University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2020 "It's personal": a case study analysis of the strategic management of resources in a historically black University athletic department. Brigitte M. Burpo University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Sports Management Commons, and the Sports Studies Commons Recommended Citation Burpo, Brigitte M., ""It's personal": a case study analysis of the strategic management of resources in a historically black University athletic department." (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3363. Retrieved from https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd/3363 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “IT’S PERSONAL”: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES IN A HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT By Brigitte M. Burpo B.S., Tuskegee University, 2007 M.Ed., Auburn University, 2015 A Dissertation Submitted to the faculty of the College of Education and Human Development of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership and Organizational Development Department of Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May 2020 i Copyright 2020 by Brigitte Maria Burpo All rights reserved i i “IT’S PERSONAL”: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES IN AN HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT By Brigitte M. Burpo B.S., Tuskegee University, 2007 M.Ed., Auburn University, 2015 A Dissertation Approved on April 17, 2020 By the following Dissertation Committee: ________________________________________________________ Dr. Meg G. Hancock, Chair ________________________________________________________ Dr. Meera Alagaraja _______________________________________________________ Dr. Mary Hums ________________________________________________________ Dr. Marion Hambrick ________________________________________________________ Dr. Ishwanzya Rivers ii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to the people who helped shape me into the woman that I am, the student that I became, and the professional that I will soon be again. To my mother whose endless sacrifices provided the mental, emotional, and economic means to attain every goal I set for myself, thank you. Your confidence in my ability and relentless reinforcement of that is why I’m here and I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for seeing potential in me even when I did not and my teachers did not. Your unwavering encouragement and support has always been the reason I dream so big and love so hard. I love you and I hope that I make you proud. To my sister, thank you for making me tough throughout the years, and for always being there when I needed you most. Thank you for giving me an academic model to strive to be like. Your friendship, “Are you in the library?” messages and genuine support gave me motivation to work hard on days when I had little energy left. I hope that I have made you proud. I love you. To my closest friends and family in Birmingham, Atlanta, Arlington, New York, New Orleans, Columbia, and Los Angeles, thank you for supporting me on both good days and tear- filled nights, and for giving me refuge when I needed to regroup. You comforted me, allowed me space to achieve this great achievement, and cheered me to victory. You never held it against me when I could not make it to special events and I cannot put into words what that has done for me throughout this process. I am here today because of the strong support from all of you along the way. To all of you, I love you. To the students and alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, you are the best and the iii brightest. Thank you for continuing to preserve our culture and inspiring this research. To the little girls with brown skin who are told that you are not smart enough, the only opinion about you that matters is your own. You are everything you want to be and more. This dissertation is for all of you. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Meg Hancock, for your unwavering support, encouragement, and patience. Thank you for always being available to talk through research, life goals, and to give me encouragement. Thank you for supporting me while holding me accountable, and telling me what was real every time we had difficult conversations. I would also like to thank all of my committee members. Dr. Mary Hums, thank you for seeing my potential from our first conversation about UofL. Your welcoming nature is why I trusted UofL SPAD with my doctoral journey. Thank you for being supportive and always available to talk through anything I was facing. Dr. Marion Hambrick, thank you for allowing your office to become a safe space for me to exist and sometimes cry. You did not judge me and instead motivated me to step my game up, and most importantly, to finish what I started. Dr. Meera Alagaraja, thank you for seeing my vision and setting my passion on fire with the incredible possibilities that qualitative research brings. Thank you for being a sounding board and a confidant when I needed to have transparent conversations. I have learned so much from your guidance both academically and professionally. To Dr. Ishwanzya Rivers, thank you for agreeing to be a part of this journey at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning in 2018. You heard a short overview of my research interests and supported me without question. Thank you for your encouragement and calm nature that always reassured me that everything would be ok. v I would like to thank the entire SPAD faculty and doctoral students for the wellness checks, opportunities, and fun fellowship. Though I struggled my first year in this process, you all showed me that it is not about how I start, but how I finish. I would like to thank my students in the SPAD program who have cheered me on and reminded me daily why I began this journey. Your fresh minds continue to keep me motivated and I hope that I have been able to show you all that learning can be fun, and we can all be good students when we are motivated and feel supported. Thank you to the Multicultural Association of Graduate Students (MAGS). I had the privilege to serve as your Vice President and meet so many brilliant and supportive students over the past few years. I appreciate you, and it has been my honor to serve you. Thank you all for giving me the environment that I needed to bloom. vi ABSTRACT “IT’S PERSONAL”: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES IN A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT Brigitte M. Burpo April 3, 2020 This dissertation is a qualitative case study examination of the strategic management of critical resources in an HBCU athletic program. It begins with a historical overview of HBCUs and HBCU athletic departments focusing on the systemic and societal influences that contributed to the current state of HBCU athletic programs. This dissertation later discusses the influence of a lack of financial resources on HBCU athletic departments further depletes the ability to operate with a competitive advantage. Chapter One focuses on the historic background of HBCUs and their formation as well as the societal influences that depleted critical resources. Chapter Two covers the theoretical background of resource dependence theory and resource based theory as well as the use of those theories in business and in sport. Chapter Three outlines the methods used for this qualitative case study highlighting the unique elements of the study including the use of photovoice, video observations, and photos to capture evidence of a phenomenon. Results from the study identify and introduce the three themes of satisficing, personal attachment and “village” benevolence management practices found in this study. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. v ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... ..1 HISTORY OF HBCUS ....................................................................................................................... ..1 HBCU ATHLETICS HISTORY & CULTURE ...................................................................................... ..3 CURRENT STATE OF HBCU