Using Sports Data to Advance Management Theory
Speaker: Prof. Paolo Aversa (King's College London)
Time: Thursday, 12th of October at 10 am (Eastern) / 3 pm (London) / 7.30 pm (Delhi). This webinar is scheduled for 90 minutes, including Q&A.
Registration: Please register here for a personalized Zoom link and a reminder.
Publishing rigorous and relevant research in top management journals often requires rich and suitable data that allows challenging and compelling research questions to be investigated. The surge of accessible sports data in recent years has increased the number of studies that make use of such data to advance management theory. However, sports settings combine research opportunities with non-trivial challenges and dichotomies that require further reflection. First, sports greatly differ in their nature, and it is not always easy to choose the most suitable sports contexts to respond to particular research questions. Second, in sports settings, the generalizability of results is less evident than in traditional industries, and readers and reviewers often display skepticism about external validity and generalizability of findings to business contexts. Building on the eight prior editions of a homonymous AOM workshop and the review/method piece published in the Journal of Management by Fonti, Ross and Aversa (2023), this webinar will provide thoughtful reflections and practical suggestions for scholars who plan to use sport as an empirical setting to advance management theory.
Recommended reading:
Fonti, F., Ross, J. M., & Aversa, P. 2023. Using sports data to advance management research: A review and a guide for future studies. Journal of Management, 49(1): 325-362.
Aversa, P., Bianchi, E., Gaio, L., & Nucciarelli, A. 2022. The Grand Tour: The Role of Catalyzing Places for Industry Emergence. Academy of Management Journal, 65(6): 2058-2091
Marino, A., Aversa, P., Mesquita, L., & Anand, J. 2015. Driving performance via exploration in changing environments: Evidence from Formula One racing. Organization Science, 26(4): 1079-1100.
About the speaker
Paolo Aversa is a Professor of Strategy at King's College Business School. He holds visiting and honorary positions in various institutions, among which The Jonas Persson Visiting Professor at Stockholm School of Economics - Center for Sports and Business. His research interests relate to innovation and the evolution of industries and ecosystems. He investigates with both qualitative and quantitative methods, and he is particularly interested in historical approaches. He is considered one of the leading academic experts in the Formula 1 and motorsport industry and one of the major experts in the use of sports data to advance management theory. He serves as associate editor at the Journal of Management Studies, and he has co-edited the Special Issue on "Exploring the Modern Organizational Context Through the Lens of Sports" at the Academy of Management Discoveries. His works have been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, and Research Policy - among others. He serves as officer and Communications Director for STR – Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management. He holds a PhD in management from the University of Bologna and worked at the Wharton School and Bayes Business School.
For queries, please contact Ibrat Djabbarov: i.djabbarov@cranfield.ac.uk.
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Ibrat Djabbarov, PhD
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