Controlling the journey from amateur to pro - Institutional work in sport organizations

Abstract: In light of the professionalization of elite sports, the field has become divided into two parts, the amateur and the professional level, with differing conditions and logics that affect the design and use of management control systems (MCS). Taking a holistic view on how MCS develop in sport organizations that move from amateur to professional, we add to previous research on management control and sports that mainly has explored narrow topics of control. This multiple case study examines three Swedish football clubs that made the journey to tier 1 in a similar time-period, although in separate ways, as the clubs engaged in different types of institutional work: maintaining, creating and disrupting. We make three main contributions: First, regardless of MCS professionalization, soft controls are the dominant form of control when moving from amateur to professional, in which culture, values and beliefs are used as the main controls. Second, despite the isomorphism in sports, strong institutional actors are able to challenge norms and practices, as the three clubs, through the design of their MCS, engaged in different institutional work. Third, we argue that the absence of a distinct institutional actor should be understood as the main reason for conformity among sport organizations, rather than solely strong institutional pressures.