2012 – Page 5 – The Sport Journal

Risk Management Plans: Existence and Enforcement at NIAAA Member High School Athletic Departments

Mauro Palmero, Andrew Dotterweich and Gary Lhotsky – East Tennessee State University; Joseph Walker – University of North Texas

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the current scenario of interscholastic athletics in terms of the existence and enforcement of risk management plans within high school athletic departments. Another purpose was to identify the common practices related to risk management currently utilized. The present study had a response rate of 16.7%. The results showed that 76.2 % of the respondents (N=816) conduct interscholastic activities with the support of risk management plans, but there are still 23.8% of those interscholastic athletic departments where risk management plans are nonexistent. In addition, from those who indicated having a risk management plan, 28% do not enforce it. A majority of respondents seem to be employing risk management best practices consistently, but there is an indication of a less than desired level of adoption of some practices (i.e., informed consent forms, pre-season sport specific meetings, ADA compliance, coach evaluation and written criteria, safety training, accessibility of AED’s, and warning signs). The results of our study showed a statistically significant relationship between the athletic directors’ years of experience and the adoption of certain risk management practices (i.e. coach evaluation, evaluation criteria, risk management enforcement, and hazard abatement), but (surprisingly) not to the adoption of other similarly important practices. This study provides high school athletic administrators and principals with relevant information that can be used to support their decision to adopt and enforce risk management plans for interscholastic athletic activities.

Key words: Risk Management Practices, Risk Management Plan, Interscholastic Athletics, Athletic Directors.

Introduction

In college athletics, risk management plans exist in order to reduce medical costs, prevent liability and to help schools afford insurance (Anderson, 2006). What about high school? Today, suing the schools, their coaches and officials for any reason is very common. Thus, high schools have to be prepared to defend themselves against legal claims, especially those related to interscholastic sports. Millions of teenagers participate in organized school-sponsored interscholastic sports programs each year. Competitive sports are an integral part of the lives of high school students and have the potential to offer them many benefits. Increased participation and rapid body changes make the risk of injuries for high school students engaging in interscholastic athletics a real threat (Ballard, 1996). In addition to the well-known mental, physical, economic, and spectator benefits provided by high school sports, the possible costs or hazards of interscholastic athletic participation are always present (Lipsey, 2006). Supporting that idea, an epidemiologic study commissioned by the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System showed that 55.5% of American high school students participated on at least one sports team, and 21.9% of those students reported seeking medical treatment as a result of their activities (Eaton, Kann, Kinchen, et al., 2007). These data justify the need for increased efforts in developing and implementing strategies to identify and treat potential risks related to interscholastic participation. With that in mind, it is important for interscholastic athletic administrators to become familiar with commonly utilized best practices related to risk management in high school sports.

Gray (1995) studied risk management at physical education and athletic programs at the high school level in the state of Iowa. He investigated high school principals’ perceptions of a 20 item list of best practices related to risk management and principals’ supervision of programs. The author found that these administrators perform most of the risk management behaviors within the survey in a consistent basis. He also found that the size of the school had little influence on the behavior among the surveyed principals.

A similar study conducted by Bezdicek (2009), examined 463 high school athletic directors in Minnesota. The study was conducted to determine to what extent do athletic directors develop, implement, and manage a risk management plan for their athletic department, and the levels of familiarity that athletic directors have with risk management standards. The study revealed that the majority (56%) of athletic directors in Minnesota did not have a written risk management plan. In addition, the reasons for not having a risk management plan, as expressed by the respondents, were: lack of time (26.3%), lack of expertise (20.8%), and no need for a plan (19.7%).

Mulrooney and Green (1997) determined that the following characteristics must be present for a risk management plan to be considered bonafide and functioning: (1) a staff member is the risk manager, (2) a written risk management plan should outline policies and procedures in detail (including audit checklists), (3) periodic risk audits are conducted by staff, (4) periodic staff training programs related to risk management should be in place, and (5) the risk management plan is created with legal counsel.

Doleschal (2006) points out that: “ongoing risk management programs, the preparation of written material to be disseminated to coaches, participants, and parents or guardians, signed informed consent forms, inspection of equipment, etc., are examples of proactive steps that can be taken by school districts and their athletic programs” (p.295). He argues that unfortunately “many schools either do not have/use a risk management plan or do not follow good risk management practices” (p. 295). To assist interscholastic athletic departments in developing efficient risk management plans, Doleschal (2006) recommends 14 duties of care (proper planning, proper supervision, eligibility assessment, safe playing conditions, equipment maintenance, proper instruction, proper matching of athletes, proper conditioning, risk warning, proper insurance, emergency care and response plan, safe transportation, and proper selection, training and supervision of coaches) which schools should incorporate in their plans as preventive steps to minimize possible liability for the school or coaches.

Due to the nature of interscholastic athletic activities, coaches and schools constantly deal with the risk of litigation. Thus, it is important that they understand following the steps laid out in a risk management plan is instrumental to minimizing risks and reducing loss. The choice of either not having or not enforcing a risk management plan puts schools and their staff at risk of experiencing the anguish and pain involved in the time consuming process of defending a lawsuit (Doleschal, 2006). A good risk management plan is not an absolute guarantee that litigation will be avoided. However, good risk management practices can be effective aids in developing not only safer programs, but also act as an effective defense, should litigation occur (Doleschal, 2006).

With a good risk management plan in place, the identification and treatment of risks becomes much more effective. According to Stier et al. (2008), “risk management implies the assessment of risks associated with one or more activities or events and planning for the worst-case scenario”. (p. 32). Cotton (1993) points out that there are four essential elements to any risk management plan: identification of real and potential risks, assessment of the identified risks in terms of their causes, determination of appropriate courses of action to take in dealing with these risks if they occur, and establishment of effective and efficient risk prevention measures.

Finally, it is important to emphasize the athletic administrators’ role in the implementation and management of a risk management plan. A significant number of lawsuits are negligence claims taking place after the accident and the initial injury of an individual. Thus, the administrators’ ultimate goals must be to provide the safest environment possible for everyone involved, and to be prepared to deal with accidents and injuries if and when they do occur (Stier et al, 2008). Despite the fact that “no plan can be completely effective in preventing all injuries or accidents” (p.32), administrators are still responsible for enforcing and maintaining a meaningful risk management plan (Stier et al, 2008).

For high school athletic administrators, the challenge becomes providing sport programs which take safety seriously. In other words, the task is to effectively manage the many risks to which students-athletes are exposed. To do so, schools should rely on risk management plans and best practices to ensure that all school employees involved with athletics are fully prepared to prevent losses and to deal with losses when they occur (Appenzeller, 2005). However, is that really the case? Do high schools across the country actually have a risk management plan and truly enforce it? What are the most common practices related to risk management currently utilized by athletic departments at the high school level?

To achieve such purposes, the following questions must be answered:

How frequently high schools have and enforce risk management plans which are tailored to their athletic programs?
What are the best practices used by high school athletic departments to address the inherent risks to the athletic activities they provide?
Is there any relationship between athletic directors’ years of experience and existence/enforcement of specific risk management plan practices?

Methods

An online survey instrument was developed and distributed to high school athletic administrators for the purposes of examining risk management practices for high school athletics.

Subjects

The subjects were high school athletic directors belonging to the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA). The NIAAA granted permission to the researchers to conduct the study. At the time of the survey, the NIAAA membership totaled 5,758 (while there were few email delivery failures, the amount was negligible). The first page of the online survey presented the participants information about the study and an informed consent form. Continuing to take the survey served as the respondents’ consent. The survey was available to the participants for six consecutive weeks, starting late Fall 2010.

Instrument

The survey instrument consisted of twenty-four questions related to risk management policy and practices as well as eight demographic questions. Questions were broken down into three categories: policy and procedure, supervision and personnel evaluation, and safety. The policy and procedure category consisted of questions related to Title IX, athletic association rules, insurance, informed consent, preseason meetings and ADA compliance. The supervision and personnel evaluation category consisted of questions related to coach certification and evaluation, supervision of events, and policy enforcement. Lastly, the safety category focused on emergency training, equipment and procedures, hazard inspection, game equipment, venue signage, and security and team transportation. The questions were a combination of Likert-type and open-ended. Directions for the survey were imbedded within the survey itself. Directions were placed for each section and coincided with any question format changes. Content for the questions was developed using previous literature related to risk management policies and procedures. Content validity was established using a panel of individuals chosen for their expertise and experience in risk management policy and procedures. The instrument was also tested for issues of readability using student focus groups.

Data Collection and Analysis

Using a modified Dillman (2007) method, the final version of the survey was sent to the NIAAA membership which totaled 5,758 at the time of the survey. The instrument was sent by email with a letter explaining the purpose of the study and informing them that participation was voluntary. Participants were assured of their anonymity as respondents, and also were given electronically generated respondent ID numbers by the survey program. There were 5,758 surveys sent out with 962 surveys returned for a 16 .7% response rate. Of the 962 surveys returned there were 816 fully completed and useable surveys. The researchers agree that 16% response rate seems low. However, it is important to point out that this is an exploratory study reaching out to a very large population. The group of respondents represents diverse geographic regions and a variety of school sizes. In addition, the complex and high-demand nature of the job performed by those athletic directors is a very reasonable justification for their low response rate.

Descriptive analysis was used to explore demographic information related to the administrators, and the frequency of legal action related to injuries and adoption of risk management best practices. Chi-square tests were performed to investigate the existence of relationships between the risk management practices and administrators experience.

Results

The athletic administrators surveyed represented schools ranging in size from 41 students to over 8,000. The mean enrollment of schools represented in the survey was 1,182. These schools fielded an average of 18 different athletic programs.

The administrators themselves were a majority male (83.9%). From all responding administrators, 2.6% held a doctorate, 74.6% held a master’s degree, 18.2 % held a bachelor degree, and 2 % represented other levels of education (associate or high school degree). These administrators had an average of 11.7 years of total experience with an average of 8.0 years being employed at their current school.

Policy Provision and Injury

In terms of injuries and risk, these schools have seen very little legal action related to injury (less than 1%), with (on average) three catastrophic injuries over the last five years requiring hospitalization. In light of this finding it is important to note that during this time, approximately one quarter of the sample either did not have a risk management policy (17.3%) or didn’t know if one existed at their school (6.5%). Of the schools possessing a risk management policy, 28 % said the policies were not enforced.

Risk Management Practices

To examine risk management practices, a series of questions were asked related to standard practices involving risk minimization for athletic program participation. In all categories (policy and procedure, supervision and personnel evaluation, and safety) 78% or more of respondents answered that they engaged in the practice often or always, with the exception of the item inquiring about the presence of visible risk warning signs at venues (46.9%) (Table 1). In the policy and procedure category, 10.5% of the respondents rarely, if ever, required consent forms for athletic participation. Also, only 86.4% conducted sport-specific pre-season meetings for athletes and parents. Lastly, 11.3% indicated that ADA guidelines were seldom met.

Within the supervision and personnel evaluation category, the results showed that less than 83% of the respondents evaluate their coaches on a regular basis. To compound this issue, only 85% had written criteria with which to evaluate those coaches. In addition, only 81.9% respondents indicated that their athletic department had someone responsible for enforcing the risk management plan.

The safety category results presented the largest concerns: 20.6% of the respondents indicated that emergency safety training is not provided to coaches and staff on a regular basis, and only 78.6% have AEDs within easy access at athletic activities. Having proper signage at sport venues with visible risk warning signs was also lacking, with less than half (46.9%) of administrators indicating adequate signage.

Risk Management Practices and Administrators’ Experience

A series of chi-square tests were performed to look at relationships between the risk management practices and administrators’ experience (Table 2). For the purposes of this analysis, administrators were categorized into two groups: those with fewer than eleven years of experience and those with eleven or more years. Significant associations were found between experience and the risk management practice variables of coach evaluation, evaluation criteria, risk management enforcement, and hazard abatement.

There was a significant (χ2 (1) = 12.75, p<.001) albeit weak (Phi = .126, p<.001) association between the level of administrator experience and whether the coaches were evaluated on a regular basis. Based on the odds ratio, the odds of administrators with 11 or more years of experience evaluating coaches on a regular basis was twice that of administrators with ten years or less experience.

The association between level of administrator experience and written evaluation criteria was also significant (χ2 (1) = 5.37, p<.05) and weak (Phi = .08, p<.05). The calculation of the odds ratio indicated the odds of administrators with 11 or more years of experience having written evaluation criteria were 1.6 times that of administrators with ten years or less experience.

Administrator experience and whether the athletic department had someone responsible for enforcing a risk management plan showed a significant (χ2 (1) = 5.30, p<.05) and weak (Phi = .08, p<.05) association. The odds ratio indicated the odds of administrators with 11 or more years of experience having a dedicated person responsible for risk management plan enforcement was 1.5 that of administrators with ten years or less experience.

Lastly, there was a significant (χ2 (1) = 5.15, p<.05) and weak (Phi = .08, p<.05) association between the level of administrator experience and whether identified hazards were repaired correctly and timely. Based on the odds ratio, the odds of administrators with 11 or more years of experience repairing hazards timely and correctly was twice that of administrators with ten years or less experience.

Discussion

The first goal of this study was to determine the frequency with which high schools in America have and enforce risk management plans applied to their athletic programs. Regarding the existence of a risk management plan, the results showed that 23.8% of the respondents either did not have a risk management policy or didn’t know if one existed at their school. In addition, among the schools possessing a risk management plan, 28 % said the plan policies were not enforced.

These figures are unexpected and very concerning. The concern is based on interscholastic athletic stakeholders’ expectation that schools and programs to be fully committed to the safety of athletes and fans, through the presence and enforcement of a solid risk management plan as the utmost symbol of that commitment. As such, it would be only reasonable to expect a much higher percentage of existence and enforcement of risk management plans. However, despite the increase in participation and the litigious character of our society, it seems that a significant number of interscholastic athletic administrators (or, in some cases, the local school board) choose to put their students and their schools at constant risk of major loss and liability (Bezdicek, 2009; Eaton et al., 2007; Gray, 1995; Lipsey, 2006; Stier et al, 2008). It is also surprising that, despite so many interscholastic athletic departments reporting absence of either a risk management plan or the enforcement of one, less than 1% of the respondents had legal action related to injury requiring hospitalization over the last five years. Perhaps, this could be a possible explanation for the less than desired level of adoption and enforcement of risk management plans among the respondents.

The administrators who have and enforce risk management plans will continue to reap the benefits of loss prevention and reduction (Bezdicek, 2009; Eaton et al., 2007; Gray, 1995; Lipsey, 2006; Stier et al, 2008). The same cannot be said for to the administrators who either do not have or do not enforce risk management plans. One can only hope that, by becoming acquainted with the information provided here, they may adopt practices that will certainly lead them to risk and liability reduction (Appenzeller, 2005; Bezdicek; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007; Eaton et al.; Gray; Lipsey; Stier et al).

The second goal of this study was to identify the best and most frequently used practices to address the inherent risks to interscholastic athletic activities. As expected, the survey results showed that most administrators followed these standards of risk management the vast majority of the time. However, the results presented a few points of concern, which could be another possible explanation for the low percentage of schools with risk management plans.

Initially, the fact that 10.5% of the respondents rarely required informed consent forms may place these schools in a defenseless position if facing negligence claims related to injuries occurring during participation in schools’ interscholastic activities (Appenzeller, 2005; Cotton, 1993; Doleschal, 2006). Dealing with the same liability category, 13.6% do not conduct sport specific pre-season meetings for athletes and parents. According to Doleschal (2006), “parents/guardians and athletes have a right to information regarding the possibility of injury, paralysis, and death that is inherent in all sports” (p.318).The provision of such information is a duty the institutions legally owe to the families. The lack of signed informed consent and sport specific pre-season meetings prevent participants (and their families) from being fully educated on the risks involved in the specific sport in which they desire to participate, and make the defense against a negligence claim very difficult (Appenzeller; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007; Doleschal).

ADA compliance at interscholastic venues is also an issue. 11.3% of the respondents indicated that ADA guidelines were seldom met. This lack of compliance not only prevents the access and participation of people with disabilities at those venues, but also provides strong legal claims to those affected by such lack of compliance to the law (Appenzeller, 2005; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007). One can only hope that such lack of compliance is due to the fact that those venues were built before ADA legislation was enacted (Appenzeller, 2005; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007). Despite being able to receive tax breaks for making the necessary corrections to be compliant with the law (Appenzeller; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007), it appears that the schools choose to hide behind the age of their venues rather than to take action and become compliant with the law.

Other concerning issues identified were the lack of written criteria with which to evaluate coaches (17.2%) and actual evaluation of those educators (15%). Combined, these two issues expose high schools to potential negligence and contract liability (Appenzeller, 2005; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007; Doleschal, 2006). On one hand, coaches’ various negligent actions may cause major injury and loss to all stakeholders. Such losses can be prevented if coaches’ evaluation and training are truly executed and based on written criteria (Doleschal, 2006). On another hand, the lack of written coaches’ evaluation criteria and an evaluation process following such standards may also place schools in violation of contract laws, specifically when coaches’ have to be disciplined or terminated (Appenzeller, 2005; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007; Doleschal, 2006).

Safety training, AED accessibility, and warning signs were also identified as concerning issues. Lack of safety training for coaches and staff on a regular basis (20.6% of the respondents) may expose students and spectators to a wide range of risks of injury and loss (ranging from failure to warn and equipment malfunction, to poor response to catastrophic injuries) that could be easily prevented with appropriate training (Doleschal, 2006). The absence of easily accessible AED equipment (reported by 21.4% of the respondents) adds to the major liability claims that certainly will come as a consequence of poor response to catastrophic injuries (Appenzeller, 2005). Lack of proper signage (reported by more than 50% of the respondents) may also expose students and fans to unnecessary risks and generate costly lawsuits against the schools. It is the schools’ duty to warn spectators and participants of potential risks involved in the activity through all means possible (i.e., verbal warnings, signage, and public announcement system) (Blumenthal, 2009; Girvan & Girvan, 1993; Lee, Farley & Kwon, 2010). Under any of these circumstances above, schools may be held liable.

The third goal of this study was to identify if there is any relationship between athletic directors’ experience and existence/enforcement of risk management plan practices. No significant relationship was found between experience and the existence of risk management plans. Such a result was expected, considering that the existence of a risk management is too important in preventing injury and loss at any institution to depend on the athletic director’s experience (Appenzeller, 2005; Cotton & Wolohan, 2007; Doleschal, 2006). However, significant associations were found between experience and the adoption of risk management practice variables. More experienced administrators (11 or more years) had higher odds of conducting coach evaluations, having evaluation criteria, risk management enforcement, and hazard abatement among their adopted risk management practices than administrators with less experience. The existence of such associations is not surprising. It is reasonable to expect that the experiences acquired through years on the job would lead administrators to the adoption of these best practices.

The use of written evaluation criteria and coaches’ evaluations may be a result of years of experience dealing with (either by themselves or by learning from others’ struggles) injuries, property loss, and financial loss suffered due to the lack of written evaluation criteria, and coaches’ evaluations. The existence of an enforced risk management plan and timely hazard abatement seem to be related to experience as well. By assigning the enforcement of the plan to a staff member, the administrator not only promotes injury and loss reduction, but also ensures that the plan is updated as venues and policies related to the athletic department change (Appenzeller, 2005). Regarding hazard abatement, experienced administrators know their facilities very well, including their maintenance history. Such knowledge should allow those administrators to treat hazards even before they appear, contingent to budget availability (Appenzeller, 2005).

As mentioned above, the fact that significant associations were found between experience and four of the risk management practice variables (coach evaluation, evaluation criteria, risk management enforcement, and hazard abatement) is not surprising. Intriguing is the fact that the other risk management practices did not present a similar relationship. One possible explanation is perhaps experience is less of a factor in adopting the practices that did not show a significant relationship. Another possible explanation is less experienced administrators may feel either uncomfortable or unprepared to conduct coaches’ evaluations, develop evaluation criteria, enforce a risk management, and/or deal with hazard abatement.

Recommendations for Future Research

The results of this study revealed that a significant percentage of high school athletic departments surveyed either do not have or do not enforce a risk management plan. It would be interesting to conduct a qualitative study among various state high school associations to learn their perspective on the situation and their perceived reasons for such lack of risk management plan existence and enforcement. To complement the study, athletic directors could be surveyed on their perceptions of the reasons suggested by the state high school associations’ leadership. After comparing the results from both groups, a list of potential actions to help increase risk management development, implementation and enforcement could be composed.

Conclusions

The present study demonstrated that interscholastic activities could be conducted with the support of risk management plans in a larger number of high schools. There is a significant amount of interscholastic athletic departments where risk management plans are either nonexistent or unenforced. A large majority of respondents seem to be employing risk management best practices consistently, but there is an indication of a less than desired level of adoption of some practices (i.e., informed consent forms, pre-season sport specific meetings, ADA compliance, coach evaluation and written criteria, safety training, AED’s accessibility, and warning signs). It also appears that the athletic directors’ years of experience plays a role in the adoption of certain risk management practices (coach evaluation, evaluation criteria, risk management enforcement, and hazard abatement), but (surprisingly) not to the adoption of other similarly important practices. It is the researchers’ hope that the evidence presented here opens the athletic directors’ minds to the importance of the adoption of a risk management plan as possibly the only reliable way to minimize loss to athletes, spectators, and institutions.

Applications in Sport

The results presented in this study are valuable to those in leadership positions at any high school in the United States. High school principals and athletic directors armed with this information would be able to (1) adopt and enforce a risk management plan, if they do not have/enforce one; and (2) review their policies and practices related to risk management and adjust them to industry standards. Other benefits to institutional leaders include the ability to provide athletes and spectators with a safer experience, and to reduce the risk of athletes’ injuries. These benefits will consequently help minimizing legal claims against high schools and their officials.

Tables with Captions

Table 1

Percent of Administrators Engaging in Risk Management Practices on a Regular Basis

Category	Practice	Percentage
Policy and Procedure	Title IX Requirements are met	95.70%
	State HS Athletic Assoc. rules are followed	99.00%
	Athletic Activities are fully covered	93.30%
	Participants sign sport-specific consents	89.50%
	ADA requirements are met at venues	88.70%
	Pre-season sport-specific meetings with parents	86.40%
Supervision and Evaluation	Evaluate coaches on regular basis	82.80%
	Written evaluation criteria to evaluate coaches	85.00%
	AD attends home athletic contests	96.80%
	Coaches are certified/qualified in sport they coach	91.10%
	Dedicated person responsible for risk plan enforcement	81.90%
Safety	Medical emergency procedures exist	97.50%
	Emergency safety training provided to coaches and staff	79.60%
	AEDs are easily accessible at athletic events	78.60%
	Identified hazards are repaired properly and timely	93.80%
	Adequate equipment is provided for athletic activities	98.60%
	Venues and equipment are inspected regularly	93.50%
	Adequate game security is provided	93.90%
	Safe transportation is provided for away contests	97.00%
	Venues have visible risk warning signs	46.90%

Table 2

Chi-square analysis of Administrator Experience (>11 years vs. 11 or more years) and Risk Management Practices

Category	Practice	χ2 value	p value
Policy and Procedure	Title IX Requirements are met	.199	.726
	State HS Athletic Assoc. rules are followed	2.905	.088
	Athletic Activities are fully covered	1.008	.315
	Participants sign sport-specific consents	2.216	.137
	ADA requirements are met at venues	.956	.328
	Pre-season sport-specific meetings with parents	2.733	.098
Supervision and Evaluation	Evaluate coaches on regular basis	12.75	<.001*
	Written evaluation criteria to evaluate coaches	5.37	<.05*
	AD attends home athletic contests	.139	.710
	Athletic activities are supervised	.034	.854
	Coaches are certified/qualified in sport they coach	.001	.970
	Dedicated person responsible for plan enforcement	5.30	<.05*
Safety	Medical emergency procedures exist	3.116	.078
	Emergency safety training provided	2.430	.119
	AEDs are easily accessible at athletic events	.011	.916
	Identified hazards are repaired properly and timely	5.15	<.05*
	Adequate equipment is provided for activities	1.619	.203
	Venues and equipment are inspected regularly	2.261	.133
	Adequate game security is provided	1.908	.167
	Safe transportation is provided for away contests	.485	.133
	Venues have visible risk warning signs	.203	.652

* Significant relationship

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Corresponding Author

Mauro Palmero Ph.D.
Sport Management Graduate Coordinator
East Tennessee State University
Department of Kinesiology Leisure and Sport Sciences
P.O. Box 70654
Johnson City, TN 37614
palmero@etsu.edu
423-439-4382

U.S. Sports Academy2017-08-03T10:47:34-05:00June 14th, 2012|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching, Sports Facilities, Sports Management|Comments Off

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E. Zacharakis, N. Apostolidis, N. Kostopoulos, T. Bolatoglou

### Abstract

Wheelchair basketball met a rapid growth in recent decades and became one of the most popular and spectacular sports for people with disabilities. Researchers’ efforts to perform tests evaluating the physiological and technical characteristics of the disable athletes have been based on the adoption of tests, used for healthy athletes (7, 15). In addition, different types of disabilities obligated the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation to establish classification degree for the athletes, ranging from 1 to 4.5, according to their disability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Greek elite basketball players’ technical skills and to compare their performance, (a) with their classification degree and (b) with recent literature. Fourteen (N=14) Greek wheelchair basketball players, all members of the national team, volunteered to perform six skill tests: (a) 20m sprint, (b) free throws, (c) lay-ups, (d) obstacle dribble, (e) pass for accuracy, and (f) pass for distance. The high classification degree athletes, demonstrated significantly higher performance than those with low classification, only in obstacle dribble test (p <.01), but the trend indicated that athletes with high classification degree demonstrated better performance on tests requiring physical abilities (sprint, lay-ups, obstacle dribble, pass for distance), while those with low classification degree performed better on tests requiring skills and concentration (free throws, pass for accuracy). These results are in accordance with recent literature, although Greek basketball players, demonstrated lower performance compared with those of other countries, where wheelchair basketball is widespread (13). The difference between high and low classification players in obstacle dribble test, caused to the lack of abdominal muscles, while overall performance is affected by the frequency of training and years of involvement with the sport, before the time point of injury (9).

**Key words:** wheelchair, basketball, technical skills

### Introduction

Sporting activities for people with physical disabilities became widespread in recent years. Wheelchair basketball, which is regarded as one of the most popular and spectacular sports for people with disabilities, devised at the end of the Second World War. Specifically, in 1944 the British government commissioned Dr. Guttmann to establish a foundation for care and hospitalization of world-war II spinal cord injured soldiers, in the area of Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Specifically, the team called “The Flying Wheels of Birmingham” is the one that has the legal right to invoke that have devised the wheelchair basketball (1946). The evaluation of the wheelchair basketball players’ technical skills has interested researchers and trainers in the past (4, 14-15). The evaluation methods for the technical characteristics of wheelchair basketball players, mainly based on similar tests used for healthy players (1-2, 11).

The ability to perform the technical skills required for the sport, characterized by the different type and degree, of the players’ disabilities. Each athlete is classified according to degree of disability, and the ability to perform certain tests such as wheelchair sprint, stopping, obstacle dribbling, holding the ball, etc. The classification system for wheelchair basketball, which has been established by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), with five classification points (1-4.5), differs than U.S.A. applied system, which classifies the players in a three points scale (1-3). The main purpose of the studies so far, is to evaluate the athletes with different classification, and to investigate methods to improve their technical skills.

Brasile (4) demonstrated the performance of wheelchair basketball players which were classified according to the U.S.A. applied system (Classification I, II and III). Participants were evaluated in the following skill tests: (a) obstacle dribble, (b) free-throws, (c) dribbling and shooting the ball, and (d) pass for accuracy. The results showed that: (a) the classification II and III athletes demonstrated higher performance than the others, and (b) classification II athletes demonstrated highest performance.

Moreover, Vanlerberghe and Slock (14) evaluated 30 wheelchair athletes which were classified in the 3 points scale (I, II, III) and they applied: (a) two tests for shooting accuracy (shot under the basket and rebound; obstacle dribble, shot and rebound), (b) two tests for ball-handling (obstacle dribble and dribble around wheelchairs), and (c) two tests for passing ability (speed pass and long pass).

Results revealed significant differences between athletes with different physical disabilities. Athletes of III classification revealed the highest performance, while athletes of I classification revealed the lowest. However, researchers have argued that these specific skill tests can hardly be a reliable method for the evaluation of the wheelchair basketball players.

Also, Brasile (5) divided a sample of 79 wheelchair basketball athletes into three groups, according to their classification in order to evaluated their technical ability in six skill tests: (a) obstacle dribble, (b) 1 minute free throws using the strong hand, (c) 1 minute free throws using the weak hand, (d) pass for accuracy using the strong hand, (e) pass for accuracy using the weak hand and (f) 20m speed run. The skill tests’ results revealed that, athletes of II and III classification referred similar performance between them, but both of them higher than the athletes of I classification. These findings led the researcher to the conclusion that skill tests’ results are influenced by both of the training time and the previous experience in basketball.

Similar results were referred in a recent study by Ergun, Duzgun and Aslan (9), which evaluated 32 wheelchair basketball players. Subjects with low disability lagged behind in lay ups test, in 20m speed run, in shooting around the basket, as well as in obstacle dribble. Additionally, there were detected significant differences between athletes of different coaching experience to the tests of 20m speed run, obstacle dribble and passing for accuracy. Moreover, “age” may be an important factor that affects the performance of the athletes in wheelchair basketball.

Brasile (6) applied six field tests to evaluate twelve male and twelve female wheelchair basketball athletes in the following tests: (a) obstacle dribble, (b) free throws, (c) rebound and shot with the strong hand, (d) rebound and shot with the weak hand, (e) pass for accuracy with the strong hand and (f) pass for accuracy with the weak hand. Within the female group were revealed significant differences in tests requiring capability and discipline (rebounding and shooting the ball, obstacle dribble). In contrast, male athletes revealed improved performance in tests requiring higher power level and especially to those that were related with distance (passing for accuracy and free throws).

Finally, Molik et al. (13) evaluated 109 Poles and Lithuanian wheelchair basketball players in six skill tests. The results of the study revealed that athletes with low classification demonstrated lower performance, compared to athletes with a high classification degree. Particularly, no significant differences were detected between athletes of 1 and 2 classification degree. Reversely there were detected significant differences between athletes of 3 and 4.5 classification degree.

As is evident from reviewing the literature, the topic of wheelchair athletes’ skills is incomplete, and more incomplete regarding the high level athletes. The purpose of the present study is (a) to document the performance of elite basketball players’ in the technical skills, (b) to compare their performance in relation to their classification degree, and (c) to compared and discuss their performance with previous studies.

### Methods

#### Participants

Fourteen (N=14) wheelchair basketball athletes aged 30.1±6.6, all of them members of the national team, volunteered to participate in the present study (See Table 1). The types of their disability were the following: (a) one athlete with incomplete quadriplegia (injury on 6th and 7th cervical), (b) seven athletes with paraplegia (injury on 7th cervical to 12th thoracic), (c) one athlete with poliomyelitis and (d) six amputated athletes. They were divided in two groups of 7 athletes, according to their classification. The first group (n1=7) consisted from athletes of 1-2.5 and the second (n2=7) of 3-4.5 classification degree.

#### Skill tests

The six skill tests which assign the technical characteristics of the wheelchair basketball players and were applied in the present study are the following:

*20m speed run:* Subject takes a position behind the baseline and on the signal starts covering a 20m distance as fast as possible. In a two-minute period the subject had two attempts and the best is recorded (See Figure 1).

*Free throws:* Subject shoots 40 free throws in a series of 20 at a time. A 2-minutes rest inserted between the trials. One point was given for each basket made (See Figure 2).

*Obstacle dribble:* Subject starts on the signal at the tight side of the first obstacle and maneuvers through the course as fast as possible, pushing the wheelchair and dribbling the ball, accordingly the U.S.A. NWBA rules. The test is repeated without rest for one more time. Each dribbling violation adds 5 seconds to the trial time and each time the subject, ball, or wheelchair touch an obstacle, one second added to the trial time. One test trial was given to the subjects, for the familiarization with the test (See Figure 3).

*Lay-up:* Two cones are positioned on the 3-point line, perpendicular to the intersection, of the side lines of the free throw lane and the baseline. The subject takes position out of the 3-point line and starts with the signal to make as many lay-ups as possible within two minutes. After each attempt, he takes his own rebound, dribbles the ball around the opposite cone, preparing for the next lay up. The score was the total amount of the attempts, plus the total number of the successful lay ups (See Figure 4).

*Pass for distance:* The subject places the wheelchair so that the front wheels are behind the base line. Using the chest pass, he tries to pass the ball as far as possible. Subject was performed six attempts and the total of the measured distance was recorded (See Figure 5).

*Pass for accuracy:* The target in the specific test are three concentric rectangles of different sizes (50.8cm X 25.4cm, 101.6cm X 63.5cm and 152.4cm X 101.6cm), drown to smooth wall. The base of the larger rectangle is 60.96cm from the ground and the passing line is 10m (for 2-4.5 classification) or 7.5m (for 1 and 1.5 classification) from the wall. Subjects at the signal take position behind the line and perform 10 passes towards the wall any way the wish (i.e., chest pass, overhead, baseball), but discount any passes where the ball bounces first. If the ball hits the line or inside the smallest rectangle, subjects received 3 points which was the highest score. Two points received for the middle and one for the outer rectangle. Subjects should receive three warm up tosses from their distance and finally, only one trial of ten passes was allowed (See Figure 6).

#### Statistical analysis

Six separate (one for each skill test) independent samples t-tests were conducted to detect possible differences between the groups, and for all the carried skill tests. Significance level was set at p<0.05.

#### Classification

It is very possible, wheelchair basketball athletes because of their differences in disability degree, mobility, physical condition and training experience, to perform the technical skills by a completely different way. The skill’s performance was evaluated during games, from specialized observers called “classificators.” A basketball team comprehends athletes with high disability degree such as spinal cord injuries (e.g., quadriplegia), as well as athletes with low disability degree (e.g., amputation, other disabilities). The athletes are classified from 1 to 4.5, accordingly their basketball skills performance. The high classification degree corresponds to athletes with high functional capacity (therefore lower level of disability). The aim of this classification method is the compulsory participation of all the disable athletes in the games. These regulations have been applied since the early 1940’s, years of the game’s establishment. The first classification methods were based on the athletes’ anatomical characteristics, rather than their functional, so the athletes were classified with base their disability and not on their performance in games. Since 1984 a new classification system is in operation which primarily classified the athletes in four degrees (1, 2, 3, 4). Later, some changes were demonstrated, but the most important was the addition of the half degrees (1.5 – 2.5 – 3.5 – 4.5). The U.S.A National Wheelchair Basketball Association (N.W.B.A.) has established a different classification system, which is consistent by three degrees (1 – 2 – 3). So, the athletes are classified and the total of the in-bounce players’ degree must not exceed a specific number. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation decided for the international games and tournaments, the limit total degree for the in-bounce players to be the 14. For the national and local championships, the Federations allow the participant teams to come in the games with more limit degrees (e.g., 14.5 or 15).

### Results

Table 2 presents the athletes’ classification and their performance in all the technical skills.

The results of the t-test process are presented in table 3. Significant differences detected only for the obstacle dribble test.

### Discussion

This study examined the performance of a sample of high level wheelchair athletes in basketball skills. It was well-documented that athletes with low classification degree, demonstrated lower performance than those with high classification, but not statistically significant. However, significant differences were presented only to the obstacle dribble test. These results are in accordance with previous studies of considerable researchers (7-8, 14). It is discussed below the results regarding the skill tests separately.

#### 20m speed run

For wheelchair basketball the speed ability holds an important role. Specifically, after adjusting the 24¨ regulation, the individual and team speed, became imperative. Brasile (4-5) referred differences in speed run, between the athletes of 2-3 and 1 classification degree, while Ergun et al (9) referred that training experience affects the speed run ability. Contrary to these researches, no significant differences were detected between the two groups in the present study but, on the one hand Brasile (3-8) used different classification method and on the other hand Ergun (9) detected differences only between the athletes of various experience.

Free throws

Although significant differences were not detected between the groups in this test, it is obvious that small differences, appears to be between the groups (20.7 vs 18.4). The results are in accordance with resent literature however, a point of attention regarding free throw shooting performance is the different technique between the players (10, 12), the different type of the wheelchair, their age and the training level before the injury (5), as well as after it (9).

#### Obstacle dribble

Regarding the obstacle dribble, significant differences were observed between the groups in the present study (55.5sec vs 47.1sec, p<0.001). These results are in accordance with literature, while in both of the studies (8-9, 14) which investigated obstacle dribble, were detected significant differences between the athletes with different classification level. Obviously, in this test, many repeated changes of direction in conjunction with controlling the ball, requiring full activation of the abdominal muscles. In these muscle groups, the difference between athletes of varying classification level, is obvious and has an important role in performance, especially in tests involving abrupt changes of direction. An important finding regarding the obstacle dribble test is the difference between Greek and U.S.A. wheelchair athletes. Vanlerberghe and Slock (14), referred values of 47.1 and 43 sec accordingly for low and high classification athletes.

These differences in performance among the Greek and U.S.A. wheelchair athletes, can be justified by the low level of Greek wheelchair basketball and the fact that their involvement in the sport is more leisure, as well as they do not train more than three times a week during the season. On the other hand, basketball in the U.S.A. is highly developed and the national team is among the top teams in the world while the Greek wheelchair basketball national team, is classified in division III of Europe.

#### Lay ups

Contrary to Ergun et al. (9) results, in this study were not detected significant differences between the groups. Specifically, the low classification athletes referred 9.1±2.3 purposeful efforts, while the high classification athletes 11.1±2.2. Although there is a lack of significance, the difference between the groups (9.1 vs 11.1) highlights a strong trend of the high classification athletes, to perform better scores in the specific test.

#### Pass for accuracy

Significant differences between these groups were not observed. However, it has to be noticed that in this test, the low classification athletes were performed their efforts closer to the target, compared to their co-participants with high classification level, which may have influenced the results. It seems that there is need for further investigation, to explore a better method, for assessing the passing test for accuracy.

#### Pass for distance

No significant differences were detected between the groups (12.1 vs 10.5). These results are in accordance with Vanlerberghe and Slock (14), they are reasonable and explained by the fact that the upper body of the athletes is not damaged, so they don’t lack of power and they can throw the basketball away.

### Conclusions

This study investigated the technical characteristics of elite basketball players with disabilities. Overall, although significant differences were not revealed between high and low classification athletes, the trend indicates that athletes with high classification degree are better on tests requiring physical abilities, while those with low classification degree performed better on tests requiring skills and concentration. It is also important to take into consideration the fact that the Greek athletes with disabilities do not train regularly and intensively and had no training experience before the injury. Future research should focus on planning and application of training programs, in order to ascertain the influence of organized and intensive training to the improvement of their physical and technical skills.

### Application In Sports
The organized and intensive training in athletes with disabilities is efficient and it is very important for their performance, from time to time to be evaluated through valid and reliable tests. The frequent applications of test functions as motive for the athletes, so they are more concentrated, energetic, and effective during practice.

### Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the wheelchair basketball players, participating in this study, for their maximum efforts to achieve the best performance. Their contribution made this research possible.

### Tables

#### Table 1
Anthropometric characteristics of Greek elite wheelchair basketball players

N	Disability	Class	Age	Weight (kg)	High (cm)
1	PARA	1.0	29	65	180
2	TETRA	1.0	25	74	177
3	PARA	1.0	30	75.5	180
4	PARA	1.5	23	120	188
5	PARA	1.5	29	67.5	189
6	PARA	2.0	39	85	180
7	PARA	2.0	22	62.8	170
8	PARA	3.0	30	64	178
9	POLIO	3.0	40	74.4	170
10	AMP	4.0	43	96.6	180
11	AMP	4.5	31	78	180
12	AMP	4.5	28	61	180
13	AMP	4.5	22	87.4	188
14	AMP	4.5	31	113.2	200
M			30.1	80	181.4
SD			6.6	18.5	7.8

#### Table 2
Technical characteristics of Greek elite wheelchair basketball players

N	Classification	Lay up	Free throws	Long pass	Pass for accuracy	20m sprint	Obstacle dribble
1	1	11	19	25	10.5	5.8	55.4
2	1	9	18	19	10.4	5.7	57.4
3	1	6	23	15	10.4	6.1	55.3
4	1	6	13	20	9	6.3	58.9
5	1.5	10	26	21	8.7	7.0	56
6	2	12	27	11	13.6	5.7	56.8
7	2	10	19	17	12	5.1	49
M		9.14	20.71	18.28	10.66	5.96	55.54
SD		2.34	4.92	4.50	1.69	0.59	3.15
8	3	8	15	13	12.4	5.2	47.1
9	3	14	22	17	9.3	5.7	48.9
10	4	13	19	17	8.9	6.0	50.7
11	4.5	12	24	12	13.8	5.2	44.4
12	4.5	10	19	19	12.9	5.2	43.1
13	4.5	12	20	16	15.2	6.0	51
14	4.5	9	10	11	12.1	5.7	44.8
M		11.14	18.43	15	12.09	5.57	47.14
SD		2.19	4.65	3	2.28	0.37	3.16

#### Table 3
t-test results for the six skill tests within the group

test	t	p
Lay up	-1.65	0.12
Free throws	0.89	0.39
Long pass	1.61	0.13
Pass for accuracy	-1.32	0.21
Sprint	1.46	0.17
Obstacle dribble	4.98	0.0003

### Figures

#### Figure 1
20m speed run
![Figure 1](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/462/figure-1.png “20m speed run”)

#### Figure 2
Free throws. 2 series of 20 shot
![Figure 2](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/462/figure-2.png “Free throws. 2 series of 20 shot”)

#### Figure 3
Obstacle dribble
![Figure 3](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/462/figure-3.png “Obstacle dribble”)

#### Figure 4
Lay-ups (2 min)
![Figure 4](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/462/figure-4.png “Lay-ups (2 min)”)

#### Figure 5
Long pass (6 trials)
![Figure 5](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/462/figure-5.png “Long pass (6 trials)”)

#### Figure 6
Pass for accuracy (10 trials)
![Figure 6](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/462/figure-6.png “Pass for accuracy (10 trials)”)

### References

1. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) (1984). Basketball for boys and girls: skill test manual. VA Reston.
2. Apostolidis, N., Nassis, G., Bolatoglou, T., & Geladas, N. (2003). Physiological and technical characteristics of elite young basketball players. The Journal of Sport Medicine and Physical Fitness, 43, 157-163.
3. Brasile, F. (1984). A wheelchair basketball skill test. Sports and Spokes, 9(7), 36-40.
4. Brasile, F. (1986). Do you measure up? Sports and Spokes, 12(4), 43-47.
5. Brasile, F. (1990). Performance evaluation of wheelchair athletes: More than a disability classification level issue. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 7, 289-297.
6. Brasile, F. (1993). Evaluation the elite. Sports and Spokes,19(3), 52-55.
7. Brasile, F. (1996a). Wheelchair basketball skills proficiencies versus disability Classification. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 3, 6-13.
8. Brasile, F., & Hendrick, B. (1996b). The relationship of skills of elite wheelchair basketball competitors to the international functional classification system. The Recreate Journal, 30, 114-127.
9. Ergun, N., Duzgun, I., & Aslan, E. (2008). Effect of the number of years of experience on physical fitness, sports skills and quality of life in wheelchair basketball players. Fizyoterapi Rehabilitasyon, 19(2), 55-63.
10. Goosey-Tolfrey, V., Butterworth, D., & Morriss, C. (2002). Free throw shooting technique of male wheelchair basketball players. Physical Activity Quarterly, 19, 238-250.
11. Hopkins, D. R. (1979). Using skill tests to identify successful and unsuccessful basketball performers. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 50, 381-387.
12. Malone, L.A., Gervais, P.L., Steadward, R.D., & Sanders, R.H. (1999, July). Parameters of ball release in wheelchair basketball free throw shooting. Oral presentation at the XVII International Symposium on Biomechanics in Sports, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.
13. Molik, B., Kosmol, A., Laskin, J.J., Morgulec-Adamowicz, N., Skucas, K., Dabrowska, A., Gajewski, J., & Ergun, N. (2010). Wheelchair basketball skill tests: differences between athletes’ functional classification level and disability type. Fizyoterapi Rehabilitasyon, 21(1), 11-9.
14. Vanlerberghe, J.O.C., & Slock, K. (1987). A study of wheelchair basketball skills. International Perspective of Adopted Physical Activity. Champaign Illinois: Human Kinetics.
15. Vanlandewijck, Y.C., Daly, D.J., & Theisen, D.M. (1999) Field test evaluation of aerobic, anaerobic, and wheelchair basketball skill performances. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 20, 548-54.

### Corresponding Author

N. Apostolidis, Phd
National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Physical Education & Sport Science
Daphne – Athens, 17237 Greece
<napost@phed.uoa.gr>
+302107276085

Dr. E. Zacharakis is Lecturer to the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science of the Athens University. He is teaching Basketball techniques and tactics (Undergraduate). He was head coach of the Greek wheelchair basketball team, participated to the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. His research interest is focused on wheelchair basketball, concerning the technical and physiological characteristics.

U.S. Sports Academy2013-11-22T22:50:16-06:00April 9th, 2012|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Work-Family Conflict and Related Theories in NCAA Division II Sports Information Professionals

Laura M. Hatfield, Ph.D. and Jeffrey T. Johnson, Ph.D.

### Abstract

Work-family conflict (WFC) is defined as “the discord that arises when the time devoted to or time spent fulfilling professional responsibilities interferes with or limits the amount of time available to perform family-related responsibilities” (20, 21). A successful career in sports information requires long, demanding hours which can make finding balance between work and family difficult. Sports information professionals (SIDs) participate in public relations activities designed to promote the teams they represent (19, 26). Responding to increasing interest in college sports, the demand for information about collegiate athletic departments has increased (13). In order to meet this demand for information, SIDs are responsible for producing content for electronic and print media on a regular and timely basis. The work done by sports information professionals has been characterized as 24 hours a day, 7 days a week work (11). Therefore, balancing work and home life has become a topic of increasing interest for those working in this field.

The purpose of this study was to determine if work-family conflict exists in NCAA Division II SIDs and to examine the impact of WFC on the related theories of life satisfaction (LS), job satisfaction (JS), job burnout (JB), and career commitment (CC). E-mails containing a link to the online survey were sent to the highest ranking sports information professional in each NCAA Division II institution. Informed consent was obtained prior to obtaining access to the survey. The survey contained Likert scale items for WFC, LS, JS, JB, and CC, demographic information, and open ended items relating to positive aspects and challenging aspects in performing the duties of a sports information professional. Of the 273 individuals contacted, 98 (36%) completed the survey. Results indicated these professionals do suffer from work-family conflict as 84% reported high levels of conflict, while only 8% reported low levels of conflict. Examination of the other scales revealed that these professionals are fairly satisfied with life and job factors, but some do experience from a fair degree of job burnout. Further analysis revealed that those with more children in the home had greater WFC. Finally, correlation and regression analyses revealed significant statistical relationships between each scale and indicated that WFC could successfully predict variations in LS, JS, JB, and CC.

**Key Words:** sports information, media relations, work family conflict

### Introduction

Work-family conflict (WFC) is defined as “the discord that arises when the time devoted to or time spent fulfilling professional responsibilities interferes with or limits the amount of time available to perform family-related responsibilities” (20, 21). This type of conflict appears when the demands of one’s professional life interfere with the demands of one’s personal life. Stated another way “participation in the work role/family role is made more difficult by virtue of participation in the family role/work role” (16). WFC has been studied extensively in the corporate environment (2, 9). This is a growing line of inquiry in the sport context and has received visible support from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). For example, the NCAA has created a work-life task force to address these issues (10) and the topic has been prominent at [NCAA National Conventions](http://www.ncaa.org) beginning in 2008. Results from a recent study found that NCAA Division I sports information professionals do experience high levels of work-family conflict (14).

Sports information professionals (SIDs) participate in public relations activities designed to promote the teams they represent (19, 26). Responding to increasing interest in college sports, the demand for information about intercollegiate athletic departments has increased (13). In order to meet this demand for information, SIDs are responsible for producing content for electronic and print media on a regular and timely basis. They develop a wide range of publications and new media, compile and manage statistics, meet the needs of the media, manage budgets, organize events, and supervise personnel all while maintaining their composure in highly stressful situations (12, 26). SIDs report feeling overwhelmed with the increasing demands of desktop publishing and electronic media (16). A successful career in sports information requires long, demanding hours which can make finding balance between work and family difficult. Therefore, balancing work life and home life has become a topic of increasing interest for those working in this field, including SIDs at the NCAA Division II level.

In an attempt to define, brand, and uniquely position NCAA Division II, the NCAA launched a strategic initiative that incorporates a hexagon of principles (learning, balance, resourcefulness, sportsmanship, passion, and service) to clearly define and uniquely position [Division II](http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/82af4f004e0daa1e9b7ffb1ad6fc8b25/SPPlatformInColor.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=82af4f004e0daa1e9b7ffb1ad6fc8b25 ). In addition, the Division II presidents have established the first phase in a two phase process designed to promote more balance between work and life for coaches and student-athletes. The “Life in the Balance” principle reduces contest dates in 10 sports thus streamlining the seasons and includes a provision for a seven-day break from practice and competition for basketball. These actions are designed to provide time off for [players and team staffs](http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/academics/division+ii/life+in+the+balance). It is reasonable to infer that this increased focus on a balanced life, including the streamlining of seasons and reduction in contests, would promote more opportunity for work-life balance for athletic department members, including sports information professionals.

The NCAA Division II strategic positioning initiative is designed to establish a way of life on the Division II campus as uniquely different from the way of life on campuses at other institutional classifications. Several studies exist that examine the job characteristics for athletic directors at the various institutional classifications. Previous research indicates that there are very few differences among the characteristics of the organizations and the styles of administration in NCAA (all levels) and NAIA athletic departments (25). Further, Copeland and Kirsch (4) found no significant differences in job stress for NCAA athletic directors regardless of institutional classification (Division I, Division II, or Division III). Additionally, these athletic directors reported that they almost always experienced some level of job related stress (4). Given the similar organizational characteristics and administrative styles, including the similarly stressful nature of the role of the athletic director in intercollegiate athletics, it is reasonable to infer that those with other roles within athletic departments at various institutional classifications might experience similar challenges to their colleagues across divisions. In fact, the stresses faced by SIDs in NCAA Division I might also be faced by those in NCAA Division II institutions. Hatfield & Johnson (14) reported that a majority of the NCAA Division I SID participants experienced work-family conflict.

Studies examining work-family conflict in sport have focused primarily on athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, and administrators at the NCAA Division I level (6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 18, 22, and 24). Male and female coaches have experienced work-family conflict (24). Work-family conflict has been closely examined in NCAA Division I athletic trainers (17, 18). Results from these studies indentified long hours, required travel, overlapping responsibilities, drive to succeed, and commitment to the profession as qualities that contribute to the challenges sport professionals face in managing work-family conflict (6, 7, 8, 15, 17, 18, 22, 24). SIDs are another group of athletic department staff members who work in similarly demanding positions. In a study examining work-family conflict and related theories in sports information professionals, Hatfield & Johnson (14) found that 86% of participating SIDs reported experiencing work-family conflict. These professionals identified “balancing work and family life, especially on the weekends;” “balancing work/family life and prioritizing the things that must get done and putting others aside to spend time with family;” “meeting all the job demands with a small staff and meeting the demands at home as a husband and father of two young children;” and “balancing travel/events with family…more is always added, nothing is ever taken away” as some of their greatest challenges in performing their job duties (14).

Work-family conflict does not exist in isolation. Work-family conflict has been negatively related to life satisfaction and job satisfaction in athletic trainers and sports information professionals (14, 18). Work-family conflict has been positively correlated with job burnout and intent to leave the profession (14, 20). Work schedules that require long hours with little flexibility have been tied to job dissatisfaction and burnout in athletic department employees (14, 17). Further, in so much as time is a limited resource, time spent on one activity, work, is time not spent on another activity, family. Therefore, attempts to balance work and family while managing other, related constructs as experienced by SIDs warrants formal examination. The purpose of this study was to determine if work-family conflict exists in NCAA Division II sports information professionals and to examine the impact of work-family conflict on the related theories of life satisfaction (LS), job satisfaction (JS), job burnout (JB), and career commitment (CC).

### Methods

#### Participants

Sports information professionals in each of the 273 NCAA Division II member institutions were invited to participate, and 98 SIDs completed surveys. Participants in this study were the highest ranking sports information professionals in their respective NCAA Division II athletic departments. Titles for these professionals might include, but are not limited to, any of the following: sports information director, assistant athletic director for media relations, or associate athletic director for sport communications.

#### Procedures

There are 273 NCAA Division II institutions listed on the [NCAA portal](http://www.ncaa.org). The portal was used to provide access to the website for each Division II institution. Once on the website, the highest ranking communications professional in the athletic department was identified and an email inviting that individual to participate in the study was sent. A link to the survey was provided in the email. Informed consent was obtained prior to obtaining access to the survey. Following the initial invitation to participate, two additional reminders were sent. The survey was open for six weeks.

#### Instrumentation

An online survey was assembled to include five scales that had previously been tested for validity and reliability (12) and included a section for demographic information and open ended items to address the positive aspects and challenging aspects in performing the duties of a sports information professional. The following five scales were used:

*Work-Family Conflict.* Work-family conflict was assessed using the 5-item Netemeyer et al. (20) scale that included a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = *strongly disagree* or *low work-family conflict* to 7 = *strongly agree* or *high work-family conflict*) for responses.

*Life Satisfaction.* Life satisfaction was assessed using the 5-item Diener (5) Satisfaction with Life Scale that included a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = *strongly agree* or *high life satisfaction* to 7 = *strongly disagree* or *low life satisfaction*) for responses.

*Job Satisfaction.* Job satisfaction was assessed using the 6-item Agho, Price & Mueller (1) scale that included a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = *strongly agree* or *low job satisfaction* to 5 = *strongly disagree* or *high job satisfaction*) for responses.

*Job Burnout.* Job burnout was assessed using the 21-item Pines & Aronson (23) Burnout Measure that included a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = *never* or *low job burnout* to 7 = *always* or *high job burnout*) for responses.

*Career Commitment.* Career commitment was assessed using the 7-item Blau (3) scale that included a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = *strongly agree* or *high career commitment* to 5 = *strongly disagree* or *low career commitment*) for responses.

#### Data Analysis

The quantitative data was calculated using SPSS version 16. Demographic data was collected for gender, age, EEOC status, educational background, number of children under the age of 18 living in the household, and number of years in the field. Each scale was totaled and percentages for the “agree” (agree, somewhat agree, strongly agree), “neutral”, and “disagree” (disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree) responses were calculated for each scale. Cross-tabulations between demographic categories and the WFC scale were run to determine if any of these factors had an impact on WFC. Finally, correlation and regression analysis was run to examine the relationships between the scales and to determine the predictive ability of WFC on each of the other scales. Qualitative data from the open ended items were utilized to support the results from the quantitative analyses.

### Results & Discussion

Of the 273 Division II sports information professionals contacted, 98 responded to the survey, for a response rate of 36%. Within the group of respondents, 85% were male (n = 83) and 11 % were female (n = 11). Four individuals (4%) chose not to include their gender. With regard to family status, 32% were single (n = 31), 61% were married (n = 60), 1% was widowed (n = 1), 1% was divorced (n = 1), 1% was in a domestic partnership (n = 1), and 4% (n = 4) did not indicate a family status. Eighty six percent of the sample was Caucasian (n = 84), five percent were African American (n = 5), one percent was Hispanic (n = 1), two percent were of mixed heritage (n = 2), and six percent did not respond to EEOC status (n = 6). Most of the respondents were sports information directors (70%, n = 69), with a few indicating they were assistant or associate athletic directors (27%, n = 25). Four of the participants did not indicate a title (n = 4).

The results clearly show that Division II sports information professionals (SIDs) do experience levels of work-family conflict. Eighty four percent of the participants responded that they had high levels of work-family conflict while only eight percent indicated they did not feel their work conflicted with their personal lives. Responses from open-ended questions also support this finding including: “having to work seven days a week and having very little family time;” “trying to manage family time with work demands. More games are moving to weekends to avoid missed class time, but it doesn’t help staff members;” and “keeping an equal life-work balance through the entire year, not just in the summer months when there are no sports.”

With regard to the life satisfaction scale, 59% of the respondents indicated that they were happy with their current life situation, 28% indicated that they were not happy with their current life situation and another 13% responded neutral with regard to this set of questions. Even though over half of the participants did report that they are happy with their current life situation, the researchers were expecting this number to be higher as anecdotal evidence indicated that although these types of sport professionals do work long, demanding hours, the great percentage seemed to be happy with their lives. Therefore, the fact that almost 30% reported being somewhat unhappy further indicates there may be some work-life balance issues with this population. One respondent suggested that being “able to work flexible hours outside of events. Telecommute when possible. Go into the office after the kids are in bed” was a positive aspect of the job. Other responses included: “…involving my family in my work so I can accomplish my duties and spend time with family at the same time” and “nothing less than 100% is enough…my drive keeps me going and my family is heavily involved in the school in which I work which is good and bad.” These statements reinforce the crossover between these job and life characteristics.

Results related to the job satisfaction scale indicated that overall these professionals are satisfied with their present situation, as 80% responded that they were satisfied with their current jobs, while only nine percent reported being dissatisfied. This certainly indicates that while there are issues in this profession, the gross majority are pleased with their careers at this point in their professional lives. Respondents indicated that interacting with student-athletes and coaches, being a fan of one team, and the game-day atmosphere were positive aspects of their jobs.

Fifty five percent of the participants did not indicate high levels job burnout while 43% did indicate some level of burnout on a fairly frequent basis, according to results from the job burnout scale. Again, even though the majority of the participants do not report experiencing high levels of burnout, the fact that 43% do suffer from some level of burnout is an important finding and one indication that these individuals may experience more burnout as they progress through their professional careers as most of the participants were less than ten years into the profession. Some respondents provided work place examples related to burnout including the following: “Balancing what I physically, mentally and emotionally CAN do with what I WANT to do;” “too much work, not enough pay;” “no full-time help;” “limited staff (just me) covering 16 sports;” and “the ever changing and growing list of responsibilities.”

Results from the career commitment scale were interesting as 56% indicated that they were happy with their careers, while 41% had some level of uncertainty. This, again, further illustrates that most of these professionals do enjoy what they do although some may choose a different focus if they could “do it over again.” Positive comments related to career commitment included: “I love daily interaction with student-athletes, nothing beats the atmosphere of a college campus and the chance to make a difference in the lives of student-athletes” and “ability to develop working relationships with players and coaches. Ability to call the program ‘my own.’ Opportunity to tailor my work to the needs of my media market.” Others provided comments identifying challenges to their career commitment: “dealing with unrealistic objectives from superiors who have not the first clue what this job entails;” “I’m a one-man show. I currently do not have any full-time assistant[s] so I must complete all tasks;” and “managing expectations of administration in face of new technologies.”

To further disaggregate the data, cross-tabulations were run to determine if the responses on the work family scale were different based on gender, EEOC status, years of experience in the field, and number of children under age 18 in the home. When compared on gender, 100% of the female respondents indicated they did feel at least some degree of work-family conflict (see Table 1 for complete results). Results related to males showed 92.8% had some level of work-family conflict, while 1.2% was neutral and 6% indicated there was little or no work-family conflict. Comparison on EEOC status revealed similar results across the different categories as most felt a fair degree of work-family conflict and very few responses indicated little or no conflict (see Table 2 for complete results).

Data for years of experience as it relates to work-family conflict also showed very few differences across categories. Ninety three percent of those with ten or less years of experience indicated at least some level of conflict, compared to 96% of those with 11-20 years of experience, and 92% of those with over 20 years of experience (see Table 3 for complete results).

The most significant results of the cross-tabulations were associated with the number of children under the age of 18 in the home (see Table 4 for complete results). First, it was interesting to note that approximately 55% of the participants in the study reported having no children under the age of 18 living in the household. There could be several explanations for this result. Since many of these individuals are less than ten years into their careers they may not be at a point in their life where they want to start a family, but it may also indicate that their work schedules are interfering with the ability to start a family. Data from the cross-tabulation definitely showed differences based on the number children under age 18 in the household. Greater numbers of children in the household was associated with greater work-family conflict. Of those with three or more children, none indicated they were neutral or had little or no conflict, while 10.3% of those with two or less children under the age of 18 reported neutral or low rates of conflict.

Correlations were run to examine the degree of relationship between each of the scales. The correlations show significant relationships between each of the scales utilized in the study (see Table 5). Approximately half of the correlations were moderate (0.4 to 0.7) while the other half were low (0.2 to 0.4) but still all correlations were statistically significant at the 0.05 alpha level. These data clearly show there is a relationship between work-family conflict and each of the other scales, as well as, each of the other scales with each other.

After determining there were significant correlations between the scales, regression analyses were run between the work-family scale and each of the other scales to determine if work-family conflict could successfully predict the variations in the scores on the other scales (see Table 6 for complete results). The work-family conflict scale was able to predict each of the other scales effectively, indicating that work-family conflict is significantly related to life satisfaction, job burnout, career commitment, and job satisfaction for this group of Division II sports information professionals. Although work-family conflict was able to predict each of the other scales, the regression between work-family conflict and job burnout was substantially higher than the others, which indicates those experiencing from work-family conflict also seem to be experiencing a fair degree of job burnout.

The results of this study compare remarkably with a previous study by these authors investigating the same research questions with Division I sports information professionals (14). Eighty six percent of Division I SIDs reported having work-family conflict which compares favorably to the 84% reported in this study. All of the other scales had very similar results as well, certainly indicating that the stresses faced and the impact of these stressors on the lives of sports information professionals is very similar from Division I to Division II. The Division II SIDs did report slightly higher job burnout than their Division I counterparts (43% to 41%) which could be related to less staff and help, and additional responsibilities that may include coaching, other administrative responsibilities, etc., at the Division II level. The results from the correlation and regression data also mirrored the results from the Division I study.

### Conclusions

With increased coverage of Division II athletic events comes increased work for those providing information and promoting the athletes and teams to media outlets, fans, and other interested parties. As this demand for information increases, the potential for work-family conflict and related issues could certainly increase as well. The purpose of this study was to determine if work-family conflict exists in Division II SIDs, and if so, what is the relationship between work family conflict and life satisfaction, job satisfaction, career commitment, and job burnout? It is clear that Division II sports information professionals do experience work-family conflict, much like their Division I colleagues, and there is a significant relationship between these concepts. The correlation and regression analyses clearly show that work-family conflict can predict variations on each of the other scales. It is important for those in administrative positions to understand the demands on the SIDs and try to provide ways to reduce the impact of work-family conflict as it certainly could have potential negative results for the professionals.

### Application To Sport

Since SIDs serve as a liaison between collegiate athletic departments and media outlets, fans, and other interested parties, work-family conflict and job burnout could lead to increased stress among these professionals and could impact all entities associated with these athletic departments, including the athletes, other athletic administrators, and the university as a whole. This study has clearly demonstrated that these professionals do suffer from work-family conflict, and that WFC is related to increased job burnout and decreased life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and career commitment. Therefore, it is certainly plausible that this could lead to increased stress and negative impacts, therefore, it is important for athletic administrators to address this issue with their employees and try to find ways to decrease this conflict.

### Tables

#### Table 1
Cross-tabulation of work-family conflict by gender

	Gender
Response	Male	Female
Strongly Disagree	0	0
Disagree	0	0
Somewhat Disagree	6.0	0
Neutral	1.2	0
Somewhat Agree	19.3	36.4
Agree	34.9	36.4
Strongly Agree	38.6	27.2

#### Table 2
Cross-tabulation of work-family conflict by EEOC

	EEOC
Response	Caucasian	African-American	Hispanic	Mixed Heritage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0	0
Disagree	0	0	0	0
Somewhat Disagree	3.6	20	0	0
Neutral	1.2	0	0	0
Somewhat Agree	23.8	0	0	0
Agree	35.7	20	100	50
Strongly Agree	35.7	60	0	50

#### Table 3
Cross-tabulation of work-family conflict by years of experience

	Years of Experience
Response	0-10 years	11-20 years	21-30 years	31+ years
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0	0
Disagree	0	0	0	0
Somewhat Disagree	5.4	4	8.3	0
Neutral	1.8	0	0	0
Somewhat Agree	21.4	24	16.7	0
Agree	32.1	40	41.7	0
Strongly Agree	39.3	32	33.3	100

#### Table 4
Cross-tabulation of work-family conflict by number of children under age 18 in the home

	Number of children under 18 in home
Response	0	1	2	3	4+
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0	0	0
Disagree	0	0	0	0	0
Somewhat Disagree	1.9	6.7	13.6	0	0
Neutral	3.8	0	0	0	0
Somewhat Agree	30.2	6.7	18.2	20	0
Agree	24.5	40	50	40	50
Strongly Agree	39.6	46.7	18.2	40	50

#### Table 5
Correlations (actual correlation coefficients) between subscales

Scales	Work-family Conflict (WFC)	Life Satisfaction (LS)	Job Satisfaction (JS)	Job Burnout (JB)	Career Commitment (CC)
WFC		0.3962*	0.292*	0.485*	0.395*
LS	0.362*		0.418*	0.680*	0.471*
JS	0.292*	0.418*		0.405*	0.664*
JB	0.485*	0.680*	0.405*		0.315*
CC	0.395*	0.471*	0.664*	0.315*

* p < .05

#### Table 6
Regressions between WFC and each scale

Regression	R squared	F ratio	P value
Work-family Conflict vs. Life Satisfaction	0.131	14.327	0.000
Work-family Conflict vs. Job Satisfaction	0.085	8.867	0.004
Work-family Conflict vs. Job Burnout	0.235	28.233	0.000
Work-family Conflict vs. Career Commitment	0.156	17.214	0.000

### References

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4. Copeland B.W. & Kirsch, S. (1995). Perceived occupational stress among NCAA Division I, II, and III athletic directors, Journal of Sport Management, 9(1), 70-77.
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8. Dixon, M.A., Bruening, J.E., Mazerolle, S.M., Davis, A., Crowder, J., & Lorsbach, M. (2006). Career, family, or both? A case study of young professional baseball players, Nine: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture, 14(2), 80-101.
9. Eby, L.T., Casper, W.J., Lockwood, A., Bordeaux, C., & Brinley, A. (2005). Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980-2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66(1), 124-197.
10. Evans, D. (2006). Work-life balance a matter of priorities. NCAA News, 43(21), 4-20.
11. Favorito, J. (2007). Sports publicity: A practical approach. Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
12. Fields, D.L. (2002). Taking the measure of work: A guide to validated scales for organizational research and diagnosis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
13. Gillentine, A. & Crow, R. B. (Eds.) (2005). Foundations of sport management. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
14. Hatfield, L.M, & Johnson, J.T. (in press) Work-Family Conflict in NCAA Division I Sports Information Professionals, Journal of Contemporary Athletics.
15. Inglis, S., Danylchuk, K.E., & Pastore, D.L. (2000). Multiple realities of women’s work experiences in coaching and athletic management, Women in Sport & Physical Activity Journal, 9(2), 1-26.
16. Kahn, R.L., Wolfe, D.M., Quinn, R., Snoek, J.D., & Rosenthal, R.A. (1964). Organizational Stress. In Mazerolle, S.M., Bruening, J.E., & Casa, D.J. (2008). Work-family conflict, part I: Antecedents of work-family conflict in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A Certified Athletic Trainers, Journal of Athletic Training, 43(5), 505-512.
17. Mazerolle, S.M., Bruening, J.E., & Casa, D.J. (2008). Work-family conflict, part I: Antecedents of work-family conflict in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A Certified Athletic Trainers, Journal of Athletic Training, 43(5), 505-512.
18. Mazerolle, S.M., Bruening, J.E., Casa, D.J., & Burton, L. (2008). Work-family conflict, part II: Job and life satisfaction in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A Certified Athletic Trainers, Journal of Athletic Training, 43(5), 513-522.
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20. Netemeyer, R.G., McMurrian, R., & Boles, J.S. (1996). Development and validation of work-family conflict and family-work conflict scales. In Fields, D.L. (Ed.) (2002). Taking the measure of work: A guide to validated scales for organizational research and diagnosis (p. 202). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
21. Netemeyer, R.G., McMurrian, R., & Boles, J.S. (1996). Development and validation of work-family conflict and family-work conflict scales. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(4), 400-410.
22. Pastore, D.L. (1991). Male and female coaches of women’s athletic teams: Reasons for entering and leaving the profession, Journal of Sport Management, 5(2), 128-143.
23. Pines, A., & Aronson, E. (1988). Career burnout: Causes and cures. In Fields, D.L. (Ed.) (2002). Taking the measure of work: A guide to validated scales for organizational research and diagnosis (p. 63). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
24. Sagas, M. & Cunningham, G.B. (2005). Work and family conflict among college assistant coaches, International Journal of Sport Management, 6(2), 183-197.
25. Scott, D.K. (1999). A multiframe perspective of leadership and organizational culture in intercollegiate athletics, Journal of Sport Management, 13(4), XYZ, 298-316.
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### Corresponding Author

Laura M. Hatfield, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Sport Management
University of West Georgia
Carrollton, GA 30118-1100
<lhatfiel@westga.edu>
678.839.6191

### Author Biographies

#### Laura M. Hatfield

Laura M. Hatfield (Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi) is an assistant professor of sport management in the Department of Leadership and Applied Instruction at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, GA. She teaches undergraduate courses organizational theory, organizational behavior, and communications. Her research interests include work-family conflict, organizational communication, and the scholarship of teaching.

#### Jeffrey T. Johnson

Jeffrey T. Johnson (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is an associate professor of sports science in the Department of Leadership and Applied Instruction at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, GA. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, and exercise physiology. His research interests include pathological walking and running, sport mechanics, and work-family conflict.

U.S. Sports Academy2013-11-22T22:50:34-06:00April 9th, 2012|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Dietary Habits of African Canadian Women: A Sampled Survey

Sherldine Tomlinson, M.Sc.; Jordan R. Moon, PhD

### Abstract

The countless health benefits of adopting healthy eating habits have been well documented. It is troubling then that studies examining dietary behaviors among minority women find that compared with European American women, African American women practice poorer dietary habits. Given this reality, and the knowledge that poor nutrition is a contributing risk factor for chronic, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, better understandings of minority women and their relationships with food are needed. This study aimed to contribute to this effort by surveying African Canadian women to explore both their eating habits and their perceptions of nutrition. Participants in this study were Canadian women of African ancestry who were 25 years old or older. Fifty of these women chose to participate and did so by completing a brief written survey and answering one open-ended question. Survey results revealed that the respondents rated their present eating habits as “excellent” (6%), “very good” (36%), “good” (40%), or “fair” (17%). Top dietary changes made by participants included reducing salt, fat and/or sugar intake, and/or increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. The open-ended question asked what supports could be put in place to encourage healthy eating and many of the respondents noted that nutritional classes/workshops for black women that could be offered through the community or the church would be beneficial. This study suggests increased efforts are required to further educate African Canadian women about healthy eating as poor nutrition is a significant risk factor for many of the diseases prevalent in black communities. It is imperative that any initiated nutritional education programmes be tailored to meet the cultural and linguistic background of the targeted group in question. Further research is warranted to expand our understandings of African Canadian women’s eating habits and how their food choices affect their overall health.

**Key Words:** minority women, nutrition, health status, diet-related illnesses

### Introduction

Many health professionals agree that the most significant and controllable risk factor affecting long-term health and well-being is diet. Indeed, the first steps commonly suggested for improving health and longevity are lifestyle changes like lowering salt intake, reducing total fat/saturated fat in our diets, increasing fibre intake and fruit and vegetable consumption, and integrating regular exercise into our daily routine. Without a doubt, there are countless benefits to adopting healthy eating habits. It is troubling then that studies in the United States examining dietary behaviors among minority women find that compared with European American women, African American women practice poorer dietary habits. In a number of recent studies for example, African American women were shown to consume less fruits and vegetables, and to eat more foods that were high in sodium and/or fat (1-3). The American Heart Association’s 2009 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update (4) reported that on average, only three to five percent of adult African Americans consumed the recommended three or more daily servings of whole grains, only six to nine percent consumed four or more daily servings of fruit and only five to ten percent consumed five or more daily servings of vegetables.

Research also suggests that poor eating habits are a significant risk factor in the development of chronic illnesses (5) and are known to act as precursors for other risk factors, especially being overweight or obese (4). Not surprisingly then, poor nutrition among African American women is believed to contribute to the higher incidences of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases they experience in comparison to White American women. Until minority women’s dietary habits are improved they will continue to be plagued by nutrition related illnesses.

Current literature provides limited explanation as to why African American women have poor dietary practices. What is known from the research is that health disparities, such as lack of access to proper preventative care, stressful lifestyles, lack of education about nutrition, inadequate housing, lower income and the lack of health insurance in the United States, are all believed to be factors in poor health outcomes among African Americans (6). The ongoing disparity in well-being between African Americans and their fellow citizens suggests further efforts are required to identify and implement appropriate strategies to improve this group’s nutritional and overall health status. This study aimed to contribute to this effort by surveying African Canadian women to explore both their eating habits and their perceptions of nutrition. The results of this study provide useful information for health care practitioners and educators seeking to improve health among minority populations.

### Methods

#### Participant Recruitment

The targeted participant group for this study were Canadian women of African ancestry who were 25 years of age or older. The recruitment process involved approaching African Canadian women in shopping malls, medical centers, universities/colleges and churches, providing them with a brief overview of the survey, and inviting them to participate. Those women who agreed to participate were given a consent form to read and sign. Recruitment was not stratified by socioeconomic status as many participants refused to fill out the survey or answer the open-ended question if their income, marital status or educational background was required. After one month of recruitment, 50 African Canadian women agreed to participate in the study.

#### Survey implementation

Each participant was given a written questionnaire to complete. On average, the questionnaire took participants approximately two minutes to finish. Participants were then asked an open-ended question and a digital recorder was employed to record their responses. This oral portion of the survey took approximately one and a half minutes to complete. For the purposes of confidentiality, all the respondents were assigned a file number.

#### Primary outcome measures

The primary outcome measures for the study were to provide some useful insights into African Canadian women’s dietary habits and their awareness of nutrition. It is hoped that these findings lead to open dialogues among health practitioners and educators on how best to promote healthier lifestyles among women of African descent in North America and beyond.

#### Procedures

The survey questionnaire used a likert scale to assess participant’s top dietary approaches to good nutrition; barriers to healthy eating; familiarity with Canada’s Food Guide and its recommendations; motivators in changing dietary habits; sources for nutrition information; nutrition concerns; importance of nutrition to improving Black women’s health and ratings of dietary habits. The open-ended question asked participants to indentify strategies they believed would be useful in promoting healthy eating habits among African Canadian women. With the exception of questions focusing on the link between nutrition and Black women’s health, the survey questions were adapted from the Canadian National Institute of Nutrition: Tracking Nutrition Trends series of surveys (7).

#### Statistical analysis

Analyses of the data were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 13.0. Responses to the survey questions were coded, allowing the data to be converted into numbers. This descriptive data was then calculated and expressed as means, standard deviations, and percentage except where otherwise noted.

### Results

A total of 50 African Canadian women, ranging in age from 31 to 78 years, took part in the study. All 50 participants completed the survey questionnaire and answered the open-ended question. Based on analysis of survey results only 6% (n=3/50) of the respondents rated their present eating habits as “excellent”, whilst 36% (n=18/50) rated them as “very good”, 40% (n=20/50) as “good”, and 18% (n=9/50) as “fair.” (Table 1). Top dietary changes adopted by participants to improve their nutrition included reducing salt, fat and/or sugar intake, and/or increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

When asked to identify barriers to adopting good eating habits the participants gave a variety of responses; 52% (n=26/50) of the women cited lack of time to prepare healthy meals, 26% (n=13/50) selected taste as an impediment and 22% (n=11/50) cited lack of desire as an obstacle. Affordability of healthy foods was not selected as a barrier to healthy eating, which may suggest that costs associated with buying healthy foods is not a concern for these women. Interestingly, only 38% (n=19/50) of the sampled women were aware of Canada’s Food Guide, whereas 62% (n=31/50) of the women were not familiar with the guide. Most women who knew of the guide also cited that they were familiar with some of its recommendations regarding daily nutritional needs. 52% (n=26/50) of the women also said that they considered themselves “somewhat knowledgeable” about nutrition, while 22% (n=11/50) reported they were “very knowledgeable”, 18% (n=9/50) “extremely knowledgeable” and 8% (n=4/50) “quite knowledgeable.”

On the topic of how important participants believed good nutrition was in maintaining or improving Black women’s health, 52% (n=26/50) of the respondents answered “extremely important,” 42% (n=21/50) said “very important” and 6% (n=3/50) recorded “somewhat important.” The top three nutritional concerns for participants were consuming too much fried foods (70%, n=35/50), consuming too much sodium (68%, n=34/50) and the presence of trans fat in foods (62%, n=31/50) (Figure 1). In terms of where they typically obtained nutritional information, 56% (n=28/50) of the women reported turning to standard nutrition leaflets/booklets, whereas 28% (n=14/50) consulted with their physician for dietary advice (Figure 2). Participants identified a number of key motivators to improving dietary habits, “having a health condition” (46%, n=23) and “to maintain health” (28% (n=14) were the top two motivators (Table 2).

#### Analysis of Open-ended Question

When asked what strategies could be employed to encourage African Canadian women to adopt healthy eating habits, a number of answers were given. Introducing nutritional workshops/classes through community-based (i.e. church) programs was a suggestion offered by many of the women. For example, one woman conveyed “if there were nutrition classes available in my church I would definitely go,” while another said “I think having some workshops to teach Black people more about good eating is a very good idea…I would go to the classes.” Still another woman echoed the idea of the church as an ideal place to deliver meaningful and effective health promotional messages within the Black community, explaining that “since a lot of black people do go to church, it would be a good thing to have nutrition classes there to learn more about nutrition.” One woman noted that she had heard of Black churches in the United States offering nutrition and exercise programs for their congregations and said “we need something like that in Canada…if we had our own nutrition or even fitness programs available in our community, a lot of us wouldn’t have all this sickness.”

Many of the participants also noted that any educational offerings about nutrition should be made culturally relevant for the African community. For instance, one woman stated, “if they have nutrition classes available for Black people, it should be cultural and to our needs…we eat different from White Canadians and we have different needs,” and another explained “we need our own diet classes to teach us [Black people] how to cook our own foods more healthy……. black people don’t realize that foods from our country are very healthy….we think that we have to eat Canadian foods to eat good.”

### Discussion

Findings from the survey and an open-ended question indicate that African Canadian women hold a variety of opinions about nutrition, and similarly, practice a variety of eating behaviors. A number of the women had made efforts to modify their current diets by either reducing salt and/or sugar intake or by choosing to consume more fruits and vegetables. Time constraints, lack of taste, and lack of desire were all noted as major barriers that prevented some of the women from adopting healthier diets.

One assumption that can be drawn from the survey findings is that reliance on physician advice about diet may not be sufficient (on its own) to produce desired and sustainable behavioral changes in food habits among African Canadian women. Indeed, many of the women in the survey had not sought or been offered advice on proper nutrition from their physicians. In their research, Podl et al. (8) assert that physicians often do not spend the extra time necessary to help their patients make lifestyle changes that could be beneficial to their health. In particular, physicians often do not give thorough advice or provide specific information on proper eating habits either because they have doubts in their ability to deliver this type of information, and/or doubts about its efficacy in leading to lifestyle change (8). A lack of training in or education about, behavioral counselling on healthy dietary practices among healthcare professionals is a major contributing factor to the reluctance in offering lifestyle advice to patients. Unfortunately, medical schools in and outside the United States only briefly cover nutrition in their curriculum, leaving medical doctors insufficient knowledge to provide assistance to patients with dietary and nutritional needs.

In spite of these challenges, it is essential for healthcare practitioners to provide counselling to their patients on preventative health measures (i.e. nutritional counselling) as health tracking studies continue to show a significant rise in nutrition-related illnesses like cardiovascular disease and diabetes in Canada (9).

The survey outcomes also suggest that more attention should be given to educating African Canadian and other minority women about Canada’s Food Guide. Many of the women in the study were unfamiliar with the guide and did not know the daily recommendations for a healthy diet. It is important that dieticians, nutrition educators and health agencies become more proactive in their attempts to promote Canada’s Food Guide in minority communities. Public service announcements from health agencies via local ethnic community newspapers, for example, could help to increase public exposure to Canada’s Food Guide among African Canadians and other minority populations who are thus far unfamiliar with it. More broadly, efforts should be made among healthcare professionals to identify and implement targeted strategies for improving dietary behaviors, and well-being in general, among minority populations in Canada.

It is important to note that there were a number of limitations and challenges with the present study. During the recruitment phase it became clear that participants were not willing to take part in the study if it required revealing their household income, educational or employment background, or marital status. Without this data, it is difficult to determine whether the sample participants were a representative reflection of the wider African Canadian community and to unravel in what ways the outcomes may have been tied to social class. A second challenge was that it was difficult to persuade participants to complete the survey. Concerns about a lack of cultural sensitivity in research studies and distrust of healthcare professionals (especially worries about being misrepresented or used for the benefit of researchers or for-profit companies) were reasons expressed by many of the women who chose not to complete the survey. These sentiments are in line with American studies that have investigated barriers that impede African American participation in clinical research (10). However, this challenge was somewhat overcome since the lead researcher is a members of the African Canadian community, and was able to connect with many of the women and convince them to participate. Nonetheless, the relatively small size of the sample population (50 women) is a limitation. Recruitment of a larger sample of participants, and a greater effort to include social class indicators, would be useful in further studies on this topic.

Finally, the methodology employed in this study did not include focus groups or detailed interviews. Focus groups are a common and useful method for understanding the perspectives of women of African descent as they allow participants to verbalize and express their opinions on selected subjects. In research undertaken by El-Kebbi et al. (11), for example, a focus group structure was employed to identify barriers to dietary self-management among a group of African Americans with type 2 diabetes (11). The resulting data yielded a wide range of identified barriers including the cost of special foods, poor taste of low fat foods, lack of family support, difficulty using the exchange system and reading food labels, and problems changing habitual patterns of behavior. A focus group or in-depth interviews would have been preferable for this study as it would likely have allowed for better insights into the participant’s dietary practices and nutritional beliefs. Thus it is suggested that future research on this topic use focus groups or detailed interviews in order to gain a deeper understanding of African Canadian women and diet.

### Conclusion

Despite the limitations discussed above, the survey did produce significant findings. For one, while African Canadian women are aware that healthy nutrition practices promote good health, it is also clear that more informed awareness, specific information and education would be beneficial. For instance, African Canadian women would benefit from information about how to be aware of portion size, how to read food labels and how to incorporate the Canada’s Food Guide recommendations into their daily meal plans. As the women identified themselves, introducing more community-based nutritional education programmes would be a good starting point for this kind of learning.

The study also reveals that if African Canadian women are to respond positively to any such nutritional education programs, these programs must be tailored to meet the cultural and linguistic background of these women. Initiating community-based dietary education programmes that are specifically for African Canadian women, for example, ought to include educational materials and resources that reflect this population’s cultural background. For instance, since taste was identified as a potential barrier to healthy eating by many of the women in the survey, the programs would need to encourage a consideration of healthier cooking methods, while at the same time, still allowing for the use and enjoyment of traditional foods and ingredients (12). The programs may also need to take into account economic factors affecting this group such as lack of time resulting from under-employment and low wage employment leading to the need to hold two or more jobs; indeed quite a few of the women cited time constraints as a major barrier to adopting healthy dietary practices. This factor would need to be taken into account in the scheduling of the program as well.

It is also suggested that any nutritional education programs be delivered by trained peer educators or volunteers from the African Canadian community. Given a history of past slavery and present racism, many African Canadian women are understandably distrustful and/or uncomfortable with mainstream institutions and experts, particularly when talking of topics as intimate as food and health. In addition, having trainers of African descent helps to ensure the validity of cultural elements and values in the program material/content and allows the trainers to serve as role models. Additionally, it would be helpful for any initiating nutritional programs to teach more African Canadian women about their African ancestors and how they ate, since they ate much more differently than African Canadians do today. With this knowledge, African Canadian women would not have to feel like they were giving up their traditional food. All of these measures increase the probability that African Canadian women would participate in, and be motivated to learn from, any community-based nutritional educational program offerings.

The higher prevalence and increasing rates of diet-related disease among women of African descent suggest that the need for this population to modify their diets is critical. Canada’s health care infrastructure can afford to, and should, expand health promotion programs encouraging healthy lifestyles among Africans Canadians. Designing and implementing culturally sensitive, community-based nutritional education programs would be a positive step in helping women of African descent and other minority communities in Canada adopt healthy diets, while still enjoying their traditional foods. Furthermore, it should be noted that the findings of this study provide some important, initial insights about African Canadian women and their dietary perceptions and practices, and these insights can be extended to women of African descent in North America and beyond. Further research is warranted to better understand African Canadian women’s eating habits and how these relate to their health and well-being. Equally, because physical activity and exercise are associated with dietary behavior, investigating African Canadian women physical activity level is also encouraged.

### Applications In Sport

Poor lifestyle choices increase the risk of developing a number of disease and health complications. However, a combination of regular exercise and/or physical activity along with good eating habits will significantly decrease the risk and is a primary defence for prevention. Very little information is available on African Canadian women as it relates to dietary habits and their exercise behavior. Further research is needed in this area to find effective intervention strategies and to understand African Canadian women lifestyle practices.

### Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the subjects for their time and co-operation.

There were no specific funding sources for this research survey.

The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.

### Tables

#### Table 1
Rating healthy habits

Rate Healthy Habits	valid %	N=50
Excellent	6%	3
Very good	36%	18
Good	40%	20
Fair	18%	9
Total	100%	50

#### Table 2
Key motivators to change / improve diet

key motivators	valid %	N=50
having a health condition	46%	23
to maintain health	28%	14
to prevent other diseases	12%	6
weight loss	8%	4
look better	6%	3
Total	100%	50

### Figures

#### Figure 1
Top Nutrition Concerns
![Figure 1](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/460/figure-1.png “Top Nutrition Concerns”)

#### Figure 2
Source of Nutrition Information
![Figure 1](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/460/figure-1.png “Source of Nutrition Information”)

### References

1. Harris, E., & Bonner, Y. (2001). Food counts in the African American community: Chartbook 2001. Baltimore, MD: Morgan State University.
2. Shikany, J.M., & White, G.L. (Dec 2000). Dietary guidelines for chronic disease prevention. Southern Medical Journal. 93: 1138-1151.
3. Bowen, D.J., & ¬Beresford, S.A. (May 2002). Dietary intervention to prevent disease. Annual Review Public Health. 23: 255-286.
4. American Heart Association. (2009). Heart disease and stroke statistical update 2009. Dallas, Texas: American Heart Association. Available at www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1240250946756LS-1982%20Heart%20and%20Stroke%20Update.042009.pdf
5. Hargreaves, M.K., & Schlundt, D.G., & Buchowski, M.S. (Aug 2002). Contextual factors influencing the eating behaviors of African American women: A focus group investigation. Ethnic Health. 7(3): 133-147.
6. Drayton-Brooks, S., & White, N. (Sep-Oct 2004). Health promoting behaviors among African American women with faith-based support. The Association of Black Nursing Faculty Journal (ABNFJ). 15(5): 84-90.
7. Tracking Nutrition Trends VII: The Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition. August 2008. http://www.ccfn.ca/membership/membersonly/content/Tracking%20Nutrition%20Trends/TNT_VII_FINAL_REPORT_full_report_Sept.pdf
8. Podl, T.R., & Goodwin, M.A., & Kikano, G.E., & Stange, K.C. (Oct 1999). Direct observation of exercise counseling in community family practice. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 17(3): 207-210.
9. A Perfect Storm of Heart Disease Looming on our Horizon: The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s 2010 Annual Report on Canadians’ Health. Available at http://www.heartandstroke.com/site/c.ikIQLcMWJtE/b.5761931/k.8118/2010_R….
10. Corbie-Smith, G., & Thomas, S.B., & Williams, M.V., & Moody-Ayers, S. (Sept 1999). Attitudes and beliefs of African Americans toward participation in medical research. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 14(9): 537-546.
11. El-Kebbi, I.M., & Bacha, G.A., & Ziemer, D.C., Musey, V.C., & Gallina, D.L., & Dunbar, V., & Phillips, L.S. (Sept-Oct 1996). Diabetes in urban African Americans. V. Use of discussion groups to identify barriers to dietary therapy among low-income individuals with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Education. 22(5): 488-492.
12. Mondelus C.V. (2003). Assessing the perceptions of Black American women within Virginia’s faith community regarding health and nutrition practices and their concerns [masters’ thesis]. Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

### Corresponding Author

Sherldine Tomlinson, M.Sc
2-440 Silverstone Drive
Toronto, Ont. M9V 3K8
<srtomlinson@students.ussa.edu>
1+ (416) 749-7723

Sherldine Tomlinson is the proprietor and a clinical exercise physiologist at the Centre of Chronic Disease & Health Inc. She is also a graduate student at the United States Sports Academy.

U.S. Sports Academy2016-10-12T15:02:32-05:00April 9th, 2012|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology, Women and Sports|Comments Off

As Goes The Spoils, So Go The Victories: Exploring Major League Baseball’s Playoff Bonus System

Timothy R. Huerta, Eric W. Ford

### Abstract

This paper explores the playoff bonus system used by Major League Baseball. The unique incentive structure used is positively related to organizational success, and is studied using a Grounded Theory methodology. Exploration and analyses found that World Series winning teams prospectively distributed ten percent (10%) more shares than losing teams and repeat winners distributed still more. By developing an incentive structure as an intermediate step in the performance environment and linking the bonus’s value to future performance, decision makers may be able to positively impact organizational outcomes – particularly over repeated periods.

**Key words:** Major League Baseball, bonus system, payment, incentives

### Introduction

In October of 2007, the Colorado Rockies baseball team made the news for two reasons. First, they won 20 games in the last month of the season to wipe out a six game deficit and make the playoffs. The team became media favorites as announcers told and retold the story of how a franchise with one of the lowest payrolls in the game eventually became World Series champions. Moreover, reporters lauded the fact that success came not through the actions of one or two superstars, but by working together. This second reason for the media’s attention was the Rockies players’ decision to award a full playoff share to the family of Mike Coolbaugh.

Mike Coolbaugh was a minor league coach in the Rockies organization whose tragic and untimely death occurred on July 22, 2007 when he was struck by a foul ball during a Tulsa Drillers baseball game. At the time, he was working as a first base coach for the Drillers: a Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The value of the playoff share eventually grew to $233,505.18 and earned the team a ‘Sportsman of the Year Award’ nomination from Sports Illustrated (38).

The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain the historical dynamics of the Major League Baseball’s (MLB’s) playoff bonus distribution system. That high performing teams’ members would be willing to sacrifice some of their own potential earnings to support their organizations’ staff members is, on the face of it, contrary to the ‘self-interests explanations’ (SIE; 14) commonly used in management, economic, and sociology theories’ literatures. Instead, it is more akin to a transformational leadership style commensurate with higher levels of organizational identification (30).

A Grounded Theory approach is used and a three-phase of the research methodology outlined by Schollhammer (43) – a relationship between share distribution and outcomes were hypothesized, an assessment of available data in the historic record was conducted, and the outcomes were evaluated based on current theories – are described. Both working managers and academic researchers can use the approach used herein to study the organizational phenomenon that commonly arise in Sport.

#### New Contribution

The paper makes two contributions managers can use to study and improve their organization’s performance. First, we present the MLB system as a case for exploring alternative frameworks for financial incentive structures. In particular, the roles of players’ decisions, rather than managers’ contributions (44), in influencing organizational success. Second, we analyze historic data, testing hypotheses developed using the grounded theory approach, to assess how patterns in share distribution practices are related to organizational performance outcomes.

For management researchers, MLB has offered a fertile empirical test bed. With the availability of data sets sometimes spanning over 100 years, baseball provides a natural experiment through which organizational behavior can be studied. In this case, we analyze the bonus system framework that can be explored in relationship to other more widely used approaches using controlled experimental designs that rely on the availability of data (44). Once completed, such research can provide decision-makers the ability to engage in a strategic process of setting appropriate performance indicators similar to those used in the “Moneyball” approach to player selection (49).

The background presented here follows an inductive/deductive processes used to study phenomenon where event timing is a critical element in the outcomes of interest. First, a brief description of the analytic strategy is given. Second, the historical context of MLB’s playoff bonus system is described. Next, data drawn from the MLB’s records is analyzed. Third, a theory is generated to explain the bonus system employed in baseball. Finally, we discuss the implications of timing in the development of incentive systems.

#### Background

Suddaby (48) both defined and outlined the use of Grounded Theory. Grounded Theory is as an approach positions phenomena as embedded in context that provides meaning that is often missing in traditional research. In other words, in the traditional model a researcher builds a hypothesis, constructs or identifies sources of data to test that hypothesis, and then tests that data to either support or reject the proposition developed. Suddaby argued that to do so ignores the perspective of the “actors” whose behaviors the data presupposes to study. Without exploring the intent of the actors, findings may be misrepresentations of the data. Further, to ignore the perspective of the actors is to ignore potential new theoretical lines of inquiry that emerge from their explanations.

The use of Grounded Theory in any context should then be defended as appropriate. Grounded Theory is most suited to efforts to understand interdependent processes, one where actors engage in an inter-subjective experience (48). The methodology is more effective when it considers extended time periods and when the relationships observed in the initial instance of the phenomenon are found to exist in other times or settings (16). Finally, the use of Grounded Theory is focused on how subjective experiences can be abstracted into theoretical statements about causal relations between actors.

Finally, it should be noted that individuals engaged in Grounded Theory research have an especial duty to explain the qualitative motivations in the research. As Grounded Theory should begin with a discussion of the data and then move to an exploration of the qualitative factors that directed inquiry, such an approach is often subjugated to the needs for traditional presentation forms for the sake of clarity – involving the presentation of a theoretical overview. In this paper, a three-step approach to exploring the phenomenon’s key elements and their relationships is employed, based on the strategies for sensemaking proposed by Langley (29). Collectively, the three phases of research used to understand the observed phenomenon – Describe, Analyze and Theorize – are referred to as the ‘DAT’ methodology. This method is particularly useful when data is temporally embedded in events rather than simple variables.

In the first phase, Define, a common narrative is developed from the process data based on unique instances of the phenomenon. The Define phase seeks to outline the context in sufficient detail from the actors’ perspective. Such an approach is requisite to assist in the narrowing of the theoretical frame for the study. Put another way, while many explanations are possible, they can be further limited by the context of the actors in situ.

The second phase, Analyze, focuses on the construction and execution of an analytic approach through which data on the dynamics identified in the Define phase are both gathered and processed in a manner that allows for simultaneous classification, to reduce complexity, and hypothesis driven statistical examination. These first two approaches are used to envelop and specify the phenomenon’s characteristics from both ends of the inductive research spectrum.

The final phase provides for the opportunity for Theory building based on an understanding of context and an assessment of data on the phenomenon being studied. Here, an alternative approach to sensemaking is used where different theoretical perspectives are applied in a deductive manner to determine how the phenomenon is best explained. The remainder of the paper follows the DAT format for investigating the incentive system used by MLB.

#### Phase 1: Describing the Phenomenon with Narrative

Groves argues that team dynamics are at play when “the decision makers base their decision choices on different information, yet are motivated by a common goal (19).” Further, Groves also notes that employee behavior may be more accurately analyzed in terms of the compensation they receive from the organizations for their participation in it. There are three features of the MLB Playoff bonus system that depart from most incentive and reward programs used by professional firms – the process of valuation, control and criteria.

Valuation addresses the resources set aside for the purposes of creating an incentive structure. In the broader business context, valuation is often a function of organizational history. The amount of resources set aside for the purpose of incentive distribution is not uniform as organizations specify the parameters on a case-by-case basis. Valuation can be understood not only in terms of how much, but also in terms of when the establishment of the specific value takes place. Further, valuation speaks not only to the pool of available resources for such incentives, but whether that pools is absolute or relative to firm performance.

For instance, an organization may have developed a practice of setting aside 10 percent of pre-tax profits for the purpose of distribution by management. For instance, an organization may decide that it sets aside 25 percent of any profit for distribution whereas another might only set aside that 25 percent if the organization exceeds last year’s profit levels. Additionally, organizations may simply allocate a fixed sum once a specific objective or subjective threshold is accomplished, for example, when the organization’s profits exceed 10 million dollars, one million is put into the profit sharing pool.

The second feature of bonus financial incentive systems is control. In this context, control speaks to the authority that allocates the bonus dollars. In most cases it is facilitated through the management structure. Control may be facilitated both directly and indirectly. Direct control is exercised when management evaluates individual performance to determine the degree to which an individual should be rewarded using the incentive pool. Indirect control is exercised when the organization codifies in contracts that specify the conditions under which an individual has a right to access the pool. For the most part, this process is considered a management responsibility.

Finally, the issue of criteria addresses the constraints and rules associated with participation in the pool. Organizations may, for instance, develop a pool for the sales staff. Such a pool is often aligned with compensation schemes to recognize high performers and represent constraints on the criteria for participation. Other organizations may create committees whose task it is to determine which employees meet the criteria for inclusion in the pool.

##### The Players’ Bonus in MLB

The bonus incentive model in MLB has an unusual scheme in that the system of valuation and control are far from the norm. Additionally, the criteria for distribution diverge from many bonus systems. To understand the formalization of this incentive structure, it is necessary to describe how the value of a share is calculated. We shall do so here in the order in which events happen so as to make specific points about the nature of what is both known and unknown at that point in the process.

##### Identifying the phenomenon’s key constructs

In 1903 the National Agreement united the American and National Leagues. This agreement created the World Series and stipulated that a portion of the playoff series gate receipts go directly to the participating teams’ players. At the time, prior to major radio or television contracts, the gate represented a significant portion of most teams’ total revenue. Therefore, the bonus system was a major revenue sharing scheme well ahead of its time (40). Further, the bonus system’s design and longevity are both rarities in the modern industrial era.

MLB has a playoff reward program and players on winning teams can earn substantial bonuses. Under the MLB playoff structure implemented in 1995 (the current system allows for three divisional champions and one ‘wild-card’ in each league), the players pool (P*) is comprised of 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first three rounds of the Division Series and 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four rounds from the League Championship Series and World Series across the entire playoff contest. By only using the gate from the initial games, the formula presented in equation 1 does not incentivize the extension of the series. These receipts are divided as team shares among 12 clubs using a performance multiplier (M^T) that escalates as the team progresses further in the playoffs, described in Table 1. The team share (P^T) is then the fraction of the players’ pool that is available to divide among players.

**equation goes here**

This dynamic represents the first divergence from traditional bonus models. In MLB, the valuation process is prescribed but disjointed. Specifically, equation 1 specifies the value of the MLB players’ pool (P*), making it clear which teams are eligible for participation at the front, and allowing teams to estimate, based on historic trends the value associated with different performance outcomes. Individual team’s payouts escalate as they progress further in the playoffs with the World Series Champion getting the largest sum as prescribed by both Table 1 and equation 2. In 2006, the Players’ pool was $55.06 million and the St. Louis Cardinals took the lion’s share of $20.2 million (36 percent) by winning the World Series. That equates to $300,000 per player on the World Series winning team.5 (See Table 1)

At this point, a second divergence occurs from traditional models along the issue of control. In most cases the control of bonus dollars resides in management, however in the case of MLB, only players may allocate a portion of the players pool and they may do so in any manner they wish. This dynamic is significant in two ways. First, management has no ability to control the distribution of shares. Second, the distribution of shares occurs before the beginning of play in the post season. In other words, the employees create a system to allocate future performance-based earnings using a fractional system based on the concept of a “share” (V_s) as described in equation 3.

_Sporting News_ writer Todd Jones, a former MLB pitcher, notes that only players who have been on the roster the entire season are given a say in the allocation of shares. Players taken off the rosters for an extended period of time are generally not eligible to vote, and all players eligible to vote are all given a single share. The meeting then does not focus on the shares allocated to those in the room, rather it focuses on the shares to be allocated to those not in the room, and several players note that these meetings can become quite heated. Players often create “fractional shares” or simple “cash awards” (A) to recognize the work of auxiliary personnel. Because the allocation allotted to the team is fixed, every additional share authorized reduces the relative value of each player’s share. Additional discussion about the meaning of shares will be addressed in the next section. (See Table 2)

In summary, the MLB system of playoff shares provides a unique perspective into a system with a long history that is framed in such a way that empowers plays by giving them both control and allowing the players to determine the criteria. These decisions have an effect on valuation that is related to both performance and the share distribution decisions of the organization’s players. Each additional share distributed by the players reduces the value of the share each rostered player receives.

##### The meaning of a share

The authors were unable to secure interviews through the Major League Baseball Players Association. As a result, the need to explore what these shares meant to the players was critical to our DAT approach. Using Lexus-Nexus, the authors retrieved all news stories available on the service since 1980 using the search terms “playoff shares” and “baseball.” These 691 articles were then reviewed for the purpose of identifying what a share meant to the players. From those articles, duplicates were removed and articles outside of scope, as in the case of stories focusing solely on the value of the share as determined after the World Series or commentary provided by the writer. The remaining data was further segmented into direct quotes and evidence-based commentary whose origin was the players and their share deliberations.

Clearly players would forgo the value of a playoff share for the World Series title, but the underlying message was that the bonus is considered to be very significant and given in recognition of time served on the roster rather than performance of a specific player. For instance Astros General Manager Tim Purpura was quoted as saying, “The players that are on the roster as of June 1 typically get a full share… any players who were (on the roster) part of the season, they get voted on (by the players) (32).” A similar sentiment was made by the players of the Boston Red Sox who gave partial shares or cash rewards to anyone who wore the uniform, as well as a number of front office staff (24).

However, because the players make the decision according to their own preferences, time is no guarantee of a share. The players of the Toronto Blue Jays awarded former Chiefs outfielder Rob Ducey a small fraction of a share (16%), which was far less than others like Tom Lawless (59%), Rob MacDonald (25%), Mike Flanagan (20%) and Tom Quinlan (17%) even though Ducey was on the team longer than the other players (33).

Players have seen the exercise of their rights over the control of the playoff shares as a form of power. In 2002 the hitters in the San Diego Padres were so impressed by the work of one of the minor league coaches that they were able to “finagle” him onto the major league roster. He quit his job as a minor league coach but replaced it not only with a six-figure salary but a full playoff share after the Padres reached the World Series (7). Additionally, in 1996 the playoff shares were at times withheld from those crossed the picket lines. Mike Busch failed to receive a playoff share from the rostered players, despite a direct plea by then manager Tommy LaSorda. “What matters is the name on the front of your shirts, not the name on the back,” (17).

The dynamics inside these team meetings were noted as potentially contentious. Baltimore manager Johnny Oates, a former player, commented that he never liked team meetings but he did enjoy splitting up the playoff shares at the end of the year (22). A day after clinching the American League Western Division title, California Angels’s Rod Carew stormed out of a Sunday meeting in which the Angels decided how to divide playoff shares and World Series money among themselves. Carew would say only, “Money does strange things to people.” Carew, a native of Panama, apparently interpreted the decision to offer two Latino pitchers a half-share as discriminatory and angrily left the meeting. Reggie Jackson and Doug DeCinces were reported to have tried to restore the peace, but were unsuccessful (45).

Interestingly, the 1991 story of Dave Pavlas, Matt Howard and Dale Polley stood out in that it was the single instance where management, in this case George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees, gave individuals each a check for $25,000 and a 1996 World Series ring, when the players voted to give them nothing. Steinbrenner also traded the primary force behind the decision to withhold the share, Jim Leyritz, the following day (4, 42).

Another ongoing commentary by the players is the financial value of a share for younger players. A few players identified the impact of a share on people who worked to create a winning team. In 1991 Norm Charlton of the Cincinnati Reds said, “You get two things for winning the World Series – a ring and our playoff shares.” He pointed out that for many of the younger players, the value of a share was the only recognition they received for winning a division or league championship. Further, he argued that the amount given was substantial relative to the salaries earned by some rookies (6).

Additionally, in organizations that traded players midseason, the players used shares to recognize these individuals’ contributions, even after having left to work for another competing organization. In 2004, the Boston Red Sox voted Nomar Garciaparra to receive a full share even though he was traded to the Chicago Cubs (18). When infielder Jeff Cirillo was released from the Minnesota Twins to the Arizona Diamondbacks, his final message was, “Good luck, and don’t forget about the old guy in the playoff share meeting” (34). This was again the case when the Florida Marlins players voted to give Pat Rapp of the San Francisco Giants a full playoff share for his contribution to the team before his trade (1).

In 2009, Major League Baseball (MLB) reported that the players for the Milwaukee Brewers offered former manager, Ned Yost, one of the Brewers 48 full postseason shares. The firing of Ned Yost marked the first time in major-league history — except the strike-split 1981 season — that a manager was fired in August or later with his team in playoff position. In their press release, MLB quoted an unnamed player who said “There are unwritten rules about how to do things, and it was the right thing to do. If you’re there more than 50 percent of the season, you’re pretty much getting a full share.” That same year, Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident hours after starting as a pitcher for the Angels franchise. The Angels players voted to provide the late pitcher’s family a full share.

In summary, we found that players expressed a clear understanding of the diminishing return of the effect of the issuance of additional shares, that issues of equity, fairness and a sense of team spirit was a consistent theme, and that shares were also an expression of power by the players that could be exercised to make individuals feel either included or excluded. The series of events and decisions made by the Colorado Rockies described at the paper’s outset served as the impetus for the study at hand. However, it is clear that players use shares to recognize efforts of non-players as well as remediate perceived slights by management. While other teams have engaged in similar behaviors, none received the widespread coverage that the Rockies’ gesture did, in no small part because of their successful run to the World Series. The authors speculated that differences in share distribution patterns between teams might predict playoff series’ outcomes.

##### Shares and their relationship to outcomes

Emergent in this discussion is the idea that playoff shares can serve as an incentive for teams. Further, the structure involves an intricate timing that alters the manner in which the share itself is perceived. Table 1 speaks to the steps associated with the valuation, control and criteria used in share calculations. An initial component of evaluation is assigned in the securing of a place in the playoffs. At that point, team members know they are eligible for a share, however the specific value of that share remains unknown as it is based on future team performance. Rather than making the decision after the fact, the meeting that sets the criteria occurs place before any of the playoff series are played. This means that eligibility for a share is established before the value of that share in absolute terms is known. What is known is the value in relative terms.

The baseball system creates certainty around a payout whose value is unknown. While this may be a small point, it is a significant one. The implication of increased information provides short-term certainty other recognition systems often fail to provide. In 2008, 21 percent of all MLB players were paid less than $400,000, and the median payroll for a player was $1 million dollars. A playoff share will constitute a significant bonus for most of MLB players. For non-uniformed players, a share can triple or quadruple an annual salary.

The playoff shares system is distributed based on a criterion of past performance, where the control resides at the professional level to recognize peer performance, and creates a value that is based on future performance. Therefore, the major hypotheses are designed to explore share distribution and winning the World Series.

Hypothesis 1: Winners of the World Series will distribute significantly more playoff shares than teams that lose the World Series.

The expansion of the playoffs in 1995 provides a second period with potentially greater variability in the share distribution–playoff outcome relationship. With more teams in the playoffs over more rounds, the inference that distributing more shares is related to performance can be tested more rigorously. Therefore, the additional hypothesis is:

Hypothesis 2: Since 1995, Winners of the World Series will distribute significantly more shares than teams that lose the World Series.

It is posited that winning teams will distribute more shares. It stands to reason that players across the league will either implicitly or explicitly internalize this information. As a result, the number of shares distributed on average should increase over time. Therefore, another hypothesis arises:

Hypothesis 3: Baseball teams making the playoffs will distribute more shares over time.

It is possible to further explore the learning phenomenon by focusing on the teams that repeatedly make the playoffs. Having the firsthand experience assessing the playoff bonus – performance outcome relationship, teams that have won previously will seek to ensure their competitive advantage by increasing their distribution disproportionately. Therefore, the following hypothesis is made:

Hypothesis 4: World Series winning teams will distribute disproportionately more shares over time.

Based on this series of hypotheses, the Analytic Phase of the DAT process was undertaken.

### Methods

Baseball has been the subject of many empirical studies. One reason for the large number of studies is the availability of reliable and valid data on player demographics, performance outcomes, pay rates and incentives. Rottenberg (41) explored the market factors of the baseball labor market . A second reason for the interest in baseball’s statistics is the stability of the sport over time allowing players from various eras to be compared with some fidelity – the ‘dead ball’ and ‘steroid’ eras not withstanding.

With respect to compensation, Kahn (26) explored the relationship between managerial quality and salary. However, most of the studies to date have generally focused on baseball as a market phenomenon (5, 12, 13, 28, 35, 39). There have, to date, been few, if any, studies that have looked at the playoff shares incentive structure as described herein.

Using data publicly available on the number and value of World Series shares issued going back to 1903, the researchers tested the hypothesis that teams that were more egalitarian in the distribution of shares to non-uniformed players would be more successful. Because, within a year the size of teams should be relatively comparable, a simple different t-test was employed on the number of shares winning teams distributed prior to the start of the playoffs and the number of shares that the losing teams distributed. As only World Series shares were available from MLB, this hypothesis could only focus on winners and losers of the final series, and not on any of the championship and pennant races that allowed a team to compete in the final series. Based on the meaning behind shares, we argue that the differences within a single season can be attributed to shares allocated to players that played an incomplete season and auxiliary staff.

A second data gathering exercise focused on the playoffs that occurred after the introduction of the wild card in 1995. Wild card teams are ineligible for shares unless they win their division. Because this change to the system created new dynamics, we focused on the almost 30 years of data that emerged since that time. Again, data on shares were gathered from publically available data sources, including but not limited to MLB, _U.S. News and World Report_, and the Associated Press.

Analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS 17. Hypotheses 1-4 were tested using a t-test. This research involved the exclusive use of secondary data and as such was exempt research study per university institutional research board regulations.

### Results And Discussion

Phase 2: Analyses of the Available Data

Analyses of the relationship between World Series performance and playoff share distribution supports the assertion that winning teams are more egalitarian in their distribution of shares, authorizing more than their losing competition. Further, the dynamics of share distribution have been altered as the rules of the game have changed, most significantly with the initiation of free agency and the alteration to the playoff series’ format following expansions (23). Table 2 outlines the pattern of share distribution by franchise. (See Table 3)

Winning teams have historically been more generous (Hypotheses 1 is supported)

Over the 102 years of the World Series through 2006, we first calculated the difference in shares offered between winning and losing teams. Over that time period, winners distributed 88.93 more shares than losers, resulting in an average differential distribution of 0.872 shares for winning teams over losing teams (s = 3.65). The data supports the proposition that, within each year, winning teams offered more shares than losing teams (t = 2.407, p < 0.001). (See Figure 1)

Another way to look at the problem is to study the winner’s premium and compare it with the winner’s counter-premium. The winner’s premium is the number of shares issued by the winning team above what the losing team offered. For instance, when the winning and losing teams both issue 10 shares, an identical number of shares, neither is offered a premium. However, when the winning team issues 15 shares and the losing team issues 10 shares, the winner’s premium is said to be 5. The converse, the winner’s counter-premium exists when the winning team offers less shares that the losing team. The use of the term premium identifies the magnitude of the difference between winning teams that more distributive and those that are less relative to their competition. Figure 1 presents the winner’s premium/counter-premium in the form of a control chart where the y-axis is keyed to the standard deviation. Most statisticians would argue that the process only moves out of control in recent years, interestingly enough in a manner that coincides with the inauguration of the wild card rules of 1995. There is an additional anomaly that coincides with the expansion of MLB in 1965. (See Figure 2)

In the historic case, the winners’ premium has been 3.26 shares, based on 195.8 shares over 60 instances where the winner of the World Series is the team that has offered more shares. The winner’s counter premium has been 2.89, based on 102.2 shares over 38 instances where the winner of the World Series is the team that has offered more shares. Further, winners were 1.6 times likelier to have offered more shares than losers. When more generous teams won, they generally authorized 3.26 shares more than their losing competition. When the less generous team won, the difference between the winners and losers was actually smaller (2.7 shares).

Additionally, it should be noted that repeated appearance in the playoffs is related to salary. An analysis of shares authorized correlates to the payroll of the team (r2 = 0.26). However, it should be noted that making it to the playoffs multiple times does not necessarily correlate with higher salaries. A similar analysis was conducted by adding the frequency the team appeared in the playoffs for that same time period. In that case, the quality of the correlation dropped (r²_adj=0.22).

Therefore, a minimum share distribution spread may exist before differential performance is realized. Therefore, we find that Hypothesis 1 is supported in both analyses.

Additionally, we focused on the distribution parameters since the baseball playoff series was restructured in 1995 through the most recent data available in 2008. The results in this case were not significant. Over that time period, winners distributed 0.74 more shares than losers, resulting in a negligible differential distribution of 0.05 shares for winning teams over losing teams (s = 5.53). In those same years, the winning team offered more shares as often as the losing team – six of twelve times the World Series were won by the organization offering the winner’s premium. However, further analysis of the data shows that the winner’s premium of these years was 6.05 and the winner’s counter-premium was 4.33. This provides some evidence that effect is relatively weak and that limiting the time to twelve years may have undermined the power of the analysis. Therefore, while Hypothesis 2 is not supported, there is counter evidence that may need further study.

Overall, in the historical model, winners were 1.6 times likelier to have offered more shares than losers. Further, when more generous teams won, they generally authorized 3.26 shares more than their losing competition. When the less generous team won, the difference between the winners and losers was actually smaller (2.7 shares). Therefore, a minimum share distribution spread may exist before differential performance is realized. This analysis limited to the World Series between the years of 1995 to 2008 found winners were as likely to have offered more shares than losers. Further, when more generous teams won, they generally authorized 6.05 shares more than their losing competition. When the less generous team won, the difference between the winners and losers was actually smaller (4.33 shares).

Teams have become more generous over time (Hypothesis 3 is supported). There has been a general trend to increase the number of playoff shares. On an annual basis, teams in the World Series have increased the average number of shares distributed annually by 0.31 (r2 = 0.78). Since 1995, the average number of shares authorized by teams in the World Series has increased 1.03 shares annually, with an Adjusted R-squared of 0.330. When that analysis is expanded to include the divisional champions for both the American and National League, the distributional structure does not change (1.10 v. 1.03 shares annually), but the explanatory factor is increased significantly (Adjusted R-squared = 0.61), suggesting that the increase is foundational and the diminished explanatory power can be attributed to the relatively small data set in the subset analysis. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is supported in both the full sample and the period from 1995 to 2008.

Repeat winners are still more generous (Hypothesis 4 is supported). Among World Series winning teams, there has been a consistent increase in the number of shares distributed on average. For every additional World Series a team has won in the past 1995 to 2008 period, teams offered an additional half-share (r2 = 0.32). Winning teams have developed a winning formula with respect to share distribution. Further, that players learn to forgo the initial temptation for engaging in SIE behaviors at the outset is important, but not predicted in most of the theories employed by management, economic and sociology researchers. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a set of guiding principles prior to implementing such an incentive system; hence, the need for a theoretic exploration of MLB’s bonus system.

#### Phase 3: Theoretic Assessment of MLB’s Bonus System

The narrative and empirical evidence offer a new opportunity to explore the theoretic paradigms used to explain and create bonus systems that promote organizational missions. Issues of power, equity and pro-social behavior, and performance forecasting characterize playoff share distribution decisions and their positive impact on organizational outcomes. They also constitute decision-making in an environment where the motivation can range from purely self-serving (e.g., Self-Interested Economics (SIE) explanations) to completely egalitarian. With respect to SIE motivations, Principal-Agency is the most widely used model for exploring compensation issues in organizations – Principal-Agency Theory (8). At the other end of the spectrum is Equity Theory that predicts the remuneration system will distribute shares across all participants at equal levels. The range of theories is explored from most self-interested to most egalitarian.

##### Alternative theory one – principal-agent theory

Bonus systems are often used as an extension of governance policies to promote congruence between principals’ and agents’ goals. Therefore, the topic of incentive-reward systems often arises in the economics’ literature as a search of Google Scholar using the term “bonus system theory” reveals. In particular, economics views such systems through the lens of contractual arrangements where an agent’s rationale behavior is to maximize their utility by fulfilling the contract and doing nothing more (50).

The limits and boundaries of agency theory lie in its model of human motivation. In the case of baseball, economic models based on the ‘rational’ or ‘economic man’ would suggest that the optimum distribution for the individuals (agents) acting on their own behalf would be to distribute a maximum of 40 full shares (47). Given that few if any teams go a full season without roster changes, the number of full share equivalents distributed should be less than 40 with only fractions given to individuals who have been on the roster for partial period.

The near-term financial incentives are for the empowered players to act in their own interest without consideration for non-uniformed stakeholders or players no longer on the roster. The reality is far from this. In 2006, players on each of the teams in the playoffs authorized the creation of 52.86 shares, on average. Therefore, the prima fascia evidence indicates that one of Agency Theory’s main tenets is violated by the bonus system used by MLB. Beyond the shortcomings of economic theories identified herein, other researchers have suggested that other organizational theories may have greater explanatory power (2, 50). In particular, they point to Stewardship Theory for addressing the egalitarian features of the bonus system used by MLB instead of Agency Theory (9, 10, 15, 50).

##### Alternative theory two – stewardship theory

Stewardship Theory describes a phenomenon where an agent’s goals are subordinated to a broader organizational or societal aims. Stewardship Theory assumes an individual’s decision model is ordered such that pro-organizational, collectivistic behaviors have higher utility functions than individualistic, self-serving behaviors. A steward protects and maximizes the organization’s collective wealth through superior firm performance, because, by so doing, the steward’s utility functions are maximized. Alternatively, the steward may calculate that working toward organizational, collective ends is the best trade-off between personal needs and organizational objectives. Hence, the utility gained from pro-organizational behavior is higher than the utility that can be gained through individualistic, self-serving behavior.

The main problem with Stewardship Theory, as it applies to MLB’s bonus system, is that incentive pay is antithetical to the primary model of behavior anticipated. From a Stewardship Theory perspective, how bonuses are used or distributed within organizations would have little influence on employees’ individual motivations to work hard toward organizational goals. Given players are earning a living wage, which is assured with the minimum pay agreed to through the Collective Bargaining Agreement, no other motivation than those intrinsic to the organization’s aims should be needed.

There is also objective evidence that Stewardship Theory is not applicable to MLB. In addition to the 1919 Black Sox scandal, a reference to game fixing by the Chicago White Sox, the widespread use of steroids more recently provide both specific and general examples that players are not fully vested stewards protecting the integrity of the game’s values and traditions. With respect to the latter, steroid use, not only have players cheated and skewed the on-field records, they have also lied repeatedly to cover their misdeeds, and have engaged in this behavior in what seems to be a collective mind rather than individual exception (37). The players were able to engage in this behavior for an extended period of time under the protection of their union’s collective bargaining agreement (46). While steroid use was widespread, and alleged to have been endemic to some teams, the difference between individual versus collective decisions may be explained using another pair of theories.

##### Alternative theory three – expectancy and equity theories

Psychological paradigms such as Expectancy and Equity Theories have been applied to organizational compensation questions and baseball in particular. These theories explore the positive versus negative aspects of individuals’ behaviors under pay-for-performance situations. There has been significant work in the area of equity and expectancy theories in baseball. Lord and Hohenfeld (31), Duchon and Jago (11), Hauenstein and Lord (21), and Harder (20) studied the performance of baseball players who were either free agents or had been through salary arbitration. This line of research has looked at the pay-for-performance question based on salaries, not collectively distributed bonuses. Further, a major reason for implementing a bonus system is to avoid the managerial transaction costs of micro-managing employees’ individual expectations and trying to equitably fulfill them. Indeed this is a major benefit of creating an incentive system controlled directly by the employees.

The teams’ distributions of playoff shares and performance outcomes allow for some inferences to be made with respect to Expectancy and Equity. In particular, the distribution of more shares could be equated to greater perceived equity, which in turn leads to improved performance. However, the distribution of more shares could be defined as egalitarian without any regard to merit with equal veracity. Therefore, expectancy and equity theory are problematic under the given circumstance for a manager wishing to take advantage of a program with a proven record of success in promoting organizational goals.

There are other theories that can be applied to MLB’s bonus system and other potential propositions arise from the results herein. Institutional Theory could be used to explain the increasing amount of shares being created as teams engage in a mimetic process based on the winners’ behaviors. Alternatively, human resources researchers might propose that there will be greater player retention among more egalitarian squads. Both of these lines of inquiry will require additional information that is best gained by going directly into the process.

### Conclusion

MLB’s playoff bonus system exhibits many desirable characteristics, but it does not conform to the most commonly used found in the design of such systems. It is important to reiterate the unusual features of the system. Shares have nominal value at the point they are issued, and gain in value as a team progresses through the playoff series by performing competitively. Allocations generally include some aspect of retrospective acknowledgement – shares are allocated to the people that the core players believe have worked hard to get their team to the playoffs, paid against a value defined by future performance. These people can be players, support staff, or managers. As a result, beneficiaries of shares have full information about the distribution of shares without knowledge of the value of those shares. However, because these shares are allocated prospectively, share recipients can alter behaviors in ways that maximize the value of those shares. In this respect, the system constitutes an incentive structure on a pay-for-performance basis.

The link between performance and reward distribution is one mechanism that management scholars have long advocated as an important motivational or demotivational tool (25). In particular, the use of group incentive plans are recommended when the group is small, team members are engaged in the same kind of work, the payment is clearly linked to the performance, the output depends on the workers, the operational cycle is fairly short, the bonus is substantial relative to standard pay, and there is an atmosphere of mutual trust between management and workers (3, 36). The MLB playoff bonus system is such an incentive plan and has been in existence since 1903. Further, it has an unusual feature in that the players determine playoff bonus share distribution, not only amongst themselves, but also to managers, trainers and other staff members in the organization.

The data from this analysis supports a bonus system that creates incentives for individuals that linked performance to outcomes in ways determined by the principal actors, but not actively managed by owners may support performance in substantive ways. Further, to the extent that such efforts are seen as egalitarian and recognizes the broader contributions of individuals on the margin, such distributions seem to support overall organizational success. Additionally, and maybe more significantly, this system defines the reward structures prospectively. While most players would consider winning the World Series the ideal outcome, this system creates process incentives in addition to outcome incentives. This represents a significantly different method for incentivizing outcomes. Most bonus systems are designed and allocated after the fact with little to no information given to the recipients of the reward.

MLB players have elected to distribute progressively more playoff bonus shares as time progresses. Therefore, there is some form of institutional knowledge accruing. Further, that teams with more experience distribute still more shares than their competitors is an indication that the feedback mechanism functions in a positive manner (27). Collectively, the hypotheses demonstrate the efficacy of MLB’s bonus system.

### Applications In Sport

The distribution of annual bonuses by professionals to themselves and other organizational members is a common feature of law practices, investment banking firms, consulting practices and some other closely held businesses. Bass suggests that group incentive plans are recommended under specific instances. In practice, these distributions are typically allocated retrospectively when the bonus pool’s amount is known using performance standards determined ex post facto. Generally, the professionals (e.g., partners) determining the distribution are the firm’s management.

Studying the distribution of World Series playoff shares provides a unique glimpse into an incentive scheme. The MLB Playoff Shares system uses a valuation system where non-managerial professionals determined share allocation a priori and the bonus amount is not assured, and the performance measure – winning the World Series – is absolute. The baseball model is a system where a bonus is structurally defined, controlled by the agents of the organization with the greatest direct ability to impact outcomes, and is retrospectively allocated but prospectively incentivizing. The incentive structure created is therefore both prospective and retrospective, and moreover, the timeline presents a short horizon to gain, addressing the common pool resource problem of long-term versus short-term feedback. Therefore, if the incentive scheme is an efficacious one, it may warrant broader adoption amongst other professionally led organizations seeking to improve their performance.

### Tables

#### Table 1
Performance Multiplier

Title	Number	Performance Multiplier
World Series Champion	1	0.36
League Champion (World Series Loser)	1	0.24
League Champion Series Runners Up	2	0.12
Division Series Runners Up	4	0.03
Second Place Finishers (Non-Wild Card Clubs)	4	0.01

#### Table 2
MLB’s Bonus System’s Design

Construct	Definition
Between Team Pool Determination	Formula-driven and invariant from year-to-year. System rewards teams, not individuals. Team’s payout varies based on how they finish in the playoffs.
Allocation Timing	Share distribution is determined prior to share valuation.
Within Team (Work Group) Control	Front-line employees – players – determine their own and staff members’ shares in an informal process designed to incentivize team aims.
Allocation Criteria	Measurement models unknown. Only players that were on the roster the entire season have control of the bonus allocation. Rosters are expanded for the post season; therefore, some aspect of tenure likely plays a role. In addition, the large wage disparity between ‘star’ players and other organizational members may result in a premium on altruistic distribution schemes.
Valuation	A share’s realized value is not known until the team’s season ends. Teams that perform better vis-à-vis other units receive progressively greater rewards.

#### Table 3
Share distribution by winning franchise, sorted by Average Share Premium (1903 to 2008)

World Series Championship Franchise	Number of Wins	Average Share Premium
Chicago White Sox	3	-5.83
Florida Marlins	2	-5.55
Minnesota Twins	2	-2.00
Atlanta/Milwaukee/Boston Braves	3	-1.87
Cleveland Indians	2	-1.20
Toronto Blue Jays	2	-1.10
St. Louis Cardinals	10	-0.88
Washington Nationals	1	-0.80
SF/NY Giants	5	-0.44
LA/Brooklyn Dodgers	6	0.37
Detroit Tigers	4	0.70
Oakland/Philadelphia Athletics	9	0.76
Anaheim Angels	1	1.20
Chicago Cubs	2	1.20
Cincinnati Reds	5	1.40
Pittsburgh Pirates	5	1.50
Baltimore Orioles	3	1.53
Boston Red Sox	5	1.95
Kansas City Royals	1	2.70
New York Yankees	26	2.73
Arizona Diamondbacks	1	3.00
Boston Americans	1	4.00
Philadelphia Phillies	1	4.45
New York Mets	2	6.20

### Figures

#### Figure 1
Premium/Counter-premium Control Chart (World Series: 1903 – 2008, y-units are 1)
![Figure 1](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/459/figure-1.png “Premium/Counter-premium Control Chart (World Series: 1903 – 2008, y-units are 1)”)

#### Figure 2
Share distribution of Playoff Teams by Frequency of Participation (1995 through 2008)
![Figure 2](//thesportjournal.org/files/volume-15/459/figure-2.png “Share distribution of Playoff Teams by Frequency of Participation (1995 through 2008)”)

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### Corresponding Author

Eric W. Ford, MPH, Ph.D.
Forsyth Medical Center Distinguished Professor of Management
The University of North Carolina Greensboro
PO Box 26165
Greensboro, NC 27402
<ewford@uncg.edu>
Phone: 806-787-3267
Fax: 336-334-5580

U.S. Sports Academy2015-01-31T01:09:26-06:00April 9th, 2012|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off