The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet
The untold story of Real Madrid: one of the most incredible turnarounds in sports and business history.

Real Madrid is the most successful sports team on the planet. The soccer club has more trophies than any other sports team, including 11 UEFA Champions League trophies. However, the story behind the triumph goes beyond the players and coaches. Generally unnoticed, a management team consisting mostly of outsiders took the team from near bankruptcy to the most valuable sports organization in the world.

How did Real Madrid achieve such extraordinary success? Columbia Business School adjunct professor Steven G. Mandis investigates. Given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, Mandis is the first researcher to rigorously ana- lyze both the on-the-field and business aspects of a sports team. What he learns is completely unexpected and challenges the conventional wisdom that moneyball-fueled data analytics are the primary instruments of success. Instead, Real Madrid's winning formula both on and off the field, from player selection to financial management, is based on aligning strategy with the culture and values of its fan base.

Chasing the most talented (and most expensive) players can be a recipe for a winning record, but also financial disaster, as it was for Real Madrid in the late 1990s. Real Madrid's management believes that the club exists to serve the Real Madrid community. They discovered that its fans care more about why the team exists, how their club wins, and whom it wins with versus just winning. The why, how, and whom create a community brand and identity, and inspire extraordinary passion and loyalty, which has led to amazing marketing and commercial success—in turn, attracting and paying for the best players in the world, with the values the fans expect. The club's values and culture also provide a powerful environment for these best players to work together to win trophies.

The Real Madrid Way explains how Real Madrid has created and maintains a culture that drives both financial and on-the-field success. This book is an engrossing account of the lifetime of one of the greatest clubs in the most popular sport in the world, and for business and organization leaders, it's an invaluable inside look at a compelling alternative model with lasting competitive advantages that can deliver superior and sustainable returns and performance.
1123588101
The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet
The untold story of Real Madrid: one of the most incredible turnarounds in sports and business history.

Real Madrid is the most successful sports team on the planet. The soccer club has more trophies than any other sports team, including 11 UEFA Champions League trophies. However, the story behind the triumph goes beyond the players and coaches. Generally unnoticed, a management team consisting mostly of outsiders took the team from near bankruptcy to the most valuable sports organization in the world.

How did Real Madrid achieve such extraordinary success? Columbia Business School adjunct professor Steven G. Mandis investigates. Given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, Mandis is the first researcher to rigorously ana- lyze both the on-the-field and business aspects of a sports team. What he learns is completely unexpected and challenges the conventional wisdom that moneyball-fueled data analytics are the primary instruments of success. Instead, Real Madrid's winning formula both on and off the field, from player selection to financial management, is based on aligning strategy with the culture and values of its fan base.

Chasing the most talented (and most expensive) players can be a recipe for a winning record, but also financial disaster, as it was for Real Madrid in the late 1990s. Real Madrid's management believes that the club exists to serve the Real Madrid community. They discovered that its fans care more about why the team exists, how their club wins, and whom it wins with versus just winning. The why, how, and whom create a community brand and identity, and inspire extraordinary passion and loyalty, which has led to amazing marketing and commercial success—in turn, attracting and paying for the best players in the world, with the values the fans expect. The club's values and culture also provide a powerful environment for these best players to work together to win trophies.

The Real Madrid Way explains how Real Madrid has created and maintains a culture that drives both financial and on-the-field success. This book is an engrossing account of the lifetime of one of the greatest clubs in the most popular sport in the world, and for business and organization leaders, it's an invaluable inside look at a compelling alternative model with lasting competitive advantages that can deliver superior and sustainable returns and performance.
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The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet

The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet

by Steven G. Mandis
The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet

The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet

by Steven G. Mandis

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Overview

The untold story of Real Madrid: one of the most incredible turnarounds in sports and business history.

Real Madrid is the most successful sports team on the planet. The soccer club has more trophies than any other sports team, including 11 UEFA Champions League trophies. However, the story behind the triumph goes beyond the players and coaches. Generally unnoticed, a management team consisting mostly of outsiders took the team from near bankruptcy to the most valuable sports organization in the world.

How did Real Madrid achieve such extraordinary success? Columbia Business School adjunct professor Steven G. Mandis investigates. Given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, Mandis is the first researcher to rigorously ana- lyze both the on-the-field and business aspects of a sports team. What he learns is completely unexpected and challenges the conventional wisdom that moneyball-fueled data analytics are the primary instruments of success. Instead, Real Madrid's winning formula both on and off the field, from player selection to financial management, is based on aligning strategy with the culture and values of its fan base.

Chasing the most talented (and most expensive) players can be a recipe for a winning record, but also financial disaster, as it was for Real Madrid in the late 1990s. Real Madrid's management believes that the club exists to serve the Real Madrid community. They discovered that its fans care more about why the team exists, how their club wins, and whom it wins with versus just winning. The why, how, and whom create a community brand and identity, and inspire extraordinary passion and loyalty, which has led to amazing marketing and commercial success—in turn, attracting and paying for the best players in the world, with the values the fans expect. The club's values and culture also provide a powerful environment for these best players to work together to win trophies.

The Real Madrid Way explains how Real Madrid has created and maintains a culture that drives both financial and on-the-field success. This book is an engrossing account of the lifetime of one of the greatest clubs in the most popular sport in the world, and for business and organization leaders, it's an invaluable inside look at a compelling alternative model with lasting competitive advantages that can deliver superior and sustainable returns and performance.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781942952541
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Publication date: 10/11/2016
Pages: 344
Sales rank: 358,921
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Steven G. Mandis is an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. He also teaches at Columbia's Masters of Sports Management Program. His previous award-winning book, What Happened to Goldman Sachs: An Insider's Story of Organizational Drift and its Unintended Consequences, is a rigorous analysis of if, why, and how the culture of Goldman Sachs changed. Mandis worked at Goldman Sachs in the investment banking, private equity, and proprietary trading areas. After leaving Goldman, he cofounded a multibillion-dollar global alternative asset management firm that was a trading and investment banking client of Goldman's. During the financial crisis, Mandis was a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company before becoming chief of staff to the president and COO of Citigroup and serving on executive, management, and risk committees at the firm. Mandis is Chairman and Senior Partner of Kalamata Capital, a provider of online small business financing. Mandis holds an AB from The University of Chicago and an MA, MPhil and PhD from Columbia University. Mandis was a two sport varsity athlete in college and currently competes in triathlons, including having competed in the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Zell Am See-Kaprun, Austria; and Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco, California. He was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, given to children of immigrants who exemplify a life dedicated to community service.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Introduction: La Décima xxi

Sidebar: Most Soccer Teams Lose Money xxiv

Sidebar: Play-by-Play of La Décima xxvii

Part 1 How Real Madrid Became the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet

1 Real Madrid's On- and Off-Field Dominance 3

Financials 3

Community Support and Brand 6

Championships 9

Sidebar: Differences between MLB, NBA, and European Professional Soccer 10

2 The Real Madrid Way 15

Sidebar: Ownership Structure 23

Moneyball vs. Organizational Culture 31

Sidebar: Interdependence (Ronaldo and Sixty Seconds) 39

Part 2 Galácticos 1.0(1955-60)

3 Early History (1902-60) 49

Santiago Bernabéu 50

1960 European Cup Final 57

Sidebar: Nostalgia for Galácticos 1.0 60

4 Copycats and Financial Struggles 67

Part 3 Galácticos 2.0 (2000-06)

5 Florentino Pérez Elected in 2000 75

Sidebar: What the 2000 Election Reveals about the Real Madrid Community 82

Real Madrid's 2000 Finances Are Worse Than Expected 83

6 The Turnaround Part 1 87

Real Madrid's Mission and Values Statement 87

Sidebar: Why Is Your Organization Purposeful and Meaningful? 91

The Executive Team Goes to Work 96

Strategic Sale of Real Madrid's Ciudad Deportiva 103

7 The Turnaround Part 2 107

Zidanes and Pavones 107

Equal Treatment 110

Captains Appointed by Seniority 112

Homegrown Talent 113

Inspiring Passion and Loyalty 115

Sidebar: Game Day for Real Madrid 126

Not All about the Numbers: Real Madrid Basketball 128

Sidebar: Community Brands and Identity in American Sports 129

Sidebar: The Cardinal Way 135

Galácticos 1.0 Meet Galácticos 2.0 137

Sidebar: Celebrating a Century 140

8 Crisis On the Field, Success Off the Field 141

Too Much Talent: Aging Stars? Too Many Changes? 141

The Crisis: Disappointment on the Field, Resignation 144

Sidebar: Too-Much-Talent Effect 148

Sidebar: The 2003-04 LA Lakers: Too Much Talent or Too Tired and Old? 155

Part 4 Galácticos 3.0 (2009-14)

9 Calderón Period (2006-09) 161

10 Florentino Pérez's Comeback (2009-14) 165

Learning from Experience 167

Sidebar: Phil Jackson ("Zen Master") and Steve Kerr ("Ice") 174

Bold and Brave Actions 186

Sidebar: Señorio 187

Real Madrid's Player Selection Process 188

Sidebar: Too-Tired-and-Old Effect 195

Sidebar: More Speed-It Is a Young Man's Game 201

Sidebar: Spain and the 2014 World Cup 204

Sidebar: Analyzing Stars, Workhorses, and Juniors 205

11 El Clásico-Real Madrid vs. Barcelona 211

Comparison of Financial Performance 213

Comparison of Player Development-the Academies 219

Playing Style 220

Sidebar: Yellow and Red Cards 222

Comparison of On-the-Field Results Since 2011-12 223

Comparison of Priorities 224

Concluding Remarks 225

Part 5 Start of Galácticos 4.0 (2015-)

12 The Future of Real Madrid 229

Investing in the Coach 229

Investing in Executives 232

Investing in the Next Generation of Management: Real Madrid University 234

Investing m the Training of and Facilities for the Players 234

Sidebar: Real Madrid Practice Schedule 237

Digital Ecosystem Transformation 238

"Opening One Stadium to 450 Million Fans" 244

13 Challenges 249

Sidebar: One Goal Makes a Difference 265

Conclusion: Lessons from the Real Madrid Way 269

Appendices

Appendix A Comparison of Galácticos 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 279

Appendix B Season Averages vs. Postseason in Baseball 283

Appendix C Real Madrid Organization Chart (2015) 287

Appendix D Support for Stars, Workhorses, and Juniors Analysis 289

Acknowledgments 295

About the Author 301

Index 303

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