Content Analysis of the Introductory Course in Sport Management

Transcription

1 Journal of Sport Management , O 1996 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. Content Analysis of the Introductory Course in Sport Management Ming Li and Doyice Cotten Georgia Sou them University An introductory course in sport management should provide the student in the program with a basic understanding of the sport industry. However, the opinions of sport management educators vary as to what should be included in the introductory course. This diversity of opinions regarding course content is reflected in the texts that have been written for use in the introductory course. Each book has its own unique objective and range of topics (Chelladurai, 1985; Lewis & Appenzeller, 1987; Parkhouse, 1992; Parks & Zanger, 1991). Sport & Fitness Management: Career Strategies and Professional Content (Parks & Zanger, 1991) is written to examine various career fields in sport management. The authors stress the description, responsibility, and availability of jobs in diverse areas in the sport arena. Thus, it would be appropriate to indicate that the authors have used a "joblcareer related approach" to organize and present information in this book. On the other hand, the theoretical basis of sport management is thoroughly reviewed in the book Sport Management: Macro Perspectives (Chelladurai, 1985). This publication, according to its author, is intended to explore the basic functions of management as related to sport. The student has an bpportunity to study sport management from a "theoretical approach.'' Lewis and Appenzeller (1987) approached sport management from another direction in their book, Successful Sport Management. They envisioned six areas as essential to the successful operation of the sport industry: effective and efficient management of personnel, programs, marketing, information, facilities, and legal responsibilities. The book represents a practical approach to the managerial aspects of sport management. The Management of Sport: Its Foundation and Application, edited by Parkhouse (1991), emphasizes a comprehensive view of sport management. Its broad content includes such topics as management, communication, personnel, sport marketing, sport law, and economics. The book Ming Li and Doyice Gotten are with the Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, Georgia Southern University, Landrum Box 8076, Statesboro, GA

2 88 U and Cotten claims to be "the most comprehensive compilation of subject matter published to date for the sport management profession" (Parkhouse, 1991, p. v). In view of the widely different approaches of these texts, and because the content of a course generally reflects the approach and content of a text, it seemed reasonable that considerable differences might exist in introductory sport management classes. This study was undertaken to answer the following questions: (a) What are the purposes of the introductory sport management course? (b) What textbooks are used by sport management educators who are currently teaching the introductory course? (c) What topics are included in the introductory course? and (d) What topics do sport management educators view as most important to be included in such a course? The findings of this study, therefore, will provide sport management educators with input from other professionals regarding text selection, course purpose, and topic coverage for the introductory course. Subjects Met hodotogg Sixty-nine institutions in the United States offering undergraduate programs in sport management/administration were initially identified through Sports Market Place (Lipsey, 1993). Survey instruments were sent to the program coordinators of each undergraduate program. The coordinator was asked to forward the questionnaire --- to the - faculty - - member who taught the introductory course. If no such course existed, the - coordinator was requested to completethe s e y A 3 weeks, a follow-up survey instrument was sent to schools that had not returned the survey instrument. Of 69 questionnaires sent, 52 were returned, which accounted for approximately 75% of the surveyed population. Sixteen of the 52 respondents reported that their sport management undergraduate programs did not offer an introductory course. Among the 36 institutions that did offer a course, 34 required their majors to take the introductory course. Two schools reported that they offered an introductory course, even though they did not offer the major. In 28 of the 34 institutions requiring the course, students were required to take the introductory course prior to upper-level sport management courses. Instrumentation Four books generally used as the texts for the introductory course in sport management were initially acquired and examined (Chelladurai, 1985; Lewis & Appenzeller, 1987; Parkhouse, 1992; Parks & Zanger, 1991). The topics covered by those books were analyzed and organized into nine "general content areas" consisting of a total of 46 topics. Table 1 presents the list of the nine general content areas and the topics in each area. Each respondent was asked to indicate which areas or topics were included in the introductory course. This section was omitted by respondents from schools having no introductory course. All respondents, instructors currently teaching the introductory course and program coordinators of the programs that did not offer such a course, were also requested to evaluate each topic in terms of its

3 Introductory Course in Sport Management 89 Table 1 General Content Areas Included in the Introductory Course General content areas What is sport management? The role of sport Definition of management and administration Definition of sport management Characteristics of sport management Different perspectives on sport Duties and responsibilities of sport managers Ethics and social responsibility of sport managers Future direction of sport management Careers in sport management Introduction to various career settings Career consideration and planning in sport management Professional preparation in sport management Professional preparation in sport management Curriculum in sport management Professional skills required of the sport manager Computer application in sport management Foundations of sport management-sport studies Introduction to sport studies Philosophical aspects Historical aspects Sociological aspects Psychological aspects of sport Foundations of sport management-business administration Introduction to business administration Accounting in sport enterprise Financial affairs and budgeting issues in sport purchase and inventory control Economic issues in sport Communication Basic managerial concepts and theories Philosophy of management Managerial roles of sport managers Functions of management Planning Organizing Staffing Leading and leadership Evaluating and controlling Time management Sport management in specific fields Introduction to evenqfacility management Sport injury management (continued)

4 Li and Cotten Table 1 (continued) General content areas Promotion and marketing Characteristics of sport marketing Strategic marketing management Introduction to marketing mix Various types of sport promotion Fund raising in sport Public relations Legal aspects of sport relative to sport management Introduction to legal problems in sport management Contracting issues in sport Introduction to risk management Trademark and licensing issues in sport importance in an introductory course on a 4-point scale, ranging from not important to he included to important to he included. The examination of the prefaces of the four books led to the identification of four major purposes for the introductory course in sport management undergraduate~rogram~ee3lable2$la5=poin~like~mluit~r~~@~i-mg~ee to-strongly-ag~e~sthe~~~~ehta_deteminete-what-deg~eetheresp agreed with each of the purpose statements. Each respondent was also invited to provide additional course purposes they felt to be important. The respondents were encouraged to include their course outlines when returning their questionnaire to help provide this study with additional insight into the content of the course. Ten respondents included course outlines along with the questionnaires. Data Collection/Analysis The NCSS (Number Cruncher Statistical System) was the computer program used in this study. Descriptive statistical methods (frequency and percentage) were used to analyze the data. Course Purpose Results and Discussion Table 2 shows the percentage of respondents agreeing with each of the four purpose statements. The majority of the respondents agreed to strongly agreed with each of the four statements. The course purpose with which the greatest percentage of respondents agreed was "to have the student become familiar with the field of sport management, including types of jobs and career opportunities available" (see Table 2).

5 Introductory Course in Sport Management 91 Table 2 Survey of Opinions about the Purpose(s) of the Course Offering Purpose Percentaees The purpose of the introductory course is: To present the theoretical foundations of sport management to the student. To address the basic concepts and issues of management in relation to the sport enterprise so as to have the student better understand the relationship between sport and management. To provide the student with "a little of everything" from the sport management subject area. To have the student become familiar with the field of sport management, including types of jobs and career opportuni- ' ties available. Note. Thirty-six participants provided information about the purpose of the course offering. SD = strongly disagree, D = disagree, N = neutral, A = agree, and SA = strongly agree. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents felt that a major purpose of the introductory course was to provide the student with professional awareness of the career fields in sport management. This emphasis is reflected by the fact that 38% selected Sport & Fitness Management: Career Strategies and Professional Content as a text (see Table 3). A majority of the sport management educators surveyed (73%) considered it important to examine the basic relationship between management and the sport enterprise (see Table 2). This orientation is reflected by the fact that almost onethird of the respondents have adopted Parkhouse's book since its publication in Approximately 64% of the respondents agreed that one of the purposes of the introductory course was to present the theoretical foundations of sport management to the student (see Table 2). Some schools use the introductory course simply to introduce the management concept prior to the student taking in-depth courses in management and organizational behavior. However, where specific courses in management and organizational behavior are not offered, the introductory course seems to be intended to meet one of the curriculum requirements suggested by the NASPE-NASSM Joint Task Force (1993) in area 2, Management and Organizational Skills in Sport (NASPE-NASSM Joint Task Force on Sport Management Curriculum and Accreditation, 1993). Judging from

6 92 Li and Cotten Table 3 Selections of Textbooks for the Introductory Course of Sport Management Book title No. of subjects who selected the text % who used Author@) N = 36 the text Administrative Management of PE & Athletic Programs Administration of PE & Athletics Management for Athletics & Sport Modern Sports Administration Organizational Management Administration for Athletic Programs Sport & Fitness Management: Career Strategies and Professional Content Sport Management: Macro Perspectives Successful Sport Management Jensen Frost Bridges Mason & Paul Kinder Parks & Zanger Chelladurai Lewis & Appenzeller Sport Management in Schools & VandersZwaag 1 Foundation & Application Self-prepared materials No textbook used Note. The subjects were allowed to select more than one choice; four respondents assigned more than one text for their courses; and many respondents used self-prepared materials as a supplement to the adopted text. the syllabi of some respondents, the introductory course content appears to be closely related to a course in management and organizational behavior. Table 2 also indicates that just over half of the sport management educators surveyed (55%) felt the introductory course should expose the student to elements of sport management they would study in specific courses (i.e., sport marketing, legal aspects of sport, sport finance, facility management). These respondents agreed with the statement, "the purpose of the introductory course in sport management is to provide the student with 'a little of everything' of the subject matter of sport management" (Table 2). Two additional purposes for offering the introductory course were suggested by the respondents: (a) to have the student understand how sport as a "cultural phenomenon" differs from business products, and (b) to help the student obtain basic managerial and leadership skills.

7 Introductory Course in Sport Management 93 Textbook Selection Ten books were listed by the respondents as texts for the introductory course. Table 3 shows the 10 books named, their authors, as well as the number of institutions using the text. The books by Parks and Zanger and by Parkhouse were adopted most frequently by the surveyed sport management educators. Their rates of adoption are 38% and 32%, respectively. It is interesting that almost one-third of the instructors use Parkhouse, in spite of the fact that the book is written primarily for seniors and graduate students and is not intended for use in an introductory course. It is of interest to note that several books written for administration of physical education and athletics (i.e., Administrative Management of PE & Athletic Programs and Administration of PE & Athletics) were also among those selected texts for the introductory course (see Table 3). One of the possible reasons for this is that a majority of the existing sport management undergraduate programs are housed within physical education departments, and many sport management educators, having been trained as physical educators, are probably already familiar with those texts. Many respondents reported that they used self-prepared materials either to supplement the text or in lieu of a text book. This is probably due to the great diversity of opinions regarding course content of the introductory course. Over half of the respondents used self-prepared materials as supplements to the adopted text, while others used exclusively self-prepared materials in their teaching. About 14% of the respondents do not use a textbook. Topic Coverage Table 4 shows the general content areas compiled from the texts and included on the questionnaire. The table shows the percentage of respondents that included the topic in the introductory course. The most commonly included topics dealt with the following three areas: (a) What is sport management? (b) careers in sport management, and (c) basic managerial concepts and theories. This indicates that most respondents who teach introductory courses include these topics in their course. The general content area What is sport management? was included in 96% of the introductory courses. Two topics in this general area, however, were included by less than 60% of the respondents. These were "different perspectives on sport" and "ethics and social responsibility of sport managers." The general content area careers in sport management was the second most included area. About 92% of the courses included this area. Most respondents included each of the topics of the careers content area in their introductory course. Basic managerial concepts and theories, included in 90% of the introductory courses, was the third most included content area. Topics included by more than 80% of respondents were: philosophy of management, managerial roles of sport managers, and fundamental functions of management (e.g., planning, organizing, staffing, leading, evaluating, and controlling). Time management was a topic covered by less than half of the respondents. Professionalpreparation in sport management was the fourth most included general area, but at 69%, was far behind the first three. Nevertheless, three topics

8 Li and Cotten Table 4 Areas Covered in the Introductory Course and Perceived Importance of Each Area Area' AreaZ included importance General content areas N=36 % % What is sport management? Careers in sport management Professional preparation in sport management Foundations of sport management-sport studies Foundations of sport management-business administration Basic managerial concepts and theories Sport management in specific fields Promotion and marketing Legal aspects of sport relative to sport management Note. 'Responses made by individuals at institutions where an introductory course is currently taught; 5esponses made both by respondents currently teaching an introductory course and by person completing the survey in school having no introductory course. ~(professionalpreparati0n,c~~~1~~ndpr~fessi~nal~ki11~-req~i~ed~f-thes mmagers_wereco~erehby_79y~ol1llor~fther~ndentsin-th~~in view of the importance of computer skills to sport managers, it was surprising that computer application in sport management was included by less than 40% of the respondents. The remaining five general content areas were included in 55% or less of the introductory courses. Foundations of sport management-sport studies and foundations of sport management--business administration were about equally common (55% and 53%). These two content areas may be omitted from introductory courses because the topics associated with these two content areas may be covered in other courses in the programs. The lower frequency may also reflect the lower agreement of the respondents with the third purpose statement that states that the purpose of the introductory course in sport management is "to provide the student with 'a little of everything' of the subject matter of sport management" (see Table 2). Introduction to eventlfacility management was the only topic in the area of sport management in specificfields to be included by as many as 70% of the respondents. Only about 40% of the respondents included sport injury management in the course. Again, this result is consistent with the respondents' responses to the "a little of everything" approach. None of the topics in the area of sport promotion and marketing were covered by more than 50% of the respondents. Legal aspects of sport was the least commonly included general content area. The area was included in only 43% of the introductory courses. Introduction to legal problems in sport management was the topic included by most respondents (68%). Contracting issues in

9 Introductory Course in Sport Management 95 sport, risk management, and trademark issues in sport were included by fewer than 40% of the respondents. Importance for Inclusion In addition to asking what general content areas were included in the existing introductory courses, all respondents were asked which topics they thought should be included. Because these respondents included those without introductory classes, it was not surprising that there was less than perfect agreement between what should be included and what was actually included. Table 4 shows the percentage of the respondents who felt that the general content area was important or very important and should be included in the introductory course. The findings on the importance of areas and topics for inclusion were relatively consistent with those in the topic coverage section. The four highest general content areas most commonly included were also the four areas rated as most important to be included. With the exception of three topics---different perspectives on sport (What is sport management?), curriculum in sport management (professional preparation), and computer application in sport management (professional preparation)-all topics in these four areas were considered important to be included by 79% or more of the respondents. Less than 50% of the respondents thought these three topics were important. Most topics in the general content areas-foundations of sport management-sport studies and foundations of sport management--business administration-were considered important by less than 70% of the respondents. Three topics-introductior, to sport studies (70%), introduction to business administration (79%), and communication (80%)-were rated important by 70% or more of the respondents. The finding suggests that even though topics in these two areas are perceived as important by fewer respondents than those in the previous three areas, there is some support for their inclusion as topics. The final three general content areas were felt to be important by 57% or less of the respondents. Introduction to eventlfacility management was the only topic viewed to be important by more than 74% of the respondents in these three areas. Summary, Implications, and Conclusion The major findings of the study may be summarized as follows: 1. The texts most commonly used by the surveyed sport management educators currently teaching the introductory course are Parks and Zanger's Sport & Fitness Management: Career Strategies and Professional Content and Parkhouse's The Management of Sport: Its Foundation and Application. 2. Most respondents agree that the purpose of an introductory course is to familiarize the student with the field of sport management, including types of jobs and career opportunities available. A majority of respondents also agree with two other purposes: "to address the basic concepts and issues of management in relation to the sport enterprise so as to have the student better understand the relationship between sport and management" and "to present the theoretical foundations of sport management to the student." "To provide

10 96 Li and Cotten the student with 'a little of everything' of the subject matter of sport management'' was the purpose with which the fewest respondents agreed (see Table 2). 3. Four general content areas are included in most respondents' course outlines and are considered important to be covered in the introductory course to sport management. They are: (a) What is sport management? (b) careers in sport management, (c) professional preparation in sport management, and (d) basic managerial concepts and theories. One implication of this study is that professionals charged with teaching an introductory course need to clearly define what they hope to achieve through the course. Once the goals are determined, it is important to exercise care in selecting a text appropriate for the objectives. Currently, there seems to be relative agreement as to what the objectives are in the introductory course; however, the content and approaches seem to vary greatly. It seems that the content of introductory courses differs tremendously from program to program. This can probably be explained by the fact that sport management is a rapidly growing field of study and most faculty are relatively new to the discipline. As sport management matures, more texts will be developed specifically for this type of course and more consistent approaches will probably develop. References -- Chedurai, P. ( 1985)LSportmana~emen~~acraperq~eRBe& Dynamics. Lewis, G., & Appenzeller, H. (1987). Successful sport management. Charlottesville, VA: The Michie Company. Lipsey, R.A. (Ed.) (1993). Sports market place. Princeton, NJ: Sportsguide. NASPE-NASSM Joint Task Force on Sport Management Curriculum and Accreditation. (1993). Standards for curriculum and voluntary accreditation of sport management education programs. Journal of Sport Management, 7(2), Parkhouse, B.L. (Ed.) (1991). The management of sport: Its foundation and application. St. Louis, MO: Mosby Year Book. Parks, J.B., & Zanger, B.R.K. (Eds.) (1991). Sport &fitness management: Career strategies and professional content. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.