Beyond Performance: Influence Of Human Values on Project Managers’ Success in European Sport Organizations

Abstract

This study aimed at; analyzing value orientations of project managers operating in the sports sector and examining its relationship to perceived project success. Based on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values, it integrates the framework of value-based leadership. By employing a quantitative design (Schwartz Value Survey), data from 82 project managers in Czech and Slovak sport organizations were collected and analyzed. The findings revealed dominance of benevolence, universalism, and achievement values, fostering team trust, prosocial behavior, and ethical decision-making. A positive correlation between self-transcendence values and project success was confirmed, while performance-oriented values improved short-term results but reduced team cohesion. The study highlights the importance of value alignment between managers, teams, and organizations as a foundation of sustainable sport project management. This study showed a number of limitations and future directions for the new researchers in the area of sports management.