Effect of Diversity and Inclusion-oriented HR Practices and Strategic Leadership on Perceived Team/Club Performance: Testing Perceived Organisational Alignment with Vision 2030 Sports Objectives as a Moderator

Abstract

Introduction: This study examined Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)-oriented HR practices and the impact of strategic leadership on perceived team/club performance, and tested the moderating effect of perceived organisational alignment with Vision 2030 sports objectives. Based on a combination of the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Contingency Theory (CT), this study initially theorises alignment as a situational moderator but also considers its direct institutional effect. Methodology: This study employed a quantitative research design, and data were gathered using a structured survey questionnaire from 300 employees in sports organisations. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the hypotheses and examine the direct and moderating effects. Results: The findings reveal that D&I-oriented HR practices are positively associated with perceived performance but with a modest effect, whereas strategic leadership does not exhibit a significant direct effect. Conversely, perceived organisational alignment with Vision 2030 sports objectives was the most powerful predictor of perceived performance, demonstrating the predominance of institutional factors. Although the interaction terms were statistically significant, their small effect sizes implied that they did not have any significant moderating effect. Therefore, perceived organisational alignment with Vision 2030 sports objectives is statistically significant but practically negligible as a moderator and works more as a direct predictor than as a substantive boundary condition. Conclusion: This study refines the RBV-CT perspective by presenting evidence of a state-led sports transformation situation that indicates that perceived institutional alignment can act as a performance driver rather than a pure moderating boundary condition.