12286: Celebrity Entrepreneur Turnaround Strategy: The Case of Wrexham Association Football Club (session 26157)

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

10:15 - 11:45 CEST (GMT+2)

Location: Bella Center: Hall B- B3-m2

Session Type: Paper Session
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/ZK8ayD

Author(s)

SN

Scott L. Newbert

City U. of New York, Baruch College, United States
CS

Clau Sganzerla

Texas Tech U., United States
TD

Tanurima Dutta

Baruch College of the City University of New York, United States
TW

Theodore L. Waldron

Louisiana State University, United States

An increasing number of celebrities are successfully turning around failing organizations. Unfortunately, the economically rational approach to turnaround espoused in extant strategy research does not apply to celebrity entrepreneurship given celebrities’ concern with generating positive emotional and moral (as well as rational) responses to their decisions. Viewing turnaround through a social evaluation lens, we develop a new process model of turnaround based on a qualitative analysis of celebrity entrepreneurs Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ turnaround of Wrexham Association Football Club.

view paper (if available)