How to manage tensions between institutional logics
Abstract: Nowadays, operating a football club is a rather complex task where clubs have several stakeholders with different interests. The interest for achieving sporting results and the interest for achieving financial results are in particular prominent and management within football clubs have to conduct the club in a way that fulfills both these interests. However, in many situations, it is not possible to make decisions that favor both sporting success and financial position. Thus, a tradeoff between sport and business has to be made. The purpose with this thesis has been to investigate how management within top football clubs in Sweden consider this tradeoff between sport and business, both in a general more long term perspective as well as in a short term more situation specific context. The research was structured using a qualitative method where semi-structured interviews with management from three different clubs in Allsvenskan were conducted. In total, eight people were interviewed, and the generated data were analyzed in conceptual terms through a theoretical lens. The study found that all clubs mainly use a decoupling strategy for managing the conflicting interests in a general overall perspective, and a compromising strategy in daily more specific situations. Moreover, depending on the specific situation, the study found that the clubs need to prioritize sport and business interests differently. Based on the analysis, the study concluded that clubs that are in a more disadvantageous financial position are more often forced to prioritize the financial interest over the sport interest, whereas clubs with a more beneficial financial position to a larger extent can choose which interest they want to favor in a certain situation.
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