PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Non-profit sports clubs face several organisational problems relating to memberships, finances, demographic changes and competition from other organisations, which can be addressed through strategic planning. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of Porter’s (1980) generic strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, focus) on the severity of those organisational problems. Quantitative panel data from a German sports club survey are used for the analysis (n = 41,343). Regression results show that clubs pursuing a cost leadership or a focus strategy experience smaller problems in all areas. The efficacy of the differentiation strategy depends on the programmatic option and the problem under investigation: Leisure and mass sport, sport for older people, and non-sport programmes lead to reduced problems, while health sport, sport for immigrants, and programmes similar to those of commercial providers have inconsistent effects. The findings have implications for the management of sports clubs.