ABSTRACT

Research question

The COVID-19 pandemic created a crisis rife with complexity and ethical dilemmas for sport organizations. The purpose of this study is to examine the decision-making process of one such organization, the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the pandemic. Specifically, we draw from theories on decision-making and business ethics to understand how decisions were made.

Research methods

We conducted an inductive qualitative content analysis on NBA media coverage between 21 January and 10 July 2020. A total of 152 articles were identified and included in an analysis from ESPN.com, the most prominent sports news outlet in the United States.

Results and findings

Findings suggest that decision-making in the NBA was characterized by the cognitive limits of bounded rationality and the moral limits of bounded morality. The NBA’s decision-making process swayed between caution and risk as priorities shifted, with the league, teams, and players focusing on various repercussions to health and safety, finances, and competitive advantage.

Implications

This research expands understanding of how crises such as a pandemic impact decision-making in sport organizations. In addition, it highlights how bounded rationality and morality affect decision-making in situations that are complex, time-sensitive, and include moral conflicts, which sport organization leaders may frequently encounter.

中文翻译：

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有限理性还是有限道德？美国国家篮球协会对 COVID-19 的回应

摘要

研究问题

COVID-19 大流行给体育组织带来了一场充满复杂性和道德困境的危机。本研究的目的是检查大流行期间这样一个组织美国国家篮球协会 (NBA) 的决策过程。具体来说，我们从决策和商业道德的理论中汲取知识，以了解决策是如何制定的。

研究方法

我们对 2020 年 1 月 21 日至 7 月 10 日期间的 NBA 媒体报道进行了归纳定性内容分析。共有 152 篇文章被确定并纳入美国最著名的体育新闻媒体 ESPN.com 的分析中。

结果和发现

研究结果表明，NBA 决策的特点是有限理性的认知限制和有限道德的道德限制。随着优先事项的转移，NBA 的决策过程在谨慎和风险之间摇摆不定，联盟、球队和球员都专注于对健康和安全、财务和竞争优势的各种影响。

影响

这项研究扩展了对大流行等危机如何影响体育组织决策的理解。此外，它还强调了有限理性和道德如何在复杂的、时间敏感的情况下影响决策，包括体育组织领导者可能经常遇到的道德冲突。