Ethics in Sports Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethics in Sports Management - Essay Example The initial arguments will be explored and the main angles of the debate will be identified. After that, an empirical analysis of key reading materials will be conducted to identify social norms and sporting management trends and elements. This will create the basis for critical analysis in order to identify the rightful solution to the issue at hand. Scenario This essay revolves around a case where a sports manager trainee is told to give misleading information in a public relations campaign about a football team. The team has major issues with the following: 1. The drug addiction of a central star player. 2. Major management rifts concerning shareholders. 3. Personal problems with the coaching staff. 4. Race rifts within the playing body of the team. 5. Major financial challenges and crises with major financier The media has come up with numerous campaigns to expose these problems and issues. Clearly, most of the speculations and claims are true. However, the management and board s eek to undertake an image enhancing campaign. And the newly appointed sports manager trainee has been chosen to lead this campaign. The rest of the paper will examine the different moral and ethical elements of the study. Initial Argument From this scenario, it is clear and apparent that the young manager is in his pre-professional management years. At this point, he will have to balance two conflicting ideas and concepts. The first idea is the need to be honest and ethical in the delivery of information about internal conditions to external stakeholders. Thus, working as a public relations representative presents the opportunity to be ethical and show honesty and transparency as required by laws and regulations. On the other hand, the young manager also has to adapt to the norms of the organization. He will have to show that he is an asset, rather than a liability to the sports institution employing him. This is because the institution expects him to become a positive and an import ant individual to the entity. This can be done by salvaging the image of the entity and doing what will retain supporter confidence, increase returns and improve the company's image and also provide some psychological advantage to the team. However, going too far at this side of the continuum could pose some dangers. The obvious one is that the information that is given could be false and provide an over-idealistic image of the company. This could potentially harm the career of the young manager and cause far reaching damage to the football team employing this manager. Obviously, this forms the crux and the central point of the ethical dilemma at hand Relevant Ethical Models As identified above, the central issue of importance is the need to balance the observance of ethical standards and ethical codes in his approach to this image enhancing PR job with the need for the attainment of confidence amongst external stakeholders. This provides various ethical constraints which can be vie wed from two different standpoints. Anderson (1996) identifies that there are two main approaches to viewing ethics and defining what is right. The first is deontology which involve a non-consequential approach to ethics and decision making. In this area, what is right is set in a absolute standards and absolute rules. These are universal rules and regulations that guide conduct throughout the world. All human beings must adhere to the standard of ethics that is