The trickle‐down effect of ethical leadership in nonprofit soccer clubs

Abstract

Nonprofit soccer clubs are currently facing many ethical challenges, such as abuse, doping and match fixing. While research suggests that organizational (board) ethical leadership may be effective to tackle these ethical issues, empirical support in the context of sport remains limited. Drawing on the perceptions of a sample of nonprofit soccer players (n = 438) and coaches (n = 106), we indicate that the coaches play an important mediating role regarding the associations between board ethical leadership and ethical climate. The theoretical underpinnings of ethical leadership—formed by social learning theory and social exchange theory—and the social distance between the board and the players in nonprofit soccer clubs provide support in this regard. In sum, our results demonstrate that the influence of board ethical leadership in nonprofit soccer clubs partly trickles down to the players via coach ethical leadership. Finally, practical implications for nonprofit soccer club management are discussed.

Management for International Development and Aid Projects: A new conceptual model

“…Therefore, the six TQM‐Dimensions of TQM‐Benchmarking‐Model, which has been exceptionally conceptualized for the Syria responses by Sweis et al (2016) considering the specific requirements of the INGOs sector, empirically confirmed for INGOs operating in Jordan by Saleh et al (2017), and most recently validated by Mahmoud, Hack‐Polay, et al (2019) still need to be integrated into the whole life cycle of the project within the sector. These TQM‐Dimensions are Leadership and Management Commitment “TQM‐D1” (Constandt & Willem, 2019), Beneficiary Focus and Participation “TQM‐D2” (Camacho, Herrera, & Barrios, 2019; Billingsley, 2019), Partnership Quality Management for Sustainability “TQM‐D3” (Fiddian‐Qasmiyeh & Pacitto, 2019), HR Focus “TQM‐D4” (Othman, Steel, Lawsin, & Wells, 2018), Process Management, Learning, and Continuous Improvement “TQM‐D5” (McEvoy et al, 2016), and Use of Quality Information “TQM‐D6” (Camacho et al, 2019).…”

A Stakeholder Perspective on Ethical Leadership in Sport: Bridging the Gap Between the Normative and Descriptive Lines of Inquiry

“…More precisely, Constandt and colleagues ( 2018 ) have shown that coach ethical leadership influences the ethical climate in amateur football (soccer) clubs, as well as the affective organizational commitment of football players. Moreover, a trickle-down (or cascading) effect of ethical leadership in amateur football clubs has been exposed, highlighting that the influence of board ethical leadership partly trickles down to the ethical climate of the football club via coach ethical leadership ( Constandt & Willem, 2019 ). Furthermore, broadening the scope to professional football, Constandt, Parent, and Willem ( 2020 ) have shown that fans care little about ethical leadership in their club, as they focus mainly on those aspects that impact their own position, such as clear communication and strengthening the fans’ position within the governance of the club.…”

Badminton Players’ Moral Intentions: A Factorial Survey Study Into Personal and Contextual Determinants

“…The first of these essential steps is moral sensitivity or moral awareness, and has to do with one’s capability to interpret a situation and recognize the moral issues that are related to it (Kavussanu and Spray, 2006; Lincoln and Holmes, 2011). Second, moral judgment is the cognitive process an individual undergoes to make a moral evaluation of the issue at stake (Constandt and Willem, 2019). A third component is the intention to prioritize the value of morality over other values or motives, such as power and monetary gain (De Waegeneer and Willem, 2016).…”

“…The final step is moral character, which is one’s capability to overcome resistance and fatigue in order to translate the moral intention into actual practice (Kavussanu and Spray, 2006). All steps need to be successfully taken to come to ethical practices or behavior (Romand et al, 2009; Lincoln and Holmes, 2011; Constandt and Willem, 2019).…”

“…This framework can also be applied to the sports context (Bredemeier and Shields, 1995; Miller et al, 2005; Romand et al, 2009; Constandt et al, 2018; Constandt and Willem, 2019). For instance, the issue of taking or leaving doping, can be broken down into these four steps: the first step would be that the athlete is aware of the ethical challenge that comes with taking doping.…”