From Ecosystem Strategies to Sustainable Sport Development: Structural Validation of a Human Resource Management Ecosystem Model in Sport Organizations

Abstract

 Sport organizations increasingly depend on human resources located across organizational boundaries, including federations, clubs, public agencies, universities, professional communities, coaches, referees, medical specialists, technology providers, and volunteers. Although the emerging human resource management (HRM) ecosystem perspective provides a useful way to conceptualize such interdependence, empirical structural testing in sport remains limited. This study quantitatively evaluated a sport-specific HRM ecosystem model derived from an earlier qualitative phase. A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted with 400 respondents from Iranian sport organizations and related professional groups. A 120-item researcher-developed questionnaire represented six higher-order domains and 15 main categories identified in the qualitative model. Content validity was assessed by 15 experts, pilot reliability was examined in 30 participants, and the measurement and structural models were evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Internal consistency, composite reliability, average variance extracted, discriminant validity, predictive relevance, standardized path coefficients, t statistics, and coefficients of determination were examined. Reliability and convergent validity were supported for all six higher-order constructs (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96-0.98; composite reliability = 0.96-0.98; AVE = 0.56-0.61). Reported Q² values were positive (0.47-0.52). The construct labelled causal conditions was strongly associated with the HRM ecosystem (β = 0.95, t = 120.95), with R² = 0.917 for the HRM ecosystem. The HRM ecosystem (β = 0.96, t = 119.76), contextual conditions (β = 0.78, t = 88.61), and intervening conditions (β = 0.95, t = 121.23) were positively associated with ecosystem strategies and jointly accounted for R² = 0.937. Ecosystem strategies were strongly associated with outcomes (β = 0.96, t = 183.84; R² = 0.936). The findings provide strong internal support for the proposed structural pattern in this sample, but the cross-sectional, single-source design and unusually high coefficients preclude causal inference and require independent replication. The model offers a quantitative basis for examining sport HRM as a network-level system linking people, knowledge, talent, and performance across organizational boundaries.