Globalized Sport Management in Diverse Cultural Contexts

Cross-cultural management is an important facet of the globalized sport industry. Sport managers must be skilled at working with individuals from diverse cultures and aware of the key issues affecting sport on a global level. This book brings together cutting-edge research from leading sport scholars from around the world, to illuminate some of those important issues and to demonstrate what cross-cultural management looks like in a sporting context. Presenting case studies from countries as diverse as the US, Brazil, Poland and Venezuela, and across a range of sports from football to basketball, the book presents new empirical material derived from a range of inquiry protocols, including both qualitative and quantitative methods. It offers critical analyses of cross-cultural and managerial issues in key areas such as group cohesiveness, group communications, and misperception and misinterpretation. Making an important contribution to our understanding of both theory and practice in sport management, this book is fascinating reading for any student, researcher or practitioner with an interest in global and international sport.

James J. Zhang is Professor of Sport Management and Director of the International Center for Sport Management (ICSM) at the University of Georgia, USA. Brenda G. Pitts is Professor of Sport Management and Director of the Sport Business Research Laboratory at Georgia State University, USA.

1. Globalized Sport Management in Diverse Cultural Contexts: An Introduction, Part I: Uniqueness and Comparisons, 2. A Comparison of Canadian and Belgian Youth Sport Participation Profiles, 3. Purchasing Power? A Cross-Sport Comparison of the Use of Imported Athletes in Czech Sports, 4. Complementarity or Substitution: A Cross-Country Comparison of the Relationships between Sport Spectatorship and Physical Activity Participation, 5. Who Rules the Sport Governance? Analysis of CEOs Leading Sports Federations in Germany, 6. Shifting Working Culture to Successfully Hosting the Taipei Universiade, 7. Sport Management Scientific Development in Brazil, 8. Market Segmentation of Football Fans in Poland, Part II: Social Issues and Opportunities, 9. Despite Success, Media Coverage Lags: The Paradox in Women's Football Coverage, 10. Inequalities Persist for U.S. Women's Football, 11. Golden Goals: Professional Women's Football Clubs and Feminist Themes in Marketing, 12. Visibilities of American Black Males in Professional Sports and Sport Films: Contrasts Over 80 years, 1930-2009, 13. Ethnic Diversity and the Ascension of American Basketball: A Sociocultural and Historical Analysis, 14. Political Tensions and Their Impact on Atletas: A Case Study in Venezuela