Archives in Sport Management and Leadership
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Spring-Summer 2023

The main goal of the current research was to design a national branding model of Iran through the sport industry. This research was conducted using Grounded theory qualitative method. The statistical population of the research included specialists and experts familiar with the topic of branding, global marketing in sport and related issues, as well as those involved in the country's sport; who were selected using theoretical and snowball sampling methods and their number reached 18 people. The tool and method of data collection was an individual semi-structured interview. In order to analyze the data, Glazeri's approach was used, including three main steps of open coding, selective coding and theoretical coding. During the process of open and selective coding, a total of 134 concepts and 11 main categories were identified. The obtained categories were divided into 2 general dimensions "factors affecting national branding through the sport industry" (6 categories, 93 concepts) and "Consequences of national branding of Iran through the sport industry" (5 categories, 41 concepts). In the theoretical coding stage, the final research model was drawn. Knowing the factors affecting the national branding of the country and its wide consequences, aligning the attitude-behavior of the country's managers and sport and non-sport officials is necessary to move in this direction.

The purpose of this study was to design an empowerment model for physical education teachers. At first, the theoretical foundations and previous researches in this field were reviewed and the Grounded Theory methodology was selected for this study. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with 16 experts. The interviewees were physical education experts in schools who were selected by snowball and theoretical methods. The data obtained from this section were analyzed by Strauss and Corbin method. Based on this, a systematic approach including three main steps of open coding, axial coding and selective coding was used. During the open coding process, a total of 71 common concept codes formed 14 categories based on overlaps and similarities. Finally, in the pivotal and selective coding stage, the empowerment model of physical education teachers was drawn with the focus on the central category of individual and organizational development. To determine validity, the final results of the research and the process of obtaining the research model were provided to four experts, who all confirmed the research findings. To measure the reliability, the intra-subject agreement method was used, which was equal to 0.85 and was confirmed. Examining the status, position and presentation of empowerment indicators in the education system and its subordinate teachers can help policy makers, principals and planners to make appropriate decisions to reduce the gap between the current and desired status of teacher empowerment. Causes, strategies, contexts, intervention conditions, as well as consequences are explained separately.

The purpose of this study was to investigate barriers to winning medals at international swimming events: an understanding of the Iranian expert's heuristic patterns. In this study, Q methodology was used as one of the mixed methods. The target population of the study was 20 people who consisted of national team swimmers, elderly swimmers, swimming coaches, the swimming federation board, and active provincial swimming officials. By creating a space of discourse, 50 short phrases were chosen as the Q phrase. After evaluating and summarizing the discourse space, using the experts’ opinions, 37 phrases were selected as the final Q phrase. These expressions were provided to the research experts in the form of the "Q Ranking Questionnaire." Data were analyzed using Q factor analysis. Inadequate funding in swimming, Lack of proper planning for talent identification and Weakness in attracting sponsors was examples of Q expressions. Results of the Q factor analysis showed six heuristic patterns about the barriers to winning medals at international swimming events: attitude-oriented; infrastructure; financial; technical and executive; managerial; and, education and scientific-based. Close attention is suggested to the factors identified as barriers to the success of swimmers in international competitions.

The purpose of this research is to provide a branding model for clubs in the premier football league of Isfahan province. The method of this research was descriptive and causal, which was carried out by survey method. The statistical sample is determined after estimating the statistical population using Cochran's formula. The field of study of this research is the Premier League clubs of Isfahan province. The statistical population of the research includes all the professors (doctoral students) who have opinions in the field of marketing and sports branding, and the managers and experts of the Premier League football clubs in the study area. 384 people were considered as a statistical sample; Sampling was done randomly. Based on this, 384 questionnaires were distributed, of which 316 questionnaires were completely referred (return rate: 81%). The results of the second-order factor analysis showed that there is agreement between the experimental data and the conceptual model of the research; Therefore, the model of factors affecting the development of branding of Isfahan Premier League clubs was confirmed in the form of 4 factors, including performance (11 indicators), brand image and value (10 indicators), fan satisfaction (12 indicators) and service delivery (3 indicators). Finally, based on the results of Friedman's test in ranking the factors, team performance was identified as the most important factor; Therefore, for the development of the club's brand, managers of football clubs must adopt strategies to improve the club's performance.

Given the importance of service quality in the development of sports brands, the overall purpose of this study was to study the role of service quality dimensions in the brand equity of the Iranian football clubs based on the SERVQUAL model. The study was a descriptive-survey research and a practical one. The research population consisted of all football fans in Iranian Premier League who had experience of attending in their favorite team stadium. Due to the lack of accurate and reliable statistics of the number of fans, the statistical sample was calculated using Cochran's formula. Using available purposive sampling, 210 fans were surveyed as the research sample. Data were collected using Brand Equity Questionnaire developed by Yoo and Donthu (2001) and SERVQUAL questionnaire developed by Jaberi et al. (2013). Eight experts in the field of sports management and marketing confirmed the face and content validity of the research tools. The reliability of the research tools were verified based on Cronbach's alpha. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses. According to the research findings, service quality had a positive and significant effect on brand equity of Iranian Premier League clubs. The results showed that service quality components (Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy) had a significant and positive effect on brand equity of football clubs in Iranian Premier League. According to research findings, promoting and improving the service of Iranian football clubs can play a key role in developing their brand equity.

The purpose of this research was to estimate and evaluate the effectiveness of advertisements resulting from the endorsement of famous athletes on the attitude of students of sport sciences faculties in Tehran. The present study is applied and part of correlation studies with a structural equation modeling approach. The statistical population of the research was all students studying in Sport sciences faculties in Tehran and among sports fans, 384 of whom were selected as a statistical sample through an online questionnaire and using available sampling. The tool of data collection was the modified questionnaire on the effectiveness of Keshmiri (2016) advertising based on the AIDA model and the Pyun (2006) questionnaire on attitude towards advertising through sports. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results were calculated and the final model was presented using the structural equation modeling method through Smart PLS3 software. The findings showed that the endorsement of famous athletes has many outcomes, which in this research showed a positive and significant effect on the attitude of student fans. Therefore, according to the study findings, it can be said that the advertisements made by famous athletes have been effective both in general and in the aspects of attracting attention, creating interest, and the desire to make a purchase. Finally, the results showed that the effectiveness of advertisements by famous athletes can create a positive attitude in the minds of the audience and cause younger athletes to be more successful in this field.

Considering the importance of sports and physical activity for women and the necessity of involvement of economic structures to advance the goals in this area, the present research was conducted with the aim of identification of obstacles of attracting and retaining sports donors in the field of women's sports infrastructure development in Isfahan province. This research is an applied research and it is mixed (qualitative-quantitative) in nature. The method of data collection in the qualitative part was the opinion of experts using the Delphi method, and in the quantitative part, a researcher-made questionnaire was used. The statistical population of the research in the quantitative part included all active benefactors of Isfahan province, members of the faculty of sports management and sociology and Islamic sciences, and managers of endowment and charity offices in Isfahan province. In the benefactors and managers section, the available cases were selected and in the faculty members section, the selection was done in a simple random manner. Barriers were identified first based on library studies and then based on the opinions of experts (Delphi method). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the contribution of each barrier. Based on the obtained results, the fit of the model of barriers to attracting and retaining sports donors in the field of women’s sports infrastructure development in Isfahan province was confirmed with five managerial, economic, cultural, legal and informational barriers and finally, the proposed strategies were presented in order to remove the obstacles.

The aim of this research is analyzing educational need Assessment of sport science units for students of Sama colleges in west Azerbaijan province. This research performs a descriptive and mixed analysis (qualitative with interviews and quantitative in the field). The research includes a researcher-made questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale with reliability and validity confirmation. The statistical population consisted of 220 students who were about to graduate and sports science instructors of Sama colleges in West Azerbaijan province. The sampling of this research was 140 people by random cluster method and based on Morgan's table. Data were analyzed in meaningful level (p≤0.05) by means of Whitney's U and Friedman tests. The results showed that the social-emotional needs, among all research needs, are most important. Also, no significant differences were found between motor physical needs and social-emotional needs, but significant differences were found between the Cognitive-scientific skill-sport’s needs, facilities- equipment needs. Based on our preference outcomes we must clarify the most prior output expected of the current research, which should be considered strategies for development of qualitative and quantitative in this field.

The purpose of this research was to analyze the implementation of E-government system in sport organizations in Iraq.  The statistical population of the qualitative part based on thematic analysis approach included university sport management professors and managers, also experts of Iraqi sport organizations. Sampling of this part of the research was done with the purposeful method (13 interviews). Research tools included systematic library study and structured exploratory interviews. The research method in the quantitative part was descriptive-correlation. The statistical population of this section included managers and executive experts in Iraqi sport organizations, number of which are sufficient for modeling in Smart PLS software. The research tool of this part was the questionnaire extracted from the qualitative stage. According to the results of the qualitative section, 4 aspects of Capacity and Readiness, Challenges and Obstacles, Solutions and Initiatives and finally, Results and Benefits were taken for granted. The components of each of these perspectives were divided into three dimensions; organizational dimension, employees and beneficiaries. In the second step, the results of structural equation of model showed that the research structure had a good fit. Based on modeling results Challenges and Obstacles, Solutions and Initiatives, Results and Benefits, and Capacity and Readiness had the most significant effect, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the implementation of E-government in sport organizations in Iraq requires utilizing the capacities and readiness so that it can address the challenges to achieve the desired results and benefits.

The design of the strategic behavior model of sports managers is exploratory in nature and in need of being provided with a schematic model. Using a classic approach with grounded theory, data analysis was done in four overlapping processes of initial coding, focused coding, axial coding, and theoretical coding. Data collection and analysis was done consciously and simultaneously. Participants included 20 professors of physical education, educational sciences, psychology and political science, senior managers of physical education departments of universities and managers and experts of the sport and all people with experience in sports management who were purposefully selected. The average duration of interviews varied between 15 and 30 minutes. The findings of this study showed that the components of behavior including political, supportive, ethical, investment, entrepreneurial, innovative, mentoring, conservative and opportunistic behavior can be a suitable behavioral model for Iranian sports managers. Knowledge, strategic thinking and skills of managers complement this behavioral pattern. The findings also showed that in this pattern of behavior, which was ideal for participating managers, items such as organizational barriers and problems, managers' styles and individual differences are among the confounding factors in this model. In general, the results showed that Iranian sports managers can be inspired by the presented model to help their popularity, growth and excellence of the organization, increase profits, gain opportunities, support employees, appropriate distribution of resources and overcome the daily problems of the organization.

This research was conducted with the aim of identifying and ranking the success factors of online sales of sports products and services on Instagram. The statistical population in this research included experts, professors and researchers in the field of media and marketing in the qualitative part and in the quantitative part it included experts in the field of media, marketing, internet business owners, sellers, service providers and online customers. In the qualitative part, the snowball sampling method was used and theoretical saturation was achieved with 13 interviews, and in the quantitative part, 130 people were indicated by using the Cochran formula. For this purpose, using a hybrid approach, first by using a library study and in-depth interview to identify the components, and then by using a researcher-made questionnaire from the components identified in the previous stage and conducting a survey. The findings have shown that the six components of confidence, ease of use, responsiveness, quality of information, quality of the page and promotion are effective in this matter. Among these components, the quality of the Instagram page, the quality of information and promotion are considered to be the most important factors in the success of online sales of sports products and services on media. It seems that the use of blind factors and research findings can have a special effect in improving online sales of sports products and services.

The present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between the Machiavellian personality of managers and the perceived stress and burnout of the staff of the general department of Youth and Sports in Dhil al-Qar province of Iraq.The current research is of the correlation type and the statistical population includes 240 managers and staff of the general department of Youth and Sports in Dhil al-Qar province of Iraq in 2022, and using the existing method and based on Cochran's formula, 154 people were selected as a statistical sample. The data collection tools included Machiavellianism questionnaires (Christie & Geis, 2013), perceived stress scale (Cohen et al., 1983) and job burnout questionnaires (Maslach et al., 1997). Data were analyzed using multiple regression tests and Pearson's correlation coefficient by SPSS 23 software.The results showed that there is a significant relationship between the Machiavellian personality of managers with perceived stress and burnout of staff of the general department of Youth and Sports in Dhil al-Qar province of Iraq (P≤0.05). Also, the results showed that there is no significant difference between Machiavellian personality with job burnout and perceived stress in terms of gender, level of education and work experience (P≥0.05).The findings indicate that there is a relationship between the Machiavellian personality of managers and the stress and burnout of staff. It is suggested to prevent the development of Machiavellian personality among managers in order to avoid the negative effects of Machiavellianism along with organizational progress.