The impact of digitalisation on professional football clubs

Titolo Rivista MANAGEMENT CONTROL
Autori/Curatori Fabio Nappo, Alessandra Lardo, Maria Teresa Bianchi, Federico Schimperna
Anno di pubblicazione 2023 Fascicolo 2023/2 Lingua Inglese
Numero pagine 20 P. 117-136 Dimensione file 231 KB
DOI 10.3280/MACO2023-002006
Il DOI è il codice a barre della proprietà intellettuale: per saperne di più clicca qui

Qui sotto puoi vedere in anteprima la prima pagina di questo articolo.

Se questo articolo ti interessa, lo puoi acquistare (e scaricare in formato pdf) seguendo le facili indicazioni per acquistare il download credit. Acquista Download Credits per scaricare questo Articolo in formato PDF

Anteprima articolo

FrancoAngeli è membro della Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA)associazione indipendente e non profit per facilitare (attraverso i servizi tecnologici implementati da CrossRef.org) l’accesso degli studiosi ai contenuti digitali nelle pubblicazioni professionali e scientifiche

In the current digital economy, every sort of organization today must invest in dig-italization in order to remain competitive, to enhance business operations, and to increase profitability. Even within professional football clubs, the use of new tech-nologies has become essential, both from a sports point of view, to improve play-ers’ performance and team results, and, from an economic point of view, to im-prove company management and increase revenues. The objective of this study, which employs a quantitative research approach, is to identify the sporting, economic, and financial performance measures on which the digitalization of these sectors has a significant impact. Digitalisation was analysed from the perspective of intellectual capital, a general indicator of digitalization was created and calculated for each of the 20 Serie A clubs. It was then associated with the key economic, financial, and sporting performance factors. The analysis showed a significant positive correlation with the following variables: i) final placement; ii) number of goals scored in the season; iii) turnover; iv) annual costs of players and coaches; and v) annual costs of players and coaches plus their depreciation. These results provide insight into how digitalisation is pivotal for professional football clubs and may prove useful for managers and board mem-bers of such clubs, academic researchers and practitioners.

Keywords:Digitalisation, Technologies, Social media, Intellectual capital, Foot-ball, Performance

  1. Alfiero S., Broccardo L., Esposito A., Cane M. (2018), High Performance Through Innovation Process Management in SMEs: evidence from the Italian wine sector, Management Control, 3, pp. 87-110. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2018-003005
  2. Anderson D.R., Sweeney D.J., Williams T.A., Camm J.D., Cochran J.J. (2012), Quantitative Methods for Business, Cengage Learning.
  3. Araújo N., de Carlos P., Fraiz J.A. (2014), Top European football clubs and social networks: a true 2.0 relationship?. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 4(3), pp. 250-264.
  4. Arena C., Catuogno S., Viganò R. (2021), Il capitale intellettuale delle università nelle missioni di didattica, ricerca e territorio: un modello di public value accounting. Azienda Pubblica, 1, pp. 63-87.
  5. Badia F., Donato F. (2022), Opportunities and risks in using big data to support management control systems: A multiple case study, Management Control, 3, pp. 39-64. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2022-003003
  6. Bal, C., & Fleck, N. (2016). Connected Stadium: A pillar for football clubs’ marketing development?. Making a Difference Through Marketing: A Quest for Diverse Perspectives, pp. 43-58.
  7. Barker-Ruchti N., Svensson R., Svensson D., Fransson D. (2021), Don’t buy a pig in a poke: Considering challenges of and problems with performance analysis technologies in Swedish men’s elite football. Performance Enhancement & Health, 9(1), 100191.
  8. Beech J., Chadwick S. (Eds) (2004), The Business of Sport Management. Pearson Education, Harlow.
  9. Bhimani A. (2020), Digital data and management accounting: why we need to rethink research methods, Journal of Management Control, 31(1-2), pp. 9-23.
  10. Black T.R. (1999), Doing quantitative research in the social sciences: An integrated approach to research design, measurement and statistics, Sage.
  11. Blazquez D., Domenech J. (2018), Big Data sources and methods for social and economic analyses, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 130, pp. 99-113.
  12. Boyle R., Haynes R. (2004), Football in the New Media Age. Routledge, London.
  13. Brynjolfsson E., McAfee A. (2014), The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. WW Norton & Company.
  14. Buchheit M., Allen A., Poon T.K., Modonutti M., Gregson W., Di Salvo V. (2014), Integrating different tracking systems in football: multiple camera semi-automatic system, local position measurement and GPS technologies. Journal of sports sciences, 32(20), pp. 1844-1857.
  15. Cavicchi C., Vagnoni E. (2018), Intellectual capital in support of farm businesses’ strategic management: a case study, Journal of Intellectual Capital.
  16. Culasso F., Giacosa E., Giordino D., Crocco E. (2022), Digital transformation: Is Covid-19 a catalyst for micro and small enterprises first steps toward innovation?. Management Control, 2 Suppl., 71-94. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2022-002-S1004
  17. D.J. Teece (2018), Profiting from innovation in the digital economy: Enabling technologies, standards, and licensing models in the wireless world, Research Policy, 47(8), 1384
  18. De Pablos P.O. (2004), Measuring and reporting structural capital: Lessons from European learning firms. Journal of intellectual capital, 5(4), pp. 629-647.
  19. Deloitte (2016), Top of the table – football money league. Sport Business Group, 1-36.
  20. Demir, E., Ersan, O., & Popesko, B. (2022). Are Fan Tokens Fan Tokens?. Finance Research Letters, 47, part B.
  21. Denisse G., Chamochumbi D., Ciambotti M., Palazzi F., Sgrò F. (2022), The digital transformation process in the agri-food sector: A case study, Management Control, Suppl. 2, pp. 43-70. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2022-002-S1003
  22. Diel S., Ifland S., Wytopil F., Buck C. (2021), How Digital Technologies Transform Football-A Structured Literature Review. PACIS, 81.
  23. Dumay J., Garanina T. (2013), Intellectual capital research: a critical examination of the third stage, Journal of Intellectual Capital, 14(1), pp. 10-25. DOI: 10.1108/14691931311288995
  24. Eriksson G., Fitzgerald R. (2019), Web-TV as a backstage activity: Emerging forms of audience address in the post-broadcast era, Text & Talk, 39(1), pp. 47-75.
  25. Ertz M., Boily É. (2019), The rise of the digital economy: Thoughts on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies for the collaborative economy, International Journal of Innovation Studies, 3(4), 84-93.
  26. García, B., Welford, J., & Smith, B. (2016). Using a smartphone app in qualitative research: The good, the bad and the ugly. Qualitative Research, 16(5), pp. 508-525.
  27. Giannetti, R., Rapaccini, M., & Cinquini, L. (2021). La valutazione degli investimenti in industria 4.0: oltre l’old wine in new bottles. Management Control, Suppl. 2, pp. 65-90, DOI: 10.3280/MACO2021-002-S1004
  28. Giordano M.C., Manuti A., Palma P.D.D. (2016), Human capital reloaded: The use of social media in human resource management, The Social Organization: Managing Human Capital through Social Media, pp. 1-13. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
  29. Guthrie J., Ricceri F., Dumay J. (2012), Reflections and projections: a decade of intellectual capital accounting research, British Accounting Review, 44(2), pp. 68-82.
  30. Guthrie J., Petty R. (2000), The Annual Reporting of Intellectual Capital in Australia’s Largest Companies, Australian CPA.
  31. Hamil S., Chadwick S. (2010), Managing Football: An International Perspective, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
  32. Hausberg J.P., Liere-Netheler K., Packmohr S., Pakura S., Vogelsang K. (2019), Research streams on digital transformation from a holistic business perspective: A systematic literature review and citation network analysis, Journal of Business Economics, 89, pp. 931-963.
  33. Herli M., Tjahjadi B. (2022), The role of social media as a voluntary intellectual capital disclosure in university: Evidence from Indonesia. Intangible Capital, 18(2), pp. 247-262.
  34. Hitt M.A., Bierman L., Shimizu K., Kochhar R. (2001), Direct and moderating effects of human capital on strategy and performance in professional service firms: A resource-based perspective, Academy of Management journal, 44(1), pp. 13-28.
  35. Hitt M.A., Keats B.W., DeMarie S.M. (1998), Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century, Academy of Management Perspectives, 12(4), pp. 22-42.
  36. Kellogg K.C., Valentine M.A., Christin A. (2020), Algorithms at work: The new contested terrain of control, Academy of Management Annals, 14(1), pp. 366-410.
  37. Kohe G.Z., Purdy L.G. (2018), Analytical attractions and the techno-continuum: Conceptualising data obsessions and consequences in elite sport, Sport, Education and Society.
  38. Krumeich J., Jacobi S., Werth D., Loos P. (2014), Towards planning and control of business processes based on event-based predictions, International Conference on Business Information Systems (pp. 38-49), Cham, Springer.
  39. Lacchini M., Trequattrini R. (2012), La governance delle società di calcio professionistiche, ESI, Naples.
  40. Lardo A., Dumay J., Trequattrini R., Russo G. (2017), Social media networks as drivers for intellectual capital disclosure: Evidence from professional football clubs, Journal of Intellectual Capital.
  41. Lombardi R., Schimperna F. (2021), An introduction to network analysis in intellectual capital research. In Dumay J., Nielsen C., Lund M., Massaro M., Guthrie J. Research Handbook on Intellectual Capital and Business, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 274-289.
  42. Lombardi R. (2021), Le dimensioni della conoscenza aziendale: profili di investigazione tra crisi pandemica ed economia digitale, Management Control, 3, pp. 5-14. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2021-003001
  43. Lombardi R., Schimperna F., Marcello R. (2021b), Human capital and smart tourism's development: primary evidence, International Journal of Digital Culture and Electronic Tourism, 3(3-4), pp. 294-309. DOI: 10.1504/IJDCET.2021.10039139
  44. Lombardi R., Trequattrini R., Schimperna F., Cano-Rubio M. (2021a), The Impact of Smart Technologies on the Management and Strategic Control: A Structured Literature Review, Management Control, Suppl. 1, pp. 11-30. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2021-001-S1002
  45. Mahmood T., Mubarik M.S. (2020), Balancing innovation and exploitation in the fourth industrial revolution: Role of intellectual capital and technology absorptive capacity, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 160, 120248.
  46. Mancini D. (2018), Evoluzione e prospettive dei sistemi di informazione e di controllo. Management Control, Suppl. 2, pp. 5-14. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2018-00SU2001
  47. Marchi L. (2020), Dalla crisi allo sviluppo sostenibile: il ruolo dei sistemi di misurazione e controllo, Management Control, 3, pp. 5-16.
  48. Marchi L., Paolini A. (2018), Lo sviluppo del controllo di gestione nella piccola impresa in Sistemi avanzati per il controllo di gestione, in Marasca S. (a cura di), Sistemi avanzati per il controllo di gestione, Knowità, Arezzo, pp. 165-186.
  49. Marchini P.L., Davoli L., Belli L., Medioli A. (2019), Internet of Things e Industria 4.0: un case study di successo di digital manufacturing, Management Control, 3, pp. 11-34. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2019-003002
  50. McCarthy J., Rowley J., Jane Ashworth C., Pioch E. (2014), Managing brand presence through social media: the case of UK football clubs. Internet research, 24(2), pp. 181-204.
  51. Möller K., Schäffer U., Verbeeten F. (2020), Digitalization in management accounting and control: an editorial, Journal of Management Control, 31, pp. 1-8.
  52. Montemari M., Nielsen C. (2021), Big data for business modeling: Towards the next generation of performance measurement systems?. Management Control, Suppl. 1, pp. 5-10. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2021-001-S1001
  53. Moretti A., Tuan A. (2015), The social media manager as a reputation’s gatekeeper: an analysis from the new institutional theory perspective, International Journal of Sales, Retailing and Marketing, 4(4), pp. 153-167.
  54. Nappo F. (2020), Aziende e intelligenza artificiale: prime riflessioni critiche. Aziende e intelligenza artificiale, pp. 1-137.
  55. Paolini A. (2022), Integrated data management: New perspectives for management control, Management Control, Suppl. 2, pp. 5-14. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2022-002-S1001
  56. Presti C. (2022), L’azienda intelligente: opportunità e minacce per la creazione di valore, Management Control, 3, pp. 5-14. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2022-003001
  57. Presti C., Mancini D. (2020), Il risk management ei social media: un'analisi della loro relazione in letteratura, Management Control, 2, pp. 155-178, DOI: 10.3280/MACO2020-00200
  58. Quattrone P. (2016), Management accounting goes digital: Will the move make it wiser?, Management accounting research, 31, pp. 118-122.
  59. Ramirez Y., Tejada A. (2019), Digital transparency and public accountability in Spanish universities in online media. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 20(5), pp. 701-732. DOI: 10.1108/JIC-02-2019-0039
  60. Randers M.B., Mujika I., Hewitt A., Santisteban J., Bischoff R., Solano R., ...Mohr M. (2010), Application of four different football match analysis systems: A comparative study, Journal of sports sciences, 28(2), pp. 171-182.
  61. Rifkin J. (2014), The zero marginal cost society: The internet of things, the collaborative commons, and the eclipse of capitalism. St. Martin’s Press.
  62. Russo S., Schimperna F., Lombardi R., Ruggiero P. (2021), Sustainability performance and social media: an explorative analysis, Meditari Accountancy Research, 30(4), pp. 1118-1140. DOI: 10.1108/MEDAR-03-2021-1227
  63. Sarmento H., Marcelino R., Anguera M.T., Campaniço J., Matos N., LeitÃo J.C. (2014), Match analysis in football: a systematic review, Journal of sports sciences, 32(20), pp. 1831-1843.
  64. Schiavone F., Leone D., Caporuscio A., Kumar A. (2022), Revealing the role of intellectual capital in digitalized health networks. A mesolevel analysis for building and monitoring a KPI dashboard, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 175, 121325.
  65. Schimperna F., Lombardi R., Belyaeva Z. (2020), Technological transformation, culinary tourism and stakeholder engagement: emerging trends from a systematic literature review, Journal of Place Management and Development, 14(1), pp. 66-80. DOI: 10.1108/JPMD-03-2020-0028
  66. Schimperna F., Nappo F., Marsigalia B. (2021), Student Entrepreneurship in Universities: The State-of-the-Art, Administrative Sciences, 12(1), 5.
  67. Scholl H.J., Carlson T.S. (2012), Professional sports teams on the Web: a comparative study employing the information management perspective. European Sport Management Quarterly, 12(2), pp. 137-160.
  68. Scholl H.J., Wang K., Wang Y., Woods G., Xu D., Yao Y., ... & Krcmar H. (2014), Top soccer teams in cyberspace: Online channels for services, communications, research, and sales, Journal of Marketing Analytics, 2, pp. 98-119.
  69. Scott N., Goode D. (2020), The use of social media (some) as a learning tool in healthcare education: An integrative review of the literature, Nurse Education Today, 87, 104357.
  70. Secundo G., Del Vecchio P., Dumay J., Passiante G. (2017), Intellectual capital in the age of big data: establishing a research agenda, Journal of Intellectual Capital, 18(2), pp. 242-261.
  71. Si S., Hall J., Suddaby R., Ahlstrom D., Wei J. (2022), Technology, entrepreneurship, innovation and social change in digital economics, Technovation, 102484.
  72. Spitz J., Wagemans J., Memmert D., Williams A.M., Helsen W.F. (2021), Video assistant referees (VAR): The impact of technology on decision making in association football referees. Journal of Sports Sciences, 39(2), pp. 147-153.
  73. Sšderman S., Dolles H. (Eds) (2013), Handbook of Research on Sport and Business, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham.
  74. Stewart T.A. (1999), Il capitale intellettuale. La nuova ricchezza, Ponte alle Grazie, Milano.
  75. Tejedor S., Cervi L., Gordon G. (2019), Analysis of the structure and use of digital resources on the websites of the main football clubs in Europe. Future Internet, 11(5), 104.
  76. Trequattrini R., Lardo A., Cuozzo B., Cano Rubio M. (2017), Intellectual Capital as driver for controlling managers’ performance. An innovation approach, Management Control, 3, pp. 123-142. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2017-003008
  77. Trequattrini R., Lardo A., Cuozzo B., Manfredi S. (2022), Intangible assets management and digital transformation: evidence from intellectual property rights-intensive industries, Meditari Accountancy Research.
  78. Trequattrini R., Shams R., Lardo A., Lombardi R. (2016), Risk of an epidemic impact when adopting the Internet of Things: the role of sector-based resistance, Business Process Management Journal.
  79. Trequattrini R. (2008), Conoscenza ed economia aziendale. Elementi di teoria, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli.
  80. Ugondo P.I., Tsokwa M. (2019), Interpreting video assistant referee and goal-line technology communication: The pitch-based referees perspectives, International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, 3(4), pp. 1058-62.
  81. Waters D., Waters C.D.J. (2008), Quantitative methods for business. Pearson Education.
  82. Zane L.J. (2022), Intellectual capital and the acquisition of human capital by technology-based new ventures, Journal of Intellectual Capital, (ahead-of-print).

Fabio Nappo, Alessandra Lardo, Maria Teresa Bianchi, Federico Schimperna, The impact of digitalisation on professional football clubs in "MANAGEMENT CONTROL" 2/2023, pp 117-136, DOI: 10.3280/MACO2023-002006