Individual-level explanations of corruption within an intercollegiate context

Understanding why individuals engage in sport corruption is an emerging topic of research. Micro-level accounts of corruption have generally used a single disciplinary approach toward understanding why actors commit corruption (e.g., doping and match-fixing) in specific sports. The purpose of this study was to first examine individual-level explanations of corruption in the context of intercollegiate athletics; and, second, to generate an interdisciplinary framework. A multi-case analysis was conducted of 20 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) major infractions (corruption) reports that occurred between 2005 and 2015. The findings showed that actors’ explanations were based on psychological factors—motivations (social relationship and self-interest) and personal norms, professional factors (abuse of power and failure of responsibilities), and justification factors (rationalizing strategies). This research builds on existing scholarship by generating an interdisciplinary framework of micro-level accounts of sport corruption in intercollegiate athletics

Pacific-10 Compliance Officers’ Morality and Moral Reasoning

Critics contend that intercollegiate athletic administrators, including compliance officers who work in highly formalized environments, generally exhibit restricted moral thinking that is defined by organizational rules (Lumpkin, Stoll, & Beller, 1999). Cognitive moral development’s dominance on moral reasoning research has assisted in supporting this argument because investigations are framed from one independent theory (e.g., justice) and measure moral reasoning (Walker, Pitts, Hennig, & Matsuba, 1995). As a result, the interdependent nature between individuals’ morality and moral reasoning in real-life work experiences is unclear. Using contextual practical reasoning as a framework, Pacific-10 compliance officers’ were interviewed to examine their morality and moral reasoning. The findings showed compliance officers engaged in practical reasoning in resolving day-to-day work-related moral problems. Furthermore, the findings highlighted the interdependent relationship among participants’ conceptions of morality, their moral perceptions and sensitivities, and their practical reasoning

Leadership and Facilitating an Intercollegiate Athletic Department Merger

Leadership is an important aspect in facilitating an organizational merger. Research indicates that each merger presents a different objective and thus a variety of challenges that require different forms of leadership. Further, the merger type and merger stage influences leadership required to facilitate the merger process. This study examined merger challenges and leadership employed to assist an intercollegiate athletic department merger. Using a single qualitative case study design (i.e., interviews with 57 stakeholders and documents), the findings showed transition leadership challenges included an absence of leadership and stakeholder uncertainty, and the central integration leadership challenge was strategic planning. Transition leadership consisted of creating a transition structure, and a combination of contextual, communicative, supportive, and emotional acknowledgment, while participatory leadership was demonstrated during integration. Implications of these findings suggested that merger facilitation requires recognizing the merger type and its challenges, which informs the leadership required to assist integration

Corruption in sport: understanding the complexity of corruption

Corruption in sport: understanding the complexity of corruptio

CYFC Monthly, July 2014

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

Towards Understanding Change-Supportive Organizational Behaviors in China: An Investigation of the 2015 Chinese National Football Reform

This paper investigates the influences of change recipients’ supportive behaviors toward the national reform in the Chinese football sector. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n=29), which were conducted with change recipients from national and local football associations and commercial football clubs. Drawing on an integrated conceptual framework, the findings suggest that the change-supportive behaviors demonstrated by the change recipients were influenced and incentivised by managerial factors (i.e., management competency, communication channels, participation in decision-making, leaders’ commitment to change, and principal support); and contextual factors (i.e., an amenable football environment and the perceived political pressure to change). Three manifestations of change-supportive behaviors were identified: a) showing understanding of the change but pessimistic about the outcome; b) supporting the change and being willing to take risks; and c) supporting the change and actively seeking alternative solutions

Moral codes and moral tensions : an examination of compliance officers’ morality and moral functioning

The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I compliance officers' conceptions of morality and moral functioning. Critics of NCAA intercollegiate athletics maintain that the Association's strict legislative and rules systems deter NCAA stakeholders from making thoughtful moral judgments. Current research supports this assumption for studies examining various sport stakeholders' moral functioning show that they reason to the level of the rules or employ a rule book conception of morality (cf Beller & Stoll, 1995; Malloy, 1991; Timmer, 1999). Walker et al. (1995) and Walker (2000a) argue that our understanding of people's every day moral experiences has been limited by the theoretical dominance of cognitive moral psychology in studies investigating people's morality. Walker et al. (1995) maintain that moral functioning research should be redirected to examine people's real-life moral experiences within a holistic theoretical framework. Such a framework provides an inclusive perspective from which to examine the interrelationships between morality and moral functioning. Based on this argument, a Contextualist practical reasoning framework using the works of Coombs (1984, 1997), Dworkin (1977, 1985, 1986), Frankena (1980), Wallace, (1988, 1996), and Winkler (1993) was used to investigate how compliance officers conceptualized morality and reasoned about hard cases. A purposeful-intensity sampling technique was employed, compliance officers from each of the Pacific-10 Conference member institutions participated in this study. Using an interview guide, face-to-face interviews were carried out with each of the participants. The goal was to document the complicated and diverse nature of participants' understandings of morality, the negotiations and strategies they used in working within compliance, and the ways in which they considered NCAA and Conference standards, values, and beliefs in their rule interpretations and adjudications of difficult moral problems. The study examined how the participants thought about right and wrong, their moral perceptions and sensitivities, and their practical reasoning. It was found that, specifically, the compliance officers displayed individual normative systems that were comprised of two predominant moral codes (professional and personal). The value structures underpinning their respective moral codes were similar yet independent from the NCAA's and the Pac-10 Conference's. The participants' personal and professional moral codes also seemed to create tensions in their efforts to determine right from wrong, fulfill their role, and make rule interpretations. As well, compliance officers displayed individual moral perceptions and sensitivities, which informed their discernment of case particulars. In addition, the findings showed that compliance officers employed three approaches to rule interpretations: a literal approach, working within the gray approach, or a spirit of the rules approach. Furthermore, they used one discretionary strategy in obtaining an official interpretation as they used caution in obtaining an official Conference/NCAA interpretation if they believed the interpretation would place their institution and disadvantage. The potential rule infractions (major or secondary) influenced the type of rules approach or use of discretion they used. Lastly, the analysis showed that, in resolving hard cases, the compliance officers appealed to specific standards of practical reasoning. The type of problem, the compliance officers' conceptions of morality, along with NCAA and Conference standards, beliefs, and values all influenced the types of standards used to resolve moral problems. Thus, the findings highlighted the significance of examining holistically the interrelationships among people's understandings of morality, their moral perceptions and sensitivities, and their moral functioning It is suggested that future research should explore other athletic administrators' conceptions of morality, their understandings of moral and athletic concepts, and their applications in decision-making. These findings also point to the feasibility of the NCAA's deregulation proposal, as it was argued that all rules require interpretation and deliberation, and should be resolved within the boundaries of the NCAA's legislative system and political morality.Education, Faculty ofEducational Studies (EDST), Department ofGraduat

Good student-athlete representation

The current landscapes of intercollegiate sports and higher education are experiencing shifts toward more democratic representation. In college sport, student-athlete representatives are more engaged in policy decisions, hold voting rights, and are included on boards and committees. Despite this shift, little is known about what good intercollegiate athlete representation entails and how multi-level, democratic governance systems may support or impede good representation in the context of college sport. This paper explores qualities of good college athlete representation (CARep) and factors contributing to and/or detracting from the process of good CARep in the context of a democratic multi-level intercollegiate sport governance system. Findings showed individual attributes of good CARep, including interpersonal skills and leadership, were based on democratic representation virtues (i.e., fairmindedness, trust building, good gatekeeping) and helped foster democratic values of civic equality, self-governance, and inclusion. The intercollegiate sport governance system supports the work of athlete representatives primarily through its educative function. More specifically, administrators were key to identifying experiential learning opportunities for athlete representatives, which contributed to the process of good representation through responsiveness, inclusiveness, and egalitarianism. Lack of administrative support and education for all relevant interest groups characterized governance system inconsistencies impeding good CARep, primarily at institutional levels where the purpose of student-athlete committees varied and/or athlete representative roles were less understood. Implications for practice and directions for future research on good athlete representation are presented

Corruption in sport: understanding the complexity of corruption

[Extract] Sport corruption (in all of its forms and degrees) is a global phenomenon that has, and continues to, threaten the integrity of the sport industry, posing a major challenge for sport managers. Over the past decade, the sport industry has experienced multiple forms of corruption (e.g. fraud, bribery, and institutional) that have ranged in extent (e.g. individual to systematic), occurred in varying contexts (non-profit, for profit, sports, sport events, governance, and international and online betting), and resulted in a multitude of consequences (sanctions, financial costs, diminished reputations, employee turnover, and increased oversight). International agencies (e.g. Transparency International & International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS)), inter-governmental agencies (Council of Europe and Interpol Integrity in Sport Unit), and sport governing bodies (IOC, FIFA, and ICC) have assembled to discuss, carry out research, and implement initiatives to better understand the nature of sport corruption, its causes, consequences, and develop reform initiatives. Examples include ICSS 2014 Sport Integrity Conference, IOC's 2014 Integrity Betting Intelligence System, and 2012 Institute of International and Strategy's study Sports betting and corruption: How to preserve the integrity of sport. These efforts and many more speak to the multidimensional nature of corruption and its respective issues possessing significant challenges for sport management scholars and practitioners in upholding the integrity of sport worldwide