Football and Management

Sten Söderman is Professor in the School of Business at Stockholm University, Sweden. He frequently contributes to research on scientific development in the fields of international business, sports management, entrepreneurship and innovation.

'Football clubs are among the most high profile organizations in the world, with large numbers of fans and significant brand value. Yet clubs can often be poorly run, sometimes characterized by antiquated business practices and poor financial performance. Clubs therefore have a lot to tell managers in other industries about visibility, engagement and passion in business. At the same time, managers in other industries have plenty to tell football about good management practice. Sitting at the nexus of the two, Soderman's book provides valuable insights into both management in football and its lessons for other industries ... This is an excellent resource: timely, incisive and illuminating a 'must read' for anyone with an interest in football, management and business.' Simon Chadwick, Professor, Coventry University Business School, England, UK 'If you ask seasoned business leaders what they consider the single most important factor for success, very many will answer: be sure to pick the right team. And if you ask them for the most common reason for failure in strategic management, most of them would probably answer: good plan, but poor implementation. If you read this book, you will realize that the same applies to football and why!' Berndt Karsten, Partner, Management Alignment Partners AG, Finland 'Football the world's largest sport has evolved over the last thirty years to become professionally managed creating emotion and loyalty among its fans. What can football learn from big business and vice versa? Sten Soderman's book provides a conceptual approach to the management of the club, fans, players, preparation for the game, study of opponents and how you market football, and then compares it to the business world where similar factors need to be studied ... It is the club and the company that can develop the right strategy, bring together the best talents and have them work together as a team and execute the plan that will win. It is a good learning experience for any top executive to understand how success is built by a football team and how similar it is to achievements in the business world.' Finn Johnsson, Former Chairman, Volvo AB, Sweden

• List of Tables List of Figures Preface Acknowledgements PART I: FOOTBALL'S SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES COMPARED TO OTHER INDUSTRIES Company Management Can Teach Football and Vice Versa Experiences in Society, in the Business Community and on the Football Arena Differences in the Three Divided 'Industries' Researched and Less Researched Knowledge Areas To be a Club Manager Configuration of the Book PART II: SIX PROPOSITIONS AS A FRAME OF REFERENCE A Successful Playing Style Requires a Good Football Leadership, Described through a Four Field Model Proposition 4: A Methodology Implies a Superior Effect in Relation to a Fad Propositon 5: Good Business Management can Teach Football to Improve (B to F- Business to Football) Proposition 6: Certain Components in Football can Successfully be Applied to the Business (F to B -Football to Business) PART III: MARKET – ATMOSPHERE ON AND OFF THE PITCH The Market Mood Involving the Customer: Co-production Segmentation of Supporters Three Approaches to Customer Orientation Market Orientation is not Customer Focused The Main Customers and Marketing in General Some Practical Approaches Lifestyle - Today's and Tomorrow's Customers Communications with Opinion Formers Conclusions and Some Thoughts on the Future of the Stadium Audiences PART IV: THE GAME IS THE PRODUCT Introduction to the Game Administration versus Science Player and Coach are the Products Club, Coach, Owner and Stadium Business Development, Strategy, Tactics and Playing Style Choosing the Right People with the Right Mindset More on Management Can Football Learn from Industry-selecting the Right Successor in the Right Phase? Death of Soccer or Controlling Players' Salaries Conclusions on how all this Affects the Football Reality PART V: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING Introduction The Three Phases: To Recruit, to Develop and Retain and to Get Rid of or Wind Up The Need to Train Exercise Off the Field Training in Developing Courageous Leaders off the Field SomeExamples of Education Product Development and Training Some Football Styles to Train Constantly New Models in the Fashion Industry Develop Either Customers or Products Six Concluding Examples PART VI: MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES IN FOOTBALL Introduction to Management and Organization The Four Models of Management Mission Driven Scenario Driven Structure Driven Control Driven On Choosing an Organization Solution On Leaders and Potential Leaders Measurement and Control Four Archetypes and Three Kinds of Football Clubs PART VII: MANAGEMENT OF FOUR CHALLENGES Database and Information Processing Branding and Sponsoring About Benchmarking Insourcing and Outsourcing Summary PART VIII: LESSONS AND MESSAGES Football and Business, Look-alikes or Not? From Value Chain to Value Clusters Value Cluster as an Intellectual Approach Europe United and IFK Sweden Two Real Football Clubs and a Power Shift in European Football Football Metaphor - on the Pitch and off the Field Cross Learning, Football to Business: Proposition 6 Contributions and Continued Development of Knowledge Bibliography