Ryan Snelgrove, Spencer Riehl, Joseph M. Villanueva

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to contribute to understandings of why organizational change can be unsuccessful in an intercollegiate athletics environment, using Dave Brandon’s leadership of the athletics department at the University of Michigan as an illustrative example. Facing a precipitous decline in the performance of the football team, Michigan sought change and hired Brandon. Although some of the changes Brandon implemented could be considered successful, his approach to leading change was met with significant resistance from stakeholders and his tenure was considered by many to be a failure. We draw on organizational change literature to explain what happened in theoretical terms. Our analysis suggests that Brandon was unsuccessful at leading change due to a disregard for value-laden traditions and organizational practices. The article concludes by discussing opportunities for future research.

Keywords: values, organizational change, leadership

Citation: Snelgrove, R., Riehl, S., & Villanueva, J. M. (2022). The importance of considering value-laden traditions and organizational practices when leading change in intercollegiate athletics. International Journal of Sport Management, 23(2), 102-110.

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