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Introduction to Week 1

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Download this audio clip.Audio player: Course leaders Ben Oakley and Jacky Hinton introduce you to the course and Week 1.

Audio _unit1.1.1 Course leaders Ben Oakley and Jacky Hinton introduce you to the course and Week 1.

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Transcript: Course leaders Ben Oakley and Jacky Hinton introduce you to the course and Week 1.

Ben Oakley

My name is Ben Oakley and my academic expertise is in coaching and working in sport. I’m the Head of Department for Childhood, Youth and Sport at The Open University. Sport has been my career for 25 years including 8 years as an Olympic coach. Now I try to get the best out of learners by developing new online learning for sport students at the University.

Jacky Hinton

I’m Jacky Hinton and I am an occupational psychologist and I run the Masters programme here at the Open University Business School. I'm here to give the business perspective and show you how you can take what you learn about the football industry back into your own workplace.

Ben Oakley

Our goal in this course has been to bring the subject to life.

Jacky Hinton

So we have lots of high quality audio, video and activities for you as well as perspectives from football insiders and analysis from leading business experts.

Ben Oakley

The course is spread over three weeks and looks at a range of topics. In the first week we will examine the make up of the football business and the extent to which it is like other, more conventional, industries. We hope you enjoy this short exploration of the business of football.

Jacky Hinton

And are inspired to take your studies further.

End transcript: Course leaders Ben Oakley and Jacky Hinton introduce you to the course and Week 1.

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This free course explores the business of football and has been developed by The Open University in partnership with the EFL Trust – the educational arm of the English Football League. We are very fortunate to be working with the Trust. They have been able to provide us with access to a wide range of people working within football, who you will encounter as you progress through the course.

One of the first challenges of this course is to explore football as a business that is different from many others. You’ll begin by considering two questions:

What is the business of football?
How and why does it differ from other businesses?

Box _unit1.1.1

The English Football League (EFL) (formerly the Football League) is based in England and Wales and is the world’s original league football competition. The 72 member clubs make it the largest single body of professional clubs in European football. The EFL celebrated its 134th anniversary in 2022.

The EFL Trust is a registered charity that governs, advises and audits the charitable trusts associated with the professional clubs of the English Football League, who have a combined annual turnover of over £44 million, and 2,500 members of staff, including teachers, coaches, professional health and social workers and many others to tackle community challenges.

Using the ‘Power of Football’, the Trust continues to flourish, delivering life improving projects, which engage with over 1.5 million people per year, focusing on education, sport, inclusion and health.

Box _unit1.1.2

Before you start, The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations of the course. Your input will help to further improve the online learning experience. If you’d like to help, and if you haven't done so already, please fill in this optional survey.

Learning outcomes

After studying Week 1 you should be able to:

begin to understand the business of football within and beyond football clubs and explore how it might differ from other businesses
use theory to explore the internal and external business environment of football and the factors affecting decision-making in the football business
understand the business challenges associated with developing women’s professional football.

1 A business like no other

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

We started this course saying that football was a business like no other, but what is the ‘business of football’ and how does it differ from other businesses? More fundamentally, is it a business at all?

To start to answer some of these questions you will now take a look at the business of football as it operates away from the pitch. The following video, voiced by Eleanor Oldroyd, gives you a fascinating insight into the football business by giving behind-the-scenes access to people working across the industry. As you are watching this video consider the statement outlined in the box below and ask yourself the question ‘how does football not only survive but thrive as a business?’

Box _unit1.2.1

Ever since we first published our Annual Review of Football Finance almost thirty years ago, Championship clubs have consistently reported operating and pre-tax losses, and those losses have increased even as revenues have increased, with record operating losses reported each year since 2014/15. COVID-19 has further highlighted the financial struggles of these clubs with all-time high operating losses (£434m) and pre-tax losses (£508m) reported in 2019/20. Even without the impact of COVID-19, the structural reasons for such significant losses are clear:

the rewards for reaching the Premier League are so high that clubs (and their owners) are willing to take substantial financial risks to secure them; and
there is intense competition and inevitably most aspirants fail in their objective with only three clubs out of 24 achieving promotion each season.

(Deloitte, 2021)

Activity _unit1.2.1 Activity 1 Football and more ‘conventional’ businesses

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

As you watch the video, note down the ways in which you think that football may differ from businesses usually considered more conventional, such as supermarkets like Sainsburys or Aldi.

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Transcript: The business of football

The business of football

Pete Winkelman, Owner and chairman, MK Dons

I think football is so different from any other kind of business, because I suppose fundamentally it‘s not a business. You don’t look at income and expenditure sheets in quite the same way. But of course what football is, it’s a great emotional driver. It does drive our other businesses here at stadium MK. But most importantly it drives a community. It’s about identity. It’s about a place and about celebrating the place that you’re in.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Is running a football club part of the entertainment business, a rich man’s hobby, a community asset or all three? And what difference does it make if you’re a club outside the Premier League? Here club chairmen, fans and other executives talk about the unusual nature of the football business, seen through the eyes of both a traditional club, Chesterfield and a newer one, MK Dons. How does it compare to other businesses, such as supermarkets, and what does the future look like for the business of football?

Andrew Cullen, Director, MK Dons

Well it’s very different because actually you’re dealing with people’s emotions and passions. It’s not a product that you can take or leave. We can have a fantastic day and people love us but equally we can have a very very disappointing day, we can lose 3 or 4 games on the trot, but people still stand by us. They come back and want to come and watch us, whereas perhaps with a supermarket brand, if they were disappointed 3 or 4 times with the same product they’d go somewhere else and choose a different brand or a different product. You don’t do that with football. You actually keep coming back and keep supporting and following the club as much as you can.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Loyal fans provide a constant revenue stream through ticket sales, but clubs are also looking to create income from other commercial activity, such as their stadiums, sponsorship, retail outlets and even hotels. However one of the main sources of revenue – particularly for smaller clubs – has all but disappeared.

Chris Turner, Chief Executive, Chesterfield FC

Years gone by there used to be called a transfer market where clubs from higher up used to come down, look at clubs like ourselves, look at our players, take them up to a higher level, pay a transfer fee. Those days are very far and few between because now as we all know the Premiership and higher league clubs go abroad and bring foreign players in, etcetera etcetera, so players at our level very rarely get transferred to the higher level. So that transfer stream has virtually dried up.

Pete Winkelman

The MK Dons has lost about on average about one and a half million pounds a year in the 10 years I’ve been involved. In a bad year it can hit 3 million pounds so it really is a very hard thing to keep going. Of course some of the very much bigger clubs, they can have some very rich owners that that isn’t a problem for them doing.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Fans are a vital source of revenue to football clubs. In the 2012-2013 season, across the three divisions of the Football League, aggregate attendances remained above 15 million for the 10th consecutive season demonstrating the passion and loyalty of fans throughout the game. But in reality, how much influence do they have over the business decisions that their club makes?

Pete Whiteley, Chesterfield fan

I think when it comes to decisions about football matters a club can’t really take any notice of the fans. Fans will have their favourites when it comes to players and their favourites when it comes to formations but there’s no place for sentimentality in football.

Margaret Faiers, MK Dons fan

Ticket prices, we know we need a lot of younger fans and I think we can influence the club in say if you want them then price the tickets to the price they can afford.

Pete Whiteley

I think off the pitch, if decisions are being made – whether that is how we sell tickets, ticket prices, you would hope then the club would have regard to its customers and I think at a football club, talking to those customers, albeit that they are a single captive audience I think does make a difference when it comes to keeping them on board.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

When there are a number of clubs in close proximity they are each fiercely competing for people who love watching football live in a stadium. In a conventional market, one geographical area or city would struggle to sustain multiple businesses offering almost identical products and often with very similar names. And the football business is no different.

Chris Turner

We’re on outskirts of Sheffield 10 miles away from Bramall Lane and probably 15 miles away from Hillsborough and in the opposite direction we’ve got Derby and Forest, not too far away from us. But we’re a town of about 80 to 90 thousand people and some do go to watch those particular other clubs on a Saturday afternoon, we know that. We have to fight for our 5 or 6 thousand people every week that support Chesterfield.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Winning promotion, especially to the Premier League, is now the Holy Grail of football. But success can cost a fortune, especially as players’ wages continue to rise, even in the lower leagues. For example in the 2011 to 2012 season, League 1’s clubs, on average, spent 93% of their revenue on players’ wages. One increasingly valuable source of income is money from television rights, the impact of which is seen both on and off the pitch.

Chris Turner

The wages have absolutely rocketed due to the revenue coming in from broadcasting. The standard of football in the Premier League has risen beyond anything that’s been seen in the past. Throughout football it’s not been as great for clubs like ourselves in League 2 currently, we get around three hundred thousand pounds a year from it.

Andrew Cullen

A Premiership football club will this season pick up nearly 105 million pounds in broadcasting revenues. We will pick up about three hundred and fifty thousand pounds, in League 1 from broadcasting revenues. That’s the difference.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Niall Sloane was editor of BBC’s Match of the Day for many years and now runs ITV Sport. He has no doubt about what the future holds.

Niall Sloane, Director of Sport, ITV

I can only see the rights going up and up and up. BT and Sky will still be in position. Who know with the Googles etc, You Tube whatever will get their act together and they’ll start bidding. I cannot see anything other than the continuation of this because we thought 2 deals ago it can’t get any higher and it just has. So, it’s an extraordinary thing you know but it keeps going.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

But with the development of digital technology, will social media platforms have the confidence – and deep enough pockets – to enter the marketplace?

Niall Sloane

I know people have been looking at a kind of facebook for football where you would view your premier league match in that context so the man in Soweto could talk to the man in Stockholm, the man in Stockholm could talk to the man in Sydney and it’s a global conversation going on in that space.

Andrew Cullen

A few years ago we wouldn’t have been able to watch a live football match on our telephones, mobile phones, we can now and we can consume it on tablets. And I think that’s going to be something which maybe clubs not at the top tier will look to see how they can actually develop their product and monetarise that to try and generate extra revenue.

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Football has become a global network with English football watched all around the world which, in time, may also generate some benefits for clubs like MK Dons and Chesterfield. But has the globalisation of the football business reached saturation point?

Niall Sloane

I don’t think it has because if you look at the number of territories, the number of key territories around the world, it hasn’t quite cracked it. Has it worked in India? Not yet. Is it working in China? To a small degree. North America and the United States? Maybe. But until you get college kids desperate to have a career in ‘soccer’, I don’t think you’ve reached global saturation.

End transcript: The business of football

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Video _unit1.2.1 The business of football

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Discussion

These are some of the differences you may have noticed between football and more conventional businesses:

The nature of competition is different – football clubs compete with one another for customer and sponsorship income but also can’t survive without competition within their league. If you were running Sainsbury’s you would see the demise of another large supermarket chain as an opportunity – as a football club the demise of another club would be treated differently.
Brand loyalty – football fans are probably the most loyal customer base a business can have – can you imagine feeling the same way about your local supermarket? This means that supermarkets and other businesses have to work much harder than football clubs to attract and keep their customers.
Financial sustainability – if most clubs were conventional businesses they would go out of business – more conventional businesses such as supermarkets can’t afford to run themselves in this way.
The emotional commitment to football that many owners have goes beyond what would be seen as a sensible financial decision in many other businesses.
Much of the talk in the film is about money – we wonder if supermarket executives and staff were interviewed they would talk more about aspects such as products, the shopping experience and customers needs.

1.1 The economics of football

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Read this article by Professor Stefan Szymanski of the University of Michigan, author, with Simon Kuper, of the book Soccernomics (2009). Open the article in a separate window or tab. He explores in more detail some of the ideas raised in the video and your discussion. As you read the article, look out for any ideas which were not raised in the previous activity.

Figure _unit1.2.1 Figure 1 A Sainsbury’s supermarket sits on the site of Scunthorpe United’s former home, The Old Show Ground.

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1.2 Alternative football business approaches

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

As you have seen, football can seem like an odd or peculiar form of business – at least in England. But are there alternatives to this approach or is the business of football run the same way across the world?

Figure _unit1.2.2 Figure 2 Borussia Dortmund fans form the famous ‘yellow wall’ during the 2013, Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium

Long description

In the following article journalist Stephen Evans (2013) outlines why he thinks the ‘German football model is a league apart’.

Activity _unit1.2.2 Activity 2 German football model: a league apart

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

Read the article and make notes on key differences you identify which vary from the approach in the English leagues, including elements of Professor Stefan Szymanski’s analysis in Section 1.1.

To what extent do you agree with Stephen Evans’ views that this is a more effective approach to the running of a football business than that in England?

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2 Analysing the external environment

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

One clear difference between the German and English systems is the external environment in which they operate. The two systems seem to reflect to some extent the values of each society. A key success factor for any type of business is an accurate understanding of the external environment in which they operate. An ongoing, long-term analysis of what is happening in all facets of the external environment means that changes which impact on the business can be monitored, anticipated and dealt with appropriately.

The extract below explores one way that businesses understand the external environment: the STEEP model. As you read start thinking about how this model might apply to the business of football.

Box _unit1.3.1 The STEEP model

The STEEP model uses the five headings of sociological, technological, economic, environmental and political factors.

Figure _unit1.3.1 Figure 3 Five STEEP factors

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Sociological factors

Sociological factors that are likely to affect businesses include demographic changes in the age and structure of populations, patterns of work (part/full time), gender roles, patterns of consumer consumption and the ways in which the culture of a population or country gradually changes and develops.

Technological factors

Internet and digital technologies place challenges on the ability of business to meet customer demands. It is difficult to predict where developing technologies will take us next, but it is possible to focus on the process of technological change and its implications for business.

Economic factors

The activity of world money markets and financial institutions affects businesses in a number of ways. Important variables include the rate of economic growth, interest rates, inflation, energy prices, exchange rates, wages and levels of employment. The state of a country’s economy pervades all aspects of business life. It affects the level of demand for goods and services, the availability and cost of most importantly labour but also raw materials, buildings and land.

Environmental factors

Environmental issues are of growing importance as people all around the world are more concerned than ever before about the impact of businesses on the natural environment. Businesses need to consider a number of factors including legislation (governmental changes requiring firms to be more environmentally aware) and the pressure from customers for them to operate to high environmental standards.

Political factors

Political influences control or affect most of what we do. There are political influences on business in terms of rules and regulations imposed by government (local, national and global), as well as the influences of such organisations such as chambers of commerce, trade unions and other bodies concerned with protecting public health and safety.

(Adapted from The Open University, 2012, pp. 17–24)

The next section looks at how to apply STEEP to the business of football.

2.1 Using STEEP to analyse a football business

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

In the next activity you’ll start using the STEEP model to examine an element of the football business in more detail.

Figure _unit1.3.2 Figure 4 Tottenham Hotspur stadium, London.

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Activity _unit1.3.1 Activity 3 STEEP factors and football

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

Choose one of the five dimensions of the STEEP model (sociological, technological, economic, environmental or political) and list the ways in which you think that a football club in a particular country would be affected by it.

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Discussion

Some of the factors that may have affected your chosen football club are outlined below:

Sociological: The increase in women and children going to football matches and changes to make grounds more appealing to these audiences might be significant. Other social change factors are the changes in attitude regarding sexuality, the moves to eradicate racism within football over the last 20 years and the increasing pressure on the football community (particularly players and managers) to change as a result.

Technological: The trend towards digitisation and the internet has meant companies like Newscorp (including Sky) and BT have strongly influenced the way football is broadcast across all countries. Furthermore, improvements in internet speed have created opportunities to stream matches to mobile and other devices. Companies like Amazon have entered the football broadcasting market and offer a streaming service through Amazon Prime. This type of broadcasting is known as an ‘Over-the-Top’ (OTT) service. The implementation of goal line technology has also had some impact as had the introduction of VAR (video assistant referee) in some competitions.

Economic: The economic situation is very different in different countries. There has been an economic impact on the way in which television rights have influenced player wages and attraction of players from overseas to Europe.

Environmental: There might be moves or rhetoric within football clubs to ‘go green’ – this is perhaps more apparent in some countries than others.

Political: Governments have taken action in the past to ensure that football stadiums are safer. Tragedies at Ibrox (1971), Bradford (1985), Heysel (1985) and Hillsborough (1989) eventually stimulated regulatory action in the UK in the 1990s. The political will to deregulate broadcasting allowing multiple channels might also be considered a political factor – this obviously links to the technological element. Another interpretation of political elements at play might be in the workings of various ruling bodies such as The FA, UEFA and FIFA. For example the introduction of the financial fair play rules by FIFA in the Premier League in the 2013–2014 season had a big effect on the wages to revenue ratio of the clubs.

The STEEP model provides a useful structure for the discussion of the external environment. However, the distinction between the factors is rather artificial. Many political decisions have an economic impact, and almost all economic factors have a political dimension. Social behaviour is influenced by new technology, and in turn influences political decisions. Environmental issues have strong social, political and economic elements, and the introduction of environmentally acceptable solutions often depends on the adoption of and investment in new technology.

3 What makes up the business of football?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

The STEEP model provides one way of looking at the environment within which the football industry operates. But what makes up this industry and what do we mean when we talk about the business of football? How are football clubs shaped and how do they make their money?

As Pete Winkelman, chairman of Milton Keynes (MK) Dons, said in 2014:

The MK Dons has lost about £1.5 million a year over the 10 years that I have been involved. In a bad year it can hit £3 million so it really is a very hard thing to keep going. ... Of course what football is, is a great emotional driver. It does drive our other businesses here at Stadium MK but most of all it drives a community, it’s about identity, it is about a place and it is about celebrating the place you are in. So clubs need income from much more than gate receipts for individual clubs to survive.

For the next activity we are very fortunate to have the insight of John Cove the Chief Executive of MK Dons Football Club Sport and Education Trust. John has worked in the football industry for many years and in many different roles.

Activity _unit1.4.1 Activity 4 Shape of a club

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

Watch the animation, accompanied by a short interview with John in which he explores some of the different ways in which clubs can be configured. As you listen, note down the differences he explores. Also look at the final image in the animation of ‘the shape of a club’ (reproduced below), then see whether you can create a visual representation of the football club you support. This could be a drawing, a Powerpoint slide or something else.

Figure _unit1.4.1 Figure 5 The shape of a club

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Download this video clip.Video player: MK Dons Director, John Cove talks about how the club is structured

Video _unit1.4.1 MK Dons Director, John Cove talks about how the club is structured

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Transcript: MK Dons Director, John Cove talks about how the club is structured

MK Dons Director, John Cove talks about how the club is structured

John Cove

Football’s a real complicated business, it’s notorious for losing money.

When we started this club we needed to do things in a different way so we had the club structured in 5 parts really. Firstly, of course, there’s the playing side and around 61 people are involved in that. For the stadium there’s around 173 people, mostly match days. In the club itself, the commercial side etc, there’s 36 people. In the trust, the charity that runs, we have 84 people, and then, bringing it up, the hotel and arena, is 193 people and is the part of the business that makes us sustainable overall.

Our playing side is, of course, the part of the business that’s visible to everybody, but what’s behind the playing side is a little bit more unknown to people. So, we have an academy that looks to bring the best of the young people in the area together to give us the most opportunity to grow our own players. We’ve got the club secretary, who here is called the Head of Football Operations, that makes arrangements behind the scenes, so, which hotel the team stays in when they travel, who is registered with us to be a player and making sure that contractual side is important. And then we have the medical and science team that are tasked with not only making sure the players are fit, but they stay as injury free as possible. And of course, the most crucial person behind the scenes, many people would argue, especially him, is the kitman - who makes sure that everybody has clean kit to play not only for the match day but for training as well.

So let’s go and look at the club, let’s start with the figurehead, the Executive Chairman, Pete Winkelman. He’s the owner of the club and in our model, has responsibility for all of the business. And of course, within the club we have a sales and marketing team that raise around 1.5 million pounds selling boards and selling shirt sponsorship. We have a shop that sells the shirts that supporters can buy as well as the other memorabilia. We have an administration department that includes finance. A media and PR dept that’s about making sure that the information is out there for everybody to understand what’s going on in the club.

Well let’s take a closer look at the stadium. There are stewards who have to make sure everybody’s safe on a matchday. There’s maintenance and groundskeeping that make sure the stadium is in tip top condition and the grass is eminently green and playable. But of course, we also make sure the stadium creates income, so we let it for community use and people to play on the pitch out of season. But we also have major events from concerts, the rugby world cup and the women’s FA Cup Final, all go to produce more income to make sure that we’re generating enough to support the overall object of the companies.

You might not know that every football club in the Football League has to have a Community Trust that’s a registered charity and here is no different. So we deliver in the field of health, where we look at things like children’s weight management. in education where we deal with numeracy, literacy and IT skills. In our social inclusion department we have 17 teams for people with a disability. In our sports department we run women’s football. And what we’re seeking to do is to use the power of the brand and of football in particular to try and generate more activity but also to generate more support for MK Dons.

You remember at the beginning we talked about how clubs make losses and each club has a strategy to minimise that loss. In our case we have a unique solution. We have a Hilton hotel and events business that actually generates the sort of income necessary to offset the losses across the group. And, of course, if you’re a supporter, you can stay in one of our rooms and wake up and see the sun rise over the stadium and the pitch first thing in the morning.

So when you pull all those 5 strands together what you see is the shape of the business of football in Milton Keynes.

End transcript: MK Dons Director, John Cove talks about how the club is structured

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3.1 Stakeholders in the business of football

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

As you saw in John Cove’s fascinating analysis there are a range of internal and external elements that make up a club, no matter how that club is configured. Football clubs have complex interactions with their communities and society more generally. This makes a football club both a supplier to wider society and dependent upon it – and, like all forms of interdependence, this provides benefits, but also imposes obligations on both parties. So a football club, like other businesses, has a range of people and groups who have an interest in the club and the way it is run. These groups of people can be referred to as its stakeholders.

The extract below explores this concept in more depth. As you read consider the stakeholders that might be critical to a football club.

Box _unit1.4.1 Stakeholders

Stakeholders are people or groups who have a legitimate interest in the activities of businesses and other organisations in their society. Employees, customers and shareholders are all examples of stakeholders. Figure 6 summarises some of the potential stakeholders that might affect a business.

Figure _unit1.4.2 Figure 6 Stakeholder groups

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In the private sector, stakeholders include the owners, employees and customers. In the voluntary sector, they include funders, sponsors and donors. In the public sector they include the general public in their capacity as citizens (through elected representatives), as taxpayers (funders) and as beneficiaries of public services (customers).

There are four important points to bear in mind about the stakeholders of a business:

All businesses have internal and external stakeholders.
Different stakeholders have different interests, and these interests may be in conflict.
The culture, structure and control systems within a business will determine how these conflicts, or trade-offs, are resolved.
Some stakeholder interests are protected by law, but not all.

The quote below from John Cove illustrates how these important features impact upon the football business:

For my club MK Dons there are clearly a number of both internal and external stakeholders. These include those employed in all areas of the business, the fans, the owner and even the other clubs we compete with.
They all have differing interests – most people will be aware of the one obvious area in most clubs between the interests of say fans, who want their team to be successful no matter what and the owner who needs to achieve financial stability. Like any business we have to balance these interests appropriately.
The culture, structure and control systems within the business determine how these conflicts, or trade-offs, are resolved on a day-to-day basis.

Why do stakeholders matter?

It is important to explore the concept of stakeholders for two reasons. Firstly, it helps us understand that stakeholder groups have different interests, and secondly, it helps us understand the relationship between businesses and their external environments.

Because these ‘individuals, groups and other organizations … have interests (their stake) in the activities and outcomes of the organization’ (Hatch, 1997, p. 121) they are highly influential in their running.

(Adapted from The Open University, 2012, pp. 24–28)

Figure _unit1.4.3 Figure 7 Manchester United fans protesting against their owners, the Glazers, in April 2021.

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3.2 Stakeholders, power and interest

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

The two articles that you will read next are about a debate that started in 2013 and 2014 over the change of name of Hull City Football club to Hull Tigers. As you read the articles consider the different stakeholders or stakeholder groups who are involved and what their interest might be.

Hull City told they can reapply for Tigers name change (BBC, 2015)
Supporter’s trust calls on Allam to rethink Hull City name change (ITV, 2015)

The three key stakeholders mentioned here are the Football Association (FA), the owner (Assem Allam) and the fans. But what role is each playing and how much influence will they have on the outcome? To understand that we need to explore each stakeholder in more depth looking at the interest each has in the outcome and the extent of their power.

Figure _unit1.4.4 Figure 8 Raging Tigers – Hull City owner, Assem Allam in conflict with fans about his wish to change the name of Hull City to Hull Tigers, 20 June 2014

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3.3 Mapping stakeholders’ power and interest

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Read the extract below on power and interest mapping. This is adapted from work by Claire Capon, a leading writer on strategic management. As you read consider into which category each of the three stakeholders from the previous articles – the FA, the owner (Assem Allum) and the fans – falls.

Box _unit1.4.2 Power and interest mapping

Power and interest mapping is a tool to help you explore the influence that each organisational stakeholder might have. It provides a way of considering the reactions and position of stakeholders when a particular new strategy or course of action is to be introduced (as in the Hull City example). Once you had identified your stakeholders you would map each of them onto the matrix in Figure 9.

Figure _unit1.4.5 Figure 9 Power and interest matrix (Johnson and Scholes, 1999)

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Stakeholders with high power and high interest (category D)

Stakeholders with high power and high interest are key influencers in the organisation and are often involved in managing the organisation and its future. If key influencers are not directly involved in managing the organisation, it is vital that they are given serious input in the development of long-term plans and the future direction of the organisation, as they have the power to block proposed plans and implement their own agenda.

Stakeholders with high power and low interest (category C)

Stakeholders with high power and low interest are those who must be kept satisfied, such as institutional shareholders. Institutional shareholders will often remain compliant while they receive acceptable returns on their investment and are satisfied with the organisation’s management and activities. However, the ability of category C stakeholders to reposition themselves towards category D and increase in their level of interest should not be underestimated.

Stakeholders with low power and high interest (category B)

The stakeholders in category B are those with low power and high interest, who are able to exert relatively little power in influencing the organisation and its actions. However, these stakeholders have a high level of interest in the organisation and if they voice their concern loudly enough and in the right way, such as through lobbying or petitions, they may be able to influence one of the powerful groups of stakeholders in either category C or D and affect their behaviour.

Stakeholders with low power and low interest (category A)

Stakeholders with low power and low interest are those in whom the organisation need invest only minimal effort.

(Adapted from The Open University, 2012, pp. 87–92)

3.4 Stakeholders’ passion and business

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

The passion aroused by football can shape the behaviour of many involved. It’s probably fair to say that decisions made about football often don’t stack up in purely business terms and this is because football inspires such strong emotions unlike most other businesses. This should be taken into account when you consider stakeholder interests – this additional drive may well sustain some stakeholders, who on paper appear to have little power and influence, to be creative about how they gain support for their views.

Figure _unit1.4.6 Figure 10 Endangered Tigers, fans protest to defend the club’s history and remain as Hull City

Long description

Activity _unit1.4.2 Activity 5 Mapping football stakeholders’ power and interest

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

Consider the articles on Hull in Section 3.2 again then answer the following questions:

What power and interest category do you think the football fans fall into – A, B, C or D?
What do you think football fans are doing to try to increase their power?
What category do the FA fall into – A, B, C, or D?
What other stakeholder groups are likely to have an interest in this decision? These can be identified from within the article or wider.

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Answer

Football fans have a high level of interest in the outcome but low power so would fall into category B.
In order to increase their power the football fans are calling on the FA to block the name change. This has succeeded once although that decision was subsequently overturned.
The FA in theory have high levels of power as they can block the name change (although this would seem to have be successfully challenged). Their level of interest is more debatable as arguably they would not have a high level of interest in the name change of a football club. However, all organisations, including the FA are run by people and it may be that more traditional views about the naming of clubs are more likely to hold sway within the FA. They are also undoubtedly taking into account the views of fans when they make their decisions.
The football players, the manager, local businesses, the Premier League, the English Football League are a few of the other stakeholders. You may well have found many more.

In the next section you will apply the ideas covered so far to the challenge of developing women’s professional football which, from a business perspective, is relatively new.

4 Women’s professional football: the business challenges of growing the game

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

The number of women and girls playing football has grown steadily since the turn of the millennium and it is now the most popular female sport in England. This popularity has transformed the commercial potential of a previously much maligned and marginalised sport. Yet such growth has created several business challenges, not least the challenge of developing and sustaining a professional women’s league where all players and coaches are full-time, paid employees.

Unlike men’s professional football, which is organised by the Premier League and the Football League, women’s professional football is being developed by The Football Association. Without the history associated with the men’s game professional football for women is like starting a new business.

In the next activity you will start to identify some of the challenges associated with developing a fully professional women’s league.

Activity _unit1.5.1 Activity 6 Developing women’s professional football

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Can you identify how the business challenges associated with developing women’s professional football are different to men’s professional football?

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Discussion

Women’s professional football is like a new business, so it can be thought of as a ‘start-up’ business. For any start-up one major challenge is identifying and growing a market for their product. Only be growing a market, and an audience of customers, can sufficient revenue be generated to sustain the business in the long-term. While men’s professional football has over 150 years of history, women’s professional football is currently in its infancy, albeit rapidly growing. It is this difference in the history between the two that presents a significant business challenge as women’s professional football grows its audience.

The Football Association has developed an ambitious strategy to grow women’s professional football between 2021 and 2024. The three aims of the strategy are:

Produce and attract world-class talent
Maximise and engage audiences
Grow commercial revenues and financial sustainability.

In the next section you will learn about how one club, Brighton and Hove Albion, are putting this strategy into action.

4.1 The business of women’s professional football: a club’s perspective

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

The Women’s Super League (WSL) was formed in 2010. It is the highest level of women’s football in England. In 2018 the league became fully professional, and The Football Association awarded places in the league to clubs who could meet several criteria, such as operating an academy for younger players.

In 2019 Barclays Bank became the title sponsor of the WSL and committed £30m to supporting women’s football. In March 2021 Sky TV and the BBC announced what was described as a ‘landmark’ and ‘game-changing’ broadcasting contract to televise WSL games.

Figure _unit1.5.1 Figure 11 The impressive training facilities at Brighton and Hove Albion FC.

Long description

In a period of exciting and rapid growth you will discover how Brighton and Hove Albion, a WSL club since 2018, is managing the process of operating a sustainable professional women’s team.

Activity _unit1.5.2 Activity 7 Exploring women’s professional football

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

As you watch the video listen to Polly Bancroft, General Manager for Women’s and Girl’s football at Brighton and Hove Albion FC, and identify four business challenges the club are facing.

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Transcript: Brighton and Hove Albion FC

[MUSIC PLAYING]

POLLY BANCROFT

I’m Polly Bancroft, the general manager for women and girls football at Brighton & Hove Albion. As the general manager at Brighton & Hove Albion, I’ve got a strategic remit for the women and girls programme, which oversees the operations. So it’s making sure that we meet the license criteria for the Women’s Super League. I also engage with senior staff in marketing, communications, commercial, legal, finance, again, to just make sure that the operation side of the women and girls programme is sufficient. We have six female teams here at the club, so it’s overseeing all of those as well.

The team here at Brighton became professional in 2019 and since then, I suppose, there’s always going to be a bit of friction between the speed of growth and a sustainable budget. We’re really lucky here at Brighton that we’re supported by a chairman and a board that are really enthusiastic about the women’s game. We’re sat here in an 8 and 1/2 million pound facility that’s dedicated to the women and girls’ game, but I think that speed of growth both within the league and internationally, in terms of women’s football, and comparing that to trying to be sustainable is always going to have a bit of friction.

The women’s first team play their matches at Crawley Town. Before the pandemic, we had an average of 1,300 spectators. Post-pandemic and the most current season, we’ve got an average of 2,000. So we’ve actually seen an increase of about 47% which has been great. We do know, however, that is a challenge both to understand who our target audience is and how we increase attendances as well.

We were given some insight from the FA on who they could be, so we’re just testing that out. We’ve also done quite a bit of work to try and draw across fans of the men’s first team to come and watch the women’s first team, but clearly there is still a gap between the 30 odd thousand that watch the men’s first team and the 2,000 that watch the women. So that’s still a key area of focus for us and not easy when you’re playing 20 miles north of the main club stadia. So yeah, I suppose raising the profile and trying to get the message out there to new fans is something of a challenge and we’ll continue to focus on.

The social and digital marketing is huge. I think it’s not only the club that have a platform, but the players have their own platforms too so widening that reach and in terms of the number of people that you can engage with. But yeah, it’s a key tool for us in addition to the more traditional forms, such as the website. We’ve got very good local partners in the media both on the TV and the radio that we’re able to tap into so that helps. But yeah, digital, you can just be a lot more creative with it. We’ve seen content on TikTok. We started to use Facebook as well, of course, as Twitter and Instagram.

The commercial structure at Brighton & Hove Albion is mirrored from the men’s to the women’s, so we’re very similar in terms of the shirt sponsorship and I suppose the global partners within the club. But we’ve started to see companies approach the club who are interested in just the women’s. So we haven’t quite got there yet, but I think certainly because of the recent broadcast deal and more interest in the women’s game, the phone is ringing rather than us being on the phone. So that’s really positive and we’ll wait and see what the chairman decides that he wants to do with that one.

The last three or four years, we’ve started casting the net a bit further with our recruitment. So we actually have an international player from South Korea as well as from Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland, as well as some of the home counties. So we’re going a lot further with our recruitment. That’s also replicated in our women’s under-21s team where we have players from Belgium. We have players with Swiss nationality as well. So I think that’s really a marker of the professionalisation of the women’s game and that’s filtering through to our younger teams as well.

I think the development of the women’s game in the next five years, I think we’ll see a change in ownership of the league. So currently, the Women’s Super League sits under the FA’s ownership and governance, but I think we’ll see a transition away to maybe a third party delivering that. I think we’re in the first year of a three-year broadcast deal, so the next broadcast deal will be even more interesting hopefully both in terms of finance, and also eyeballs, and visibility. So I think those are the two main pieces really for the women’s game moving forwards.

{MUSIC PLAYING]

End transcript: Brighton and Hove Albion FC

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Discussion

As Brighton develop their women’s team the business challenges they have are:

Growing attendances at the women’s games and trying to do so through knowing who their potential spectators are.
Ensuring they are financially sustainable such that their costs do not exceed their revenues.
Raising the profile of the women’s team and using digital and social media to do so.
Attracting commercial sponsors specifically to the women’s team and not just mirroring the men’s team.

As Polly mentioned growing women’s professional football presents a business challenge between accelerating the speed of growth while maintaining financial stability and sustainability.

If you’re interested in learning about a women’s football club doing things differently, including being majority owned by women, take a look at the video in the following link: Angel City FC’s story.

4.2 Equal pay as a business issue

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

So far, the United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT) have won four FIFA World Cup tournaments and four Olympic Gold medals. They are the most successful national team in the history of women’s football. Comparatively they are more successful than the US men’s national team (USMNT) who have never won a major intercontinental competition. Despite this difference in success the women’s team have been paid significantly less than the men, an issue that members of the USWNT decided to challenge in court.

Figure _unit1.5.2 Figure 12 The United States women’s national team celebrating winning the women’s World Cup in France, 2019.

Long description

In the next activity you will discover more about the differences in pay between the US men’s and women’s teams and how they mirror the gender pay gap in professional sport more generally.

Activity _unit1.5.3 Activity 8 Striving for equal pay

Timing: Allow about 20 minutes

Read the following article from The Guardian: Revealed: the $730,000 gender pay gap in US World Cup bonuses.

As you read, consider the following question: Who has the power to make the prize money between men’s and women’s international football more equal?

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Discussion

The gender pay gap originates from the discrepancy in the prize money generated by the men’s and women’s World Cups. The men’s World Cup generated $400m in prize money in 2018 compared to $30m generated by the women’s World Cup in 2019. FIFA have the financial resources to make this prize money less unequal which would them enable national federations distribute the prize money more fairly.

The USWNT settled their legal case with US Soccer before it went to court. A new arrangement that rewards more fairly US men and women players is being developed. But the case highlights the business and commercial challenge of providing equal pay when prize money, that originates from sources such as broadcasting rights and sponsorship, is very unequal.

Football is not the only sport where there is a large gap in the amount of money earned by male and female professional athletes. It is a common issue and understanding the business reasons behind this pay gap is important. It is also another aspect of why the business of football is different to other businesses since legislation around equal pay between men and women for doing the same job does not apply to football.

5 Final thoughts

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

In this week you have started to consider some insights into the business of football and you have explored how it is different from other businesses.

You started by examining some of the ways that the business and context of football in the English leagues differ from those of more conventional businesses. You learned about a number of factors including:

the different nature of competition
high levels of brand loyalty
clubs often running at a loss
the emotional commitment to football.

You then looked at the organisation in Germany and how it is different to the English system. Differences included:

fans have more say over what happens in their club
there is tighter control on spending
clubs focus more on marketing for their revenue
there appears to be more long-term thinking.

Next, you learned about using the STEEP model to explore some of the external factors that might affect a business. You applied this to the football business.

You listened to an interview with John Cove, Chief Executive of MK Dons who described how clubs are structured and the associated businesses that sit alongside them. Using stakeholder analysis power and interest mapping you explored the different ways in which groups or individuals might influence the decisions taken at club level.

Finally, you discovered the challenges, from a business perspective, of developing women’s professional football. You heard how one club is placing a significant emphasis on social media and digital marketing techniques to grow their audience and generate the revenues to financially sustain their future.

Next week you will begin to explore motivation and look at the different reasons people have for coming to work.

You can now go to Week 2.

Introduction to Week 2

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

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Audio _unit2.1.1 Ben and Jacky introduce you to Week 2.

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Transcript: Ben and Jacky introduce you to Week 2.

Jacky Hinton

We're now going to focus on motivation at work and the dynamics of working in a team.

Ben Oakley

We take a different approach from the study you have just completed using interviews from professional football players and other club employees to illustrate some of the complexities.

Jacky Hinton

Using these we explore broader business principles of how to nurture a motivational climate and effective teams.

Ben Oakley

So, for footballers, you might assume that doing a job you love and being well paid is all that is required to ensure motivated individuals and successful team work.

Jacky Hinton

After all footballers, from the outside, appear to have it all but you will see that there is far more to work place motivation and teamwork than meets the eye.

Ben Oakley

Some of the insights and research findings may well surprise you.

End transcript: Ben and Jacky introduce you to Week 2.

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In this week your focus will be on the people, including players, who work in football clubs. This enables us to investigate what motivates people at work. By asking those working behind the scenes at football clubs, from the boardroom to the boot room, what they find satisfying and dissatisfying in their job we can explore how leaders and managers might shape the working environment to get the best out of people. You’ll be asked to apply this to your own situation and to reflect, for example, on what motivates you to get up in the morning and go to work.

The second main theme this week is also one that you are likely to have had experience of – working in teams. You’ll be considering the factors that may make teams more likely to succeed and how teams influence an individual’s motivation. We draw on a rich seam of our own specially produced films to respond to the following questions:

What can leaders and managers do to help enhance employees’ motivation and to make work satisfying in different parts of the football business?
What makes some teams more likely to succeed than others and how do teams affect individual motivation?

These are complex issues and some of the research findings may well challenge your thinking.

Learning outcomes

After studying Week 2, you should be able to:

identify factors most likely to motivate people to succeed in their work in different parts of the football business
begin to explain how you and others are driven and respond to different aspects of your workplace, including leaders’ and managers’ influence on the working environment
describe what makes teams more likely to succeed and how to develop more effective teams.

1 What motivates people to work?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Some football players are highly paid and receive strong recognition for their work, but this does not automatically lead to them being motivated individuals. In football it certainly isn’t always the case – there have been many examples of high-profile footballers in teams apparently lacking the motivation to play well.

If the ‘perfect’ job as a professional footballer isn’t enough, what is? And what motivates all of us to work and perform well? You’ll start to explore this in the following sections.

Apart from financial necessity, there are many reasons why people go to work. Happy, motivated people are a key component in both a successful football team and a business.

Figure _unit2.2.1 Figure 1 Japan’s Kozue Ando, Nahomi Kawasumi and Homare Sawa celebrate beating Canada at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Long description

Activity _unit2.2.1 Activity 1 What motivates you to work?

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Consider your workplace and what motivates you to go to work each day. Jot down the main words or phrases that come to mind.

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Discussion

These are some of the words or phrases that you may have come up with:

Some people are seeking rewards, whether these be financial or aspects such as recognition or a sense of self-worth. Some people go to work to thrive and need social interaction whilst other personality types prefer independence and like to work alone. Those whose work is their passion are likely to use phrases like job satisfaction.

Two other aspects often feature:

Work can give people an identity. We feel that we belong to a group of people, such as being a physiotherapist or an accountant or being an integral part of a team. Belonging and identity are an inherent part of a football club too.
Some people are drawn to their work which might involve doing good for others – social workers, school teachers, nurses or those who work for community or charity schemes for example.

1.1 Listening to football club employees and players

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

You have started to think about what motivates people in general terms. You’ll now hear directly from football club employees and players in a fascinating, specially made video that uses behind-the-scenes interviews from Football League clubs MK Dons and Chesterfield.

Activity _unit2.2.2 Activity 2 Comparing your work motives with those in football

Timing: Allow about 25 minutes

The following video contains a unique range of perspectives from the boardroom to the boot room. Note down the different reasons people state for workplace satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Consider how the motives described for a football club compare with or extend beyond the reasons highlighted in the previous activity (including job interest, social interaction, self-esteem, identity, doing good and any other reasons).

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Transcript: Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction

Lee Hodson

The best thing about being a footballer is, I would say, waking up every morning, and going to a job that you love doing. As a kid, that’s all I wanted to be, and coming in every day and enjoying your job is a main thing, and playing in front of thousands of people week-in-week-out, there’s not a better feeling.

Karl Robinson

The best thing about being a football manager, for me, is the development of young players and, ultimately then, prepare in a week to try and win a football match, and then winning it. It’s when a plan comes together.

Shaun O’Hara

The best part about the job is match days. Sitting there in the blind faith hope that they might actually win on a Saturday.

Angela Novell

The best thing, for me, without question, is being part of the football club, and being part of the stadium development here. It’s been the thing that I’m most proud of. It’s a really exciting place to be, and sport as a vehicle is so engaging and helps us empower people to be able to feel that they’re part of the football club. It removes barriers for communities so, for example, in terms of our dads programme, lots of dads are happy to come here and to do things that they wouldn’t otherwise want to do. So, I still get a real buzz from being out here, and seeing this amazing space, and it’s very inspirational.

Joe Aylett

I think the best thing is seeing how the club’s grown in the last 10 years, so when I come to work, we work in a beautiful stadium so we’ve got to aim for our pitches to look that beautiful, and the surroundings does give you a lift. It does motivate you, and when people come here, - film crews, supporters, especially away supporters, or any tours – you’re proud of where you work and what you do.

Sam Morsy

The worst part of being a footballer is actually just losing. When you win it’s great, you get a great high, and everyone’s proud of you. When you lose, you feel as if you’ve let people down, but it’s all part and parcel. You’ve got to take the highs with the lows.

Shaun O’Hara

The worst part of the job is coming in on a Monday morning when we have lost, and trying to pick up everybody else because, actually, it has a big impact on morale when a team is not performing well so our job as senior managers is to help staff, pick them up, make sure we can move on to next week, and hopefully, get the result we want in the future.

Kay Adkins

It is sometimes difficult to combine professional sport with community delivery for the same reasons: things become unpredictable – either you’re doing very well in the league or you’re doing very badly in the league, and that can affect how we’re working on day-to-day projects, but the atmosphere a) in the town, and b) in the club can be very frustrating if it’s at one end or the other because trying to manage a programme over a 3 year period with all that going on can be quite a strain.

Ian Evatt

The thing I like the least, I would say, is the pressure. A lot of people think it’s an easy job, but when you’ve got 20/30,000 fans, and it’s their be-all and end-all of the week, it’s tough, especially when things aren’t going well, and the teams are struggling etc. it’s difficult to go out and play with freedom under that kind of pressure.

Drew Talbot

The worst thing is injuries. I’m injured at present, which is very frustrating but you put your body through rigours that it’s not supposed to sometimes, and it’s part and parcel, but it can be very frustrating to especially watch team mates playing and you’re sat in the stands. It’s not very nice.

Karl Robinson

For me, the worst thing is when you have players who waste their talent, and you work an awful lot of hours trying to help them and they just don’t want to be helped, and I’ve seen many of them sadly.

Tony Lormor

The worst thing you would say about working here would be probably the hours, but that’s manageable and enjoyable at the same time. If I didn’t enjoy it, then I wouldn’t do it.

Shaun O’Hara

People getting the money in football are football players so, for me, it’s about the satisfaction of the job. Of course, everybody’s motivated by pay to a point, but, for me, it is about coming into work every morning, getting out of bed and knowing I’m going to work and enjoying it.

Joe Aylett

Everybody needs pay. We come to work for money but, as a motivator, I don’t believe it’s that strong a motivator. What’s a real good motivator is the product you provide at the end. If you get praise from your superiors, you get praise from supporters, other groundsmen, it’s very important because we all criticise each other’s pitch, but also, if you have a good pitch, you are recognised within the trade so that’s a great motivation when your peers look at you in that light.

Sam Morsy

What really motivates me is winning, winning medals, and building a legacy, if you like, so long after I stop playing, things I can look back and say ‘I’ve done this’ but, of course, money is a big factor because football is a very short career, so you need to earn as much as possible while you’re playing.

Lee Hodson

I think the main thing is playing football and enjoying it, and that’s the main thing – doing a job that you love and always dreamed of doing.

End transcript: Job satisfaction

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Love and enjoyment of being part of the game shines through for most interviewees but what else brings them job satisfaction or dissatisfaction?

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2 Theories about motivation

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Motivation is concerned with the factors which cause us to behave in certain ways. When we talk about motivation in our personal and working lives we often come back to ideas about our individual needs and expectations. For example, in this short film clip former player Fabrice Muamba summarises his insight into what football players find dissatisfying with their job. He talks about footballers’ general expectations of everything happening immediately. This was filmed before he suffered a cardiac arrest during a match in March 2012.

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Transcript: Fabrice Muamba

What are the most common causes of frustration and job dissatisfaction for footballers?

Because some people are playing in a high division and in a different league, some people are very impatient. In football because we have it now, whereas in the real world you have to work to have it. So people find it very difficult to say oh we have to wait for this. And you’re just kind of thinking well if I was playing I don’t I’d have to wait I would have just had it by now. So being able to just accept the fact that okay let me just wait then it’s going to happen, I’m going to have everything, I’m going to move forward. That’s ... that’s probably the hardest part of it because everything was just was now, now, now, now, whereas now you have to plan ahead and be more wise.

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2.1 Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

There are many theories about motivation at work but the influential ideas from American psychologist Frederick Herzberg are a useful starting point. He developed a theory of workplace motivation that identified factors that affected job satisfaction. This theory has proved popular with managers for many decades; it has been included here because it has become part of the ‘language’ of management.

Read the adapted extract below about Herzberg’s ‘Motivation–Hygiene Theory’ and some of the investigations that contributed to his theory.

Box _unit2.3.1 Herzberg’s ‘Motivation–Hygiene Theory’

Herzberg (1975) tested the different needs people have in the workplace. This was a more formal and wide-ranging investigation than the short interviews in a football club you viewed in the last section.

Herzberg and his colleagues asked people to recall times when they had felt especially satisfied or dissatisfied by their work, and to describe what factors had caused these feelings. The researchers found that two entirely different sets of factors emerged. Herzberg and his team called the factors connected with satisfaction, ‘motivators’, and those connected with dissatisfaction, ‘hygiene factors’. For example, a person who had listed low pay as a source of dissatisfaction did not necessarily identify high pay as a cause of satisfaction. Herzberg argued that improvement in some areas (the ‘hygiene factors’) would help to remove dissatisfaction, but that this would not increase satisfaction: that is, improving the ‘hygiene factors’ alone would not motivate people. For example, the absence of information about what is happening in an organisation may be a cause of dissatisfaction to an individual, but when that information is provided they are not necessarily more motivated; it is just that the dissatisfaction has been removed.

By asking people to categorise the causes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction under a number of headings Herzberg was able to record, for all the individuals in the group, the frequency with which each category had been noted as a satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A typical result is shown in Figure 2.

Figure _unit2.3.1 Figure 2 Motivation and hygiene factors (Herzberg, 1975)

Long description

This shows that peoples’ work content (what they did in their work) was identified in this instance by 12% as a source of dissatisfaction, but it was mentioned by 26% as a source of satisfaction. Work content is viewed as a motivator, something more connected with satisfaction. If you were to ask about people’s work content in a football organisation it is likely that their passion for the game and the place it plays in their lives and the community would bring satisfaction.

Let’s consider the two main sources of job dissatisfaction in Figure 2, the hygiene factors. Company policy and administrative procedures were identified as an irritating source of dissatisfaction by 29%, but it was supervision (leadership and management) that was the greatest hygiene factor, singled out by 35% in this example. Notice that the proportions mentioning these factors as part of their job satisfaction was far lower (0% and 5% respectively).

Herzberg’s environmental factors which are capable of causing unhappiness, the 'hygiene' factors, can be thought of as having to be reasonably well 'cleaned up' as a prerequisite for satisfaction. Among the hygiene factors are:

company policy
supervision
working conditions
interpersonal relationships
money, status and security.

The work content factors which lead to satisfaction, Herzberg’s ‘motivators’, are as follows:

Achievement. This is a measure of the opportunities for someone to use their full capabilities and make a worthwhile contribution. It includes the possibilities for testing new and untried ideas.
Responsibility. A measure of freedom of action in decision-taking, style and job development. Some people call this autonomy.
Recognition. An indication of the amount and quality of all kinds of ‘feedback’, whether good or bad, about how you are getting on in the job.
Advancement. This shows the potential of the job in terms of promotion – inside or outside the organisation in which you currently work.
Work itself. The interest of the job, usually involving variety, challenge and personal conviction of the job’s significance
Personal growth. An indication of opportunities for learning and maturing as a person.

From these types of findings, Herzberg drew some important conclusions:

The things which make people feel motivated at work are not simply the opposites of the things which make them dissatisfied, and vice versa. The two sets of things are different in kind. People will not become motivated simply by removing causes of dissatisfaction.
The things that make people dissatisfied are related to the job environment. In contrast the things that make people satisfied are related to job content. This is an important distinction.
While those who have a satisfying job may have a higher tolerance of dissatisfiers, the dissatisfying factors can be so strong that the job becomes intolerable.
Managers must therefore be concerned with ensuring both that causes of dissatisfaction are removed (or reduced as far as possible) and that opportunities for satisfaction are increased – that, in Herzberg’s terms, the job is ‘enriched’. Managers often fail to provide enough opportunities for employee satisfaction. Instead of drawing on real motivating factors and appealing to their employees desire to do a satisfying job, they use rewards and threats. In other words, managers can get it badly wrong, that is, they can demotivate. But getting it right won’t necessarily motivate people either, unless managers focus on those areas that make staff more satisfied, such as the content of their work and their responsibility levels and opportunities for self-fulfilment or development.

Involvement

Where staff at any level are ‘involved’ in decisions taken by their superiors, peers or even subordinates, all the motivators are brought into play. This is particularly the case where the decision under discussion will affect the person involved. For example, an experienced football team that have some involvement, however small, in the tactics they adopt in a particular match are more likely to commit to the approach if they feel they have contributed to it.

Involvement should produce the commitment to goals on which a sense of achievement depends. By involving people, leaders begin to recognise that their input matters and leaders increase people’s sense of responsibility. Interest in their job should be increased and leaders are providing their team with a broader view which provides both a learning opportunity and experience, of possible use in people’s further development.

(Adapted from Everard et al., 2009, pp. 88–90 and Everard and Wilson, 2004)

2.2 From theory into practice

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Herzberg’s theory raises some interesting points about how organisations and managers might operate: people work at their best when they are achieving the greatest satisfaction from their work.

Thinking about the people who featured in the film in Activity 2 we might link some of the phrases they used to the Herzberg factors. For instance:

The work itself

Waking up every morning, and going to a job that you love doing.

(Lee Hodson)

Achievement

The best thing … is the development of young players and, ultimately then, prepare in a week to try and win a football match, and then winning it.

(Karl Robinson)

Working conditions

I get a real buzz from being out here [the stadium development], and seeing this amazing space, it’s very inspirational.

(Angela Novell)

The thing I like the least, I would say, is the pressure.

(Ian Evatt)

Recognition

Praise from your superiors … from supporters, other groundsmen, it’s very important … you are recognised within the trade so that’s a great motivation when your peers look at you in that light

(Joe Aylett)

You can now refresh your knowledge of the various motivation and hygiene factors and consider how these apply to the video insights into football clubs and players you recently watched. You’ll then address the question, ‘does money motivate?’

Activity _unit2.3.1 Activity 3 Revisit what motivates those in a football club

Timing: Allow about 5 minutes

Match each of the motivation factors below to the relevant definition.

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Match each of the definitions below to the relevant hygiene factor.

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3 Does money motivate?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Money will always be important to us because it is required to fulfil our most basic needs to live and it provides a degree of security and welfare. But the relationship between money and motivation is far from clear-cut especially in football where there are huge differences in wages between players and other staff.

To some, money may only be a potential source of dissatisfaction, because they work for other reasons. Herzberg himself viewed salary as a hygiene factor but our relationship with pay is probably more complicated than this.

Figure _unit2.4.1 Figure 3 Money on the mind, sponsored steps at Molineux offer a reminder of its influence within the game

Long description

Activity _unit2.4.1 Activity 4 Do you think money is a motivator?

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Having considered all that you have learned so far, do you think money is a motivator in the workplace generally and specifically in professional football? Make some notes on your thoughts.

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3.1 Further thoughts on money and motivation

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

In the workplace generally there is a real mix of people, some of whom respond to financial incentives and others who are more ambivalent. Those motivated by money will be energised only if they can clearly link higher performance to the rewards of more money. This is the role that performance-related pay or bonuses play in motivating individuals: think of sales-related jobs in particular.

Another feature of pay as a reward is that it may help to boost self-esteem and self-worth. Also, for some, extra money for extra work will have no effect because they are happy receiving what they earn for the effort they expend, that is, they would rather spend their time doing things other than working.

Figure _unit2.4.2 Figure 4 England player Nikita Parris celebrates with manager Mark Sampson after scoring the opening goal during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifier between England and Russia, September 2017.

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4 From individuals to teams

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

So far you have focused on individual motivation and satisfaction at work. But what about the added complexity of people working together in teams? One of the main representations of a team in football is the playing team itself. This leads us towards considering what stimulates effective motivation and collaboration within teams. What can we apply to the workplace from the way successful sports teams operate?

You will now consider these questions drawing on your own experience of being part of a team and observing both successful and unsuccessful football teams.

Figure _unit2.5.1 Figure 5 England manager Gareth Southgate with player Marcus Rashford, July 2018.

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4.1 Team development

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Many activities at work and in sport are undertaken as a group or team. It is likely that you have experienced being part of a team that has functioned well, and one that has been dysfunctional in some way. The study of how teams function is broadly known as team dynamics. The effective functioning of teams is vital to success in sport and the workplace.

The important point about teams is that if they function well they can influence and enhance individuals motivation. This is vital knowledge for anyone leading a team. But first you’ll consider your experience of how teams develop in stages.

Anyone who has coached or worked with a team of any sort will know that teams need to be allowed time to develop. Tuckman and Jensen (1977) identified various stages that teams may pass through as they move towards effective performance (Table 1).

Table _unit2.5.1 Table 1 Stages of team development
Forming	the pre-team stage where people are still working as individuals
Storming	the stage of conflict that many teams need to go through to achieve their potential. During this stage the team becomes more aggressive and challenges previously agreed or taken-for-granted rules and restrictions
Norming	the consolidating phase in which the team works out working procedures and the team starts to build its own identity and understand how to use the resources they have
Performing	the optimal stage in which the team works well with mutual trust, support and cooperation and strives to be even better by concentrating on learning and improvement
Adjourning	the stage when the team disbands and individuals move on

These stages illustrate something that occurs quite naturally in teams if managers let it happen – Tuckman and Jensen’s stages allow you to understand what stage a team might be in and not be threatened by it. However, consider the things that can affect this pattern: new members joining the team; the team leader continually switching things around (often a complaint in football teams); the leader not being comfortable with the conflict of the storming stage and trying to intervene because it feels threatening.

An interesting parallel in football is the arrival of new star players and the impact this can have on the rest of the team. Consider the experiences of the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United, or Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea in 2021. The expectation is that a star player will have an immediate impact but actually this might take time or even disrupt what is already a performing team.

Figure _unit2.5.2 Figure 6 Cristiano Ronaldo on his return to Manchester United.

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Activity _unit2.5.1 Activity 5 Thinking about team development

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Think of a particular team of which you are or have been a member. Make some notes on the following:

To what extent did your team reach the ‘performing’ stage of Tuckman and Jensen’s framework (Table 1)?
Identify either what helped with team cohesion to reach this stage or what prevented team cohesion, thereby potentially thwarting the team’s ideal development.

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Discussion

A number of different actions and processes might be identified.

The following actions may be appropriate for helping the team move on from each of the various stages of development:

forming – helping members to clarify roles and responsibilities; helping the team develop a sense of identity; giving approval and praise for achievements
storming – encouraging effective ways of communicating within the team; letting development and dealing with conflict to naturally happen; empowering members to take responsibility for team decisions
norming – getting the team to define its own goals; encouraging the team itself to confront issues rather than turning to the team leader for solutions; enabling the team to coordinate its own work; encouraging creative and innovative thinking
performing – delegating responsibility to the team for monitoring and controlling tasks and procedures; encouraging team members to coach and learn from each other leading towards open communication and trust; enabling the team to evaluate its own work and seek to improve it.

You may also have identified how rare it is to work in a team that truly 'performs' and how fleetingly this can happen.

5 What helps teams succeed?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

You have just seen that teams progress through various stages of development and the ideal is that they reach the ‘performing’ stage. You have also seen some of the factors that help teams reach this stage. But why does this not happen more often, and what can we learn from teams that seem to outperform their potential?

Ideas of how to make teams succeed are the holy grail for business and psychology researchers and experts. A football club is significantly interested in getting this right since it is the main product of the team. The likelihood is that you and those studying this course with you will be able to develop your own theory of what shapes effective business and football teams. Here we draw on observations from within professional football, where team performance pays in all sorts of ways, to see what can be learned about effective teams.

Consider the case of Leicester City who in 2008–2009 were playing in League 1. They won promotion to the Championship in 2009 and in 2014 they returned to the Premier League. They finished 14th in their first season back in the Premier League and then in their second season they won the title. In the space of seven seasons Leicester had gone from playing in League 1 to becoming Premier League champions.

Figure _unit2.6.1 Figure 7 Leicester City’s owners, Vichai and Top Srivaddhanaprabha, celebrating winning the Premier League in 2016.

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In the next section you will listen to some interviews with national team managers and experienced club professionals, to hear their thoughts on what shapes successful teams.

5.1 Players and managers making sense of teams

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

The following BBC radio extracts and video consider two leading managers’ and players’ perspectives of team success, or lack of it. Using their thoughts as a stimulus we hope that an incremental blend of ideas of what shapes effective teams should emerge.

Activity _unit2.6.1 Activity 6 Making sense of effective teams

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

First listen to extracts from a BBC interview, from the series, The Managers (2014), with Pia Sundhage (gold medal winning women’s national coach). Then listen to Jurgen Klinsmann (national coach for Germany and the USA at successive World Cups) from the same The Managers (2014) series. Finally, watch the video with players from Chesterfield and MK Dons who talk about what they call ‘team spirit’. Combine these views with your own experience to develop a list of factors that help explain what shapes effective teams. Listen out for the differences between a manager’s and players’ views

Figure _unit2.6.2 Figure 8 Pia Sundhage

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Download this audio clip.Audio player: The Managers

Audio _unit2.6.1 The Managers 1

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Transcript: The Managers 1

Jane Garvey

This is Jane Garvey, and this is the BBC World Service. We’re in conversation with Pia Sundhage, who is the coach of the Swedish women’s football team. Pia, you’ve had a hugely successful career, you’ve played for Sweden, you’ve coached all over the world. Your biggest job - I know that Sweden’s a big job for you now - but your biggest job in the past that people will know you from is when you were coach of the American football team, USA. And you joined the team at a particularly interesting, some would say challenging, time. This was 2007.

Pia Sundhage

December.

Jane Garvey

Describe the atmosphere in that USA team at the time.

Pia Sundhage

I felt that they were disappointed, the fact that they did not win the World Cup 2007. So they wanted a change, and that is important. They wanted a change and I was the change. The fact that they pick a Swedish coach, a foreign coach, was huge.

Jane Garvey

You did have to make some tough decisions about players didn’t you, the goal keeper in particular, is that right?

Pia Sundhage

The story is 2007 many things happened with the team. They won the bronze medal, but the goalkeeper was excluded. She said different things, and she hurt the team … some say. What I did, when I came, and she was the best goalkeeper. So here we have Hope Solo, the best goalkeeper in the world, and I listened to five different stories what actually happened, that was the first thing I did. I said, ‘tell me what happened’ so I at least understand how serious it was. And I get five different stories, from players, from the general manager, from the press officer, from the ex-coach, from myself. And I thought, ‘okay, so what am I going to do?’ So I had some of the players coming in and we’d talk about the situation. I said ‘I don’t expect you to forget, so many things happened, but I expect you to forgive and move on. Because if, do you want to win, I want to win, do you want to win?’ [they said] ‘Yeah, I want to win.’ [I said] ‘Okay, in order to win, you have to trust me, we need goalkeepers, not only one or two, and right now Hope Solo probably is or will become the best goalkeeper in the world.’ So I sorted that out, I listened and I talked about it out loud, like this, ‘so this is what I want us to do’, and I gave them time to think about it.

Jane Garvey

And how quickly did they move on?

Pia Sundhage

Quickly. I'm really proud. They did such a good, a good job. The whole atmosphere, after a while, and we had a lot of camps, and I think it was a smart move by US soccer. They were brave enough to pick a coach from Sweden, but a smart move to change and I started with fresh eyes and a little bit new coaching style. And I told them over and over again, ‘so whatever happened 2007, if we can forgive, if you can forgive, then we will have a bright future.’ So I talked about it in different angles, and I gave it time, I took time to show them respect. It’s not the well we’ll just have to move on, like left it; I ran and listened quite a bit.

Jane Garvey

Now you have this phrase, coach healthy, don’t you, which means what?

Pia Sundhage

Well instead of trying to fix every mistake, I do the opposite. So the way it works, we have a video clip and we show them, they have comments, and I ask them ‘what do you see, what is good, could it be better’, and let them talk as much as possible. So coaching the healthy part. So let’s say she has two good crosses, but we want, well the game planning she has at least five or seven, we say ‘well you should do more of this’, just double it, instead of looking at a cross where it didn’t go well. When I analyse the game with the coaches, we look at mistakes of course, but analysing’s one thing, coaching is another thing. So in order, we have analysed that, we don’t have that many crosses on the right side, then what? And then we show the right back ‘this is what we want’. But maybe she’s not playing the next game because she had only two crosses. So I think it’s important to recognise analysing this is what we need to do the next game, but coaching well you know, you're almost there. It’s okay to make a mistake. And what I do know is there are three things that motivate players. One is if you win. The other thing is to be around the certain environment. You want to be in the team and belong here. And the third thing is the fact that you improve. So if I can inspire her to grab that, well you know what, I can do this as well, I can add something to my game, that is my job.

Jane Garvey

Can you give me an example of bad coaching that you had when you were a player?

Pia Sundhage

When I was not inspired and I was threatened or I was annoyed or I was, I can't find the right English words, but, I didn’t like the situation, is somebody saying ‘well I'm the coach, you're going to do what I'm telling you.’ I have a hard time with that kind of coaching, because I thought I had so many things to say as a player, and we had the same goal, we want to improve football. But he was just telling me ‘no, your thoughts are not good enough’, and he didn’t know what I was thinking.

Jane Garvey

How, when you take over a team, Pia, do you establish the shared goals of the team? And presumably you’ve got to do it really quickly.

Pia Sundhage

Well you started off with a goal, and then it’s so important to get to know the team. So it’s not that I'm just picking the goal, ‘there we go’, we need to do it together. And there are certain things that it’s important, like I do have my philosophy, and I have the power to decide the journey to that goal. That’s the beauty of, to be a leader.

Jane Garvey

And what if a player challenges you, how do you deal with that?

Pia Sundhage

My job is to make sure that she respects the team goal, so to speak, or my leadership, and it’s [an] ongoing discussion. It’s ongoing, looking at situations where are we actually doing what we’re saying, is that in a room or out on the field, it’s so important to be almost like a mirror. So we have decided this, are you acting like we decided?

Jane Garvey

Presumably there’s always going to be a certain amount of conflict within teams and in dressing rooms. Is it possible to avoid it, or is that crazy?

Pia Sundhage

I think it’s possible to avoid it. But it’s important to understand the role. I’ll give an example, if we have a team and you're centre-mid[field], and you have to understand the role but also accept the role, and respect the role.

Jane Garvey

What about when you worked in China, which was before you did the American job? What was the atmosphere around the game like there?

Pia Sundhage

It was more complicated because I don’t speak Chinese, and it’s a little bit … I felt they took orders more so than if you say, you want them to go from A to B and then to C, well they went A to B, ‘here I am, okay’, ‘well you're supposed to go to C’, ‘yeah’, they'd just wait for orders a little bit, I thought. We wanted to create a little bit of a chaos, you know, take the initiative, ‘it’s your game’, and I think we succeeded a little bit but not, well, we didn’t play the finals, I don’t think we were that successful.

Jane Garvey

I imagine is one of many reasons why you're such a good coach, because you really do know what it’s like.

Pia Sundhage

Well I know how I felt, and I really try to understand how it feels out there when I'm coaching. Because it’s one thing to coach a game, watch a game, compared to actually playing it. So that’s why, I think that’s one of the reasons why I've become a better listener, and trying to understand what they're actually saying. It’s not that when we have pregame talks, for instance, or we analyse the games, it’s not that ‘this is what we see’, yes, that’s part of it, but ‘how does it feel?’

End transcript: The Managers 1

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Audio _unit2.6.1 The Managers 1

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Pia Sundhage is one of the world’s top women’s coaches having led Team USA to two consecutive Olympic gold medals before moving on to coach Sweden and then Brazil. Note down what you learn about how she managed the severe discord in the US team when she took over in 2007 (early in the clip) and the way she develops and uses ‘team goals’ (second half of the clip). Note that when she mentions ‘the role’ and ‘respect’ for it, she is talking about an important aspect of team effectiveness – clarity of team roles. The transcript may be useful to you here.

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Audio _unit2.6.2 The Managers 2

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Transcript: The Managers 2

Peter Bowes

And you mentioned the word tone, how do you adopt the right tone with players? You are a very, I can detect a very easy going guy and coaches sometimes are actually not that easy going, they’re quite aggressive, and some teams I suspect there is a certain element of fear between the players and the coach; what is your attitude?

Jurgen Klinsmann

I think there you need to turn it around, because I don’t believe in that the coach has to have the right tone, but I try, if a player really understands that he is in the driver’s seat, he is the decision maker on the field, because football is players driven, they make the decisions on the field. Yes, you will put the 11 on the field but then the game goes and it’s them.

It’s very opposite to the other American sports, baseball, football, even basketball you can call time out and you have always stops and you can explain things, and football is the very, very opposite of it because it’s inner driven, it’s the athlete that makes the call, that makes the decision. I think over time a real big player learns to take the coach’s messages the right way, learns to read the messages, learns to take it for him in order to improve, because you have, let’s say, 20, 25 players on a roster and there is no coach in the world that has the right tone for every one of those 25, it doesn’t exist.

So I think it’s much easier to say, you 25 players need to figure out a way to take those messages from the coach, if it’s now a stronger voice, a more aggressive voice, a calmer voice, whatever it is, and pick out those things that are good for you. Then I think you will grow as a player. I don’t think somebody, a coach makes Messi or Ronaldo or Steven Gerrard. Those went through x amount of coaches throughout their career and I had about 16, 18 of those, and every one taught me something, told me something, but there was no perfect one, so the tone has to be found actually by the player and not given by the coach, because you are not making it right for 25 altogether.

Peter Bowes

And when there is conflict within a team how does that affect the individuals?

Jurgen Klinsmann

Oh, it affects everybody, so there are two ways. The best way is to solve the conflict, you know, to talk it through, to work it out, and to create even more positive energy out of that conflict. That is the ideal scenario. When you over time, and that’s just my personal experience, see that we are not solving this issue, it’s too deep, it’s too personal, it’s too distracting, you as a manager then have to make the decision to let one of those two go.

End transcript: The Managers 2

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Jurgen Klinsmann talks more about players taking responsibility making interesting comparisons between football and American team sports such as baseball, basketball and the NFL. Interestingly he also mentions conflicts within teams.

Now watch the video.

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Video _unit2.6.1 Team spirit

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Transcript: Team spirit

Team spirit

Gary Roberts, Player, Chesterfield FC

Team spirit’s massive in a team, and it doesn’t happen overnight. I think it’s down to the manager. I think signing players is massive now. You don’t just play no good player; you’ve got to sign the right player.

Sam Morsy, Player, Chesterfield FC

Managers now, they look at personalities of players, and players who can get on together and have the right team harmony because you can have the best players but if the team cohesion isn’t quite there, then you’re not going to have a really good team spirit so it’s important that the manager really does their homework on the certain characters they bring in, and just harness that really.

Ian Evatt, Player, Chesterfield FC

To gel as a team does take time, especially when you’ve got a lot of new faces. Obviously, there’s a lot of different personalities in a football team, so you just need to get to know each other better – probably a trip abroad or something like that can obviously help – spending a length of time together, but it’s something that can’t be built overnight. It takes time. Everyone needs to get to know each other, know their strengths and weaknesses, what they’re like as people, and eventually it will come.

Drew Talbot, Player, Chesterfield FC

Things that’ll prevent a team gelling will be egos. Sometimes, you get the odd player that thinks he’s bigger than the team sometimes, which is affecting, but it’s up to the squad to actually reign him back in and make him realise it’s actually a team game and not an individual sport.

Sam Morsy

Team spirit can break down when players have different ideas to the manager, and all of a sudden, very quickly, they can form cliques in which they’re going against the manager and so on and so forth. That’s when you have to really trust your manager, because he knows what’s going to be best for the team, and when you do that, you can have a great team spirit, but it can quickly break down whenever individuals have different ideas and so on.

Ian Evatt

The most common things to break down between managers and players, I’d say, is either contractual events like if you want a new contract or you’re not feeling you’re being paid well enough, or a manager stops you from being transferred when you want to leave the club, or they’re not picking you on a Saturday.

Tommy Lee, Player, Chesterfield FC

Players, coaches – everyone falls out. It’s difficult when you’re in a competitive business where everyone needs to play but there’s only 11 places. It’s going to happen.

Ian Evatt

When players get brought in, obviously, it’s a dodgy time, especially if he plays in your position. You start to worry about your own place, you start to worry ‘is he better than me?’ But in a team sport, a team game, you need as many players as you can, especially good players, and if the manager believes that he can help the squad and help the team, then you’ve got to trust the manager.

Harry Hickford, Player, MK Dons

It’s like bringing someone into your home. Because everyone’s so close, sometimes, it’s hard for a player to adjust to the way other players act and the banter within the team and stuff like that. So, that doesn’t help.

Ian Evatt

For me and my career, I’ve only played for clubs that have paid bonuses in respect to success – promotion, play-offs, cup finals etc – and it should be stuck to that. I don’t think you should really reward mediocrity with bonuses.

Lee Hodson, Player, MK Dons

When you get a bonus, you get a starting bonus if you play, then obviously, a win bonus, and that gives you more of an incentive that you want to win but, as a player, you want to win every game anyway, and getting a bonus as a player for winning is just an extra little bit into your salary.

End transcript: Team spirit

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Video _unit2.6.1 Team spirit

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Listen to how their understanding of team work is different to a manager. But also note down the factors, represented by key words or phrases, these players identify as helping explain team success or lack of it.

Where possible try and quote phrases or key words from the video and audio pieces and also consider your own examples of ineffective football teams.

We can learn a lot from unsuccessful teams, indeed, as much as from successful teams. The fascinating accounts of players and a manager, as you would expect, differ considerably in the depth of their analysis. There might also be potential differences between club and national teams.

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5.2 Team effectiveness framework

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

To help think about the complexity surrounding team effectiveness in both football and business it is useful to have a framework that acts as a map to help explore different avenues. There are a number of theories and models of team effectiveness but Cohen and Bailey’s (1997) model is particularly useful.

It identifies seven avenues to explore when looking at teams.

Environmental factors: the external business environment in which the organisation is embedded and its influence on how the organisation operates.
In football the characteristics of the football business we’ve studied here, the stability of the football club’s ownership and the turbulence or otherwise of the team’s league standing will partly influence the team’s workings and culture.
The design features: The way the team task is set up and designed by leaders including the clarity of roles within the team.
In football design features include the degree of autonomy of the manager the extent of clear playing roles within a side, the way support staff report and how players interact with other parts of the club hierarchy. Consider the extent to which football clubs design aspects of their business operation to support team success.
Team composition: How big should the optimal team be; how long should they be contracted; what is the best mix of ages and nationalities?
In football consider the most effective blend of a squad of 25 players, youth versus experience, the player options available for different defensive or attacking configurations and the proportion of overseas players from one or a mixture of nationalities.
Organisational factors: The design of aspects such as rewards, training and types of resources available to a team.
In football this relates to wage structure, win bonuses, training facilities and spending. For example, small gestures, such as the dressing room design and layout or the travel arrangements to matches, may contribute to how players and staff feel about the team. Also consider a financial incentive such as ‘clean sheet bonus’ payable to the whole team rather than just the defence.
Processes: Interactions such as communication and conflict resolution both within the team but also outside it.
In football processes include the mechanisms, if any, for internal squad dialogue, discussion, the induction of new players and how the squad approaches external demands such as the fans, media, sponsors and community engagement.
Psychological and social attributes of the team: Shared team understandings, characteristics, beliefs, objectives, identity, emotional tone, cohesiveness and team members having similar mindsets.
This connects closely to a cohesive football squad who would have shared norms and a strong team identity – many small details, processes, design and organisational features interact with cohesion.
The measures of effectiveness: In business, team effectiveness can be measured in a number of different ways which influence teams, such as productivity, quality, job satisfaction, trust, staff turnover, staff absenteeism.
In a football team, effectiveness is normally measured by results on the pitch, translating to league position. Other measures might include the quality of the performance, and the cohesiveness and resilience of play. The financial performance, the degree of recent investment in new players and emergence of young talents within the squad might also be a further measure of effectiveness.

Cohen and Bailey’s ideas have had a huge influence on the study of effective teams. Two points are worth highlighting at:

The psychological and social influences on the team are only one factor – it is often tempting when a team is failing to blame one team member for their apparently ‘difficult’ behaviour. Individual contributions are rarely if ever the only reason why teams succeed or fail.
While teams are made up of individuals these teams are in turn part of an organisation which itself is part of a wider context – all of these factors will play a part in team success. There is no one single magic or simple explanation.

Figure _unit2.6.3 Figure 9 Arsenal players Alex Scott and Kelly Smith with manager Pedro Martinez Losa after winning the FA Cup in 2016.

Long description

6 What factors work in your environment?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

You’ll now move from football teams to look at what works in your own environment. You’ll also be able to see how this compares with the views of others on this course by taking part in a poll.

Activity _unit2.7.1 Activity 7 Identify important team factors

Timing: Allow about 20 minutes

Think about an ineffective work or business team that you are involved with. Using some of the ideas in Cohen and Bailey’s (1997) framework and players’ and managers’ perspectives from Activity 6 identify the factors that contributed to the ineffectiveness of the team.

Use this poll to vote for the three most significant factors that, if changed, can have an impact.

This vote will help establish the most influential factors from a large group of people following this course.

Figure _unit2.7.1 Figure 10 An underdog story: Bradford City fans proudly follow their club to the 2013, Capital One Cup Final at Wembley

Long description

7 Final thoughts

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

In this week you have explored some of the issues surrounding work satisfaction, individual motivation and the success and effectiveness of teams. The week has provided a look behind the scenes at football clubs and has included the voices of players and managers. You have also considered how motivation and teamwork apply to business and workplaces more generally.

You have examined:

some of the ways that leaders should ensure both that causes of job dissatisfaction are removed and that opportunities for job satisfaction and motivation are increased
our complicated relationship with pay in which money motivates people in different ways and to different extents
influences that help or hinder the development of teams
how learning about team effectiveness might apply to your own environment drawing on Cohen and Bailey’s analytical framework.

The effectiveness, and success, of a team and motivation of its members of course impact the wider business of football. Next week you will investigate the enthralling story of how football is increasingly operating globally and look at the some of the power relationships that contribute to the worldwide business it has become.

You can now go to Week 3.

1 What is the global football business?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Football, like many other businesses, is often described as having a global reach or being global – but what do we mean when we say this? How does this relate to ideas of globalisation more generally?

Below is a short extract adapted from an article by two Scandinavian professors: Harald Dolles and Sten Soderman (2005). They explored some of the ideas of globalisation as they related to European football and the World Cup. As you read this piece think about the various different ways in which the football business might be considered to be ‘global’. You’ll use these ideas in Activity 1 that follows.

Box _unit3.1.1 Globalisation: European football and its business challenges

European football is a huge and fast growing business operating worldwide and it is of increasing importance to ongoing research in international business and business administration.

The game is famous because it is linked to tradition and culture. It formed part of many of our childhoods, and its professional teams are on top of pyramid-like organisations of several leagues, with amateur players at all levels, from silver-aged veterans’ teams to kids’ teams. Football today is also an international business, as players are transferred frequently around the globe, international professional leagues thrive, and the European Cup finals or the FIFA World Cup finals are top media events (Beech and Chadwick, 2004).

The world of football has been referred to more and more as an industry in its own right. Arguably, its characteristics have been drawing closer to those of the service industry or the entertainment business. The ranking of football as a business activity has risen in the economies of those countries where football is promoted as the national sport. In many of these countries, it represents a significant percentage of a nation’s GDP, because football events also drive volume in a considerable number of other sectors, such as media, merchandising, advertising and brand promotion as well as in services like transport and catering. The globalisation of the football industry has provoked a concentration of resources in the hands of a few big European and South American clubs, which have had the ability and the economic resources to face down increased competition from emerging clubs and other businesses in the entertainment industry.

The game’s common worldwide rules (Figure 1) enable skilful players regardless of their ethnic and social background to play in teams which create enormous media interest. The problems and challenges in the field of football such as amateurism versus professionalism, young players going to big clubs, league teams versus national teams, branding and sponsorship growing as a source of revenue and the increasing reliance on the media for revenue, are the same everywhere on the globe.

Figure _unit3.1.1 Figure 1 One of the things that made the globalisation of football so easy was common worldwide rules. The changing layout of the football pitch: 1890 and 1937 (Bale, 1994)

Long description

In the US, football has successfully outmanoeuvred many other team sports, such as ice hockey, basketball or handball, and has been accepted as the number one sport as far as media attention and worldwide audience numbers are concerned. In 2009 the Champions League became the world's most watched sporting event eclipsing the NFL Super Bowl for the first time (Kuypers, 2014). According to the football international governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) statistics the FIFA World Cup 2010 was viewed by around 46% of the world’s population.

We can also consider the role of government in its relationship to sport including football. In this context, it is worth noting the philosophy of FIFA, and the environment for mega sports events created by governments worldwide. Staging mega sport events such as the World Cup is not merely an economic matter:

Football has always been one of the most convenient sports for serving political aims.
Through successful performance of national teams football provides a platform for displays of national capability and the instilling of national pride.

(Butler, 2002, p. 43).

The 2002 World Cup was jointly hosted in Japan and South Korea with the governments of both countries having their own reasons for wanting the competition. The Koreans aimed at introducing the finals as a ‘catalyst for peace’ (Sugden and Tomlinson, 1998, p. 118) on the Korean peninsula, and the Japanese focused their bid on its ability to promote political stability, high technology and the country’s infrastructure (Sugden and Tomlinson, 2002). With its decision to award the tournament for the first time in history to Asian hosts and to more than a single nation, the FIFA moved strategically towards the globalization of football. In the bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup South Africa failed, losing to Germany by only a single vote in the final round. The BBC argued that a vote for South Africa was seen as a vote for Africa – which at the time had never hosted a World Cup tournament before, despite exporting some of the world's finest soccer players to Europe and other parts of the world – as well as a vote for developing countries. Later that decade history was made when Africa and South Africa were chosen to stage the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

It should be obvious by now that football is a global business, rapidly expanding and developing on a worldwide scale.

(Adapted from Dolles and Söderman, 2005)

1.1 Football globalisation and history

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Given the development of football into a global business, how did this start and how did football spread across the globe?

You’ll now listen to part of a BBC radio programme, ‘Sport and the British’, presented by Clare Balding, which gives some surprising insights into the development of football from its early roots. The piece provides a particularly fascinating focus on the rise of the game in South America.

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Transcript: Sport and the British

Sport and the British

Clare Balding

Football is the world game and it was Britain who took it to the world, unlike cricket and rugby which was spread by soldiers, civil servants and settlers in British Colonies, football took a different route. It was taken around the world by those who had made Britain the greatest trading nation in the world; by managers, engineers and teachers.

David Goldblatt

In the last 19th Century there are an enormous number of Britons all over Latin America. Now the first things they start playing are polo and cricket. But in the 1870s onward football begins to arrive. And what we see all across Latin America is a process where small groups of Britons begin playing football, very quickly after that the local elite take to that game, because the game as British has an extraordinary social cache about it.

Clare Balding

The genuinely indigenous sides, River Plate was founded in 1901, Independiente and Bocca Juniors in 1905. And British teams, like Southampton, Nottingham Forrest, Everton and Tottenham, came in the first decade of the 20th Century to play exhibition matches against the local sides.

David Goldblatt

I have a quote here from Sam Allen who was the manager of the 1912 touring side Swindon Town who played in Buenos Aires and Montevideo to huge crowds, and he wrote, 'I've never seen such enthusiasm for the game as shown by the two Republics and everywhere one sees the hold it has taken on the people. Boys on the street, on the seashore, down alleys, soldiers on barrack grounds, all have the fever. Across the Rio de la Plata football was also flourishing in Uruguay.

Clare Balding

As in Argentina the game of football had been brought to Uruguay by British teachers and schoolboys, and again its popularity took off.

The Olympics of 1924 and ‘28 were won by Uruguay with Argentina finishing runners up. And the first World Cup held in Uruguay was won by the hosts beating their neighbours Argentina in the final. Since those early days another South American nation has taken over

[Recording of Brazilian commentator]

Clare Balding

Brazil embraced the game at the same time as Argentina and Uruguay, but their adoption of football wasn't so much a result of British political or economic influence, but it was thanks to one sporty young man, Charles Miller.

David Goldblatt

Born in Rio de Janeiro to an English father and a Brazilian mother he organises the first game of known football in the 1890s in Brazil,

And over the next five years Sao Paulo elite society, both Anglo but also Brazilian, goes absolutely wild for football.

Professor Tony Mason

A simple, cheap, but exciting game like football couldn't remain the monopoly of elites for long. In the fast growing South American cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Montevideo, Buenos Aires football spread downwards with remarkable speed. Encouraged by local press coverage young male immigrants from Italy and Spain joined or formed clubs to play, to socialise, which soon began to produce a line of pibe de oro, golden boys, stars from the people; Garrincha, Pelé, Maradona, Tévez and Messi,

Clare Balding

The British had introduced football to South America but it very quickly took on its own life and character.

Brazil is the only country to have competed in all of the 19 World Cups staged so far, and with five wins it's the most successful nation in World Cup history. The British may have introduced the game to South America but there's no doubt that between them Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina have turned it into something more beautiful and more successful. Latin America has made football its own.

End transcript: Sport and the British

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Activity _unit3.1.1 Activity 1 Factors affecting football’s initial globalisation

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

It is interesting to note from the BBC radio clip how football started its global spread. In particular you may not have been aware that football started as an elite game – a contrast perhaps to how many see the game now.

Make some notes on the factors that have provided the impetus for the globalisation of football.

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Figure _unit3.1.2 Figure 2 USA player Hope Solo warming up before a game.

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1.2 Making sense of globalisation in business

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Football may be considered as one industry but in reality the situation is much more complex than this. Globalisation of the football industry is multifaceted and affects far more than just the clubs. If we can start to make sense of the business drivers of globalisation for football then we can learn a lot about how the drivers affect other industries.

If you search for explanations of globalisation online you’ll typically find descriptions of a process by which the world is becoming integrated through global trade, migration, communication and transportation helped along by technological developments. You’ll now explore this further.

Figure _unit3.1.3 Figure 3 East meets West – woman in traditional Japanese costume awaits Germany and Brazil, as 1.1 billion individuals watch the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final.

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A business perspective of globalisation

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

The extract below explores some of the general factors which play a role in increasing globalisation across industries. As you read this consider how each factor might have affected the globalisation of the football industry.

Box _unit3.1.2 Factors increasing globalisation: a business perspective

The factors increasing globalisation can be thought of as pressures or opportunities that have stimulated businesses to move into global markets.

Market

Market drivers emerge through the development of a world market:

the establishment of global brands (e.g., McDonald’s fast-food outlets, Nike trainers and sportswear)
global consumers with a growing convergence of lifestyles and tastes
growing disposable income across the world, not only in the developed economies of the West, but in the emerging industrial and services economies such as India.

Government

Here nations collaborate to increase the possibility of trading internationally to create economic advantage and wealth. Examples include:

a reduction in trade barriers through the removal of tariffs on imports and exports (as has happened across the European Union)
the creation of more open and freer economies as a result of, for example the ending of the closed economies of Eastern Europe and the opening up of the Chinese economy.

Competition

Increased competition arising from the opening up of economies or businesses creates an environment in which more organisations can enter the marketplace, whether nationally or internationally. This is brought about by:

the cross-border ownership of domestic firms by foreign organisations; for example, Rupert Murdoch’s USA-based News UK group’s ownership of key media organisations, such as The Times and The Sun newspapers
movement of companies to become globally centred rather than nationally centred through strategic alliances and takeover
the growth of global networks which make countries interdependent within specific industries (e.g. the car industry which pulls in different components from different parts of the world).

Cost

Various cost drivers and enablers can encourage a firm to globalise:

they enable an organisation to gain economies of scale
the development of communication technology particularly through the internet simplifies communications and makes it easier to control costs and to globalise
cheaper labour and other resource costs in developing countries provide an incentive, e.g. many companies have outsourced their call centres to India
the development of improved infrastructure allows for faster and more efficient transportation systems.

Underpinning many of the points listed above is the growth in international financial markets. This growth means that close financial relationships are established on a worldwide basis and these in turn facilitate a complex and sophisticated international system of lending, borrowing, transmission and storage of money.

(The Open University, 2012, pp. 34−36)

Activity _unit3.1.2 Activity 2 The impact of globalisation factors on football

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

As you can see from the extract above, there are many factors which drive or enable globalisation of business, each of which affects particular industries to a greater or lesser extent. How do you feel these factors affect the globalisation of the wider football industry? Choose one of the four factors – market, government, competition or cost – and note down some ways in which this has impacted football.

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Discussion

Your ideas might be along these lines:

Market: The creation of global brands through clubs such as Manchester United and Barcelona and the impact of the global market for players might be viewed as market phenomena. The ease of travel has opened up international competitions and exposed a wider audience to football.
Government: Governments themselves have not had much direct effect on the globalisation of football; although football's own governing bodies, such as FIFA, have made changes which have facilitated globalisation, such as player transfer rules.
Competition: The importance of competitions such as the Champions League in driving the global image of football has shaped contemporary football. The effect of TV rights on football has helped enable a global market to develop.
Cost: Economies of scale don’t really apply directly to the football industry although perhaps cost drivers have affected many of the industries related to football. For example, the manufacture of sport shirts is usually carried out in other countries where labour is cheaper.

1.3 Globalisation: a force for good in football?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

So far you have explored how football has become a global industry and some of the factors that have played a part in this. The next question we will address is the extent to which this globalisation of football is good, bad or a bit of both.

Revisit the second half of the ‘Business of Football’ video which you watched in Week 1 (from 05:56 on the time display) in which ideas about the global spread of football broadcasting and the possibility of digital interconnections between fans are explored. A chairman of a Premiership club might view the globalisation of football broadcasting differently from a chairman of a Championship club due to the way broadcasting revenues are distributed.

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Video _unit3.1.1 The business of football

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Transcript: The business of football

The business of football

Pete Winkelman, Owner and chairman, MK Dons

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Andrew Cullen, Director, MK Dons

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Chris Turner, Chief Executive, Chesterfield FC

Pete Winkelman

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Pete Whiteley, Chesterfield fan

Margaret Faiers, MK Dons fan

Ticket prices, we know we need a lot of younger fans and I think we can influence the club in say if you want them then price the tickets to the price they can afford.

Pete Whiteley

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Chris Turner

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Chris Turner

Andrew Cullen

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Niall Sloane was editor of BBC’s Match of the Day for many years and now runs ITV Sport. He has no doubt about what the future holds.

Niall Sloane, Director of Sport, ITV

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

But with the development of digital technology, will social media platforms have the confidence – and deep enough pockets – to enter the marketplace?

Niall Sloane

Andrew Cullen

Eleanor Oldroyd, Voiceover

Niall Sloane

End transcript: The business of football

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Now listen to a professor’s perspective. Susan Segal Hall (former Professor of International Strategy with The Open University Business School) explores the arguments for and against globalisation being a good thing for business generally. As you are listening consider which of the points she raises would be relevant to the owner of a Championship club.

Is then the globalisation of football a good thing for the football industry? It’s now time to do your own research on this.

Figure _unit3.1.4 Figure 4 A moving tribute is held on stage during the FIFA 2014 World Cup Draw to Nelson Mandela, who believed ‘Sport has the power to change the world’.

Long description

Activity _unit3.1.3 Activity 3 Your own research

Timing: Allow about 40 minutes

Using the internet (putting ‘football globalisation’ into a search engine is a good place to start) see what you can find on this subject. Use your findings to inform your own ideas about the benefits and disadvantages of globalisation for the football industry.

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2 Understanding power

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

So far this week you have explored the globalisation of football and examined some of the factors that have played a part in spreading football and its wider industry across the globe. These final sections explore power and how power relations operate from a commercial, political and organisational perspective.

This subject has been chosen because having a grasp of how power works, among individuals within organisations, between organisations and within societies as a whole, is central to understanding any industry, including football.

Now listen to the BBC radio programme clip ‘FIFA, Football, Power and Politics’ which charts the rise of FIFA as a powerful organisation in football. As you listen, note the different ways in which the former head of FIFA, Brazilian João Havelange, worked to raise the profile and global reach of the organisation.

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Transcript: FIFA, Football, Power and Politics

The writer David Goldblatt now examines the long and unexpected journey towards it's domination of the game.

Sepp Blatter [broadcast audio]

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is Qatar.

Commentator [broadcast audio]

That is astonishing! 'Expect Amazing' is their slogan and a lot of people in the room will be amazed.

[Siren noise]

David Goldblatt

The FIFA World Cup has become the greatest show on earth, a celebration of the universal virtues of play. Its gigantic television audiences are the closest that we come to humanity as an imagined community. Like all International Sports Federations, FIFA, the global governing body of World Football, holds the game in trust for the rest of us and claims to serve our universal interests. And just for a moment awarding the World Cup to Qatar appeared inspired. The Arab world's first sporting mega event, and combined with Russia's successful bid for the 2018 World Cup, a recognition of the new global geography of power. In the last half century FIFA and the world of football have been transformed by the globalisation of television and economic and political power.

To understand the origins of FIFA's current malaise we start in Paris in 1904 where representatives of seven European Football Associations founded the organisation. The British, although implored to join, stood aloof and distant, and, as Professor Paul Dichy, France's Leading Football Historian explains, of their wider social mission.

Professor Paul Dichy

There are a lot of organisations which aimed to create internationalism in many fields; art, sciences, culture. The creation of IOC, ten years before the creation of FIFA, was part of this movement. So the first intention was to insert football in this movement of internationalism. Organise, develop international football.

David Goldblatt

Absent at the moment of creation, the British did join FIFA, only to leave the organisation twice after the First World War and remained outside the FIFA fold until after the Second. Unperturbed, FIFA continued to grow, adding new members on every continent

Professor Paul Dichy

The creation of the World Cup in 1930 is a result of huge conflict between FIFA and IOC. Born with the success of the football tournament, one of the most popular events of the Olympic Games, and a major source of income, but in the same time the footballers were not real amateur. After the Olympic Games of Paris, 1924, the IOC decide to apply a very restrictive definition of amateurism. FIFA officials were convicted that the need to organise their own competition, a competition open to the professional and the World Competition…

David Goldblatt

The British press barely reported the 1930 World Cup, but the rest of the world took note. In 1934 Mussolini's Italy staged the second World Cup and applied the arts of political stage management and global PR to the occasion. France 1938 was no less political: a demonstration that a democracy could stage a mega event as well as any fascist dictatorship. As Professor Paul, author of Africa, Football and FIFA argues, the new players meant the Darby rules of the game were going to change as well.

Professor Paul Darby

European football nations had treated FIFA as a private club in terms of access to high profile administrative places, hosting rights for the World Cup, in terms of opportunities to participate in the World Cup.

African nations when they acquired their independence. what they wanted to do was to assert themselves on the world stage. So within the space of maybe five to ten years there was a considerable African constituency within the context of FIFA, and of course this generated huge problems for the world organisation.

Professor Paul Dichy

The conflict exploded at the occasion of the English World Cup in 1966; only one place at the final competition was reserved to Africa, Asia and Oceania. A major part of the African Federation decided to boycott the preliminary competition to the World Cup. Thanks to that they obtained for the next World Cup one place reserved to Africa. But they wanted more.

Professor Paul Darby

For the African nations progress was far too slow. And of course waiting in the wings at this time was João Havelange

David Goldblatt

João Havelange was a supreme networker who had woven together a tapestry of sporting, political and industrial contacts that had made him a millionaire businessman, a member of the IOC and since 1970 the President of the Brazilian Football Association. His challenge arose from a mixture of vaulting ambition and simmering discontent in World Football with the dominance of Europe. He was multilingual, charismatic and ruthless. Guido Tononi, a former Media Director at FIFA and a close aide to both Havelange and Blatter, saw the new president at close quarters.

Guido Tononi

Havelange was maybe the biggest personality FIFA ever had. He was a very, very strong man, physically strong, and his physical presence was really impressive. You know, he was tall, he was like a man made out of steel. You know, when he looked at your eyes strongly then you did not know what was coming. He knew exactly how to make use of his power.

Professor Paul Darby

The problem that he had when he came to power was that FIFA was not the billion dollar industry that it is today. The World Cup was barely breaking even.

The first relationship that he established was the most significant, and that was a relationship with Horst Dassler, of course the Head of Adidas.

David Goldblatt

Dassler had almost everything; FIFA's ear, global connections, marketing brilliance; but he needed someone who could persuade the world's biggest companies to back football. That man was the marketing expert Patrick Nally.

Patrick Nally

Horst asked me if I would join him to see if I can help make the plan of avalanche work, and one of the companies that I was working with was the Coca-Cola company, and I spent a long time looking at how football, being the universal sport, Coca-Cola being the universal drink, could actually with the universal language work closely together.

David Goldblatt

Was there a sense at Coca-Cola that football, if not quite a Trojan Horse, was certainly a way of getting to the parts they otherwise couldn't reach?

Patrick Nally

The whole basis of our initial discussion was very much on that brief. FIFA gave the ability to go around the world.

Professor Paul Darby

So Coca-Cola effectively provided the finances that allowed Havelange to fulfil his promises to the African continent.

If he wanted to continue to be the figurehead of FIFA he would have to go down this route of commercialisation.

Patrick Nally

When Spain bid for the World Cup, it was based on the format of 16 teams. So for FIFA to actually live up to Havelange's requirements to add more teams from Africa and Asia, we had to take the World Cup from 16 teams to 24 teams.

Guido Tononi

FIFA came from nowhere financially. Now I know that in ‘82 they really had nearly more or less empty cash boxes. In ‘78 it was even worse. In ‘86 it was a contract which was a value of 49 million Swiss Francs for the world television rights, but it was a big money in those days. So it was a restless expansion of the power and of the influence of FIFA. We were creating new tournaments, you know, under 17, under 20, under 23 and for the Olympics the Women's World Cup, the Women's World Cup under 20 and so on and so forth.

David Goldblatt

In 1998 Havelange bowed out at the top of his game. In his 24 years of autocratic rule FIFA had become a much slicker and wealthier operation,

The global boom in football's importance and wealth that began under Havelange reached new heights under Sepp Blatter.

End transcript: FIFA, Football, Power and Politics

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The awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar might for some be an inspired decision that brings the tournament to a part of the world that has never hosted the tournament before. For others it is deeply troubling. Qatar’s strict laws on sexuality and attitude towards the rights of LQBT+ fans, alongside the treatment of the thousands of migrant workers who have built the stadiums for the tournament, are serious concerns for many people. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for example have called on FIFA to set aside income from the tournament to financially support the families of migrant workers who have died building the stadiums.

Figure _unit3.2.1 Figure 5 Handling history: FIFA’s President, Sepp Blatter holds the ball used in the first ever World Cup in 1930, whilst Gordon Brown holds the 1966 ball, 24 October 2007.

Long description

2.1 The dimensions of power

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Figure _unit3.2.2 Figure 6 Former FIFA President, Dr João Havelange

Long description

Now read the BBC article, FIFA election: Sepp Blatter and Prince Ali battle for power (2015).

While the reputation of both has been damaged by allegations of accepting bribes it is clear that they exerted a huge influence over FIFA.

To understand the power that each wielded it is necessary to look at the different ways in which power operates within organisations. Read the extract below about power. As you read consider the ways in which both Havelange and Blatter exerted their power

Box _unit3.2.1 Power: a feature of organisational life

Power is an integral feature of organisational life. We can distinguish between two main types of power. One type relates to authority, or formally legitimated power, and comes from people’s formal job role – thus managers have authority in relation to their staff. The other type of power is influence – informal power that can affect decisions and outcomes and this is based on people’s personal expertise and characteristics.

The following main sources of organisational power can be identified (Pedler et al., 2007):

Positional: based on authority, linked to people’s official status and role within the organisation
Resources and rewards: control of finance, budgets, staff salaries, pay rises and other incentives
Information, knowledge and expertise: access to information and ideas, including professional expertise and skills
Personal influence: based on prior track record and experience, exercised through interpersonal skills, persuasiveness and the capacity to inspire confidence; staff without positional power may have considerable influence and weight as opinion leaders in organisational decisions and actions
Networks: access to ideas and information from formal and informal groups and networks inside and outside the organisation; the views of people who know what is happening or what is likely to happen from these sources are frequently given weight in decision making.
Energy and stamina: enthusiasm, adaptability and persistence are important aspects of the power to pursue decisions and actions through to a conclusion.

Clearly, senior managers and others in higher-level positions possess considerable degrees of authority and influence and, thus, the ability to play a major part in organisational decisions and actions. However, as indicated by the list above, all staff have some power, even junior members (e.g. the ability to provide or withhold information), based on their access to knowledge, expertise and personal influence.

(The Open University, 2009, pp. 229–230)

Activity _unit3.2.1 Activity 4 Power can work in mysterious ways

Timing: Allow about 40 minutes

Note down the different sources of power that Havelange and Blatter used to move their agendas forward. Give examples of how they each used at least two different sources of power.

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Discussion

Here are some thoughts:

Positional: Both had the authority of being the FIFA president and used that to make the changes that they wanted. Writing for the New York Times in 1994, Jere Longman noted that Havelange ‘ran FIFA … with a combination of autocratic rigidity and progressive reform’. Sepp Blatter was dogged by allegations of corruption throughout his tenure and arguably this reduced his positional power, particularly within Europe. Blatter maintained his positional power by extensive lobbying in developing countries, where the balance of FIFA’s voting power lay.

Resources and rewards: Havelange had major plans for FIFA and insufficient funds to make these happen. It was him that bought in key sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Addidas to underwrite these. Blatter reinforced his influence in developing countries by allocating resources to support football development, however distributing resources if not done transparently can lead to allegations of corruption, as we have seen with Blatter.

Networks: Both were strong at building networks and were aware of the power of football icons. Both also focused on the developing countries, recognising their relative voting power in FIFA presidency. In the build up to the 1974 FIFA presidential election (which he won), Havelange visited 86 different countries to build up support and in a canny move, often took Pele with him.

Energy and stamina: Havelange was 82 when he finally stood down from the FIFA presidency in 1998, having served in the post for 24 years. Blatter survived in the presidential role for 17 years, despite many calls for him to step down.

The final legacy of the 40 year reign of Havelange and Blatter may not be known for many years, but Stefan Szymanski reflected in 2015 on his hopes for FIFA moving forwards.

The core of the problem is that, especially in Africa, FIFA was seen as neo-colonial project run by Europeans who still wanted to play football with apartheid South Africa in the 1970s. The election of first Joao Havelange and then Blatter created a new dispensation which promoted the development of football in Asia, Central America and especially Africa. This not only channeled funds into development, but also promoted their participation in the World Cup and, arguably, has had a real effect on the standing of these nations in football. In a nutshell, football has advanced far more rapidly in Africa under FIFA than the continent’s economies have under the western dominated IMF and World Bank.
My conclusion … is that practical reform must preserve the mission developed by Havelange and Blatter to promote football in the service of the developing nations, while minimizing opportunities for senior football administrators … to line their own pockets.

In the next section you will explore one more example of power in global football, one that proved highly contentious.

2.2 A biennial world cup?

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Figure _unit3.2.3 Figure 7 FIFA president Gianni Infantino during the 2018 World Cup.

Long description

In another example of power, globalisation and the business of football you will examine the proposal for the men’s World Cup to be held every two years instead of four.

FIFA proposed the biennial World Cup and provided several reasons why it was a positive development for world football. These reasons included:

The opportunity to generate more revenue which could be redistributed to national associations to support the development of football in their country.
This extra revenue would support the development of better players and enable more countries to become competitive and challenge those countries who have traditionally won major international tournaments.
The opportunity to revamp the international football calendar making it more streamlined and efficient.

The plan attracted much criticism from the powerful European and South American football federations. Both UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America) feared it would undermine the commercial value of their own competitions such as UEFA’s Champions League and Euros. However, the proposal did gain the support from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

In the next activity you will explore why CAF were enthusiastic supporters of the proposal. It concisely illustrates the business and politics of global football.

Activity _unit3.2.2 Activity 5 Biennial World Cup: a different perspective

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Watch the following video. Using the STEEP model, that was introduced to you in Week 1, can you identify which of the five dimensions are primarily present in the argument for a biennial World Cup?

Download this video clip.Video player: Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

Video _unit3.2.1 Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

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Transcript: Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

CELESTINE KARONEY

Thank you for joining us on BBC Sports Africa. I am Celestine Karoney.

No African country has ever won the World Cup, but their chances could be about to double. That’s because former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, is leading a consultation on the future of football. And as part of his plans, he wants the World Cup to take place every two years instead of four.

ARSENE WENGER

That’s where the best play against the best. And that makes everybody better. Of the 211 countries in the world, 133 have never been at the World Cup.

CELESTINE KARONEY

The move is backed by football’s world governing body, FIFA. But there’s plenty of resistance, not least, from the big names in European football. And what about Africa’s own Cup of Nations? FIFA would like to see it played every four years, but that idea has already been ruled out by those at the top of the Confederation of African Football. Its former vice president is Amaju Pinnick, a big name in Nigerian football and also now a member of FIFA’s executive board. With many questions still to be answered, he’s the man Sport Africa reached out to. He’s been explaining to Piers Edwards, why he thinks a biennial World Cup is a good idea.

AMAJU PINNICK

The prestige of the tournament is not about the frequency. It’s about the quality of the tournament. The Confederations Cup is played every four years, but does it have the prestige? The Champions League is played every year. It does have huge following terms of prestige. So, it’s not about the frequency, it’s about the quality, and the following of that tournament. Why Africa, and other competition, should be made to have a say in terms of development. Because, if this is played more often, I’m just giving you a reason. The Champions League, they sell the TV rights to everywhere in the world. They rake in a minimum of several hundred million euros from Africa. Look, not a dime, in terms of solidarity, comes to anyone in Africa. But if the World Cup is played every two years. Do you know what, right now, each country receives about $1.5-- $1.25 or $1.5 million. It’s good to travel, and what does that mean? More prosperity in terms of football, in terms of infrastructure development. In terms of what we are appealing, is let them look at Africa.

PIERS EDWARDS

Not so long ago, the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, was quoted as saying ‘That it doesn't take Einstein to work out that if you have a World Cup every two years. You-- FIFA doubles its revenue every two years’. So, how much is this proposal about money, and money alone.

AMAJU PINNICK

It’s not about money. It’s about football.

PIERS EDWARDS

So, it is about money but also about football?

AMAJU PINNICK

Is not all about money. It’s all about genuine football development, especially for the less privileged countries, or continents, like Africa.

PIERS EDWARDS

How can Africa catch up, unless it gets a disproportionate amount of money from FIFA?

AMAJU PINNICK

If you give birth to a child, your first child, and it grows. Then it’s not working. And that’s what we want, because we have to start from somewhere. Even those that can tell you, that you won’t get anywhere. That is the growth that we are pitching.

PIERS EDWARDS

I know you’re very close to Gianni Infantino. And we’ve seen under his presidency, that the World Cup expands to 48 teams. And now there’s a possibility that it’s going to be a 48 team World Cup every two years. When-- where is it going to stop? Is that the limit? 48 teams every two years, or are we in danger of having a 60 team World Cup every one year?

AMAJU PINNICK

At the moment, I’m not-- we’re not thinking beyond-- beyond 48 teams. 48 teams, more football, more money, more development, more fun.

PIERS EDWARDS

Africa is beating the drum for this biennial World Cup. And we know that one of Gianni’s closest, and oldest, friends from University, Veron Mosengo-Ombo, is now the General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football. Is it any coincidence that Africa is banging the drum when somebody is so close to Gianni Infantino, who’s-- who loves this idea, is seemingly pushing it forward on behalf of him, through CAF?

AMAJU PINNICK

It doesn’t have anything to do with Veron.

PIER EDWARDS

OK. Then, as well, you know-

AMAJU PINNICK

Gianni is a super leader, that I can tell you. His sagacity is unrivaled, in terms of leadership. So I believe he is blessed, so that’s why we’re supporting.

End transcript: Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

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Video _unit3.2.1 Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

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Discussion

Three dimensions of the STEEP model are principally involved in the argument for a biennial World Cup. First, the economic dimension that a World Cup every two years will increase the revenue that all competing countries will receive. Second, a sociological dimension whereby with this additional revenue African countries can invest more into the development of their football and aim to compete more equitably with the powerful and privileged countries in Europe. There is also a third political dimension that revolves around the personal relationships between key figures in world football. It was noted that the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, is a close friend of the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). They both supported the biennial World Cup proposal.

By applying the STEEP model you can better understand the relationship between the dimensions that both support and resist the biennial World Cup proposal.

The proposal for a biennial World Cup illustrates the competing interests of different countries and different ‘blocks’ of countries. Proposals like the biennial World Cup are often presented as being in the best interests of players, fans and the wider public. Instead they are often the means for different organisations to acquire more power, more income and more control over world football. It is arguably the business and commercial interests in football that come before the sporting interest.

2.3 Sportswashing: cleansing a reputation through sport

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

Sportswashing is a term used to describe the process whereby an individual, company, group or government use sport to improve a poor reputation or suppress awareness of questionable behaviours. The takeover of Newcastle United football club by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), a part of the government of Saudi Arabia, has been criticised for being a clear attempt to sportswash the country’s human rights abuses.

Figure _unit3.2.4 Figure 8 St James Park, the home of Newcastle United FC.

Long description

The 2021 takeover of Newcastle United is one of many examples of purported sportswashing in football, and the trend is increasing. But there are further reasons for organisations and governments like Saudi Arabia to make investments into football clubs. Like many countries on the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia has accumulated a vast wealth through the exploitation of its oil reserves. Now it is using this wealth to invest in its economy and make it less dependent on oil revenues. Football not only has reputational value but, at the highest level, it is an increasingly good financial investment as well.

Activity _unit3.2.3 Activity 6 Should football reject the petro-money?

In Week 1 you learned about the various stakeholders in football. Read this article from The Guardian newspaper and identify the key stakeholders and what their interests are in the takeover of Newcastle United: Saudi takeover of Newcastle leaves human rights to fog on the Tyne.

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Discussion

The supporters of Newcastle United welcomed the takeover of the club by the Saudi Arabia PIF. From the fans’ perspective the promised investment into the club might enable it to compete successfully at the very top of the Premier League. From the UK government perspective investment into Newcastle and the wider region may have a positive economic benefit, while for the Premier League the takeover symbolises the economic strength of the league and its attractiveness to global investors. For organisations like Amnesty International the deal is further evidence of how football is being used to deflect attention away from controversial issues.

As you learned in Week 1, the power and interests of each stakeholder can be mapped to develop a more detailed understanding of a complex business issue in football. The increasing number and diversity of stakeholders shows how the game has travelled a long way from when local entrepreneurs owned their local club and saw themselves as benefactors and custodians of the club for the community.

Through the preceding examples you have learned how football has become entangled within the power relationships of global politics and business. When we speak now of the business of football there are an increasing number of global, multi-billion pound business operations in action. The business of the top Premier League clubs have certainly become increasingly removed from the business operations of clubs like MK Dons and Chesterfield.

3 Final thoughts

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

In this week you have started to gain some insight into globalisation and power and how it affects the business of football and other businesses.

You began by examining some of the ways that the business of football has spread across the globe. You considered a number of aspects of globalisation including:

the history of the globalisation of football
some of the factors that have driven the globalisation of the football industry in particular the market for global players
the often conflicting relationships between different countries and different blocks of countries.

You then examined dimensions of power and explored how both João Havelange and Sepp Blatter worked to increase the influence, commercialisation and reach of FIFA during their time in office.

Finally you explored how the proposal for a biennial World Cup was a bitter battle between competing global football organisations with different interests to protect and develop.

Well done for completing The business of football!

If you have enjoyed this course and are interested in studying further with us find out more about this and other programmes within the OU. You might be particularly interested in our BSc (hons) Sport, Fitness and Coaching.

References

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

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Deloitte (2014) ‘Annual Review of Football Finance 2014’. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/ content/ dam/ Deloitte/ uk/ Documents/ sports-business-group/ deloitte-uk-annual-review-football-finance.pdf. (Accessed: 13 April 2022).

Deloitte (2021) ‘Annual Review of Football Finance 2021’. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/ uk/ en/ pages/ sports-business-group/ articles/ annual-review-of-football-finance.html (Accessed 13 April 2022).

Evans, S. (2013) ‘German football model is a league apart’. BBC News: Business. Available at: www.bbc.co.uk/ news/ business-22625160 (Accessed 13 April 2022).

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ITV (2015) ‘Supporter’s trust calls on Allam to rethink Hull City name change’. Available at: //www.itv.com/ news/ calendar/ 2015-03-19/ supporters-trust-calls-on-allam-to-rethink-hull-city-name-change/ (Accessed: 13 April 2022).

Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (1999) Exploring Corporate Strategy, 5th edition, Prentice Hall Europe.

Kuper, S. and Szymanksi, S. (2009) Soccernomics, New York, Nation Books.

Szymanksi, S. (2014) ‘Stefan Szymanski on the business of football’, OpenLearn. Available at: http://www.open.edu/ openlearn/ money-management/ management/ business-studies/ stefan-szymanski-on-the-business-football. (Accessed: 13 April 2022).

The Open University (2012) B120, Book 1: What is a business?, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

BBC (2014) The Managers [Radio series], World Service.

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Everard, K.B., Morris, G. and Wilson, I. (2004) ‘Motivating people’ in Effective School Management (4th edn), London, Paul Chapman Publishing/SAGE Publications, pp. 25–35.

Everard, K.B., Morris, G. and Wilson, I. (2009) ‘Motivating people in the workplace’, in Heaney, C., Oakley, B. and Rea, S. (eds) Exploring Sport and Fitness: Work-based practice, Milton Keynes, Open University/Routledge, pp. 88–90.

Herzberg, F. (1975) Work and the Nature of Man, Reading, Crosby Lockwood.

Tuckman, B.W. and Jensen, M. (1977) ‘Stages of small group development revisited’, Groups and Organisational Studies, vol. 2, pp. 419–427.

Bale, J. (1994) Landscapes of Modern Sport, Leicester, Leicester University Press.

BBC Sport (29 May 2015) ‘FIFA election: Sepp Blatter and Prince Ali battle for power’. Available at: www.bbc.co.uk/ sport/ 0/ football/ 32925307 (Accessed: 14 April 2022).

Beech, J. and Chadwick, S. (eds) (2004) The Business of Sport Management, Harlow, Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

Butler, O. (2002) ‘Getting the games. Japan, South Korea and the co-hosted World Cup’, in Horne, J. and Manzenreiter, W. (eds) Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup, London, Routledge, pp. 43–55.

Dolles, H. and Söderman, S. (2005) ‘Globalization of Sports: The Case of Professional Football and its International Management Challenges’, Working Paper 05/1, Tokyo, German Institute for Japanese Studies.

Kuypers, T. (2014) ‘Is TV Killing Football?’, The Global Player, Q1, p. 17

Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (2007) A Managers Guide to Self Development, 5th edn, Maidenhead, McGraw-Hill.

Sugden, J. and Tomlinson, A. (1998) FIFA and the Contest for World Football: Who Rules the Peoples’ Game?, Cambridge, Polity Press.

Sugden, J. and Tomlinson, A. (2002) ‘International power struggles in the governance of world football. The 2002 and 2006 World Cup bidding wars’, in Horne, J. and Manzenreiter, W. (eds) Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup, London, Routledge, pp. 56–57.

The New York Times (1998) ‘World Cup ’98; U.S. Ally Elected to Head World Soccer Body’. Available at: www.nytimes.com/ 1998/ 06/ 09/ sports/ world-cup-98-us-ally-elected-to-head-world-soccer-body.html (Accessed: 15 April 2022).

The Open University (2009) E113 Study Guide, Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 229–230.

The Open University (2012) B120 Book 5: Different ways of looking at business, Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 34–36.

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Acknowledgements

The Open University — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:07:43 GMT

This course was written by Ben Oakley and Jacky Hinton in 2014 and updated by Alex Twitchen in 2022.

The business of football course is NOT subject to Creative Commons licensing.

The content is made available (subject to terms and conditions) for your participation in the course only. No other use permitted except in accordance with the terms and conditions.

The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this course:

Images

Week 1 Football: a business like no other

Week 2: The secrets of motivation and teams

Figure 8: © Anders Henrikson http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ File:Pia_Sundhage_jan_2013.jpg licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Week 3: Globalisation and power relationships

Figure 6: photo Buda Mendes/STF/Getty Images

Text

Week 1 Football: a business like no other

‘Assem Allam’s misguided stance shows action must be taken to protect clubs’, Tony Evans, Football Editor, The Times, 2 December 2013. © The Times

Week 2: The secrets of motivation and teams

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory, adapted from Everard et al., 2009, pp. 88–90 and Everard and Wilson, 2004

Week 3: Globalisation and power relationships

Figure 6: photo Buda Mendes/STF/Getty Images

Audio-visual

Week 1 Football: a business like no other

Video: Brighton and Hove Albion FC. Thanks to Brighton and Hove Albion FC for the drone footage.

Week 2: The secrets of motivation and teams

Week 3: Globalisation and power relationships

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