BMO Management Strategies of Football Clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie
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BSc-Thesis – BMO Management strategies of football clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie Name Student: Mylan Pouwels Registration Number: 991110669120 University: Wageningen University & Research (WUR) Study: BBC (Business) Thesis Mentor: Jos Bijman Date: 1-23-2020 Chair Group: BMO Course Code: YSS-81812 Foreword From an early age I already like football. I like it to play football by myself, to watch it on television, but also to read articles about football. The opportunity to combine my love for football with a scientific research for my Bachelor Thesis, could not be better for me. During an orientating conversation about the topic for my Bachelor Thesis with my thesis mentor Jos Bijman, I mentioned that I was always interested in the management strategies of organizations. What kind of choices an organization makes, what kind of resources an organization uses, what an organization wants to achieve and its performances. Following closely this process in large organizations is something I like to do in my leisure time. My thesis mentor Jos Bijman asked for my hobbies and he mentioned that there was a possibility to combine my interests in the management strategies of organizations with my main hobby football. In this way the topic Management strategies of football clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie was created. The Bachelor Thesis Management strategies of football clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie is executed in a qualitative research, using a literature study. This Thesis is written in the context of my graduation of the study Business-and Consumer Studies (specialization Business) at the Wageningen University and Research. From October 28 2019 until January 23 I have been working on the research and writing of my Thesis. The research was complex, but after hard work and detailed qualitative research, I have answered the research question. During this research, my thesis mentor Jos Bijman was always there for me. He always answered my questions, causing that I could continue my research. Hereby I want to thank my thesis mentor Jos Bijman for his guidance and constructive criticism during my research. He helped me to bring my Thesis to a successful conclusion. I hope you enjoy reading my Thesis. Mylan Pouwels Wijchen, January 23 2020 2 Abstract The football community is changing at a rapid pace. The financial differences between football clubs in the European top competitions and football clubs in smaller competitions are increasing. However a football club from a smaller competition can have the goal to become part of the top 32 clubs of Europe. There are also differences in goals of football clubs in smaller competitions, like the Dutch Eredivisie. On the basis of its resources and other factors, a football club can set a goal for itself. The objective of this research is to describe the large differences in management strategies at professional football clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie and to explain why professional football clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie choose for their strategies. To properly meet the research objective, the next main question is formulated: ‘What management strategies do football clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie apply and why do they choose for a certain strategy?’ A management strategy of a football club is defined as goal + resources (Johnson et al. 2017). To answer the research question a qualitative research is executed. Three different schemes are used to study different management strategies of five Eredivisie clubs. The first scheme indicates three different types of goals and three horizons of a goal. The second scheme indicates six different resources that a football club can use to achieve its goal. Every resource has different indicators. The third scheme indicates eight different factors that can influence the management strategy of a football club. Each different factor has different indicators. Different indicators for these three variables were drafted to create an overview of what is going to be examined in this research. A literature study was executed to find the data to complete the three different schemes. The literature study was executed for five football clubs from the Dutch Eredivisie: Ajax, FC Twente, Feyenoord, PSV and Vitesse. After completing the literature study, all five football clubs were compared with each other according to the three different schemes. By this, the different management strategies of the five Eredivisie clubs were compared. This qualitative research presents that all five Eredivisie clubs have a different management strategy. Its management strategy is dependent on its resources and other factors. A club with a large income, a large financial value of its first team and a large amount invested in its first team like Ajax, has set a more ambitious sporting goal than a club with a low income, a low financial value of its first team and a low amount invested in its first team like FC Twente. A team like Ajax, with the largest income, the largest financial value of its first team and the largest amount invested in its first team, has set the most ambitious sporting goals. A team like FC Twente with the lowest amount invested in its first team and the lowest financial value of its first team, has set the least ambitious sporting goals. A team with the second highest income, the second largest financial value of its first team and the second largest amount invested in is first team, like PSV, has set the second most ambitious sporting goals. Feyenoord and Vitesse have set the same sporting goals, even though the financial value of Vitesse’s first team, Vitesse’s income and the amount Vitesse invested in its first team is much lower than that of Feyenoord. The results of this research present that a football club with a larger income, a larger financial value of its first team and a larger amount invested in its first team can reach for a more ambitious sporting goal than a football club with a lower income, a lower financial value of its first team and a lower amount invested in its first team. The only deviation is Vitesse. Vitesse has a lower income, a lower financial value of its first team and a lower amount invested in its first team than Feyenoord. But it has the same sporting goal as Feyenoord, because of its performances in previous seasons. Future research could focus on all 18 football clubs in the Eredivisie, all resources, all different factors and data of multiple years of annual reports of football clubs. 3 Table of contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Objective.......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Research Questions ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.3. Background ...................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................... 7 3. Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 10 4. Results ........................................................................................................................................... 19 5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 33 6. Discussion ...................................................................................................................................... 35 References ............................................................................................................................................. 38 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 46 Appendix 1. Findings ............................................................................................................................. 46 Appendix 2. Ajax .................................................................................................................................... 46 Appendix 3. FC Twente .......................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix 4. Feyenoord ......................................................................................................................... 73 Appendix 5. PSV ..................................................................................................................................... 84 Appendix 6. Vitesse ............................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix 7. Other information ........................................................................................................... 110 4 1. Introduction In the Dutch and international media a large euphoria about the Dutch football has arisen after the 2018/2019 football season. But before this period of euphoria about the Dutch football there was a period of shame. Journalists and football analysts called it an ‘all-time low’ in the Dutch football history. The Dutch national football team missed a large international