Sport has an economic and social relevance to society that is highlighted in the daily media. Increasingly there is more recognition of sport being a valuable tool that contributes significantly to people’s quality of life. However, less is known about how sport from an innovation perspective can improve the societal expectations about its role in business development and emerging technology. More information is needed about how to produce sport from an efficiency perspective in order to realize its potential in the global marketplace. Sport is present in many sectors, including tourism, fitness, health, entertainment and education, which highlight its interdisciplinary nature from a practical and academic standpoint. In addition, sport innovation is evident through organizations in the profit, non-profit and hybrid structures that make it a complex phenomenon to study. An understanding of the contextual diversity of sport means that more research is needed about the role innovation plays. This links with the importance of sport organizations in the global marketplace as they find new strategies to be sustainable. The theme of innovation applied to the sport context is important mainly due to the lack of research existing about this topic. Vanessa Ratten, has been instrumental in the development of research around sport, innovation and entrepreneurship, through her several publications about these subjects. Other researchers have followed on from her work by incorporating more entrepreneurship and innovation approaches in the context of sport.
Throughout the nine chapters of this book, there is a lot of discussion enabling readers to understand how innovation is interconnected with other approaches particularly those at the organizational level. This includes developing a more innovative organizational culture in sport that incorporates the use of new technology to improve the production process. In addition, the book states how there is a need to develop human capital particularly through a transformational leadership approach that links innovation to sport. This is due to the integration of human resources allowing for more solutions in terms of sports innovation and the role innovation plays in creating organizational value. This is explained in detail in Chapter 7, which discusses the role of corporate entrepreneurship in the development of innovative ideas in sport.
This book subtly suggests that there is a need to change the existing paradigm about how we understand the management of contemporary sports organizations in terms of including a more innovative perspective. This is due to the innovation and entrepreneurship perspective being fundamental to the future of sport organizations. The book ends with several suggestions about future research for sports innovation management, which can be applied, studied and developed in the future.
It is a challenging book that has a very accessible writing style that will appeal to all types of readers. This book synthesizes the major ideas about innovation, which can inspire the managers of the most diverse sport markets to self-reflect about the reality their organizational plays in the context of innovation. For people interested in the challenges associated with sports management, this book is absolutely mandatory as it links sport to innovation, which is increasingly seen as a competitive tool in business. It is a book that provides a lot of evidence about how sport interconnects with both theory and practice.
In conclusion, I highlight how undoubtedly innovative this book is.
