Call for papers: Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability, and Stewardship within Sport

A special issue of International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing

An understanding that the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), in both theory and practice, has evolved in a relatively short period of time allows us to be forgiving of the currently fragmented literature on the topic. However, efforts to move the field forward in understanding and practice must be aggressively pursued. At all levels of companies in all manner of industries, initiatives guided by the current buzz-words such as those in this special issue title are being pursued, yet a wide array of stakeholders remain unclear as to the motives, outcomes, and best practices of such endeavours.

Within the sport-business context, research has emerged that is beginning to provide an understanding of these various corporate practices. Some have focused on bottom-line outcomes similar to those in other contexts, while others have looked variously at issues such as corporate motives and customer reactions. As of yet, we have not accumulated a systematically organized body of work that would allow us to truly claim that we are, as an academy, “on the cutting edge” of this phenomenon. Yet the industry forges ahead with or without us, and, in doing so, may reshape the nature of the industry and its stakeholder relationships. In many ways the initiatives evident in sport can be easily seen as reactions to demands brought about by stakeholders emboldened by management failures in the not-too-recent past. However motivated, the demand for change will not likely go away, and, in that respect, the very nature of business is being challenged.

Recently, several prominent journals have dedicated special issues to the topic of corporate social responsibility (e.g., Business & Society, Case Research Journal), including in our own discipline [Journal of Sport Management 23(6)]. To continue this important discussion, this special issue of IJSMM seeks to invite manuscripts that are forward-looking in nature, in an attempt to shape the industry in how it might contemplate its role and place in society. In doing so, these manuscripts should also aim to shed light on not only the concepts themselves, but also on the specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that may exist within the various sectors of the sport industry. Qualitative, quantitative, and conceptual approaches are equally encouraged.

Appropriate perspectives for this special issue may include (but are not limited to):

• Economic
• Environmental
• Sociological
• Health
• Ethics
• Strategy
• Organizational behaviour
• Marketing
• Communication
• Political science/public policy
• Philosophy
• Globalization
• Technology

Appropriate research foci may include (but are not limited to):

• Tests of existing theoretical models within sport
• Extensions of previous sport-based CSR work
• Level of analysis examinations
• Measurement/construct analysis
• Triple bottom line reporting
• Agency relationships
• Case studies
• Managerial best-practices

Important Date
Deadline for submission: 2 August, 2010