![]() | Resources | No.52 January 2008 |
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Hoye, R. & Cuskelly, G. (2007).
Sport Governance Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann ISBN: 0-7506-6999-3. Cost: Paperback US$49.95 One of several books to flood the sport management
textbook market this year, Sport Governance, provides a fresh perspective
on an important topic in the sport management discipline. The focus of
the book is the “governance of nonprofit sport organisations and
the practices employed by their boards to carry out their governance role”
(page xv). The authors provide ample examples of UK and Australian sport
governing models and boards. Nearly all examples refer to Commonwealth
country sport models, where government involvement takes a meaningful
role.
The book is divided into three parts, dealing with sport governance
concepts, sport governance fundamentals and sport governance future.
Its perspective is based upon a team metaphor, one emphasising the notion
that teams follow certain rules, literally and spiritually, in order
to achieve performance excellence.
The first part, chapters 1 and 2, focus on the definition of sport
governance and factors that influence the actual practice of sport governance.
Structure and function details are also outlined.
The second part, chapters 3 through 11, provide great detail on sport
governance systems, their structures, and their function, particularly
with the use of volunteers. The role of boards in policy and fiduciary
decision-making, board member and CEO selection and leadership development
are also included. One model of board behavior, including some work
with ethical intelligence, leads to strategies of boards and their contributions
to growth through strategy formation, implementation, assessment and
evaluation. Risk management, an ever-increasing emphasis for boards,
is also covered to ensure compliance with regulatory factors. Professionalisation,
another huge issue for nonprofit sport governance, deals with the legitimate
power of boards and those they employ (e.g., CEO, executive director,
secretary general). Board and CEO performance are also issues that have
been included. Important variables are brought forth to produce appropriate
types of performance assessments. Codes of practice, standards and guidelines
and other types of ethical decision-making experiences are also included
in this part of the book.
Finally, the third part focuses on the future. An investigation of
the “drivers of governance issues” predicts several of the
areas of concern for future sport governance. International, national
and state/provincial levels are included in the Commonwealth model that
is consistently presented in the text.
A few critical remarks must also be made about the book:
Finally, this text provides those involved with educating future sport
managers with prime information about sport governance, particularly
from a Commonwealth perspective. There is valuable information for those
who plan to work in international sport management with an emphasis
on understanding the workings of boards in the nonprofit sport sector.
Numerous guidelines and methods for board strategic planning are outlined
and included.
Contact
Dr. Salmar Burger
University of Pretoria Center for Leisure Studies Department of Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences Pretoria, South Africa Email: salmar.burger@up.ac.za Prof. Dr. Darlene Kluka University of Pretoria Center for Leisure Studies Department of Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences Pretoria, South Africa Email: eyesport@aol.com darlene.kluka@up.ac.za ![]() http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 |