Abstract
It has been said that sponsoring in-house sports teams can help to increase teamwork and loyalty within a firm, though sufficient evidence-based studies have not been done to substantiate this claim. This research aimed to examine the positive impact of a corporate sponsored sports team on its employees, primarily by measuring the following three factors ; 1) corporate shared-value, 2) both internal and external communications, and 3) employees’ attachment to and pride for the company. A questionnaire was sent to all 28,000 employees of Seino Holdings Co., Ltd., which sponsors a corporate baseball team for its employees, and 6,440 valid responses were received. 36.1% of the respondents said they had interest in the team, while 35.7% answered they were neutral toward it, and 28.8% answered that they were not interested in it. Furthermore, 12.3% of the respondents answered that they had participated in the baseball team activities. Both of the groups that showed interest or participated in the team scored higher in all three factors, compared to non-interest / non-participants (p<0.01). The results suggest that engagement of employees in corporate sponsored sports teams contributes to a deepening of inter-organizational relationships, helps to cultivate a collaborative corporate culture, and increases team spirit.
