Environmental Factors and Stakeholders Influence on Professional Sport Organisations Engagement in Sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility: A South African Perspective

Abstract

As the sporting industry has become more professionalised, there have been an increased number of studies focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement within this sector. However, with unique aspects of professional sport organisations and limited studies on this in developing market contexts, this paper reports on a study that aimed to investigate the impact of environmental factors and stakeholders that have an impact on sustainable CSR engagement in the South African professional sport industry. Following an interpretivist philosophy, this study adopted a qualitative research approach to collect the primary data. Key stakeholders were strategically selected from six South African professional sport organisations and ten in-depth interviews were conducted. This inquiry revealed that several internal and external environmental factors influence sustainable CSR engagement by professional sport organisations, namely, (1) internal objectives, funds, people and resources and (2) external uncontrollable factors, economy, and community awareness. The study also found that corporate partnerships, non-corporate partnerships and targeted communities were the main stakeholder types involved in CSR activities. The study, therefore, expands the understanding of CSR engagement within the professional sport industry in South Africa, also contributing to CSR practice and policy within this sector by proposing the engagement in more sustainable CSR initiatives.

The Incidence of Social Responsibility in the Adoption of Business Practices

“…Additionally, some international results indicate that CSR practices' adoption positively impacts environmental sustainability in the short, medium and long term [43], 2020). Similar results occur in the South African context, where internal and external environmental factors significantly influence the commitment to a more sustainable and committed CSR [44]. In this regard, the second hypothesis of the present research indicates: Hypothesis 2.…”

Investigation of Corporate Social Responsibility in Sports within The Scope of Corporate Sustainability

“…It is important for organizations to create the most efficient project that can be carried out simultaneously with the field in which they operate. Only profit-oriented behaviours are not sufficient for institutions to protect and maintain their place in society (Moyo et al, 2020). If it is planned to achieve corporate sustainability, it is thought that not only economic gains, but also breakthroughs that will increase the corporate reputation in the eyes of the society should be created.…”

“…If it is planned to achieve corporate sustainability, it is thought that not only economic gains, but also breakthroughs that will increase the corporate reputation in the eyes of the society should be created. Moyo et al (2020), it is explained that institutions should pay attention to three basic factors in order to create a successful and sustainable corporate social responsibility strategy. First, internal factors were explained, it was said that all resources within the organization are important for institutions to create a sustainable social responsibility strategy.…”

“…When the corporate social responsibility studies in the field of sports are examined, it is seen that how social responsibility projects are perceived by the fans is mostly investigated (Walker & Kent, 2009;Lacey & Kennett-Hensel, 2016;Ullah et al, 2021;Kim et al, 2017;Morrison et al, 2020). In addition, the researchers focused on environmental protection-oriented social responsibility projects carried out by sports organizations in their studies (Trendafilova et al, 2013;Moyo et al, 2020;Trendafilova et al, 2014). Another focused research area is the corporate social responsibility studies carried out in professional sports (Sheth & Babiak, 2010;Babiak & Wolfe, 2009;Heinze et al, 2014;Chen et al, 2015).…”

“…Due to the increasing popularity of sports and its professional business position that it has gained over the years, sports organizations, like all other organizations, are now expected to be institutions that perform beneficial activities for the society, beyond being a business that only works for their economic interests (Moyo et al, 2020). Professional sports clubs, which are aware of this valuable position, have been doing volunteer work for many years in order to keep the society physically active and to create a healthy lifestyle over the whole of society (Extejt, 2004).…”