How can a football club gradually integrate a risk management culture into its organisation?

Details

Supervisors

Postaire, Maxence

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

enAs institutional demands increase and resources remain limited, risk management is becoming a major strategic challenge for football clubs undergoing continuous development. This thesis focuses on understanding how these organizations can gradually integrate a risk management culture adapted to their governance and constraints. The first part is based on a literature review mobilizing frameworks and the work of recognised studies in the field of organizational culture and risk management in order to clarify the conceptual foundations of risk culture and highlight its levers and obstacles. The second part is based on a case study of the Royal Francs Borains (RFB), an illustrative club of the challenges faced by structures in the process of the maximum level of professionalization. The qualitative analysis highlights the fragmentation of risk perceptions, the dependence on key individuals, resource constraints, but also the strength of relational proximity as a vector of co-responsibility. In conclusion, this thesis proposes five transferable recommendations to football clubs seeking to professionalize themselves: develop a shared language, structure alert mechanisms, reduce individual dependence, consolidate skills and tools in a gradual manner, and institutionalize proximity. These recommendations aim to strengthen organizational resilience and align club governance with the principles of academic literature.