Cross-Cultural faCtors, knowledge transfer and football development in China: insights from a mixed methods approaCh
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Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
Cross-cultural factors,
knowledge transfer
and football development
in China: Insights from
a mixed methods approach
Diego Quer, Jennifer Pedro
ABSTRACT DOI: 10.23762/FSO_VOL9_NO1_3
China has launched a long-term plan for football (soccer) develop-
ment. One of its strategic initiatives consists of recruiting foreign
coaches to obtain advanced skills and knowledge. The aim of this
article is to analyse the reasons why the competitiveness of Chinese
football has not yet reached the level of other countries, as well as to
investigate the role played by the knowledge transferred by coaches
from a leading football country such as Spain. Based on a mixed
methods research design, the results suggest three reasons for the
lower level of development of football in China: the prioritisation of ac-
ademic success by young Chinese football players, traditional learn-
ing via repetition and automatisms, and the lack of success of China’s
national football team. The study contributes to the literature on the
influence of cultural factors on national athletic success. Moreover, it Diego Quer1
offers practical implications for improving China’s national strategy for e-mail: diego.quer@ua.es
football development. Jennifer Pedro
e-mail: jennifer.pedro@ua.es
KEY WORDS University of Alicante, Spain
China, football (soccer), knowledge transfer, national competitive-
ness, cultural factors. 1
Corresponding author
Introduction
For many years, China has been a bench- the case of football (soccer), the results of
mark for sporting success. Its greatest China’s national team are even somewhat
showcase has been the results obtained disappointing. This is striking in a country
at recent editions of the Olympic Games, that, according to the World Bank (2021),
even surpassing the USA at the 2008 Ol- already has 1.398 billion inhabitants, of
ympic Games held in Beijing. However, which it is estimated that around a third
much of this success can be attributed to (about 466 million) do some type of physi-
individual sports with a greater tradition in cal activity, and where there is an ever-in-
China, such as table tennis, badminton, creasing passion for football. With these
and athletics (Bougon and Leplâtre, 2016). ingredients, it is notable that it has not yet
In team sports, albeit with some excep- been possible to form a team of quality
tions such as basketball and volleyball, footballers to make up a more competitive
China does not have a significant record national team.
of success in international competitions. In
Paper received: 17 December 2020 • Paper revised: 22 February 2021 • Paper accepted: 11 March 202142 Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
This fact has not been ignored by the by Chinese companies. This new regula-
current Chinese President Xi Jinping who, tion includes investments in sports clubs
since his accession to power, has intro- within the category of “restricted transac-
duced football into the official agenda of his tions”, given the possibility that they do not
government, promoting a national strategy contribute to the general interest of China,
based on a series of reform programmes or involve excessive risk-taking (Latham
whose objective is to make football part and Watkins, 2017). For this reason, some
of Chinese civic culture (Junior and Rod- Chinese companies have decided to put
rigues, 2017). Leaders of emerging econo- their shares in European football teams up
mies use sport as a tool for reaching social, for sale.
economic, cultural, and political objec- In short, this new strategy is much more
tives (Tinaz and Knott, 2021). In the case oriented to the long term, seeking to devel-
of China, the initiative is based on several op comprehensive projects for the devel-
pillars. First, football is viewed by China’s opment of football, where training schools
government as an opportunity to promote for young footballers are playing a greater
the growth of the entire national sports in- role (Junior and Rodrigues, 2019). By
dustry, and in so doing, contribute to eco- boosting youth football academies, China
nomic development (Junior and Rodrigues, is following what established elite football
2019). Second, this is also seen as a way clubs in Europe have done (Thoene and
to promote China’s soft power, namely Kneubuehler, 2017). The implementation
positioning China as a benchmark coun- of this strategy requires the recruitment of
try in football, and take advantage of the foreign experts and high-profile coaches,
influence and international image derived who may contribute to an improvement
therefrom (Lemus and Valderrey, 2020). in the performance of China’s national
Finally, another fundamental pillar is Presi- football system at various levels (Yu et al.,
dent Xi Jinping himself, a renowned foot- 2019).
ball fan (Gündođan and Sonntag, 2018). To this end, a series of short, medium,
Until recently, the only news about Chi- and long-term objectives have been es-
nese football in other countries referred to tablished, collected in various official doc-
the large amounts of money invested in uments, among which the “Medium and
hiring foreign footballers to raise the level Long-Term Development Plan of Chinese
of the Chinese Super League (the main Football (2016-2050)” stands out (National
domestic competition) and the acquisition Development and Reform Commission,
of stakes in major European football clubs 2016). It details measures such as: the
(Lee and No, 2021). However, the Chinese integration of football in the Chinese gov-
government’s strategy has changed in ernment’s economic and social develop-
recent years. Since 2017, expenditure on ment plan, the construction of new football
the transfers of foreign football players has fields and facilities, and the introduction
been substantially reduced as a result of a of football as a subject in the study pro-
series of restrictive measures, such as forc- grammes of Chinese schools. Hence, it is
ing unprofitable clubs which hire a foreign a comprehensive development plan that
player to invest the same amount of money involves a root-and-branch reform of Chi-
in a fund intended to promote youth foot- nese football, including professional clubs,
ball. At the same time, the Chinese govern- competitions, the national team, and youth
ment issued a new regulation to rationalise academies (Liu et al., 2017). The ultimate
outward foreign direct investments made goal is to realise what the plan itself callsCross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football... 43
“China’s football dream”, which includes be- 1. Literature review
coming a football global power by 2050. It
involves, among other objectives, qualify- 1.1. Cultural factors and sports
ing for, hosting, and ultimately winning the success
FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Several variables influence a country’s
Association) World Cup (Zhang, 2020). performance in international sporting
The aim of our study is to investigate the competitions. In the case of football, it is
reasons why the competitiveness of foot- noteworthy that, despite being a universal
ball in China has not yet reached the level sport, international success strongly differs
of other countries with greater international among world regions. This may be illus-
achievements in the sport. To do this, we trated by performance in the 21 FIFA World
will examine the role played by factors re- Cup tournaments held between 1930 and
lated to national culture. More precisely, we 2018. Only eight national teams have won
seek to answer these two research ques- the tournament: Brazil (five times), Ger-
tions: Why is Chinese football still not com- many and Italy (four times each), Argen-
petitive internationally? How do cultural tina, France, and Uruguay (twice each),
factors affect the determinants of China’s and England and Spain (once each). This
competitiveness in football? shows a clear regional bias, since winners
This study makes several contributions. have only come from Europe and South
First, it contributes to the literature on inter- America to date. Moreover, no team from
national management, analysing the role outside those continents has been runner-
played by cross-cultural differences in na- up, and only two have even reached the
tional athletic success. Second, it provides semi-finals: the USA (in 1930) and South
new empirical evidence on international Korea (2002).
management in the field of sport, a topic A large population seems not to be a de-
that has not been analysed so far, in par- terminant of success. China and India, the
ticular with regard to football and cultural world’s two most populous countries, have
factors (Peeters et al., 2021; Szymanski et not enjoyed any success in the FIFA World
al., 2019, 2021; van Bakel and Salzbren- Cup, with the only exception being China’s
ner, 2019). Finally, it offers practical impli- qualification for the 2002 tournament, al-
cations about the transfer of knowledge beit with disappointing results in the three
and skills from leading football countries games played: three losses, no goals
to China, which is seeking to improve its scored, and nine goals conceded. While
global football positioning. a large population can produce a greater
The remainder of the article is structured pool of talented football players, this may
as follows. The next section outlines the be capitalised upon only if individuals play
literature review. Then, the methodology football instead of other sports; this, in turn,
used in the empirical study is explained depends on the country’s cultural predis-
and the main results are reported. After the position toward football (Hoffmann et al.,
discussion, we suggest potential avenues 2002). This suggests that cultural factors
for future research. matter when explaining international sport-
ing success.
National culture affects the assessment
of physical and aesthetic factors of a given
sport, its popularity among citizens, and
the reasons for playing, including not only44 Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
incomes but also non-pecuniary motiva- experiences in sports activities to China.
tions (Hoffmann et al., 2002, 2004). Past The above reasoning suggests that cul-
studies have investigated the impact of ture really matters, not only when explain-
certain cultural factors on the success of ing the sporting performance of a given
football teams. One such factor is collec- country, but also the validity of the transfer
tivism, namely the importance attached by of sporting knowledge and methods from
a society to collective accomplishments one country to another. Next, we outline the
instead of individual achievements (Hofst- theoretical framework used in this study.
ede, 1980). In team sports such as football,
this variable showing a dichotomy between 1.2. Hofstede’s Model
the “I” and the “we”, or group identity, may Regarding the analysis of cultural dif-
play a key role. Accordingly, Maderer et al. ferences between countries, one of the
(2014) find that European football clubs most relevant conceptual frameworks is
with players from more collectivist cultures Hofstede’s model. Initially developed by
are more successful, as they tend to subor- Hofstede (1980) and later expanded by
dinate their individual goals to those of the Hofstede et al. (2010), this model revolves
team. Furthermore, Hoffmann et al. (2002) around the concept of cultural distance,
report that certain underlying cultural roots referring to the differences existing in re-
inherent in Latin societies contribute to the lation to the way individuals from different
popularity of football, this being a determi- countries observe certain behaviours. This,
nant of national team performance in those in turn, influences the validity of the trans-
countries with a larger population. fer of work practices and methods from
As for football in China, prior research one country to another. This model has
has also addressed the influence of culture- also had a significant academic impact
related variables. Hence, Lemus and Val- and has been widely used in numerous re-
derrey (2020) suggest that football could search studies (Andrijauskiene and Dum-
contribute to raising China’s sense of na- ciuviene, 2018; Quer et al., 2017; Rigtering
tional pride if a winning football team could et al., 2017; Wu, 2006). Hofstede’s model
be put together. Yu et al. (2019) posit that considers that the values that distinguish
Chinese football nowadays represents an one country from another can be grouped
idiosyncratic collection of players, coach- around six dimensions of national culture,
es, fans, firms, and state actors that create which we summarise below, following Hof-
cultural interdependencies, where China’s stede et al. (2010).
government seeks to promote football as The first of these is “power distance”,
part of everyday cultural life. Wang and or the degree to which the less powerful
Hu (2017) highlight that, in team sports, members of a society accept that inequali-
the usual mentoring relationship between ties exist in a social hierarchy. The second
coach and athletes, starting when the lat- dimension is “individualism versus collec-
ter are young, is influenced by guanxi, a tivism”, or the degree to which individualis-
distinctive feature of China’s culture that tic or collective behaviours are valued. The
refers to the importance of interpersonal third is the so-called “masculinity versus
connections and social networks as driv- femininity” and refers to the relative im-
ers of many aspects of Chinese society. Fi- portance of values traditionally associated
nally, Liu et al. (2017) point out that cultural with men (achievement, material rewards
differences may hinder the applicability of for success, etc.) and women (quality of
Western best practices and professional life, solidarity, personal relationships, etc.).Cross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football... 45
The fourth dimension is “uncertainty avoid- QUAL design in a novel study helps to dis-
ance”, or the degree to which the members cern the variables to be measured (Molina,
of a society feel uncomfortable with uncer- 2013). Thus, the first qualitative part helped
tainty and ambiguity. The fifth one is “long- us to propose hypotheses, to improve the
term versus short-term orientation,” that is, quantitative instrument for collecting in-
the preference for quick results over perse- formation, and to know more about the
verance for future rewards. The last dimen- context for the selection of the sample and
sion is “indulgence versus restraint”, asso- the use of specific variables and meas-
ciated with the social tendency towards the ures (Creswell, 2015). Later, in terms of the
free gratification of the desires to enjoy life QUAN design, we used a survey to collect
and have fun or towards the establishment quantitative data and test the hypotheses.
of social norms that restrict those behav- The survey items were based on the first
iours in some way. qualitative part of the study, which allowed
Hofstede’s model will be used in our the variables to be more specific and ap-
study to justify the influence that Chinese propriate.
culture exerts on the structural deter-
minants of competitiveness of Chinese 2.1. Qualitative research design
football. Before doing so, we will explain The qualitative research was based on
how we have conducted our empirical re- evidence derived from the experience and
search. opinions of the individuals who were inter-
viewed (Sánchez, 2019). Hence, we first
2. Methodology carried out an exploratory study to exam-
We have adopted a mixed or hybrid ine a phenomenon for which there is no
methods approach, which is increasingly well-defined theoretical framework, with
used in business and management re- the aim of developing hypotheses (Eisen-
search. Mixed methods research is based hardt, 1989; Yin, 2014). Exploratory studies
on a combination of qualitative and quan- are suitable in situations in which there is
titative research approaches with the goal no consolidated knowledge about the area
of broader and deeper understanding and under study (Liamputtong and Ezzy, 2000),
corroboration (Johnson et al., 2007). There as is the case in our research. Additionally,
are several types of mixed methodology. In it was a comparative or multiple study, in
this study, we use a QUAL → QUAN se- which the same questions were asked to
quential design, which allocates the same compare the answers obtained and draw
degree of importance to both the qualita- conclusions therefrom. In order to collect
tive (QUAL) and the quantitative (QUAN) information, we conducted in-depth inter-
parts. We initially proposed an exploratory views with professionals linked to football
design, whereby the first qualitative part in China. As Johnson (2001) points out,
allowed us to explore the phenomenon in-depth interviews are useful when knowl-
which is the topic of this study. In addition, edge is often taken for granted and not
the main purpose was development, since easily articulated and where different indi-
the qualitative part facilitated the better viduals may have multiple perspectives on
subsequent execution of the quantitative the phenomenon to be analysed.
part (Molina, 2012; Sánchez, 2019). The interviewees had different profiles
We considered that a mixed methods and backgrounds, including not only for-
approach was the most appropriate op- eigners but also a Chinese national. This
tion in our empirical research because the allowed us to obtain primary information46 Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
from different perspectives, which was an increasing number of Spanish coaches
very useful and enriched the first part of our have landed in China, not only to join Chi-
empirical research. In terms of the foreign nese professional football teams, but also
participants, we focused on Spaniards, to integrate the technical staff of the foot-
as Spain is considered one of the world’s ball schools that are being implemented
leading football countries. To implement throughout the country.
the abovementioned national strategy for All the interviews were conducted in per-
football development, China needs to ab- son, in some cases complemented with
sorb knowledge from other countries that digital tools. Although we used a semi-
are already a world benchmark in football, structured interview script, it included
one of them being Spain. Accordingly, only open questions to give the interview-
China has established cooperation agree- ees more freedom when expressing their
ments with Spanish organisations such as opinions (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007).
the Professional Football League (LaLiga) These questions focused on the following
and the Royal Spanish Football Federation general topics: the professional experience
(RFEF), as well as with various renowned of the interviewee, facilities and existing
Spanish football clubs such as Real Ma- infrastructure in China, training methods,
drid, Atlético de Madrid, and Villarreal. One organisation of competitions, and cultural
of the central axes of these cooperation factors. Table 1 offers a descriptive analy-
agreements is youth football. As a result, sis of the individuals interviewed.
Table 1. Interviewee profile (qualitative study)
Name Nationality Activity developed in China Interview date
Alexandra Fernández Spanish Youth football coach November 2019
Sergio Pou Spanish Youth football coach March 2020
Jaime Pérez Spanish Youth football coach April 2020
Luis García Plaza Spanish Professional football coach March 2020
Harrison Lu Chinese University professor / Amateur footballer April 2020
Source: Own elaboration.
2.2. Quantitative research design which consists of asking respondents to
We used a survey instrument adminis- share the online questionnaire with their
tered online through the “Microsoft Forms” acquaintances who have or have had
application. During the first stage, a ques- a relationship with Chinese football. Snow-
tionnaire was sent out to the individuals ball sampling is a solution in hidden popu-
interviewed during the qualitative study lations, as in our case, namely when the
to carry out a pre-test in order to analyse population of interest is not fully known, not
the attributes of the questionnaire, before well defined and fully listed, and creating
preparing the final version. In the second a sampling framework is difficult or impos-
phase, the questionnaire was sent out to sible (Voicu and Babonea, 2007). Besides,
the target population using various online this method has the advantages of avoid-
channels such as email, WhatsApp, and ing experimenter selection bias and facili-
WeChat (the latter being the most popular tating the collection of experimental data
social media application in China). The tar- (Jackson et al., 1996). Initially, we based
get population was made up of profession- data collection on the personal connec-
als linked to football in China. Respondents tions of the interviewees in the qualitative
were reached using snowball sampling, study as well as on those of one of the au-Cross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football... 47
thors of this article, who has been an elite Alexandra Fernández also perceived
football player. Finally, a total of 115 useful that in China “the family is very important,
responses were received. and parents are highly respected. Par-
ents want their children to study and build
3. Research results a future; this may cut off their development
3.1. Qualitative research for team sports”. The one-child policy (in
Based on the information obtained from force between 1979 and 2015) might have
the interviews carried out in the qualitative played a role as well. It might have created
study, we proposed various hypotheses a more individualistic generation against
related to the theoretical framework of our the Chinese tradition of “collectivism” (ac-
study: Hofstede’s model of cultural differ- cording to Hofstede’s model). This could
ences between countries. have made it easier for them to excel in in-
A first noteworthy result extracted from dividual sports rather than in team sports.
the interviews was the importance given The search for academic success refers to
to academic studies in China. Alexandra another dimension of Hofstede’s model:
Fernández highlighted the everyday life of “masculinity versus femininity”. Likewise,
Chinese schoolchildren: “They have class- the dimension of “indulgence versus re-
es at school from Monday to Saturday. The straint” can also be considered since, by
schedule is very demanding, from 7 a.m. prioritising academic success, sport can
to 7 p.m., so that later the children do not be perceived as a waste of time that pre-
have time for other activities. They finish vents students focusing on what is truly
classes, do their homework and at 9 p.m. important: their studies. Accordingly, we
they are in bed, to start over again the next propose the following hypothesis:
day. Also, at age 14, many children go to Hypothesis 1. The lower number of young
boarding schools and can no longer be in football players who become profession-
a football team outside school. From 15 to als in China is caused by the prioritisation
19 years old, there are boarding schools of academic success, the consideration
where teenagers dedicate themselves ex- of football only as a leisure activity that
clusively to football, but many parents do takes time away from studying, and the
not want that future for their children”. fulfilment of parents’ wishes (which leads
Apart from the importance placed on many young football players to focus on
academic studies, China’s culture is char- their academic training).
acterised by a large degree of “power dis- To promote the competitiveness of
tance”, according to Hofstede’s model. In a country in a given sport, there must be
China there is great respect for hierarchy, people with the appropriate qualifications,
particularly within the family itself. Thus, and with specific skills for the requirements
many parents make decisions about the of the activity. Regarding this, it should be
path their children should follow. Harrison noted that the habit of “following the lead-
Lu pointed out that “most Chinese par- er” in China may limit improvisation. Luis
ents attach importance to academic stud- García Plaza referred to this when asked
ies; improving in football is not important about his perception the first time he came
compared to academic studies; most par- into contact with Chinese football: “The
ents will not allow their children to spend Chinese are very disciplined, but the train-
too much time and money on football ing they use in football academies is very
training”. analytical, they lack talent and inventive-
ness on the field”.48 Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
It is remarkable that, when asked about decision-making is encouraged, and the
training methods, all the interviewees combination of several simultaneous tech-
agree that the most commonly used sys- nical actions is promoted. This was em-
tem in Chinese football is that of repetition phasised by Luis García Plaza: “Spanish
to create automatisms. Sergio Pou high- coaches try to use more training methods.
lighted this point: “Their methods, both The Chinese coaches used very analytical
training and learning, are based heavily on and simple methods”. Accordingly, we pro-
the repetition and automatism of technical pose the following hypothesis:
skills. They are capable of investing many Hypothesis 2. In China there are many
long training sessions during a week, re- rules and norms of behaviour leading to
peating and repeating what they want to learning based on repetition and automa-
learn at that moment”. As for Chinese foot- tisms which, together with the habit of fol-
ball coaches, Jaime Pérez added that: “It lowing the leader, may be beneficial for
is difficult for them to accept some kind of individual sports, but not for team sports
freedom in decision-making for the football such as football.
player, and this makes them more prone to When it comes to cultural affinity toward
using direct command methods which are football, drawing on his experience as
simpler”. a professional football coach in China, Luis
Alexandra Fernández explained her own García Plaza stated that “they like football,
experience in the face of the problem she but not so much. There are many people
encountered when she arrived in China: who dedicate themselves to other things
“When I arrived in China, I wanted to train and, although they watch football, there is
in an integrated way; at first, it was difficult a larger tradition in other sports, especially
for the Chinese trainers to understand the individual sports”. This idea is perceived in
exercises and I had to end up replacing the the same way by the Chinese themselves,
integrated training with individual technique as Harrison Lu confirmed: “We don’t have
sessions and repetition training”. Harrison a strong cultural environment around foot-
Lu’s Chinese vision confirmed the above ball. I mean we have a lot of fans of this
comments from the Spanish interviewees: sport, but the actual number of fans is very
“I have seen some training sessions where limited”. Finally, Alexandra Fernández also
the coach instructs the technique (such as commented on her perception of whether
shooting or passing with different parts of or not there is a real cultural environment
the feet), then the players imitate the tech- in China around football: “There are still
nique; they repeat them several times and Chinese people who don’t know what foot-
then move on to the next task”. This con- ball is. Children who know football, it is be-
text can be explained because, as previ- cause of the new approach of the Chinese
ously mentioned, in China there is a high president, because they are compelled to
level of “power distance” according to Hof- practice it in schools”.
stede’s model, which, in turn, promotes the The latter is something that does not hap-
above-mentioned habit of “following the pen in a country like Spain, because the
leader”. Furthermore, even though China media continuously report football-related
has a low score in the “uncertainty avoid- news. Moreover, as Harrison Lu pointed
ance” dimension, there are many norms out: “The atmosphere of football in China
and rules of behaviour in Chinese society. is not always positive; Chinese football is
On the contrary, in Spanish football train- sometimes mocked by the Chinese them-
ing, an integrated methodology is used, selves, especially when it comes to theCross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football... 49
men’s national football team”. This state- 3.2. Quantitative research
ment regarding the lack of success of Chi- As stated above, we used a survey in-
na’s national football team is also shared strument in our quantitative research. The
by Luis García Plaza: “At the national team respondents were asked to rate several
level they are unable to succeed”. This items on a five-point Likert scale from
prevents the Chinese population from be- 1 = “strongly disagree” to 5 = “strongly
ing proud of their national football team agree” (Dawes, 2008). To prepare the
and, thereby, cannot motivate further de- questionnaire, we relied on previous stud-
velopment and interest in football, taking ies that analysed the competitiveness of
advantage of the high collectivist nature of industries in specific locations (Adarmes,
Chinese society suggested by Hofstede’s 2016; Akçagün, 2013; Horta et al., 2016).
model. Accordingly, we propose the fol- Regarding the questions related to Hofst-
lowing hypothesis: ede’s model, we based these on the Val-
Hypothesis 3. The lack of success of Chi- ues Survey Module (VSM) questionnaire
na’s national football team prevents foot- developed by Hofstede and Minkov (2013).
ball from contributing to the development However, in both cases, the questions were
of national pride based on the collectivism adapted to the specific needs and objec-
of Chinese culture, which is a contributing tives of our empirical research, according
factor to the lack of football tradition in that to the previous qualitative research. Table
country. 2 summarises the questions, variables and
measures related to each hypothesis.
Table 2. Variables, measurements, and their corresponding hypotheses (quantitative study)
Question No. Variable Hypothesis
1 In China there are few young football players who become professional footballers. H1
The main reason for the above statement is that:
– The Chinese prioritise success in their academic training over success in professional
football.
2 – The Chinese consider football to be just a leisure activity that takes time away from other H1
more productive activities.
– Many young Chinese fulfil the wishes of their parents and focus on their academic train-
ing, finally dissociating themselves from football.
Traditional training methods in China can be beneficial for individual sports, but not for team
3 H2
sports such as football.
The main reason for the above statement is that:
– In China there are many rules and norms of behaviour that promote learning based on
4 repetition (that is, repeating the same action many times until it is automated). H2
– The Chinese have the habit of “following the leader”, which makes them very disciplined,
but restricts improvisation when making decisions.
The limited tradition of football in China is due in part to the lack of success of its national
5 football team, which has prevented the development of a sense of national pride related to H3
football.
Measurement of all variables: 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neutral;
4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly agree)
Source: Own elaboration.
Next, we report the main findings from 3.2.1. Test of Hypothesis 1
our quantitative empirical research, which Hypothesis 1, which refers to the low
we analysed using SPSS Statistics Version number of young football players who be-
26 software. come professionals, was tested by ana-
lysing crosstabs and the Chi-square test
(χ2-test) from questions 1 and 2. If the χ250 Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
– test turns out to be statistically significant, ing categories will be related. ARs that are
we can conclude that there is an associa- greater than 1.96 in absolute value will be
tion between the categorical variables. statistically significant at the 0.05 level,
Furthermore, we will obtain the adjusted and those that are greater than 2.58 in ab-
residuals (ARs) to analyse the relationship solute value will be significant at the 0.01
between categories, so that if the AR is level (Rodríguez and Mora, 2001). Tables 3,
large (in absolute values), the correspond- 4 and 5 show the results obtained.
Table 3. χ2-test for “prioritisation of academic success” and “limited number of young football
players who become professional footballers” (Hypothesis 1)
Limited number of young football players who become professional footballers
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Total
disagree agree
Strongly Count 2 5 1 4 4 16
disagree AR 1.2 1.7 -1.0 -.4 -.8
Count 1 3 1 4 3 12
Disagree
AR .3 .8 -.7 .4 -.7
Prioritisa-
tion of Count 1 5 4 4 2 16
Neutral
academic AR .0 1.7 1.2 -.4 -1.9
success
Count 2 2 8 12 12 36
Agree
AR -.2 -2.1 1.5 .7 -.1
Strongly Count 1 4 3 9 18 35
agree AR -1.0 -1.0 -1.2 -.5 2.6
Total Count 7 19 17 33 39 115
χ2-test: 20.818 (Sig. 0.186)
Source: Own elaboration.
Table 4. χ2-test for “football is just a leisure activity” and “limited number of young football players
who become professional footballers” (Hypothesis 1)
Limited number of young football players who become professional footballers
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Total
disagree agree
Strongly Count 1 4 1 3 2 11
disagree AR .4 1.9 -.6 -.1 -1.2
Count 1 4 4 6 4 19
Disagree
AR -.2 .6 .8 .3 -1.3
Football
is just a Count 4 4 4 5 1 18
Neutral
leisure AR 3.1 .7 1.0 -.1 -2.8
activity
Count 1 4 6 14 13 38
Agree
AR -1.1 -1.2 .2 1.4 .0
Strongly Count 0 3 2 5 19 29
agree AR -1.6 -1.0 -1.4 -1.6 4.2
Total Count 7 19 17 33 39 115
χ 2-test: 34.580 (Sig. 0.005)
Source: Own elaboration.Cross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football... 51
Table 5. χ2-test for “fulfilling parents’ wishes” and “limited number of young football players
who become professional footballers” (Hypothesis 1)
Limited number of young football players who become professional footballers
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Total
disagree agree
Strongly Count 0 3 0 0 0 3
disagree AR -.4 3.9 -.7 -1.1 -1.3
Count 1 4 2 2 3 12
Disagree
AR .3 1.7 .2 -1.0 -.7
Fulfilling Count 4 5 2 8 3 22
parents’ Neutral
wishes AR 2.6 .9 -.8 .9 -2.2
Count 2 5 13 19 17 56
Agree
AR -1.1 -2.1 2.5 1.2 -.8
Strongly Count 0 2 0 4 16 22
agree AR -1.3 -1.0 -2.2 -1.2 4.3
Total Count 7 19 17 33 39 115
χ 2-test: 49.545 (Sig. 0.000)
Source: Own elaboration.
As shown in Table 3, the χ -test is not sta-
2
As a result, our findings suggest that
tistically significant (Sig. 0.186). Therefore, the consideration of football only as
we cannot conclude that there is an asso- a leisure activity that takes time away from
ciation between the variables “prioritisation other more productive activities, and the
of academic success” and “limited number fulfilment of parents’ wishes (which leads
of young football players who become pro- many young football players to focus on
fessional footballers”. Conversely, Table 4 their academic training) are the two main
reports a χ2-test that is statistically signifi- reasons for the limited number of young
cant (Sig. 0.005). Hence, there is an asso- football players who become profession-
ciation between the variables “football is als in China. The prioritisation of academic
just a leisure activity” and “limited number success turns out not to be a direct deter-
of young football players who become pro- mining factor in itself, suggesting that it is
fessional footballers”. Analysing crosstabs, parents who force young Chinese people
we find an AR of 4.2 between the “strongly to focus on their academic careers, lead-
agree” categories of both variables, being ing them to distance themselves from foot-
greater than 2.58, and consequently statis- ball. Thus, our findings provide partial sup-
tically significant at the 0.01 level. Similarly, port for Hypothesis 1.
as shown in Table 5, the χ2-test is also sta-
tistically significant (Sig. 0.000). Accord- 3.2.2. Test of Hypothesis 2
ingly, there is an association between the Hypothesis 2, related to rules and behav-
variables “fulfilling parents’ wishes” and ioural norms that promote learning based
“limited number of young football players on repetition, was tested in a similar way,
who become professional footballers”. In namely using crosstabs and the χ2-test, in
this case, crosstabs show an AR of 4.3 this case based on questions 3 and 4. Ta-
between the “strongly agree” categories of bles 6 and 7 show the results.
both variables, thereby being statistically
significant at the 0.01 level as well.52 Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
Table 6. χ2-test for “many rules and norms of behaviour” and “traditional training methods
beneficial for individual sports” (Hypothesis 2)
Traditional training methods beneficial for individual sports
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Total
disagree agree
Strongly Count 1 0 0 0 2 3
disagree AR 4.2 -.3 -.3 -1.1 .1
Count 0 2 0 3 0 5
Disagree
Many rules AR -.3 5.4 -.4 1.6 -3.0
and norms Count 0 0 0 1 0 1
of behav- Neutral
AR -.1 -.2 -.2 1.6 -1.3
iour
Count 0 1 3 17 9 30
Agree
AR -.8 .3 2.3 3.9 -4.4
Strongly Count 1 0 1 12 62 76
agree AR -.5 -2.5 -1.8 -4.3 5.6
Total Count 2 3 4 33 73 115
χ 2-test: 81.835 (Sig. 0.000)
Source: Own elaboration.
Table 7. χ -test for “following the leader” and “traditional training methods
2
beneficial for individual sports” (Hypothesis 2)
Traditional training methods beneficial for individual sports
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Total
disagree agree
Strongly Count 1 1 0 0 0 2
disagree AR 5.3 4.2 -.3 -.9 -1.9
Count 0 0 0 4 5 9
Disagree
AR -.4 -.5 -.6 1.1 -.5
Following Count 0 1 1 4 5 11
Neutral
the leader AR -.5 1.4 1.1 .6 -1.3
Count 1 1 3 11 19 35
Agree
AR .6 .1 2.0 .4 -1.4
Strongly Count 0 0 0 14 44 58
agree AR -1.4 -1.8 -2.1 -1.1 2.8
Total Count 2 3 4 33 73 115
χ 2-test: 61.023 (Sig. 0.000)
Source: Own elaboration.
Table 6 reports the statistical significance based on repetition and the tradition of fol-
of the χ2-test (Sig. 0.000) and the AR (5.6) lowing the leader seem to be determinants
between the “strongly agree” categories of traditional training methods in China that
of the variables “many rules and norms of can be beneficial for individual sports, but
behaviour” and “traditional training meth- not for team sports such as football.
ods beneficial for individual sports”. Like-
wise, Table 7 shows both a statistically 3.2.3. Test of Hypothesis 3
significant χ2-test (Sig. 0.000) and AR (2.8) To test Hypothesis 3, dealing with the
between the “strongly agree” categories lack of football tradition in China, we ana-
of the variables “following the leader” and lysed frequencies and descriptive statis-
“traditional training methods beneficial for tics of the responses to question 5. Table 8
individual sports”. This provides strong shows the results.
support to Hypothesis 2, as both rules
and behavioural norms leading to learningCross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football... 53
Table 8. Frequencies and descriptive statistics for “limited tradition of football in China due to the lack of suc-
cess of its national football team” (Hypothesis 3)
Limited tradition of football in China due to the lack of success of its national football team
Frequency Percent Cumulative percent
Strongly disagree 3 2.6 2.6
Disagree 16 13.9 16.5
Neutral 29 25.2 41.7
Agree 50 43.5 85.2
Strongly agree 17 14.8 100.0
Total 115 100.0
Mean: 3.54; Standard deviation: .994
Source: Own elaboration.
We obtained a mean of only 3.54, which demanding national examination for en-
suggests that the lack of success of Chi- trance to universities in China.
na’s national football team is not a decisive The use of repetitive learning methods to
factor in the limited tradition of this sport imitate behaviours, another factor deeply
in China. However, we could consider that rooted in Chinese culture, also plays a role
it does have some influence, since 67 re- here. These traditional methods prevent
spondents, or 58.3%, “agree” or “strongly improvisation and creativity among football
agree” with that categorisation. In actual players, which may have a direct influence
fact, a successful achievement such as on performance in team sports. Integrated
Spain experienced with the victories of its training methods, that is, using real game
national football team in the 2008 and 2012 situations in which technical, tactical, and
European Championships and the 2010 physical aspects are present, are used to
World Cup would have generated a feeling a much greater extent in Spain (Gallardo
of national pride in China and would have et al., 2020; Pacheco, 2007). Conversely,
awakened the interest of many young Chi- China continues to use analytical and
nese in this sport. In any case, the results repetition methods for the acquisition of
obtained lead us to consider Hypothesis 3 technical skills, which hinders the motiva-
as only partially supported. tion and performance of players (León et
al., 2020). Furthermore, a sense of national
4.Discussion pride is another distinctive characteristic
Our study has investigated the cultural of Chinese culture, albeit football is not in-
factors that have not yet allowed China to cluded. The lack of international success
catch up to other countries with a longer of China’s national football team seems to
football tradition, such as Spain. From undermine the development of a sense of
a social and educational viewpoint, our national pride around football to some ex-
results suggest that high pressure on the tent, which hinders the promotion of foot-
part of parents and the very structure of ball among younger generations.
the Chinese educational system, which As stated above, one of the key ele-
leads students to be very competitive ments of China’s long-term plan for foot-
when it comes to access to higher educa- ball development relies on foreign coach-
tion, makes it difficult for young Chinese es being hired in China to introduce new
to practice and continue their sporting ca- coaching methods, practices, and tactics.
reers (Li, 2020). An outstanding example The results of this strategy probably still
of this is the so-called “gaokao”, the highly need more time to materialise in terms of54 Forum Scientiae Oeconomia • Volume 9 (2021) • No. 1
performance in international football com- al., 2019, 2021; van Bakel and Salzbrenner,
petitions, thereby reducing the gap be- 2019). Third, we also presented certain
tween China and high-performing football practical implications about the transfer of
countries. Drawbacks arising from cultural football knowledge and skills from leading
distance must be overcome. As reported countries such as Spain to others, such as
by Peeters et al. (2021), a greater cultural China, which are trying to upgrade their in-
distance between a foreign coach’s home ternational competitiveness.
country and the destination country reduces Finally, our study may constitute a first
the effectiveness of learning-by-hiring, yet step to progress in the three areas pro-
migrant coaches with extensive international posed by Szymanski et al. (2021) as av-
experience can mitigate that negative effect. enues for future research on sport and
Although coaches with prior intercultural international management: national com-
experience are more likely to communicate petitiveness (analysing cultural and insti-
better with players from a different cultural tutional characteristics of some countries
background, this does not always lead to that have led them to be leaders in some
superior team performance. Past studies sports); global innovation, learning, and
addressing this issue in elite football teams diffusion of organisational practices (ad-
did not reach conclusive findings. Thus, dressing knowledge transfer from one
whereas Maderer et al. (2014) fail to con- country to another); and international hu-
firm that the intercultural experience of the man resources (focusing on global human
coach positively moderates the relationship resource mobility, recruitment of talent
between cultural distance to team members from other countries, etc.).
and team success, Szymanski et al. (2019)
report that national teams with multicultural 4.2. Limitations and future re-
coaches perform better only when the com- search
petitive environment is highly global, namely Despite these contributions, our study
at the FIFA World Cup instead of regional is not without limitations. The first of these
tournaments such as the European Cham- may be the possible bias of the results ob-
pionship and Copa America. tained, since we have relied on subjective
evaluations of the interviewees and the sur-
4.1. Contributions vey respondents that may be influenced by
Our study makes several contributions. their own personal experience: the dura-
First, we contribute to the literature on in- tion of their professional stay in China, the
ternational management by analysing the specific place where they have worked,
influence that cultural idiosyncrasy has possible problems of cultural adaptation in
on the structural determinants of national the case of foreigners, etc. Future research
competitiveness in a particular sector. In controlling for these factors could help us
doing so, we draw on Hofstede’s model to overcome this limitation.
of cultural differences between countries. Secondly, we have focused on Spain as
Second, we have provided new empirical a world-leading football country transfer-
evidence on international management ring football skills and knowledge to China.
in the field of sport, a research topic that This may have conditioned some of our
has received scant academic attention results. Future studies considering other
so far, especially in the case of the influ- leading football countries could allow us to
ence of cultural factors on football devel- discern whether the findings reported here
opment (Peeters et al., 2021; Szymanski et are generalisable to other contexts.Cross-cultural factors, knowledge transfer and football... 55
Conclusions Creswell, J.W. (2015), A Concise Introduc-
tion to Mixed Methods Research, Thou-
China is pursuing the strategic objec-
sand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
tive of becoming a world football power
Dawes, J. (2008), Do data characteris-
by 2050, as the ultimate goal of its so- tics change according to the number
called “football dream”. After several years of scale points used? An experiment
in which its initiatives focused on heavy using 5-point, 7-point and 10-point
financial outlays to attract foreign foot- scales, International Journal of Market
ball stars to its domestic football league Research, 50(1), 61-104. https://doi.org/
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adopting a mindset more in line with one from case-study research, Academy of
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