Sport Management, Leadership and Strategy

Module title	Sport Management, Leadership and Strategy
Module code	SHSM039
Academic year	2025/6
Credits	30
Module staff	Dr Lynsey Melhuish (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	20

Module description

This module affords you the chance to develop a thorough grounding in strategic management and leadership approaches across a variety of important sporting contexts. You will be able to critically consider these approaches and appraise their importance to both sporting governance and development.

The module is compulsory for the MSc Sports Management and provides you with essential management content to underpin the programme. This module introduces you to the scale, scope and structure of the sports industry and the complex and multi-layered factors which influence operations and so that you are able to develop a strategic perspective and lead in change and invocation.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will allow you to explore critically, the scale and scope of an ever-changing sports industry, and the range of internal and external factors which influence management, leadership, and strategy. The module will develop your knowledge and understanding of complex, interconnected socio-cultural, political, and economic principles which drive innovation and change in a range of sporting contexts, within the UK and internationally. You will explore interrelationships between sports management, policy and practice and the needs and challenges of multiple stakeholders from across the public, private (commercial) and charity/voluntary (third) sectors, at the micro and macro level.

Graduate attributes. As part of this module, you are expected to develop the following skills:

Appraise a variety of theories, policies and practices associated with the management of sport in differing contexts, identifying synergy and conflict between theories and between theory and practice.
Critically distinguish the effects of differing management and leadership approaches in a range of sporting contexts.
Strategic thinking and problem solving in responding to complex and multi-layered internal and external factors which influence operational and strategic sports management.
Demonstrate the ability to make decisions on appropriateness of a range of strategies and for informing change at operational and strategic level in the sports industry.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Demonstrate critical awareness of the scale, scope, structure, and dynamic nature of the sports industry and implications from an operational and strategic management perspective
2. Critically evaluate the application of management and leadership theory in different sports contexts

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

3. Synthesise, analyse, and critically evaluate complex and multi-layered internal and external factors which inform policy, practice, and ongoing change in different sports management contexts
4. Display critical insight to the challenges associated with the roles of sport management professionals to satisfy diverse stakeholder needs across the sports sectors.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. Undertake research on a selected sports organisation and produce a case study report, contextualising theory to practice, critically analysing management challenges and providing recommendations to respond
6. Demonstrate competency in academic and professional communication with others (orally and in writing), and demonstrate autonomy and insight in critical reflection in the context of sport management

Syllabus plan

Illustrative content which may be subject to change:

Scale and scope of the sports industry.
Structure and sectors, UK based & internationally.
Management careers, roles, and functions (operational and strategic level).
Sports industry stakeholders and partnerships
Micro/macro analysis and external and internal factors influencing operations and strategy.
Evolution of management philosophy: traditional through to contemporary approaches.
Application and evaluation of different management and leadership approaches to respond to a range of sporting contexts and to respond to internal and external influences.
Change management and decision-making at operational and strategic level.
Case study research
Discussion and debate on a range of management sporting contexts

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
39	261	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities	1.5 hour x 10 weeks = 15 hours	Lecture and group discussions
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities	2 hour x 10 weeks = 20 hours	Seminars / workshops
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities	4 hours x 1 week = 4 hours	Tutorials
Guided Independent Study	261 hours	ELE Pre-and post-lecture/seminar activities & assessment preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
ELE independent study tasks	Various	1-6	Verbal and written
Group discussion/debates	Various	1-6	Verbal
Draft presentation structure	15 minute powerpoint format	1, 3, 4	Verbal or written
Draft case study report structure	3000 word	1-6	Verbal or written

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Presentation (pairs or 3s) oral and powerpoint	40	15 minutes (+5 minutes questions)	1, 3, 4	Verbal and written
Case study report	60	3000 word	1-6	Written
	0
	0
	0
	0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Presentation (pairs or 3s) oral and powerpoint	Presentation (individual) oral and powerpoint	1, 3, 4	August/September assessment period
Case study report	Case study report	1-6	August/September assessment period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to resubmit the dissertation or redo the presentation as required. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Beech, J. G. and S. Chadwick eds., (2013). The business of sport management. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson
Bill, K. (2009) Sports Management. Exeter. Palgrave
Bradbury, T. and I. O’Boyle eds., (2017). Understanding sport management: international perspectives. London, [England]: Routledge
Buchanan, D. and A. Huczynski, (2019). Organizational behaviour. 10th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson
Chadwick, S., D. Arthur and J. G. Beech eds., 2017. International cases in the business of sport. 2nd ed. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge
Covell , D., Walker, S & Hamakawa,. (2019) Managing sport organisations. 4thEdition. UK. Routledge.
Foster, G., N. O’Reilly and A. Davila, (2016). Sports business management: decision making around the globe. New York: Routledge
Hassan, D. ed., (2018). Managing sport business: an introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge
Hoye, R., Smith, A.C.T, Nicolson, M. and Stewart, B. (2022) Sport Management: principles and applications. 6th Edition. London. Routledge
Hums, M.A. and J. Maclean, (2018). Governance and policy in sport organizations. 4th ed. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Lussier, R.N. and C.F. Achua, (2016). Leadership: theory, application, & skill development. 6th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning
Matheson, V. A. and A. J. Fenn eds., (2022). Teaching sports economics and using sports to teach economics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing
Mullins, L.J. and G. Christy, (2016). Management and organisational behaviour. 11th ed. Harlow: Pearson
Rayner, M. and T. Webb, (2022). Sport management education: global perspectives and implications for practice. Milton, UK: Routledge
Schwarz, E.C. et al., (2016). Managing sport facilities and major events. 2nd ed. London: Routledge
Shilbury, D. ed., (2022). A research agenda for sport management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing
Skinner, J. and B. Stewart, (2017). Organizational behaviour in sport. Abingdon: Routledge
Taylor, P. (2011) Torkildsen’s sport and leisure management. 6th Edition. London. Routledge

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Key words search

Sports management, leadership, strategic management, sports governance, sport structures, PESTEL, micro and macro environments, organisational behaviour, change management

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	7
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	28/03/2023