Strategic Management in Sport

What role can strategic thinking play in contemporary sport management? This is the first textbook to focus on strategic management in a sporting context. Covering sport at all levels, from community-based sport to elite sport, it introduces the fundamentals of strategic planning, implementation, control and evaluation. Designed to encourage students to develop a strategic mind set, as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, the book unpacks key concepts such as leadership, governance, organisational change and sustainability. Full of real-world case studies from diverse, international sport business environments, this is an essential text for any sport management course.

Danny O’Brien is an Associate Professor and Head of Program, Sport Management, in the School of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University, Australia. Danny lectures in sport tourism, event management, sport governance and strategic sport management. His research interests are in sustainable surf tourism, event leveraging, and organisational change in sport. Danny is an editorial board member of Sport Management Review, and Journal of Sport Tourism. He has published work in numerous journals including Journal of Sport Management; Sport Management Review; European Sport Management Quarterly; Annals of Tourism Research; Journal of Sustainable Tourism; European Journal of Marketing; International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research; Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research; and Journal of Leisure Research. Danny is a Visiting Professor at the Center for Surf Research, San Diego State University, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Plymouth Sustainability and Surfing Research Group, Plymouth University, UK.

Ben Corbett is a Lecturer and Program Director at the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London, UK. Ben spent 15 years working in the American sport industry prior to relocating to Australia for a PhD in strategic sport management. Ben’s industry employment and academic research took him across five continents, and he has drawn from that experience to teach innovative lectures in leadership, strategic management, and sport business. Ben is a Visiting Professor at Seoul National University, Korea, San Diego State University, USA, and the University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Lisa Gowthorp is a lecturer in sport management at Bond University, Australia. Lisa lectures in high performance sport management, sport information and sport development. Her doctoral thesis focused on the relationship between Olympic National Sporting Organisations and the Australian Sports Commission. Further research interests include the Olympic Games, government involvement in sport and sport law and regulation, where various collaborations with sport law researchers are being undertaken. Lisa has previously worked in high performance sport for over 12 years, with organisations such as the NSW Institute of Sport, the Australian Institute of Sport and Australian Canoeing, and with sports such as swimming, gymnastics and sprint canoe. Lisa consults with industry on governance issues and sport policy and is the Secretary General of Sliding Sport Australia.

Lesley Ferkins is an Associate Professor of sport management at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, with 17 years’ experience as an academic in sport management in Australia and New Zealand. Her teaching spans postgraduate and undergraduate courses that include sport leadership and governance, strategic sport management, sport organisation, and work integrated learning. Lesley’s research specialisation is the leadership and governance of sport organisations. She has worked closely with the boards of state and national sport organisations in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Lesley has published in the world’s top sport management journals, is an editorial board member of the Journal of Sport Management and Sport Management Review, and has presented at numerous international conferences in Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. Lesley was President of the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand (SMAANZ), a board member for six years, and has sat on several non-profit boards.