The performance factors of non-profit basketball clubs: The case of basketball clubs from South-East Europe

Using the data from 73 non-profit basketball clubs from four post-transitional Southeast European countries the article examines the potential causal relationship between 165 variables divided into four groups (organizational environment, strategies, human resource management (HRM), and behavior and feelings of organizational members) and two different aspects of organizational performance, namely competitive-financial and recreational-non-financial. The multiple regression analyses results disclose direct impact of the strategic focus on the organizational performance. The study provides explanation how the importance of different objectives from an aspect of club leadership affect the chances of enhancing the sport clubs performance from both perspectives. Higher performance is achieved by specialized clubs that pursue only one aspect of performance and strive for those goals that positively affect the same performance perspective. On the other hand, the HRM – performance analysis shows that many HRM factors correlate with organizational performance. However, regression analysis did not confirm any significant direct impact, which indicates that this causal relationship is indirect