Disability Sports from Charity towards Partnerships - Case: Finnish Paralympic Committee
Mäkynen, Timo (2020)
Mäkynen, Timo
2020
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020120927149
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020120927149
Tiivistelmä
The main goal of this Master´s Thesis is to analyse what motivates the business stakeholders to support disability sport. Future support from the government is uncertain so there is a huge need for this study to understand and attract more business stakeholders to sup-port sports for people with disabilities in Finland.
The Finnish Paralympic Committee (Suomen Paralympiakomitea ry) and the Finnish Sports Association for Persons with Disabilities (VAU ry) merged on 1.1.2020 forming one large disability sports organisation in Finland. Until 2019, the Finnish Paralympic Committee supported mainly elite sporting activities. From 2020, the newly formed Paralympic Committee supports a broad perspective of sports activities for people with disabilities.
What are the existing business partners’ reasons for cooperation? What do the partners expect from future cooperation with disability sports? This study gives concrete suggestions to improve business stakeholder communication to help associations, organizations, clubs and athletes to attract more business partners to support disability sports.
The new non-governmental umbrella of disability sport organization requires its own strong fundraising operations and strategy to be able to support disability sports from children’s to adults’ and from hobby activities to elite sports. The subject is highly important as the Paralympic Committee seeks to support its members and other organizations organizing disability sports. Better understanding of business stakeholders will have a huge influence on the future of disability sports support.
The literature review covers stakeholder communication, stakeholder management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study notes the special role of these theories in the non-profit and sports organization environment at the same time as it explains the special role of disability sport and the importance of the Paralympic movement.
The research is based on a case study method with a constructive approach. The primary data consisted of semi-structured interviews with existing business stakeholders, which took place before the formation of the new organization. The analysis of the data draws on qualitative methods and quantification.
The discussion explains the concrete findings and suggests a partnership stakeholder model based on the framework of a Key Account Management Relational Development Model. Supporting disability sports brings value for business stakeholders and is important for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and brand image. All the interviewed partners (100%) would recommend cooperation with the Paralympic Committee to other companies. In the future, many companies in Finland could benefit from cooperation with disabled athletes and be part of the fundamental change from charity towards partnerships.
The Finnish Paralympic Committee (Suomen Paralympiakomitea ry) and the Finnish Sports Association for Persons with Disabilities (VAU ry) merged on 1.1.2020 forming one large disability sports organisation in Finland. Until 2019, the Finnish Paralympic Committee supported mainly elite sporting activities. From 2020, the newly formed Paralympic Committee supports a broad perspective of sports activities for people with disabilities.
What are the existing business partners’ reasons for cooperation? What do the partners expect from future cooperation with disability sports? This study gives concrete suggestions to improve business stakeholder communication to help associations, organizations, clubs and athletes to attract more business partners to support disability sports.
The new non-governmental umbrella of disability sport organization requires its own strong fundraising operations and strategy to be able to support disability sports from children’s to adults’ and from hobby activities to elite sports. The subject is highly important as the Paralympic Committee seeks to support its members and other organizations organizing disability sports. Better understanding of business stakeholders will have a huge influence on the future of disability sports support.
The literature review covers stakeholder communication, stakeholder management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study notes the special role of these theories in the non-profit and sports organization environment at the same time as it explains the special role of disability sport and the importance of the Paralympic movement.
The research is based on a case study method with a constructive approach. The primary data consisted of semi-structured interviews with existing business stakeholders, which took place before the formation of the new organization. The analysis of the data draws on qualitative methods and quantification.
The discussion explains the concrete findings and suggests a partnership stakeholder model based on the framework of a Key Account Management Relational Development Model. Supporting disability sports brings value for business stakeholders and is important for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and brand image. All the interviewed partners (100%) would recommend cooperation with the Paralympic Committee to other companies. In the future, many companies in Finland could benefit from cooperation with disabled athletes and be part of the fundamental change from charity towards partnerships.