Theses on Performance and Organizational Culture
Agnes Persson and Agnes Malm (2024)
Abstract: The study aims to explore how top management within Swedish elite football clubs perceives the institutional logics present within the organization and how the budget is used as a tool to mitigate conflicts between these logics. The three main logics are social welfare logic, sports logic, and business logic. By conducting a multi-case study and applying institutional theory, the study seeks to understand how these clubs use different strategies to manage these tensions. To answer the research question, semi-structured interviews with eight clubs were conducted.
The findings provide evidence for four strategies previously identified in the literature: the collaboration strategy, the compromising strategy, the separation strategy, and the decoupling strategy. In addition, the study contributes to existing literature by identifying a new strategy, the postponing strategy, which clubs commonly adopt during periods of high uncertainty. Furthermore, two new variants of the collaboration strategy were identified. The study demonstrates that football clubs are exposed to several conflicting institutional logics, and that the budget often functions as a means to mitigate these, extending its role beyond that of a mere financial tool.
Do football players give female coaches the red card? (MSc)
Erica Froste Myrin and Sigrid Holmgren (2023)
Abstract: In Swedish elite football, the skewed gender distribution among coaches is conspicuous. This thesis aims to investigate one possible explanation for why there are so few female coaches in this environment. Previous research has shown that students evaluate female teachers more critically than male teachers, even in aspects beyond their control. This study examines whether a similar pattern exists in Swedish elite football. A framed field experiment was conducted with teams in the highest football division for players aged 19 or under in Sweden. A total of 505 participants watched a video with instructions on a football skill and evaluated it. Half of the players were instructed by a female coach and the other half by a male coach.
The study finds no evidence of gender bias in this sample at the 5 percent significance level. No significant results were found when controlling for whether participants belonged to a male or female team, or whether they currently or previously had exposure to a female coach. A series of robustness checks were conducted, and the results were found to be robust.
Mabast Baban and Oscar Franzén Ehrlich (2022)
Abstract: This paper contributes to existing research on the management accountant’s identity by studying identity work in hybrid sports organizations characterized by permanent liminality. Through a cross-sectional field study of 16 Swedish sports organizations, the paper addresses gaps in prior research on identities in hybrid organizations, sports organizations, and organizations in permanent liminality. By integrating theory on permanent liminality with Horton and Wanderley’s (2018) framework on multiple identities and identity conflicts, the study explores how management accountants construct their identities and make sense of the liminal context.
The findings show that permanent liminality is managed through continuous adjustment of identity, with varying levels of professional and organizational identification. The study suggests that identity in liminality is fluid rather than static. Moreover, identity conflicts in the sports setting are moderated by passion and organizational prestige, reducing the risk of job dissatisfaction and staff turnover.
Carl Grant and Marcus Skantze (2018)
Abstract: In a time of pervasive quantitative performance regimes and numerical professionalization, investigating individual accountability is timely. This paper examines the role of calculative practices in governing the emotions and performance of individuals within popular culture.
By applying the lens of Foucault (1977) and conceptualizing internalization as a cognitive state (Sauder and Espeland, 2009), the study finds that performance measurement systems (PMS) influence individuals by shaping their emotions. Emotions are found to be specific to each PMS and dependent on how effectively the system is administered to support productive performance. Measures that appeal to self-interest tend to generate productive emotions and positively affect performance.
The study also highlights the role of experts in creating productive emotional responses. Credible data collection, strong personal relationships with players, and avoiding the mixing of qualitative and quantitative discourse are important factors in reducing negative perceptions of the PMS.
Cultural dynamics with a vision of a talent factory (BSc)
Niklas Samuelsson and Jakob Lyckenvik (2017)
Abstract: The competition for talent requires organizations to place the right people with the right skills in the right roles to achieve a competitive advantage. Therefore, understanding how to manage and develop talent is of great importance. Within sports, research in this area has increased since the late 20th century, partly due to the strong commercial and cultural interest in sports performance. Studying sports can generate insights applicable to other contexts, such as corporate organizations. Research highlights key factors for talent development, including the importance of an appropriate organizational culture.
This study examines cultural dynamics in two well-known Swedish football academies: one successful organization with a strong culture and one less successful organization attempting to change its culture. The aim is to understand the (re)production of organizational culture in these settings.