Ethics and Conflict of Interest in Sport Management Research Proposal

This research proposal delves into the complex interplay of ethics, business, and governance within the realm of sport management. The study aims to identify how the evolving relationship between business and sport has amplified ethical issues, particularly concerning conflicts of interest, which significantly impact contemporary sport management practices. The research addresses the challenges sport organizations face in making ethical decisions amidst conflicting interests of stakeholders such as athletes, fans, media, and business partners. The proposal includes a comprehensive literature review examining business ethics in sports management, governance structures, ethical sport management principles, and the implications of conflicts of interest. The methodology outlines both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, including surveys with 40 participants and interviews with 5, with data analysis conducted using MS Excel and thematic analysis. The proposal seeks to provide a framework for understanding and managing ethical dilemmas within the sports industry, contributing to improved decision-making and governance practices.

Research Proposal
Ethics in Sports Management

Executive Summary
The proposal for the research study is developed. The aim of the research is to identify how
the relationship among business and sport has increased complication of ethical issues, which
affects contemporary sport management and relationship among conflict of interest and sport
management. The research problem is that sport organizations have to follow the ethics
highly, as it is the main focus of the governing bodies and in these conditions decision-
making by the sport managers is difficult due to the conflict of interest in organization. Thus,
the research study will be conducted so that objectives of the research study can be met. The
literature review is conducted in order to obtain the information from the past studies and
review the literatures related to the topic of the research study. The effective research method
is proposed. To meet the research objectives, primary and secondary both research methods
will be used. The data and the information will be collected using qualitative and quantitative
both research approach. The survey and interviews will be conducted. The random sampling
method will be used to select the respondents for the survey. The convenient sampling
method will be used to select the interview participants. 40 participants for survey and 5
participants for interview will be selected. The collected data will be analysed using MS
Excel and will be presented in the form of pie charts. The information that will be collected
from participants by conducting interviews will be analysed through thematic analysis. Thus,
this research will help in meeting the research objectives in an effective manner.

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Overview................................................................................................................................4
Problem..................................................................................................................................4
Purpose...................................................................................................................................5
Research question...................................................................................................................5
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................6
Business ethics sports management and sport.......................................................................6
Governance and system of sport............................................................................................7
Ethical sport management......................................................................................................8
Conflict of interest and its implications for sport management.............................................8
Managing conflicts of interest................................................................................................9
Research design........................................................................................................................10
Target Population.................................................................................................................11
Sampling and Sample size...................................................................................................11
Data Analysis Method..............................................................................................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

Introduction
Overview
The sports organizations have to be disciplined and have to follow the governance practices
and the principles. The government bodies are watching over these organizations so that the
ethical practices can be followed by the sports organizations in an effective manner. The
ethics programs are increasing the conflict of interest and it is considered as ethical issue. It is
difficult for the sports organizations to make the decisions because of the conflict of interests.
The research study is focused upon identifying (1) in what manner the relationship among the
business and sport has increased the complication of the ethical issues which affects the
contemporary sport management, (2) identifying the relationship between governance,
business ethics and sport management and (3) why the occurrence of conflict of interest is
related to sport management. This research study will help in identifying the impact upon the
sport management due to the conflict of interests and the increased focus of the governing
bodies upon ethical practices in sports industry.
Problem
The sports organizations operate in highly competitive environment. It is also important for
the organizations to make the right decisions in order to meet the ethical obligations. The
increased focus in the area of sport ethics, governance and the conflict of interest has
demonstrated that it is important for the sports organizations to follow the ethics. The conflict
of interest occurs in the sport organizations and its management is now becoming the focus of
the governing bodies. Apart from this, it is important for the sports organizations to follow
the governance principles and practices in the sports industry in order to make the right
decisions. The sports organizations are facing the problem because of ethics programs as it is
giving rise to conflict of interest. The sport organizations are struggling with the management

of the conflict of interest. Along with this, it is creating the problems in sport management for
the sports organizations (DeSensi & Rosenberg, 2013).
Purpose
Making the decisions in the sports organizations is difficult. This is because it affects many
people associated with the sports organization whose interests are mainly in conflict such as
the community, athletes, business, fans and the media (Pike Masteralexis, Barr, & Hums,
2012). The decisions are taken by the sport managers while considering the reputation of
league, financial costs, law, effect on team, as well as the impact on the winning games. The
difficult decision making can give rise to conflict of interest. The aim of this research paper is
to discuss about how the relationship among the business and sport has increased the
complication of the ethical issues which affects the contemporary sport management. Mainly,
the focus of this research study is to define - in what manner the conflict of interest is evident
in sport and business both. The research study will focus upon the aim through the effective
investigation using the appropriate method.
Research question
The research questions are:
1. How the relationship among the business and sport has increased the complication
of the ethical issues which affects the contemporary sport management.
2. What is the relationship between governance, business ethics and sport
management?
3. How the occurrence of conflict of interest is related to sport management?

Literature Review
Business ethics sports management and sport
The past research studies related to sport ethics mainly focused upon the ethical dimensions
of sport and athletes. The implementation of the ethics principles in the sport organizations
and management is a recent phenomenon. The effect of the business culture and the practices
upon sport has occurred due to the changes in the society towards the ethical behaviour of the
organizations and the development and changes in the sport industry. The links among the
business and sport has supported the residues of ethical debate to the degree the sports
managers are considered. The influence of the media and commercialisation of sport are
considered as the factor that contributes in establishing the corruptive nature of sport setting
(DeSensi & Rosenberg, Ethics and Morality in Sport Management, 2003).
According to Densi and Rosenberg (2003), the sport management ethics is a type of moral
philosophy that considers the ethical principles and the theories in order to establish the
understanding in the sport management and resolve the moral dilemmas and its investigations
(DeSensi & Rosenberg, 2003).The ethics are about integrity, respect, fairness, democracy,
equity and doing right thing as well as the duty of care for officials, participants, coaches,
administrators and public. The increasing professionalism of sport management and sport has
highlighted the connections among the professionalism and desirability of the ethical
management behaviours. The managers in the sport organization are highly responsible for
the management of the organization, addressing the ethical questions like equity, personal
issues, legal management issues professionalism and social justice related to sport (Daly,
2003).
The sport managers have to face and take the ethical decisions. The people involved in state
and national sport organization have to face the political pressure, external pressure,

corporate pressure and public pressure for athletes to attain the success and win the game
internationally and domestically (Malloy & Zakus, 2009).
Governance and system of sport
The continuous development of management of the sport organizations and governance
mainly the structural changes in the governance and the management has been the interest
area to many of the researchers (Hoye & Auld, 2011). Bureaucratisation and the
professionalism of the sport not occurred in a systematic manner but in an organic manner.
The changes are determined and implemented as per the requirement of the people associated
with the sport organization.
Corporate governance is more than mechanistic internal control and approval process. It has
been argued by Milton-Smith (2017) that the corporate governance helps in setting up the
expectations related to setting higher standards of the decision making for the help of the
decision makers to meet the demand of public and establishing the greater transparency
(Milton-Smith, 2017). It is then supported by Francis (2010) that corporate governance is
good in terms of moral and non-moral sense. The decision making can become efficient
through the strategic planning and appropriate resource allocation in terms of non-moral
sense. On the other hand, it helps in promoting the ethical climate, attention to the duties of
directors and due diligence (Francis, 2010).
The relationship among the internal control and the responsibilities of governance and the
external legal system is important to be emphasized. It is argued that the need of laws is there
to protect the society from the people who do not follow the ethics. The ethical corporate
practice is controlled in best manner by board members or by the corporate culture. The
ethical organizations and the responsible governance structures can be developed with the
help of legal regulations but in a limited manner. The basic framework of the accountability

and procedure can be provided by the law but the corporate governance should go further
(Farrar, 2001).
Ethical sport management
Many authors noted the relationship among ethics and the professional sport management. It
has been stated by author that sport management struggles to move to greater professional
status and the autonomy is relevant to ethics. It is important to comply with the professional
obligations. It has been discussed by DeSensi & Rosenberg (2003) about the importance of
guiding about the ethical principles and the moral values related to delivery system of sport
that incorporates participants, consumers and the employees. Along with this, the interest of
public and media in behaviours of people associated with the sport organizations are
inspected more. The interest of public is mainly for the organizations of sport and athletes
(DeSensi & Rosenberg, Ethics and Morality in Sport Management, 2003).
The role of ethics is highlighted in the sport management as it is required in this area which
has resulted in the increased scrutiny and interest of decision and the behaviours of sport
organizations athletes and managers of sport organizations. The critical attention is required
towards the ethics in order to reduce the breaches in the ethical practices in the society. Apart
from this, the competition among the sport organizations has increased for attracting the
sponsors which has contributed in increasing the conflicts of interest among the sport
administrators and the policy makers (DeSensi & Rosenberg, 2013).
Conflict of interest and its implications for sport management
The meaning of sport is different for every individual. The people associated with the sports
organizations have to play different roles and position in organization. The complexity
related to the different situations can be increased by occurrence of multiple conflicts and
multiple players that can be identified while discussing about the conflict of interest. Multiple
positions in the organization and the different roles and the responsibilities of the individuals

in the organization can create the opportunities to conflicts of interest within different
situations (Demski, 2003).
Holding multiple roles can give rise to the situation in which the interests of every role are
conflicting. Conflict of interest occurs because of many roles of a person in the organization
hence the obligation to avoid responding within avoidable relationship through divesting the
roles.
Many authors discussed about the different between the potential and the actual conflict of
interests in which a person take actions against the interests of another person and possibility
of action. The performance of duty can be interrupted by the actual or potential conflict of
interest. The perception of conflict of interest damages the organization and the person
involved in terms of ethical practices which can affect the public confidence in sport
organization. The reputation of the organization is important and it is difficult to achieve a
good reputation. The effect of the situations of conflicts of interest in the sport organizations
can be there upon the structural elements like obligations, benefits and issues of trust. The
expectations of the society are higher for the sports organizations. Hence, the role of ethics is
highly important in sporting organizations’ governance and it has increased with the
increased focus upon ethics, sport governance and conflicts of interests (Satori, 2015).
Managing conflicts of interest
The code of ethical conduct and the particular policy related to conflict of interest has been
developed by the governing bodies for sport. Along with this, there are different provisions
for the conflict of interest. There are different range of conflict of interest in the sport
management and the issues of avoiding conflict of interest as well as the actions that can be
taken by the sport management practitioners. The effectiveness of the corporate ethical
policies and its position is not acknowledging. The organizations have developed their own
regulatory systems in order to avoid, identify and resolve the conflicts of interest. The self-

regulatory structures involve the development of formal policy, disclosure of the situations of
conflict of interest for getting informed consent from the parties affected (Shapiro, 2003).
Self-regulatory structures can help in managing the conflicts of interest in the sport industry.
At the time of identification of conflict of interest, it is important to follow the policies.
Conflict of interest can take place in different roles and it is the responsibility of the key
decision makers to guide for the development of sport. In sport organizations, leadership and
governance is important. There are no such owners of the sport organizations but it has
association with the governing bodies and the sponsors that controls the rules, events and the
athletes. The nature, style and type of governance of sport organizations are influenced by the
increasing complex issues. It is important for the sport managers to have the skills and the
expertise so that they can resolve the conflict of interests and can follow the practices and the
principles to manage the sport organization. The business ethics and the corporate
governance are highly emphasized. The changes in the governance related to sport and the
practices related to business are taking place. It is important to establish the ethical
framework in order to manage the sport organization and follow the sport business practices.
The sport organizations can learn from the changes in corporate governance. In order to
improve the corporate governance, it is important for the governments to emphasize upon
allocating the funds equitably and meeting the agendas of government (Daly, 2003).
Research Design
Research design is a systematic way that is adopted in order to solve a problem and
scientifically study how research will be carried out (Rajasekar, Philominathan, &
Chinnathambi, 2013). In this research primary and secondary method of data collection has
been used to fulfil the objectives of the research. Primary data collection is used in order to
gather first-hand information. This method uses two major approaches and that is quantitative

and qualitative analysis approach. Qualitative analysis approach uses interview to gather
information and quantitative analysis uses survey analysis in order to gather the information
related to research questions. Under the secondary data collection method previous works of
experts on the same topic are analysed that helps to gain insight over the research topic and
reach to conclusion (The Hartford, 2018). The main strength of this research design is that it
will help to undertake a comparative analysis with the peer reviewed work as well as will also
help to gain first-hand information related to the issue of the research. The weakness of
primary data collection method is that it is a time consuming process and requires huge
investment.
Target Population
The target population of this research includes the employees of the sports organization and
the sports managers.
Sampling and Sample size
Random sampling method has been selected for survey analysis and convenience sampling
method has been selected for interview analysis as per the convenience of the managers. The
main benefits of random sampling are that there is an equal chance of selection for the
participants of survey. The data analysis undertaken is less risky and less chances of errors
are there. This is one of the simplest forms of data collection (Vittana, 2018). Convenience
sampling is very easy and contains less rules and regulations. It helps in collecting useful data
which may not be possible with the help of probability sampling (Laerd, 2018). In order to
conduct interview analysis 5 sports organization managers has been selected. For undertaking
survey analysis 40 employees of the sports organization has been selected.

Data Analysis Method
In this research data will be analysed by using Ms Excel. The analysed data will be presented
in the form of pie charts. The responses of the interview analysis will be analysed with the
help of thematic analysis. The main benefit of this is that it helps in collecting information in
the most meaningful and useful manner (Nowell, Norris, & White, 2017). For undertaking
thematic analysis qualitative data will be used, and for undertaking the analysis with the help
of Ms Excel quantitative data will be used. The main strength of the quantitative data analysis
strategy is that it is simple to understand. Along with this it gives accurate data that can be
used to reach to the conclusion easily. The strength of thematic analysis is that it facilitates
the traceability as well as the verification of the data analysed. The main weakness of these
strategies is that it is a time consuming process.
Conclusion
The research study is focused upon identifying the increased complications of the ethical
issues, which affect contemporary sport management due to the relationship between the
business and sport. The link among the sport management, governance and the business
ethics will be identified with the help of the research study. The relationship among the sports
management and occurrence of the conflict of interest will also be identified. The research
methods that will be used for conducting the research and collecting the data and information
will help in meeting the objectives of the research study in an effective manner. The methods
that will be used for the analysis will help in analysing the results of the research in an
effective manner, which will eventually help in collecting the evidence for the research
questions.
References