Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

School of Kinesiology

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

The temporal rhythms of sport organizations, driven by recurring cycles of in-season and off-season activity, create a unique organizational context that shapes decision-making, leadership behavior, and the experiences of employees. While seasonality is widely recognized in operational planning and revenue forecasting, its implications for organizational behavior in sport management remain underexplored. This three-paper dissertation examines seasonality as a temporal force influencing sport organizations at conceptual, strategic, and affective levels.

The first paper develops a sport-specific taxonomy of seasonality by synthesizing literature from econometrics, tourism, and organizational theory. It distinguishes between natural, internally institutionalized, and externally institutionalized seasonal influences, offering a conceptual model to understand how cyclical patterns impact sport organizations’ planning, staffing, and resource allocation. This paper provides the theoretical foundation for empirical exploration in the subsequent studies.

The second paper applies contingency theory to investigate how minor league sport executives adapt their leadership styles and decision-making processes across seasonal phases. The findings illustrate how cyclical transitions in temporal context necessitate parallel shifts in executive cognition, stakeholder relationships, and managerial priorities. The third paper utilizes Affective Events Theory (AET) to examine how the seasonality of emotionally intense work events contributes to employee burnout. The study repositions burnout as a cyclical, time-sensitive construct rather than a static outcome, and identifies organizational support and role autonomy as key mitigating factors.

The research aims to uncover how seasonal patterns shape employee affective experiences, behaviors, and organizational outcomes by applying AET and Contingency Theory lenses. These three studies offer a comprehensive perspective on how time and seasonality shape the internal dynamics of sport organizations. The dissertation contributes to sport management by advancing a temporally grounded framework for understanding leadership, strategic behavior, and employee well-being, while providing practical insights for sport executives, human resource professionals, and organizational planners.

Date

7-11-2025

Committee Chair

Martinez, Jean Micheal

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.6878

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