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- Entrepreneurial passion amongst female athletesPublication . Ratten, Vanessa; Miragaia, DinaAn increasing number of female athletes are becoming sport entre-preneurs in order to utilize their prior sport experience in a businesssetting. Past research has focused on the role entrepreneurial pas-sionplaysinanentrepreneur’s career but few studies have exam-ined it from a sport and gender perspective. Using the theoreticalframework of entrepreneurial passion, this exploratory study utilizessemi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with ten female ath-letes to analyze the role of work, obsessive, and harmonious pas-sion. The findings reveal that female athletes consider gender as aninfluencing factor affecting their entrepreneurial passion but alsoutilize prior networks and business connections made in their sportcareer for business ventures. The managerial implications from thearticle are the need for more entrepreneurship training amongstathletes, and this is linked to the need for policymakers to focus onbuilding female entrepreneurial capacity. Future research sugges-tions are that there needs to be more link between the disparategender, sport, and entrepreneurial passion literature.
- Interactions between financial efficiency and sports performance: Data for a sustainable entrepreneurial approach of European professional football clubsPublication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Ferreira, João José de Matos; Carvalho, Alexandre Miguel Guerreiro; Ratten, VanessaPurpose – In the current economic climate, the huge rise in the levels of debt incurred by professional football clubs challenges the need to improve their efficiency levels. Hence, analysis of their productivity is essential and represents an integral dimension to any realistic and efficient strategy. Any such strategy includes the identification and analysis of the inputs and outputs that underpin club sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between the team performance of professional European football clubs and the stability of their financial efficiency. Design/methodology/approach – The sample spans 15 professional football clubs that won the league titles in the leading football leagues (the English, German, Spanish, Italian and French leagues) in the period between 2009 and 2014. The analysis made recourse to the data envelopment analysis method. Findings – The results demonstrate that of the 15 clubs analysed, only 10 proved efficient. Football is now an industry that moves major quantities of financial capital and holds the attentions of large groups of fans worldwide. However, despite this attractiveness, the financial crisis and recession, ongoing since 2008, increasingly requires the better management of such resources. To this end, clubs should improve their control over the financial resources available given the positive relationship prevailing between the sporting performance of clubs and their levels of financial efficiency. Originality/value – Analysis of the efficiency levels of the inputs and outputs encapsulating performance related financial variables may aid in improving the standards of planning and sustainable management at professional sport clubs.
- Análise das Metodologias de Avaliação da Empregabilidade dos Graduados em Desporto de PortugalPublication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Carvalho, Pedro Guedes deO objectivo deste artigo consiste na análise de metodologias utilizadas para monitorar e avaliar a empregabilidade dos graduados em Portugal na área de Desporto. A metodologia constou de uma consulta de literatura nacional e internacional para se clarificar o conceito de empregabilidade e suas implicações no desenho metodológico da avaliação da empregabilidade. Foram consultados inquéritos aplicados por entidades oficiais e analisada a coerência entre as dimensões/variáveis contempladas e o conceito de empregabilidade. Da análise realizada identificaram-se problemas de validade, fiabilidade, discriminação e comparabilidade entre estudos. Estes resultados indicam que é necessário encontrar uma nova forma de avaliar a empregabilidade. Sugere-se que essa avaliação seja realizada através da metodologia de triangulação (dados e investigadores) que consubstancie um projecto de investigação inter-institucional no futuro próximo.
- Measuring Services Quality of Ski Resorts: an approach to identify the consumer profilePublication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Conde, Diogo; Soares, JorgeThis study determined the consumer’s profile in winter sports, using their degree of satisfaction with services provided by a ski resort. A questionnaire was administered to 229 tourists/visitors and analyzed their satisfaction according to five factors: facilities and equipment; attributes of the slopes; resort services; restaurants, accommodation and social activities; and also about the access to the resort. Determination between levels of satisfaction indicated by different consumer segments was performed using a cluster analysis. The clusters identified were partially satisfied, dissatisfied, dissatisfied with everything, satisfied with everything. In relation to gender, no significant differences were identified in any cluster. With regard to expe-rience to visited other ski resorts, significant differences were found between tourists/visitors which have already done, comparing with the individuals who never been a similar context. It was found that only 5.2% of consumers who have had similar experiences with other ski resorts were satisfied with all services provided. The results of this study enable to the managers identify the attributes by which tourists/visitors have a higher level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction and foremost identify the valences which can be subject to some kind of improvement. This approach enables the adaptation of services according the preferences and expectations of tourists/visitors, with the prospect of incrementing consumer loyalty.
- Do stakeholders matter in strategic decision making of a sports organization?Publication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Ferreira, João; Carreira, AndréThis study aims to identify and prioritize the stakeholders involved in making decisions in a sports organization. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the influence of the attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency on the salience of the various stakeholders. The results showed a convergence of external and internal decision makers’ perceptions, concerning the three main stakeholder groups: top management, sponsors and member association. Pearson correlations identified four types of stakeholder: definitive, dangerous, demanding and non-stakeholders. A generalized differentiation was also found in stakeholder classification, regarding evaluation of attributes, between external and internal decision makers. In addition, the study suggests the success of organizations’ management will depend on correct identification of stakeholders and consequent assessment of their relevance, in order to highlight who should get priority, and how, in strategic decision making.
- Mix between Satisfaction and Attributes Destination Choice: A Segmentation Criterion to Understand the Ski Resorts ConsumersPublication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Martins, Marco Alexandre BatistaThis study examined the attributes prioritized by tourists when choosing a winter sports destination and their degree of satisfaction with the services provided by Portugal’s only ski resort. Two hundred tourists completed a questionnaire with factor analysis then deployed to extract the data that served as the basis for cluster analysis. Our results report discrepancies between the attributes valued by tourists when choosing winter sports destinations and their degree of satisfaction with the ski resort’s services. Moreover, the combination between attributes/ motivations prevailing in destination selection and the subsequent satisfaction with the services provided may generate information of relevance to evaluating organizational competitiveness.
- Sports development environment in swimming clubs: a preliminary study on Portuguese swimmers’ perceptionsPublication . Costa, Aldo M.; Grazina, C.; Miragaia, D. A. M.; Crisóstomo, Luís; Carvalho, Pedro Guedes deO objetivo central do artigo foi analisar as perceções dos nadadores Portugueses sobre o seu contexto de desenvolvimento desportivo. Foram estudadas as perceções de 207 nadadores Portugueses de nível nacional (juniores e séniores), homens e mulheres, provenientes de 28 clubes de natação. Os nadadores foram diferenciados em três grupos de acordo com o nível desportivo médio do clube. Foi aplicada uma versão adaptada do Talent Development Environment Questionnaire for Sport (TDEQ), o qual, estatisticamente, demonstrou uma confiabilidade excelente (> .8) ou satisfatória (> .6) em cinco dos sete fatores. Contudo as comunalidades associadas a cada variável apresentam bastante variabilidade (entre 0.04 e 0.768). Quanto às perceções dos nadadores inquiridos, os dados sugerem que a qualidade do contexto de desenvolvimento desportivo não parece ser significativamente distinto entre os 28 clubes de natação Portugueses envolvidos em divisões desportivas distintas.
- Corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship: drivers of sports sponsorship policyPublication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Ferreira, João José de Matos; Ratten, VanessaSport policy has increasingly become influenced by corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives aimed at incorporating social, economic and environmental concerns. More recently, sport has incorporated social policies that are entrepreneurial in nature, which has lead to an increase in sports event sponsorship coming from both a social entrepreneurship and CSR perspective. The aim of this study is to analyse the reasons why organisations sponsor sport events at a community level and to identify the drivers that support this decision-making. For this study, 35 public and private sector organisations were involved, from several economic sectors. A questionnaire was applied to the Chief Executive Officers, vice presidents, directors and managers (N = 80) and analysed through an exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis. The results show for drivers that were most relevant to sports sponsorship policy: customer loyalty and motivation of employees, reputation and social networks, innovation and opportunity, and CSR. The findings are helpful to organisations developing policy initiatives about how to use sports sponsorship to increase their social entrepreneurship and CSR initiatives.
- Sport events at the community level: A pedagogical tool to improve skills for students and teachersPublication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Costa, Carla D. M. da; Ratten, VanessaPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify motives that lead students and teachers of sports science to participate voluntarily in the organization of sport events at a community level. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire composed of five dimensions, expression of values, concern for the community, interpersonal contacts, vocational guidance and personal growth/development, was given to a sample of students and teachers. Then a confirmatory factorial analysis was applied to the five dimensions and descriptive statistics was used to identify the ranking in terms of the reasons why teachers and students decide to engage in extracurricular activities. The Mann-Whitney U-Test was used to identify significant differences between the two groups. Findings – Teachers and students consider that the main reasons for their involvement are related to expression of values, concern for the community and vocational guidance. Significant differences were found indicating that for students, gaining experience for future jobs is one of their priorities but for the teachers they consider that helping others and contributing to the good of society are the main reasons. Research limitations/implications – The implications for organizers of community sport events are that different rationale for contributing need to be taken into account. Originality/value – This study contributes to the pedagogical strategies that can be used to improve the training of the sports science students. It is important to note that the involvement of students and teachers in extracurricular activities can benefit from their integration into the labor market.
- The Strategic Involvement of Stakeholders in the Efficiency of non-profit Sport Organisations: from a Perspective of Survival to SustainabilityPublication . Miragaia, D. A. M.; Ferreira, João; Ratten, VanessaThe objective of this study is to analyse the efficiency of non-profit sports clubs and identify the perceptions of their directors with regards to the stakeholders that exert the greatest influence over club efficiency levels. In order to analyse the efficiency of these clubs, we made recourse to the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. We also applied the Mann-Whitney test, to identify whether there are significant differences between efficient and non-efficient clubs with regards to the influence held by their stakeholders. We thus report that the majority of clubs operate efficiently. Both the efficient and the non-efficient clubs classify the club managers, members, sponsors, fans and athletes as the most important stakeholders to their efficiency levels. The results convey how there are no significant differences among the management team perceptions on the role of stakeholders in attaining club efficiency. The study also details the respective procedures that inefficient clubs should adopt in order to approximate the efficiency frontier.