“Like Ships in the Night” and the Paradox of Distinctiveness for Sport Management: A Citation Network Analysis of Institutional Theory in Sport

in Journal of Sport Management

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Mathew Dowling Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0741-9245 *
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Jonathan Robertson Deakin Business School, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1062-1145
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Marvin Washington School of Business, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9893-3519
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Becca Leopkey Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5870-8699
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Dana Lee Ellis School of Sports Administration, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7988-670X
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Andie Riches Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

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Lee Smith Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2022-0280
Keywords:
intergroup relations; network analysis; sports management; organizational fields
First Published Online:
25 Jul 2023
In Print:
Volume 37: Issue 6
Page Range:
403–416
Restricted access

A central issue within sport management is the extent to which the field should develop a distinctive theoretical knowledge base. This paper empirically investigates the connectedness within (intrafield) and between (interfield) management and sport management disciplines in one specific knowledge domain—institutional theory. We utilized a database of 188 sport-related institutional studies and conducted a citation network analysis of the aggregated reference lists from these articles. We argue that the fields of management and sport management act like “ships in the night.” That is, as the field of sport management has become more distinctive, the field is becoming less connected with general management literature and contemporary theoretical discussions. Potential implications for sport management scholarship and understanding the nature of the field are discussed, along with how it may be possible (if desired) to bridge the gap between sport and management research.

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