Study Explores Impact of Ethical Leadership in Non-Professional Sports Organisations

14.08.2024

Danial Amir’s Master’s Thesis Analyses Dutch and Pakistani Clubs

Sports have played an important role in the life of Danial Amir, who recently completed an MBM (Master of Business Management) degree in Logistics & Trade at Wittenborg. Since his childhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, Amir has been part of non-professional organisations dedicated to cricket, tennis and football, among other sports. Through these experiences, he has witnessed how unethical behaviours from coaches can affect entire teams and negatively influence athletes.

To better understand these dynamics, the student decided to write his master’s thesis on the impact of ethical leadership on athlete performance in non-professional sports organisations. “Researching leadership in sports is very important because coaches have a significant influence over the athletes who are under their guidance. Therefore, we must make sure that these leaders adhere to good practices and understand what it means to be ethical when making decisions. This is also fundamental for the career of young athletes,” he remarks.

According to Amir, to be ethical, leaders must practise what they preach to followers and be fair. Additionally, they need to adopt correct behaviours and attitudes in their personal lives. “This will motivate their followers to behave ethically. On the other hand, when coaches act in unethical ways, their athletes will be encouraged to do the same, creating a bad environment for all.”

Amir's research focuses on two non-professional sports organisations: a Dutch cricket team and a Pakistani squash team. He points out that both groups share similar goals, with their primary focus not being on winning. Instead, their main objective is to improve their athletes’ lives and ensure their involvement in all aspects of the organisations.

To gather information for his study, the student relied on 10 in-depth interviews with coaches and athletes of varying ages from both teams. Among other topics, his questions centred on how the subjects perceived ethical leadership in sports and the coaches’ behaviours and practices. Additionally, Amir questioned participants about how ethical leadership impacts athletes’ performance.

The research shows that when coaches behave ethically, players’ performance improves significantly. “The athletes from both clubs were happy and felt that the leadership in their sports organisations was ethical, which improved their performance. It should be noted that many previous studies lacked a specific measure of performance. I developed a separate scale to measure this variable, and this enabled me to compare it with the ethical behaviour of the coaches,” the student comments.

Amir emphasises that this correlation might stem from the fact that, in sports, athletes need to immediately follow their leaders’ guidance, while in other sectors people have more time to think after they are given an instruction. He adds that the impact of ethical leadership on athletes extends beyond their performance in sports, encompassing other aspects of their lives.

“Non-professional athletes are often young and have to balance school and work, and for this reason they use sports to decompress. So, while athletes who experience positivity in sports can bring that positivity to society, stressful experiences can deeply impact their personal lives and families. Coaches and leaders play a fundamental role in shaping this dynamic, but they are often unaware of it.”

Now that he has graduated, Amir has been looking for job opportunities in the Netherlands. He highlights that his experience at Wittenborg was very positive, allowing him to combine disciplines from the fields of logistics and sports. “I am very excited about the idea of working in logistics, because I have always been interested in the way big shipment companies work. But having done my thesis research on the topic of ethical leadership in non-professional sports organisations, I would also be happy to start a career in sports management.”