The basic purpose of this research is based on the analysis of scientific-theoretical-practical knowledge in the field of brand management, with special emphasis on the brand as a significant factor of organizational competitive advantage and establishing a leading position in the sports market. By examining a wide variety of theoretical knowledge, we come across definitions that are based on the views of world’s leading marketing experts who point out that the basic function of marketing is brand building. Building, consolidating and expanding the brand require dimensions of clarity, consistency and leadership, adapted to the environment, with particular emphasis on competitive advantage, technology and on establishing a leading position in the market. Referring to the adequate literature, this paper covers the complete branding strategy, starting from the general ones that define the branding strategy as the most powerful communication tool; from strategies that are based on definitions that the key to success is the achievement of competitive advantage and the establishment of a leading position in the market; towards specific strategies who explore the basic elements of the branding strategy and their impact on the company’s business and productivity, as well as the impact on the consumers’ awareness.

The main aim of the current research is to determine the differences and correlations of sport seasons and economic statistics between the highest paid soccer players in the world, with an ankle injury in addition to other injuries and without an ankle injury. By comparing highest paid soccer players in the world (N=95), i.e., a sub-sample of players with an ankle injury (N=44), and a sub-sample of players without an ankle injury (N=51), it is possible to conclude that significant differences were not found in the variables of age, market value, the number of matches completed, the number of goals scored and the number of assists, as well as in the derived variables of the value of one player's day and the value of one match. In the basic variables the number of days missed due to injuries (222.61±165.61 vs 124.98±110.59), the number of seasons with injuries (5.68±2.23 vs 4.53±2.73) and the number of matches missed due to injuries (35.32±28.07 vs 20.12±19.2), as well as in the derived variables of number of days missed due to injuries per year (40.4±29.33 vs 27.16±18.18), number of games missed due to injuries per year (6.23±3.83 vs 4.32±3.21), value of days missed due to injuries (£7,627±£5,898 vs £5,070±£3,634) and the value of matches missed due to injuries (£13,134±£12,461 vs £9,276±£9,158), statistically significant differences were determined. All determined values were higher in the sub-sample of players who, in addition to other injuries, suffered from an ankle injury as well. In the multivariate exploration of the structure of the basic research variables, the results obtained indicate a latent space that had an interpretable three-dimensional structure. The structure of the space indicated a functionally independent relationship between the frequency and intensity of injury, on the one hand, and the chronological age, the value of the transfer and the player's efficacy on the other. It can be concluded that sports injuries, and ankle injuries especially in elite soccer players, have significant economic reprisals.

No abstract

The aim of this paper is to give an overview of characteristics, factors and organizational performance of the leadership in the narrative manner. We live in a time of rapid, increasingly dramatic, far more complex and unpredictable changes, which have a significant effect on behavior, business and management in organizations. Such processes are most commonly referred to as “hyperchange”, “hypercompetition”, and “hyperturbulence”. These processes take place in the period which is referred to the terms as “digital revolution”, “information era”, “digital economics”, “internet economics”, “net economics”, “knowledge economy/knowledge society”, “postindustrial society”, “age of discontinuity”, “time of uncertainty”, “third wave”, etc. The responses to the rapid change in the environment in which sports organizations perform their business and have wider social mission, and which are increasingly discontinuous in their character, seek from managers to be transformational leaders. This implies that leaders have the capability to create a vision, mission, policy and strategy and their implementation, achieving a much greater overall value for consumers and large transformational shifts in the short term. In the environment which is more dynamic, unpredictable, or insecure, leadership change has become a more critical aspect of leadership study. Modern leadership concepts focus on the leadership that organizations and individuals need. The idea of a shared leadership, virtual, transformational and one that is based on elements of emotional intelligence, obtains the right of citizenship and becomes the dominant field of research in the field of modern corporate governance.