Winning attitudes: applying sports principles to business

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 25, Issue 3

Le Pla R.NZ Business, October 2008, Vol. 22 No. 9, Start page: 29, No. of pages: 5

Purpose – explores what small businesses can learn from top sportspeople. Design/methodology/approach – identifies the parallels between business and sport; quotes sportspeople on the attributes needed to be successful. Features interviews with three successful sporting personalities:Olympic gold medallist, Hamish Carter (squash), former Olympic cyclist, Matt Randall and squash medallist Susan Devoy. Looks at how they made the switch from sport to business and highlights how the aptitudes and skills that they had developed as sportspeople helped them in their new business ventures. Reports on how former coach of the All Blacks has zigzagged across top-tier sport and business; highlights how he believes that his experience has shown him that to be successful in business and sports requires the same ingredients. Puts forward how businesspeople can learn a lot from sportspeople about how to juggle competing demands. Originality/value – looks at how the attributes possessed by three sportspeople are helping them achieve in the world of business.ISSN: 0113-4957Reference: 37AZ400

Keywords: Management development, Management effectiveness,Skills, Small to medium-sized enterprises, Sport