detroit lions case study

33

Click here to load reader

Upload: erik-robichaux

Post on 19-Jan-2017

319 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Detroit Lions Case Study

Running Head: DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

Detroit Lions Case Study

Samuel Hartley, Andrew Spragg, Erik Robichaux,

Andrew Pataky, Kyle Nasta, Nicholas Vandelogt

Managerial Leadership in Sport

University of North Florida

Page 2: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

Many people are consistently making strides to become more aware of global social

issues. Global sustainability is an ever-growing issue in the world today and many consumers

look to the companies they frequently to use a portion of their profits to help do better for the

world. With the boom we have seen in technological advances as well as more and more people

connecting through different social media’s, consumers have become increasingly aware of

issues that were once obscure. According to Investopedia.com corporate social responsibility is

“a corporation's initiatives to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on

environmental and social wellbeing. The term generally applies to efforts that go beyond what

may be required by regulators or environmental protection groups.” A few examples would

include a company that invests in a poor community that it may be located near by helping to

build infrastructure such as schools and medical facilities. Other ways a company can practice

good corporate social responsibility is by trying to develop better technologies even if those

improvements don’t result in increased profit right away.

Corporate social responsibility is generally broken down into three major categories:

environment, philanthropy, and ethical labor practices. Or more simply put planet, people, and

profit. Environmental is one of the most common ways you hear of companies practicing good

corporate social responsibility. All businesses and people leave some kind of carbon footprint

behind, with some leaving a much larger footprint than others. By taking different measures to

reduce their carbon footprint benefits can be seen not only for the environment but the company

as well. A good example that I was a part of would be the recycling program I helped implement

at the Planet Fitness I currently manage. Before I was able to convince the owners to do their

part and pay for a recycling company to come out and provide us with a few trash cans

2

Page 3: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

designated for recycle only, it was on myself and another employee to do all of the recycling.

We would have a few boxes for the staff to throw any cans, papers, or plastics into and either I or

the other employee would take the box home at the end of the day to put into our own recycle

bins at home. The next category would be philanthropy or “people.” According to

businessnewsdaily.com, “Businesses also practice social responsibility by donating to national

and local charities. Whether it involves giving money or time, businesses have a lot of resources

that can benefit charities and local community programs.” Tom’s Shoes would be a good

example of this category. Tom’s donates a pair of their shoes to people living in countries with

high poverty rates every time they sell a pair of their shoes. Another example could be the

Florida Lottery donating millions over the last few years to help fund different scholarship

opportunities. The last category would be ethical labor practices or “profit.” This would the act

of treating employees equally and in accordance with labor laws even those that may be different

from the labor laws of the country the company’s headquarters. The best example I was able to

find would be the one used on Investopedia.com, which is the diamond industry. More

specifically the “conflict diamonds” which are usually mined from war torn areas where rebel

groups will fund what they are trying to do by selling these diamonds which a lot of times are

mined using child labor.

In the sports management industry corporate social responsibility can and should play a

large role in a team’s operations. I have noticed sports organizations, especially the players; tend

to do a good job with their corporate social responsibilities. In the sports management world it is

normally in the philanthropy category of corporate social responsibilities. There are many

different foundations in the teams’ name that make donations to help out with those struggling in

their community. I believe it is important for sports organizations to do as much as they can in

3

Page 4: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

corporate social responsibility since the product they provide is just providing entertainment and

not something that does much good for the global social issues. Leagues also have corporate

social responsibility to their players. Making the game they play safer and banning substances

that could be harmful to the players’ well being show their ethical labor practices.

The Detroit Lions CSR approach included their mission and philosophies. These included

“deciding on a strategic approach, focusing on high impact areas, formulating the approach,

establishing targeted partnerships with community organizations, sustaining these partnerships,

and connecting with the broader organizational strategy” (Heinze, Soderstrom, Zdroik, 2014).

The Lions are very passionate about their city, team, and community. As states multiple times in

the case study, they are not simply just a football team; they are active members of the

community and love their fans as much as they love them.

Living for the City is Detroit’s new CSR approach that focuses on two main areas. The

first emphasizes health in Metro Detroit, especially in low-income schools, providing children

with “healthy inclusive play and physical activity” (Heinze, Soderstrom, Zdroik, 2014).

Secondly, the CSR approach accentuates wellness in these low-income areas to provide

resources for health screenings and access to fresh healthy foods. To formulate the approach, the

Detroit Lions focus on the community involvement and resources. Some of these community

organizations include, “Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, that focuses on business

development in the city; Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, that focuses on economic development

at the riverfront; Eastern Market Corporation, that is the center for fresh food in the city and

fosters growth of small food business; and Model D, that advertises and promotes success stories

in Detroit” (Heinze, Soderstrom, Zdroik, 2014). The Lions feel obligated to help their

community because of the stable economic position they are in and these resources enable them

4

Page 5: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

to do so. The Detroit Lions work with several non-profit organizations to better the health of the

community and have fun with fans while doing so. These non-profits include, “Playworks,

Eastern Market, Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, Hatch Detroit, Wayne State University,

and the Lions Academy” (Heinze, Soderstrom, Zdroik, 2014). Many of these organizations

involve physical activity and healthy eating habits. Rob Wooley states that they players are

“supporting the social entrepreneurs in the city that are trying to make a change, a difference”

(Heinze, Soderstrom, Zdroik, 2014). These players genuinely want to help their community and

make a difference in their lives, starting with health and wellness. The Lions also sustain the

relationships and partnerships they have made with organizations in their community. By

exhibiting “respect and humility, accommodation, authenticity, mutual benefits, and brokerage”

both sides of the partnership are able to benefit from one another in each organization (Heinze,

Soderstrom, Zdroik, 2014). The Living for the City theme has been incorporated into broader

organizational strategies amongst communities in Detroit. The Lions work together with these

community organizations and their marketing strategies, which allow the team to get closer with

potential sponsors. Every game at the Lions home stadium is themed towards a health initiative

or focus. They also recognize a partner and sponsor whose mission is related to that of the health

theme. The games are also known to buy and source locally. The Lions make an effort to buy

food for their games locally and sponsor the owners. This helps the Detroit community become

closer because buying locally really does matter and it also supports neighbors as well.

In Detroit’s early years, it was the heart of the automobile industry. Up until the end of

World War II, the business thrived, populations grew, and communities were lively. Post war

brought about a new era with economic hardships and crime-ridden neighborhoods, which is still

evident today. The Lions moved their stadium from the suburbs back to the city in Detroit, which

5

Page 6: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

brought about a close relationship. Internally, the Lions were the first team to establish a

community relations department. This was their commitment from the beginning and they have

maintained this commitment through their partnering organizations. Externally, these

organizations benefit both the team and community of Detroit. Working with non-profit

organizations is important for community-team building and this has definitely influenced their

strategic approach decision.

The CSR approach initiated by the Detroit Lions organization, that is, the fact that they

decided to put a lot of their charity and CSR efforts into only a few chartable areas and

organizations instead of stretching their efforts out into a wide array of charitable initiatives, can

be undertaken by a great degree of different professional businesses and organizations (Heinze,

Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014). Indeed, an organization located in the city of Detroit certainly

represents a special circumstance, what with the city’s steady decline over the past several years

culminating in the city declaring bankruptcy in 2013, but this does not mean that their unique

approach to CSR cannot work in other cities or regions that may be in different situations

(Wilson, 2013). In addition to this, the Lions CSR approach need not only be initiated by other

sports related organizations. While it would certainly behoove both professional and amateur

sporting organizations across every different sports league to look into their current CSR

approach and attempt to incorporate elements of the Lions’ approach into their own due to the

Lions success with it in the sports industry, there is no reason why a non-sport related company

in a different industry could not enact the same approach to their CSR model. Many bigger

organizations are in a great position to do a lot of good in their community due to their vast

resources, however, they tend to donate a little chunk of resources to many different charitable

organizations, in order to have a sizable reach and positively affect multiple charities in different

6

Page 7: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

areas of the city addressing different issues (Heinze, Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014). The Lions

decided to take all of the resources they use in their CSR model and consolidate all of it into

donating to only a few select organizations that address a few areas of need within the city; as a

result, the Lions are able to make a major difference in these areas of need, as opposed to merely

a little bit of difference in a wide array of areas (Heinze, Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014). Why

can’t a non-sports related organization, say an insurance agency, do the same? Take Metlife Life

Insurance, for instance. A study of Metlife’s “Corporate Social Responsibility Progress Report”

reveals that they engage in charitable initiatives in a wide array of areas globally, including

donations in and to small businesses, renewable energy products, building homes for needy

families, hospitals and the medical field, protecting the environment, and in promoting diversity

(Metlife Life Insurance, 2015). They are all, of course, very noble and worthwhile causes, but

say, however, that Metlife decided to take all, or most, of their charitable resources and focus all

of it into the medical research field of charity. Imagine how much could be achieved and what

amazing new research, discoveries, and technology could potentially be unearthed with this

massive influx of additional funding. They could benefit from this approach because if their

charity in this area were to become publically known it’s hard to imagine it would shed a

negative light on Metlife’s corporation. In addition to this, Metlife is a life insurance company. If

they are known to contribute massive amounts of donation money into the medical research field

of charity, it should appear as if the company truly cares for people, assisting in finding cures for

diseases in order to save people’s lives while selling life insurance plans to assist families in the

case of a lost loved one. This way more people may be compelled to purchase life insurance

through Metlife, a company that would be perceived as truly caring about people and their lives.

The more people who purchase products through Metlife due to this perception, the better the

7

Page 8: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

benefit to the organization, which can be attributed to their CSR approach of focusing solely on

the medical field.

The scientific approach to management is said to have four different principles: one must

evaluate a task scientifically, select workers with the right abilities, train the workers to do the

jobs for which they’re hired, and plan work methods to ease the way for workers to do their jobs

(Kinicki & Williams, 2015). Really any organization can adopt the scientific approach to

management for their management process, but here we’ll look at the Detroit Lions. Kinicki and

Williams state that first, the decision makers for the Lions organization will want to evaluate the

tasks that they wish to accomplish, without looking at it in the traditional light; this would have

worked well for the Lions, as they were looking to implement their CSR approach in a non-

traditional manner (Heinze, Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014). Secondly, Kinicki and Williams state

that one must carefully select the right people for the task. In the Lions case, they weren’t so

much looking for people as organizations; they determined which areas of charity they wished to

do the most good in, and selected the correct organizations to assist them in reaching their goal

(Heinze, Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014). By choosing the right organizations in the second of the

four steps listed by Kinicki and Williams, the Lions should not have had to spend too much time

at number three; they should not have to train the organizations in the proper ways to achieve

their charitable goals because the organizations were deemed by the Lions as the best to become

partners with in their respective charitable fields, and thus, likely know exactly what to do and

how to do it when it comes to achieving the Lions charitable aspirations (Heinze, Soderstrom, &

Zdroik, 2014). The fourth and final of Kinicki and Williams’ list of the steps of the scientific

management approach is to plan work methods and ease ways for workers to do their jobs. By

entering into meetings with their charity partners and laying out their plans and goals, discussing

8

Page 9: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

their ideas and the best ways to achieve them, and by making the resources available to their

partners so that they may be able to successfully complete those tasks fulfills this step (Heinze,

Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014). As one can see, the Lions organization may very well have used

the scientific management approach in achieving their CSR goals, which may lead them to use

the same approach in their other organizational endeavors; the Lions success with this may also

convince other organizations to follow a similar path and utilize the scientific approach in their

organizations, as well (Heinze, Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014).

With resources being part of the internal environment and with the internal environment

of any organization it is important for both non-profit and for profit organizations to make sure

they are creating a product or good that creates some sort of value to its customers or fans. The

reason why the internal environment is so crucial to any organization is because they have

complete control over this environment and should do its best to make sure they keep it at a high

standard because if this is done properly the rest should fall into place. If managers can

implement a culture of success then making sure that it is contagious throughout the organization

is easier to do.

Matching resources within the organization is very important and is a necessity if the

organization plans on being successful, you can’t have multiple departments within the Lions

organization thinking or trying to different things then what the mission is or what management

has in mind to be successful. Starting from the owner, then to the general manager, head coach,

and all the way down to the player there must be some sort of strategical plan that must be

followed in order for everyone to be on the same page. If the owner of the Detroit Lions wants a

head coach that likes to be a positive influence within the organization and with the local

community, but the general manager doesn’t hire that type of head coach and hires someone that

9

Page 10: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

like to get in the face of players and doesn’t have a good public image then the resources have

not been met.

Using the resources the proper way and to the most efficient way is the best way to

success. The best possible approach for the Detroit Lions would be first making sure your

human resources are taken care of because your workers are a managers or leaders most

important asset, for example if the manager isn’t treating his workers fairly or properly they will

not want to work for him/her and the organization will be unsuccessful. They must also be

taught or trained on how to work together with the other departments like financial resource,

physical resource, and informational resources. Resources within the organization can be any

department between human, financial, physical, and informational and they must meet the needs

within the organization, in our text book Applied Sport Management Skills it states that “without

resources, you don’t have an organization, and the resource-based views says that the better the

resources, the more successful the organization.”(Lussier & Kimball, 2014, p. 7) The reason

why it is so crucial for success is because one individual resource does not make up a successful

company or organization, every department to every individual needs to be on the same page and

be able to work together to relay information, financial budgets, or proper training to become one

big organization instead of separate departments.

The Detroit Lions have a combination between autocratic and democratic leadership

styles because the way that they do business inside and outside the organization. It has really

started ever since that have brought in Jim Caldwell to become the head coach, he is the type of

leader who expects a lot of his players but also can help them be successful. This approach is

very difficult to balance because of the combination between the two, a leader that has an

autocratic style usually has an approach where the manager makes the decisions, tells employees

10

Page 11: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

what to do, and closely supervises them, while the democratic style the manager encourages

employee participation in decisions, works with employees to determine what to do, and doesn’t

supervise them closely.

Jim Caldwell gave a speech at the Sound Mind Sound Body football camp where he gave

all the young football players his six pillars of effective leadership, the Lion’s Jim Caldwell

(2015) stated that:

To be an effective leader you need to be competent in what you do; Do your best

job at whatever you are doing and to seize the opportunity. To be an expert at

your position you need to put in a thousand hours in order to become the best at

what you do. Preparation is the key and to be organize and plan for everything.

Do what you do best and when times get hard or the chips are down that is the

time to strive and do what you do best. Resilience under disappointment, battle

through anything, there is no excuse and no explanation for not succeeding.

Focus in on your crises, listen, focus, and keep moving. If you take care of the

little thing then the big things will take care of themselves.

The Detroit Lions put a lot of work into the people who are consider leaders within the

organization, they try to give the freedom but also make sure that they players/workers know

what it expected and how things should be executed. The organization strives for balance

between the concerns of people and the production that is being done on and off the field. They

want to be the best at what they do but at the same time they want to have good morals and do it

the correct way. I think it all starts at the top of the organization with team president Tom

Lewand and head coach Jim Caldwell having the most influence Rogers (2015) explains how the

system works in Detroit:

11

Page 12: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

Caldwell, a meticulous planner, has gone as far as to share his full season plan

with his team's leadership council in hopes they'll improve upon it. The coach has

often said, "A good idea has no rank." "We've looked at every little inch of things

we planned to do and how to march it off," Caldwell said. "We do that in

conjunction with the guys that lead our team. We have a leadership council. We'll

set the plan, put it together and I'll let the leadership council take a look at it and

see if they have any suggestions. How can we make it better? It's better when they

own it."

This is why the Detroit Lions are successful with their approach to the leadership roles they use

within the organization. The Loins don’t just have leaders but they have a leadership council

that overlooks everything that is being done and is making sure that it is the best possible way to

be successful.

The Detroit Lions are on the right path to being successful, to be successful you must

have great leadership in place and it must be people that can lead and be role models for the

players/workers. The use many different approaches but also make sure that each approach is

crystal clear and can be done with hard work and good morals. The Detroit Lions have the right

pieces in place now they must execute the plan they have and let everything fall into place and

before they know it they will be having more success than any could imagine.

The Detroit Lions are a good example of an organization that utilizes the resources they

have and how to get the resources they don’t have. Jim Schwartz was the Lions previous head

coach and had a much different approach to the game then current head coach Jim Caldwell, Jim

insisted on taking a day to day approach instead of planning for the future and trying to develop

the organization for future success. Jim Schwartz was successful as a head coach but didn’t get

12

Page 13: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

the organization to where they wanted to be, Coach Schwartz was very clear on what he thought

and how expected the team to do business “When you talk about changing culture, when you talk

about improving the team, my mantra has always been and is always going to be a day-to-day

approach,” said Schwartz. “Let’s get better today. Let’s not worry about what’s going to happen

next week or a month from now. Let’s worry about today.” (Detroit Lions, 2014)

The Lions organization wants to win today, but also winning today for today isn’t the

most important thing they also want to prepare for the future. Team president Tom Lewand and

Jim Caldwell are not just putting together a winning game plan for one week but instead trying to

provide strategic planning to be successful for the entire year and then from there focusing in on

week by week basis. The organization is using managerial leadership skills to make sure that

everything is being done the correct way and that starts off by being able to organize and

delegate work to proper areas within the team or within the organization.

They are able to use the internal resource to continue the proper amount of

communication to each department to successfully carry out the plan that is developed from

ownership and the team president. The leaders make it easier for everyone else because of how

clear and easy they make the work, this is also done by proper on the job training as well as

being able to clearly communicate the vision of what is expected from each individual. Being

able to have a winning attitude and having people who want to come to work and make a

difference and give the organization everything they got.

Communication is probably the one of the most important parts of the leadership skills

they are using. They don’t just have leaders in place to help make the organization successful

but also have in place a leadership council, with this in place they are able to communicate back

and forth making things a clear as possible in case some things need to be changed. The Lions

13

Page 14: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

are not degrading the leaders they have in place but instead they are taking the leaders in place

and making them better by using a leadership council. They are able to communicate ideas back

and forth helping one another to be a better leader and to give a second opinion on a certain

strategic or operational plan.

In any given organization there are going to be various roles that are usually fulfilled in

order to ultimately create success. In regards to the Detroit Lions there is strong evidence that

most if not all of the leaders must display competency in all aspects of Management roles and

techniques. The three roles associated with managers are “interpersonal, informational and

decisional” (Kimball, Lussier; Pg. 17). These roles are key for any manager. The interpersonal

roles are made up of a leader, a liaison and a figurehead. (Kimball, Lussier, Pg. 17). When

looking at most organizations, this is usually associated with the owner. While they may be the

main provider for the financial capabilities they usually stay out of actual decision-making

process for the organization.

There was one main person, who time and time again would relay messages to the media

and other outside organizations and her name was Elizabeth Parkinson. While she had many

instances of simple relaying of information, she also controls a large portion of decisional roles

in her role as Senior-Vice President of Marketing and Partnership as given in her position

description on the Detroit Lions website. Most recently she was responsible for establishing the

“#OnePride” Campaign which was used “to highlight how Detroit was one team and one

community” (detroitlions.com). Overall Parkinson displayed many roles within the Lions

organization.

At the same time former owner, William Clay Ford, who passed away in 2014,

encompassed all the roles associated with managers. He part-took in resource allocation – from

14

Page 15: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

community service to financing new stadiums in the major relocation back into the city limits of

Detroit to their current home of Ford Field. He Ultimately revived the franchise in his more than

fifty-year reign as owner and chairman. (detroitlions.com)

When looking at the organization as a whole, there is some complexity and it can easily

be seen in regards to their structure. It’s a straight for and simplistic model. It is easy to see the

break down when looking on their administration page of their team website. They have a clear

top down structure with top, middle and lower line managers. The top manager is the owner,

who currently is Martha Ford (Heinze, Soderstrom, and Zdroik; Pg. 674). Reporting to her would

be the other chairman as the president. Reporting to these individuals would be the vice-

presidents who represent the individual divisions within the organization ranging from vice

president of communication to vice president of ticketing and suite sales. The individuals are

responsible for setting up and executing various tasks relevant to their given field. Each has a

small team that reports to them and helps with the tasks given. Finally you have the first line

managers that make up the equipment staff as well as sports trainers and other smaller role

positions. It is quiet easy to decipher the organization as whole based on common knowledge of

the industry, due the consistency from organization to organization within the NFL.

The corporate social responsibility CSR of the Detroit Lions has been a model for other

sports franchises to look at and mold into their own. The Detroit Lions saw a struggle and need

in their community, which prompted their new CSR model structure. The first step that

formalized the operations of this division was the hiring of Elizabeth Parkinson as VP of

marketing and partnerships and to oversee the Community Relations Department. Also Robert

Wooley was hired to be director of community relations. What this duo brought to the Lions was

a lot of experience in the field. Wooley brought experience from working for the NHL and their

15

Page 16: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

marketing team. Parkinson came from marketing companies that worked all over the board with

public, nonprofit, and even government organizations. The two brought exactly what the Lions

needed, sports experience, and community experience. “Elizabeth Parkinson and Rob Wooley

both noted the importance of organizational support for the CSR redesign activities; Wooley

described this organizational visioning as follows:

When I came on board the message that I received was that this is an opportunity for us

to completely reinvent or redesign our community engagement strategy. This was an opportunity

to truly leverage an incredibly powerful brand in the Detroit Lions, the Leaping Lion, Ford Field.

And I was really interested in figuring out how we could create synergy and excitement around a

brand that everyone can rally around win or loss” (Heinze, Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014).

Another important factor in changing their strategy was going out into the public and asking

what is needed and what can be done. They came up with two points to emphasize in the

community: health and wellness and community development. Rob Wooley described the need

to go out into the community in this statement,

In order for us to identify both of these topics [health and wellness and

community development] we spent a long time talking to folks that know

what they’re doing. We don’t pretend to be experts on anything. Although

we know enough to be dangerous, we really spend a lot of time connecting

with all the right stakeholders in town to help us understand what the real

issues are. (Heinze, Soderstrom, & Zdroik, 2014)

Changing their primary location from the practice facility to Ford Field also helped with the

cultural change. The Lions’ previous philanthropic focus was on players’ involvement in

fundraising and the corresponding need to be near the players at the practice facility; however,

16

Page 17: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

this location impeded the Lions’ CSR efforts in the city of Detroit (Heinze, Soderstrom, &

Zdroik, 2014). By changing locations it allowed them to focus more on the community around

Ford Field and get in touch with what was needed. The biggest thing that helped formalize their

operations was changing their focus and only doing what is needed and they can help with.

The biggest thing that helped the lions and their community relationship was their desire

for a strong and fruitful partnership. From day one of their new CSR strategy the goal was to

connect with the people of Detroit. Especially with the struggles the city was going through

financially they felt they had an obligation to raise the spirits of the people of Detroit. The “We

are all in” for the city from the franchise was a strong showing of sticking with what they believe

in. The Organizations passion was shown by their Living for the City campaign, Tom Lewand

who is the president of the Lions described it as this;

Living for the City is a reflection of the Detroit Lions’ commitment to Detroit’s

resurgence and our focus on areas of critical need. . . . Living for the City supports innovative

citizen philanthropy and promotes personal and community well-being. The Detroit Lions

organization is excited for the potential that Living for the City offers for making a real

difference in this community that we all call home. (Detroit Lions’ New Living for the City,

2012)

Once the path or goal of the organization was decided each department was all in. The

community outreach programs were a huge success under this new strategy. It was a huge moral

boost to the organization as well to see that they were helping their community and the fans truly

appreciated what they were doing.

Corporate social responsibilities are the steps that businesses take to help with global

issues or local issues in the Detroit Lions case. Whether it be on an environmental,

17

Page 18: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

philanthropically, or ethical level, they all play a vital role in making the Lions fans want to

continue supporting their team. The Detroit Lions may have used the scientific approach to

management in determining how to best go about implementing their plan for a new approach to

their corporate social responsibility model. Living for the City is Detroit’s new CSR approach

that focuses on two main areas: health and wellness for the citizens of Detroit. The goal for the

Lions franchise is do everything in their power to help the citizens, especially those in the lower

income areas of Detroit. This model, having shown that it can be used to success in this instance,

may assist many other organizations in achieving their organizational goals. A wide array of

differing organizations, both sport and non-sport related, may wish to emulate the Detroit Lions

and their CSR model to mirror their results with their own companies; it doesn’t seem too

farfetched to think that it can be successful in many different places and situations.

18

Page 19: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

References

Corporate Social Responsibility Definition | Investopedia. (2007, October 28). Retrieved

September 23, 2015.

Detroit Lions: Jim Schwartz . (2014). Retrieved September 24, 2015, from

http://www.detroitlions.com/team/coaches/jim-schwartz/388f9364-9b02-4ce6-affe-

cbf9819d0178.

Fallon, N. (2015, June 19). What is corporate social responsibility? Retrieved from

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html

Heinze, K., Soderstrom, S., & Zdroik, J. (2014). Toward strategic and authentic corporate social

responsibility in professional sport: a case study of the detroit lions. Journal of Sport

Management, 672-686.

Kinicki, A. & Williams, B. (2015). Management: A practical introduction. New York, NY:

McGraw Hill.

Lions' Jim Caldwell gives 6 pillars of leadership at SMSB camp. (2015). Retrieved September

24, 2015, from http://www.freep.com/videos/sports/nfl/lions/2015/06/11/71097894/

Lussier, R.N. & Kimball, D.C. (2014). Applied sport management skills (2nd ed.). Champaign,

IL: Human Kinetics.

Metlife Life Insurance. (2015). Corporate Responsibility Progress Report. Retrieved from the

Metlife Life Insurance website: https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/corporate-

responsibility/progress-reports/2014_MetLife_ProgressReport.pdf

19

Page 20: Detroit Lions Case Study

DETROIT LIONS CASE STUDY

Rogers, J. (2015, September 2). Leadership key to improving Detroit Lions' performance, Jim

Caldwell says. Retrieved September 24, 2015, from

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2015/09/detroit_lions_stafford_caldwel.html

The Detroit Lions’ New Living for the City Supports Community Wellness, Workforce

Development. (2012). Retrieved September, 29th 2015 from

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/ article-1/The-Detroit-Lions%E2%80%99-New-

Living- for-the-City-Supports-Community-Wellness-Workforce- Development/e748def0-

92c4-4f73-b70a-2fa61be00073.

William Clay Ford, Detroit Lions owner and chairman, passes away at age of 88 . (2014, March

9). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/article-1/William-Clay-Ford-Detroit-Lions-owner-and-

chairman-passes-away-at-age-of-88/bde46a5d-ec29-49fd-b2eb-78b3b93150ae .

Wilson, R. (2013, December 3). Judge declares detroit eligible for chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/12/03/judge-

declares-detroit-eligible-for-chapter-9-bankruptcy/

20