Top European football clubs and social networks: a true 2.0 relationship?

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noelia Araújo ◽  
Pablo de Carlos ◽  
Jose Antonio Fraiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
European Football ◽  
Facebook Pages

Purpose – In the scenario of today's Information Society, social networks are powerful promotional tools that football clubs can use to their own advantage by managing efficiently and effectively their image so as to enhance their appeal to sponsors and firms looking for marketing and advertising for their products. By analyzing a series of items that appear in the foremost European football clubs’ official Facebook pages, the purpose of this paper is to provide both descriptive and quantitative accounts of the extent to which those football clubs succeed in managing the potential for interactivity that their official Facebook profiles provide. Design/methodology/approach – The authors take as the basis of the quantitative analysis the volume of reactions from the fans of the clubs’ official Facebook pages displayed in the form of comments or clicks on the button “Like,” taken as a function of the type of posts published under the Facebook “Timeline” tag. Besides elaborating upon the data thus collected in terms of a descriptive study, the authors conduct correlation range statistical tests (Spearman's ρ coefficient) and an analysis of variance in order to obtain quantitative results on which the authors support the concluding statements. Findings – There is a mild positive correlation between a club's ranking according to UEFA and both the number of fans and the degree of effective interaction displayed in the club's official Facebook pages. Regarding the different types of content to be found in the posts, there is also a significant difference between the important volume of reactions to those most frequently posted and the very limited response displayed to the least frequently posted types. In this sense, it is to be stressed the moderate response obtained by the content openly demanding the users’ interaction (polls, contests, greetings, or encouraging messages, etc.). Research limitations/implications – The authors believe that the most important limitation is the small size of the sample, having a scope of 20 European football clubs, and its short time frame, since the data referred only to March 2013. Nonetheless, these are the most representative clubs in the European scenario, since they comprise UEFA's top 20 ranking. Practical implications – It is interesting to study, as the authors do in the contribution, different aspects regarding the design of football clubs Facebook pages and the activity shown therein, so as to learn how to improve their effectiveness in providing for a true interactive experience. Research on the types of content to be found in the posts available on Facebook's “Timeline” tag that can contribute to establishing a deeper engagement on the part of the fans can thus be very useful to anyone devising marketing strategies for a football club. Originality/value – The research literature on the use of social networks such as Facebook by sports organizations and, more particularly, by football clubs, is still very scarce. Past contributions have been focussed on the presence of football on the Web 2.0 in general terms, and on comparing different online interactive tools. Nonetheless, they do not tackle the questions related to the types of content provided by a particular social network, the response to them by the users, and with it, the characterization of their effectiveness as communications, marketing, and promotional tools.

A sentiment analysis of who participates, how and why, at social media sport websites

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 814-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Bagić Babac ◽  
Vedran Podobnik
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Premier League ◽  
User Comments ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Facebook Pages

Purpose Due to an immense rise of social media in recent years, the purpose of this paper is to investigate who, how and why participates in creating content at football websites. Specifically, it provides a sentiment analysis of user comments from gender perspective, i.e. how differently men and women write about football. The analysis is based on user comments published on Facebook pages of the top five 2015-2016 Premier League football clubs during the 1st and the 19th week of the season. Design/methodology/approach This analysis uses a data collection via social media website and a sentiment analysis of the collected data. Findings Results show certain unexpected similarities in social media activities between male and female football fans. A comparison of the user comments from Facebook pages of the top five 2015-2016 Premier League football clubs revealed that men and women similarly express hard emotions such as anger or fear, while there is a significant difference in expressing soft emotions such as joy or sadness. Originality/value This paper provides an original insight into qualitative content analysis of male and female comments published at social media websites of the top five Premier League football clubs during the 1st and the 19th week of the 2015-2016 season.

The financial impact of the financial fair play policy on Spanish football

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Fernández-Villarino ◽  
J. Andrés Domínguez-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Content Type ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Law ◽  
Compliance With The Law ◽  
Positive Effect

PurposeThis study aims to explore how responsible corporate behaviour, specifically self-imposed financial regulatory control, might subsequently be reflected in the financial performance of companies subject to such regulation.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors aim to explore how financial compliance in the form of the Economic Control Regulation (ECR) has impacted on the financial performance of professional football clubs in Spain. To this purpose, the authors adopted a quasi-experimental before and after study design. This type of design assesses the object of study before and after a specific event in order to determine whether this event has had any effects on the object. In this case, the event was the coming into effect of the ECR in the fiscal year of 2012, and the object hypothetically affected was the clubs’ economic performance.FindingsThe authors can confirm that in general terms and for the whole set of clubs analysed, the ECR has had a strong and positive effect on financial performance.Research limitations/implicationsIn this study, the authors wish to establish a link between the idea of “compliance” and that of “responsible corporate management practice”. It is not just a matter of compliance with the law. The fact of complying with certain laws could, in general terms, or from the point of view of common sense, be qualified as “responsible behaviour”. However, under the contemporary concept of corporate responsibility, compliance with the law is a behaviour that must be taken for granted. Responsibility, therefore, would entail going beyond such expected behaviour to one that exceeds the environment's expectation of the corporate actor.Practical implicationsWhat extent improvements in financial performance have also boosted social performance. Confirming such a positive effect endorses the argument that ethical improvements in corporate culture have a general effect on business sustainability in its different aspects: economic, social, environmental and in governance.Social implicationsThe authors may foresee that the culture of compliance will spread from the finance departments to other management areas. Its connection with ethical business practice is directly linked to the more complex concept of the “citizen company”. There are suggest interesting bases on which professional football clubs might move from a traditional profit-oriented company model towards a more contemporary one oriented towards relationships of integrity with the sport's environment. This study shows that the ECR has been a starting point for the development of Spanish professional football clubs towards this type of “citizen company”.Originality/valueIt was a single-sector study whose principal value lies in the verification of whether responsible economic management (the main consequence of applying the ECR) had any effects on company profits, financial results and other important indicators. In addition to fostering responsibility, this new management model involves a special innovation, as it is based on self-regulation (i.e. on regulations not imposed by national or supranational states), designed and implemented to ensure the sector's viability.

Getting acquainted with social networks and apps: talking about TikTok

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Elson Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Information Professionals

Purpose This paper aims to provide information and promote discussion around the social media platform TikTok. Design/methodology/approach Research, literature review. Findings Libraries and library and information professionals should be aware of the potential of TikTok for engagement and information sharing. Originality/value Adds to the research on the social media platform TikTok.

Reporting human resources in annual reports

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Kansal ◽  
Mahesh Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Training Programmes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of corporate disclosure on human resources (HR) in the annual reports of top performing Indian companies. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores the extent to which top 82 companies from India present information about HR in their annual reports. This study examines the annual reports of each of the top Indian firms listed on the Bombay stock exchange, using the “content analysis” method. Statistical tests have been performed to analyse the difference between the HR disclosure score across public and private sectors and disclosure variations among various industrial sectors. Findings – In-house training programmes has been noticed to be the favourite item of disclosure followed by safety awards/certifications and statements regarding cordial relations with the employees/unions. A majority of the Indian firms have ignored significant HR issues such as employee welfare fund, maternity/paternity leaves, holiday benefits, employee loans and adopting old age homes, etc. Overall, the study reflects low HR related disclosures. No statistically significant difference has been found between the mean HR disclosure from one industry to another and disclosure practices of the private and the public sector companies. Practical implications – The disclosure pattern of the Indian companies suggests that they only a few companies are concerned about employees’ welfare than the rest. This may motivate a change of the disclosure policy of the rest of the firms who may follow the reporting pattern of the most disclosing ones. Originality/value – This is first study on the disclosure of HR by the Indian corporate sector in the CSR domain with a disclosure analysis for a period of nine years . This research provides new directions for the literature in this area and may promote comparative studies on HR-based studies from different perspectives.

Career patterns of marketing managers in top European football clubs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Nessel
Keyword(s):  
Sports Management ◽  
Career Patterns ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Marketing Managers ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
European Football ◽  
Main Activity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Functional Experience ◽  
Football Industry

PurposeThe goal of this research was to explore career patterns of senior marketing managers in the best European football clubs (SMMEFCs).Design/methodology/approachThe data came from the LinkedIn profiles of current and past SMMEFCs. Firstly, the optimal matching algorithm was used to determine clusters of pathways leading to a first SMMEFC position based on the main activity of the employing organisation. Secondly, these patterns were compared in terms of variables depicting the career paths, clubs and managers. Finally, the evolution of the post-SMMEFC careers was analysed.FindingsPeople in their first SMMEFC positions are mainly male with a university degree in business and marketing, and with a predominantly functional experience in marketing. There are five ways to become an SMMEFC: through business (40% of the sample), football (32%), other sports (11%), marketing and communication (11%), and media (6%). As the majority of SMMEFCs come to their positions from outside the sporting world, the specificity of the football industry is not a serious obstacle. Instead, the careers are bounded by functional marketing experience. Among the individual sequences leading to a first SMMEFC position, only around half of the football cluster may be considered traditional careers. Football, and sports in general, seem attractive for post-SMMEFC career development for the majority of managers coming from all pathways.Originality/valueThe study is the first one to quantify career patterns in professional sports management. It provides new insights about marketing careers and practice in European club football.

Customer experience management in medical tourism (case study: Iranian hospital’s medical tourists)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-226
Author(s):  
Hamed Dabaghi ◽  
Saeid Saieda Ardakani ◽  
Seyed Mohammad Tabataba’i-Nasab
Keyword(s):  
Medical Tourism ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Customer Experience ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Customer Experience Management ◽  
Data Saturation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the emerging phenomenon of medical tourism in the context of Iran from a customer experience management perspective and benchmark of their judgment including positive or negative, of the experience they have achieved of the Iranian health (medical) experience (CE) and suggest scenarios for the improvement of the Iranian customer experience management (CEM). Design/methodology/approach The research methodologies and research methods that are used in this descriptive-analytical research are based on an inspection of the remarkable literature related to medical tourism and customer experience management. The data gathering instrument is a researcher-made questionnaire based on the variables in the conceptual model extracted from the research literature. The study was conducted from May to August 2019. The population cohort of this study was the foreign patients calling selected Iranian hospitals and the sampling method was a purposive and snowball sample of prospective medical tourists. As the study was conducted throughout Iran, some important hospitals in Iran were selected by stratified sampling Yang et al. (2020b). The sample size and data saturation were 500 participants Lv and Song (2019). The collected data using the questionnaire were analyzed by SPSS software and statistical tests. Findings According to the results, the customer experience management statistical significance in the task aspect is (p = 0.0523), in the mechanical aspect is (p = 0.0563), in the human aspect is (p = 0.0544). The study showed positive customer experience among the patients who had been treated in the Iranian hospitals. Originality/value There is a lack of study that focuses on medical tourism and customer experience management in Iran. Therefore, based on the results of this study, the experience of medical tourists in Iran proved to be positive and satisfying. As little research has been conducted in the area of customer experience management (CEM) in Iranian medical tourism, future researchers can use these valuable results precisely and in more detail to benchmark more accurately the customer experience in all areas of medical and health tourism and other research areas in different aspects of CEM in Iran.

Accounting academia in emerging economies: evolutions and challenges

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Albu ◽  
Catalin Nicolae Albu ◽  
Stefan Bunea ◽  
Maria Madalina Girbina
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Journal Ranking ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
National Journal ◽  
Post Communism

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the development of accounting academia in an emerging country situated in Central and Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach – First, the authors analyze publications in the main three local Romanian journals dedicated to accounting, using content analysis and statistical tests in line with the issues analyzed for accounting publications in the international literature. Second, they mobilize personal experience of, and observations of local developments by, the authors. Findings – The authors find that the decision of establishing a national journal ranking system in Romania in 2005 had both positive and negative consequences. Romanian accounting academics were asked after 2005 to focus on a very short notice on writing research papers, following a long period of communism and about 15 years of post-communism during which they wrote textbooks and professional papers. Journal and university rankings therefore influenced the publication behavior of such researchers, leading to searches for efficiency, ease of publications, publications outside accounting as well as to a difficult publication of their research outcome by internationally relevant accounting journals. Research limitations/implications – Publications in the three Romanian accounting journals for one year were analyzed and the personal experience of the authors mobilized. However, following this study, university administrators and national regulators can better ascertain the effect of their actions, and use these findings to better plan their future actions. Originality/value – This paper contributes to accounting research literature by offering insights into the current state of accounting research and publication in an emerging economy (Romania), and by investigating the institutional factors that may be responsible for this state of affairs.

Scoring goals in multiple fields

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Parganas ◽  
Roman Liasko ◽  
Christos Anagnostopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Professional Team Sports ◽  
Football Clubs

Purpose Professional football clubs currently strive for a number of concurrent goals, ranging from on-field success to profit maximization to fan expansion and engagement. The purpose of this paper, theoretically informed by the social penetration theory, is to analyze the economics behind such goals and examine the association between team performance, commercial success, and social media followers in professional team sports. Design/methodology/approach A data set relating to 20 European professional football clubs that combines financial (revenues and costs), sporting, and digital-reach measures for three consecutive football seasons (2013/2014 to 2015/2016) was used. In addition, to elaborate on this data in terms of a descriptive study, the study constructs a range of correlation statistical tests and linear modeling techniques to obtain quantitative results. Findings The results indicate that all the three main sources of club revenues (match-day, commercial/sponsorship, and broadcasting) are positive drivers for Facebook followers. Staff investments (staff costs) are also positively related to Facebook followers, albeit to a lesser extent, while higher-ranked clubs seem to follow a constant approach in terms of their revenues and cost structure. Originality/value This study seeks to bridge the communication and sport economic research, providing evidence that Facebook followers are part of the cyclical phenomenon of team revenues and team performance. In doing so, it initiates a debate on the relationship between the digital expansion of a football club and its sports and financial indicators.

Evaluation of strategic thinking and its affecting factors among managers and personnel in a medical sciences university in Iran

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 248-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sedigheh Salavati ◽  
Mohammad Amerzadeh ◽  
Amjad Mohammadi Bolbanabad ◽  
Bakhtiar Piroozi ◽  
Shilan Amirihoseini
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Affecting Factors ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Difference

Purpose Prediction of future changes and making appropriate strategic decisions require strategic thinking in any organization. It helps managers to create new opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to measure strategic thinking and its affecting factors at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. Design/methodology/approach This is a descriptive-analytic as well as a cross-sectional study which was conducted in 2016. Its statistical community included 300 managers and personnel of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. The sample size was equal to statistical community. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire. Data were then entered into SPSS20 and were analyzed using statistical tests such as Freedman, Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis. Findings Overall, strategic thinking was evaluated “good” and “somewhat good” among managers (5.0±72.28) and personnel (6.0±25.48), respectively. Moreover, among the elements of strategic thinking, conceptual thinking obtained the highest score among both managers (6.0±06.32) and personnel (5.0±53.52), which was evaluated in a “good” level. There was a significant difference between managers’ and personnel’s strategic thinking score (p=0.001). Different education groups of managers and personnel were different in terms of strategic thinking (p<0.05), but strategic thinking score of managers and personnel were not significant based on the work experience and type of employment. Originality/value Although both managers and personnel received a good score in terms of strategic thinking, improving the level of strategic thinking especially for future trends and opportunities can lead to enhanced strategic thinking among managers and personnel of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences.

Market valuation and risk profile of listed European football clubs

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Prigge ◽  
Lars Tegtmeier
Keyword(s):  
Risk Profile ◽  
Share Price ◽  
Capital Asset Pricing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Share Prices ◽  
Asset Pricing Model ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Price Appreciation ◽  
European Football ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether stocks in football clubs are valued in line with the valuation of other capital assets in the capital market. Moreover, it analyzes the risk profile of football stocks. By taking this perspective, the paper also contributes to the discussion on the motives of those who invest in football clubs, particularly the question of whether they expect extra benefits, i.e., in addition to dividends and share price appreciation, from the investments. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study analyzes the share prices of 19 listed European football clubs from January 2010 to December 2016. Building on the capital asset pricing model, the authors used Zellner’s (1962) seemingly unrelated regressions. Findings The results indicate that the majority of the football clubs in the sample are overvalued. This implies that investments in football stocks are mainly attractive for those investors who expect to derive extra benefits from their investment. That might be likely for strategic, patron and fan investors, but not for purely financial investors. Research limitations/implications As a next step, more advanced factor models could be applied to the analysis. Practical implications For investors, the results imply that portfolio diversification is particularly beneficial while buying football stocks. For football clubs, the rather low general market risk, combined with the overvaluation, leads to low equity costs when new shares are issued. Originality/value The results suggest that dividends and share price appreciation are not the only benefits football stock owners derive from the stocks, thus underlining that further investigations in their motives to hold football stocks are very promising.

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