Shaping exit and voice: an account of corporate control in UK sports

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to help demonstrate the extent to which socio‐cultural and market‐oriented incentives jointly contribute to corporate control outcomes that prevail in the UK football industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Illustrative case studies informed by analysis of financial performance data, discussion with key informants, review of official documents.

Findings

The paper finds long term performance outcomes were influenced in substantive ways by actions led by shareholder groups pursuing largely non‐market‐oriented objectives.

Research limitations/implications

Industry‐specific empirical work that analyses how the interplay between voice and exit strategies influences corporate control outcomes is limited. This paper focuses on two UK cases and therefore would benefit expansion to further UK cases and comparative analyses to non‐UK situations.

Practical implications

The outcomes suggest that the market for corporate control in this particular industry context requires specific attention to actions driven by largely non‐market‐driven incentives.

Originality/value

Previous papers have not provided detailed empirical‐based evidence about how socio‐cultural concerns have influenced corporate control outcomes in the case studies provided.

Citation

Nikolychuk, L. and Sturgess, B. (2007), "Shaping exit and voice: an account of corporate control in UK sports", Management Decision, Vol. 45 No. 5, pp. 841-852. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740710753666