Dr Olga Polyakova PhD, LLM, MSc, BSc (Hons)
Principal Lecturer and Strategic Projects Lead
Summary
I joined Sheffield Business School as a Principal Lecturer and Strategic Projects Lead in February 2022. I am currently responsible for research, partnerships, and course development in the Events Management subject group. Prior to moving into a Strategic Projects Lead role with Sheffield Business School, I was the Programme Leader for MSc Sport Business Management in the Academy of Sport and Physical Activity at SHU which included coordinating a group of the course staff, ensuring an outstanding student experience, market leading delivery and strong student recruitment on the course. Over the past years, I have led on international academic partnerships and business development activities with industry, both domestically and abroad. Before joining SHU in 2013, I lectured at Huddersfield Business School.
Alongside my career in academia, I am passionate about yoga which I have been practicing for over 17 years. This passion led me to get qualified as a yoga teacher and subsequently gain a PhD degree in fitness service quality. My other research interests are in the areas of consumer behaviour and esports. In addition, I have recently completed a second Master's degree - LLM International Sports Law in Practice.
About
I hold two first degrees from Bratsk State University, Russia - BSc (Hons) Public Management and Governance and BA Language Interpretation and Translation. In 2009, I won the Russian President Scholarship for studying abroad and moved to the UK to undertake MSc Business Project Management programme at the University of Huddersfield. I became one of 40 undergraduate students from the whole Russian population who received this award in that year and was sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Education for postgraduate studies abroad. Shortly after completion of my MSc (with an award 'Best student in Business Project Management” from Association for Project Management), I was granted a scholarship by the University of Huddersfield Business School for undertaking PhD in Business Studies.
Between 2013 and 2022 I taught on Sport Business Management undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at Sheffield Hallam and worked closely with the Sport Industry Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Centre. My subject expertise includes areas of sports business, services marketing and research methods. I specialise in consumer behaviour, esports and service quality in fitness industry and these are the areas which I presented conference papers and published my research in. I am a reviewer for 'Sport, Business and Management: an International Journal' and 'European Sport Management Quarterly', a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a completer of Aurora HE women-only leadership programme in 2019/20.
I have been championing values of equality, diversity and inclusion throughout my academic career. Between 2016 and 2021, I was the course leader for MSc Sport Business Management programme and pioneered a launch of inclusive curriculum on the degree, which subsequently achieved a continued presence in the SportBusiness rankings as top 40 course globally and top 20 in Europe. Since 2021 I have taken up a role of an Inclusive Hallam Champion (the university-wide role) and I am continuing to embody the Hallam Values within and outside Ï㽶ÊÓƵ in my current role as a Principal Lecturer.
Specialist areas of interest
Events Management
Esports
Teaching
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
Subject area
Sports Marketing
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ methods
Interdisciplinary research projects
Courses
BSc Sport Business Management
MSc Sport Business Management
- Marketing Communications (UG, SHAPE Hong Kong)
- Sport Ï㽶ÊÓƵ in Practice (UG)
- Ï㽶ÊÓƵing Sport Management (PG)
- Dissertation project (PG)
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
Service quality in the fitness industry
Digital fitness consumers
Consumer-focused outcomes in esports sponsorship
Collaborators and sponsors
Enterprise educators UK
Sheffield IAPT, NHS Foundation Trust
Publications
Key Publications
Polyakova, O., Karagiorgos, T., Konstantinidis, K., Ntovoli, A., & Alexandris, K. (2024). . Event Management: an international journal.
Polyakova, O., Karagiorgos, T., Anagnostopoulos, C., & Alexandris, K. (2024). . International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship.
Polyakova, O., & Ramchandani, G. (2020). . Managing Sport and Leisure.
Journal articles
Polyakova, O., & Perveeva, V.A. (2024). Comparative Analysis of Customer Satisfaction with Online and Offline Fitness Programs. Journal of Siberian Federal University - Humanities and Social Sciences, 17 (2), 247-256.
Erlikh, V.V., Korableva, Y.B., Epishev, V.V., & Polyakova, O. (2018). . Human Sport Medicine, 18 (S), 13-18.
Polyakova, O., & Mirza, M.T. (2016). . Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 6 (3), 360-382.
Flint, S., Peake, R., Plumley, D.J., Polyakova, O., Reale, S., Wilson, R., ... Pheonix, F. (2015). . Appetite, 87, 395.
Polyakova, O., & Mirza, M. (2015). The Marketing Review, 15 (1), 59-82.
Flint, S., Plumley, D.J., Peake, R., & Polyakova, O. (2014). . European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 2 (12), 15-25.
Conference papers
Polyakova, O., Karagiorgos, T., Konstantinidis, K., & Alexandris, K. (2023). . In European Association of Sport Management, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 12 September 2023 - 15 September 2023 (pp. 260). EASM:
Polyakova, O., & Alexandris, K. (2023). . In World Association for Sport Management, Doha, Qatar, 5 March 2023 - 8 March 2023. Lithuanian Sports University:
Polyakova, O., & Alexandris, K. (2022). . In European Association of Sport Management, University of Innsbruck, SoWi Campus, Austria, 5 September 2022 - 8 September 2022.
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.
Book chapters
Polyakova, O., & Alexandris, K. (2023). . In Leng, H.K., & Zhang, J. (Eds.) Sports Sponsorship and Branding: Global Perspectives and Emerging Trends. (pp. 56-74). London: Routledge:
Presentations
Polyakova, O. (2024). Healthy esports - double oxymoron? Presented at: 6th International Scientific Conference ‘Exercise and quality of life’ - EQOL 2024: Global Impact of Sport Science, Novi Sad, Serbia
Other publications
Breese, R., Wagner, D., Issa, S., Polyakova, O., Bartunek, J., Pellegrini, E., ... Miller, J. (2024). . The 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management:
Breese, R., Wagner, D., Issa, S., Polyakova, O., Bartunek, J., Pellegrini, E., ... Miller, J. (2024). . The 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management:
Other activities
Reviewer:
- European Sport Management Quarterly
- Managing Sport and Leisure
- Sport, Business and Management: an International Journal
External examiner:
- Global Online MSc in Sport Business, Management and Policy, Manchester Metropolitan
University, 2018 – Present.
- BA (Hons) Business Administration and Management (delivered by collaborative partner in
Philippines - Southville International School Affiliated with Foreign Universities), De Montfort
University, 2020 - Present.
External advisor (on approval and validation panels):
- University of Northampton, May 2021
- University of East London, February 2021
- London Metropolitan University, February 2020
- Buckinghamshire New University, 2015
- University of Central Lancaster, 2014
Postgraduate supervision
Esports
Service quality in the fitness industry
Sport consumer behaviour