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Board roles in Scottish football: an integrative stewardship-resource dependency theory
journal contribution
posted on 2023-10-24, 05:04 authored by Joshua McLeodJoshua McLeod, David ShilburyDavid Shilbury, L FerkinsResearch question: This study investigates how boards of directors perceive their roles in Scottish football clubs. With previous studies focusing on amateur and non-profit sport organisations (primarily in Canada, Australia and New Zealand), this research answers the call for more research into board roles and in other sport contexts. Research methods: A qualitative design is adopted and 24 directors of Scottish football clubs are interviewed. Football club directors are a difficult to access population and this research represents a rare opportunity to understand the perspectives of key sport governance informants. Template analysis is employed. Results and findings: Findings show that perceived board roles fall into five categories: control, service, operations, resource co-optation and strategy. Organisational size was found to influence perceptions of board roles in Scottish clubs, while an apparent alignment of interests between owners and managers, and a subsequent reduction in agency cost, has implications for the control role. An integration of stewardship theory and resource-dependency theory is argued to provide a more holistic understanding of board roles in this context. Implications: The study responds to calls for a multi-theoretical approach to board roles research by developing an integrative stewardship-resource dependency theory. The integrated theory is argued to be useful in framing the complex dynamics of board roles in Scottish football. Future research is encouraged to assess whether the stewardship-resource dependency theory can provide an effective framework for understanding board roles in other sport settings.
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Journal
European sport management quarterlyVolume
21Pagination
39 - 57Location
Abingdon, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1618-4742eISSN
1746-031XLanguage
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal; C Journal articleUsage metrics
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