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The increasing commercialism of sport has been accompanied by pressure for sport organizations to become (more) professional. The kitchen table or boardroom approaches that may be ingrained in acce...

This article presents the results of an in-depth case study of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a global cross-sector social partnership (CSSP) through which governments and sport collaborate to address the social issue of doping in sport. The authors specifically explore how WADA has managed two key issues (securing financial contributions and the 2007 presidential election) using institutional and resource-dependence theories to better understand the question of why and how a sport CSSP responds strategically to its environmental and resource constraints in its precursory, establishment, and continuance phases. In doing so, the authors contribute to the sport management literature by providing new theoretical insights in the context of an international CSSP whose governance model challenges traditional management theories (Selsky & Parker, 2005) and is increasingly relevant in the current era of global management of social issues (Scherer & Palazzo, 2010). Findings suggest that for global CSSPs internal and external legitimacy is imperative through securing moral and geopolitical legitimacy, and there is value in considering resource-dependence and institutional theories as complementary rather than competing frameworks.

Effective sport talent identification and development (TID) programmes are integral to a nation’s success in international sport. Using a transdisciplinary approach that involved sport practitioner...

The vast majority of research on sport consumers fails to utilize a theoretical understanding of motivation to examine behaviour. Self-Determination Theory was used to develop a new understanding of sport consumer motivation. Sport consumer motivation is conceptualized as representing autonomy and control orientations that energize a desire to engage in sport goal directed behaviour to acquire positive benefits. A multi-attribute survey instrument was designed to measure five motivational sub-types and administered to three samples of sport consumers, with the goal of testing for reliability and validity (N = 1222). Structural equation modelling analysis revealed that control orientation of sport motivation regulates desired benefits of socialization and diversion. In contrast, autonomy orientation of motivation regulates desired benefits of performance, esteem and excitement. Sport consumer motivation explained over 60% of the variance in game attendance, media usage, wearing team related clothing and purchasing team related merchandise. Results illustrate how sport consumer motivation represents intrinsically motivated behaviour that treats sport consumption activity as an end in itself as well as extrinsically motivated behaviour as the engagement in an activity is to obtain a separable instrumental outcome from the activity itself.

The conceptual roots of involvement are considered to better understand the construct's use in sport management research and practice. Sport involvement is conceptualized as a multifaceted construct representing the degree to which participation in a sport activity becomes a central component of a person's life and provides both hedonic and symbolic value. An empirical analysis of marathon runners (N = 3117) was conducted using three involvement facets of hedonic value, centrality and symbolic value to classify participants into theoretically meaningful groups within the broader, stage-based theoretical framework of the Psychological Continuum Model. The classification revealed behavioural differences suggesting runners with stronger psychological connections increasingly engage in the frequency, depth and breadth of running-related behaviours. Managerial implications are discussed.

Research indicates more than half of the world's population does not engage in sufficient physical activity to benefit their health (Sapkota, Bowles, & Ham, 2006; Warburton, Nicol & Bredin, 2006; World Health Organisation (WHO), 2003) and reducing the amount of people in this category by just one percent could save milUons of Uves and billions of dollars (Katzmarzyk, Gledhill & Shephard, 2000; Stephenson et al., 2000; WHO, 2003; 2006). When developing strategies to increase levels of physical activity, many aspects of daily life can be targeted (Salus et al., 2006). However, with advancing technology reducing the levels of activity required at work and in the home (Livingstone, Robson, Wallace & McKinley, 2003), increasing participation in physicaUy active leisure, such as sport and active recreation, is considered to play an important role (SaIUs et al., 2006; WHO, 2006). Therefore, the capacity to understand and increase participation in physicaUy active leisure is not only important for the sport and recreation managers delivering these opportunities, but also for those charged with protecting the pubUc interest.In pursuing these goals, researchers continue to search for sound theoretical frameworks (e.g. Green, 2005; Jackson et.al, 2005; Henderson & Bialeschki, 2005; Godbey, Caldwell, Floyd & Payne, 2005). Beaton and Funk (2008) developed a set of criteria to evaluate a framework s ability to promote collaboration among researchers as well as enhancing the research-practice relationship. These criteria were then used to evaluate a selection of frameworks applicable to the study of physically active leisure. As sport and recreation managers are responsible for implementing many of the strategies and policies to increase participation (Jackson et al, 2005), a central theme was the ability of a framework to provide functional meaning to practitioners as well as fulfilling the requirements of sound basic research. The results of Beaton and Funk (2008) show the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) (Funk & James, 2001) performed best among the assessed frameworks. It was proposed that the PCM provides a sound platform for building a theory of participation (TOP) in physically active leisure to guide future research and ultimately inform the practice of sport and recreation managers and public policymakers.The PCM provides a framework for understanding the development of commitment to activities where the developmental process is divided into the stages of Awareness, Attraction, Attachment and Allegiance. Each stage has different characteristics and influences which ultimately could allow practitioners to apply differential management strategies to help people move through these stages to become committed and loyal participants. However, substantial research and development of the framework is required before this ultimate aim is able to be realized. Beaton & Funk (2008) provide a number of propositions to guide future research working toward producing a practically relevant TOP in physically active leisure. First and foremost among these propositions is the need for an appropriate staging mechanism for the framework. While the literature supports the conceptual basis of each stage of the PCM, without a suitable method for placing participants into their respective stages researchers cannot begin to validate the existence of the stages, or attempt to understand the processes governing transitions between the stages (McFarlane, 2001). In this paper, empirical evidence provides support for a staging mechanism for the PCM. The primary aim of the research was to develop a mechanism for stage-matching participants which, in keeping with the notion of collaboration, could be applied by both practitioners and academics.As a final point before describing the framework, it is worth noting why this investigation has been framed in the context of physically active leisure instead ofleisure in general, or indeed a TOP applicable to any activity. …

Recent reviews demonstrate participation in active recreation and the development of an active lifestyle is important to a broad spectrum of society. Reviews further highlight the presence of an underdeveloped knowledge base for active leisure. Theory development is required to guide researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Specifically, evaluating the theoretical frameworks applied to active recreation is needed to foster collaboration and enhance the research-practice relation as well as to allow for rigorous testing and evaluation of theories, policies, programs, and interventions. Our paper responds to this call by developing five criteria to assess a selection of theoretical frameworks. The assessment demonstrates the limitations and advantages of various frameworks. Five propositions are presented to illustrate future theory development.