Cross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football development in China: Insights from a mixed methods approach

Diego  Quer; Jennifer  Pedro

doi:10.23762/FSO_VOL9_NO1_3

Published : 2021-03-31

Vol 9 No 1 (2021)

Cross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football development in China: Insights from a mixed methods approach

Diego Quer

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5814-6411

Jennifer Pedro

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2223-0141

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23762/FSO_VOL9_NO1_3

Section: Articles

Abstract

China has launched a long-term plan for football (soccer) development. One of its strategic initiatives consists of recruiting foreign coaches to obtain advanced skills and knowledge. The aim of this article is to analyse the reasons why the competitiveness of Chinese football has not yet reached the level of other countries, as well as to investigate the role played by the knowledge transferred by coaches from a leading football country such as Spain. Based on a mixed methods research design, the results suggest three reasons for the lower level of development of football in China: the prioritisation of academic success by young Chinese football players, traditional learning via repetition and automatisms, and the lack of success of China’s national football team. The study contributes to the literature on the influence of cultural factors on national athletic success. Moreover, it offers practical implications for improving China’s national strategy for football development.

Keywords

China ; football (soccer) ; knowledge transfer ; national competitiveness ; cultural factors

Details

References

Authors

Download files

PDF

Zasady cytowania

References

Adarmes, T. (2016), Análisis de la gestión deportiva en Chile, Santiago: Universidad de Chile.

Akçagün, E. (2013), The analyses of Turkish apparel industry by the Five Forces Model, Industria Textilă, 64 (2), 115-119. DOI: http://revistaindustriatextila.ro/201302.html

Andrijauskiene, M., Dumciuviene, D. (2018), National culture as a determinant of firms’ innovative performance, Forum Scientiae Oeconomia, 6(1), 47-67. https://doi.org/10.23762/FSO_VOL6NO1_18_1

Bougon, F., Leplâtre, S. (2016), Quand le football chinois s’eveillera. Le Monde, retrieved from: https://www.lemonde.fr/football/article/2016/10/07/quand-lefootball-chinois-seveillera_5009661_1616938.html (accessed 5 October2020).

Creswell, J.W. (2015), A Concise Introduction to Mixed Methods Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Dawes, J. (2008), Do data characteristics change according to the numer of scale points used? An experiment using 5-point, 7-point and 10-point scales, International Journal of Market Research, 50(1), 61-104. https://doi.org/10.1177/147078530805000106

Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989), Building theories from case-study research, Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550. https://doi.org/10.2307/258557

Eisenhardt, K.M., Graebner, M.E. (2007), Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges, Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25-32. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160888

Gallardo, G.B., Menocal, J.N., Farfan, P.J. (2020), Fundamentos teóricos sobre el proceso de enseńanza aprendizaje de los elementos técnicos del fútbol, Revista Científica Olimpia, 17, 92-104. https://revistas.udg.co.cu/index.php/olimpia/article/view/1270

Gündoğan, I., Sonntag, A. (2018), Chinese football in the era of Xi Jinping: What do supporters think?, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 47(1), 103-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261804700104

Hoffmann, R., Ging, L.C., Ramasamy, B. (2002), The socio-economic determinants of international soccer performance, Journal of Applied Economics, 5(2), 253-272. https://doi.org/10.1080/15140326.2002.12040579

Hoffmann, R., Ging, L.C., Ramasamy, B. (2004), Olympic success and ASEAN countries: Economic analysis and policy implications, Journal of Sports Economics, 5(3), 262-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002503261826

Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture´s consequences. International differences in work-related values, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J., Minkov, M. (2010), Cultures and organizations. Software of the mind. Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival (3rd edition), New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hofstede, G., Minkov, M. (2013), Values Survey Module 2013 (VSM 2013) questionnaire, retrieved from: https://geerthofstede.com/research-and-vsm/vsm-2013/(accessed 5 October 2020).

Horta, R., Silveira, L., García, A., González, P. (2016), Informe de Competitividad Uruguay 2016, Montevideo: Instituto de Competitividad-Universidad Católica del Uruguay.

Jackson, M., White, G., Schmierer, C. (1996), Tourism experiences within an attributional framework, Annals of Tourism Research, 23(4), 798-810. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(96)00003-5

Johnson R.B., Onwuegbuzie A.J., Turner L.A. (2007), Toward a definition of mixed methods research, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112-133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689806298224

Johnson, J.M. (2001), In-depth interviewing, in: J.F. Gubrium and J.A. Holstein, J.A. (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context & method (pp. 103-119), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Junior, E.L., Rodrigues, C. (2017), The Chinese football development plan: Soft power and national identity, Holos, 5, 114-124. DOI: 10.15628/holos.2017.5750

Junior, E.L., Rodrigues, C. (2019), The Chinese plan for football development: A perspective from innovation theory, Sport, Business and Management, 9(1), 63-77. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-10-2017-0067

Latham & Watkins (2017), China issues formal guidance for outbound direct investments. Hong Kong: Latham & Watkins’ Mergers & Acquisitions Practice, Client Alert Commentary Number 2204, August 30.

Lee, S., No, S. (2021), China’s overseas financial direct investment (ODI) in European football clubs: Revisiting ODI in the context of sport industry, Journal of Global Sport Management, forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.1080/24704067.2020.1805163

Lemus, D., Valderrey, F.J. (2020), It is not a game: Soccer and China’s search for world hegemony, Soccer & Society, 21(2), 225-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2018.1561441

León, O.D., Barrios, Y.D., Cedeńo F. (2020), Consideraciones teóricas y metodológicas de la preparación técnica en el futbol juvenil, DeporVida, 17(45), 128-139. https://depor vida.uho.edu.cu/index.php/deporvida/article/view/628

Li, S. (2020), La méritocratie «ŕ la chinoise»: le Gaokao, concours d’entrée dans l’enseignement supérieur, L’Année Sociologique, 70(2), 469-494. https://doi.org/10.3917/anso.202.0469

Liamputtong, P., Ezzy, D. (2000), Qualitative research methods, Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Liu, D., Zhang, J.J., Desbordes, M. (2017), Sport business in China: Current state and prospect, International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 18(1), 2-10. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-12-2016-0086

Maderer, D., Holtbrügge, D., Schuster, T. (2014), Professional football squads as multicultural teams: Cultural diversity, intercultural experience, and team performance, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 14(2), 215-238. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595813510710

Molina, J.F. (2012), Mixed methods research in strategic management: Impact and applications, Organizational Research Methods, 15(1), 33-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428110393023

Molina, J.F. (2013), Métodos híbridos de investigación, in: F.J. Sarabia (Coord.), Métodos de Investigación Social y de la Empresa (pp. 717-735), Madrid: Pirámide.

National Development and Reform Commission (2016), The medium and longterm development plan of Chinese football (2016-2050), Beijing: National Development and Reform Commission-State Council of the People’s Republic of China.

Pacheco, R. (2007), Fútbol: la enseńanza y el entrenamiento del fútbol 7. Un juego de iniciación al fútbol 11, Badalona: Paidotribo.

Peeters, T.L.P.R., Mills, B.M., Pennings, E., Sung, H. (2021), Manager migration, learning‐by‐hiring, and cultural distance in international soccer, Global Strategy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1354 (forthcoming)

Quer, D., Claver, E., Rienda, L. (2017), Cultural distance, political risk and location decisions of emerging-market multinationals: A comparison between Chinese and Indian firms, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 22(4), 587-603. https://doi.org/10.1080/13547860.2017.1312065

Rigtering, J.P.C., Eggers, F., Kraus, S., Chang, M.L. (2017), Entrepreneurial orientation, strategic planning and firm performance: The impact of national cultures, European Journal of International Management, 11(3), 301-324. https://doi.org/10.1504/EJIM.2017.083872

Rodríguez, M.J., Mora, R. (2001), Estadística informática: Casos y ejemplos con el SPSS, Alicante: Servicio de Publicaciones-Universidad de Alicante.

Sánchez, F.A. (2019), Fundamentos epistémicos de la investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa: consensos y disensos, Revista Digital de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria, 13(1), 102-122. https://doi.org/10.19083/ridu.2019.644

Szymanski, M., Fitzsimmons, S.R., Danis, W.M. (2019), Multicultural managers and competitive advantage: Evidence from elite football teams, International Business Review, 28(2), 305-315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2018.10.003

Szymanski, M., Wolfe, R.A., Danis, W., Lee, F., Uy, M.A. (2021), Sport and international management: Exploring research synergy, Thunderbird International Business Review, 63(2), 253-266. https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22139

Thoene, C., Kneubuehler, J. (2017), Applying the value grid model within the professional European soccer industry, Halmstad University, Sweden, retrieved from: https://www.essays.se/essay/f5b8 358d35/ (accessed 11 February 2021).

Tinaz, C., Knott, B. (2021), Sport and development in emerging nations, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. van Bakel, M., Salzbrenner, S. (2019), Going abroad to play: Motivations, challenges, and support of sports expatriates, Thunderbird International Business Review, 61(3), 505-517. https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22020

Voicu, M., Babonea, A. (2007), Using the snowball method in marketing research on hidden populations, Challenges of the Knowledge Society. Economy, 44(2), 1341-1351. https://doaj.org/article/92cee3cbe5b74333ab0f96f635e97125

Wang, Y., Hu, T. (2017), Transformational leadership behavior and turnover intention in China physical education, EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(9),6357-6368. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.01070a

World Bank (2021), Population, total, retrieved from: https://data.worldbank.org/ indicator/SP.POP.TOTL (accessed 13 January 2021).

Wu, M.Y. (2006), Hofstede’s cultural dimensions 30 years later: A study of Taiwan and the United States, Intercultural Communication Studies, XV(1), 33-42. https://web.uri.edu/iaics/files/04-Ming-Yi-Wu.pdf

Yin, R.K. (2014), Case study research: Design and methods (5th edition), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Yu, L., Newman J., Xue, H., Pu, H. (2019), The transition game: Toward a cultural economy of football in post-socialist China, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 54(6), 711-737. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690217740114

Zhang, J. (2020), Problems and prospects: A study on the development history of Chinese football industry, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 37(sup1), 102-123. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2020.1723552

Total abstract views :

PDF Downloads :

Diego Quer

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5814-6411

Affiliation

University of Alicante, Spain Spain

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Diego Quer, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Management, University of Alicante, Spain. His research interests include several topics pertaining to international management, such as entry modes and emerging-market multinationals, with a special focus on the Chinese context. He has published work in journals such as the Asia Pacific Journal of Management, International Business Review, Family Business Review, Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, the European Journal of International Management, the International Journal of Hospitality Management, and Current Issues in Tourism.

Jennifer Pedro

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2223-0141

Affiliation

University of Alicante, Spain Spain

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Jennifer Pedro is a PhD candidate at the University of Alicante, Spain, within the Doctorate Programme in Business, Economy, and Society. Her main line of research focuses on the competitiveness of football in China. She has extensive experience in the field of sport as she has been an elite futsal player. Currently, she is developing her professional activity in the Sports Service of he University of Alicante, managing the Competition Area.