concept of sport-based entrepreneurship and argue that it provides a potential social orientated strategy for the development of sports-related businesses. I maintain that this emerging form of entrepreneurship is usually inherent in the management of sports, which transforms sport-based organisations into an entrepreneur and enterprise. This paper draws on interdisciplinary approaches from the entrepreneurship and sport management literature to discuss the social entrepreneurship inherent within sports-based organisations. The sport sector provides an exploration of the contextual boundaries of social entrepreneurship and provides a useful discussion on the innovation, risk taking and proactive activity. The implications for sport organisations involved in social entrepreneurship are stated and the importance of governments around the world to promote social entrepreneurship in sport are highlighted. In addition, suggestions for future research are stated that highlight the role of sport-based entrepreneurship theory for examining social change.

Thermal and ventilation performance of a multifunctional sports hall within an aquatic centre

There has been an increasing demand for sports facilities in urban areas recently. As a result of this, more attention is drawn towards not only the energy performance of these building typologies, but also creating a healthy indoor environment for the users. This Study investigates the thermal and ventilation performance of a sports hall within an aquatic centre using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. IES Virtual Environment software was used to perform the simulations. A number of scenarios were tested by changing the position of extract fans as well as by incorporating natural ventilation strategies. A high level of discomfort was observed in the space. Better comfort condition was achieved by changing the location of exhaust fans ad openings. The results help to recommend some guidelines to inform the proposed refurbishment plans of the site.

Badminton in sports hall SFX

A sound recording of a sports hall filled with badminton matches being played.

Impact of alcohol harm reduction strategies in community sports clubs : pilot evaluation of the good sports program

Objective: Approximately 4.5 million Australians are involved in community sports clubs. A high level of alcohol consumption tends to be commonplace in this setting. The only program of its type in the world, the Good Sports program was designed to reduce harmful alcohol consumption in these Australian community sports clubs. The program offers a staged accreditation process to encourage the implementation of alcohol harm-reduction strategies.

Method: We conducted a postintervention adoption study to evaluate whether community sports club accreditation through the Good Sports program was associated with lower rates of alcohol consumption. We examined alcohol consumption rates in 113 clubs (N = 1,968 participants) and compared these to consumption rates in the general community. We hypothesized that members of clubs with more advanced implementation of the Good Sports accreditation program (Stage Two) would consume less alcohol than those with less advanced implementation (Stage One).

Results: Multilevel modeling (MLM) indicated that on days when teams competed, Stage Two club members consumed 19% less alcohol than Stage One club members. MLM also indicated that the length of time a club had been in the Good Sports program was associated with reduced rates of weekly drinking that exceeded Australian short-term risky drinking guidelines. However consumption rates for all clubs were still higher than the general community. Higher accreditation stage also predicted reduced long-term risky drinking by club members.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that community sports clubs show evidence of higher levels of alcohol consumption and higher rates of risky consumption than the general community. Implementation of the Good Sports accreditation strategy was associated with lower alcohol consumption in these settings.

Badminton in sports hall SFX

Badminton being played in a sports hall.

Segmentation of intentional human gestures for sports video annotation

We present results on the recognition of intentional human gestures for video annotation and retrieval. We define a gesture as a particular, repeatable, human movement having a predefined meaning. An obvious application of the work is in sports video annotation where umpire gestures indicate specific events. Our approach is to augment video with data obtained from accelerometers worn as wrist bands by one or more officials. We present the recognition performance using a Hidden Markov Model approach for gesture modeling with both isolated gestures and gestures segmented from a stream.

Hierarchical recognition of intentional human gestures for sports video annotation

We present a novel technique for the recognition of complex human gestures for video annotation using accelerometers and the hidden Markov model. Our extension to the standard hidden Markov model allows us to consider gestures at different levels of abstraction through a hierarchy of hidden states. Accelerometers in the form of wrist bands are attached to humans performing intentional gestures, such as umpires in sports. Video annotation is then performed by populating the video with time stamps indicating significant events, where a particular gesture occurs. The novelty of the technique lies in the development of a probabilistic hierarchical framework for complex gesture recognition and the use of accelerometers to extract gestures and significant events for video annotation.