The Influence of Passion on Sport Board Performance
(2020) 26th Annual SMAANZ conference — Location: Online (2020.November.30AD)
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- Abstract
- Research on passion has significantly increased over the last years. Studies across a broad variety of academic disciplines have highlighted the role passion plays in influencing individuals’ motivations, cognitions, and behaviours. Thus far, studies have focused on the passion of sport employees, fans, amateur and elite athletes, and, more recently, board Chairs. The topic of passion is highly relevant for sport governance research because positive and negative emotions may emanate from it (Cardon, Wincent, Singh, & Drnovsek, 2009). The impact of passion on non-profit sport boards has not yet been investigated, despite the potential of emotions to influence the ability of boards to carry out their role (Brundin & Nordqvist, 2008). While there have been substantial efforts made to explore factors associated with board performance in the context of non-profit sport organisations (Hoye & Doherty, 2011; Ferkins, McDonald, & Shilbury, 2010), passion should be further considered to understand the antecedents of sport board performance. It is apparent that passion is more salient in sport compared to other contexts due to the unique emotional connection to and investment sport board members demonstrate. It is necessary to consider the importance of distinct sport context features to better understand board performance. Developing this knowledge is of key importance due to the potential benefits sport organisations can gain from a performing board. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of passion on sport board performance. It examines a central question: how does passion influence the performance of sport boards? With their distinct formal leadership position on the board, Chairs are pivotal for board performance (Watson, Husband, & Ireland, 2020). Examining this question through the eyes of the Chairs represents an opportunity to explore passion from a leadership perspective as Chairs fulfil a leadership role in the harnessing process of passion on the board (Zeimers & Shilbury, 2020). The present study inductively analysed 19 interviews conducted with sport board Chairs from Australian National and State Sport Organisations. The data revealed that club representation, diversity, conflict of interests, collaborative governance and operational issues are circumstances salient for passion to occur. Passion is a dual edged dynamic that influences board performance. It represents a positive energy, a motivation, that positively impacts board climate and cohesion. Passion can also lead to board conflicts, unwise or emotionally driven decision-making, and poor governance practices and board performance. Findings showed that board structures mediate the effect of passion on board processes. This research makes three contributions. First, it provides evidence of the valuable and disruptive influence of passion on sport boards. This study demonstrates the value of studying passion, and the emotions that derive from it, as a significant individual factor shaping sport board performance. Second, given that previous passion research has limited its focus to the intra-personal outcomes of passion, developing knowledge on the group-based outcomes of passion by examining the consequences of passion at the board level represents a major theoretical contribution to the passion literature. Finally, this study further advances sport passion as a sub-field of passion and sport management research that still lacks diversity in the context of previous studies predominantly concentrated on professional sport organisations (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2016; Swanson & Kent, 2017). This research has practical implications given the recent recognition by Sport Australia in the sport governance principles that ‘even experienced directors can make decisions with their heart rather than their head’ (SA, 2020).
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Zeimers, G., & Shilbury, D. (2020). The Influence of Passion on Sport Board Performance. 26th Annual SMAANZ conference, Online. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/109107