Master of Business Administration Sports Management (Advanced)

This subject introduces the student to the foundations of business. The focus of this subject is on providing fundamental concepts and context for students to enrich their mastery in subsequent studies while developing as a reflective practitioner. Students will examine the functional operations of business and the environments in which it operates. This may include analysing the economic, social, political, legal, technological and ethical influences on contemporary businesses. Students will also examine the viewpoints of internal and external stakeholders.

In this module you will be introduced to the concept of marketing, understood as a fundamental aspect of any company strategy. We will also discuss Strategic and Operational Marketing within the field of sports. Throughout the module we will review various theoretical concepts and find practical applications within the sports industry. This material will also include a wealth of real examples which will allow you to understand and enjoy sports marketing.

The Marketing module provides students with a basic understanding of the relationship and impact of marketing on the company's overall strategy. We will review concepts such as segmentation and positioning, both essential to defining the company's business.

Special emphasis will be placed on market research as a process necessary for decision making on an ongoing basis: from the time of defining the business model upon completion of market and competitor analysis, through the time of developing concrete marketing strategies upon subsequent analysis of results and the development and adaptation of new tactics. The classic operational marketing tools will also be reviewed and adapted to the sports industry, placing special emphasis during the specialization on the sections on communication, branding, new media and sports sponsorship.

Leadership in modern organisations is a way of thinking and behaving.  It is not necessarily a position in a hierarchy.  Leadership is a process of energising, influencing and motivating others: up, down, sideways and diagonally.  Becoming an effective leader requires self-awareness, self-management and a strong set of interpersonal communication skills, a set of capabilities that are often described as Emotional Intelligence (EQ).  In addition, effective leaders think and act strategically, they build a climate for creativity and innovation, and are culturally sensitive and comfortable with ambiguity. 

This subject focuses on developing your leadership capability and not leadership as a theoretical concept that applies to other people.  It helps you explore your own leadership development and self-image, using the techniques of reflective research and supported by a mentoring partner.  It guides you through the preparation of plan for your continued leadership and professional development that is consistent with your personal values, anchored by the academic literature and enables you to be authentic, confident and resilient in leading productive work places for the future.

In an ever globalised world, where the greatest sport events are now followed by millions of people around the world, managing and distributing broadcasting rights is a highly professional business where sport agencies are becoming increasingly required for the added value they are able to generate to the product conceived by federations and event organisers, optimising audience, exposure and revenue, using segmenting distribution and brand positioning in collaboration with television broadcasters, marketing agencies, federations and event organisers.

Every day companies are more aware of the importance of communication in business strategy to meet the world’s demands. Pitching the right message at the right time is paramount in branding and therefore in the company’s value. Regarding the internal performance or employee performance, the adequate flow of information proves the functioning and creates a greater emotional bond between the staff and the company. Sports companies, or companies related to the sports industry, must be particularly aware of communication, understanding it as part of their strategy plan and using the values in sports as the base of their projects.

Finally, the communication department, as well as all the other departments, should have a contingency plan prepared to respond effectively in the event of a crisis situation. Avoiding improvisations that may negatively affect the brand’s value built over time. It is difficult to create a brand image, but it can literally take only a few minutes to destroy it.

This subject enables students to demonstrate their ability to think strategically and apply the concepts and tools learned in the course to a sports organisation of their choice. Students will apply investigative and specialised sports knowledge to the professional context of a sporting agency. The subject requires application of concepts, theories and knowledge to the development of management practice in the context of the sports industry.

Students will work under the auspices of an academic supervisor as they prepare a project that has real-world consequences, one that will make an impact on the field of sports management in their chosen community, or sphere of influence. The project is to be practical- or research based and to make a contribution to theory or practice.

This subject covers the role of statistical analysis in decision making for accounting and finance professionals. It is divided into descriptive and inferential statistics. Students will learn about statistical techniques for the quantitative evaluation of data in decision making for accounting, finance and business applications. Students will develop analytical and statistical skills through Excel data analysis to manipulate data into meaningful information for the purpose of decision making. Students will also learn to interpret statistical results and communicate their statistical analysis in business reports.

Topics covered include: Qualitative techniques for data collection and investigation, Descriptive statistics including graphical and numerical presentation of data, Inferential statistics including probability theory, probability distributions, sampling distributions and parameter estimation; hypotheses testing; simple and multiple linear regression and correlation; time-series analysis and forecasting for cross section and longitudinal data; index numbers.

Understanding organisational behaviour, politics, dynamics and environments and how they impact on the role and legitimacy of the management function is the core of this unit. This unit helps individuals understand the constraints they face as managers and emerging leaders and how they can develop strategies to leverage advantages and overcome constraints and barriers in their organisations. The unit also focuses on developing some of the advanced communication skills necessary in management and leadership roles, and the ability of the individual to influence others. The course introduces students to the concept of naturally occurring data and qualitative analysis.

We recommend you complete this subject towards the beginning of your MBA. The unit challenges you to think differently about your organisational experiences, to look at them through a variety of lenses, and to explore different ways by which you can influence people within the organisation and have an impact through your function as a manager. A key skill underpinning this is the ability to receive and respond to feedback, to look at data in a number of different ways to find alternative meanings and create different patterns of behaviour. The book ‘Images of Organisation’ explores the notion of the organisation through a range of metaphors; by exploring these metaphors you can gain different insights into your organisation and start to play with different interpretations and understandings of how we experience the world.