Summary:

This study examined the extent to which empowerment is applied to Greek professional football clubs, and the relationship between empowerment and organizational performance. Empowerment, on the one hand, has been described as a means to enable employees to make decisions and accomplish their work in meaningful ways, and on the other hand, as a personal phenomenon where individuals take responsibility for their own actions. For analytical purposes the participatory football clubs were divided into two groups based on their budget: (a) wealthy football clubs, and (b) less wealthy football clubs. The results of the study indicated that empowerment is being used similarly in wealthy football clubs as well as in less wealthy football clubs. The basic difference between them was in the managerial styles they used. In particular, in less wealthy football clubs there was a strong and positive relationship between average of revenues in five years and two key factors of empowerment such as: the “management information /communication system skills” and the “total of all managerial functions”. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for further research are presented.

Keywords: human resource empowerment, organizational performance, professional football clubs