Keywords
Citation
(2014), "2013 Awards for Excellence", American Journal of Business, Vol. 29 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJB-04-2014-001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2013 Awards for Excellence
Article Type: 2013 Awards for Excellence From: American Journal of Business, Volume 29, Issue 1
The following article was selected for this year’s Outstanding Paper Award for American Journal of Business
"Six Sigma sales and marketing: application to NCAA basketball"
Peter A. Salzarulo and Timothy C. Krehbiel
Department of Management, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA
Stephen Mahar
Information Systems and Operations Management Department, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Lance S. Emerson
Bluegrass Division, Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Purpose – Todays economic climate has fueled intense competition for entertainment dollars, including those spent on professional and intercollegiate sports. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight and demonstrate the use of the Six Sigma methodology as a way to improve event attendance in a sports marketing setting.
Design/methodology/approach – The research utilizes the define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) sequence to evaluate customer requirements and develop recommendations. Surveys, focus groups, and descriptive statistics comprise an important set of tools utilized to accomplish this aim.
Findings – The paper concludes that Six Sigma can be readily applied to a sports marketing setting by explicitly demonstrating the steps employed to reverse a four-year decline in attendance for a collegiate mens basketball program.
Originality/value – The paper is unique in detailing the use of Six Sigma, a traditional quality improvement methodology, in a sports marketing setting. It also highlights the unique elements associated with fully implementing a Six Sigma project in such a seasonal setting as an athletic enterprise.
Keywords: Attendance, DMAIC, Marketing strategy, Six Sigma, Sporting events, Sports marketing, United States of America
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/AJB-04-2014-001
This article originally appeared in Volume 27 Number 2, 2012, American Journal of Business
Outstanding reviewers
Assistant Professor Dave Berger
Associate Professor Mary Wilson Hrivnak