Sustainability and Social Responsibility of Romanian Sport Organizations

Abstract

Sports organizations worldwide are discovering their power of influence over the fans and communities in which they operate, making more and more specialists and practitioners question these organizations’ social responsibility and sustainable development. In sports organizations, although research is increasing, social responsibility and sustainability are topics that require special attention because sports organizations can instill values in a large number of people in different fields. In our paper, we propose a conceptual framework that allows for integrated research into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the sustainability of sports organizations for sustainable management and identifies their influences on the overall performance. Based on the conceptual framework, we developed a scale for measuring sports organizations’ social responsibility and sustainability, which we applied within sports organizations in Romania. The empirical study involved 280 respondents selected from the first two leagues of four sports areas (football, handball, volleyball, basketball). To support the conceptual framework, we used quantitative research methods in a transversal analysis: structural equation modeling and artificial neural network analysis. The conclusions of the empirical study in Romania show that social responsibility and sustainability are essential for the sustainable management of sports organizations and significantly influence the organization’s overall performance. Among the pillars of sustainability, the social and human impact performance, given the specifics of sports organizations (involving large masses of people). Furthermore, legal and philanthropic responsibilities significantly influence CSR and organizational performance among CSR responsibilities.