Collaboration dynamics and processes among nonprofit sport organisations

Zeimers, Géraldine [UCL] Zintz, Thierry [UCL] Willem, Annick [UGent] et al.

Collaborations have become commonplace for sport organizations. Although, the scholarly activity in collaboration within the sport management field has importantly evolved over the past decade, Babiak, Thibault and Willem (2018) recently noted that the mechanisms of interaction and processes of collaboration remain insufficiently examined. Understanding the dynamics of collaboration– how collaboration occur and work – ultimately remains an important question. This is indeed a critical in understanding how collaboration sustainably evolves over time. Furthermore, identifying mechanisms and micro-processes that make up the stages of implementation may be a way to overcome implementation difficulties (Seitanidi & Crane, 2009). Therefore, these may be important factors explaining why some collaborations succeed and others fail (Babiak et al., 2018). This study examines collaborative dynamics and processes among nonprofit sport organizations (NPSOs). There is a relative paucity of research in the field of nonprofit management research on collaboration on nonprofit collaboration processes (Guo & Gazley, 2015). In the sport literature, few studies have examined collaboration among nonprofit sport organizations (Sotiriadou et al., 2017). Noticeably, like their professional sport and business counterparts, NPSOs increasingly engage in collaborations to handle community and societal needs. However, the existing literature falls short in uncovering the collaborative mechanisms among NPSOs in the delivery of programs that are not core organization’s mission. In reality, most research on collaboration for social responsibility has examined NPSOs as recipients of these partnerships (Seitanidi & Crane, 2009). This article addresses these knowledge gaps by examining the key factors underlying collaboration process among NPSOs for social responsibility programs. Social responsibility is the vehicle through which we examine nonprofit collaboration. This research addresses the following research question: how do collaborations among NPSOs occur and evolve?