This is a post-referring accepted version. Please refer to the published version when citing:
Breitbarth, T., Walzel, S., Anagnostopoulos, C. & van Eekeren, F. (2015), “Guest editorial:
governance and CSR management in sport”, Corporate Governance: The International
Journal of Business in Society, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p. xx-xx.

Guest Editorial
Governance and CSR Management in Sport
Introduction
In 2009, Bradish and Cronin concluded their introductory note of the first special issue
devoted to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of sport by stating that ‘CSR
should be regarded as one of the most important components of contemporary sportmanagement theory and practice’ (p. 696). Indeed, there has since been a proliferation ofstudies highlighting the economic and socio-political CSR dimensions and outcomes both in
sport (i.e. implementing CSR within the sport organisations’ structural boundaries) andthrough sport (i.e. sport organisations serving as the vehicle for CSR implementation). This isperhaps not surprising if one considers the increased professionalisation, commercialisation,and overall commodification seen in the contemporary sporting context; rendering sport as anactivity that ‘should be taken seriously’ (Adcroft and Teckman, 2009, p. 5), not least in
relation to CSR.
The editors and readership of this very journal have appreciated the relevance of sportand governance topics that have been examined by many authors to date. (e.g. Byers et al.,2015; Sherry et al., 2007; Forster, 2006; Hamil et al., 2004). Notwithstanding the everincreasing emphasis the sport-management scholarly community places on CSR, Slack(2014) noted in his keynote at the 2014 European Association for Sport Management(EASM) conference that CSR has become one of the key issues of research in the field.
Earlier, Slack (1996) has emphasised not only the importance of connecting contemporary
management issues and theories to the management of sport, but also using sport as a testing
ground for broader management theory development, including theory concerning
governance. With this Corporate Governance special issue about CSR in sport we hope to doboth.
The idea for this special issue largely emerged during the 2013 and 2014 EASM
conference workshops held in Istanbul (Turkey) and Coventry (UK), respectively. These twoscholarly gatherings, which attracted more than 25 research-based presentations, coupledwith panel discussions with senior CSR executives from various types of sport organisations
to foster theory-practice interaction, signalled the need for a well-rounded understanding of
the management and governance of CSR in sport. During these workshops, the idiosyncratic
nature of the sport sector was evident. For example, topics included: cultural differencesamong European, American, and Australasian sport organisations; and the different structuraland governance models and processes in relation to CSR implementation that the academic
sport management community had failed to empirically address through theory-driven studies
and rigorous methodological designs.
At the 2014 EASM conference Slack stated that ‘more work needs to be done […] by
the people who study the management of sport’ (p. 461). This special issue responds to hiscall by attempting to offer some critical accounts on the management and governance of CSR
in the wider context of sport. In other words, our intent with this special issue is to moveaway from pure descriptive accounts, which are largely associated with the content of CSR insport, and shift the discussion toward understanding the contextual and processual
dimensions of this important topic. Another intention of this special issue is to open up to andreach out to a readership that may not be familiar with the particular characteristics of thesport industry and the management and governance of CSR, and invite those readers tocontribute to this interesting field of research.
Overview of the special issue
We are pleased to have been able to put together a number of insightful and thoughtprovoking contributions from internationally renowned scholars in the field. In total, threeempirical studies, one conceptual essay, one review paper, two critical commentaries and abook review make up the rather diverse content of the this special issue.
The collection of articles begins with Kolyperas, Morrow and Sparks’ study thatdelineates how CSR unfolds within the context of Scottish professional football. Morespecifically, Kolyperas and colleagues are interested in identifying the drivers that led theseteam sport organisations to develop their CSR agendas by placing more emphasis on the six
developmental phases (volunteering, regulation, socialisation, corporatisation, separation, andintegration) in this process. Employing a qualitatively oriented case-study approach, thesescholars illustrate internal and external drivers of change and the institutional forces that, invarious phases, become the barriers for organisational integration of CSR. This piece ofresearch adds to the previously incomplete picture of process-based studies by approachingthe matter from a more macro-perspective. Their findings have general implications for thefootball sector and its governance mechanisms.
The second empirical study, by Banda and Gultresa, takes the discussion about CSR
development further and focuses on the actual design and implementation of CSR-relatedprogrammes. In particular, this study focuses on the practicalities of designing suchprogrammes that occur in multicultural settings and involve many diverse stakeholder groups.
It approaches the topic from a processual angle and a micro-perspective. Through aqualitative approach and participatory action research, Banda and Gultresa offer valuable
insights into the mechanics of how the governing body (Euroleague Basketball) for the toptier basketball clubs in Europe works with local clubs and partner agencies to achieve
positive change in targeted local communities. The crux of the authors’ conclusion is that aclose(r) dialogue and constant collaboration with (local) stakeholder groups is the way
forward for associations/federations to ensure that the latter’s CSR agendas have the best
possible effect on both business and social terms alike.
In the third and last empirical study in this special issue, Bouchet, Troilo and Spaniel
shift the discussion toward socially responsible buying and sourcing with respect to humantalent in the context of Major League Baseball (MLB). Drawing on and utilising game theory,
the authors model how MLB-teams create rules to curb unethical behaviour within the supply
chain. This unique, well-needed study focuses on the most valuable assets of team sportorganisations (athletes), thereby opening up an unexplored aspect of responsible management
and sound governance in the sporting context.
The essay by Castro-Martinez and Jackson is another process-oriented work, althoughconceptual in nature. Given the proliferation of community trusts as the main CSR delivery
agents of professional team sport organisations, the authors argue that both business andsocial value for each organisation will reach its highest potential only if a more strategic andintegrated approach between the two entities is employed. With this in mind, and guided byservice-dominant logic (SDL), the authors propose a framework that introduces a six-stepdecision-making process for CSR formulation and implementation. This is substantiated byfour research propositions geared toward future empirical studies.
The next two contributions concern critical analyses of CSR in sport. In an invitedcommentary, Giulianotti locates CSR within the wider field of sport-related social activities
before convincingly arguing that the application of CSR in sport should pursue a dialogicalcritical approach within and through its work. In the second commentary piece of this special
issue, Levermore and Moore take a similar stance. More specifically, they state that

examining CSR in sport by drawing on political and critical perspectives largely utilised
outside sport management literature will help us better grasp the complexities associated withthe formulation, implementation, and evaluation of CSR-related programmes in and throughsport.
Following these two critical commentaries, the guest editors of this special issue(Breitbarth, Walzel, Anagnostopoulos and Van Eekeren) offer an overview of the current
development and research themes of CSR and governance in sport. The intent is to position
the present literature in relation to theoretical advancements from the general business andmanagement scholarship. In doing so, gaps are identified and concrete actions (at conceptual,theoretical, and empirical levels) is postulated for advancing our understanding of CSR
management and governance in and through sport.
Finally, Robertson’s review of the Routledge Handbook of Sport and CorporateSocial Responsibility edited by Paramio-Salcines, Babiak and Walters marks the end of thisspecial issue. The book’s comprehensive content, coupled with Robertson’s observations, notonly provides the necessary starting point for students interested in the topic of CSR, but alsooffers valuable research avenues for the sport (and non-sport) management scholarlycommunity.
Acknowledgements
In this editorial note, we provided an introduction to the special issue. However, we could not
put these final notes together without the support we received from a good number of people.
First and foremost, we would like to thank the past and current (co-)editors of Corporate
Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, Professors Nada and Andrew
Kakabadse, and Associate Professor Gabriel Eweje respectively, for offering us the platformof this internationally renowned academic outlet to accommodate a selection of quality
papers on such a current topic. Of course, neither guest editorial decisions nor the current
state of the papers included herein would have been so smooth a process without theassistance of our guest reviewers. By generously volunteering their time, they helped us agreat deal to shape the special issue at hand. More specifically, special thanks go to (inalphabetical order by last name): Robert Aitken (University of Otago, New Zealand); Kathy
Babiak (University of Michigan, USA); Paul Boselie (Utrecht University, The Netherlands);
Leah Donlan (University of Manchester, UK); Lance Kinney (University of Alabama, USA);
Linda Lee-Davies (University of Bedfordshire, UK); Juan Luis Paramio-Salcines(Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain); Carolin Plewa (University of Adelaida,Australia); Benoit Senaux (Coventry University, UK); David Shilbury (Deakin University,Australia); Harry Arne Solberg Harry (Trondheim Business School, Norway); Bob Stewart(Victoria University, Australia); and Rob Wilson (Sheffield Hallam University, UK).
In closing, we hope that this special issue will serve as a catalyst for either becoming,or continuing to be, inspired toward actively contributing to the international community ofCSR and governance in sport research. After all, although CSR (and its management andgovernance) has now attracted a great deal of interest, there is still much to do.
Tim Breitbarth, Bournemouth University, UK
Stefan Walzel, German Sport University Cologne, Germany
Christos Anagnostopoulos, Molde University College, Norway & UCLan, Cyprus
Frank van Eekeren, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
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