Call for Papers | Managing Sport, Special Interest Group for the 17th EURAM Conference | June 21–24 2017, Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow

Dear Colleagues,

You are cordially invited to submit papers to the SIG ‘Managing Sport’ for the 17th EURAM
conference that will take place in Glasgow 21-24 June at Strathclyde Business School. We would very much appreciate if you could share this call for papers with colleagues who might also be interested in contributing to the ‘Managing Sport’ tracks at EURAM 2017 (please see http://euramonline.org/programme2017/tracks/sig-08-managing-sport-sport-2.html).

The following tracks of the SIG ‘Managing Sport’ are accepted and open for paper submissions (see a detailed description below):

08_00 Managing Sport General Track
ST_08_01 Sport Governance
ST_08_02 Sport Events and Tourism
ST_08_03 Sport Innovation

The ‘Managing Sport’ SIG collaborates with Emerald – a global publisher – since 2010. A ‘Best Paper Award’ and a ‘Best Reviewer Award’ sponsored by Emerald will be awarded among the papers and reviewers of the ‘Managing Sport’ SIG at EURAM 2017.

A selection of high quality papers will be accepted for a special issue in Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal published by Emerald. This follows a tradition of best paper issues with SBM, for example in 2011 on ‘Governance and Performance’ (EURAM Rome Conference), in 2012 on ‘Evaluating and Measuring’ (EURAM Tallinn Conference), in 2013 on ‘Managerial Decisions’ (EURAM Rotterdam Conference), in 2014 on ‘Branding and Governance’ (EURAM Istanbul Conference), in 2015 on ‘Advancing Knowledge’ (EURAM Valencia Conference), and forthcoming in Autumn 2016 ‘Best Papers from the ‘Managing Sport’ SIG at EURAM 2015’ (EURAM Warsaw Conference).

We look forward to meeting you in Glasgow!

Mathieu Winand, University of Stirling (UK), mathieu.winand@stir.ac.uk – SIG Chair
Anna Gerke, Audencia Business School (France), agerke@audencia.com – SIG Programme Manager
Christofer Laurell, Stockholm School of Economics and Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University (Sweden), cpi@sbs.su.se – SIG Communications Officer

Important Deadlines

Paper submission: 10 January 2017 – 2 pm Belgian time
Notification of acceptance: 21 March 2017
Early bird registration: 12 April 2017
Authors’ registration deadline: 26 April 2017

Author Guidelines
Please read the instructions carefully prior to submitting.

1. Each paper can only be submitted to ONE track.
2. Submitted papers must NOT have been previously published and if under review, must NOT appear in print before EURAM 2017 Conference.
3. To facilitate the blind review process, remove ALL authors identifying information, including acknowledgements from the text, and document/file properties.
4. The entire paper (title page, abstract, main text, figures, tables, references, etc.) must be in ONE document created in PDF format.
5. The maximum length of the paper is 40 pages (including ALL tables, appendices and references). The paper format should follow the European Management Review Style Guide.
6. Use Times New Roman 12-pitch font, double spaced, and 1-inch (2.5 cm) margin all around.
7. Number all of the pages of the paper.
8. No changes in the paper title, abstract, authorship, track and actual paper can occur AFTER the submission deadline.
9. Check that the PDF File of your paper prints correctly and ensure that the file is virus-free. Submissions will be done on-line on the EURAM 2017 website.
10. Only submissions in English are accepted for review.
11. In case of acceptance, the author or one of the co-authors should be available to present the paper at the conference.

SIG 08: Managing Sport

The EURAM ‘Managing Sport’ SIG aims to:

• Promote research and education in the fields of sports business and management in Europe, with special emphasis on international comparisons.
• Foster an understanding of the role of professionalisation and commercialisation of sport on European economy and society.
• Encourage the exchange of research results, practical experience, and ideas by organising the annual EURAM track, facilitating symposia, workshops and other academic meetings for and on behalf of its members and affiliated institutions.
• Support the development of international research collaborations with other Academies of Management and Sports Management Associations.
• Disseminate research results through a variety of channels.

SIG General Track 08-00 Managing Sport

Sport today has developed into a major industry in the global market place. Sport businesses build global brands and, increasingly, develop various modes of international operation. The trade around the globe of sporting goods, sports equipment, as well as the construction of sports complexes and arenas has developed into a multi-billion dollar business. Further, the proliferation of information technology has made it possible to serve the needs of fans all over the world. Within this, the opportunities for the promotion of sport, and the benefits for sport and its partners, are even more increasing.

Research on sports however reveals a number of distinctive characteristics, which may influence the way in which value is created in this industry. Sports events have uncertain outcomes; evoke strongly emotional responses from spectators, which result often in an intense, sometimes unexpected, loyalty.
The EURAM 2017 general track on ‘Managing Sport’ seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the unique development in sports, its logic of co-creation of value and the advancement of the industry towards internationalisation, professionalisation, and commercialisation. The track aims to cover all management functions. Below is an additional listing of the issues among others papers submitted to the track might take up:

• Uncertainty in sport and economic perspectives on sport.
• Branding, reputation, sponsorship, social media and ambush marketing.
• Fans, spectators, and consumer culture.
• Human excellence, HR management, voluntarism vs. professional staff.
• Ecology in sports, sport facility management.
• Financial issues and sport.
• Gender issues in sport and women’s sport.
• Methods in research on sports management.

Keywords
Sport management
Sport business
Sport organisations
Sport development
Sport leadership
Sport marketing

Topics sponsored by the SIG ST_08-01 Sport Governance

For the last decade, sports governance has developed into a considerable field of research, and has raised interest of many researchers and practitioners worldwide, advancing knowledge and best practices in sport organisations. Sports Governance is understood as the exercise of power within sports organisations or (inter)national sport systems which provides the structure through which these organisations or systems are controlled, directed and regulated. Although our understanding of sport governance is developing, issues in sport such as corruption, match fixing and doping are to some extent linked to the (mis)governance of sport, and reduce the expected uncertainty of outcomes inherent to sport. Indeed, the (mis)governance of sport often makes the headlines: accusations of corruption to gain the organisation of mega-events such as the Olympics or football World Cups, vote-fixing to elect committee members, setting-up of off-shore funds to contravene regulations on clubs’ multiple ownership, use of strawman to satisfy fit-and-proper test, relegation or non-qualification of clubs on administrative grounds (‘licensing’) etc. There is a crucial need to protect sporting integrity, and thus governance principles preventing deviant behaviour. The good governance principles of the Olympic movement are an example of good practice, but their application at national and local levels has not yet been proven effective. Many challenges in sport are linked to how sport and sports organisations are governed which leaves opportunities for research. The position, perceptions, influence, and characteristics of decision-makers in sports organisations are examples of sport governance research topic.

We invite empirical and theoretical contributions that develop a critical analysis of sport governance and/or practical application of good governance principles on a range of different theoretical and methodological approaches. We welcome papers that address the aforementioned issues or – not exclusively – the following topics:

• International sport governance.
• Amateur and professional sport systems.
• Institutional change, leading and managing change in sports.
• Board constitution and board management.
• Volunteer management in sport
• The “dark side” of sports and its governance: doping, bribery, match fixing.
• Sport and ethics.
• Conflicts of interest in sport.
• Sport regulations (e.g. UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations).
• Media rights, salary caps, legal issues, players’ movements, doping regulations.
• Organizational performance, club management, revenue generation, and success.
• CSR and sustainability.

Keywords
Sport Governance
Board management
Institutional change
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

ST_08-02 Sport Events and Tourism

Events are universal and they occupy a special place in all societies and cultures. However hosting a successful event represent a number of unique management challenges.

The proposed topic ‘Sport Events and Tourism’ at EURAM aims to examine the nature and scope of event management studies and related disciplines by demonstrating what is unique and challenging about event management. We further would like to address comparative and cross-disciplinary studies by drawing on existing conceptual models, event-related literature, and practical experience in the field. There are multiple objectives for hosting events, such as promotion of a region or a city, setting the scene for celebration and education, raise the attention to exercise, sports and sports competition, support business and economic development, stimulate academic exchange, and create opportunities for entertainment or fun. Further the greater the expected differences among event types, such as the difference between a sport and other types of  events; a mega-event or a local event; or within different event settings and cultures, the more important it is develop a dynamic and widely adaptable perspective in event research. In addition, there is the very special feature that many events are created by not-for-profit organizations and government agencies tied to social and cultural policy fields as well as strategic place marketing, tourism, and economic development. With so many potential objectives to achieve, and stakeholders to involve, events provide unique opportunities and challenges for researchers.

The contributions to the topic should therefore encourage both theoretical advances and the expansion of practical knowledge for managers in the field.

We therefore will invite empirical and theoretical contributions that elaborate on event management drawing on a range of different theoretical and methodological approaches. We welcome papers that address the aforementioned issues or – not exclusively – the following topics:

• Measures of demand for events (including event tourism);
• Mega-event bidding and award;
• Unintended outcomes and externalities of events;
• Impact studies of events;
• The place of events in communities
• Management and event stakeholders;
• Risk and security management related to events;
• The consumer perspective: Personal, social and cultural influences of attending events;
• Management functions applied to organizing events including volunteer management;
• Event marketing, social media and events;
• Financing events and sponsorship;
• Ambush marketing and trademark protection;
• Environmental issues, which must be considered for events;
• Comparisons between different types of events and event locations;
• Venue (stadium) design and management.

Keywords
Event management
Event marketing
Impact studies (economic, social, environmental)
Event tourism
Mega-events
Branding, promotion of cities and regions
Strategic use of events
Legacy of events
Benefits (personal, social and cultural) from event participation
Sponsorship management
Non-profit organisations
Volunteers and management

ST_08-03 Sport Inovation

Managing innovation in sport is important in building brand image and reputation. In the challenging global business environment innovative thinking is required in order to satisfy consumer, societal and environmental expectations. The business of sport needs innovative management practices to solve problems confronting sport related businesses. This is important in understanding the complexity of sport related products, services and technology that have an innovative element to their competitive success. Innovation can take a variety of forms in the sport context from the introduction of new clothing materials to interactive technology enabling better fan experience. Some of the innovations developed in the sport context are then utilised in other industries including the tourism, education and manufacturing sector. Sport innovation is important in the global business environment due to the constant change in sports related new products, services and technologies. Innovation is changing the way that the sport industry is operated and encourages organizations, individuals and governments to examine how they can increase their value both from a financial perspective but also from a social role in the community. Innovation is improving sport business by enabling fundamental change from new clothing, equipment and media advances.

The aim of this track is to introduce a wider view of Sport Innovation as a method to create value in the sports context by focusing on research that studies innovation processes that are related to sport in practice. This will help develop Sport Innovation as a stream of research that explores the mechanism for promoting innovation in the sport management area.

We therefore invite empirical and theoretical contributions that elaborate on sport innovation drawing on a range of different theoretical and methodological approaches. We welcome papers that address the aforementioned issues or – not exclusively – the following topics:

• What are the challenges for service innovation in non-profit organisations?
• How is product innovation conducted in sport equipment firms?
• What role does entrepreneurship play in sport innovation?
• What influence do new tendencies like open innovation and social networks have on innovation processes in sport?
• How can innovation positively influence sustainability in sport events and tourism?
• How to innovate public sport policies?
• Innovation and consumer behaviour – what is new?

Keywords
Sport innovation
Sport entrepreneurship
Sport business