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Olga Polyakova PhD, MSc, BA

Course Leader for MSc Sport Business Management, Senior Lecturer in Sport Business Management


Summary

Olga's expertise in Sport Marketing combines with experience in the sport and fitness industry. Prior to joining Sheffield Hallam University Olga lectured Sport Marketing at the University of Huddersfield. She also a fully qualified yoga instructor and have a proven track record in teaching in the fitness industry.

In her doctoral research Olga investigated issues of service quality and customer satisfaction in the sport and fitness industry in England. Her other research interests are in the areas of motivation and psychology of sport participation. Olga also collaborates in providing consultancy and organising seminars in the area of sport as an innovative teaching tool.

About

Olga is a qualified yoga teacher with ten years of experience in integrating mindfulness practices in a wide variety of settings, including projects with ethnic minorities, ex-offenders, general public, higher educational institutions and MMA athletes. She teaches on Sport Business Management undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at Sheffield Hallam and works closely with Sport Industry Research Centre and the Centre for Health and Social Care Research. 

In partnership with Sheffield IAPT, Olga is currently leading on the research project that looks to investigate the added benefit of yoga over and above usual care for the patients with anxiety and depression. Olga's broader research interests lie in the area of motivation and psychology of sport participation which links to the topic of her PhD thesis on perceptions of service quality in the UK fitness industry.

Specialist areas of interest

Service quality in fitness industry, customer satisfaction, motivation and psychology of sport participation.

Teaching

Subject area

Sports Marketing
Research methods
Interdisciplinary research projects

Courses

BSc Sport Business Management
MSc Sport Business Management

Modules

Applied Marketing and Finance
Marketing and the Media (Hong Kong)
Researching Sport Management
Project (UG/PG)

Research

Collaborators and sponsors

Enterprise educators UK
Sheffield IAPT, NHS Foundation Trust

Publications

Key Publications

Polyakova, O., & Ramchandani, G. (2020). Perceived service quality among regular users of gyms in public sports centres in the UK. Managing Sport and Leisure. http://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2020.1853594

Journal articles

Erlikh, V.V., Korableva, Y.B., Epishev, V.V., & Polyakova, O. (2018). Effect of postural balance on changes in the electrocardiography parameters of wrestlers. Human Sport Medicine, 18 (S), 13-18. http://doi.org/10.14529/hsm18s02

Polyakova, O., & Mirza, M.T. (2016). Service quality models in the context of the fitness industry. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 6 (3), 360-382. http://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-04-2014-0015

Flint, S., Peake, R., Plumley, D.J., Polyakova, O., Reale, S., Wilson, R., ... Pheonix, F. (2015). The impact of athlete endorsement on estimates of nutritional content of food meals. Appetite, 87, 395. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.12.174

Polyakova, O., & Mirza, M. (2015). Perceived service quality models: are they still relevant? The Marketing Review, 15 (1), 59-82. http://doi.org/10.1362/146934715X14267608178721

Flint, S., Plumley, D.J., Peake, R., & Polyakova, O. (2014). Using sport as a tool to market unhealthy food. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 2 (12), 15-25. http://www.ejbss.com/volume-2-number-12-2014.aspx

Conference papers

Polyakova, O., & Ramchandani, G. (2019). Perceptions Of Service Quality Among Frequent Users Of Gyms In England. In European Association of Sport Management, Seville, Spain, 3 September 2019 - 6 September 2019.

Polyakova, O., & Ramchandani, G. Exercise frequency and service quality perceptions in sport and fitness industry. In Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand 2015 Conference, Hobart, Australia.

Other activities

External advisor - Buckinghamshire New University, School of Applied Management and Law (Department of Sports Management)
External advisor - University of Central Lancaster, School of Sport, Tourism and The Outdoors
Sport Management Association in Australia and New Zealand - member
Register of Exercise Professionals (L3 Yoga Teacher)

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