A Management Model: The Baseball Team

I started talking about this before and got distracted, so let's get back to this. Teams, organizations, companies, corporations, etc, all have one thing in common--Organization. Some forms of organization work better than others. For example, the baseball team. Do you think that the Baseball Team would work organized as a Democracy? I doubt it! Democracy is geared toward larger teams where the individual conceits will not dominate. But take a look at the Baseball Team as a corporate entity. They have a product--sports, or more accurately, entertainment. In selling that product, they have to make enough to pay their expenses (player salaries, travel) and make a profit. If there's no profit, there is no reason to do business nor does the product maintain any level of quality. If you don't believe that, take a look at most non-profits and you'll see a lot of people going through the motions once the 'thrill' of doing something meaningful wears off.

Back to the baseball team, selling the product is selling entertainment. Teams are not national but local, so they have to appeal to the local populace. They make money by selling admission to games, merchandizing, TV rights. And the one thing that stands out in those areas is that they get more money out of it, they have to win. Sure there will always be hard-core fans, but ask anyone at a Kansas City Royal game how many butts are in the seats as opposed to the George Brett years and you'll find a significant difference. But the key here is that selling your product is winning and visa versa. How does a baseball team do this? It's not an exact science, but they hire the best players (who create the product, the workers) and put the best coaches over them (management).

I think you can already see where this is going. Many, many companies fail or just drag along because they try to hire the cheapest labor. Think Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Here is a baseball franchise that has finished last or next to last every year. Look in the stands, if it ain't a good team they're playing, there's very few there.

Now look at the other extreme: When the team is not doing well, what happens? Do they eliminate some of the players to make up the revenue shortfall? No way! The first thing they do is fire the manager. This should be a lesson for business. While you do need to hire the best people to make your product, you need management that will get them to perform at their best.