Corporate Social Responsibility within Swedish elite football organizations : A qualitative study regarding the CSR work of organizations within Swedish elite football

Abstract: Corporate Social responsibility is a term that has received more attention in the world of business in past years. Today, an elite Swedish football organization can be compared to a small or medium sized business. This implies that CSR is becoming a more important term in the football line of business as well. Football engage people all over the world in a unique way that bring people together. It doesn't matter which part of the world you come from, your background, culture or language. Everyone speak the common language that is football. The CSR work of Swedish football organizations is therefore a very important part of society. This since these organization can affect individuals on a daily basis and help them to make good choices in life. The purpose of this Bachelor’s thesis in Business Administration was to investigate how Swedish elite football organizations work with CSR. Partly to demonstrate how important the function of football organizations in society is, but also to investigate and show that through CSR football organizations can achieve goals and values that the organizations are built upon and to investigate whether CSR can lead to competitive advantages that can benefit the organization as a whole. This research study was performed by case studies were four Swedish elite football organizations participated. The study was conducted with qualitative interviews with carefully selected respondents from the different organizations. The results of the study both changed our approach to CSR and gave us a greater understanding of how Swedish football clubs work and view CSR.