Corporate social responsibility and social partnerships in professional football

Abstract

Within the professional football industry one of the most prominent ways to address corporate social responsibility is through a social partnership involving a range of organizations such as a Community Sports Trust (CST), a professional football club, business organizations and local authorities. These partnerships are responsible for the delivery of community initiatives around a range of social issues. This article seeks to understand the managerial aspects of this type of social partnership, and in particular the objectives and motivations for partnering, by drawing on three analytical platforms that take into account how differences between sectors affect social partnerships. Based on a series of interviews, it is shown that organizations get involved in social partnerships for different reasons and perceive the partnerships in different ways; that from an individual organizational perspective it is difficult to perceive a social partnership entirely in the context of one of the theoretical platforms; and that despite what would appear to be a strong sense of homogenization of organizational form across the sector there are significant differences between social partnerships. The article concludes by arguing that further research is needed to better understand the differences between social partnerships.

Notes

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2. Brammer, Jackson, and Matten, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and Institutional Theory’.

3. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’; Seitanidi and Crane, Social Partnerships and Responsible Business.

4. Waddock, ‘Building Successful Partnerships’; Warhurst, ‘Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Investment’; Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’; Seitanidi and Crane, Social Partnerships and Responsible Business.

5. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’.

6. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’; Seitanidi and Lindgreen, ‘Editorial: Cross-sector Social Interactions’.

7. Husted, ‘Governance Choices for Corporate Social Responsibility’; Albareda et al., ‘The Changing Role of Governments in Corporate Social Responsibility’.

8. Watson, ‘Football in the Community’; Walters and Chadwick, ‘Corporate Citizenship in Football’.

9. Anagnostopoulos and Shilbury, ‘Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility in English Football’.

10. Seitanidi, The Politics of Partnerships, six strands of partnership literature are outlined in regards to business-non-profit partnerships – the nature of the partnership; the managerial aspects; strategic use; legal and ethical considerations; partnership measurements; and societal implications.

11. Googins and Rochlin, ‘Creating the Partnership Society’; Bryson, Crosby, and Middleton Stone, ‘The Design and Implementation of Cross-sector Collaborations’.

12. Waddock, ‘Building Successful Partnerships’.

13. Bingham and Walters, ‘Financial Sustainability within UK Charities’; Anagnostopoulos and Shilbury, ‘Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility in English football’.

14. Bingham and Walters, ‘Financial Sustainability Within UK Charities’.

15. Anagnostopoulos and Shilbury, ‘Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility in English Football’, 278.

16. Selsky and Parker, ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

17. Waddock and Smith, ‘Relationships’; Berger, Cunningham, and Drumwright, ‘Social Alliances’; Seitanidi and Crane, ‘Implementing CSR Through Partnerships’.

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19. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’; ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

20. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’, 21.

21. This table is taken from Selsky and Parker, ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’, 30.

22. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’.

23. Porter and Kramer, ‘Strategy and Society’.

24. Graafland and van de Ven, ‘Strategic and Moral Motivation for Corporate Social Responsibility’.

25. Donaldson and Preston, ‘The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation’.

26. Selsky and Parker, ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

27. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’.

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30. Selsky and Parker, ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

31. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’, 852.

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33. Mahon and Wartick, ‘Dealing with Stakeholders’, 19.

34. Graafland and van de Ven, ‘Strategic and Moral Motivation for Corporate Social Responsibility’.

35. Scherer and Palazzo, ‘Toward a Political Conception of Corporate Responsibility’.

36. Lindgreen and Swaen, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’; Kotler and Lee, Corporate Social Responsibility.

37. Bondy, Moon, and Matten, ‘An Institution of Corporate Social Responsibility’; Brammer, Jackson, and Matten, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and Institutional Theory’.

38. Brammer, Jackson, and Matten, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and Institutional Theory’.

39. Bondy, Moon, and Matten, ‘An Institution of Corporate Social Responsibility’.

40. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’; ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

41. Patton, Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods.

42. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’; ‘Platforms for Cross-Sector Social Partnerships’.

43. Selsky and Parker, ‘Platforms for Cross-Sector Social Partnerships’.

44. Walters and Chadwick, ‘Corporate Citizenship in Football’, 60.

45. Hamil and Morrow, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility in the Scottish Premier League’.

46. Brown et al., Football and its Communities.

47. Babiak and Wolfe, ‘Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Sport’.

48. Brown et al., Football and its Communities.

49. Mellor, ‘The “Janus-faced Sport”’.

50. Selsky and Parker, ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

51. Porter and Kramer, ‘Strategy and Society’.

52. Bingham and Walters; ‘Financial Sustainability within UK Charities’.

53. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’; ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

54. Selsky and Parker, ‘Cross-sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues’.

55. Sheth and Babiak, ‘Beyond the Game’.

56. Anagnostopoulos and Shilbury, ‘Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility in English Football’, 278.

57. Selsky and Parker, ‘Platforms for Cross-sector Social Partnerships’.

58. Mizruchi and Fein, ‘The Social Construction of Organizational Knowledge’.

59. Scott, ‘The Adolescence of Institutional Theory’, 495.