Power and rent-seeking on boards: A case study of national sport federations in India

Rent-seeking refers to the activities of individuals or groups who act
to increase their personal benefits at the expense of organizations
or wider society. Due to the inherently damaging nature of rentseeking
and its prevalence on some sport boards, there is a need for
researchers to examine how it emerges and persists. The purpose of
this study is to investigate how power influences the rent-seeking
activities of board members in Indian national sport federations. An
embedded single case study design is adopted. Drawing on a fourdimensional
model of power, the research finds that board members
source and use the power of resources, the power of processes
and the power of meaning to fuel their rent-seeking activities. The
findings show that these three forms of power have a mutually
reinforcing effect, while the power of the system creates the context
in which the other dimensions are used. The findings offer new
insight into how board members, motivated by personal gain,
ensure that suboptimal organizational governance structures are
preserved in sport. This study contributes theoretically by illuminating
how different dimensions of power interact in rent-seeking
processes. Practical recommendations are outlined for stakeholders
who want to overcome rent-seeking.