Performance analysis in sport and leisure management

This commentary documents a programme of research conducted between 1995 and 2012 which, perhaps unconventionally, applied performance analysis techniques frequently used in the business context to evaluate and analyse performance, both financial and non-financial, in sport and leisure. Use of performance analysis in the sport and leisure sectors was found to be lacking by the Audit Commission and therefore provided considerable research opportunities. The research presented was carried out in: professional cricket; major sports events; elite sport development systems; and initiatives to stimulate demand in sport and leisure. The philosophical underpinnings of the research are influenced by critical realism and pragmatism. The former holds that we can have only a partial understanding of reality and that this is subject to revision. The latter focuses on the practical uses and successes of research rather than concern with grand theories and is based upon empirical evidence-based, rather than a priori, principles. In professional cricket, conventional ratio analysis found a seemingly healthy industry that was strategically vulnerable to fluctuations in the performance of the England team; and which was in urgent need of reform to become competitive. The establishment of UK Sport in 1997 created the opportunity for research into the economic and social impacts of major sports events; and, performance analysis in elite sport. Both of these areas of research are underpinned by an approach which devised methodologies for data collection; implemented standardisation techniques; and constructed predictive models which have been subsequently tested, refined and retested. In the context of stimulating demand for sport and cultural activities, price on it is own is found to be a crude weapon particularly for generating market development effects. The coherence of this research is founded upon its commonality of method: in all four areas of research the subject organisations were in receipt of subsidy and the effective use of this subsidy has been examined by employing performance analysis techniques

Howzat? The Financial Health of English Cricket: Not Out, Yet

In 1997 a review of the financial health of English county cricket highlighted strategic weaknesses within the professional game, principally an over-reliance by clubs on the annual grants provided to them by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Without such grants the teams, in general terms, would be insolvent. Using the financial statements of the First Class Cricket Counties, this paper explores how the financial position and performance of the county game has changed, 20 years on from the seminal study. A series of structural changes to the game had been made, yet financial problems are still evident. Counties are as reliant on central grant income as they were in 1997, although there are cases where clubs have made strategic enhancements and are becoming self-sustainable as going concerns. Rather than the ECB directly funding county revenue it should be working in collaboration with individual clubs to achieve developments in the game from the grassroots upwards, in order to help clubs grow their own revenue streams.</jats:p

A holistic performance assessment of English Premier League football clubs 1992-2013

This paper devises and tests a statistical model (the PAM) to measure the financial and sporting performance of professional football clubs. The PAM has been applied to a longitudinal data set of English football clubs (21 clubs between 1992-2013) to identify trends in performance. The results show that a small number of clubs have created an imbalance within English football and that there has been evidence of a 'financial crisis' at individual clubs. For the majority of clubs, overall performance appears to vary over time in cycles. In addition to measuring holistic performance of professional football clubs in England, the paper has developed a statistically robust model that progresses research in the field. This new model has the potential to be adapted to fit other professional team sports to test league viability. It can also be used by the clubs themselves to set objectives and to analyse performance against competitors

The impact of engagement in sport on graduate employability: implications for higher education policy and practice

This paper analyses the impact of engagement in sport on graduate employability using a triangulation of views from three key stakeholder groups. Primary research was conducted with 5,838 graduates, 112 employers and 13 university senior executives as part of a mixed methods approach. The research found that engagement in sport was viewed as a sound investment from the perspectives of all three groups, with examples highlighting how sport provided 'added value' beyond subject-specific qualifications. This finding was particularly prominent where graduates demonstrated experience of voluntary roles through the leadership and management of sport, and could articulate how this had a positive impact on the development of additional employability attributes. We argue that there are important implications for Higher Education policy, sports policy, universities, employers and students. For students, employability can be enhanced through participation and volunteering in sport, which is shown to be a good investment in terms of both skill development and future earnings. For employers, when recruiting graduates, a history of sport participation (inclusive of voluntary experience) may be a good indicator of candidates with desirable traits for employment. For universities, meeting their customers' demand for sport with sufficient supply through strategic investment is an important consideration of their offer

School Games Mark Validation : Final Report : Year 3 (2013-14)

The Mark award scheme entered its third year of commission in 2013-14. The scheme is administered by the Youth Sport Trust and provides schools with the opportunity to assess themselves against a set of criteria to achieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold award which recognises their commitment to the provision of school sport and school sport competition. Schools are able to apply for the award annually. This report focuses on the independent validation of the Mark award scheme which was conducted by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University between June and December 2014

Measuring competition in the Olympic Winter Games 1992–2014 using economic indices

Since the early 1990s, competition in the Olympic Winter Games has changed notably in terms of events contested and nations taking part. Despite, these changes, which are overseen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the number of medal-winning nations has remained relatively stable. As a first attempt to illustrate this issue on a discipline by discipline basis, economic techniques are used to examine the outcome of competition between 1992 and 2014. The purpose of this paper is to measure: market size; the number of competing nations; and the balance between competitive nations in six disciplines. Focusing on competitive balance, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index is applied to measure the concentration of domination; while the Przeworski Index is used to quantify instability over time. Important changes are identified in biathlon (2010) and short track (2014). While the change in the former is consistent with the IOC’s substantial increase in biathlon events, the latter can be attributed to athletes changing their nationality. IOC policy-makers can benefit from this research as it provides a method by which to monitor competition in a discipline. This method provides the potential for evaluating the likely effects of governing the Olympic Games by increasing the number of events

Limited or lasting legacy? : the effect of non-mega sport event attendance on participation

Research question: It is often claimed by event promoters that hosting major sports events will inspire increased participation at grass-roots level. However, evidence of this linkage is scarce. This paper addresses the research gap by examining the legacy effect of ‘non-mega’ events on the sport participation levels of those who attend them. Research methods: Data gathered using a combination of face-to-face and online surveys with spectators during and following their attendance at one of nine events, held in England between 2010 and 2012, yielded 434 matched responses. Results and findings: The analysis revealed different types of increases in post-event participation behaviour of both previously active and inactive respondents, including ‘initial’, ‘sustained’ and ‘lagged’ effects. However, attributing causality for these positive changes in activity behaviour to a single event is problematic due to the range of other factors that audiences may experience with the passage of time, including other events. Implications: The key implication of the research for management practice is that major sport events can have a positive market penetration effect but market development effects are as yet unproven.</p

"Обратная" переходность среди частей речи как актуализация внутренней формы слова

В статье рассматривается специфика внутренней формы синтаксических дериватов, которую предлагается обозначить термином "грамматикализованная". На примере существительных адъективного склонения, наречий/наречных выражений и отглагольных прилагательных анализируется механизм речевой "обратной" морфолого-синтаксической транспозиции, в основе которого лежит инициируемая внутренней формой транспозитов и квазитранспозитов грамматическая рефлексия говорящих.У статті розглядається специфіка внутрішньої форми синтаксичних деріватов, яку пропонується позначити терміном "граматикалізована". На прикладі іменників ад'єктивного відміни, наречий/наречных виразів і віддієслівних прикметників аналізується механізм мовної "зворотної" морфолого-синтаксичної транспозиції, в основі якого лежить ініційована внутрішньою формою транспозітів і квазітранспозітов граматична рефлексія говорючих.The article examines the specificity of internal form of syntactic derivatives, which is to be named as "grammaticalized" one. By the example of substantives of adjective declension model, adverbs/adverb expressions and verbal adjectives, the author analyzes the mechanism of speech "reverse" morphological-syntactic transposition, and it is speaker grammatical reflexion initiated by internal form of transposites and "quasi-transposites" what underlies this mechanism

Starting and specialisation ages of elite athletes across olympic sports: An international cross-sectional study

Talent development models are the frameworks that guide sports stakeholders in developing potential athletes, within which early specialisation and diversification remain contradictory strategies. This paper presents new insights into the starting and specialisation ages of world-class athletes in various Olympic sports. A total of 2,838 athletes from 13 nations and 44 Olympic sports were included in this study. The results show that world-class athletes started with their current sport at the age of 10.6 (±5.3) and decided to focus on this sport at the age of 15.6 (±5.0), with obvious variations in these ages across different sports. The study showed a moderate relationship between athletes’ starting and specialisation ages (r = 0.639), which demonstrates the variable duration of the multiple sport sampling period. This period, during which athletes pursue a variety of sports, lasts 4.9 years on average. There is a high degree of variation among different athletes in starting and specialisation ages, even within the same sport. All sports in the study can be classified into five categories based on a combination of their starting ages (early/intermediate/late) and specialisation ages (early/intermediate/late). The Developmental Model of Sports Participation provides the age guidelines for the categories. The five categories contain (I) early specialisation sports, (II) intermediate starting and specialisation sports, (III) late specialisation sports, (IV) late starting sports, and (V) late starting and late specialisation sports. The study concludes by proposing that there is a need for sport-specific talent development models with increased attention to each sport’s starting age, sampling period, and specialisation age

Is prioritisation of funding in elite sport effective? An analysis of the investment strategies in 16 countries

Abstract Research question: This paper explores the extent to which nations prioritise elite sport funding; whether such nations are more successful than those whose funding is more diversified; and, if the sports that receive the most funding are also the most successful. Research methods: Data on public expenditure for elite sport programmes (2011/2012) were collected on a sport-specific basis in 16 nations (n=445 funded sports). The Herfindahl index and concentration ratios of the four/eight most funded sports (CR4/CR8) are used as proxies for prioritization. Success was measured using top 3 and top 8 places during the Olympic Games and World Championships. Descriptive analysis and linear regression are applied to identify the relationship between the distribution of funding and success. Results and findings: Generally, all sample nations are prioritisers. Nations with smaller total elite sport budgets tended to prioritise more. There is a slight negative association between the distribution of funding within a country and subsequent success, indicating that the sample countries that prioritise more tended to be less successful. Sample nations that diversify their funding more, are found to be successful in a wider range of sports. In addition, the data illustrated only low allocative efficiency for some nations. Implications: The study produced ambiguous conclusions that prioritisation as a deliberate strategic choice is an efficient way to invest funding. The findings have important implications for high performance managers and suggests that a more diverse resource allocation policy may help to avoid unintended negative consequences. Keywords: Targeted funding; elite sport policy; allocative efficiency; prioritisation; SPLIS