Stephen Frawley - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Stephen Frawley
Internationally the past three decades has seen a significant growth in the staging of major spor... more Internationally the past three decades has seen a significant growth in the staging of major sport events (Cashman, 2006). These events are staged by host organisers and governments for many varied reasons. One rationale often provided by governments to justify their investment in such events is that they will encourage their population to become more physically active through sport participation. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore the impact that hosting major sport events has on sport participation for a host nation. To address this research question two recent events hosted in Australia, the 2003 IRB Rugby World Cup and Australia’s qualification for the 2006 FIFA Football World Cup, are investigated. The findings from the study suggest that both the sports of rugby and football witnessed an increase in sport registrations following the staging of the events. These increases however, with the exception of the junior rugby category, were consistent with the recent ...
Global Sport Leadership, 2019
Guided by the emerging literature on relational leadership this paper discusses how leadership is... more Guided by the emerging literature on relational leadership this paper discusses how leadership is socially constructed in the context of a professional sporting organization. An in-depth explorator...
The purpose of this paper is to examine the sponsorship legacy experienced by the Australian Olym... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the sponsorship legacy experienced by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) after hosting the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. A multi-layered theoretical framework based on the work of Daellenbach, Davies and Ashill (2006) forms the foundation of this analysis. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews with 14 executives, who were specifically associated with sponsorship and the Sydney Games. The findings indicate the positive impact hosting the Games had on the AOC’s profile and credibility in the sport industry. Conversely, the research found that the AOC’s post Olympic sponsorship projections for the years 20012004 were overly optimistic with less than half of the forecasted A$60 million revenue stream being achieved.
Over the past 30 years, a growing stream of research has been conducted that explores the social ... more Over the past 30 years, a growing stream of research has been conducted that explores the social consequences and resulting impacts of staging mega-sport events, such as the Olympic Games. We know that staging mega-sport events as large as the Olympic Games can create 'considerable turbulence'for a host community 282) and as a consequence of their size and scope these types of events are 'seldom embraced as “windows of opportunity” without opposition': 120). Over recent years, an ever-broadening range of ...
Journal of Sport Management
As research into sport innovation management continues to evolve, the innovation efforts of both ... more As research into sport innovation management continues to evolve, the innovation efforts of both for- and non-profit sport organizations are increasingly revealed to be focused on best serving the sport user. Design thinking—a human-centered approach to innovation—may hold promise for sport organizations attempting to identify and deliver on the unmet needs of their users. As such, we undertook a qualitative exploration of the innovation practices of a commercial sport organization, attempting to balance hybrid for- and non-profit service goals. Alignment with design thinking themes was discovered in the organization’s practice, as were performative components of design thinking practice. Our findings suggest that design thinking is suitable—and indeed desirable—for adoption into sport management practice, particularly as a means of enhancing innovation efforts, designing holistic sport experiences, and/or overcoming competing institutional demands.
Journal of Sport Management
There has been growing interest in gender diversity and the leadership development of women in re... more There has been growing interest in gender diversity and the leadership development of women in recent years within the broader field of management studies. Understanding leadership development processes is important for the sport industry, in which organizations are becoming increasingly professional and commercially focused. Despite the increased attention on gender diversity and leadership development within the sport industry to date, the scope and application of organizational gender and leadership development theory within an Australian sport context has been limited. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore the leadership development practices adopted by key stakeholders of the Australian sports industry, with the intention to uncover how they impact the role of women in different organizations. Specifically, the research investigated the practices of three organizations that have a major stake in Australian professional sport.
International Journal of Sport Communication
During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Australian professional sport leagues were impacted b... more During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Australian professional sport leagues were impacted by temporary league shutdowns. One example is the Suncorp Super Netball, the world’s premier netball competition. This commentary paper explores the Suncorp Super Netball league shutdown from the perspective of the players. Our commentary has emerged from an ongoing ethnographic study supported by interviews with two players (a representative on the players association and a club captain) conducted during the league shutdown. Such a shutdown was the first in the history of the league, and it required an unprecedented response, coordinated by interdependent stakeholders. The authors outlined the importance of stakeholder communication in effectively navigating this extraordinary situation. In addition, the authors discussed the usefulness of technology-as-context for teamwork and leadership, given the limitations on physical interaction and geographical separation. In conclusion, the autho...
Sport in Society
The purpose of this paper is to explore the financial growth and development of the governing bod... more The purpose of this paper is to explore the financial growth and development of the governing body of Rugby Union in Australia, now known as Rugby Australia. In doing so, the research observes Rugby Australia's transformation from a small amateur organisation into a multi-million dollar enterprise. The study examines 39 years of annual financial reporting from which four key operational phases were identified. Through this analysis the exponential growth of the organisation is quantified. Correspondingly, the composition of the organisation's specific revenue items was shown to have shifted significantly over the four phases. Furthermore, the changing accounting treatment of revenue line items within the financial reporting provides qualitative insight into the organisation's historical philosophy toward individual revenue streams. The study contributes to an emerging field of sport research which utilises financial documents as a primary method to explore organisational performance and development. This offers new empirical insights into the transformation of sport into a sophisticated commercial industry. In doing so, it addresses academic calls for greater adoption of quantitative financial methods to explore both sport history and sport management. Prior to sport being considered as a spectacle for paying consumers it was primarily regarded as a form of recreation and physical activity. The past half century, however, has seen a transformation of many sports and their governing organisations from 'kitchen table' operations to sophisticated commercial organisations (Stewart et al. 2004). This has seen the financial significance of the sport industry grow dramatically over the past 50 years. In an Australian context, sport was estimated to produce an annual economic impact of 50USbillionacrossevents,trade,tourismandforeignaffairs(BostonConsultingGroup2017).Mostrecently,theglobalsportindustrywasvaluedat50 US billion across events, trade, tourism and foreign affairs (Boston Consulting Group 2017). Most recently, the global sport industry was valued at 50USbillionacrossevents,trade,tourismandforeignaffairs(BostonConsultingGroup2017).Mostrecently,theglobalsportindustrywasvaluedat488.5 US billion in 2018, and was projected to reach a record $614.1 US billion by 2022: prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (also referred to as the novel Coronavirus). Commercialisation has caused a shift in the sport paradigm away from amateurism and voluntarism towards sport as a profession and thus an economic activity (Rowe 1996; Rowe 2009; Rowe 2011). This transformation has seen traditional methods of sport funding, such as member contributions, give way to gate receipts and sponsorship, which themselves are
European Sport Management Quarterly
Research question: Research into new sport teams has maintained a narrow focus on season ticket h... more Research question: Research into new sport teams has maintained a narrow focus on season ticket holders. This is redressed in this study by determining whether immediate preferences towards new loc...
Journal of Sport Management
Sport consumers and markets have traditionally been thought to exhibit unique behaviors from trad... more Sport consumers and markets have traditionally been thought to exhibit unique behaviors from traditional consumer products, particularly in respect to perceptions of loyalty. Yet, despite sport landscapes becoming increasingly crowded, there has been scant research measuring consumers’ repeat behavior in the context of the dense sports market. Through this research, we address this gap by applying Dirichlet modeling against the behaviors of 1,500 Australian sport consumers. Two questions are explored: First, do sport attendance markets exhibit purchase characteristics distinct from typical consumer markets? Second, do consumers treat sport leagues as complimentary or substitutable goods? The results provide evidence that consumer patterns within the sport attendance market are consistent to other repeat-purchase consumer markets. This finding further diminishes the long-held notion that sport requires unique methods of management. Furthermore, it was found that fans consume sport te...
Sport Management Review
National Sport Federations are responsible for governing all aspects of a sport within their resp... more National Sport Federations are responsible for governing all aspects of a sport within their respective countries. In developing and promoting their sport National Federations must respond to multi-level complexity arising from internal stakeholder needs and commercial, government and social demands. While organisational complexity responses have been extensively researched, little of this work has considered the unique positioning of sport federations. Drawing on the theoretical perspective of institutional logics and complexity, the authors adopted a case study approach to investigate Triathlon Australia's response to its complex operating environment, conducting 18 in-depth semi-structured interviews with current and former board members, chief executives, senior managers, and government representatives responsible for national sport policy and funding. Interview data were complemented with an examination of Triathlon Australia's annual reports and Australian government policy documents (1998-2016 period). Four themes and several organisational responses' themes emerged from the inductive and iterated thematic data analysis: (a) external complexityalignment, diversification, transcendence, negotiation; (b) interstitial complexityempathy, formalisation, collaboration, specialisation; (c) internal complexitydivision, balance, leverage; and (d) emotionsconnection, harness. Driven by quasiinsolvency and admission into the Olympic programme, and national government policy requirements for funding, Triathlon Australia responded to its complex environment by embracing all logics, designs and agendas, unravelling new ways to solve or mitigate it via hybrid responses. Implications for both theory and practice are outlined.
Internationally the past three decades has seen a significant growth in the staging of major spor... more Internationally the past three decades has seen a significant growth in the staging of major sport events (Cashman, 2006). These events are staged by host organisers and governments for many varied reasons. One rationale often provided by governments to justify their investment in such events is that they will encourage their population to become more physically active through sport participation. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore the impact that hosting major sport events has on sport participation for a host nation. To address this research question two recent events hosted in Australia, the 2003 IRB Rugby World Cup and Australia’s qualification for the 2006 FIFA Football World Cup, are investigated. The findings from the study suggest that both the sports of rugby and football witnessed an increase in sport registrations following the staging of the events. These increases however, with the exception of the junior rugby category, were consistent with the recent ...
Global Sport Leadership, 2019
Guided by the emerging literature on relational leadership this paper discusses how leadership is... more Guided by the emerging literature on relational leadership this paper discusses how leadership is socially constructed in the context of a professional sporting organization. An in-depth explorator...
The purpose of this paper is to examine the sponsorship legacy experienced by the Australian Olym... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the sponsorship legacy experienced by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) after hosting the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. A multi-layered theoretical framework based on the work of Daellenbach, Davies and Ashill (2006) forms the foundation of this analysis. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews with 14 executives, who were specifically associated with sponsorship and the Sydney Games. The findings indicate the positive impact hosting the Games had on the AOC’s profile and credibility in the sport industry. Conversely, the research found that the AOC’s post Olympic sponsorship projections for the years 20012004 were overly optimistic with less than half of the forecasted A$60 million revenue stream being achieved.
Over the past 30 years, a growing stream of research has been conducted that explores the social ... more Over the past 30 years, a growing stream of research has been conducted that explores the social consequences and resulting impacts of staging mega-sport events, such as the Olympic Games. We know that staging mega-sport events as large as the Olympic Games can create 'considerable turbulence'for a host community 282) and as a consequence of their size and scope these types of events are 'seldom embraced as “windows of opportunity” without opposition': 120). Over recent years, an ever-broadening range of ...
Journal of Sport Management
As research into sport innovation management continues to evolve, the innovation efforts of both ... more As research into sport innovation management continues to evolve, the innovation efforts of both for- and non-profit sport organizations are increasingly revealed to be focused on best serving the sport user. Design thinking—a human-centered approach to innovation—may hold promise for sport organizations attempting to identify and deliver on the unmet needs of their users. As such, we undertook a qualitative exploration of the innovation practices of a commercial sport organization, attempting to balance hybrid for- and non-profit service goals. Alignment with design thinking themes was discovered in the organization’s practice, as were performative components of design thinking practice. Our findings suggest that design thinking is suitable—and indeed desirable—for adoption into sport management practice, particularly as a means of enhancing innovation efforts, designing holistic sport experiences, and/or overcoming competing institutional demands.
Journal of Sport Management
There has been growing interest in gender diversity and the leadership development of women in re... more There has been growing interest in gender diversity and the leadership development of women in recent years within the broader field of management studies. Understanding leadership development processes is important for the sport industry, in which organizations are becoming increasingly professional and commercially focused. Despite the increased attention on gender diversity and leadership development within the sport industry to date, the scope and application of organizational gender and leadership development theory within an Australian sport context has been limited. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore the leadership development practices adopted by key stakeholders of the Australian sports industry, with the intention to uncover how they impact the role of women in different organizations. Specifically, the research investigated the practices of three organizations that have a major stake in Australian professional sport.
International Journal of Sport Communication
During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Australian professional sport leagues were impacted b... more During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Australian professional sport leagues were impacted by temporary league shutdowns. One example is the Suncorp Super Netball, the world’s premier netball competition. This commentary paper explores the Suncorp Super Netball league shutdown from the perspective of the players. Our commentary has emerged from an ongoing ethnographic study supported by interviews with two players (a representative on the players association and a club captain) conducted during the league shutdown. Such a shutdown was the first in the history of the league, and it required an unprecedented response, coordinated by interdependent stakeholders. The authors outlined the importance of stakeholder communication in effectively navigating this extraordinary situation. In addition, the authors discussed the usefulness of technology-as-context for teamwork and leadership, given the limitations on physical interaction and geographical separation. In conclusion, the autho...
Sport in Society
The purpose of this paper is to explore the financial growth and development of the governing bod... more The purpose of this paper is to explore the financial growth and development of the governing body of Rugby Union in Australia, now known as Rugby Australia. In doing so, the research observes Rugby Australia's transformation from a small amateur organisation into a multi-million dollar enterprise. The study examines 39 years of annual financial reporting from which four key operational phases were identified. Through this analysis the exponential growth of the organisation is quantified. Correspondingly, the composition of the organisation's specific revenue items was shown to have shifted significantly over the four phases. Furthermore, the changing accounting treatment of revenue line items within the financial reporting provides qualitative insight into the organisation's historical philosophy toward individual revenue streams. The study contributes to an emerging field of sport research which utilises financial documents as a primary method to explore organisational performance and development. This offers new empirical insights into the transformation of sport into a sophisticated commercial industry. In doing so, it addresses academic calls for greater adoption of quantitative financial methods to explore both sport history and sport management. Prior to sport being considered as a spectacle for paying consumers it was primarily regarded as a form of recreation and physical activity. The past half century, however, has seen a transformation of many sports and their governing organisations from 'kitchen table' operations to sophisticated commercial organisations (Stewart et al. 2004). This has seen the financial significance of the sport industry grow dramatically over the past 50 years. In an Australian context, sport was estimated to produce an annual economic impact of 50USbillionacrossevents,trade,tourismandforeignaffairs(BostonConsultingGroup2017).Mostrecently,theglobalsportindustrywasvaluedat50 US billion across events, trade, tourism and foreign affairs (Boston Consulting Group 2017). Most recently, the global sport industry was valued at 50USbillionacrossevents,trade,tourismandforeignaffairs(BostonConsultingGroup2017).Mostrecently,theglobalsportindustrywasvaluedat488.5 US billion in 2018, and was projected to reach a record $614.1 US billion by 2022: prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (also referred to as the novel Coronavirus). Commercialisation has caused a shift in the sport paradigm away from amateurism and voluntarism towards sport as a profession and thus an economic activity (Rowe 1996; Rowe 2009; Rowe 2011). This transformation has seen traditional methods of sport funding, such as member contributions, give way to gate receipts and sponsorship, which themselves are
European Sport Management Quarterly
Research question: Research into new sport teams has maintained a narrow focus on season ticket h... more Research question: Research into new sport teams has maintained a narrow focus on season ticket holders. This is redressed in this study by determining whether immediate preferences towards new loc...
Journal of Sport Management
Sport consumers and markets have traditionally been thought to exhibit unique behaviors from trad... more Sport consumers and markets have traditionally been thought to exhibit unique behaviors from traditional consumer products, particularly in respect to perceptions of loyalty. Yet, despite sport landscapes becoming increasingly crowded, there has been scant research measuring consumers’ repeat behavior in the context of the dense sports market. Through this research, we address this gap by applying Dirichlet modeling against the behaviors of 1,500 Australian sport consumers. Two questions are explored: First, do sport attendance markets exhibit purchase characteristics distinct from typical consumer markets? Second, do consumers treat sport leagues as complimentary or substitutable goods? The results provide evidence that consumer patterns within the sport attendance market are consistent to other repeat-purchase consumer markets. This finding further diminishes the long-held notion that sport requires unique methods of management. Furthermore, it was found that fans consume sport te...
Sport Management Review
National Sport Federations are responsible for governing all aspects of a sport within their resp... more National Sport Federations are responsible for governing all aspects of a sport within their respective countries. In developing and promoting their sport National Federations must respond to multi-level complexity arising from internal stakeholder needs and commercial, government and social demands. While organisational complexity responses have been extensively researched, little of this work has considered the unique positioning of sport federations. Drawing on the theoretical perspective of institutional logics and complexity, the authors adopted a case study approach to investigate Triathlon Australia's response to its complex operating environment, conducting 18 in-depth semi-structured interviews with current and former board members, chief executives, senior managers, and government representatives responsible for national sport policy and funding. Interview data were complemented with an examination of Triathlon Australia's annual reports and Australian government policy documents (1998-2016 period). Four themes and several organisational responses' themes emerged from the inductive and iterated thematic data analysis: (a) external complexityalignment, diversification, transcendence, negotiation; (b) interstitial complexityempathy, formalisation, collaboration, specialisation; (c) internal complexitydivision, balance, leverage; and (d) emotionsconnection, harness. Driven by quasiinsolvency and admission into the Olympic programme, and national government policy requirements for funding, Triathlon Australia responded to its complex environment by embracing all logics, designs and agendas, unravelling new ways to solve or mitigate it via hybrid responses. Implications for both theory and practice are outlined.