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Globalized Sport Management in
Diverse Cultural Contexts

Cross-­cultural management is an important facet of the globalized sport indus-


try. Sport managers must be skilled at working with individuals from diverse cul-
tures and aware of the key issues affecting sport on a global level. This book
brings together cutting-­edge research from leading sport scholars from around
the world, to illuminate some of those important issues and to demonstrate what
cross-­cultural management looks like in a sporting context.
Presenting case studies from countries as diverse as the US, Brazil, Poland
and Venezuela, and across a range of sports from football to basketball, the book
presents new empirical material derived from a range of inquiry protocols,
including both qualitative and quantitative methods. It offers critical analyses of
cross-­cultural and managerial issues in key areas such as group cohesiveness,
group communications, and misperception and misinterpretation.
Making an important contribution to our understanding of both theory and
practice in sport management, this book is fascinating reading for any student,
researcher or practitioner with an interest in global and international sport.

James J. Zhang is Professor of Sport Management and Director of the Inter-


national Center for Sport Management (ICSM) at the University of
Georgia, USA.

Brenda G. Pitts is Professor of Sport Management and Director of the Sport


Business Research Laboratory at Georgia State University, USA.
World Association for Sport Management series
Series Editors:
Brenda G. Pitts
Georgia State University, USA
James J. Zhang
University of Georgia, USA

The World Association for Sport Management (WASM) was founded to facil-
itate sport management research, teaching and learning excellence, and profes-
sional practice, across every continent. The WASM book series is designed to
support those aims by presenting current research and scholarship, from well-­
established and emerging scholars and practitioners, on sport management
theory, policy and practice. Books in the series will explore contemporary issues
and key challenges in sport management, and identify important new directions
for research and professional practice. Above all, the series aims to encourage
and highlight the development of international perspectives, international part-
nerships, and international best practice in sport management, recognizing the
globalised nature of the contemporary sport industry.

Available in this series:


Global Sport Management
Contemporary Issues and Inquiries
Edited by Brenda G. Pitts and James J. Zhang

Contemporary Sport Marketing


Global Perspectives
Edited by James J. Zhang and Brenda G. Pitts

The Global Football Industry


Marketing Perspectives
Edited by James J. Zhang and Brenda G. Pitts

Global Sport Business


Managing Resources and Opportunities
Edited by Brenda G. Pitts and James J. Zhang

Globalized Sport Management in Diverse Cultural Contexts


Edited by James J. Zhang and Brenda G. Pitts
Globalized Sport
Management in Diverse
Cultural Contexts

Edited by James J. Zhang and


Brenda G. Pitts
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, James J. Zhang and Brenda
G. Pitts; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of James J. Zhang and Brenda G. Pitts to be identified as
the authors of the editorial matter, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-­in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-­in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book

ISBN: 978-0-367-20949-0 (hbk)


ISBN: 978-0-429-26434-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Goudy
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents

List of contributors vii

1 Globalized sport management in diverse cultural contexts: an


introduction 1
laur e n m . j o h n s o n , k y u h a c h o i , e uis o o k im ,
br e n da g . pitts a n d j am e s j . z h a n g

Part I
Uniqueness and comparisons 27

2 A comparison of Canadian and Belgian youth sport


participation profiles 29
mari j k e ta k s , j uli e a . st e v e n s , j e r o e n sc h e e rd e r ,
a n n a h . lat h r o p a n d c h e ri l . bradis h

3 Purchasing power? A cross-­sport comparison of the use of


imported athletes in Czech sports 53
W illiam C r o ssa n a n d T o mas  R uda

4 Complementarity or substitution: a cross-­country comparison


of the relationships between sport spectatorship and physical
activity participation 87
lu k e lu n h ua ma o

5 Who rules the sport governance? Analysis of CEOs leading


sports federations in Germany 107
g e r h ard tr o si e n a n d maria rat z
vi   Contents

6 Shifting working culture to successfully hosting the Taipei


Universiade 123
s h i h - ­mi n g  y o u

7 Sport management scientific development in Brazil 136


F l á via da C u n h a B ast o s

8 Market segmentation of football fans in Poland 154


S z c z e pa n K o ś c i ó ł e k a n d Kar o li n a N e ss e l

Part II
Social issues and opportunities 177

9 Despite success, media coverage lags: the paradox in women’s


football coverage 179
A licia C i n tr o n , H e idi G rapp e n d o rf a n d
M e g Ha n c o c k

10 Inequalities persist for U.S. women’s football 200


H e idi G rapp e n d o rf , M e g Ha n c o c k a n d
A licia ci n tr o n

11 Golden goals: professional women’s football clubs and


feminist themes in marketing 217
C h ris J . H e n d e rs o n a n d Jam e s J .  Z h a n g

12 Visibilities of Amer­ican black males in professional sports


and sport films: contrasts over 80 years, 1930–2009 239
D e m e trius W . P e ars o n , R uss e ll L . C urtis , Jr . a n d
Jam e s J .  Z h a n g

13 Ethnic diversity and the ascension of Amer­ican basketball: a


socio-­cultural and historical analysis 259
d e m e trius w . p e ars o n

14 Political tensions and their impact on athletes: a case study


in Venezuela 278
r o sa l ó p e z d e d ’ amic o

Index 294
Contributors

Cheri L. Bradish is the Loretta Rogers Research Chair in Sport Marketing with
the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, Canada.
Kyu Ha Choi is a PhD student in Sport Management and a Graduate Teaching
Assistant at the University of Georgia, USA.
Alicia Cintron is an Assistant Professor in Sport Management at the University
of Cincinnati, USA.
William Crossan is an Assistant Professor of Sports Management at the Faculty
of Physical Education and Sport of the Charles University in Prague, Czech
Republic.
Flávia da Cunha Bastos is Associate Professor of Sport Management and
­Director of the Laboratory of Management, Policies, Marketing and Com-
munication in Sport and Physical Education (LAGECOM) at the School of
Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
Russell L. Curtis, Jr. (Retired/Deceased) Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Department at the University of Houston, USA.
Heidi Grappendorf is an Associate Professor and Director of the Sport Manage-
ment Graduate Program at Western Carolina University, USA.
Meg Hancock is an Associate Professor and Interim Department Chair at the
University of Louisville, USA.
Chris J. Henderson is Visiting Assistant Professor of Sport Leadership and
Management at Miami University, USA.
Lauren M. Johnson is a PhD student in Sport Management and Manager of the
International Center for Sport Management at the University of ­Georgia, USA.
Euisoo Kim is a PhD student in Sport Management and a Graduate Teaching
Assistant at the University of Georgia, USA.
Szczepan Kościółek is a Doctoral Student in the field of economy and a Junior
Lecturer at Jagiellonian University in Poland.
viii   Contributors

Anna H. Lathrop is Vice-­Provost, Teaching, Learning and Student Success at


Brock University, Canada.
Rosa López de D’Amico is Professor at Universidad Pedagógica Experimental
Libertador and Coordinator of the Research Center EDUFISADRED,
Maracay, Venezuela.
Luke Lunhua Mao is an Assistant Professor of Sport Administration at the
University of New Mexico, USA.
Karolina Nessel is Assistant Professor of Sport and Tourism Management at the
Jagiellonian University, Poland.
Demetrius W. Pearson is Associate Professor of Sport and Fitness Administra-
tion and formerly HHP Associate Department Chair at the University of
Houston, USA.
Maria Ratz is Research Associate and Doctoral Candidate at accadis University
of Applied Sciences, Bad Homburg, Germany.
Tomas Ruda is an Assistant of Sports Management at the Faculty of Physical
Education and Sport of the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
Jeroen Scheerder is Professor of Sport Policy and Sport Sociology and Head of
the Sport Policy and Physical Activity Research Group at the KU Leuven in
Belgium.
Julie A. Stevens is Special Advisor to the President – Canada Games, ­Associate
Professor of Sport Management and Director of the Centre for Sport
­Capacity at Brock University, Canada.
Marijke Taks is Professor of Sport Management at the School of Human
­Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Gerhard Trosien is Professor of Sport Management at accadis University of
Applied Sciences, Bad Homburg, Germany.
Shih-­Ming You is Deputy Commissioner of the Finance Department under
Taipei City Government, Taiwan. He served as the Deputy CEO of the 2017
Taipei Universiade.
Chapter 1

Globalized sport management in


diverse cultural contexts
An introduction
Lauren M. Johnson, Kyu Ha Choi, Euisoo Kim,
Brenda G. Pitts and James J. Zhang

Introduction
It is often stated that we are living in the era of globalization and that the eco-
nomic integration of international society significantly contributes to the notion
of a global village. Yet, it is ironic that the promotion of international free trade
is derived from the protectionism of the Great Depression. Throughout the
global economic recession in the 1930s, many countries gave up free trade and
began to impose high rates of tariffs for imported goods to protect and boost
their domestic economy. The negative impacts of protectionism led to the
global economic recession being unexpectedly prolonged; as a consequence,
international society had turned toward trade liberalization by the late 1930s
(Dür, 2010). Ever since, global society has tried to promote international trade
by reducing trade barriers through such trade organizations as the General
Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization
(WTO). In recent years, many countries have pursued the signing of bilateral or
regional trade agreements that provide exclusive benefits among members
involved in national coalitions (Zhang, Pitts, & Kim, 2017).
Due to the promotion of freer trade, business sectors have become increas-
ingly more internationalized as exchange of goods, services and labor forces
are much more convenient and accessible than ever before. It is not surprising
to find that many corporations have been actively seeking cross-­border busi-
ness opportunities and becoming multinational. The trend is being acceler-
ated even more due to the rapid development of transportation,
communication and information technology (IT) that enables corporate
global operations to be more effective, cheaper and easier. For example,
advanced shipbuilding technologies have allowed vessels to carry much larger
volumes of goods per voyage, which has significantly contributed to the reduc-
tion of global transportation costs. Cheaper transportation costs have con-
tributed to a large number of corporations building factories in emerging
economies, e.g., China and Vietnam, in pursuit of competitive labor and pro-
duction costs. Consequently, it is more difficult to find domestically produced
consumer goods in many developed economies such as the United States and
2   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

Western European nations (Pitts & Zhang, 2016; Zhang, Chen, & Kim, 2014;
Zhang, Huang, & Wang, 2017).
A company can even be so global that the price of specific products provides
a reference for the economic indexes of a certain country. The Economist, one of
the most prominent economics magazines, each year announces its “Big Mac
Index”: Big Mac is a representative hamburger of McDonald’s and the variation
of Big Mac price across countries provides a meaningful reference that enables
economists to compare such economic indicators as cost, pricing, affordability
and lifestyle. For example, findings of numerous studies indicate that the price
index of a Big Mac is highly correlated with the wage level (Ashenfelter &
Jurajda, 2001), real exchange rate (Parsley & Wei, 2007) and purchasing power
parity (Ong, 2003; Pakko & Pollard, 2003). These phenomena provide a snap-
shot of how much the world economy and contemporary corporations are glo-
balized today.
Consistent with mainstream business, the sport industry has developed
rapidly under the global trend and benefited in various respects. The sport
industry as a whole has entered the global marketplace because of the com-
petitive nature of leagues and organizations that employ players, coaches and
administrators from various parts of the world in order to have the best talents
they can find. The Olympic Games and World Cup represent worldwide sport-
ing events that bring together multiple countries that all play and enjoy the
same sport in their respective regions. The first modern Olympic Games, held in
Athens, Greece in 1896, drew 311 athletes from over 13 nations. This global
meeting of the world’s best athletes was the very start of the sport industry
expanding across borders (Crosset & Hums, 2015). Without the globalizing
forces, the popularity of many professional sports such as soccer and basketball
would be limited to their country of origin and they could not gain such global
attention as they enjoy now. About a century ago, baseball and basketball were
played and consumed mostly in the United States while the popularity of soccer,
which is perceived as the most globalized sport, was limited among international
Spanish nations (Ramaswamy, 2009). However, today, each match of the
world’s most famous soccer league, the English Premier League (EPL), is
watched by an average of 12 million people. EPL matches were broadcast by 80
stations in 212 territories globally in 2016, generating over $5 billion in inter-
national TV deals for EPL besides its $8 billion domestic TV deals for the
2016–2019 seasons (Curley & Roeder, 2016). These figures provide a reference
to the degree to which the professional sport industry is currently international-
ized in contemporary society.
The international growth of many amateur and professional sports has helped
create an enormous demand for sporting goods from both professional athletes
and recreationalists. It is not surprising to find a large number of sporting goods
manufacturers growing rapidly and operating factories across the globe to serve
consumer needs (Smart, 2007). For example, Nike, which was incorporated in
1967, operates international branch offices and subsidiaries in 51 countries;
Globalized sport management in context   3

$5.8 billion out of its $6.2 billion of cash, cash equivalents and short-­term invest-
ments were held by foreign subsidiaries as of May 31, 2017 (Nike, 2017). Mega
sport events such as the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Associ-
ation) World Cup and the Olympic Games have contributed considerably to the
globalization of sports and gained enormous attention from international society.
During the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games, 206 National Olympic
Committees with 11,237 athletes participated in the event (Willis, 2016). Sim-
ilarly, 209 countries participated in the qualifying rounds to make the final list
and only 32 teams were invited to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia (Fédéra-
tion Internationale de Football Association [FIFA], 2018). With these large
numbers of participants from around the globe, historical TV viewership for both
events has grown rapidly. For instance, via various platforms such as TV and
streaming on digital devices, 356,924 hours of coverage of the Rio de Janeiro
Games were reported and half the global population watched the games on tele-
vision, which was an increase of 96.7 percent compared to the previous Summer
Olympic Games (International Olympic Committee [IOC], 2016).
Sport labor migration is another sign of the internationalization of sports. In
most professional sport clubs and leagues in both advanced and developing eco-
nomies, it is not difficult to find foreign athletes on the roster. Not only do these
athletes play pivotal roles in bringing competitiveness and high quality to
games, but they also attract foreign media and fans, which often results in better
financial performance for sport organizations (Thibault, 2009; Zhang, Kim, Mas-
tromartino, Qian, & Nauright, 2018). Maguire (1996) investigated the role of
international athlete migration and found that professional ice hockey players
from Canada made a significant contribution to the development of European
ice hockey leagues. When Chan-­ho Park, the first Korean baseball player in
Major League Baseball (MLB), began to perform extremely well as a starting
pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997, MLB became one of the most
watched sports in Korea and his performance even contributed to the sport
media company formed jointly between ESPN and MBC in 2001 to broadcast
MLB in Korea (Cho, 2009). Yet, it was not until the late 1980s and early 1990s
that the cross-­border movement of athletes began to occur in professional sports
such as soccer, basketball and ice hockey (Butler & Dzikus, 2015). It appears
that without globalization, the international movement of talented athletes
would have been limited and the benefits many professional teams are enjoying
by recruiting them would have been marginal.
While the sport industry has enjoyed the expanded opportunities and
increased benefits of globalization, critical and complex issues have also arisen
in managing sport teams, leagues and organizations. In this chapter, critical ana-
lyses are conducted of both advantageous and challenging perspectives of cross-­
cultural and managerial issues in the global sport industry. In a preliminary
effort to address the challenges, discussions on emerging trends and managerial
practices are made; certainly, empirical studies are suggested to further analyze
related concepts and variables and seek viable solutions.
4   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

Globalization and cross-­c ultural context


Due to globalization, cultural diversity has increased tremendously in organiza-
tions from multiple sectors so it is no longer a novel phenomenon in many
areas. Diversity appears in various forms and characteristics, such as age, gender,
physical condition, ethnicity, race, nationality and culture (Mai-­Dalton, 1993;
Wright, Ferris, Hiller, & Kroll, 1995). This is particularly true in the context of
sport management studies, in which studies of cross-­cultural diversity have
encompassed such perspectives as race, ethnicity and age diversity (e.g., Cun-
ningham, Bruening, & Straub, 2006; Cunningham & Fink, 2006), gender diver-
sity (e.g., Cunningham, 2008; Fink, 2008) and physical ability (e.g., Hums,
Moorman, & Wolff, 2003; Tregaskis, 2003). When studies focus on team per-
formance, diversity of athletes or coaching staff is usually the main concern
(e.g., Timmerman, 2000). When studies take a view on managerial perform-
ance, diversity of organizational managers and staff is mainly dealt with (e.g.,
Doherty & Chelladurai, 1999; Siciliano, 1996).
Among a number of factors, globalization has an important role in increasing
this trend of diversity, especially within organizations. The term globalization
carries an extensive meaning, but in general it is defined as a process in which
people, businesses, organizations and nations of different backgrounds are
becoming more interconnected across the world (Ali, 2000). Globalization has
enabled great fluidity of not only goods, but also people, ideas, information and
many cultural elements across the world, which is driven primarily by such
factors as reduced transportation and logistics costs, lowered barriers to trade,
active communication and information exchanges via advanced technologies
and widened business opportunities for firms and employment opportunities for
individuals (Wood & Wilberger, 2015). For instance, June 11, 2016 was a
special moment for Korean baseball fans as two MLB players, Oh and Kang,
were matched up in a pitcher–batter battle. This was the first time in history
that two former Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) players played against
each other in the MLB. This instance involved several aspects and results of
globalization in a sport organization: (a) these two South Koreans had played
baseball (an Amer­ican sport) in Korea, (b) MLB teams had scouted these KBO
players and eventually signed them and (c) this match was broadcast in South
Korea so that the MLB fans in South Korea could watch live.
In mainstream business studies, the primary focus of scholarly discourse on
globalization has been on its economic impact (Banerjee & Linstead, 2001).
Even so, the most significant underlying key source of social change in the inter-
national system under globalization is the expansion of communications (Greig,
2002). Many technologies, including, but not limited to, telephones, mobile
smartphones, air travel, television and the internet, have enabled people to
communicate, travel and immigrate transnationally and transcontinentally. The
cultural dimensions of globalization have followed the immense increase of
worldwide communication as Berger (1997) argued. Other scholars have also
Globalized sport management in context   5

concurred with the idea that broadened communications have functioned to


increase interconnectedness between or among cultures, along with important
consequences for local cultures (Foster; 1991; Hannerz, 1990). Such accumula-
tion of interconnected cultures eventually forms a cross-­cultural diversity within
organizations and societies. Although globalization may not be solely respons-
ible for cross-­cultural diversity, it is practically impossible to note the concept of
cross-­cultural diversity without the impact of globalization.
As the world has become more globalized, especially in a business and manage-
ment setting, a demand for managers who clearly understand multi-­faceted per-
spectives of global management and are skilled at working with individuals from
various backgrounds has rapidly arisen (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003). Adler and
Gundersen (2007) stated that cross-­cultural management “describes organiza-
tional behavior within countries and cultures; compares organizational behavior
across countries and cultures; and seeks to understand and improve the interaction
of coworkers, managers, executives, clients, suppliers, and alliance partners from
countries and cultures around the world” (p. 13). Thus, cross-­cultural manage-
ment explicates people’s behavior in organizations in a global setting, shows how
employees and clients from diverse cultures work in organizations and expands the
scope of management from domestic to international and multicultural manage-
ment dynamics (Adler & Gundersen, 2007; Pucik, 1992).

Role of cross-­c ultural comparison


Managing a single domestic culture is now recognized as a bounded subset of
management as work behavior varies among and across cultures (Adler &
Gundersen, 2007). Groups with different cultural backgrounds may reflect
varying preferences (Norenzayan, Smith, Kim, & Nisbett, 2002). Kaplan and
Langdon (2012) scrutinized the behavior of Chinese sport fans and established
that they follow their favorite professional sport because of a certain athlete
within the sport, significantly more so than Amer­icans. This explains why the
most popular U.S. professional sport league in China is the National Basketball
Association (NBA). The Chinese basketball star Yao Ming’s remarkable
achievements have significantly boosted the popularity of the NBA in China.
Amer­icans, on the other hand, follow professional sports because of a certain
professional team (Kaplan & Langdon, 2012). This is a small example that
demonstrates the need for cross-­cultural comparison where the preferences of
varying or diverse groups are concerned.
Culture is considered one of the independent variables influencing one’s atti-
tudes and behavior, and it includes wide-­ranging aspects and values in which
two or more cultures can closely share a similar set of aspects while being quite
dissimilar in other dimensions (Christie, Kwon, Stoeberl, & Baumhart, 2003).
For example, in Hofstede and Hofstede’s (2005) study, India and the U.S. were
very similar in terms of the uncertainty avoidance index, but extremely dissimi-
lar in the individualism index. Cross-­cultural comparison has an important role
6   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

in identifying such dissimilarities and answering complex problems across a wide


domain (Ilesanmi, 2009). Ilesanmi (2009) indicated the importance of conduct-
ing a cultural examination that “focuses on systematic comparison that com-
pares culture to culture and explicitly aims to answer questions about the
incidence, distributions and causes of cultural variations and complex problems
across worldwide” (p. 82). As culture is comprised of various mixtures of shared
values, meaning and interpretations of human behaviors, it is practically imposs-
ible to adequately understand human activities by simply observing some
samples of individuals. Cross-­cultural comparison would be an important process
by which to generate more adequate solutions for problems that arise due to dis-
similar cultures.

Advantages and opportunities


Despite the rapid increase in the recognition of cross-­cultural diversity, there
are still ongoing arguments as to whether or not diversity brings opportunities
and advantages to an organization and its management (Cox, 1994). There is
evidence that heterogeneity has both advantages and disadvantages when com-
pared to a homogeneous setting. The arguments that support opportunities for
cross-­cultural diversity in an organizational and management setting are mainly
classified in five categories: (a) resource acquisition, (b) marketing enhance-
ment, (c) creativity and innovation improvement, (d) problem-­solving skill
development and (e) organizational flexibility enhancement (Cox, 1994).
A major competitive factor for organizations is attracting and retaining the
best available human resource talent in the context of the current workforce
demographic trends (Cox, 1994). As women and non-­White men increase in
proportional representation in the available labor pools in the United States,
Europe, and many other parts of the world, it becomes increasingly important
for organizations to be successful in hiring and retaining workers from these cul-
tural groups. Unless one believes that the most talented people all belong to one
culture group, the ability to be equally successful in recruiting and retaining
people from various culture groups should be viewed as a total quality issue. One
of the most pronounced opportunities for cross-­cultural diversity is attracting
the best personnel worldwide (Adler, 1983).
In a globalized setting, human resource availability increases as do the
markets. Thus, it is inevitable that organizations must prepare to meet the needs
of those diversified markets; this is where an enhancement of marketing proced-
ures is expected. Globalization has stimulated organizations from many coun-
tries to pay more attention to culturally different impacts on consumers. Tse,
Lee, Vertinsky and Wehrung (1988) examined the buying behaviors of execu-
tives from different cultures (e.g., China, Hong Kong and Canada) and found
that culture had predictable effects on decision making for consumption. This
makes it clear that, in view of the effects of culture on consumer behavior,
selling goods and services in an increasingly diverse marketplace should be
Globalized sport management in context   7

f­acilitated by a well-­utilized, diverse workforce. Culturally diverse organizations


are expected to adhere to these standards to satisfy more varied consumer
demands (Cox, 1994).
“Creativity is the consideration of a wide variety of alternatives and criteria
for evaluating alternatives, and the building of novel and useful ideas that were
not originally part of the consideration set” (Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen,
2010, p. 692). Creativity increases performance and is a critical component of
innovation (O’Reilly, Williams, & Barsade, 1998). Cultural diversity is very
likely to provide strong inputs for creativity as cultural difference is associated
with differences in modes of perception and approaches to problems (Stahl et
al., 2010). Kanter (1984) pointed out that “Innovating companies seem to
deliberately create a marketplace of ideas, recognizing that a multiplicity of
points of view needs to be brought to bear on a problem” (p. 167). McLeod,
Lobel and Cox (1993) found that culturally diverse groups of Asians, Blacks,
Anglos and Hispanics produced ideas that were rated an average of 11 percent
higher in terms of feasibility and overall effectiveness than homogeneous groups
during a brainstorming task. Cultural diversity often leads to higher levels of
creativity and innovation (Cox, 1994).
Cross-­cultural diversity in an organization has the potential for competitive
advantage through improved problem solving and decision making. Diverse
groups have a broader and richer base of experience from which to approach a
problem and critical analysis in decision groups is enhanced by member diver-
sity. The insights, skills and experiences employees have developed as members
of various cultural identity groups are potentially valuable resources that the
work group can use to rethink its primary tasks and redefine its markets, prod-
ucts, strategies and business practices in ways that will advance its mission (Ely
& Thomas, 2001). As more culturally diverse groups have a greater variety of
perspectives, a higher level of critical analysis of alternatives and a lower tend-
ency of conformity on an issue, they have advantages in solving problems (Cox,
1994). The term flexibility is often interpreted multifariously according to situ-
ation although it usually refers to a combination of capabilities and attributes
that enable adjustments to change or adapt (Bahrami, 1992). Organizational
flexibility is an important attribute of any organization as it allows an organiza-
tion to adapt and respond to unpredictable environmental pressure (Eppink,
1978; Foss, 2003). Heterogeneity and broad managerial mindsets promote the
capability of creating and supporting ideas (Hatum & Pettigrew, 2006) while
cross-­cultural diversity could be the base of heterogeneity and broad managerial
approaches (Adler, 1988; Volberda, 1999).
Diversity becomes most advantageous when an organization wants to expand
its perspectives, strategies, tactics, or approaches. Diversity can become an
advantage when attempting to reposition the organization, launch a new project
and generate new ideas. If diversity is well managed, organizations can benefit
from both synergistic and culture-­specific advantages, including resource acqui-
sition, enhanced marketing, enhanced creativity, enhanced problem-­solving
8   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

skills and enhanced organizational flexibility. When managers use cultural


diversity as a resource, rather than treat it as a liability, they benefit from its
potential advantages. Global managers reap the benefits of cultural diversity in
strategic alliances, joint ventures, global projects and all types of multinational
businesses (Varadarajan & Cunningham, 1995).

Perceived challenges
In the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the cross-­border M&A are
known to be less successful than domestic transactions and the logic behind this
is that barriers in culture and communication degrade the benefits of integration
(Mendenhall, 2004). The arguments on the challenges of cross-­cultural diver-
sity in organizational and management settings are mainly classified in three
ways: (a) group cohesiveness, (b) group communications, and (c) mispercep-
tion/misinterpretation/misevaluation. In general, people tend to be attracted to
and feel more ease around and contentment with group members who are like
themselves (Pfeffer, 1983). Ziller (1972) mentioned three theoretical explana-
tions for diversity effects on groups regarding cohesiveness: (a) group members
emphasize a status congruity among members, (b) cohesiveness increases when
perceived similarity enhances attraction and thus homogeneity reinforces the
closeness of groups and (c) to facilitate social comparison, people tend towards
seeking homogeneity in groups or creating homogeneity through pressure to
conform. It was argued that highly cohesive groups have better communications
than less cohesive groups (Lott & Lott, 1965). According to the social identity
theory, cultural homogeneity in management groups may increase satisfaction
and cooperation and decrease emotional conflict (Richard, Barnett, Dwyer, &
Chadwick, 2004). Less effective communications in diverse workgroups is
another potential obstacle in performance (Steiner, 1972). Fiedler (1966) spec-
ulated that culturally diverse groups experienced a less pleasant atmosphere and
greater communications difficulties than more homogeneous groups in his
empirical study. Communication differences due to culture often become the
main source of misunderstandings, which could ultimately weaken the effective-
ness of groups. Cox (1994) emphasized that “once the existence of these differ-
ences is acknowledged, an obvious action step is to educate members on
cross-­cultural differences so as to minimize their detrimental effects” (p. 39).
There is apparently a need for some extra efforts for culturally diverse and
heterogeneous groups to coalesce in order to create an environment in which
these groups are able to communicate smoothly.
Human perception patterns are selective, learned, culturally determined,
consistent and inaccurate (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). The distorting impact of
perceptual lenses makes people see things that do not exist. Misinterpretation is
another potential hindrance in culturally diverse settings. The process of
making sense from perceptions and interpretation occurs when an individual
gives meaning to observations and his or her relationships to the matter (Adler
Globalized sport management in context   9

& Gunderson, 2007). Categories and stereotypes are typical examples of misin-
terpretation; these may cause counter-­productivity when people and things are
unconsciously miscategorized. According to Adler and Gunderson (2007), an
individual evaluation process is more strongly affected by cultural conditioning
than perception and interpretation because an individual’s own culture often
becomes the measurement standard. In other words, individual culture works as
self-­reference criteria. It is one’s nature to perceive, interpret and evaluate
others by one’s own standards and criteria. This phenomenon brings challenges
in managing situations of cross-­cultural diversity at times.

Managerial concerns in global sports


While the sport industry has enjoyed the benefits of globalization, more critical
and complex issues have arisen in managing sport teams, leagues and organiza-
tions. Due to the advancement of television broadcasting technology with an
increased number of sport-­dedicated cable channels, it becomes much easier and
more accessible for sport viewers from all over the globe to watch internation-
ally renowned sport matches, e.g., MLB and NBA games (Cho, Leary, &
Jackson, 2012). Other technological developments such as the internet and
streaming services also provide diverse sources and convenient opportunities to
access overseas sporting contests. These expeditious evolutions of technology
indicate the changes to the competitive landscape of the sport marketplace.
While top management of local sport teams and leagues strive to secure sport
consumers from other forms of sports and entertainments domestically, they also
need to compete against world-­famous foreign leagues to attract domestic sport
fans. For example, although the Chinese Super League (CSL) was the most
watched in China in 2017 (Panja, 2017), more than 80 percent of Chinese
soccer fans replied in an internet survey that they were more willing to watch
the EPL matches than the domestic CSL games (Gratton & Solberg, 2007).
Many professional sport leagues in emerging economies face similar challenges
(Pitts & Zhang, 2016). In spite of having their own professional leagues includ-
ing soccer, the most viewed professional sport on TV in Thailand, Malaysia and
Singapore has been the EPL (Solberg, 2008).
Given the complicated competitive environments, sport leagues should come
up with coping strategies to attract domestic fans and viewers, which is critical
for small and medium sized sport organizations in particular. Considering the
relatively short history of sport teams and leagues in developing economies, it is
imperative to create ‘stories’ within a league that can be used to appeal to fans
through such measures as promoting derby matches and creating rival teams.
There is evidence that both home team and visiting team supporters tend to
attend live events when the match involves an intense rivalry (Allan & Roy,
2008). Derby matches between Liverpool and Manchester United, FC Barce-
lona and Real Madrid, and Inter Milan and AC Milan get the attention of
global soccer fans and their TV viewership is much higher than other matches.
10   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

Recruiting internationally renowned players can vitalize leagues and bringing


more spectators to matches (Lawson, Sheehan, & Stephenson, 2008; Qian et
al., 2017). For example, when David Beckham played for the Los Angeles
Galaxy of the Major League Soccer (MLS), his presence was estimated to
increase gate ticket sales by about 55 percent, which is equivalent to 14,850
seats. A rough estimation of the increased revenue for the MLS from the ticket
sales was $40 million per year, which is much greater than the salary of $9.6
million paid to Beckham. Although recruiting world-­class athletes is costly, it
appears worth inviting them to attract more fans to stadia and for the develop-
ment of leagues (Lawson et al., 2008)
While world-­leading professional sport teams and leagues are capable of
having the best athletes in the roster, they also face intense competition among
themselves as they are fiercely tapping into global markets in search of new fans
and revenue sources. It is not a new trend for internationally renowned soccer
clubs to hold preseason tours in various Asian countries, where people’s spend-
ing power is growing faster than on other continents as Asian countries have
had a higher economic growth rate in recent years and accommodate about 4.6
billion people, representing 60 percent of the total global population (Bodet &
Chanavat, 2010). The effort to penetrate into Asian markets is widely made by
sport leagues today. For example, in December 2017, the kick-­off time of one of
the most viewed soccer matches in the world, El Clásico, between Real Madrid
and Barcelona, had been set at 13:00 instead of the usual kick-­off time at 21:00
local time; the main reason for the time shift was to broadcast the match during
prime time in many Asian countries and to attract and capture the soccer
market in Asia against its rival league, EPL, the most watched soccer league in
many Asian countries to date (McMahon, 2017). Similarly, professional sport
teams and leagues in the United States provide opportunities for international
fans to watch live matches in their home countries; MLB held several season-­
opening games overseas, in such countries as Australia, Japan and Puerto Rico,
and the NBA even plays some of its regular season games in European countries
(Zhang et al., 2018). While these new changes and movements are effective
ways for global presence and expansion of professional sport leagues, they may
send a wrong signal to domestic fans and viewers that domestic consumers are
becoming less important. When the kick-­off time of El Clásico was changed,
supporters of the clubs severely criticized the change, saying that the league
cared for and provided favors to remote viewers over loyal domestic fans who
faced difficulty attending or watching the match (Turrell, 2017). Thus, main-
taining a balance between local and global audience is an obvious challenge
that management of these leagues should face as sport leagues cannot stand
alone without getting support from domestic fans in the first place.
Research findings on international migration of talented athletes provide
evidence that they are crucial for a club in terms of both competition and finan-
cial performance by providing opportunities for local talents to learn higher
level of skills and strategies for a match (Oates & Polumbaum, 2004; Pedace,
Globalized sport management in context   11

2008; Tainsky & Winfree, 2010; Thibault, 2009). Even so, there are concerns
that these foreign-­born players potentially hamper the growth of home grown
players by taking spots in the roster, allowing fewer domestic players on the field
(Madichie, 2009; Niemann & Brand, 2008). For example, the home grown
players in the EPL have been consistently decreasing from about 70 percent in
the 1992–1993 season to 35 percent in the 2014–2015 season (Curley &
Roeder, 2016). The EPL had over 60 percent of their athletes in the 2017–2018
season coming from countries outside of England or Wales. Manchester City,
the top team in the league according to league standings, had players from 11
different countries. Before quotas on foreign players were implemented in the
European soccer leagues, Chelsea Football Club, one of the most prominent
football clubs in the EPL, once had a roster that was filled with foreigners only
(Aisch, Quealy, & Smith, 2017). The tours and tournaments of the U.S.-based
Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) faced a similar situation. Over the
last 20 years, the number of leading Amer­ican golfers in the LPGA decreased
sharply so that only seven among 34 the LPGA tournaments held in 2017 were
won by golfers from the United States (Ladies Professional Golf Association
[LPGA], 2017). Given this phenomenon, it is argued that more Amer­ican
players need to be on the leaderboards to attract U.S. fans and local sponsors to
the league (Briggs, 2017). Consequently, today many professional sport leagues,
whether in developed or developing economies, have quotas on foreign players
to promote competency, recognition and development of local talents (Tainsky
& Winfree, 2010).
While securing competency of home grown talents is an issue for many
leagues globally, some leagues in the developing countries face another problem,
namely losing top domestic talents to capital-­intensive leagues, with most going
from the economically disadvantaged countries. It is imperative to invest large
amounts of time and money to develop sporting talents; once these young
players are seen as highly competitive in the global market, clubs and teams
with capital offer better financial packages to them, thereby exploiting all the
effort poured into them by donor countries (Niemann & Brand, 2008; Poli,
2005). For example, the CSL not only recruited world-­famous soccer players,
e.g., Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior, but also brought many Asian talents
from its neighboring countries such as South Korea and Japan by offering much
higher wages and benefits before the Asian quota was abolished in 2017. The
phenomenon is unavoidable since players as individuals are going to look for
better financial opportunities and will be keen to play in a better league. Evi-
dently, it is critical for financially restricted teams and leagues to make good
decisions on selling or acquiring athletes. These teams should develop strong
negotiation skills in preparation for selling their talents, achieving talent acqui-
sitions, and developing programs and procedures to keep and motivate top per-
formers (Gong et al., 2015).
Despite the positive impacts of staging a mega sport event on the hosting
country in relation to local economy, destination image and urban development
12   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

have been documented and discussed extensively, a growing number of research-


ers argue that the financial, social and environmental costs exceed the often-­
claimed economic benefits of staging such an event (Deccio & Baloglu, 2002;
Kim & Morrison, 2005; Lenskyj, 2000). For example, the City of Montreal suf-
fered for more than 30 years to pay back the financial debt of preparing the 1976
Olympic Games, the financial crisis of Greece is partly attributed to the $15
billion spending on the 2004 Olympic Games, and the $550 million stadium
that held some matches for the 2014 Brazil World Cup was turned into a bus
parking lot after the event; these are some unfortunate examples of unused
“white elephants” (Raphelson, 2018). With the widespread perceptions of mar-
ginal economic benefits and increased financial burden, the number of can-
didate cities in contention to host mega sport events is decreasing and some
cities have even withdrawn their candidacy. Among the five candidate cities for
the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Hamburg, Rome, and Budapest withdrew
their bids. As a result, the International Olympic Committee named Paris as the
winner of the 2024 Games and Los Angeles, the remaining bidder for 2024, as
the host city of the 2028 Games (British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC],
2017). Considering these challenges, it is critical to counter the negative per-
ceptions of the general public about the financial, social and environmental
issues imposed on host cities. Facing growing concerns about the environmental
and social issues of hosting an Olympic event, the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) has included sustainability and green legacies as important
factors in the bidding process (Samuel & Stubbs, 2013), although this has not
yet been well-­communicated to the general public. Jin, Zhang, Ma and Con-
naughton (2011) found that positive perceptions of residents toward the green
Olympic movement and IOC’s environmental initiatives were strongly linked
with their support for hosting the event in the future. In addition, since finan-
cial burden and legacy facility management are significant detrimental issues for
potential bidders, the IOC should give more weight to these aspects in the
selection process. In fact, one of the main criteria for Paris and Los Angeles
being picked was the high rate of utilization of existing facilities that could
minimize extra capital input to host the event (Raphelson, 2018).

Emerging trends and practices


The importance of developing marketing strategies that are feasible in the glo-
balized sport marketplace has been growing. Finding answers and solutions to
the marketing mix (i.e., product, place, price and promotion) is becoming
increasingly complex, in part due to the sophistication of communication and
the speed at which communication is executed by consumers. Constructively,
marketers have the help of technology to advance strategies and campaigns.
Opportunities for global businesses can be improved because of access to data
and statistics from previous marketing campaigns, events and initiatives. Mar-
keters must be aware of opportunities to gain international advantage by
Globalized sport management in context   13

s­ trategic collaborations with established businesses. A strategy employed by


many companies with overseas initiatives is based on the ability to leverage con-
tacts, partners and relationships of organizations currently overseas (Pitts &
Zhang, 2016). According to Czinkota and Ronkainen (2004), “combining inter-
national advantages in services may ultimately result in the development of an
even newer and more drastic comparative lead” (p. 479). Ofo, a bike sharing
company from China, has recently expanded to the United States, Singapore,
Britain, Thailand, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Japan with the help of investments
and partnerships with the likes of Alibaba and SoftBank. This company uses a
smartphone app sharing system to rent out its eight million bicycles in these
seven countries. Their short-­term goal is to operate over 20 million bikes in 20
different countries. Softbank, one of the world’s largest tech investors headquar-
tered in Japan, is helping Ofo’s ability to expand into Japan by giving Ofo a $1
billion dollar backing (Chen, 2017)
Today, companies who produce sport related products are strategizing to
become a global brand. A global brand can be defined as the “worldwide use of a
name, term, sign, symbol, design, or combination intended to identify goods or
services of one seller and to differentiate them from those of competitors”
(Cateora, Gilly, & Graham, 2013, p. 393). In a sport context a global brand
could be used to symbolize different sports, teams, leagues, players, or sport
related events. Many sport related brands and companies move their businesses
overseas to take advantage of manufacturing incentives and new customers
when feeling that they may have reached a limit in domestic marketing
resources. In a sport context, many of these new customers are targeted in pro-
motional schemes often by a foreign product or brand that endorses a popular
athlete who appeals to the general or a specific marketplace. Nike, one of the
most global brands in the world, signed Spanish born soccer player Cristiano
Ronaldo to a lifetime deal for a reported $1.0 billion dollars after 13 years of
sponsorship and subsequent growth of Nike’s European soccer presence (Baden-
hausen, 2017).
For coaches and directors of collegiate and professional teams part of their
job is to attract the best players to their organization. This is no longer just a
domestic initiative, as scouts and executives travel across the world to find tal-
ented individuals who would best suit their team. Getting foreign players to
leave their home city to pursue an athletic opportunity requires that the organ-
ization puts the resources and people in place that can exemplify the oppor-
tunity and potential benefits of playing in a particular market. FC Barcelona,
one of the most recognizable sport franchises in the world, hand picks hundreds
of kids from all around the world to try out for its soccer academy. The oppor-
tunity to compete in an organization such as FC Barcelona is heightened by
their ability to provide a better life for the families of the athletes that are
chosen. Lionel Messi, the Argentina born FC Barcelona player, joined the
organization when he was 13 years old after being recruited by scouts in his
home country. Teams like Barcelona, who are worth billions of dollars, must
14   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

find a way to attract these players by leveraging the money they make from
sponsorships and the resources that their country can provide to these families
(Walt, 2018).
The ability of the sport industry to create similar customer experiences and
fulfill diverse consumer desires across countries has resulted in a globalized
market. According to Johansson (2000), although consumers in certain geo-
graphical areas have differing preferences, country borders are no longer the
defining factor for market segmentation. Major features in the customers of a
global market include having an increased agreement about and expectation of
products and experiences, common preferences in how they enjoy their leisure
time, and the ability to physically travel to the event and transfer funds
throughout the world in an efficient manner regardless of the geographical loca-
tion. Features of a global market also include the ability for multiple nations to
compete with each other on a high level, the merger of firms large and small to
expand their market outreach, and the use of extended networks for connecting
potential customers throughout the globe.
Marketing strategy is different according to the different sectors of the sport
business. For instance, in spectator sports, marketers must create a global
strategy that helps attract more fans to a match or sporting event or increase the
number of individuals that consume the event through an electronic device.
When spectators attend global sporting events the benefits include revenue
from ticket sales, apparel and merchandise sales, and transportation, lodging and
food revenue for the local economy. However, video broadcasts also desire that
there are many people attending the events they cover as a visual prop to
produce an exciting atmosphere (Fullerton, 2007). For global sporting events, a
bidding process often takes place to determine who will receive the rights to
host a certain event. In order to reap the benefits of the financial and visibility
implications of hosting an event, there must be a strategy in place that helps
present the future host venue and city in the best possible light. This includes
obtaining influential sponsors and aligning the venue with high profile and pres-
tigious events (Supovitz & Goldwater, 2014).
Sport marketers have a unique job that has many new issues and opportun-
ities when entering global markets. The sports industry provides an economic
activity that is highly centered on the experiences of the consumer. Sports fans
are passionate, emotionally invested, and actively supportive of their favorite
sports teams and players (Legae, 2005). The uniqueness of globalized sport is
that it encompasses many strategies combined into one because communication
through marketing is essential at almost every level. There is a general reliance
on cooperation in sports. Sport organizations operating global events must col-
laborate with other teams, the media and host venues and cities in order to
properly produce and promote their product. Creating a competitive sporting
competition now involves “removing demographic, socio cultural and geo-
graphic barriers” to attract the best athletes and appeal to fans of equally diverse
backgrounds (Legae, 2005, p. 5).
Globalized sport management in context   15

Marketing mix
Before expanding into the global marketplace, it is common practice for an
organization to conduct a SWOT analysis to assess the feasibility and con-
sequences that might arise from an expansion both internally and externally
and accordingly to develop an effective market mix. The SWOT analysis con-
sists of an examination of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Before expanding overseas, marketers and managers must take a look at these
factors to properly assess and execute a marketing strategy that will best fit their
goals and business profile (Kotler, 2001; Shilbury, Quick, & Westerbeek, 1998).
When entering the global marketplace, sport marketers must decide if they
should introduce a new product for new markets or homogenize their products
for worldwide use. Globally there has been a push for the standardization of
products but often this cannot always be the case around the world. Different
versions of apparel are often sold overseas including different colorways for
national pride, or different material for areas with various weather conditions.
Some organizations that extend their products globally produce the same prod-
ucts under different brand names in foreign markets. This can be the result of
certain names or phrases being copyrighted, translation issues, or objections to
the cultural implications of a brand name. For example, clothing retailer TJ
Maxx goes by the name TK Maxx in Europe. This was originally done to
provide separation from the popular brand TJ Hughes (Kane, 2014).
Promotion in a sport context can include logos, phrases and culturally spe-
cific campaigns that are unique to the organization. The promotion of sport
teams, organizations, players and products is a multifaceted entity that must be
thoroughly strategized in order to have the biggest impact. The definition of
promotion in a global sport market context is a public form of marketing that an
individual, event, team, or organization undertakes with the expectation of
achieving certain corporate objectives in multiple countries. Athletes are
increasingly being used to market products because of their passionate fan bases
and ability to get the attention of large populations as a credible source (Amis
& Cornwell, 2005; Fullerton, 2007). New issues involving promotion include
fan oriented campaigns that are personalized to their interests and desires. Many
fans want promotional offers to incorporate what they value in their everyday
life in a consistent medium. Newspapers, radio advertisements, and television
commercials are becoming less and less effective. In global markets, where cen-
sorship may be a concern, marketers must find individualized ways to reach their
target populations. The promotion of sport products through social media and
online forums now allows for multiple organizations to execute partnerships
through an interactive online community. Media relations also serve as a huge
promotional tool in sports. Television programs and broadcasting stations are
pressured to create new content and sport stories daily to keep up with the con-
stant user generated information that social media provides for consumers. In
return, players, leagues and events are constantly being talked about and even
16   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

sensationalized every day through different platforms (Mastromartino, Chou, &


Zhang, 2017; Zhang et al., 2018). As the costs of attending sporting events and
competitions are rising, marketers must find a way to increase demand and the
value that one gets from attending without raising the cost too high. In a global
sport context there are questions about whether pricing for certain products and
experiences should be equivalent or adjusted for different countries. This can
relate to sociodemographic background, country GDP and common practices
and spending habits. It is important that a researcher looks at the wealth gap,
and similar experiences in the area that may set a standard for what people are
willing to pay for certain experiences or products (Zhang, Pitts, & Kim, 2017).
Different sports are cherished and played in different geographical areas.
Different places have to deal with legal issues, terrorism, cultural variation and
different attitudes. Where an organization intends to sell its product or service is
an important part of the marketing mix. When expanding a brand globally it is
important to analyze and create innovative campaigns that speak to the
different cultural, legal and environmental factors that vary for different parts of
the world. Different facets that encompass culture include the family dynamic,
religious practices, school and education, access to the media, government regu-
lations and large corporations who introduce innovations to a society (Cateora
et al., 2013). Companies looking to expand into new markets must create a
global strategy that evaluates and organizes ideas that could possibly expand
their product, brand or sporting event to consumers. Czinkota and Ronkainen
(2004) identified three critical questions that are necessarily answered while
developing a global marketing program: (a) the degree of standardization in the
product offering, (b) location and extent of value-­adding activities and (c) com-
petitive moves to be made. Even though standardizing a product can save an
organization time and resources, in order to truly take advantage of global
markets it is important to take into account the different needs, customs, and
desires of consumers. It may be beneficial for an organization to vary the degree
to which their products and experiences are offered. This can include having
different events at different times of the year and making products with unique
accents that increase national pride. Emphasized by Johansson (2000), market-
ing strategy must also account for multi-­domestic markets which occur when
local consumers have preferences and functional requirements widely different
from one another. Different products are often marketed to the same areas to
appeal to different target markets and the demographics of individuals present.
When marketing globally, it is important that managers are aware of this phe-
nomenon and appeal to the appropriate target market they wish to market to.
Another factor that sport manufacturers deal with in the global marketplace is
marketing the same standardized product under different brand names according
to the country or region.
According to Czinkota and Ronkainen (2004), promoting activities, prod-
ucts and events to different parts of the world often requires providing custom-
ized activities or features to meet the needs of consumers in their target market.
Globalized sport management in context   17

During different holidays or celebratory seasons where consumers are more


likely to spend money or have a singular event in focus, marketers can add pro-
motions that tie into their customary activities. Activities that take place
before, during and after sporting events add to the overall atmosphere. The
location where the event is taking place and the people who will be participat-
ing should set the standard for what marketers can pursue in terms of forms of
in-­game promotional activities. This is evident in the opening ceremonies of
the Olympic Games, where the host city is able to provide entertainment to
their fans and to the world that reflects how they celebrate. In the meantime,
the competitive nature of the sports industry is greatly heightened when
expanding into global markets. Marketing strategies that involve television
deals, licensing agreements, event presenting sponsors and athlete endorsement
deals have to be able to beat out several similar organizations who are vying for
market share and consumers. A growing trend of marketing different sports and
leagues is coming in the form of youth sport academies set up around the world
to train future players and fans under the name of a league or sporting organiza-
tion. Lastly, in order to market a product or service globally, it is essential that a
proper price is set. Competitively there are different strategies that marketers
could set. In different countries, higher prices may resonate with the consumer
as being of high quality. However, other cultures may see a high price as greed
or unobtainable for the majority of its patrons.

Marketing communications
A challenge in marketing efforts in global markets has centered on a shift in
how consumers want to be interacted with. Today, consumers want constant
communication and interaction with the teams and brands that they are sup-
porting. Rewards and incentives, customer experience events, customized
product packages and statistical data on their favorite teams and players can
provide them with a customized fan experience that makes them feel closer to
the organization. Social media is an emerging tool that many sport brands and
organizations have used to market their products and events, and now they must
continuously listen to the pulse of what their consumers want. This will in
return help satisfy customer needs and could lead to more fans and revenue in
the future. There is also a growing trend in the type of consumers that are now
being acknowledged as integral target markets for sports teams and products.
These groups include ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ people and people
with physical and mental disabilities.
Segmentation in the global sport market place can influence how sporting
events and products are communicated and promoted. Current issues in market-
ing segmentation in the global marketplace include finding the best mediums to
communicate with a particular group of people that are the most likely to
engage in a product or service. Resources and time will be wasted if marketing
and promotional campaigns are not relevant to a particular country or region.
18   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

Marketers must also continuously update research that is done on the demo-
graphics and psychographics of their consumers to be able to react quickly to
any cultural changes that are happening to an area’s outlook on a particular
sport or event. The internet has been monumental in eliminating several com-
munication barriers across borders by creating and retaining relationships that
lead to new and repeat sales, and to future consumers who are curious about a
particular business. The marketing of sport globally to consumers involves
breaking down intrinsic motivation and factors in order to get people to buy in
and rally around the sport or activity. The internet and ease of communicating
with people across borders help marketers find a way to connect to a sporting
event or organization (Mastromartino et al., 2017). Westerbeek and Smith
(2003) stated that a well maintained online community can give fans an emo-
tional stake in the business through “curiosity, empathy, or excitement”
(p. 168). Several issues and opportunities can be solved and explored through
this notion of managing marketing strategy by building an online community.
Significant revenue is now generated from the e-­commerce of sport products
which have built loyal fans and consumers around an online database. This in
return brings sponsors who want to have access to those fans who may serve as
their organization’s target market.
The quickly changing landscape of building and maintaining online com-
munities globally in sport has now shifted into social media campaigns that
regularly give fans the chance to engage with the makers of their favorite prod-
ucts, sport teams, players and personnel. Every professional North Amer­ican
sport team in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL has a social media presence of
some kind through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat. Through social
media, consumers from different countries interact and organizations benefit
from the user generated content that results in word-­of-mouth advertising and
peer recommendations. Non-­sport businesses also use social media and internet
marketing campaigns to grow their brand through the support and sponsorships
of different players, leagues and teams (Cateora et al., 2013).
As the number of smartphones increases globally, the number of mobile
phone applications grows even more greater as a result of businesses and indi-
viduals delivering content to consumers, building customer loyalty and generat-
ing sponsorship revenue. Apps (applications), as they are called, provide
creativity between producers and consumers that can help enhance a customer’s
experience of a product or sporting event. Many of the sporting events are now
being watched through streaming services that enable live content on smart-
phones, tablets and computers. Virtual reality is also a phenomenon that will
allow for consumers to watch desired content in high definition intended to
rival the experience of actually being at an event. Organizations must now
incorporate some of these desired experiences into their sporting events in order
to compete with the technology at the fingertips of a consumer. There is a
growing trend for companies to market their venues as technologically advanced
arenas that incorporate interactive apps, high definition viewing screens and
Globalized sport management in context   19

data that is obtainable from a mobile device to stay up to date on team statistics
and information. Marketers are now tasked with finding creative ways to adver-
tise through all of the mediums where content is being consumed.

Forming partnerships
A trending opportunity for global sport organizations to grow and expand is in
collaboration and partnerships. This allows multiple organizations to serve their
customers and gain new entry into markets. An opportunity in marketing for
organizations wishing to align themselves with sports teams is in jersey sponsor-
ships that provide for a high visibility among consumers and those in their
target markets. For the 2017–2018 season, the NBA allowed one sponsor to be
displayed on the front of the jerseys worn by the players. This leads for oppor-
tunities for businesses to align themselves with companies that share their
values and fit into the vision they see for their company. The Los Angeles Clip-
pers agreed to a $20 million dollar deal with the dating app Bumble that was
founded by a woman and has built a platform that inspires women. This is the
first NBA team to partner with a female-­driven company. The Los Angeles
Clippers has the largest female leadership team in all of sports with six women
in top leadership positions.
Sports are being played all over the world; as a result, there are fans around
the world of similar demographics who have similar interests. Industrial product
marketers realize that sport provides sizable audiences who can be predicted
with consistent accuracy. Global sporting events now rely heavily on sponsor-
ship dollars in the forms of presenting partners, investors and participant incen-
tives. Non-­sport businesses have also grown increasingly global and benefit
substantially from sponsorships of athletes, leagues and sports events (Mullin,
Hardy, & Sutton, 2014). Organizations are relying heavily on individual
athletes to represent their brand in all aspects of their life. Amis and Cornwell
(2005) stated that having the ability to transcend national or ethnic borders
would be a quality that organizations look for in an athlete. This representation
is now heightened by the ability of these athletes to post pictures on online plat-
forms of themselves wearing or using brands and products for millions of their
fans to see and comment on. The problem with this growing trend is that often
these players make bad decisions or have views on controversial topics that go
against the company’s mission and values. To combat a potential marketing dis-
aster contracts with these athletes include moral clauses that provide grounds
for termination of contract at any time for actions that are not in line with the
organization’s guidelines.

About this book


The co-­editors of this book have selected research papers relevant to the topical
issues. Including this introduction chapter, this book contains a total of 14
20   Lauren M. Johnson et al.

chapters, which are organized into two main sections: (a) uniqueness and com-
parisons and (b) social issues and opportunities. The chapters are contributed by
a total of 26 scholars representing nine countries or territories around the world.
Drs. Pitts and Zhang would like to take this opportunity to thank these eminent
scholars for their remarkable contributions to the completion of this book
project. This book is commissioned by the WASM Executive Board, represent-
ing this organization’s leadership and commitment to develop, summarize, syn-
thesize and analyze knowledge that helps enhance the global sport industry. It
covers a range of key research and practical issues in globalized sport manage-
ment in diverse cultural contexts of both global and local settings. The book
combines scholarly output derived from diverse inquiry protocols, such as review
of literature, documentary analysis, qualitative research and quantitative
investigations.

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Part I

Uniqueness and
comparisons
Chapter 2

A comparison of Canadian and


Belgian youth sport participation
profiles
Marijke Taks, Julie A. Stevens,
Jeroen Scheerder, Anna H. Lathrop and
Cheri L. Bradish

Introduction
The physical, psychological, and social benefits for youth who are actively
involved in sport and physical activity are well documented in the literature
(Bouchard, Shephard, & Stephens, 1994; Bouchard, Shephard, Stephens,
Sutton, & McPherson, 1990; Colchico, Zybert, & Basch, 2000; Curtis &
Russell, 1997; Quinney, Gauvin, & Wall, 1994; Steinbeck, 2001). Sport provid-
ers also emphasize that sport participation helps prepare youth to become
responsible, independent, and contributing members of society (Martens, 2003).
Physical education teachers, sport providers, and policy makers must therefore
be cognizant of research in the field of youth sport that investigates the indi-
vidual and social factors that influence sport participation. Mullin, Hardy, and
Sutton’s (2000) sport consumer behavior model indicated that both individual
and environmental factors affect sport involvement. Similarly, Shank (2002)
identified internal, external, and situational factors. Individual factors are iden-
tified as those linked to internal or psychological processes such as motivation,
perception, learning and memory, attitudes, physical characteristics, and self-­
concept. Environmental factors refer to external socio-­cultural and situational
factors such as cultural norms and values, class, ethnicity, and gender relations,
significant others, geographic conditions, and sport opportunity. Shilbury,
Quick, and Westerbeek (1998) also argued that consumer behavior is as much
situation specific as it is person specific. Although the influence of individual
and psychological factors may be important determinants of youth sport parti-
cipation, the focus of this chapter will be to examine data that relates to the
social and cultural factors that may influence youth sport participation.
Given the impact of globalization in the twenty-­first century, international
comparisons of youth sport participation patterns provide an interesting oppor-
tunity to investigate social factors and operational systems from a cross-­cultural
perspective. In Europe for example, different studies have compared sport parti-
cipation profiles across a number of countries (Coordinated Monitoring of Parti-
cipation in Sports [COMPASS], 1999; European Opinion Research Group
[EORG], 2003; Rodgers, 1977). In these surveys, however, the samples were
30   Marijke Taks et al.

drawn from participants who were 16 years old and older – thus excluding a
major segment of the youth population. In addition, few surveys focused on
comparing youth sport participation profiles on an international scale (De
Knop, Engstrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996). Research by De Knop and De Mar-
telaer (2001), and Scheerder and Breedveld (2004) examined youth sport parti-
cipation between Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands. De Knop and De
Martelaer concluded that for youth sport in both countries, participation was
more strongly tied to the aspect of the quality of the sports activities offered,
rather than the quantity of involvement or programs offered. According to
Scheerder and Breedveld (2004) the involvement in sports slightly decreased in
Flanders among the younger population, while in the Netherlands little to no
growth was detected. In Flanders, club membership increased in the 1990s,
whereas it decreased in the Netherlands.
Comparative research in the sociology of sport presents a number of meth-
odological and interpretative challenges. Henry (2002) identified two of these
challenges. He suggested that one challenge

is the recognition of the limitations of attempts to operationalize, and thus


compare, parallel phenomena in different social/national systems. The
other is the growing recognition that globalization, which implies interpen-
etration of phenomena makes certain forms of comparison (of ‘separate’
systems) not simply redundant but misconceived.
(p. 81)

Given these concerns, this investigation is an example of a ‘post-­hoc’ com-


parative investigation where the data have been collected prior to the compari-
son study. The essential challenge to overcome in this type of post-­hoc approach
is defining and operationalizing concepts and variables across different contexts,
such as streamlining the data. Given this limitation, this study may be con-
sidered as a ‘first step’ toward a developing area of research that examines trans-
atlantic comparisons of youth sport participation. Canada and Belgium were
selected as the comparative case for this examination due to the availability of
similar data. It should be noted here, however, that the Belgian data in this
chapter only relates to Flanders, the Northern and Dutch speaking part of
Belgium. Belgium is a federalized country. The structure of the Belgian state has
strongly influenced the organization of sport, as well as the development of sport
policies (Scheerder & Vos, 2013; Taks, Renson, & Vanreusel, 1999). After the
end of the 1960s, sport became a separate responsibility of each of the three
Communities (i.e., the Flemish, the French, and the German-­speaking Com-
munity). In what follows we will, therefore, refer to Flanders, as an autonomous
region within the Belgian state.
Comparison of youth sport participation   31

Contextual framework

Delivery systems for sport participation


The organizational context for youth sport participation in Canada and Flan-
ders (Belgium) presents two different delivery systems. In Flanders (and Belgium
as a whole), extracurricular sport activity is largely provided through sport clubs
(the voluntary sector), and through public sports authorities (Scheerder, Van-
dermeerschen, Meganck, Seghers, & Vos, 2015; Taks et al., 1999). The club
system in Flanders is supported by governmental subsidies within the framework
of the ‘Sport for All’ policy (Vanreusel, Taks, & Renson, 2002). In Canada, the
majority of the extracurricular sporting activities are provided through the pub-
licly funded school system. Under the ‘Quality Daily Physical Education’ school
initiative originally established in 1986, schools offer daily physical education
and intramural sport activities (Chad, Humbert, & Jackson, 1999; Luke, 2000).
The community club system is available in Canada, but is not publicly funded.
Since the school system is the only place that reaches all youth, one might
expect a higher level of sport involvement of Canadian youngsters compared to
Flemish youngsters (Hypothesis 1). The context of sport participation, through
school and/or community clubs, is a major difference between the countries, and
thus constitutes a major focus of this study.

Cultural and geographical contexts


In addition to differing delivery systems, Canadian and Belgian youth have
different cultural and geographical characteristics. These contexts will presum-
ably lead to differences in youth sport preferences – with the exception of
soccer, a sport that is popular in both countries (Scheerder, Taks, Vanreusel, &
Renson, 2002; Statistics Canada, 2003). Ice hockey is, for example, strongly
embedded in Canadian culture, both as a participant and a spectator sport.
Cycling, on the other hand, is very popular in Belgium, mainly as a semi-­
professional and professional sport (Geldhof, 2003). From a participant per-
spective, gymnastics and swimming have always been strongly embedded in the
Flemish culture, because these sports have made up the core of the physical
education curriculum for a very long time (Scheerder et al., 2002). We antici-
pated, therefore, that the selection of preferred youth sports would differ
between Canada and Flanders (Hypothesis 2).

Socio-­c ultural factors and sport participation


Research suggests that sport participation is socially stratified (Booth & Loy,
1999; Wilson, 2002). Gender, age, and socio-­economic status are factors that
have been investigated in the adult sport participation literature. Ethnicity and
media preferences have also been identified as important determinants of sport
32   Marijke Taks et al.

participation (e.g., Moens & Scheerder, 2004; Wright, MacDonald, & Groom,
2003). Research into age and gender differences in youth sport participation has
also been well documented (Scully & Clarke, 1997) with the general conclu-
sion being that females participate less than males, and that sport participation
among youth decreases with increased age. In contrast to research regarding the
adult population, however, empirical data on the social stratification of youth
sport has received less attention (Scheerder, Vanreusel, Taks, & Renson, 2005).
This line of research suggests that socio-­cultural variables also affect the sport
participation and consumption patterns of youth. These factors may include:
(a) generation-­related variables (cohort analysis); (b) subject-­related demo-
graphic variables (including age, sex, and birth order); (c) family-­related vari-
ables (i.e., family size, parental level of education, parental professional status,
family income, parental and siblings’ participation behavior); and, (d) school
and leisure-­related variables (peers, school, media; Taks et al., 1993).
Given this context, the Canadian and Flemish data sets available for this
study include a selection of socio-­cultural background indicators in addition to
sport participation statistics. Thus, the possible influence of socio-­cultural back-
ground variables on youth sport participation patterns may be analyzed and
compared for the Canadian and the Flemish sample. In light of the fact that
both countries share a comparable industrialized status and the liberal demo-
cracy philosophy, we do not expect a major socio-­economic status divergence
between these two populations. However, due to the differences in the sport
delivery system, we expect that club sport participation in Canada will require
more capital resource, and as such, will be more socially stratified compared to
Flemish club sport participation (Hypothesis 3).

Family-­r elated variables and sport participation


The impact of parental influences is a family-­related variable that encourages
youth sport participation (Mota & Silva, 1999; Mullin, Hardy, & Sutton, 2000;
Yang, Telama, & Laakso, 1996). Direct parental influence is exerted by sharing
information related to sports participation and by imposing cultural norms and
values. Indirect parental influence may be experienced through active sport
participation that is observed and imitated by children, and by screening the
interaction of youth with other leisure-­time activities such as watching tele-
vision or spending time with peers. However, the influence of peers, school, and
media may also impact youth sport participation and sport consumer behavior
(e.g., ‘significant others’, De Pelsmacker, Geuens, & Van Den Bergh, 2004;
Mullin et al., 2000). Given the fact that no data were available to analyze these
school and leisure-­related variables, this study will examine data related to the
sport participation preferences of the parents and the sport participation profiles
of their children. A positive relationship is expected to appear for both the
Canadian and Flemish data (Hypothesis 4).
Comparison of youth sport participation   33

Purpose of study
The purpose of this study is to compare: (a) youth sport participation profiles
(i.e., level of involvement, organizational context, and sport preferences);
(b) the impact of socio-­cultural background characteristics on youth sport parti-
cipation; and, (c) the impact of the parents’ sport participation on the sport
participation of youth in Canada and Flanders. The analyses will test the
­following four hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: A higher level of sport involvement is expected


among Canadian children compared with Flemish youngsters because
leisure-­t ime sports have a dominant place in the extracurricular pro-
grams of schools in Canada, and the school is the only context that
reaches all youth in society.

Hypothesis 2: Due to geographical and cultural differences between


Canada and Flanders, we expect differences in sport preferences
among Canadian and Flemish youngsters.

Hypothesis 3: Because of the lack of governmental subsidies, club


participation in Canada is expected to be more socially stratified
compared to the Flemish club system.

Hypothesis 4: We expect a positive association between the sport


involvement of the youngsters and the parents, in both, the Canadian
and the Flemish sample.

Method

Participants
The Canadian and Flemish samples are represented in Table 2.1. In Canada,
2,400 surveys were distributed, and 1,127 samples were returned for analysis (47
percent response rate). The Flemish sample consisted of 2,176 youngsters, with
a response rate of 71 percent, and non-­respondents were not systematically dis-
tributed in any particular social category (Scheerder et al., 2002). The Canadian
34   Marijke Taks et al.

sample is representative for the high school population in Canada, while the
Flemish sample is representative for the high school population in Flanders.
In the Canadian sample, the teen segment, 12–17 years of age, was targeted.
The sample represented a cross-­section of youth from six Canadian provinces
(British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward
Island, and Quebec). Self-­administered questionnaires were distributed to youth,
between grades 9 and 12, at ten Canadian high schools. A convenience sam-
pling approach was utilized (Jackson, 1999). An elite sport ranking of a national
sport governing body was used to identify schools with an adequate scholastic-­
athletic environment. From the national list, separate lists were made for each
province. Every school on the provincial list was contacted and sent an informa-
tion package. Any school that was permitted to participate in the study by its
administration and was interested in the project was included in the sample.
The use of an elite sport ranking to select the sample limited the inferences that
could be made from the data. Nevertheless, 44.2 percent of the respondents self-
­identified as varsity athletes, subsequently yielding a balance between varsity
and non-­varsity preferences within the sample. The sample also included diverse
representations from English and French schools, and private and public sectors.
The Flemish sample was proportionally stratified according to: (a) the school
population in each province (N = 5); (b) the population in each school board
(community, private, provincial or municipal); (c) the population in each
school program (humanities or ‘academic’, technical, and vocational); and,
(d) the level of urbanization of the school’s place of residence. Since the Cana-
dian sample included grade 9 to grade 12 students, and the Flemish sample
included grades 7 to 12, the Flemish sample has a slightly higher proportion of
youth at younger ages (Table 2.1).

Survey instruments
The Canadian survey consisted of 75 multiple choice, rank-­order multiple
choice, and open-­ended questions that were designed to investigate the socio-­
cultural, psychological and consumer profile of youth and sport (Bradish,
Lathrop, Stevens, & Sedgwick, 2000). For the purpose of this study, multiple

Table 2.1 Description of the Canadian and Flemish samples

Country/gender Canada Flanders

N % N %

Male 633 57 1,036 48


Female 482 43 1,140 52
Total 1,115* 100 2,176 100

Note
* 12 missing, the total Canadian sample was 1,127.
Comparison of youth sport participation   35

choice and rank-­order questions related to sport participation level, context,


and type, and parental educational level and sport involvement were analyzed.
A pilot study determined the categories for each question. For example, the
item related to sport participation asked respondents to indicate their interest in
sport participation according to five choices – very high, somewhat high,
average, somewhat low, and very low – which were collapsed into three cat-
egories, high, moderate, and low, for analysis. Athletic directors within each
school partnered with the researchers and offered each student involved in ath-
letics or physical education classes an opportunity to complete the survey.
The Flemish survey collected data through a standardized questionnaire,
which had previously been submitted to tests of reliability and validity (Renson,
1973; Scheerder, 2003). The variables under investigation included questions
on the socio-­cultural and demographic situation of the teenagers and their fam-
ilies, and on participation in leisure-­time sports by the teenagers and their
parents. For the teenagers the actual average hours of sports participation as well
as the type of sports practice were questioned. The questionnaire included 19
sports activities and seven open-­ended options. For the parents no list of sports
practices was available. Instead, they were asked to mention which kind of
sports activity/activities they practiced in the past and at present. The question-
naire was distributed at the schools. The teenagers were asked to complete the
questionnaire at home together with their parent(s) and to take the completed
questionnaire back to school two weeks later. When completed, the question-
naire was checked by a personal interview.
Measurements for the sport participation variables. The sport participation
variables included in the study and their measurements are shown in Table 2.2.
In order to streamline the data in both sets, some adaptations in the measure-
ment of the variables had to be performed. However, some differences still
remain and should be pointed out. For instance, the level of sport involvement
by the youngsters was self-­reported in the Canadian sample, whereas this was
based on the actual average hours of participation in the Flemish sample. It
should be noted that the non-­participants are included in the ‘low’ participation
level, and the ‘unorganized sport’ categories. The sport preferences were also
questioned in a different way. The Canadian survey had a limited list of the four
most preferred sports among youth, based on a pilot survey. The respondents
had to indicate in which sport they participated most often, for instance basket-
ball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, other. The Flemish questionnaire included 19
sports, as well as open-­ended options, so multiple answers could be provided.
For the purpose of this survey, the four sports with the highest frequencies of
participation among the Flemish males and females will be compared with the
Canadian data (Table 2.2).
Measurement of the socio-­cultural variables. The comparable socio-­cultural
variables include: country, age, sex, parental level of education (PEL), sport
involvement of father (FA-­SP), and sport involvement of mother (MO-­SP).
The educational level of the parents was selected as the social status variable
36   Marijke Taks et al.

Table 2.2 Description of the sport variables adopted in the study

Category Canada Flanders

Level (3 cat.) Low (self-reported) Low (≤1 hr/w/yr; excl. PE


classes)
Moderate (self-reported) Moderate (1 ≤ 3 hr/w/yr; excl.
PE classes)
High (self-reported) High (>3 hr/w/yr; excl. PE
classes)
Organizational Unorganized sports, Unorganized sports, outside of
context (3 cat.) Outside of clubs/school, clubs/school (summer camp,
Other youth association, with friends,
with family, alone)
Organized school sports Organized school sports
(extracurricular school
program)
Organized clubs/ Organized clubs/organizations
organizations (clubs)
Sport preferences Limited list of sports Extensive list of 19 sports
(different cat.) provided provided; the 4 most practiced
are retained here

over the professional status, because there were more difficulties to overcome in
streamlining the professional status compared to the educational level. More-
over, the educational level is commonly accepted as an indicator for measuring
social status and social position (Elchardus, 2002), and Wilson (2002) argued
that cultural capital, measured by the educational level, better explains social
class and sport involvement than economic capital, which is measured through
the income status. However, a new variable was constructed, which regroups
the educational level of the father and the mother, using the HOMALS data
reduction procedure within SPSS. This technique estimates category quantifica-
tions and the object scores that separate categories of nominal variables as much
as possible and divides cases into homogeneous groups. Only one dimension was
withdrawn and the time interval–related eigenvalues measured 0.801 indicating
a good fit. The results of this re-­scaling procedure were divided into three cat-
egories (low, medium, and high). Each category holds the same share of
respondents (approximately 33 percent). The new variable refers to the ‘paren-
tal educational level’ (PEL) and was calculated for the Canadian and Flemish
samples separately.
Sport involvement of the parents (FA-­SP and MO-­SP) also needed stream-
lining between both samples. Parental sport involvement was self-­reported in
the Canadian sample, while this was based on actual participation characteris-
tics in the Flemish data: ‘low’ being equal to ‘no participation in sport or less
than 1 hour/week’, ‘moderate’ being equal to ‘participating 1 to 3 hours per
week’, and ‘high’ being equal to ‘more than 3 hours of sports per week’.
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Title: Bismarck et la France

Author: Jacques Bainville

Release date: April 27, 2024 [eBook #73478]

Language: French

Original publication: Paris: Nouvelle librairie nationale, 1915

Credits: Laurent Vogel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team


at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BISMARCK


ET LA FRANCE ***
JACQUES BAINVILLE

BISMARCK
ET

LA FRANCE
d’après les Mémoires du Prince de Hohenlohe

LES SOUVENIRS DE M. DE GONTAUT-BIRON


ET SA MISSION A BERLIN
LES IDÉES NAPOLÉONIENNES ET L’UNITÉ ALLEMANDE
LES ALLEMANDS DE 1870
LES DIFFICULTÉS DE L’UNITÉ ALLEMANDE
LA JEUNESSE ET LES PREMIÈRES ARMES DE BISMARCK
LE CENTENAIRE D’IÉNA

PARIS
NOUVELLE LIBRAIRIE NATIONALE
11, R U E D E M É D I C I S , 11
MCMXV
DU MÊME AUTEUR

Louis II de Bavière, 1 vol. in-18 jésus, br. 3 50


(librairie académique Perrin)
A LA MÉMOIRE
DE
P.-J. PROUDHON

qui
dans sa pleine liberté d’esprit
retrouva
la politique des rois de France
et combattit
le principe des nationalités

A LA GLORIEUSE MÉMOIRE
DES
ZOUAVES PONTIFICAUX

qui sont tombés


sur les champs de bataille
en défendant la cause française
contre l’unité italienne
à Rome
contre l’Allemagne unie
à Patay
AVERTISSEMENT

Les essais que nous rassemblons ici ont, pour la plus grande
partie, paru au cours de ces deux dernières années dans la Gazette
de France. Des documents nouveaux, de récents ouvrages
d’histoire, des polémiques ouvertes, la commémoration de grands
événements, forment tour à tour le sujet de ces études détachées.
Elles ont un lien cependant.
Après le tiers d’un siècle écoulé, nous sentons plus que jamais
que notre pays a perdu toute sécurité depuis 1870. Sa situation et
son avenir sont en perpétuel danger dans une Europe bouleversée
par la formation de l’Italie et de l’Allemagne. Notre régime politique,
qui ne mérite pas la confiance des patriotes, aggrave encore nos
périls. Mais d’où viennent nos défaites ? Qui a créé les puissances
dont nous sommes entourés et menacés ? Ce n’est pas, à notre
avis, une occupation vaine que de rechercher les responsabilités et
les origines de ces événements solidaires. Nous voudrions écrire un
jour un ouvrage d’ensemble sur les causes de ces révolutions
européennes qui ont anéanti un ordre de choses tout à l’avantage de
la France, et dont la disparition a été pour elle une catastrophe.
Cette catastrophe a une filiation certaine et des ouvriers connus. On
voit aujourd’hui comment il eût été possible de l’empêcher, par
quelle succession d’erreurs et de fautes elle s’est produite. Qu’on
veuille bien trouver ici quelques études préparatoires à un plus
grand travail sur le rôle respectif des institutions, des idées et des
hommes dans la formation de ces deux grands États nouveaux, dont
la naissance a détruit l’équilibre européen et modifié du tout au tout,
non seulement les conditions d’existence de notre pays, mais celles
aussi de l’ancien monde tout entier.
Le prince de Bülow, chancelier de l’Empire allemand, disait le 14
novembre 1906 à la tribune du Reichstag :
« La France était un royaume solidement constitué lorsque
l’Allemagne et l’Italie ne constituaient encore que de simples
expressions géographiques ; c’était un solide bloc de marbre entre
des plaques de mosaïque disjointes.
« C’était par conséquent une sorte de nécessité absolue, dans
chaque ou presque chaque rencontre avec l’un de ces deux pays
voisins, si ce dernier n’était pas soutenu par un tiers, que la France
fût la plus forte… Je n’ai pas besoin de montrer davantage comment
la politique française, des siècles durant, prêta la main aux querelles
intestines allemandes en prenant parti pour les courants, pour les
éléments centrifuges. 1870 vint mettre un terme à cette longue
période de coopération française en Allemagne. Alors l’Allemagne
ne reconquit pas seulement les territoires frontières qui lui avaient
été arrachés au temps de sa désunion, partant de son impuissance,
mais en même temps l’unité au dedans et l’unité au dehors. »
Le prince de Bülow résume très exactement ici, de son point de
vue allemand, l’histoire de trois siècles. Il ne manque à ce tableau
que de montrer la cause d’où procèdent de si grands changements.
Mais le chancelier fut formé à trop bonne école pour l’ignorer. Cette
cause, Bismarck la savait, comme la savait Cavour. Tous les esprits
vraiment politiques s’accordent depuis longtemps à reconnaître que
si la situation de la France en face de l’Allemagne s’est renversée,
c’est par les conséquences directes et par le contre-coup inévitable
de la Révolution. Les événements de 1870 sont inexplicables si l’on
ne tient pas compte des circonstances et des courants nouveaux qui
sont sortis des idées de 1789.
L’œuvre glorieuse de notre monarchie ne fut pas seulement de
faire la France, de la constituer morceau à morceau. Ce que nos rois
avaient créé, ils l’entourèrent d’un admirable système de défenses et
de protection, dont le chef-d’œuvre fut de maintenir dans leur état de
« mosaïque disjointe » les deux pays que la France avait devancés
par son unité : l’Allemagne et l’Italie.
Pourquoi l’unité italienne et l’unité allemande, si longtemps
entravées, ont-elles fini par être réalisées ? Pourquoi les peuples
d’outre-monts et les peuples d’outre-Rhin eurent-ils au XIXe siècle le
bonheur inespéré de sortir de leur anarchie ? Pourquoi la France
abandonna-t-elle sa politique naturelle, sa politique tutélaire, et
renonça-t-elle de gaîté de cœur à ce privilège, qui faisait sa sécurité,
de n’avoir, sur ses frontières de l’est, au lieu de puissants Empires,
que des voisins divisés ? Comment cette faute, dont le discours du
chancelier de Berlin, à défaut de l’expérience de quarante années,
fait mesurer l’étendue, a-t-elle pu être commise ? Ici, l’histoire toute
seule répond. Dès que la France a été privée de ses chefs, de ses
conducteurs et gardiens naturels, de ses Capétiens nationaux, on a
vu, par une fortune inattendue, les maisons rivales sortir de leur
médiocrité, les Hohenzollern et les Carignan-Savoie ceindre de
nouvelles couronnes. Édifiant contraste : à tout affaiblissement de la
monarchie en France, a correspondu l’accroissement des
monarchies rivales et ennemies.
Certes, la France privée de la dynastie à qui elle doit l’existence
n’a pas été sans connaître des jours de gloire, et même des jours de
prospérité. Mais il se trouve qu’elle a constamment payé les plus
brillants de ces « interrègnes » par des catastrophes, quelquefois à
longue échéance, toujours à long retentissement. Triste histoire de
vies, de forces, de ressources et de chances dilapidées que celle de
la France depuis 1789 ! Les idées révolutionnaires, dont Napoléon
fut le soldat, mettent la France au pillage, l’Europe en feu, préparent
contre nous-mêmes la naissance des nations. La monarchie revient
pour réparer ces ruines. Les traités de 1815, restaurant l’œuvre des
traités de Westphalie, nous garantissent pour plus de trente ans la
sécurité et la paix. Mais ils avaient rendu, en expiation de Waterloo,
la France plus petite que Louis XVI ne l’avait laissée. Au moment où
il vient de conquérir Alger et où il va restituer à la patrie son honneur
avec ses frontières du nord-est, Charles X est criminellement
renversé. La monarchie de juillet tombe à son tour. Et les temps
révolutionnaires recommencent. Des idées et des principes funestes
à la patrie prévalent. Un autre Bonaparte se fait leur champion aux
applaudissements des jacobins, des libéraux, et même des
conservateurs bornés. Le second Empire finit sur une catastrophe
sans précédent. Il y aura désormais une Italie, une Allemagne. Les
rêves napoléoniens et révolutionnaires sont accomplis. Le « droit
des peuples » est proclamé, mais au profit de deux monarques. Et la
France amoindrie reste sous le coup d’une perpétuelle menace.
Cette fois, il n’y avait pas eu de Bourbon pour sauver ce qui pouvait
encore échapper de ce grand naufrage. Une autre succession de
fautes, qui sont des trahisons, car elles eurent la complicité de
l’étranger, avait empêché la restauration de Henri V. Ainsi les idées
révolutionnaires triomphaient : elles avaient établi l’anarchie en
France, un roi à Rome, un empereur à Berlin.
Il apparaît aujourd’hui, par la suite de ces coûteuses
expériences, que les idées de 1789, après avoir dissocié la France,
dénaturé l’État, détruit les familles, les corps de métier, les
provinces, ont, en outre, à l’extérieur, nui au prestige et à la grandeur
de notre pays, ont même préparé ses défaites. Par un inexorable
mouvement de balance, tandis que la France, privée de ses rois et
trahie par les principes du libéralisme et par la religion des Droits de
l’Homme, était abaissée et mutilée, les peuples voisins, appuyés sur
des dynasties ambitieuses, réalisaient des espérances, autrement
vouées à un échec nécessaire. Ces dynasties ont brillamment profité
du concours que leur apportaient la Révolution et l’Empire, toujours
alliés pour l’erreur et pour le mal.
Dans la proportion même où elle a servi les idées de 89, la
France a compromis et sacrifié ses intérêts les plus évidents.
L’histoire du principe des nationalités nous en donne un frappant
exemple. Directement issu des dogmes révolutionnaires, propagé
par les armées de la Révolution, proclamé par Napoléon Ier, repris
par Napoléon III dans le testament de Sainte-Hélène, article de foi
de toutes les gauches depuis 1815 jusqu’à 1870, le principe des
nationalités, qui a fait et qui fera couler encore plus de sang que tous
les conquérants réunis, a directement causé nos désastres. C’est lui
seul qui a provoqué les grandes guerres modernes, dévoratrices de
vies humaines. Ce sont ses effets qui suspendent aujourd’hui sur les
peuples la menace d’effroyables conflits. C’est lui qui, en créant
deux monarchies militaires et en jetant dans leurs bras, malgré ses
répugnances, l’Autriche effrayée des incendies que ce principe
allume entre ses frontières et jusqu’en Orient, est responsable de
cette Triplice qui pèse sur le monde européen tout entier. C’est par
une de ses dernières conséquences, enfin, que le système de la
paix armée opprime les populations, les accable d’impôts, aggrave
la misère et arrête la civilisation. Or, quel principe plus que celui des
nationalités mérite d’être appelé un principe de gauche ? La
démocratie et le libéralisme l’ont considéré et le considèrent même
encore comme un article essentiel de leur programme. Et lorsque
Thiers ou Proudhon, libres intelligences politiques, le critiquaient et
dénonçaient ses périls, toute la gauche les accusait de défection, et,
leur infligeant sa suprême injure, les traitait de réactionnaires.
C’est, en effet, la réaction qui nous eût sauvés des événements
de 1870 et de leurs conséquences. Nous savons aujourd’hui que,
dans l’histoire de la France contemporaine, ce sont toujours les
idées de contre-révolution qui ont ou qui auraient le mieux servi la
patrie. Plus extrême elle est vers la droite, plus une idée a de
chances d’être conforme à l’intérêt français. Nous avons entendu un
jour M. Camille Pelletan expliquer, devant un auditoire populaire,
qu’il ne fallait jamais craindre de voter pour le candidat avancé parce
que plus un député est rouge, plus on doit être sûr qu’il servira bien
la République. Aujourd’hui surtout que le divorce entre la République
et la patrie est consommé, que la République poursuit ouvertement
toute sorte de fins étrangères à l’intérêt national, il n’est pas moins
vrai de dire que plus un homme est « blanc », plus une idée est de
droite, plus on peut être assuré que la France se trouvera bien de
l’homme et de l’idée. Les meilleurs Français du dix-neuvième siècle,
et il faut dire les meilleurs parce qu’ils furent non seulement parmi
les plus courageux mais parmi les plus clairvoyants, parce que, avec
le patriotisme, la vérité politique habitait sous leur tunique, ce sont
les zouaves pontificaux. Cette légion de catholiques et de royalistes,
qui a fait l’admiration de Renan et mérité la haine de Bismarck, a
défendu deux fois la France : sous les murs de Rome contre l’unité
italienne, dans la plaine de Patay contre l’unité allemande. Et les
braves qui sont tombés sur les champs de bataille romains ou sur
les champs de bataille de l’Ouest, devant Garibaldi, fourrier de
Victor-Emmanuel, ou devant les régiments de Guillaume Ier,
payaient de leur sang les idées révolutionnaires, les principes de
gauche, favorables à l’étranger seul, et donnaient l’exemple vivant
de ce qu’il eût fallu faire avec résolution et avec esprit de suite pour
le salut et l’intérêt de la nation française. Leur hymne, où le nom de
Rome est joint au nom de la France, rappelle avec raison qu’en
sauvant la Ville catholique on eût en même temps sauvé notre pays.
Tandis que les politiques et les diplomates vacillaient, Charette et
ses soldats, fermes dans leurs traditions et guidés par elles, allaient
à l’action dans le sens français. C’est pourquoi Proudhon, penseur
intrépide, philosophe sans parti, lorsqu’il brave l’opinion de son
temps pour s’opposer au mouvement insensé qui emportait les
Français vers la cause de l’Italie-une, Proudhon reconnaît et atteste
que c’est à l’extrême droite que se trouvent la sagesse, la
prévoyance et la vérité nationale. Cet accord de Charette et de
Proudhon, du soldat et du critique, c’est un des plus beaux exemples
de l’entente naturelle et spontanée qui, en vingt circonstances, s’est
faite au dix-neuvième siècle entre les plus traditionnels et les plus
libres esprits. Et cette entente se renoue sous nos yeux, plus étroite
et plus active que jamais, depuis que l’imminence du danger a
révélé aux Français que de funestes erreurs les conduisent aux
abîmes.
Dès qu’on se place au point de vue de l’intérêt national, on est
obligé de constater que les idées révolutionnaires coïncident avec le
désastre et la ruine, les idées de contre-révolution avec le bien
public. Le Play, à la recherche de la meilleure organisation des
sociétés, considérait la prospérité des peuples comme le seul signe
certain de l’excellence de leurs coutumes. La prospérité, la réussite,
le succès, il ne doit pas y avoir d’autre criterium, en effet, pour nous
autres hommes qui vivons la dure vie de ce monde. Or, comment
jugera-t-on une philosophie politique qui, après une expérience de
cent vingt années, ce qui est une expérience assez complète, n’a
réussi qu’à gâcher les ressources naturelles de notre pays, à perdre
ses plus beaux avantages, à compromettre sa situation et ses
chances, à le laisser enfin abaissé et menacé, mais au profit de
l’étranger ? Le patriote, surtout s’il a conscience que le nationalisme
français trouve une justification supérieure dans les siècles de
civilisation et de culture qu’il représente, le patriote se voit désormais
contraint de renoncer à la démocratie, au libéralisme, à l’idéal
républicain. Comme le disait Ernest Renan au moment où la France
illusionnée célébrait le centenaire de 1789 : « En guerre, un
capitaine toujours battu ne saurait être un grand capitaine ; en
politique, un principe, qui, dans l’espace de cent ans, épuise une
nation, ne saurait être le véritable. »
Le principe de 1789, c’est le mauvais capitaine qui conduit aux
désastres. Nous voyons aujourd’hui qu’il est responsable de toutes
les défaites et de tous les deuils français. La nation qui accueillit
jadis avec un enthousiasme insensé ces idées de mort et de ruine
en a souffert trop de maux pour pouvoir les aimer encore et les
regretter jamais.
Bismarck et la France
D’APRÈS
LES MÉMOIRES DU PRINCE DE HOHENLOHE

I
LES SUITES D’UNE MÉDIATISATION DE 1806.

La publication des Mémoires du prince Clovis de Hohenlohe-


Schillingsfürst [1] fera date dans l’histoire de l’Allemagne
contemporaine, moins peut-être encore par les choses que ce livre a
dévoilées que par le mouvement d’opinion dont il aura été l’origine.
Les souvenirs d’outre-tombe du prince de Hohenlohe ont donné un
mauvais exemple à une aristocratie que ses maîtres ont pourtant
disciplinée, dans les bureaux comme aux armées, aussi sévèrement
que Louis XIV avait dressé la sienne au service de la cour. Derrière
les indiscrétions de l’ancien chancelier, qui n’épargnent ni les
souverains ni les héros de l’Empire, qui ne ménagent pas même les
secrets d’État, un vent de fronde s’est levé à Berlin. Un esprit
d’impatience et de sédition, qui n’a rien de commun avec la
mauvaise humeur des libéraux et des démocrates, a soufflé sur le
monde des plus grands et des moindres seigneurs de l’Allemagne
nouvelle. On se rappelle les incidents divers qui ont suivi la
publication de ces Mémoires : l’émotion à Saint-Pétersbourg et à
Vienne, la colère impériale, la disgrâce du prince Alexandre de
Hohenlohe, préfet de Colmar, fils du prince Clovis, et l’agitation de la
faction bismarckienne, encore vivante et qui n’a pas désarmé.
Toutes ces circonstances, tous ces mouvements, toutes ces
intrigues de chancelleries et de cours, sont significatifs comme les
indiscrétions de l’ancien ministre elles-mêmes : elles accusent le
malaise allemand, les difficultés auxquelles doit presque
quotidiennement faire face un pouvoir cependant fort, mais dont les
origines sont trop récentes pour qu’il ne se trouve pas de temps en
temps aux prises avec les complications du passé. Les Mémoires du
prince de Hohenlohe ont un caractère d’indépendance et de
vengeance posthume. C’est un souvenir de la vieille anarchie
allemande, du particularisme et de la féodalité. Et rien n’est aussi
propre à éveiller l’inquiétude des nouveaux empereurs d’Allemagne
que ces souvenirs-là.
[1] Denkwürdigkeiten des Prinzen Chlodwig zu
Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, im Auftrage des Prinzen
Alexander zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst herausgegeben
von Friedrich Curtius ; Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt,
Stuttgart, 1907.

On définirait d’un mot le prince Clovis de Hohenlohe-


Schillingsfürst en disant qu’il fut toujours un mécontent. Ce grand
dignitaire, ce haut chancelier de l’Empire, ce favori de Bismarck
n’était pas satisfait de son sort, en dépit des honneurs et de la
fortune, en dépit d’une ambition satisfaite, d’une carrière heureuse et
courue avec la conscience du but à atteindre et des moyens à
employer. Le prince de Hohenlohe, du commencement à la fin de sa
vie politique, rendit d’importants services à la Prusse. Ce fut un des
plus actifs, un des plus habiles, un des moins scrupuleux ouvriers du
nouvel ordre de choses allemand. Mais nous savons aujourd’hui que
la sincérité n’y était pas. Le prince prêtait à la Prusse et à l’Empire
son activité et ses talents. Il avait reconnu de bonne heure que
c’était le plus utile emploi qu’il en pût faire. Cependant il réservait
quelque chose de lui-même, il ne consentait pas à se donner tout
entier. Ses Mémoires prouvent qu’il faisait nettement le départ entre
ses fonctions et sa personne, qu’il conservait son quant à soi.
Associé à une œuvre commune, à de ces grandes affaires d’État qui
arrachent l’homme à lui-même et par leur intérêt supérieur absorbent
l’individu, on le voit pourtant juger toutes choses d’un point de vue
strictement Hohenlohe. Également détesté de tous les partis, il n’en
était pas auquel il fût attaché par une sympathie véritable. Haut
fonctionnaire de Bavière et de Prusse, il n’était pas de à plus que
d’ailleurs, Il eût trouvé très naturel et très bon qu’on érigeât pour lui
et les siens le gouvernement d’Alsace-Lorraine en charge
héréditaire, ou tout autre gouvernement à défaut de celui-là. En
somme, le prince de Hohenlohe cherchait ses commodités dans
l’Allemagne nouvelle et unifiée et ne trouvait jamais qu’il fût
avantagé selon ses ambitions et selon ses mérites. Il demandait à
l’Empire de le possessionner le mieux possible. Libre d’humeur et
d’esprit quant au reste, Hohenlohe demeurait, au fond, comme ses
ancêtres, prince immédiat du corps germanique.
Suivant la remarque d’Auguste Himly, l’éminent géographe-
historien qui vient de mourir, c’est toujours à la Révolution française
qu’il faut remonter pour comprendre l’Allemagne contemporaine. Si
les Hohenlohe n’avaient été médiatisés en 1806, avec tant d’autres
princes, par la volonté de Napoléon, imprudent niveleur du chaos
germanique [2] , quelle eût été leur histoire au dix-neuvième siècle ?
Souverains de cent mille sujets, ils se fussent occupés de défendre
leur indépendance et leurs privilèges, cherchant secours tantôt en
Autriche contre la Prusse, tantôt en Prusse contre l’Autriche, tantôt
ligués avec la Bavière, tantôt visant à s’arrondir à ses dépens, au
besoin subventionnés par la France vers laquelle des princes
catholiques, cultivés et chez qui le goût des choses françaises était
naturel se sentaient attirés [3] . Si les bouleversements de la
Révolution et de l’Empire n’avaient métamorphosé l’Europe centrale,
si l’histoire du dix-neuvième siècle eût été ce qu’elle devait être, la
France aurait trouvé en Franconie, dans la personne de ces petits
princes autonomes, sinon des alliés sûrs, du moins des protégés
utilisables moyennant argent. La médiatisation de 1806 transforma
Clovis de Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst en partisan de l’unité allemande.
Et c’est le contrecoup des victoires napoléoniennes qui fit de lui un
ambassadeur de Prusse à Paris, un statthalter d’Alsace-Lorraine et
un chancelier de l’empire allemand.
[2] En même temps que les Hohenlohe, l’acte
constitutif de la confédération du Rhin du 12 juillet 1806
priva de leur indépendance et de leurs droits de
souveraineté, avec les trois villes libres d’Augsbourg, de
Nuremberg et de Francfort, les illustres familles de Tour
et Taxis, de Furstenberg, de Schwarzenberg,
d’Auersperg, de Solms, de Ligne, etc. Cet acte de 1806
aggravait encore le recez de 1803 et le traité de
Presbourg qui, par toutes sortes d’échanges de territoires
et d’« apurements de frontières », aidaient l’Allemagne à
sortir de son chaos, groupaient sa poussière d’États,
avançaient d’une étape l’unité future et détruisaient
l’œuvre des traités de Westphalie, sécurité de la France.
(Sur le recez de 1803 et l’acte de 1806, voir Himly,
Histoire de la formation territoriale des États de l’Europe
centrale, I, p. 326 et ss.)
[3] Il y a même eu un Hohenlohe au service de la
France et qui devint complètement français. Louis-Aloys
de Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein, après avoir
commandé un régiment de l’armée de Condé et occupé
divers postes en Hollande et en Autriche, servit la France
à partir de 1814. Naturalisé sous la Restauration, il
mourut en 1829, maréchal et pair.

Ni ses goûts, ni sa religion, ni son origine, rien n’appelait


Hohenlohe du côté de la Prusse, si ce n’est son ambition. Sa
nationalité, depuis la médiatisation, était bavaroise. Les tendances
de sa famille, autrichiennes. Le prince François-Joseph, son père,
avait été élevé à Parme et à Vienne. Un de ses frères, le prince
Constantin, sera grand-maître de la cour d’Autriche. Au contraire, et
de fort bonne heure, le prince Clovis regarda vers la Prusse. C’est
que, doué très jeune de vastes convoitises pour les honneurs et le
pouvoir, il avait pressenti que l’avenir était là. Sa clairvoyance, ses
capacités politiques, et surtout sa volonté de parvenir, expliquent
toute sa carrière « allemande ».
Grand seigneur médiatisé, réduit à son domaine utile et à un
siège héréditaire à la chambre haute de Bavière, en quoi Clovis de
Hohenlohe se fût-il senti Bavarois ? Et en quoi se fût-il senti
Allemand ? Entre le Rhin et la Vistule, l’idée de patrie n’existait pas
au dix-neuvième siècle pour les gens de qualité. La « patrie
allemande », das deutsche Vaterland, on laissait cela aux étudiants
et aux braillards de brasserie. Plus encore que le patriotisme,
Hohenlohe ignorait le loyalisme. Quel lien personnel eût rattaché aux
Habsbourg, aux Hohenzollern, aux Wittelsbach, aux Zæhringen ou
aux Guelfes un féodal qui, au fond, se tenait, malgré la
médiatisation, pour légal des chefs de ces dynasties ? S’estimant
libre de toute obligation, aussi intelligent qu’ambitieux, Clovis de
Hohenlohe ne fut jamais embarrassé pour changer de
gouvernement au mieux de sa carrière. Il servit deux rois, se
déclara, — non sans la réserve et l’ironie qui appartiennent à
l’héritier de princes régnants, — très humble sujet de tous les deux.
Mais il ne se crut pas plus engagé envers l’un qu’envers l’autre, et
traita avec eux comme avec ses pairs.
Deux exemples montrent bien quelle était l’inconsistance des
opinions, des idées et des nationalités dans l’Allemagne de ce
temps-là. Ces exemples sont fournis par Hohenlohe et par Beust.
Tous deux, ministres de monarchies moyennes mais indépendantes,
passèrent le plus naturellement du monde au service de plus
grandes maisons. Le comte de Beust, après 1866 et l’échec de ses
plans, se désintéressa subitement des destinées de la Saxe et
devint ministre de l’empereur d’Autriche ; le prince de Hohenlohe,
ministre des affaires étrangères et président du conseil en Bavière
avant 1870, abandonna sans esprit de retour Munich pour Berlin
quand les affaires furent devenues sans intérêt auprès de son
ancien maître, et recueillit aussitôt après la fondation de l’empire la
récompense de sa perspicacité et des services rendus à la Prusse
au détriment de la dynastie de Wittelsbach. De telles mœurs
n’étaient possibles qu’en Allemagne et dans l’Allemagne d’alors.
Imagine-t-on un ancien ministre du roi des Belges occupant tout à
coup le quai d’Orsay ? Tel serait pourtant chez nous l’équivalent du
cas de Hohenlohe et de Beust. Rien ne prouve mieux que
l’Allemagne n’existait pas il y a quarante ans encore, sinon dans
l’idée de quelques ambitieux et de quelques rêveurs, et qu’il s’en est
fallu de peu qu’elle dût se contenter à jamais de cette existence
idéale.
Le prince de Hohenlohe, s’il ne l’a dit, a certainement pensé en
même temps que le comte de Beust le mot célèbre, et d’ailleurs
juste, du ministre de Saxe : « Décidément, M. de Bismarck est
toujours favorisé par la chance. » Beust le disait par dépit et comme
un homme battu par un rival heureux. Hohenlohe le pensa pour
régler sa conduite et organiser sa vie d’après cette certitude qu’il n’y
avait plus rien d’intéressant ni d’avantageux à faire, pour un homme
comme lui, dans l’Allemagne de son temps, qu’avec la Prusse et à la
suite de Bismarck.
Le premier volume des Mémoires de Hohenlohe raconte en effet
comment le prince se fit le meilleur agent de la Prusse dans
l’Allemagne du Sud, et particulièrement en Bavière, avant d’être
récompensé par les plus hauts postes que put lui offrir le régime
nouveau. Cette partie du Journal n’intéresse pas la France aussi
directement que les chapitres qui suivent. Mais elle donne l’image de
l’Allemagne dans les derniers jours de son émiettement, et apporte
un surcroît de lumière sur les événements qui précipitèrent, avec
nos défaites, la formation de son unité.

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