Richard Tacon

Football and social inclusion: Evaluating social policy

Sport, particularly football, is increasingly recognized as a means for promoting social inclusion. Yet rigorous evaluations of football-based social inclusion projects are rarely carried out. This paper explains the importance of evaluation and proposes the use of realist evaluation as a framework for developing theory, informing social policy and improving project design. It also aims to develop a workable template for small-scale project evaluation. The paper draws a series of conclusions on how rigorous evaluation of football-based social inclusion projects can benefit participants, practitioners and policy makers, as well as football clubs and the communities they serve.

Corporate social responsibility in sport: Stakeholder management in the UK football industry

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly significant for a wide range of organisations and for the managers that work within them. This is particularly true in the sport industry, where CSR is now an important area of focus for sport organisations, sport events and individual athletes. This article demonstrates how CSR can inform both theoretical debates and management practice within sport organisations. It does so by focusing on stakeholder theory, which overlaps considerably with CSR. In this article, stakeholder theory is used to examine three major CSR issues: stakeholder definition and salience, firm actions and responses, and stakeholder actions and responses. These three issues are considered in the context of the UK football industry. The article draws on 15 semi-structured qualitative interviews with senior representatives from a number of different organisations. These include the director of a large professional football club; a chief executive of a medium-sized professional football club in addition to the supporter-elected director; and the vice-chairman of a small professional football club. Additional interviews were undertaken with five representatives from national supporter organisations, two board members at two large supporter associations, two representatives from the Football League, one representative from the Independent Football Commission, and a prominent sports journalist. The analysis of the interview data illustrates ways in which CSR can be implemented by sport organisations through stakeholder management strategies. The article concludes that stakeholder theory has both conceptual and empirical value and can be used to illuminate key issues in sport management.

Sports Clubs’ Volunteers: Bonding in or Bridging out?

The aim of this study is to re-evaluate the nature of bonding and bridging social capital in sports clubs. Exploratory research involving interviews with club volunteers reveals that shared values and norms of commitment to the sport or the club are an important dimension of homophilic and heterophilic ties. These are expressed in the recruitment of new volunteers and explain the reluctance to recruit from outside the club. While ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ are to some extent a product of gender, age, ethnicity and other demographic characteristics recognized by previous studies, this article identifies the importance of subjective perceptions in defining bonding and bridging ties. It is suggested that this will be more important in voluntary associations which are expressions of shared values. Further, this suggests the potential of more inductive qualitative research to unravel the complex and nuanced barriers to developing social capital through sports clubs and other associations.

Modernisation and governance in UK national governing bodies of sport: how modernisation influences the way board members perceive and enact their roles

ABSTRACT Modernisation has been a key objective of many national governments for at least the last two decades. A significant element of the modernisation agenda has been the focus on improving the governance of public sector and, more recently, voluntary sector organisations. In the UK voluntary sport sector, this has involved policy statements, governance monitoring systems linked to public funding and a number of ‘good governance’ guides, aimed primarily at the boards of national governing bodies of sport (NGBs). Previous research has critically analysed modernisation and explored its effects, most often at a macro level. Very little research, to date, however, has looked at the influence of modernisation on the boards of NGBs. This article seeks to do just that, drawing on the first national survey of board-level governance in the UK and an in-depth, longitudinal case study of one UK-based NGB. It empirically examines which board roles NGBs consider most important and statistically compares large and small NGBs. It then draws on direct observation of board and committee meetings, in-depth interviews and analysis of key organisational documents to examine how modernisation influences the way board members perceive and enact their roles. In doing so, this article draws together the political science research on modernisation and the sport governance research on board roles and seeks to promote closer integration between these complementary streams of research.

The ‘codification’ of governance in the non-profit sport sector in the UK

ABSTRACT Research question: Codes of governance have proliferated in recent years, yet academic research on why boards adopt and implement codes remains limited. This research focuses on the non-profit sport sector in the UK and looks at why codes have been adopted by a board of a non-profit sport organisation. Research methods: The research draws on a longitudinal case study of board processes in a national governing body of sport in the UK, drawing on non-participant observation of board and committee meetings, interviews and document analysis. Results and findings: We identify that the initial adoption of a code of governance is a way to create external legitimacy. Once adopted, a code of governance can strengthen the internal legitimacy and reinforce board members’ perceptions that the board is well governed. These two processes of legitimising are mutually reinforcing, serving to ensure that codes of governance become institutionalised at the board level. At the same time, while codes typically emphasise the importance of board members making autonomous decisions, in our case board members perceived that codes often constrained board autonomy. Implications: This is the first article to provide an ‘insider’, board-level perspective on code adoption in the non-profit sport sector. It also enhances debate on the role of legitimacy in code adoption, by distinguishing between external legitimising as a formal, impersonal process, and internal legitimising, which typically unfolds through discussion, negotiation and reflection.

Accountability in nonprofit governance: a process-based study

Accountability is a crucial element of governance. Nonprofit organizations are typically accountable to multiple stakeholders and often “do” accountability in multiple ways. But what happens when a nonprofit organization is highly dependent on a single source of funding? This article provides an empirical exploration of this issue. It draws on a longitudinal case study of one nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom that is highly dependent on a single funder to examine how accountability is constructed and enacted, with a focus on the board. It critically examines accountability processes through direct observation of board and committee meetings and in-depth interviews with board members. The analysis shows how board members work to construct broader forms of accountability beyond accountability to the funder, but then struggle to enact them. This article provides in-depth insight into the challenges that nonprofit board members face and offers a rare example of observational research on board behavior.

The Organizational Embeddedness of Social Capital: A Comparative Case Study of Two Voluntary Organizations

Abstract Social capital is a popular, but contested concept. It draws attention to the way in which social relations and constructed forms of social organization can produce outcomes on individual and collective levels. However, it is often founded on individualistic, rational-choice models of human behavior that neglect its embeddedness. I explore the embeddedness of social capital through a comparative case study of two voluntary sport organizations in the UK. Through close analysis of in-depth interviews and longitudinal observation, I look at the processes of social capital development and the way socio-organizational context and identity shape these processes.

Fantasy sport: a systematic review and new research directions

ABSTRACT Research questions: Fantasy sport is an increasingly significant social phenomenon. But what do we actually know about participation in fantasy sport? We examined the extant literature to ask: how has fantasy sport participation been conceptualised; what theoretical frameworks and research approaches have been used; what are their strengths and weaknesses; and what further research is needed to improve our understanding? Research methods: We conducted a systematic review of academic journal articles relating to fantasy sport participation. Seventy-one articles met the inclusion criteria and we analysed them on several dimensions. We then conducted a meta-evaluation of the research approaches used in the 71 studies and extended this through critical discussion and analysis of future research possibilities. Results and findings: Fantasy sport participation has been conceptualised in several ways, but most commonly as a form of consumer behaviour. Studies have used various theoretical frameworks and methodologies, but a majority, to date, have employed quantitative, survey-based approaches. These have advantages, enabling researchers to build on each other’s work, but also have certain conceptual and methodological limitations. Implications: If we are to understand the social significance of fantasy sport and develop appropriate managerial policies around it, we require a well-developed understanding of fantasy sport participation. This research synthesis highlights the strengths and weaknesses of existing research and offers suggestions for how future researchers can advance knowledge in this area. In particular, the synthesis suggests we need to offer more multi-level, critical analysis.