Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Football: An Investigation of UEFA and the NFL

Transcription

1 Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Football: An Investigation of UEFA and the NFL Dissertation for the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Information Technology of the University of Zurich to achieve the title of Doctor of Philosophy in Management & Economics presented by Julia Hillebrandt from Iserlohn, Germany approved in January 2011 at the request of Prof. Dr. Egon Franck Prof. Dr. Helmut Dietl

2 The Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Information Technology of the University of Zurich hereby authorises the printing of this Doctoral Thesis, without thereby giving any opinion on the views contained therein. Zurich, Chairman of the Doctoral Committee: Prof. Dr. Dieter Pfaff

3 Berichte aus der Betriebswirtschaft Julia Hillebrandt Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Football An Investigation of UEFA and the NFL Shaker Verlag Aachen 2011

4 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at Zugl.: Zürich, Univ., Diss., 2011 Copyright Shaker Verlag 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Printed in Germany. ISBN ISSN Shaker Verlag GmbH P.O. BOX D Aachen Phone: 0049/2407/ Telefax: 0049/2407/ Internet: info@shaker.de

5 Acknowledgement Acknowledgement The process of working towards a doctor s degree is not only an individual achievement, but reached with the support of many involved individuals. For this reason, I would like to thank, first and foremost, my outstanding advisors, Prof. Dr. Egon Franck and Prof. Dr. Helmut Dietl. They gave me the opportunity to earn my doctorate at a highly reputable institution, namely the Department of Business Administration at the University of Zurich. Both advisors made their support available in a number of ways. I am deeply thankful to them for offering valuable suggestions, for providing excellent working conditions, and for enabling me to participate in five international conferences, where I had the privilege of presenting my work and discussing it with experts. Particularly, I am grateful to Prof. Dr. Egon Franck, who, despite his numerous responsibilities in his role as the university s vice-president, always took the time to review my work. Simultaneously, I am indebted to my co-advisor, Prof. Dr. Helmut Dietl, for initially encouraging the past three years of research. I wish to extend my warmest thanks to my colleagues at the Chair of Strategic Management and Business Policy at the University of Zurich for their friendly companionship and the pleasant working atmosphere. Especially, I am thankful to my more experienced colleagues Dr. des. Jan Pieper, Dr. Stephan Nüesch, Dr. Leif Brandes, as well as to Matthias Inauen from the Chair of Performance Management, who were always eager to discuss my work. I am grateful to Patrick Gasser, manager of social responsibility at UEFA, for giving me the opportunity to interview him and for allowing specific insights into his organization by regularly providing me with internal documents. Moreover, I am grateful to Monika Schober, who provided excellent research assistance and also enabled me to contact Steve Miller, an American foundation expert and currently CEO of the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education. I thank him for his friendly

6 Acknowledgement cooperation and for revealing inside information about the American sports foundation sector. Furthermore, I am indebted to Leonie Radtke, Artan Sulejmani, and Lydia Steinegger, who also contributed to this work with their research assistance. I cordially thank my thoughtful sister Isabelle Hillebrandt and Christian Mathis for being my main emotional support while researching and writing this dissertation. Especially, I am deeply thankful to my parents. They have promoted my extensive education in every conceivable way and have invested their time and energy in helping me succeed. Zürich, January 2011 Julia Hillebrandt

7 Contents Contents Tables... V Figures... VII Abbreviations... IX 1. Introduction Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility Friedman s (1970) View on the Concept Carroll s (1979) View on the Concept Related Concepts Current Understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Football Economic Power of Professional Football Organizations Unique Power of Professional Football Organizations Practical and Theoretical Progress of Corporate Social Responsibility in Sports The Structure of the Thesis A Comparative Perspective of the Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts of UEFA and the NFL Ethical and Philanthropic Responsibilities in the Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility Why Corporate Social Responsibility is Relevant in Professional Football Football as Big Business Mass Media Distribution Environmental Concerns Business Benefits I

8 Contents 2.3 Methodology Criteria of Analysis Method of Analysis Results Attributes of the Corporate Social Responsibility Projects Social versus Environmental Projects Partnership versus Independent Projects Event-related versus Not Event-related Projects Expenditures for Corporate Social Responsibility Projects Evaluation of Corporate Social Responsibility Projects Impacts Conclusions Why Give? Motives for Philanthropic Giving through Foundations within UEFA and the NFL Motives for Philanthropic Giving Motives of Business Organizations Economic Motives Utility Maximization of Managers Involved Altruism Motives of Individuals Altruism Self-Interest Religious Motives Motives of the Wealthy Motives for Establishing a Foundation Targeted Tool Long-Term Tool Public Relations Tool Disadvantages Methodology Criteria of Analysis II

9 Contents Method of Analysis Results UEFA Association Level NFL League Level Comparison: UEFA Association and NFL League Level UCL Team Level NFL Team Level Comparison: UCL and NFL Team Level UCL Player Level NFL Player Level Comparison: UCL and NFL Player Level Discussion Differences in Football Governance between Europe and the United States Ownership Models Zombie Race League Think Role Model Cultural Differences between Europe and the United States Identity Religiosity Social Security Foundation Boom Conclusions Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in Professional Football: The Elaboration of a GRI Sector Supplement for Professional Football Clubs Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Development of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Drivers of Voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Global Reporting Initiative III

10 Contents Sector Specific Reporting Methodology Results Sporting Performance Indicators Economic Performance Indicators Environmental Performance Indicators Social Performance Indicators Labor Practices and Decent Work Human Rights Society Social Responsibility Product Responsibility Discussion Conclusions Summary and Outlook References IV

11 Tables Tables Table 1. Charitable foundations of UEFA and the NFL Table 2. NFL team charitable contributions and valuations Table 3. Charitable foundations of UCL teams and NFL teams Table 4. Charitable foundations of UCL players and NFL players Table 5. Elements of the GRI reporting framework Table 6. Sporting performance indicators Table 7. Economic performance indicators Table 8. Environmental performance indicators Table 9. Labor practices and decent work performance indicators Table 10. Human rights performance indicators Table 11. Society performance indicators Table 12. Social responsibility performance indicators Table 13. Product responsibility performance indicators V

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13 Figures Figures Figure 1. Pyramid of corporate social responsibility... 6 Figure 2. Value creation through CSR in professional football Figure 3. Pyramid of corporate social responsibility (with marks) Figure 4. Social and environmental projects of UEFA Figure 5. Social and environmental projects of the NFL Figure 6. Pyramidal structure of European football Figure 7. Pyramidal structure of professional American football Figure 8. Missions of UCL club foundations Figure 9. Missions of NFL team foundations Figure 10. Missions of UCL player foundations Figure 11. Missions of NFL player foundations Figure 12. Historical development of the CSR and sustainability debate Figure 13. GRI reporting framework VII

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15 Abbreviations Abbreviations AA AC AFC AHA AHK AICPA AUA BGCA BP CCPA CEO CERES CO 2 CSR DFB DFL DJSI E4P EC ECC EN EU EUR EURO FA FARE FASB AccountAbility Associazione Calcio/Football Club American Football Conference American Heart Association Action for Healthy Kids American Institute of Certified Public Accountants American Urological Association Boys and Girls Clubs of America Beyond Petroleum, formerly: British Petroleum Cross Cultures Project Association Chief Executive Officer Coalition for Environmentally Responsive Economies Carbon Dioxide Corporate Social Responsibility Deutscher Fußball-Bund/German Football Association Deutsche Fußball Liga/German Football League Dow Jones Sustainability Index Education for Peace Economic (performance indicator) Essentailly Contested Concept Environmental (performance indicator) European Union Euro European Championships Football Association, England Football against Racism in Europe Financial Accounting Standards Board, United States IX

16 Abbreviations FB FC FEE FFF FIFA FTSE G3 GAAP GNP GRI HIV HR HSV HWC IASB ICC ICRC IFRS ISAR ILO ISO IUCN JJF KPMG LA LSE MLB NATA Football Football Club Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens/European Federation of Accountants Fédération Française de Football/French Football Federation Fédération Internationale de Football Association/ International Federation of Association Football Financial Times Stock Exchange Generation 3 of the GRI Reporting Guidelines Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Gross National Product Global Reporting Initiative Human Immunodeficiency Virus Human Rights (performance indicator) Hamburger Sport-Verein/Hamburger Sports Club Homeless World Cup International Accounting Standards Board International Chamber of Commerce International Committee of the Red Cross International Financial Reporting Standards International Standards of Accounting and Reporting International Labour Organization International Organization for Standardization International Union for Conservation of Nature Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler Labor (performance indicator) London Stock Exchange Major League Baseball National Athletic Trainers Association X

17 Abbreviations NBA NCCS NFC NFL NGO NHL NO x O3 ODS OECD PFATS PR PwC SA SAD SCORE SEC SECO SO SO x SOEE SPP TBL TdH UCL UEFA UN UNCTAD UNEP National Basketball Association National Center for Charitable Statistics National Football Conference National Football League Non-Governmental Organization National Hockey League Nitrogen Oxide Ozone Ozone-Depleting Substances Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society Product Responsibility (performance indicator) PricewaterhouseCoopers Social Accountability Swiss Academy for Development Support Community Overcome Rebuild Educate Security Exchange Commission, U.S. Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft, Schweiz/State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland Society (performance indicator) Sulfur Oxide Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia Sports Philanthropy Project Triple Bottom Line Terre des Hommes UEFA Champions League Union of European Football Associations United Nations United Nations Conference on Trade and Development United Nations Environment Programme XI

18 Abbreviations UNFCC UNICEF UNWCED US USD UV VDV VfL WEF WHF WWF YET United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change United Nations International Children s Emergeny Fund United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development United States of America United States Dollars Ultraviolet (radiation) Vereinigung der Vertragsfußballspieler/Association for Professional Players Verein für Leibesübungen World Economic Forum World Heart Federation World Wide Fund for Nature Youth Education Towns XII