Between March 25 and March 27, participants of the European Sports Business Program (ESBP) continued their exciting learning journey at the Stockholm School of Economics. The second part of the program marked a seamless transition from the learnings of the first part concerning Corporate Foresight & Strategy Making under Professor Sascha Schmidt at WHO - Otto Beisheim School of Management. 

Management and execution - second module

This second module, titled Management & Execution, delved into the critical aspects of successfully managing and excuting strategies within a sports context. It encompassed the art of implementing strategies effectively, driving positive change to initiate and sustain improvements within an organizational context, as well as measuring and monitoring performance. Additionally, the module also touched upon the essentials of ensuring business model funding.

Strategy execution and private equity

During the first day, ESBP participants attended lectures at the Stockholm School of Economics covering the Passion, Profit & Politics framework in the context of global sports, as well as strategy execution and performance metrics. Moreover, Stefan Linder, Partner at Altor Equity Partners, spoke about the dark and bright sides of private equity.

Gender equal sports coverage 

Åsa Edlund Jönsson, Secretary General at the Swedish Olympic Committee, shared her experiences of paving the way to a gender equal sports coverage in media during her time at Swedish Television, and spoke about the strategic decision taken by the International Olympic Committee leading up to gender parity at the summer Olympics in Paris 2024.

Study visit at the Swedish Olympic Committee

The first day concluded with a study visit at Stockholm Stadium and the Swedish Olympic Committee.

Second day, strategy execution and legal challenges

During the second day, Professor Martin Carlsson-Wall delved further into strategy execution, as well as linking performance metrics to balancing acts of exploration and exploitation, and the allocation and mobilization of resources. Further, Marie-Anne Lindhardt, Partner & Head of Sports and Events at MAQS Law Firm, spoke about strategy execution in the context of navigating legal challenges. Subsequently, ESBP participants engaged in conversations and reflections of the first two days during a mingle at SSE. In the evening, discussions continued at restaurant Tabbouli.

Sports as an asset class and sustainability work

On the final and third day of the second module, Martin Carlsson-Wall spoke about strategy execution and sport as an asset class. Staffan Holmberg, Organizational Innovation and Strategy Lead at Djurgården Skolidrott and Djurgården Fotboll, and Filip Lundberg Verendel, Research, Development, and Head of Sustainability at Djurgården Fotboll and Djurgården Skolidrott, spoke about the issue of balancing exploration and exploitation in sustainability work.

European Sports Business Program 

Overall, the European Sports Business Program aims to prepare high potentials in sports business for the (future) challenges within their industry through a tailor-made executive education program. The participants not only discover new skills and explore new ways of thinking, but also expand their network through a diverse group of international peers and world-class experts, including academics as well as practitioners. 

Final module in Paris

Looking ahead, ESBP participants continue their learning journey with the final module, Leadership & Culture, set to take place at ESSEC Business School in Paris this May under the guidance of Professor Karoline Strauss.