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Programme structure

The Master Sport Business & Leadership is a truly international experience - with an international learning community of students, lecturers, and guests from the world of sport. The programme is centred around 7 modules: 6 are completed physically on our campus and 1 during an international field trip. The modules are not offered in chronological order, but are aligned with each other. During your study, you will act as a consultant for a real sport organisation. You will define a strategy to make this organisation more sustainable in terms of people, planet, prosperity, and (sporting) performance.

Module 1: Vision & Strategy in Sport 

Professional deliverable – for client as a consultant

  • Report and presentation to lecturers, peers and client about the vision and strategy of a sport organisation
  • Analysis of the sustainable positioning of the sport organisation: what is working, what is not and what is your advise about what should change and how?
  • What steps are needed within and outside of the organisation 

Themes of classes

  • Living purpose, culture (DNA), vision & strategy
  • Sport ecosystem & partnerships
  • Transformative sport business
  • Finance (review and advanced)
  • Strategic management (review and advanced)
  • Marketing and branding
  • Change management
  • Sport governance, law, and ethics
  • Consulting skills
  • Value creation & business models in sport 

After completing this module you can:

  • identify, formulate, and develop a vision for the sustainable positioning of a sport organisation
  • communicate and translate the vision and strategy inside and outside a sport organisation 
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Module 2: Value Creation & Business Models

Professional deliverable – for client as a consultant

  • As a consultant you identify how the organisation can be innovative with new business models and how it can create sustainable value in sport (financially and socially).

Themes of classes

  • Business models and value creation
  • Transformative sport businesses/economics
  • Stakeholders and partnerships (media and key sponsors)
  • Commercialisation and marketing of sport
  • Funding of sport
  • Change management
  • Leadership effectiveness skills

After completing this module you can:

  • create the conditions for value creation to occur in a sport organisation
  • innovate business models into sustainable value in sport

Module 3: Stakeholders and Politics in Sport

Professional deliverable – for client

  • You will write and present an analysis of all outside stakeholders of your consultancy organisation, the power dynamics (inter)between them and how they can be best engaged.
  • You will do a self assessment on how successful you have been in your stakeholder engagement.

Themes of classes

  • Key stakeholders and decision makers in the sport industry
  • The influence and role of politics at national and international level
  • Conflicting interests among stakeholders and navigate political complexities in sport leadership roles
  • Ethical considerations and social responsibilities in managing stakeholders
  • Reflection on your own development and your (business) goals as a sport leader

After completing this module you can:

  • connect stakeholders with each other and with yourself
  • influence key decision makers in sport

Module 4: Operations Management in Sport

Professional deliverable

  • In a simulation you will be presented with a real-world business case.
  • Your will be assigned a unique role and specific tasks within a team.
  • Throughout the game, new instructions will be introduced, presenting varying tasks and assignments tailored to each team member's role.
  • Stay engaged, adapt to evolving scenarios, and collaborate effectively to navigate the dynamic challenges that arise in this immersive business experience.
  • Before the game you will receive a scorecard with grading criteria. After the game the team with most points will be elected as winner.

Themes of classes

  • Dynamics of (complex) organisations and management problems
  • Understanding key (complex) characteristics of sport organisations
  • Conduct Brown Paper session to visualise key processes and bottlenecks
  • Create a process flow diagram that represents a process in your organisation
  • Understanding change models and theories
  • Identifying drivers for change

After completing this module you can:

  • manage parts of business operations in a sport organisation
  • structure the business operations of a sport organisation

Module 5: Human Resources in Sport

Professional deliverable – for client as a consultant

  • You get to work on a real-life assignment.
  • The aim is to promote, organise and implement competence development of (a group of) employees in the organisation where you work (or your client from module 1).
  • You could, for example, think about the need in an organisation to implement a certain working method.
  • You need to devise a strategy for the successful execution of this project. Based on this strategy, you consider how you are going to organise and then implement it.

Themes of classes

  • Follower needs
  • Psychological safety
  • Organisational politics
  • Enhanced learning in organisations
  • Shared leadership

The assessment of this module consists of a written exam and a practical assignment. After completing this module you can:

  • demonstrate leadership behaviour in relation to the people in a sport organisation
  • professionalise a group of people in a sport organisation

Module 6:  Master Thesis

Professional deliverable

  • Research report (thesis)
  • Presentation to lecturers
  • Dissemination to stakeholders (whitepaper, conference talk, article, et cetera)

Themes of classes

  • Methodology and scientific skills at master level
  • Workshop 'How to write a research proposal?'
  • Masterclass about methodology (applied to your proposal)
  • Workshop 'Dissemination of your research'
  • Individual supervision
  • Peer review with fellow students

After completing this module you can:

  • research complex issues for a sport organisation or the sport industry
  • offer a solution to a complex real-world challenge in a sport organisation

Module 7: Personal & Professional Profiling

Professional deliverable

  • You will focus on your development, both personally as professionally. How do you develop as a leader and type of leader?
  • In the presentation of your thesis you will make it clear what your value is for a sport organisation and in what areas you are unique from others.
  • You will identify which part of the world of sport and what sort of organisation suits you the best – where you as leader will be able to thrive and deliver the most value.

Themes of classes

  • Leadership
  • Coaching skills
  • Presenting skills
  • Psychological concepts of development
  • Reflection theory and practice
  • Mindsets

After completing this module you can:

  • take responsibility for your own actions and the ones of others 
  • direct your own personal and professional development

Title and Diploma 

After successfully completing the Master's programme Sport Business & Leadership, you will be awarded the title of Master of Science (M.Sc.), at the Postgraduate Level 7 of the Dutch Qualification Framework (NLQF).