The influence of sports sponsorships on the organisational commitment of employees has the potential to critically impact the sport sponsorship decisions of companies. In periods of economic uncertainty and economic decline, companies often consider sport sponsorship a fundamental expense that has to be carefully managed and measured against the corporate objectives. Employees are a vital asset to any company, and taking into consideration which teams or sporting events employees support, may be a key contributing factor to the ensuing productivity. This trend was investigated by conducting various research strategies in the course of compiling a final research document. These strategies included sending out electronic questionnaires to the employees of a sample company that sponsors provincial sporting teams. Statistical analysis on the results obtained culminated in in-depth conclusions that strive to theoretically answer the research question posed at the onset of this study. The outcome of the research study showed that sports sponsorships do not contribute sufficiently to the organisational commitments of employees to justify its inclusion on the list of sports sponsorships’ key objectives when making strategic decisions. However, some evidence suggests that a reverse influence may exist whereby specific sports teams prove useful in the recruitment process and/or sponsorships decisions. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

[pt] A atividade de patrocínio vem se modificando em todas as partes do mundo. No Brasil, em particular, observa-se que o patrocínio vem sendo mais utilizado como ferramenta do mix de marketing das empresas para promover suas marcas. Porém, uma dificuldade está presente na realidade das empresas patrocinadoras e dos profissionais que trabalham com patrocínio: a avaliação dos projetos. Este estudo se propõe a identificar as principais características dos projetos de patrocínio de eventos e discutir a importância destas características na escolha dos projetos a patrocinar. Foram levantadas 22 características utilizadas por decisores e experts no processo de avaliação de projetos de patrocínio de eventos. Foi constatado ainda que a importância destas características é influenciada pelos diferentes objetivos considerados pelos executivos no momento da escolha dos projetos. / [en] Sponsorship activity has been experiencing changes worldwide. In Brazil, particularly, sponsorship is widely used as a tool within companies´ marketing mix for promoting companies´ brands. However, an issue is present in the reality of sponsor companies and professionals who work with sponsorship: the assessment of projects. This study proposes to identify the main characteristics within sponsorship project of events, and asses the importance of those characteristics when deciding which projects to sponsor. A total of 22 characteristics used by decision makers and experts in the process for assessing sponsorship projects of events were found. The study also determined that the importance of these characteristics is influenced by various purposes, which executives take into account when deciding to sponsor or not projects.

The growth of the Internet and social media has led to companies considering the use of influencers in sponsorships and collaborations on Instagram. The subject has been problematized and the gap found is a need for a framework combining different factors when identifying influencers, which resulted in the following research question; From both a company- and consumer perspective, which factors are important to take into account when identifying an influencer for sponsorships and collaborations on Instagram? The purpose is first to identify and incorporate important factors discussed in previous research into a proposed framework, which aims to be used when identifying influencers to sponsor on Instagram. Second, after conducting the empirical research, the framework is extended depending on the new collected information. Background theories and concepts that lay the foundation to influencer marketing are presented. Also, previous frameworks regarding identification of influencers are introduced. The theoretical framework chapter is concluded with a proposed framework alongside introducing the factors. Abductive research strategy is used as well as a method triangulation, using both a qualitative and a quantitative approach. The study is an explorative research due to conducting both a documentary analysis and a questionnaire. The factors studied have shown to be of different importance for companies and consumers. The findings indicate that there are multiple types of influencers. The Updated influencer identification model consists of seven important factors; ideal, trust, popularity, productivity, managing sponsorships and collaborations, information content and visual aspect.

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Sponsorships related to sports is a type of marketing that’s occupying more space in today’s corporate climate. Investing in sports benefits companies in multiple ways, such as exposure, increased sales and as a way of taking social responsibility. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine and understand what motivates three companies’ choice of sponsoring, how they evaluate these sponsorships and how big of a role social responsibility takes in the decision-making. By conducting three interviews with representatives from Carlsberg, Eleda and Stadium, the study presents results on influential factors in sports sponsoring. Most research report an overall positive response to sponsorships and sport, which this study confirms. Furthermore, the results implicate that the biggest motivating factors for sponsoring are brand awareness and trademark association. All partnerships are based on a win-win-situation, where both parties benefit. This study also examines the value of social responsibility in sponsorships, often phrased as Corporate Social Responsibility. Working with sustainability is important for all three companies, with an increased awareness and demand for equality and inclusion. The evaluation of sponsorships differs between the companies, but the main evaluation point is the fulfilment of the partnerships’ set goals.

This dissertation builds on existing scholarship in political science and political sociology to explore the influence of interest groups in legislative action networks. The primary theoretical insight is that as the number of interest group affiliations between two members of Congress increases, so does the frequency with which they forge other sorts of social ties necessary to advance the interests of their interest group constituencies. In particular, the analysis looks at interest group donation strategies, legislative co-sponsorships, and roll-call votes during the 111th Congress (2009-2010). The analysis uses social network analysis methods to create network models of 19 different policy domains, as well as an aggregate model, for both the House and Senate. Legislator ideology, state, committee assignments, and experience have a generally significant impact on the number of interest group affiliations shared by each pair of legislators, whereas gender, race/ethnicity, office location and occupational history do not. The results show that interest groups do have consistent impact over co-sponsorships in the House, but somewhat more mixed influence in the Senate. In some instances, groups in the policy domain encourage policy change, and in other instances, status quo protection. The theory did not anticipate the latter effect, though it does make sense in context of other research findings. For roll-call votes, interest groups have a significant influence over some House policy domains but not many Senate policy domains. The increased polarization of the Senate, necessity of minority party discipline to maximize their leverage through use of the filibuster, and staggered nature of Senate elections makes interest group influence tougher to muster in the upper chamber of Congress.

Introduction This master ́s thesis focuses on the financial situation in a number of museums located in Stockholm, Sweden. In particular the study focuses on external financing and sponsorship and which means that are given to meet the conditions surrounding financial support. The aim of the study is to increase the knowledge of how the financial situation for museums looks like and how the interaction between cultural and economic capital shows. Theory The theoretical framework for the study is based on the theory of cultural economics and Pierre Bourdieu's theory of cultural / economic capital and his concept of space. The study used Bruno Freys terms Superstar Museumsand thetotal experience. Method The main method for the study was a comparative method, but a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods were also applied in the study. Interviews were conducted with informants from a number of the museums and data from all the selected museums was collected and compared. The material also consisted of a variety of written material, mostly annual reports, but also news articles, reports and official documents. Analysis & Results The material shows a wide range of factors defining the economic situation of museums in Stockholm. A large part of the income comes from public fundings for the public museums. The private museums are more dependent on incomes from admission fees and external financing. For many of the public museums the market based rents for the building is an issue that causes economic distress. Conclusions Many museums work with sponsorships and have a positive view on external collaborations, at the same time the majority of the museums report a low revenue from sponsorships. The legal framework makes it more difficult for public museums to work with external financing and the taxation system aggravates sponsoring in museums. The free admission reform was both criticized and applauded and divided the private and public museums.