This is the Executive Summary of the Doctoral Dissertation entitled: Tenure of Managers in the Private Club Industry: An analysis of demographic, job content, and organizational contributing factors
by Michael Robinson, Ph.D., MCM

This study was designed to expand the existing body of knowledge on club manager tenure by analyzing the demographic, job content, and organizational factors that affect the tenure of club managers. The research expanded and updated the existing body of information on club manager tenure using a population of 3,341 active club managers, resulting in 1,099 respondents. The research was accomplished with a questionnaire that asked managers to assess factors related to why they left their most recent club manager position.

It was hypothesized in the study that there were demographic, job content, or organizational factors that significantly contributed to the tenure of managers in the private club industry. Results indicate that there are some demographic factors, job content, and organizational factors that contribute to the tenure of club managers. The study found the mean tenure of club managers to be 5.1 years in their most previous position. Club managers may want to reconsider accepting the 2½-year tenure figure often quoted by some industry experts and executive recruiters.

With 17.1% of responding managers stating that they were terminated, managers and clubs may want to explore why managers are fired. With over 63% of responding managers stating that they were recruited or sought out a better opportunity, clubs and managers may want to research the factors that make clubs desirable to managers. Private clubs and managers may want to explore the factors that create an atmosphere and club culture that is conducive to the long tenure of managers and satisfaction among club members.

Many of the responding club managers commented on the value of this study and expressed interest in receiving an executive summary upon completion of the research. Based on the club manager responses in the comment section of the questionnaire, intent to quit and desire to turnover should be studied in conjunction with job satisfaction among the managers of private membership clubs.

The complete copyrighted dissertation (UMI Number 3162629) is available through the UMI Pro Quest Digital Dissertations.  All royalties from sales of the dissertation will be donated to CMAA's Club Foundation.