(Un)Sustainable Human Resource Management in Brazilian Football? Empirical Evidence on Coaching Recruitment and Dismissal

Matheus Galdino, Lara Lesch and Pamela Wicker
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Matheus Galdino: Department of Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Universitaetsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
Lara Lesch: Department of Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Universitaetsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
Pamela Wicker: Department of Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Universitaetsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: A superficial attitude in football insists on blaming head coaches when games are lost. Controversially, however, whereas decision-makers in professional football clubs claim to seek successful outcomes on the pitch, they often favor questionable judgements that affect their organizational sustainability by recycling coaches without substantial analyses. Albeit scholars have stressed potential causes and consequences of coaching turnovers, specific knowledge is needed around the recruitment and dismissal steps faced by professional coaches, and to what extent their experiences mirror the theoretical background of human resource management in sport. This study poses the following research question: how do football clubs actually handle coaching recruitment and dismissal processes? Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 elite coaches from Brazil, who had collectively been employed by all 43 clubs that participated in the Brasileirão from 2003 to 2020. Based on a deductive-inductive approach, the content analysis framed two categories (recruitment and dismissal stages) with three main themes (methods, decision-makers, and decision-making), which were sustained by specific subthemes. The results suggest how the recruitment, assessment, and replacement of head coaches neglect both a strategic and a sustainable rationale towards human resource management in Brazil’s elite football.

Keywords: career; employment; labor market; leadership; organizational behavior; personnel; professional sport; soccer coach; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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