Jay Martyn

First Advisor

Morse, Alan L.

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

12-2020

Department

College of Natural and Health Sciences, Kinesiology Nutrition and Dietetics, KiND Student Work

Abstract

The institutional logics perspective is a metatheoretical framework utilized to examine the interrelationships between institutions, individuals, and organizations in a social system (Thornton et al., 2012). A developing thought in the institutional logics perspective is the concept of the interinstitutional system, which is a framework for understanding a levels metatheory of institutions. Undeniably, there has been a growing demand for literature in the sport management field pertaining to Institutional Theory and scholars have emphasized the necessity to examine institutional logics in the sport industry (Washington & Patterson, 2011). Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the logics of student-athletes, coaches, mid-level athletics managers, and athletic administrators, across multiple levels of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (e.g., Division I, II, and III) in an effort to understand how logics develop within and across multiple levels of competition, relationships, and social groups; or in other words, how logics develop in an interinstitutional or cross-level setting (e.g., macro, meso, and micro levels). This exploratory investigation employed qualitative techniques to examine a collective case study of embedded agents within college athletics from the Division I, II, and III levels. A total of N=87 participants (e.g., Division I N=33, Division II N=27, Division III N=27) provided results for the current research. The results of the study indicated embedded agents of the NCAA develop, embed, and sustain institutional logics at the macro, meso, and micro levels. Additionally, the outcomes illustrated how logics are influenced by embedded agents at different levels of analysis and how logics develop, become embedded, and/or are sustained similarly, although differences did occur, across all three divisions of college athletics. The results of the current study provided a theoretical development to the understanding of the interinstitutional logics system in sport management. Moreover, the findings of the study allowed for a preliminary model development pertaining to institutional logics at the macro, meso, and micro levels of analysis and the proposition of a hypothesized model of the interinstitutional system of college athletics. The results are indications that further exploration of the institutional logics perspective and the interinstitutional system are necessary in the field of sport management. Yet, there are several practical implications from this research. A hypothesized model of the interinstitutional logics system is presented which calls for further scholarly attention. Interrelationships among embedded agents are discussed and logics development, the embedding processes, and logics sustainment are suggested. Lastly, the results provided for implications for how logics interact amongst the macro, meso, and micro levels. As this research was exploratory in nature, and the first known examination of the interinstitutional logics system in sport management, future research is required to better understand this metatheoretical perspective and its influence on the interrelationships between institutions, individuals, and organizations in a social system.

Extent

182 pages

Local Identifiers

Martyn_unco_0161D_10896.pdf

Comments

Fall 2020 Graduate Dean's Citation for Outstanding Thesis, Dissertation, and Scholarly Project

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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