A Research Agenda for Sport Management

Book excerpt: Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Challenging the existing perspectives and models upon which sport management has been founded, this Research Agenda compiles cutting-edge research from expert contributors to offer a new definition of sport management. Examining the evolution of sport management as an academic discipline, this Research Agenda challenges the concepts, theories and standards for what should constitute legitimate future contributions to the field. Focussing on key strategic paradigms in sport governance and leadership, it tracks current management and research trends, and discusses the emergence, application, and relevance of emotion-related research into sport management. Examining sport organisations and professional sport at both international and national level, it identifies sport as both a high-profile social institution and an important leisure pursuit that exists within an increasingly business-like framework. Directing further research into community sport organisations, high performance sport systems and volunteer contributions to sport delivery, this Research Agenda will be an invigorating read for students and scholars of sport management studies. Its insights into governance, leadership and strategy in sport management will prove invaluable to practitioners working in the field.