Internationalizing a Sports Agency

Description

Internationalizing a Sports Agency: Abstract

Just four months after entering the U.S. market, Pro-G Sports Management, a small U.K.-based agency representing professional golfers, faced a major crisis caused in part by the recent hiring of a U.S. agent. Some of the conditions the U.S. agent had unilaterally agreed upon with prospective clients could have had disastrous consequences for the agency, but reneging on those agreements could have damaged the agency’s reputation and put its U.S. venture at risk. Pro-G’s partners, who did not yet fully understand the U.S. market, had conflicting views on how to resolve this problem. To complicate matters, Pro-G then began to lose some of its best European Tour clients, who felt the agency had begun to focus too heavily on the U.S. market at the expense of its European interests. How should Pro-G manage this tricky situation to the satisfaction of both its U.S. and its European clients?

Multi-part case

• Part A
• Part B (included only for Teaching license purchases)

Teaching objectives

This case provides an opportunity to attain three learning objectives:

• Identify the challenges of internationalizing a service-based firm as opposed to a product-based firm
• Learn how to manage the tensions arising between headquarters and foreign subsidiaries
• Understand the responsibilities of subsidiary managers and headquarters managers

Main themes covered

• Internationalizing a service-based
• Managing tensions arising between headquarters and foreign subsidiaries
• Understanding the responsibilities of subsidiary managers and headquarters managers

Concepts and theories related to the case

• Liability of foreignness

Additional information

Teaching notes are available for teachers only. Please contact the HEC Montreal Case Centre.