Deck 10: Motivation and Leadership and the Professional League Sport Industry

Question 1

The purpose of professional league sport organizations to provide highly competitive athletic events and competitions to spectators either at a sport venue or through media platforms.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The league system has centralized considerable management power with individual franchises rather than at the league level. Rules to be followed by franchise owners, created to support this centralization, included playing a regular schedule solely against other league clubs, which led to a league championship, setting uniform admissions process, and promising not to poach players from other league teams.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Former Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis promoted the concept of "league-think" to NFL owners, emphasizing that the pooling and sharing of revenues would make for a better overall product because all teams could share equally in the league's success.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Some of the tools employed to guarantee that professional league franchises stay viable include revenue sharing, the player draft system, and the granting of territorial rights. Other important league matters include labor relations, scheduling, league expansion or contraction, championship format and the establishment of rules, policies, and procedures as they relate to operations and competition.

Question 5

NFL franchises are considered to be some of the most valuable franchises in the world, and the league has negotiated the most lucrative television contracts in all of professional sport. Of the league's $19 billion of revenue in 2011, $1 billion came from television rights fees.

Question 6

Change emanates either from external sources or from within the sport organization itself. In addition, impetus for change in the external environment seems to originate from either one of two sources: external stakeholders or external conditions.

Question 7

The first responsibility of the sport manager in directing change involves stating one's individual philosophy or ideas about what the organization should look like or what changes should occur. The sport manager does not necessarily include all members of the organization in the thinking and planning process.

Question 8

Social scientist Kurt Lewin developed a process for identifying and analyzing the forces operating in a change situation that he called force field analysis. Lewin suggested that in any organizational change effort, two kinds of forces affect the change operating in any change situation: driving forces and restraining forces.

Question 9

The stress response is the fight-or-flight response that prepares us for action when we are in danger. Most people view major change as a potential source of opportunity, and their natural reaction is one of comfort. From a needs perspective, change represents a boost to people's security, and often their natural reaction is to embrace change.

Question 10

Some critics might argue that coercion is not a strategy for reducing resistance to change, but rather is a process of imposing change despite continuing broad-based resistance. While there is some validity to this position, there are grounds for viewing coercion as a legitimate means to reducing resistance.

Question 11

Which of the following lists the so-called "Big Four" U.S. professional sports leagues?

A) MLB, NBA, NHL, NLL
B) MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL
C) MLB, MLS, NFL, NHL
D) NBA, NFL, NHL, NLL

Question 12

According to author Michael MacCambridge, "In the second half of the twentieth century in the United States, pro football's popularity as a spectator sport grew to eclipse that of Major League Baseball." The reasons MacCambridge cites to explain this shift are listed below except:

A) Baseball expansion had made games staid, slow, and boring.
B) Football reflected more accurately American culture and its infatuation with power, passion, technology, and teamwork.
C) Football was more suited to watch on TV than baseball.
D) The efforts of Commissioner Alvin "Pete" Rozelle in articulating a vision of competitive balance in terms of revenues, competition, collaboration, and corporate outreach.

Question 13

Whether the impetus for change comes from internal or external sources, the manifestation of change occurs in which of the following four areas within the sport organization?

A) Analysis approaches, people, products and services, technology.
B) Communication opportunities, human resource investment, products and services, technology.
C) Organizational control, products and services, structure and systems, technology.
D) People, products and services, structures and systems, technology.

Question 14

Change does not occur in isolation. In the example of a team moving into a new stadium, change in one area is frequently related to change in another area. The phenomenon for sports organizations whereby one change brings about subsequent changes throughout the organization is known as:

A) Force-field analysis.
B) Refreezing.
C) The domino effect of change.
D) The water-water rapids effect of change.

Question 15

Social scientist Kurt Lewin provided a simple theoretical model for understanding how change is brought about within organizations. According to Lewin, the three stages in a successful change process are:

A) The rebooting stage, the actual change stage, and the reforming stage.
B) The unfreezing stage, the actual change stage, and the refreezing stage.
C) The unfreezing stage, the actual change stage, and the reforming stage.
D) The unfreezing stage, the rebooting stage, and the reforming stage.

Question 16

Which of the following describes what occurs in the third and final phase of the change process posited by social scientist Kurt Lewin?

A) Implicit and explicit coercion are implemented.
B) New beliefs and behaviors are supported and reinforced.
C) New beliefs and new behaviors are communicated, modeled, and initiated.
D) The organization addresses the problems of resistance and prepares its people for change.

Question 17

John Kotter and Leonard Schlesinger identified strategies for reducing individual and organizational resistance to change. Which of the following is not one of these strategies?

A) Compulsion and direction.
B) Education and communication.
C) Facilitation and support.
D) Negotiation and agreement.

Question 18

Successful change requires the development of an entirely new corporate culture focused on which of the new behaviors and new beliefs listed below?

A) Celebrating the success of the change, rewarding the success of the change, coercing those who resist change.
B) Celebrating the success of the change, valuing those who reject change, recognizing the heroes and champions of change.
C) Recognizing the heroes and champions of change, celebrating the success of the change, rewarding the commitment to change.
D) Rewarding the commitment to change, valuing those who reject change, recognizing the heroes and champions of change.

Question 19

Recently, when quarterback Peyton Manning joined the NFL's Denver Broncos, the number 18 - previously retired in 1963 in honor of former Bronco Frank Tripucka - was "unretired" and given to Manning. To his credit, Tripucka said "I would be honored to have him wear it. It's been retired for (almost) 50 years. That's enough." This is a variation on which action meant to reinforce change?

A) Celebrating the success of the change.
B) Recognizing heroes and champions of change.
C) Rewarding the commitment to change.
D) Valuing those who reject change.

Question 20

Management professor Peter Vaill used the term "___________" to describe the conditions under which managers formally navigated change. But according to Vaill, the environment is no longer like that. Now, in the permanent "______________" status described by Vaill, organizations need to be not merely capable of implementing an occasional change, but built for change, with constant change as one of their fundamental goals. Which of the following lists the correct descriptive terms and order offered by Vaill?

A) calms waters; hurricane storm surge
B) calm waters; white water rapids
C) hurricane storm surge; white water rapids
D) white water rapids; calm waters

Question 21

In the "Epilogue" section of the chapter, we discussed the possibility of Major League Soccer placing a franchise in the Barclays Premier League in Great Britain. Identify and explain the concept of force field analysis, and list three internal and three external driving forces, and three internal and external restraining forces that would impact this change initiative.

Question 22

Continuing on the theme of MLS expansion to the Barclays Premier League, explain the first stage of the change process suggested by Kurt Lewin and how MLS would implement each of the strategies for reducing resistance to enable the league to place a franchise in Great Britain.

Question 23

Continuing on the theme of MLS expansion to the Barclays Premier League, explain the third stage in the change process suggested by Kurt Lewin and how MLS would implement each of the elements required in the development of an entirely new corporate culture focused on the new behaviors and the new beliefs.